Thursday, May 2, 2013
Baychester News: Shelter Controversy
Baychester News: Shelter Controversy: COMMUNITY BOARD NEWS N’ VIEWS By Father Richard F. Gorman Chairman Community Board #12 (The Bronx) The Ball Is In Yo...
Shelter Controversy
COMMUNITY BOARD
NEWS N’ VIEWS
By
Father Richard F. Gorman
Chairman
Community Board #12 (The Bronx)
The Ball Is In Your Court,
Mr. McDonald on Homeless Shelters
BRONX, NEW YORK, May 2- Our Friend, The Honorable John C. Liu, currently Comptroller of the City of New York and a contender for the nomination of the Democratic Party to succeed Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in January of 2014, did not let us down -- “us” being the people of The Bronx overall and, in particular, the residents of Community Board #12 (The Bronx).
When approached by the Borough President of The Bronx, The Honorable Ruben Diaz, Jr., for his help, Comptroller Liu stepped up to the plate. The help sought by Borough President Diaz was with the contract being offered by the New York City Department of Homeless Services (N.Y.C.D.H.S.) to The Doe Fund, Incorporated to operate a homeless facility for 200 men in recovery for alcohol and/or chemical dependencies in the former Sergeant Joseph A. Muller United States Army Reserve Center (Muller U.S.A.R.C.) in the Wakefield section of Bronx Community District #12. Said contract, for a term of 21 years and in the amount of $91 million, was ready to be registered, an action delegated to the Office of the Comptroller by THE CHATER OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
Prior to the amendments to THE NEW YORK CITY CHARTER enacted in 1989, the Comptroller, by refusing to register a contract, would effectively prevent the contract from being entered into by the City of New York.
After the 1989 Revision went into effect, the Comptroller’s power in this area was weakened. Henceforth, the Comptroller could stop any municipal agency from entering into any proposed contract, franchise, revocable consent, or concession by presenting in writing reasons for believing that there had been corruption in letting the contract or that the contractor had engaged in corrupt practices. The Mayor would subsequently be required to respond to the objections of the Comptroller in writing and personally to make a final determination regarding the contract. In response to concerns that a valuable check and balance upon the already substantial power of the Mayor was being removed, the Chairman of the Charter Revision Commission, Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr., a close political and personal confidant of the then Mayor, the late Edward I. Koch, as well as his Corporation Counsel, retorted that no Mayor in his right political mind would ever move forward on a contract or other financial arrangement called into question by the City Comptroller on the taint and/or the suspicion of corruption. Begging your pardon, Mr. Schwarz, but while such may well have been true of your boss and buddy, Mayor Koch, you apparently never foresaw the likes of Rudolph W. Giuliani or Michael R. Bloomberg taking up residence at City Hall!
Comptroller Liu based his decision to reject the contract on alleged “questions concerning legitimacy of the required approval process represented to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) in seeking approval for the project.” The Comptroller stated that he had been “unable to verify whether the City properly followed federal regulations in the disposition of the former Muller Army Reserve Center” that is located at 555 East 238TH Street/ Nereid Avenue in Community Board #12 (The Bronx).
Before re-purposing a military facility for a non-military function, the Federal Government requires that a Local Redevelopment Authority (“L.R.A.”) recommend the best possible alternative use for the site. In 2008, a three-member L.R.A., consisting of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, and the Borough President of The Bronx, was constituted in order to consider uses for the Muller U.S.A.R.C. Mr. Liu asserted that it was unclear how the Local Redevelopment Authority (L.R.A.) came to an ultimate recommendation and that documentation evidencing the L.R.A.’s approval was not submitted with the proposed contract. Borough President Diaz has steadfastly maintained that no vote was ever held to determine the L.R.A.’s final proposal, which would be a violation of the Federally mandated process.
Not surprisingly, the Bloomberg Administration, in the person of
Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda Gibbs, blasted Comptroller Liu for supposed political shenanigans designed to foster his Mayoral aspirations while averring that, far from ignoring the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (U.S.H.U.D.), the City had extensively engaged it in all stages of the process.
Interestingly enough, however, Deputy Mayor Gibbs, in issuing her political broadside against Comptroller Liu, never specifically deniedand/or offered convincing evidence that Messrs. Liu and Diaz were wrong in declaring that no legitimate vote of the Local RedevelopmentAuthority (L.R.A.) was ever properly taken. The end result is that itappears that the contract between The Doe Fund, Incorporated and the City of New York to refurbish the Muller Center and to manage it as a homeless shelter is going full speed ahead.
While, in the final analysis, this issue may well have to be litigated, I would like to propose that all parties, especially those
who will be liberally utilizing our hard-earned tax dollars, save our scarce shekels for a more wholesome and sensible purpose than that of enriching attorneys. The President and Founder of The Doe Fund, Incorporated, Mr. George A. McDonald, has impressed me as a man of true sensibility, sensitivity, and integrity. I have met the gentleman and am genuinely convinced of his authentic concern for the less fortunate and his success in addressing their plight. I would hope that he would not want either his good name or the fine reputation of his Doe Fund to be demeaned or, in any fashion, sullied by the stench of illegality or impropriety. Ergo, I propose to Mr. McDonald that he defer further action on the contract between his organization and the
New York City Department of Homeless Services (N.Y.C.D.H.S.) to operate a homeless facility in a refurbished Muller U.S.A.R.C. until such time as the question of whether or not the Federal guidelines were assiduously complied with is thoroughly and truthfully resolved.
In light of the fact Mr. McDonald and Mayor Bloomberg, whom he seeks to replace this year as the candidate of the Republican Party for Mayor of the City of New York, are such good friends, I would trust that our good Mayor Mike would consent to a methodical and meticulous airing of this hotly contested concern so as not to drag the clean-living character of his amigo through the mud.
So what do you say, George? The ball is now on your side of the court. Please reach out to your ally and pal. Let us see how your good chum, the Mayor, will play this round.
Until next time, that is it for this time!
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Baychester News: Mount Beats St. Rays
Baychester News: Mount Beats St. Rays: By Gary Quintal BRONX, NEW YORK, May 1- Mount Saint Michael Academy beat visiting Saint Raymond’s High School 5-3 Tuesday aft...
Mount Beats St. Rays
By Gary Quintal
BRONX, NEW YORK, May 1- Mount Saint Michael Academy beat visiting Saint Raymond’s High School 5-3 Tuesday afternoon.
Leading 4-2 in the sixth, Mount added to its lead when Saint Ray’s pitcher fielded a sacrifice bunt but made an errant throw, allowing the runner already moving from second to third advance home.
Saint Ray’s would score a run in the top of the seventh, but with a runner on third left the tying run at the plate.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Baychester News: Construction Workers Charged with Gang Assault in ...
Baychester News: Construction Workers Charged with Gang Assault in ...: BRONX, NEW YORK, April 24- District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced that an indictment was unsealed charging five members of a ...
Construction Workers Charged with Gang Assault in Scab Smackdown
BRONX, NEW YORK, April 24- District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced that an indictment was unsealed charging five members of a minority labor coalition with multiple counts of assault, weapons possession, and coercion stemming from a protest seeking jobs at a construction site.
The 42-count indictment charges defendants Sammy Lopez, Freddy Diaz, Willie Lidge, Carlos Cruz, and Leon Daniels with gang assault in the first and second degrees, attempted gang assault in the first and second degrees, assault in the first and second degrees, coercion in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the third and fourth degrees.
The charges in the indictment are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The defendants are facing maximum sentences of up to 25 years imprisonment if convicted of the most serious Class B felony offenses of gang assault in the first degree and assault in the first degree.
These charges stem from a violent confrontation on October 26, 2010 over a demand for jobs at a construction site at Bronxwood Avenue and East 213th Street. It is alleged that dozens of members of United Hispanic Construction Workers, Inc. converged on the site armed with axe handles, hammers and shovels in an effort to stop work if their members were not given jobs. An ensuing argument escalated and culminated in the unarmed workers being attacked. Several workers sustained serious injuries including a broken jaw and broken ribs, a head injury requiring staples to close the wound, and various injuries to the back, arms and forearms.
The target of the jobs protest was the Maspeth Supply Company which had been awarded a $25 million contract by the City of New York to repair water mains, sewer lines, streets and curbs at over a dozen locations in the Williamsbridge section of the Bronx.
The indictment unsealed consolidated charges filed previously. The defendants were arraigned on the superseding indictment before Acting State Supreme Court Justice Steven Barrett.
Sammy Lopez, 56, of Rogers Place, is free on bail of $350,000 bond or $150,000 cash.
Freddy Diaz, 47, of Timpson Place, is being held in lieu of $150,000 bond or $75,000 cash.
Willie Lidge, 26, of Webster Avenue, is being held in lieu of $250,000 bond or $100,000 cash.
Carlos Cruz, 34, of Simpson Street, is being held in lieu of $200,000 bond or $100,000 cash.
Leon Daniels, 56, Walton Avenue, is being held in lieu of $85,000 bond or $35,000 cash.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Biker Battles
Biker Battles
Cops involved in another controversial chase of dirt biker rider leaving 1 injured
By David Greene
BRONX, NEW YORK, March 27- An elderly man crossing the street and an illegal dirt bike rider are recovering, after witnesses say an NYPD cruiser caused the crash.
According to police, the 77-year-old pedestrian was crossing Boston Road at Thwaites Place in the Bronxwood section at just before 5 p.m., on March 24, when he was struck by a still-unidentified 20-year-old illegal dirt bike rider, traveling southbound on Boston Road.
Witnesses and police have stated that the African-American dirt bike rider suffered a serious head injury and was bleeding from his noise. The elderly white male was reported to be face down in the roadway, the bike reportedly slammed into his legs.
On witnesses recalled, "He hit the old man that was crossing and the guy on the motorcycle was driving against the light. The guy on the motorcycle was with a group of more than 20."
Some witnesses have estimated the caravan of illegal dirt bikes, three-wheelers and all-terrain vehicles (ATV) was as many as 50, as the victim was crossing with the light, when he was rundown outside of the Steven Restaurant.
"The police were after them," the witness claimed, when the police cruiser from the 49th Precinct allegedly bumped the bike just before the intersection, causing the chain reaction crash.
One employee at the C-Town across the street, offered, “Customers were saying that the cop car hit the motorcycle and it crashed into the man.”
The police department has so far discounted claims that a police cruiser caused the crash and have stated the cruiser was making a U-turn when the motorcyclist lost control.
The officer behind the wheel of the police vehicle closest to the dirt bike was briefly questioned by a detective and a Highway Patrol investigator.
Both victims were reported at Jacobi Hospital in serious, but stable condition. One published report stated the bike rider was in police custody, and so far has not been charged.
Another witness said of the group of riders, "They saw their friend get hit and was on the floor, but they kept going."
The accident comes as biker Alberto Gonzalez is currently on trial regarding a similar incident back on August 11, in Hunts Point, where he faces resisting arrest and reckless endangerment charges.
Video released on March 24, clearly shows an NYPD cruiser from the 41st Precinct, striking the bike. That crash claimed the life of building superintendent Eddie Fernandez, 28, who was thrown into a pole.
On October 27, Ronald Herrera, 20, died and a passenger was seriously injured during a chase with a police cruiser along Walton Avenue.
Once again, the NYPD stated that the cruiser did not cause the crash, witnesses say the cruiser bumped the dirt bike.
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