Monday, December 3, 2012

Bedford Park News: Toy Drive to Help Children in Need

Bedford Park News: Toy Drive to Help Children in Need: BRONX, NEW YORK, December 3- With the holiday season upon us, The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) will create a...

Toy Drive to Help Children in Need

BRONX, NEW YORK, December 3- With the holiday season upon us, The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) will create a festive environment for patients and their families thanks to gifts from the 'Care to Share' Toy Drive, sponsored by LaSorsa Auto Group. Gifts for the toy drive will be accepted now through December 16 at various locations throughout the Bronx and the toys will be delivered at CHAM on December 17.
"The 'Care to Share' Toy Drive is not just for patients, it's also for their families who spend a lot of time in the hospital caring for their loved ones as well,” said Roberto S. Garcia, senior director of community and governmental relations at Montefiore Medical Center. “We truly appreciate the support and generosity of the community in helping to bring some of the season’s joy to children who may not be able to spend the holidays at home with their families."
The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore has been consistently ranked in U.S. News & World Report's Best Children’s Hospitals editions and is recognized worldwide for its expertise in a wide range of pediatric specialties as well as its innovative clinical and translational research. CHAM has more than 8,200 admissions, 130,000 outpatient visits and 80,000 emergency department visits annually. Each year more than 6,300 babies are born at Montefiore, and the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit admits nearly 900 fragile, premature infants.
“We are here to support the community with the Care to Share toy drive and ask you to do the same, at this time of year when it's most important,” said John LaSorsa, President of LaSorsa Auto Group.
Unwrapped gifts for babies, toddlers, and older boys and girls can be dropped off at the below locations through December 16.
- LaSorsa Auto Group, 3510 Webster Avenue, Bronx, NY 10467
- BESO Lounge, 320 East 204th Street, Bronx, NY 10467
-  Drug Rite, 3432 Jerome Avenue, Bronx, NY 10467
- Leroy Pharmacy, 314 East 204th Street, Bronx, NY10467
- LeMED Pharmacy, 159 East Gun Hill Road, Bronx, NY
- MAS Inc., 3602 E Tremont Ave, Suite 206, Bronx, NY 10465
CHAM and LaSorsa Auto Group are collaborating with Mosholu Preservation Corporation, Jerome Gun Hill BID, East 204st & Bainbridge Ave. Merchant Association, BESO Lounge, Drug Rite, Leroy Pharmacy, LeMED Pharmacy, and MAS, Inc. for the 2012 'Care to Share' Toy Drive. 
For more information about types of toys needed and other events, please contact Angela Porcelli, MAS, Inc. 718-283-4081 or angela@masmarketingny.com.
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Bedford Park News: Independent Quinn

Bedford Park News: Independent Quinn: 100 PERCENT By Robert Press BRONX, NEW YORK, December 3- This past Sunday The Independence (not to be confused w...

Independent Quinn

100 PERCENT

By Robert Press
BRONX, NEW YORK, December 3- This past Sunday The Independence (not to be confused with Independent) Party held its 13th Anti Corruption Ceremony. 
We never heard of the first 12 so what makes this one special. Three 2013 mayoral hopefuls are listed as attending current City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, and former State Senate Leader Malcolm Smith. Smith is one of the honorees receiving a “Voice for the Voiceless Community Award” (not an Anti Corruption award) for his work in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Quinn with her close ties to current Mayor Mike Bloomberg who ran and won on the Republican and Independence lines should be running as a Democrat, but appears to be looking to capture the Independence party line also. 
Carrion has renounced his Democratic enrollment to become an “Independent” registered voter (no party enrollment) as is the case of Mayor Bloomberg. Carrion appears in his bid to run for mayor (or whatever else) to be seeking the Republican and now Independence lines. Smith a former State Senate Democratic Majority Leader has said that he might run for mayor on the Republican line, and now appears to be courting the Independence Party also.
This Moe, Larry, and red (or is it orange) headed third stooge trio are the perfect guests for the political party that needs to call the gala it is holding not the Anti Corruption Ceremony, but “Which One of these Three Stooges is Allegedly More Corrupt”? Quinn is best know for the statement “I told my office to stop doing that” after it was revealed that there was a five million dollar slush fund in the name of phoney neighborhood organizations run by the speakers office. Carrion was fined $10,000 by the NYC Campaign Finance Board for having renovations done on his house by a contractor who came before him (as Bronx BP) for an approval, and Carrion was also made to pay for the work done. Smith was involved in the Aqueduct Race Track Casino Probe of bid rigging, and Senate Majority Leader during the whole Pedro Espada State Senate drama.
On to the City Council redistricting drama as Speaker Quinn who denied involvement in drawing up the new district lines, and that there was nothing that she could do, has now sent a letter to the redistricting committee to redraw the lines they drew up. There were questions of a Brooklyn City Council district being redrawn so that disgraced Assemblyman Vito Lopez could become a city council member. Then there was the question of the new 8th council district. Was this redrawn to be a Bronx majority district so that Bronx County Leader Carl Heastie would have the Bronx Democratic organization endorse Speaker Quinn in her 2013 Democratic Primary. Carl, the last city council speaker to run for mayor Gifford Miller came in fifth in a four person primary in the Bronx in 2005.
I would not want to forget to mention that Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. was at his best when he hosted the Bronx Puerto Rican Heritage Month Celebration. Every month BP Diaz celebrates a different ethnic heritage, and with so many different ethnic heritages in the Bronx sometimes there is more than one in a month. You can go to my blog at www.100percentbronx.blogspot.com to see photos of the celebration, and the return of State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. looking like a new man after his full recovery from knee surgery.
Finally, in 2005 a city DEP inspector found what appeared to be a trace of asbestos in the glue of a 40-year-old tile that was removed from one of the apartments in Co-op City. 86,000 air tests and $20 million later, lawyer (and former assemblyman) Steve Kaufman is now suing the city on behalf of the 55,000 Co-op City residents who have had to foot the bill to a tune of $4 million annually since 2005. What is even worse is that two Riverbay asbestos consultants have agreed that the asbestos abatement work was not needed, one being a former DEP Commissioner.
Don't forget to check my blog for items that may come in after our deadline, more details on stories that you may see in this column, and photos of the events. If you have any comments about this column or would like to have an event listed or covered in this column or on my blog you can e-mail us at 100percentbronxnews@gmail.com or call 718-644-4199 Mr. Robert Press.
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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Bedford Park News: Crime Wave 2012

Bedford Park News: Crime Wave 2012: 100 PERCENT By Robert Press BRONX, NEW YORK, November 28- When I write this column I always check the news, and this weekend wa...

Crime Wave 2012

100 PERCENT
By Robert Press
BRONX, NEW YORK, November 28- When I write this column I always check the news, and this weekend was not good news for three young girls in the Bronx. 
On Friday a 15-year-old girl was strangled in the lobby of her aunt’s building on Barretto Street in the Hunts Point section. Sunday at 1 a.m. a five-year-old girl was shot in the courtyard of a building on Hughes Avenue in the Tremont area. Police arrested the shooter, and it looks like the girl was not the intended target, but who was the target? Also on Sunday around 4 a.m., a 22-year-old woman was found strangled in her car on Brook Avenue in the Hunts Point area. There may be coverage of these events elsewhere in this paper.
While the last case involving the 22 year old was allegedly done by a boy friend, Mr. Mayor – Can you still say that crime is going down, and what are you doing to halt these senseless acts of violence that continue to happen? Are the citizens of the Bronx going to see crime increase as is the case in almost every police precinct here in the Bronx? This is happening while your police department is being cut, are doing other things, and the result is that the crime rate is increasing in the Bronx. It is not just iPhone thefts, but serious crime also. People need to know that they are safe and being protected.
Maybe the decision by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. not to seek a citywide office in 2013, but stay on to run again as Bronx BP was that there are still problems in the Bronx that need to be addressed by him. While Diaz has spoken out about gun violence he may need to step it up a notch, and ask Mayor Bloomberg to tour the areas with him where the violence occurred. While there are many other things that Diaz will do in his second full term as Bronx BP we knew that he was only testing the waters with his potential run for Public Advocate. We know that BP Diaz will seek citywide office when the time is right, and that Ruben Diaz Jr. will be known for getting things done as his record will show.
On the subject of citywide races I told you weeks ago that Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer was going to run for City Comptroller when I asked Stringer when he was going to announce the decision to run for comptroller and not mayor. While there are $1.1 million reasons for the Republican County Leaders of New York City to endorse former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. a recent Quinnipiac College poll showed Carrion at 11 percent to any Democrat at 62 percent with 27 percent undecided. No wonder Carrion does not want to run in a Democratic primary for mayor. I suspect there will be wheeling and dealing with Carrion, and that he will wind up running for Public Advocate like former Bronx Democratic County Leader Roberto Ramirez did many years ago in 1993. Ramirez however ran for Public Advocate to test the waters for a Freddy Ferrer Mayoral race to happen in 1997, that Ferrer wound up backing out of running against the very popular incumbent Mayor Rudy Guiliani. Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger then wound up being the sacrificial lamb to run against incumbent Mayor Guiliani.
The New Van Cortlandt Park Ice Skating Rink opened up last week, and you can go to my blog and check the archive section for two stories about the ice skating rink. During the ribbon cutting ceremony Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, and Councilman G. Oliver Koppell all said how wonderful the VCP rink was, but all three plugged the Kingsbridge Armory Ice Skating Palace proposal that all three have endorsed.
Don't forget to check my blog at www.100percentbronx.blogspot.com for more on these items, and check the blog archive for past items that may interest you. There are also stories that come in after our deadline, and events that may not have made it into this column, plus lots of photos of events.
If you have any comments about this column or would like to have an event covered in this column or on my blog you can e-mail us at 100percentbronxnews@gmail.com or call 718-644-4199 Mr. Robert Press.
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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

To Give Thanks

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COMMUNITY BOARD
NEWS N’ VIEWS
By
Father Richard F. Gorman
Chairman
Community Board #12 (The Bronx)
BRONX, NEW YORK, November 21- I suspect that by the time you have the opportunity to see this column, you might well be feeling a bit tired, a touch full in the stomach, and, perhaps, a tad out of sorts.  
This is quite understandable, as you will be reading my words subsequent to our annual “GOBBLEFEST.” Of course, I am making light of our beloved national holiday, Thanksgiving Day.  However, I refer to it as “GOBBLEFEST” not only because of this holiday’s signature tradition of enjoying a turkey dinner, but likewise because Thanksgiving is all too frequently a busy and bustling day upon which one contends with “I,” “C,” “I”  --  i.e., “Irritation” with preparing for visiting relatives and guests, “Congestion” on the highways, and “Indigestion” after eating and drinking too much! Too many of us, “Yours Truly” included, “gobble” down a little more than we should in the course of commemorating this yearly event.
Nonetheless, in spite of the aforementioned, Thanksgiving is a day to take stock of life and to take the time to be grateful for whatever blessings with which we have been gifted. As we sit round and about our Thanksgiving dinner tables, we can plainly and immediately see right in front of our nose the most significant and precious of these graces and good fortunes  --  viz., family, friends, health, happiness, and the means with which to provide for ourselves. In these gifts, hopefully, we are prompted and prodded to celebrate those two fundamental realities that underlie and underwrite them  --  first of all, the God who gives us life and who redeems it and, secondly, a free country with its open, democratic society that affords us the opportunity to enjoy and to exercise our God-given human rights and dignity. For God and for nation, and for all those blessings that issue forth from them, we need to be humbly appreciative for who we are and for all that we have.
On this Thanksgiving week in the Year of Our Lord 2012, I write to give public thanks for, ironically enough, for that what was recently not given to us  --  i.e., the same magnitude of devastation that Hurricane Sandy inflicted on our less fortunate fellow New Yorkers in other parts of our City and our State.  True, there were many residents of our own neighborhood that were adversely impacted by the recent extreme weather.  Nonetheless, Bronx Community District #12 was spared the horror of what happened in areas such as Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island, a grace for which I am deeply grateful. 
I am equally as thankful for the privilege of serving as the Chairman of Community Board #12 (The Bronx). It has been, and remains, an awesome honor that I neither take for granted nor fail to be grateful for each and every day of my tenure and my service as Chairman. Notice here that I utilize the expression “to give thanks” for, to my mind, there is a big distinction between merely “SAYING THANKS” and really and actually “GIVING THANKS.” The distinction between them is neither superficial nor simply stylistic or terminological. There is a bona fide dichotomy that is best defined and highlighted by the wisdom contained in the familiar, old adage “ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS.” I am further reminded of the insightful admonition that words are oftentimes cheap. The values that we truly cherish and that form the basis for how we think and live are best manifested by our actions, not by our words. More importantly than maintaining that I am a grateful person is the upholding and the daily observance of a way of life that exhibits thankfulness and gratitude. The undertaking of such a lifestyle, in my humble estimation, is the genuine test of Thanksgiving and all for which it stands. Thanksgiving is not just a day. Thanksgiving should be, and MUST be, a way of life! 
This avowal naturally should lead a thoughtful individual to inquire what a “Thanksgiving” way of living entails. For what it is worth, I believe it requires one to live in peaceful, respectful, and civil concord with others. Scripture instructs us that gratefulness to God is best demonstrated by esteem and regard without distinction for all of God’s children, icons of the Divine Image and Presence in whose Holy Image we have been created.  Appreciation for the blessings of our magnificent land is preeminently displayed in facilitating and protecting the exercise of those God-given and constitutional liberties that we claim for our loved ones and ourselves. A most excellent fashion in which to proclaim our appreciation of family, friends, home, and the ability to support them is to enable others to realize and to have the benefit of these blessings as well. Such is the challenge of a genuinely thankful person, not only on the Thursday that is called “Thanksgiving Day,” but on each and every day in each and every year.  May it be an endeavor that we all accept with relish and in which we succeed beyond all expectations.
On behalf of myself, my District Manager, Miss Carmen L. Rosa; our staff members, Mrs. Ursula D. Cruz-Greene, Ms. LaShieka Williams and Ms. Jakira Torres; our Associates, Mrs. Joyce Anthony and Mrs. Verna Smith; and all of my colleagues on Community Board #12 (The Bronx), I convey best wishes for this holiday and for the others soon to follow, along with the hope that our gracious and grateful way of living will redound to the benefit of our neighborhood, our Borough, our City, our, State, and our Nation, and, indeed, all the world.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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