Message from Councilman Mark Gjonaj
Assemblymember Pichardo announces ‘Camp Junior’ informational sessions
BRONX TIMES R 40 EPORTER, MARCH 20-26, 2020 BTR
COUNCILMAN MARK GJONAJ
Assemblymember Victor
M. Pichardo announced that
he is partnering with the
Fresh Air Fund to host informational
sessions for any
resident interested in learning
about ‘Camp Junior,’ a
new summer camp available
to Bronx youth that provides
access to outdoor experiences.
The information sessions
will be held every Wednesday
from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and
Thursday from 2 to 5 p.m. until
Thursday, May 28 at his
district offi ce at 2175C Jerome
Avenue.
“For years, the Fresh Air
Fund has provided opportunities
for Bronx kids to explore
new terrain and gain new experiences
over the summer,”
Pichardo said. “Camp Junior
offers our children a place to
engage in recreational and
educational activities, make
new friends and create lifelong
memories away from the
pressures of the city.”
Camp Junior was created
in memory of Lesandro
‘Junio’” Guzman-Feliz, a 15-
year old victim of gang violence,
and operated by the
Fresh Air Fund in partnership
with New York State
Offi ce of Parks, Recreation
and Historic Preservation,
Assembly Speaker Carl E.
Heastie, Borough President
Ruben Diaz Jr. and the Palisades
Interstate Park Commission.
The camp is available
to new applicants: girls between
the ages of 8 to 13
years old and boys between
the ages of 8 to 15 years old;
and returning campers can
reapply until they are 15
years old. Camp Junior offers
numerous outdoor activities,
including sports,
hiking, swimming lessons,
music, art and dance classes,
archery, kayaking and chess.
The camp also offers leadership
and skill-building workshops
along with much more.
Completed applications
for the camp are due by Monday,
April 30, and there are
three eligibility criteria: residency,
income and age.
For a comprehensive list
of requirements and to apply
for Camp Junior, visit www.
freshair.org/learn-aboutour
camps/camp-junior.
Action
Association
BY FRANK VERNUCCIO
It has become increasingly
evident that many American
elites, primarily left wing, progressive,
leaders have bitter
contempt for an overwhelming
portion of the nation. It is,
in many ways, a subtext of the
2020 election.
The trend has been building
for some time. In 2008, Barack
Obama alleged that those
who disagreed with him were
“bitter, they cling to guns or
religion or antipathy to people
who aren’t like them or antiimmigrant
sentiment or anti
trade sentiment as a way to
explain their frustrations.” In
2016, Hillary Clinton said that
half of those who opposed her
were “racist, sexist, homophobic,
xenophobic.” Michael
Bloomberg expressed his contempt
for farmers, stating that
“I could teach anybody, even
people in this room, no offense
intended, to be a farmer…It’s a
process. You dig a hole, you put
a seed in, you put dirt on top,
add water, up comes the corn.”
Bloomberg has also proclaimed
that “We just can’t let the average
American have guns in a
crowded place…”
Numerous progressive
elected offi cials have endorsed
the “Green New Deal,” a concept
that would have only a
questionable impact on the environment,
but would quite definitely
result in massive blue
collar job losses. It is a position
which oozes contempt for the
needs of a vast number of hardworking
Americans.
The contempt for American
traditions and values is not
restricted to politicians. National
Review notes that New
York Times journalist Thomas
Friedman has pontifi cated that
a single party autocracy, such
as China, can “have great advantages.”
Once considered sacrosanct,
the Bill of Rights has been subjected
to repeated attacks from
the left, who contemptuously
seek to limit the free speech
provisions of the First Amendment,
abolish the Second
Amendment, and ignore the
Ninth and Tenth Amendments
which limit the power of the
federal government.
To some extent, it explains
why so many on the left seem
eager to give the vote to noncitizens.
Those not brought up
with American values are far
more friendly to left-wing provisions.
In polls, however, American
citizens overwhelmingly
reject that concept. In a poll
quoted in The Hill about San
Francisco’s move to allow noncitizens
to vote, “According to
the survey, which is a joint project
of Hill.TV and the HarrisX
polling company, 71 percent of
respondents opposed San Francisco’s
decision, while only 29
percent said they supported
the move. Ninety-one percent
of Republicans polled said they
opposed giving the right to vote
to noncitizens, as did 54 percent
of Democrats. Seventy percent
of independents said they were
also in opposition to the decision.
When respondents were
asked the same question but
with the wording changed to
include the term “illegal immigrants”
instead of non-U.S. citizens,
the results were nearly
the same. Sixty-nine percent of
Americans said they opposed
the measure, while only 31 percent
said they supported the
measure.”
It has been noted that It is
logical that elitism rises simultaneous
with the growth of
support for socialism. The very
concept of that approach to governance
is based on the idea
that a selected group can somehow
make better decisions
about how to run your family,
your business, your life, than
you.
This paradigm does not
arise in a vacuum. For several
generations, American universities
have metamorphosed
from centers of learning to propaganda
mills for socialist and
other hard-left causes. America’s
young have been inundated
with anti-individual right, anti
free market, anti-western
value lies. CNS notes that at the
University of Hawaii Professor
Haunani-Kay Trask stated:
“’We need to think very, very
clearly about who the enemy is.
The enemy is the United States
of America and everyone who
supports it.”
BY MARY JANE MUSANO
Unfortunately, we are all
experiencing the stress surrounding
the issues caused by
the Coronavirus. I hope you are
all following the suggestions of
the CDC, WHO and President
Trump’s Coronavirus Task
Force. They are asking that we
refrain from attending large
gatherings, maintain a six-foot
social distance when we are
with friends, wash our hands
often and sanitize household
surfaces as often as we can.
Due to the suggestions of our
public health offi cials we are
canceling our Tuesday, March
24 civic meeting. Although we
are anxious to share with you
the platforms of candidate’s for
Congress, it is not our fi rst priority.
Your health and the health
of our community is. We will
fi nd other ways to get important
information to you.
Please take the COVID-19
pandemic seriously. Stay home
as much as you can and remember
to call elderly neighbors
to make sure they are OK. If
there ever was a time we must
work together and be sensible,
this is it.
The coronavirus pandemic that is
sweeping our nation presents severe
challenges to our small business. The
vitality of our small business and our
city at large, are intertwined. Perhaps
at no other time in recent memory has
there been such a threat to the future
of our local economies and commercial
corridors. But, with the proper relief
provided as immediately as possible,
this is a disaster that can be avoided.
Our small business is experiencing
reduced revenue in response to reduced
consumer activity, disruption to
global supply chains and other related
problems. In order to prevent devastating
economic consequences to our local
small business, I have called upon
the mayor, the governor and the federal
government to take measures to
ensure cash remains in the hands of
small businesses. Delayed payments
on certain business taxes, requiring
insurance companies to honor business
interruption claims and other
measures, will together provide the relief
necessary to keep our small business
afl oat.
I have also called for the closure of
all schools in our district and the city
at large. Albeit drastic, this is a necessary
action to further contain the
spread of the coronavirus and protect
vulnerable populations from infection.
I advise that all residents of our
community, to protect their own
health and that of others, continue to
practice social distancing, and two
week self-isolation in the event that
they feel sick. However, I also ask that
you not neglect our local businesses,
and I encourage you to order deliveries
and take-out to continue to stimulate
our community’s economy.
I have also created a Change.org petition
that is listed on Twitter, @Mark-
GjonajNY, calling on the city, state and
federal government to take action that
provides our small business relief. I
encourage you to join us in solidarity
as we fi ght for our mom-and-pop stores
and local eateries – the bedrock of our
community.
As always, my district offi ce can be
reached for concerns at (718) 931-1721
and at mgjonaj@council.nyc.gov.
/camp-junior
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/Change.org
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