Metro Optics continues to help people during COVID-19
BY JASON COHEN
For more than four decades,
John Bonizio has owned
Metro Optics Eyewear. The
lifelong Bronxite has never
experienced anything like
COVID-19, but as the owner
of an essential business, has
kept the store open during the
pandemic.
While his stores in Throggs
Neck, Parkchester, Hunts
Point and Hartsdale are shuttered,
25 Westchester Square
has stayed afl oat. All completed
work from the other
locations could be picked up
there and his staff has been on
paid furlough.
Bonizio, 62, explained that
if someone had an emergency,
such as pink eye or something
in their eye, they would be
hesitant to go to the ER and
wait for hours, surrounded
by people with COVID-19. For
this reason, he said that staying
open was imperative.
“We’re primary care medical
optometrists,” he said.
“If you got a piece of metal in
your eyes, what are you going
to do about that?”
All of the staff have been
wearing personal protective
equipment (PPE,) gowns and
BY JASON COHEN
Bronx resident Joseph
Coppo was captain of the Manhattan
College baseball team,
inducted into the school’s Athletic
Hall of Fame and died on
September 11 in the towers.
Nearly two decades after
his untimely death, the community
has started a petition
to name its home fi eld at Van
Cortlandt Park after the local
baseball legend. So far there
are 258 signatures in support
of the renaming effort.
2020 would have marked
the Jaspers’ return to Van
Cortlandt Park, after playing
this past six years in Wappinger
Falls due to the fi eld’s
poor condition. But now with
COVID-19, the season has
been canceled. The school is
the only Division 1 team that
plays in a city park.
The hope is when things do
return to normalcy, Coppo’s
name will be on the fi eld.
“Joe loved wearing the Jasper
uniform and playing ball
Dr. Eva Yan of Metro Optics Photo courtesy of John Bonizio
gloves, there has been curbside
delivery and items can be
shipped to homes as well. Furthermore,
the place is sterilized
and cleaned twice a day.
He explained that the CDC
originally ruled that eye exams
were not essential, but
in Van Cortlandt Park,” the
petition states. “Now that our
team has come home, there
would be no better time to
honor this special Jasper and
the great legacy of our baseball
program. Please join me
in showing the support of
the Manhattan College community
and the surrounding
neighborhood for naming the
Van Cortlandt Park Stadium
Baseball Field after Joseph
Coppo, Class of 1975. This is
a fi tting way to commemorate
the life of a beloved Manhattan
College alumnus and a
great New Yorker.”
Coppo began his collegiate
baseball career with the Jaspers
in 1973 and was recognized
by his teammates as a
power hitter, excellent pitcher
and an overall good person.
He was the captain of the team
his senior season in 1975 and
went on to coach his children’s
Little League baseball and
softball teams in later years.
This movement to rename
they were taking people who
broke their glasses or lost
them. He stressed that only patients
the fi eld has been underway
for several months and his
widow Pat is in full support
of it.
“I’ve been overwhelmed
by the number of people who
have been working tirelessly
on this project for so many
months,” Pat said. “I guess
I shouldn’t be surprised by
great friends like Kevin Monaghan
and Fred Marro who
have never forgotten Joe for a
minute, but having President
Brennan O’Donnell and Rob
Walsh be so enthusiastic and
supportive is extraordinary
and very humbling.”
Robert Walsh, senior advisor
for the president of the college,
told the Bronx Times that
the school has sent a letter to
the Bronx Parks Commissioner
Iris Rodriguez-Rosa
and met with Community
Board 8 about the proposal.
The school also received a letter
of support from the Bronx
Chamber of Commerce, local
businesses and past teammates
and classmates.
He said they both seemed
to support it and hopes a decision
is made in the next
few months. Walsh added
that Coppo was beloved by everyone
and this would truly be
a great way to honor him.
“This is respectfully the
call of the community board
and the parks commissioner
and we understand that,” he
said. “I don’t see any downside
to this. The alumni are ready
to support this in a big way.”
BRONX TIMES R 2 EPORTER, MAY 8-14, 2020 BTR
and the doctor know if it
really is an emergency.
“Who makes the determination
of what an emergency situation
is,” he said. “That’s not up
to politicians.”
Business during the pandemic
has continued to be
steady and last week the CDC
changed its course and said eye
exams are now allowed. So this
past week, he reopened the store
in Parkchester at 1332 Metropolitan
Ave., and Monday, the
locations in Hunts Point at 1038
Southern Blvd. and Throggs
Neck at 815 Hutchinson River
Pkwy., as well.
“We got to service the communities,”
Bonizio stressed.
“They all really need it.”
MC President Brennan O’Donnell announcing that he would propose to Community Board & Parks Commissioner
the naming of the fi eld to honor Joe Coppo. Photo courtesy of Manhattan College
Community starts petition to
name Van Cortlandt Park baseball
fi eld after 9/11 hero