BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J BTR ULY 23-29, 2021 33
BY AL D’ANGELO
How about a commonsense
approach on crime? Let’s see,
crime is up across the country;
people are afraid to leave
their homes; tourism is down
in our city; our young people
are dying in the streets; police
moral is as low as it’s ever
been; people are fl eeing New
York and politicians make excuses
and point fi ngers.
They play politics with
people’s lives. So, what can
be done? Gun violence is up
across the country, so how
do we curb that? I’m not the
sharpest knife in the draw
but if you want to curb gun
violence, you have to get illegal
guns off the streets, right?
In New York, possession of an
unloaded handgun is a felony;
possession of a loaded handgun
in New York has a minimum
sentence of 3.5 years in
prison — that’s a minimum.
Why then is someone who
has been arrested numerous
times for possession of a
loaded handgun still walking
the streets
?The police blame the DA’s
offi ce, the DA’s offi ce blames
the judges and we suffer. How
about our elected offi cials get
to the bottom of this and put
a stop to it? But then again,
I’m asking the fox to guard
the hen house. These are the
same elected offi cials who
thought bail reform would be
a benefi t to society, how’s that
working for us. They passed
the bill without discussing it
with the people it affects most.
When they did discuss it, after
the fact, they promised to
make changes and again they
did it without consulting the
people affected. Don’t they get
it, they’re supposed to represent
us not their political philosophy.
Next, in their infi nite wisdom,
many lawmakers advocated
for the defunding of the
police while some went as far
as wanting to do away with
police altogether. Now, because
of the outrage over the
spike in crime they are walking
back some of their more
radical positions. Why are
they in offi ce? That’s on us.
Next, any policeman worth
his or her salt, who has been
in a precinct for more than 3
years, know who the bad guys
are. They can tell you which
teenagers will eventually be
in the system. Why don’t we
use that intel to get the young
people some help before it’s
too late?
They need to take the bad
guys off the streets. Stopand
frisk is not a bad thing if
properly administered. What
is the deterrent for caring a
loaded handgun? Police cannot
stop and frisk you. Before
criminals thought twice before
leaving the house with a
loaded handgun for fear of being
stopped and frisked, but
that is now off the table. Since
crime is on the rise should
law abiding citizens carry
loaded handguns to protect
themselves. The only time
they can get into trouble is if
they use it and then it would
be a matter of self-defense.
I am not advocating carrying
a weapon, but if the police
cannot protect us who will?
Stop-and-frisk needs to be reinstated.
It is a deterrent to
carrying a concealed weapon.
As I said earlier, police
know who the local criminals
are and they should be
the target of stop-and-frisk
— not just random individuals.
Confi dential informants,
anti-crime and undercover offi
cers could provide the intel
needed to point out persons of
interest.
Finally, elected offi cials
made the laws so why do they
have a right choose which
laws to ignore? We are a country
of laws and to have a successful
democracy those laws
must be obeyed. Ignoring
laws for political reasons or
making excuses for people
breaking our laws is treasonous.
Allowing people to loot
and burn private property by
telling police to stand down is
not solving crime.
Making excuses — as one
congresswoman said, “maybe
they looted because they were
hungry” — does not solve
the crime problem. Not backing
up law enforcement does
not solve crime. Not addressing
the causes of crime, lack
of jobs, failure of the family
unit, drugs and poverty does
not solve the crime problem.
The longer we play politics
CIVIC CENTER
Morris Park
Community
Association
BY GEORGE HAVRANEK
Service cutbacks and poor
behaviors are causal to atypical
buildups of litter andgrime
throughout our community.
Patches of trash that blanket
certain segmentsof our community
foster perceptions of
neighborhood degradation. The
absenceof resident-controlled
street civility can encourage
maladaptive behaviors andlower
quality of life standards.
In his prominent 1961 inaugural
address, President John F
Kennedy inspired ournation to
confront hardship and support
each other to assure success.
JFKuttered the famed words,
“Ask not what your country can
do for you-ask whatyou can do
for your country.”
On a smaller scale, our communities
are being thrustinto
JFK like scenarios. We remain
in an unconventional period
and mustconfront adversity
with action. It is time to unify
and satisfy the axiom — If we
wantto keep and reap the blessings
of our fi ne quality of life;
we must endure thefatigue of
supporting it.
The Spencer Estate community,
like many low-density
areas, is absent of largecommercial
corridors and sizable
vertical builds. Challenges presented
to ourquaint community
should be readily handled.
In part, our success will be dictatedby
compliance with ordinances
dedicated to cleanliness
and quality of life.
Sanitation regulations:
Under current law, property
owners are responsible to clean
sidewalks adjoiningtheir property
and 18 inches beyond the
curb into the street. Cleanliness
andcourtesy can be contagious,
when cleaning goes a bit
beyond property lines andmandated
demarcation points.
In Spencer Estate, bulk
items are collected on Wednesday,
recycling day isSaturday.
Household trash is collected
on both days. All trash and recyclablesshould
be securely
packaged/bundled and placed
curbside by 4 p.m. the day beforescheduled
pickup. Compost
yard materials should be discarded
with householdtrash.
Collection programs for Ewaste
and compost materials
remain suspended.
These needed services are
anticipated to resume in the
fall.
Pet owners must comply
with NYC cleanup regulations.
An overwhelming numberof
pet owners fully comply with
regulations; however, a small
percentage of non-compliance
can rapidly tarnish a neighborhood.
Large portions of our
perimeters are maintained by
NYC Parks and Department
ofTransportation. During this
summer period, Pelham Bay
Park is overwhelmed withpark
revelers. Park Administrator
Marianne Andersen,
parks maintenance and parks
enforcement have done top
notch jobs under trying conditions.
Applauseto The Friends
of Pelham Bay Park, their altruistic
efforts supplement the
hardwork essential to parkland
beautifi cation.
See something, say something:
In these times the
squeaky wheel gets theattention.
Illegal barbecues and
parties on the Middletown
Road sidewalkalongside Pelham
Bay Park and Bayshore
Avenue waterfront must be reported
to311.Please promptly
report weed overgrowths
and trash buildups along the
BrucknerBoulevard and I-95
perimeters to 311.Transient
rouge vendors contribute to
neighborhood instability. Unlessspecifi
cally licensed, vendors
are prohibited from operating
alongside parkland.
A12-foot clearance must exist
between vendor carts and
any fi xed boundary. Thelack
of municipal oversight for vendor
carts presents health concerns
and theirpresence fi nancially
harms area businesses
fi nancially and emotionally
invested inthe community.
Please report all rouge vendors
to the Department of
Health viathe 311 systems.
Monthly meetings resume
in September; however, the traditional
summer respitecould
be interrupted by circumstances
requiring ad hoc attention.
If we want to keep and
reap the blessings of our fi ne
quality of life, we mustendure
the fatigue of supporting it.
Our community has traditionally
exhibited a “We are Familyattitude”;
now, is the time
to let it shine. Communicate;
make thatphone call, text message
or email. Please check on
family, friends and neighborsespecially
the elderly and vulnerable.
Any area homeowner
or renter interested inthe
Spencer Estate Civic Association
send an email to spencerestatecivic@
gmail.com.
R e m e m b e r :
Communi ty=Common-
Unity and Inclusion brings
Solutions.
CIVIC CENTER
Spencer Estate
Civic Association
link
link
/gmail.com