Gjonaj letters & comments
Occupy the Block - Saturday, July 18
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,BTR JULY 24-30, 2020 13
The safety of our players
and their families always
come fi rst. Due to COVID-19,
we regret to inform you that
AFC Rapid will NOT have a
season this year. Please encourage
the children to stay
fi t and get plenty of exercise
throughout the year. We will
be back next year #Bronxstrong.
Stay safe!
– Grace Cerini
BY COUNCILMAN
MARK GJONAJ
I want to assure my fellow
Bronxites that graffi ti
cleanup services will remain
available them, especially
for our vital small
businesses and neighborhood
places of gathering.
Budget cuts made in response
to the COVID-19 pandemic
saw the total slashing
of funds otherwise appropriated
for citywide anti-vandalism
programs, including
graffi ti cleanup. Securing
the cleanliness and safety
of my Bronx district is
amongst my highest priorities,
and graffi ti de-beautifi
es our community centers
of gathering, business and
living. It’s neither pleasant
to look at or contributive to
constituent faith in the community.
Where the city cannot
assist, albeit from priority
shifts to COVID-19 health
and economic issues and related
revenue reduction, my
As such, my offi ce continues
to fund graffi ti cleanup
efforts while the city can
no longer. These cleanups
events, generally done by
request of my constituents
in areas particularly vandalized,
are in gracious cooperation
with the Wildcats
organization. Although this
has been a program I have
funded and will continue to
fund into the future, we have
been especially active in the
past few weeks in light of
concern for the disappearance
of the once-existent administrative
program. Just
this past week, Wildcats and
I have performed cleanup
on White Plains Road and
Lydig Avenue, in addition
to others. We have several
more removal requests on
the docket that need addressing
and will be as swiftly as
possible.
If you would like to report
vandalism or graffi ti
in your neighborhood and
request a cleanup, please do
not hesitate to contact my
district offi ce at 718-931-1721
or at mgjonaj@council.nyc.
gov. It is encouraged highly
that complaints include images
of the graffi ti and exact
location(s) so our removal
teams can plan accordingly.
Follow my offi ce on Twitter
and Facebook for updates
on our graffi ti removal efforts,
including before-andafter
pictures that demonstrate
what we can do!
LET US HEAR FROM YOU
offi ce will.
Letters to the editor are welcome from all readers. They should be addressed
care of this newspaper to Laura Guerriero, Publisher, the Bronx Times Reporter,
3604 E. Tremont Ave., Bronx, NY 10465, or e-mail to bronxtimes@cnglocal.com.
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right to edit all submissions.
The NYC DOT recently
alerted Community Board 10
that they were going to make
a road safety presentation on
July 22, on a four-block section
of E. Tremont Avenue and
a longer stretch along Harding
Avenue in Throggs Neck.
The public was told that it may
include left turn lanes, pedestrian
medians, one-way bike
lanes and a four lane to three
lane conversion. We don’t
know what other safety measures
may be included, such
as LPI signals at the crossings,
brighter LED lights, longer
crossing signals to accommodate
older shoppers or if
there will be any elimination
of parking.
The reason the DOT is
making this presentation because
of a Change.org local
residential petition started after
a senior citizen was killed
in December 2018 while walking
on the same corner as man
who was critically injured in
a hit and run on Miles Avenue
and Tremont Avenue in February
of 2019. Another woman
has been killed at Dewey Place
in traffi c violence since then.
The petition requested “a
review of traffi c safety enhancements”
by the DOT
along Tremont Avenue The petition
was handed to C0uncilman
Gjonaj’s offi ce, the DOT
Bronx Commissioner and the
district manager of Community
Board 10. Only the CB 10
DM wrote to the DOT requesting
the survey “due to constituent
petitioning.”
One thing that will never
be mentioned by the business
owners or the Throggs Neck
BID is that they rely on dangerous
illegal double parkers.
That will not change, as that is
an enforcement issue that we
all should advocate and petition
the NYPD for.
I am glad the DOT agrees
with those in the community
who know that E. Tremont avenue
was in need of any improvements
known to succeed
in making the roads safer for
pedestrians, bicyclists and
those who use mass transportation.
We can only hope
the plan is to keep presenting
a better Tremont Avenue, all
the way up to Bruckner Boulevard.
– Kevin Daloia
On Friday, July 17, Councilman Mark Gjonaj participated in a graffi ti
clean-up on White Plains Road off of Lydig Avenue.
Courtesy of the offi ce of Councilman Mark Gjonaj
Dear editor,
I know this won’t be popular,
but I’ve got to say it. This
madness has to stop! This is
America: land of the free because
of the brave. My parents
told us you can be anything
you want. All it takes is a good
education and hard work and
dedication.
Barack Obama did it. He
became president, not once,
but twice, and it wasn’t just
the Black vote that got him
there. So how is America systemically
racist? There are
successful Blacks in sports,
entertainment, politics and
many other areas.
Knocking down statues,
looting, taking over areas
with AK47s, trying to defund
the police and trying to erase
history because you don’t like
it makes no sense. Trying to
judge men of another era by
today’s standards is wrong. I
mean where does it stop? Will
the pyramids be next? After
all, they were built by slaves.
America is the greatest
country in the world. So, let’s
stand shoulder to shoulder like
our forefathers did. They may
not have been perfect but they
were great men who formed
a great nation. And, yes, I am
proud to be an American.
– Theresa Arnold
Councilman Gjonaj cleans
graffi ti off Bronx streets
Table with free hand sanitizers and masks. On July 18, Music Over Violence in partnership with Bridgefi eld
Civic League had an event called Occupy The Block. At this event there was 2020 Census registration,
distribution of masks and sanitizer and cooked food and music. Music Over Violence Founder, Kevin C
Riley spoke to those present about the census as well as community safety and nonviolence.Assembly
Speaker Carl Heastie was present and encouraged attendees in this trying time. We are #bronxstrong.
Photo by Jewel Webber
/Change.org
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