Gjonaj letters & comments
Bronx Hip Hop Day 2020
Group photo with Hip Hop Blvd sign Photo by Jewel Webber
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,BTR AUGUST 21-27, 2020 13
BY COUNCILMAN
MARK GJONAJ
Throughout the COVID-19
pandemic my offi ce has remained
committed to its constituency.
Just this week, my
offi ce has hosted and plans
to host: food and mask giveaways,
interactive virtual
town halls on topics such as
legal assistance, park clean
ups on City Island and more.
Of course too, I am thankful
for the considerable support
my offi ce receives for these
events from city agencies and
community organizations
such as NYC Parks, ICNA,
NYLAG, Catholic Charities,
various civic associations
and others.
It is enriching for me to be
of service to the community I
care so much for, and to partner
with community organizations
so passionate about
their objectives. Nearly everything
that seems to hit
New York City at large, seems
to hit the Bronx hardest;
COVID-19 especially. Food,
personal protective equipment,
clean streets and parks
and legal services are necessities
my offi ce is committed
to provide, particularly when
others and the city is unable
to. My orientation, as your local
elected offi cial, is one that
champions community and
constituent concerns, and
toward the end of producing
cleaner, safer, more prosperous
communities with
vibrant small business and
multicultural integration.
My offi ce will continue
to be the top resource for information,
services and necessary
goods in the NYC
Council District 13, with additional
giveaways and informational
webinars on the
horizon. My district offi ce
remains staffed, as it always
has been throughout the pandemic,
with constituent service
staffers.
If you are a constituent of
my district, New York City
Council District 13, and you
have a concern or issue to
register, please contact my
district offi ce either by email
at MGjonaj@council.nyc.gov
or by phone at 718-931-1721.
LET US HEAR FROM YOU
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.
All letters, including those submitted via e-mail, MUST be signed and with a
verifi able address and telephone number included.
Note that the address and telephone number will NOT be published and the
name will be published or withheld upon request.
No unsigned letters can be accepted for publication. The editor reserves the
right to edit all submissions.
Dear editor,
Once again I am compelled
to correct the misinformation
displayed in the latest COMACTA
column which still,
inexplicably, graces the pages
of the BTR.
Mr. Vernuccio maintains
that Black men are not killed
by police in disproportionate
numbers, citing a study by the
Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, while
failing to mention that the editors
of the journal where the
study appeared were unable
to support the conclusions of
the study. In other words, the
study was totally fraudulent,
but it suited the prejudices of
the COMACTA mouthpiece,
so he ran with it, displaying
his intellectual dishonesty
once again.
Mr. Vernuccio also stated
that blue collar workers have
made “extraordinary gains”
in the U.S. economy, despite
the fact that the purchasing
power of that group has remained
stagnant for 40 years,
according to the non-partisan
Pew Research Center. These
phantom gains illustrate
more misinformation promoted
by Mr. Vernuccio. Yet
readers remain subjected to
his “alternative facts” week
after week.
The reactionary positions
expressed by Vernuccio
have now spilled over to
the so-called “Civic Center”
columns which have of late
expressed the personal political
viewpoints of the leaders
of the Waterbury LaSalle and
Morris Park Community Associations.
Regarding the MPCA, I
challenge Mr. D’Angelo’s assertion
that teachers’ unions
are unconcerned about children
since they oppose charter
schools. Charter schools
were the idea of Mr. Albert
Shanker who was the president
of the United Federation
of Teachers. He envisioned
charter schools as laboratories
where new approaches
to learning could be tested,
and if found to be effective,
these methods could be applied
to all public schools.
Currently charter schools are
not subject to the same strict
regulations that apply to noncharters,
and some are even
operated on a for profi t basis!
As a former educator, Mr.
D’Angelo should be aware of
these facts.
The “non-partisan” BTR
has become a megaphone for
the conservative movement,
while relegating progressive
voices to the hope that their
letters to the editor will be
published.
– Pasqual Pelosi
Photo courtesy of the New York City Council
Dear editor,
I am writing to respond
to the letter to the editor
written by Pasquale Pelosi.
He accuses the Bronx Times
Reporter of having “no journalistic
standards” because
they allow Frank Vernuccio
and Al D’Angelo to express
their conservative views.
What he doesn’t say is that
they also allow him to express
his liberal views.
The Bronx Times Reporter
doesn’t practice
cancel culture as does Mr.
Pelosi, they give their writers
their constitutional
right of free speech. I would
like to thank them for doing
that especially at a
time when most of the media
tries to control what we
read. Maybe Mr. Pelosi is
reading the wrong newspaper.
He should try the New
York Times. He’d be much
happier reading only liberal
views like his!
– Mary Jane Musano
Updates for City
Council District 13
In spite of the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic, the
Bronx showed out for the
Second Annual Bronx Hip
Hop Day event in honor of
the genre’s birthplace.
On Monday, Aug. 10, Hip
Hop pioneers gathered for
the annual event, including
DJ Kool Herc, DJ Geechie
Dan, Tony Crush, M.C. Stike,
Sal Abbatiello (CEO of Fever
Records), DJ Switch, Al
Pizarro (co-founder of Hip-
Hop Blvd NYC), MC T &
T, Candela (president of Hip
Hop Blvd’s Latin/Spanish
Rap Division), James Top
(NYC graffi ti artist, TV producer,
educator and 2018 Hip
Hop Hall of Fame inductee)
and Joey TBS.
Special guests at Bronx
Hip Hop Day included Councilman
Fernando Cabrera,
who presented a proclamation
naming Aug. 10 as “Hip
Hop Day,” Community Advocate
Tony Herbert and
former Congressional candidate
Julio Pabon.
At the event, DJ Geechie
Dan and Tony Crush were
presented with an offi cial
Hip Hop Blvd signs and
Councilman Cabrera was
awarded for his efforts in
helping the naming of Hip
Hop Blvd come into fruition.
Pizzaro also made a surprise
announcement that
Hip Hop Blvd NYC has a new
distribution deal for a new
label.
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