Gjonaj letters & comments
OLA Senior Bingo Group hosts casino trip
The Warriors Football
League will play the
YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD - YOUR NEWS
The Bronx Times On-Line
Your world is 24/7... NOW so are we.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,BTR SEPT. 18-24, 2020 13
2020 season.
Due to COVID-19, we will
only play fl ag football.
We will hold practice and
registration on Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Fridays, starting
Sept. 15 and ending Sept.
25. The season will start on
Saturday, Sept. 26.
All players (boys and girls)
ages 5 to 13 are welcome. Ages
are determined by Jan. 1.
Cost for the 2020 season will
be $100 for the fi rst child and
$80 for all others. All new players
must show proof of age. All
games, practices and registration
will be held at Pelham Bay
Park at the football fi eld.
The Our Lady of the Assumption Senior
Bingo Group is sponsoring a bus ride on
Monday, Oct. 12 to Wind Creek Casino and
The Outlets at Wind Creek Bethlehem. The
bus will depart at 8 a.m. from Ampere Avenue
and Kennelworth Place and at 8:15 a.m.
at Williamsbridge Road and Morris Park Avenue
(in front of the Lutheran Church.)
Your temperature will be taken at the bus.
If you have a fever, you cannot board the bus
since the casino will not allow you in. Surgical
masks must be worn on the bus and in and
on the casino fl oor. The bus has a bathroom,
an electric plug to charge your phone or listen
to your music and DVDs will be shown.
The bus will be stopping at Denny’s Restaurant
for breakfast. If you do not want
breakfast, let Fran Arico know when making
your reservation (breakfast is on your own.)
Tickets are $35. If you have a Wind Creek
players card, you can go to the promotion
booth and see if you have rewards. Remember
to use the points on your card in the restaurant,
food court or Carlo’s Bakery in the
outlet area. If you prefer a seat on the bus
alone, the cost will be $5 extra, so try to bring
someone you prefer to sit with.
Seats are limited and seating on the bus is
according to date of payment.
All are invited. For further information
and to reserve your seat on the bus, call Fran
Arico at 718-828-5073.
Gjonaj talks
restaurant lawuit
BY COUNCILMAN
MARK GJONAJ
You may have heard, but I
have recently joined a classaction
lawsuit, alongside 300
other NYC restaurants, to petition
the state to allow these
businesses to operate indoor
dining in line with the rest of
the state. The bulk of the state
has been allowed to operate
at 50% indoor dining capacity,
despite certain pockets
having higher infection rates
than neighboring NYC boroughs.
It is my position that
it is unscientifi c and nonsensical
for NYC restaurants to
not be allowed to operate, at a
minimum, at 50% capacity. Especially
in considering the majorly
declined infection rate in
the city, what then is the health
benefi t to denying NYC restaurants
dine-in capability?
A Bronxite has to travel mere
minutes to Westchester to experience
indoor dining, similarly
with a Queens or Brooklyn
resident traveling to Long
Island to dine-in.
Small business is struggling.
This is no revelation.
I have undertaken efforts to
minimize this struggle, offering
lifelines in the form
of protections from certain
third-party food delivery platform
— all in the interest of
preserving and amplifying viable
revenue streams. But in
many cases this has not been
enough. As of July 10, greater
than 1,200 small business restaurants
have closed and according
to the most dire estimates,
nearly one-third of
NYC small business will close
their doors forever before it’s
all said and done. With their
demise, we lose employment
for workers, vital tax revenue
for city agencies and services,
unique product offerings and
a whole host of other benefi ts
small business confers onto
our city. Indoor dining was essential
revenue to small business
restaurants and it’s about
to time that this right was
returned to them.
Despite the Governor’s
concession to allow NYC restaurants
to operate at 25% capacity,
the class-action suit continues
unaffected. NYC needs
to be put in line with the rest
of the state or it will lose much
of its small business restaurants.
For more information
about the lawsuit and related
issues, please contact me 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,
Last week’s edition featured
a letter writer who believes
that repeating a lie and
using CAPITAL LETTERS
when doing so, makes the
lie truthful, apparently taking
his cue from the current
White House resident. No Mr.
Summers, America is not a
“MARXIST” nation, citizens
who disagree with your opinions
are not Marxists and you
would appear less dense if you
took the time to do a bit of research.
Mechanically repeating
Republican talking points,
which have no factual basis,
is intellectual malpractice.
Americans will not reelect an
individual who, by his own
admission, was aware of the
gravely serious nature of the
pandemic yet chose to lie to
the public, downplaying its
danger. This craven action has
cost thousands of American
lives. This same man insults
those who serve in the armed
forces, characterizing them
as “losers and suckers.” When
the nightmare of the Trump
presidency is repudiated on
Nov. 3, Americans capable of
critical thinking will be in a
celebratory mood, although it
will take many years to undo
the damage caused by this unfi
t, unqualifi ed president, a
man incapable of leadership,
a man interested only in his
personal gain.
– Pasqual Pelosi
Dear editor,
What a delight it was to
read the letters and comments
of Mr. Madia, Mr. Summers,
as well as Ms. Parsons.
How wonderful to hear rational
views on the realities that
we face on a daily basis. I am
a huge fan of Christopher Columbus;
he is loved and respected
by all in my native
Puerto Rico. Huge statues of
Cristobal Colon stand at various
ports in the island. On
many occasions, I have sat
at D’Auria-Murphy Triangle
Park in plain sight of Christopher
Columbus, enjoying
some frozen yogurt — so glad
and thankful it is being supported
and protected. The fellow
over in Castle Hill doesn’t
know nor appreciate the history
that is the real Christopher
Columbus. Hopefully, he
has read Mr. Madia’s valuable
history lesson.
A huge shoutout to one of
my longtime favorite commentators:
Mr. Frank Vernuccio.
Thank you for presenting
the real facts. I appreciate
your insight.
So glad to know that others
think just like me! Looking
forward to the celebration
that Mr. Summers notes on
his letter.
Sincerely yours,
Esther Ramos Cruz
Photo courtesy of the New York City Council
Warriors Football
link
link