Message from
Councilman Mark Gjonaj
BY AL D’ANGELO
Russian President Nikita
Khrushchev once said,” We will
take America without fi ring a
shot; we will destroy you from
within”. Look around you: our
fl ag is being disrespected, free
speech is denied on many college
campuses, ANTIFA is allowed
to intimidate and assault
people who they don’t agree
with. The police are maligned
and disrespected, many professors
indoctrinate rather than
educate, many in the news media
edit the news to meet their
political agendas, political parties
put party before the people,
race is used to divide rather
than weave the races into the
tapestry that is America; character
assassinations are the
norm, intimidation and fear
rather than policy seems to be
the weapons of the day and an
uninformed electorate that follow
like lemmings are all helping
this dictators’ prophecies
come true.
Closer to home: what went
on over the Bronx Columbus
Day Parade was a disgrace.
The route change from White
Plains Road to Bronxdale Avenue
was dictated by the NYC
Parks Department and the
NYPD not by the Morris Park
Community Association.
According to City Hall the
parade can only be 1.23 miles
long. The stage can only be
placed on Parks property, a
recent ruling, which gave the
committee a choice of Loretta
Park, which would shorten the
parade, or Pelham Parkway
which would allow the community
to maintain the distance if
we reduced the distance from
the lower end of the community.
Please note, before Mayor
Blumberg shortened all parades
by 25%, the parade went
up to Pelham Parkway. Ten
years ago, to accommodate the
mayor’s order, the route had to
cut out Williamsbridge Road
from Morris Park to Pelham
Parkway. As a result of vigorous
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, O 44 CTOBER 4-10, 2019 BTR
negotiations by Councilmember
Mark Gjonaj, a compromise
was reached to begin
at Wallace Avenue and end at
Lydig Avenue.
The compromise almost
failed because of threats by an
individual against Parks. That
individual threatened to bring
goons and call in bomb scares
to disrupt the parade. Great attitude!
If I don’t get what I want
everyone suffers. Instead of
working through the system
tear it down what insolence -
maybe ANTIFA has another
recruit.
COUNCILMAN MARK GJONAJ
Notes have been put on cars
with obscene messages and
signed the Morris Park Community
Association. Tapes are
being looked at to determine
who the hate monger is. When
the individual is fi nd out I will
publish his name because he is
a disgrace to this community.
Two men put this parade together,
chairman Chris Alessandro
and Carmine Tollinchi.
Instead of praising their accomplishments
and dedication
to the community and the Italian
heritage some people use
character assassination and
fear in an attempt to intimidate
- sound familiar - and this is
happening in our own community.
How can we heal a nation
when we cannot put community
before special interest?
We ask news media to report
facts, then we distort facts
to meet our selfi sh narrative.
How do we preach brotherhood,
when we spew hate?
The Bronx Columbus Day
Parade should be a time to
honor Italian heritage and enjoy
the camaraderie of family
and friends. We have the right
to disagree and argue our point
of view, to vehemently defend
our position but we must respect
the right of a person with
a different point of view.
That’s why we have elections,
we fi ght for our candidate
and when all is said and done,
we are supposed to wish the
winner well and come together
and work as Americans for the
good of the country. Divisiveness
only plays into the hands
of those looking to destroy us
“Without fi ring a shot”.
Thank you, Carmine and
Chris for a job well done and
staying above the fray. Thank
you Councilman Gjonaj for
funding this year’s Ms. Columbus
Scholarship and the breakfast
at St. Dominick’s after the
10 a.m. Mass. Why not come out
to enjoy the day and just have
some fun.
Our annual Throggs Neck
Merchants Dinner Dance will
be on Thursday, October 24 at
6:30 p.m. at the Villa Barone
Manor. Enjoy dining and dancing
with fellow merchants,
members of the community,
friends and family while we
honor businesses, business
people and residents for their
commitment to our local businesses
and community in your
favorite Roaring 20s style. This
year our honorees are Anthony
Mimeli of MARCRE Property
Group for Businessman of the
Year, Melissa of Tosca Marquee
for Businesswoman of the
Year, Madeline and Salvatore
DeSieno of SDS Electrical for
Businesscouple of the Year, and
Danny Flannery of Flannery
Hardware for our Lifetime
Achievement Award. Tickets
are available now. Get ten tickets
and receive a free journal
ad (white page only, $150 value)!
Our journal is a great way to
congratulate our honorees and
advertise your business. We
have still have some ad space
available from $100 and up.
Call Gerri Colon at (646) 334-
0127 or email Angela Molinini
at angela.tnma@gmail.com for
more information.
Welcome to our newest
Throggs Neck Merchants
Aassociation member! Anita
Rello offers free life insurance
quotes. Her offi ce hours are
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
and is located at 3585 E. Tremont
Avenue. You can also call
her at (718) 931-7100 or email her
at anitainsurance@aol.com.
The Northeast Bronx Community
Farmers Market at
Preston High School is open.
The Farmers Market is every
Tuesday from 4 to 7 p.m. until
October 29th. Preston High
School is located at 2780 Schurz
Avenue. The Northeast Bronx
Community Farmers Market
is delighted to announce that
Senator Alessandra Biaggi
will be visiting the Farmers
Market on Tuesday, Octomber
8 at 4 p.m. Please stop by and
say hello and pick up some delicious
goodies.
St. Joseph’s School for the
Deaf Children’s Fund is having
their annual Dinner and Auction
on Saturday, October 19
from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Con Edison
Learning Center located at
43-82 Vernon Boulevard, Long
Island City, NY. Tickets are
$125 per person. Contact St.
Joseph’s School for the Deaf at
(718) 828-9000 for more information.
If you can’t attend but
would like to donate to the St.
Joseph’s School for the Deaf
Children’s Fund, please email
executive director, Debra Arles
at darles@sjdny.org.
Do you have an upcoming
sale, product or service you
would like to promote? As a
TNMA Member, we will announce
any upcoming promotion,
sale, product or service in
this column, as well as, posting
it on our TNMA social media.
It’s another benefi t of being a
TNMA Member. Please email
your information to info@
throggsneckmerchants.com or
call Angela at (646) 657-1312 for
further assistance. This service
is at no extra cost to our
TNMA members.
Not a TNMA member yet?
Become a member of one of
the largest merchants associations
in the Bronx. Go to www.
throggsneckmerchants.com.
According to a weekly report provided
by 311, loud noise is one of the
top reported issues in the district.
This year it has been ranked the highest
complaint, second to illegal parking.
Additionally, in our recent Week-
In-Review, we took a survey in which
we inquired whether constituents supported
the doubling of fi nancial penalties
for noise violators and if constituents
believed that increased penalties
would deter violators from committing
these offenses. The results of the
poll showed that 97% of constituents
would support the fi ne increase, while
63 % of constituents believed that this
would suffi ciently deter violators.
This is the reason I am supporting
Intro. 1714, which would increase the
penalties for certain motor vehicle related
noise violations, including excessive
noise from motor vehicles 10,000
pounds or less, excessive noise from
motor vehicles 10,000 pounds or more,
unauthorized use of motor vehicle
claxons, and unauthorized use of motor
vehicle air horns or gongs.
I aspire to make this council district
cleaner, better, and safer for each
and every constituent. Eliminating
loud and excessive noise is a huge part
in achieving this goal. Everyone deserves
and is entitled to getting proper
and uninterrupted sleep. As such, excessive
and loud noise should be kept
to a minimum, during certain times of
the day, such as during late night and
early morning hours.
Legislation is not enough to combat
excessive and loud noise. As such, it is
essential to report all loud noise to 311
and the NYPD. This will elevate common
and constant noise issues into
chronic issues, which will require the
involvement of other city agencies. You
may also call the district offi ce for further
assistance at (718) 931-1721.
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