Message from Councilman Mark Gjonaj
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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, N 38 OVEMBER 1-7, 2019 BTR
COUNCILMAN MARK GJONAJ
BY GEORGE HAVRANEK
Meeting Recaps
Torrential rains and high winds on
Wednesday, October 16 caused early
postponement of the NY Yankee playoff
game. Despite the fi erce weather,
a large crowd of enthusiastic community
residents braved the elements
and welcomed Senator Alessandra
Biaggi to the Spencer Estate Civic Association.
‘Quality of Life’ in the community
was the evenings’ focal point.
Negligent absentee landlordism and
unwarranted cutbacks to our NYPD
were among community relevant topics
that sparked a lengthy, spirited Q
and A session between our membership
and Senator Biaggi.
The following issues were systematically
presented to our Senator:
• The need for Cease and Desist
status and accompanied legislations
tailored to protect low-density communities
in chronic negligent absentee
landlord situations.
• State funding to defray expenses
related to increasing the number of
police personnel and services they
provide in our communities.
• The rampant overdevelopments
in our communities being completed
under the umbrella of a NYC housing
crisis. Our communities are unwilling
to accept more developments without
addressing related issues. Schools,
infrastructure, and all aspects of essential
services are strained due to
this decade long practice.
• Businesses disguised as Human
Service ventures being thrust
into nearby neighborhoods. Their
presence devalues communities and
does not pass muster in a Risk versus
Reward analysis. Our association
thanks Senator Biaggi and all
our elected offi cials for their unifi ed
voices of opposition in the recent successful
battle against Miracle City.
• MTA redesign, as a cost cutting
measure was unwarranted in many
low-density areas. The MTA blind eye
policy toward fare evasion and mismanagements
in other sectors are
strongly related to this attempted action.
• The ongoing skirmish with DOT
regarding wanted four-way stop signage
at the Spencer Drive- Stadium
Avenue intersection.
Senator Biaggi was receptive to
our concerns and gave assurances
that these important issues would
be reviewed and properly addressed.
The following day communication
was received from Miguel Rondon,
Ddputy Ccief of staff for Senator
Biaggi. He reaffi rmed the senator’s
pledge as we exchanged information
relevant to the aforementioned issues.
The Spencer Estate Civic Association
looks forward to building
strong relationships with our senator
and staff while fulfi lling community
needs.
45th Precinct ‘Sector B’
Build the Block
On Thursday, Otober 24 our
Neighborhood Community Police
Offi cers from the 45th Precinct gave
an informative presentation to area
residents. Police offi cer Singleton
provided a detailed plan of proactivity
for area residents as a safeguard
against an array of problems. In an
alphabetic like sequence, she brilliantly
covered topics ranging from
auto thefts to social security scams.
Our primary Sector B NCOs police
offi cers Singh and Trinidad adeptly
engaged the audience. In mechanistic
fashions they broke down all aspects
of neighborhood policing and
touched upon many community issues
in an informative Q and A session.
The Build the Block program
is a forum in which community residents
can have public or post meeting
personal dialogue with their neighborhood
police offi cers. This event
presents prime opportunities for
voicing concerns while displaying binary
support for our community and
the fi ne men and woman of NYPD
that protect our neighborhoods.
Charter revision ballot proposal
number two touches upon support for
our NYPD. Presentation is the primary
concern of this proposal that
enhances powers of an already large
and robust Civilian Complaint Review
Board. According to NYC.gov,
the NYC Civilian Complaint Review
Board is the largest police oversight
entity in the nation and is empowered
to investigate, mediate, prosecute,
and recommend disciplinary action
for complaints alleging misconduct by
NYPD offi cers. This ‘fi ve in one’ proposal
contains multiple stand-alone
issues that are bundled in a take it
or leave it fashion. Issues such as the
CCRB budget, size increase, granting
unprecedented subpoena power to the
CCRB’s executive director, and subsequent
disciplinary processes are important
stand-alone issues and should
be voted on as such. It is unjust for the
people of our city and the rank and
fi le members of NYPD, whom will be
profoundly affected by this measure,
to be needlessly forced into a take it
or leave it scenario due to this ‘fi ve in
one’ proposal.
Community Footnotes
Our valued friends at Community
Board 10 inform us that the NYC Department
of Sanitation has expanded
their curbside electronics collection
to include the entirety of Bronx CB
10. Curbside electronics collection
takes place Monday - Friday. Please
call 311 to schedule pickups.
It is not too early to think about
snow removal or seasonal smoke
alarm checks. Area senior citizens
and disabled individuals, incapable
of performing mandated snow
removal duties please register for
Councilman Mark Gjonaj’s ‘Snow Removal
Program’. The American Red
Cross in partnership with the councilman
provides free smoke alarm
installation through the ‘Sound the
Alarm’ program. Remember, a mere
two minutes can be the difference in
successfully escaping a house fi re.
Please call (718) 931-1721 for registration
/ more information about
these important community services
or to contact Councilman Gjonaj.
Political leaders to gauge a community’s
interest and fortitude use the
attendances at local civic association
meetings. The continued large turnouts
show our elected offi cials that we
have the fortitude and resolve needed
to confront adversity. It is important
for our community to consistently
build on this momentum. The next
meeting of the SECA is Wednesday,
November 20 at 7:30 p.m. Any area homeowner
or renter interested in membership
to the all inclusive SECA in
box George Havranek on Facebook or
send-email with subject matter Spencer
Estate to gghh55@aol.com. If we
want to ‘keep and reap the blessings’
of our fi ne quality of life ‘we must undergo
the fatigue of supporting it’.
Remember: ‘Inclusion brings solutions’
I was proud to attend and speak at
the Bronx Bus Redesign press conference
on October 22nd, where a fi nal
plan was unveiled that optimizes the
bus route to reach those in greatest
need of bus service, maximizes the
number of riders served and increases
the number of available routes, while
reducing ride times. This fi nal plan is
the product of several months of dialogue
between community leaders,
community members and various parties
of interest.
The bus redesign achieves those
goals by adding three additional lines
(including an express line) and expanding
existing one. Also, the collapsing of
several stops into single stops in hightraffi
c corridors was done in the interest
of improving bus speeds. While
that may sound like a hasty decision,
I would like to note that the distance
between stops in the Bronx is much
larger than the national average, and
their consolidation allows buses to traverse
busy streets quicker than our
current bus routes allow, while also
ensuring that those with moved stops
do not have to travel far to reach their
new stop.
These additional lines, amongst
other intentions, will improve bus access
to areas previously deprived of
service, or where bus stations are incredibly
inconvenient. It is my sincere
belief that these changes will lead to
faster commutes for a greater number
of people. Everyone deserves to have
access to public transportation, and
our fi nal design is a tremendous step
in that direction.
I thought it was also valuable to
hear legitimate concerns about the
route redesign, and I can assure you
that those complaints have not fallen
on deaf ears. While the 2019 Bronx Bus
Redesign is fi nal, albeit after much
community engagement and subsequent
revision, I nonetheless encourage
your continued comments on this
plan, especially following implementation.
Please do not hesitate to contact my
offi ce at (718) 931-1721 or at MGjonaj@
council.nyc.gov. Thank you for your
assistance in allowing this redesign to
come to fruition.
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