Temple Hatikva
reschedules November events
Due to scheduling confl icts,
Temple Hatikva has rescheduled
(Right) Congregants celebrating
Temple Hatikva’s 9th birthday anniversary.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, N 66 OVEMBER 8-14, 2019 BTR
Photo by Steven Glosser
the dates of their November
Shabbat Service and Adult
Education.
The November Shabbat service
will now be held on Friday,
November 22. The theme
will be ‘Shabbat of Thanks.’
The next Adult Ed will be held
on Sunday, November 24. The
class will explore the development
of the practices and traditions
of Sephardic Judaism.
The synagogue holds traditional,
yet modern services in
English and Hebrew, offering
a meaningful experience to
all, even those with no synagogue
background.
The synagogue meets at
Bronx House, 990 Pelham
Parkway South. All Shabbat
services begin at 7:30 p.m., and
are followed by a free Oneg
Shabbat. Adult Education sessions
begin at 10 a.m. with a
free bagel breakfast.
BY AL D’ANGELO
Strap on your six shooters
and don’t worry, if your
caught with the illegal hand
gun Bronx Criminal Court
Justice Shari Michels will
free you on your own recognizance.
That’s what the
judge did with two men accused
of recently fi ring weapons
in the south Bronx.
I guess she is an advocate
for gun control as are many
of our state politicians. New
York has some of the countries
toughest gun laws on
the books so why are there
so many illegal guns on the
street? Try to get a legal gun
permit in NYC it’s next to impossible
but I can get you an
illegal one in ten minutes on
any Bronx street corner.
The judicial system seems
to be sending a message, arm
yourself “It is better to be
judged by 12 than carried by
six”. This is not Dodge City;
there is no Wyatt Earp to protect
us. We rely on the police
and the courts to do their
jobs.
The police are doing
theirs and the courts are putting
them right back on the
streets. The politicians will
tell you crime is down but
don’t tell you they have decriminalized
crimes which
if they hadn’t would have
resulted in over 70,000 more
arrests. Now is crime still
down?
Congresswoman Alexandra
Ocasio Cortez siding with
anti-police protesters said,
“arresting people who can’t
afford a $2.75 fare makes no
one safer and destabilizes
our community.” Does that
mean the next time you’re
in a store and see something
you can’t afford you can just
take it?
Maybe a little history lesson
is in order. The police
don’t make the laws, the legislators
do, and the courts interpret
the laws. All the police
do is enforce the laws you
told them to enforce. Congresswoman
your argument
is with the people you work
with not the police. Maybe
the mayor should give the
police free tickets to events
and gift cards for their hard
work instead of to the early
released prisoners as an incentive
for them to return to
court.
Now that so many criminals
are slated for early release,
I have a solution for
the homeless problem. Arrest
them. They will be well fed,
their medical problems will
be taken care of, they will
be allowed to exercise, watch
TV, and even go to school and
when they are ready to apply
for early release, pick up
some tickets to a sporting
event and become productive
members of our society.
Maybe even better - become
a judge.
You just can’t make this
stuff up. I don’t know about
you but sometimes I feel like
I’m in the ‘Twilight Zone.’
BY GENE DEFRANCIS
Allerton International
Merchants Association had
a fantastic month. Our Halloween
events were the best
ones to date. We had over 50
pumpkins carved and left for
the Bronxwood tree for all to
see. And we gave out more
than a hundred to neighborhood
kids.
We also had our fi rst
Movie Night and showcased
Abbott and Costello Meets
Frankenstein and Creature
From The Black Lagoon.
About a dozen neighbors
came to enjoy the fi lms and
help us work out logistics for
this passion project of ours.
We will move forward with
this event monthly.
For November, the community
voted that Anchors
Away will be our next fi lm
in honor of Veterans Day. November
14, 7 p.m. at the Sanz,
815 Allerton Avenue.
In December our movie
night will be a classic fi lm in
the spirit of Christmas. We
hope you can join us for all of
them. Tickets are only $10 to
help fund raise for our community
events. It will include
a drink and a snack.
Merchants, residents, and
property owners gets your
checks to us as soon as possible.
We are collecting for the
holiday lights.
On to the elephant in the
room and our candid response
to it. The notion and
idea of charging our merchants
and property owners
thousands for a service they
already receive, should be
receiving, and don’t need...
has created friction among
friends and broken relationships.
Perhaps as time moves
on, bygones will become bygones,
but as the city and
Westchester Square Business
Improvement District keep
attempting to bulldoze this
proposal, it will continue to
alienate those few in support
of a BID and trying to manipulate
this vote.
At last development meeting
the BID organizer Richard
Bassick made a motion
to push Beth Abraham out
of the BID boundary because
they are a no vote and own a
large swath of property.
He made this motion with
only three property owners
in the room. The rest were
representatives of elected
offi cials and a rep from our
community board and NYC
Small Business Services.
The motion was shot
down. But a vote should not
have occurred without a quorum.
It should be made public
who the committee members
of this supposed BID
proposal are.
The Allerton Homeowners
and Tenants Association
and Allerton International
Merchants Association as
a courtesy, heard what WS
BID had to offer and say. Now
they insist we jump through
hoops to prove we don’t need
a BID.
A BID will hurt our members
and does not guarantee
helping our community. It
could most likely hurt our
community as well.
This is not our fi rst rodeo.
Many groups have attempted
to organize a BID in Allerton.
In the past, the BID organizer
retired or the group
lost its funding and the organization’s
leadership was replaced.
It’s a fallacy that once
a BID conversation starts it
can’t be ended. It has been
closed. The Chamber tried
to organize it and then another
non profi t tried to put
the pieces back together. We
were close to a vote three
years ago. We had a committee
when the organizer retired
and that was the end of
it.
We know what a BID
would offer. We are not interested.
A BID is simply a
merchants association with
a mandated tax.
The only reason they are
waiting until next year to
vote is because they don’t
have the votes and need more
time to gain support. This is
why they did not announce a
deadline or vote date yet.
Otherwise announce
when these supposed town
halls will be. We know the
2020 presidential election
will be on Tuesday, November
3. Announce when this
supposed BID vote will be.
Have the BID vote next
week. We dare you.
To our friends past and
current. Don’t get tangled in
this web. There is no support
for this BID and the three
who are avidly promoting it
are the only three who will be
voting for it in the end. With
the possibility of gaining an
extra three “yes” votes out of
ignorance.
We have the no votes. We
can vote tomorrow. We can
vote no next year. We can’t
vote no in ten years. Do not
get mixed up in this nonsense
because we will question and
address your motives for
wanting a BID in Allerton.
If Allerton does not want
a BID don’t make me waste
my time to prove it. There
are only so many hours in
the day and I need each hour
to focus on cleaning up NYCHA
and the Coops. I need
our time to organize our already
successful community
events. Our holiday lights. To
stop new drug facilities from
invading our community.
Allerton is our community.
Our community is our
business. Mind yours.