as stated BTR letters & comments
LET US HEAR FROM YOU
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, DECEMBER 1 BTR 3-19, 2019 13
Televised fire
ravaged P.S. 1
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will NOT be published and the name will be published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,
I would like to offer a correction
to “Bronx Community
Students View ‘Decades
of Fire’ Film” in which he reports
that the fi re captured
during the 1977 World Series
that caused Howard Cosell to
exclaim “The Bronx is Burning,”
was not a church, but
rather, the old P.S. 1 which
had seen many fi res after the
building was closed by the city
in the mid-1960s and replaced
by a newer structure, P.S. 29,
built directly in front of the
old building,
P.S. 1, located on 157th
Street between Courtlandt
and Melrose avenues, had become
a fi re trap and the night
it burned down, the only safe
thing fi refi ghters could do was
to attack the fi re from the outside
and try to keep it from collapsing
onto P.S. 29.
I know this because I lived
across the street from P.S. 29
at 765 Courtlandt Avenue in
the Jackson Houses and we
could feel the heat from the
fi re on the windows of our 8thfl
oor apartment.
Cosell, never short on
the dramatics, also stated
that that the fi re was “In the
very neighborhood visited by
Jimmy Carter just the week
before.” This, of course, was
untrue. Carter visited Charlotte
Street in the Crotona
Park section of the Bronx. The
fi re was in the Morrisania section
of the Bronx, almost two
miles away.
I look forward to seeing
Vivian Vazquez’s documentary
“Decade of Fire: The
Bronx is Burning”. She was 14
at the time of the famous fi re, I
was 21. We both witnessed and
experienced the decades of the
devastation of our respective
Bronx neighborhoods.
Kevin M. Meade
Danger awaits
poorly lit road
Dear editor,
I came across an article
in the Bronx Times Reporter
from 2015 regarding the poor
lighting on Westchester Avenue.
I drive home under the
el from work, from Castle
Hill Avenue to Buhre Avenue
and you can’t see a thing. The
street lamps all face the sidewalk
and they emit a dull yellow
light.
It is so dark under the el,
you can’t see the people who
often dart out in front of you to
cross the street wherever they
feel like it, while wearing dark
clothes.
You also have to compete
with the very bright and blinding
lights of oncoming traffi c.
Isn’t there anything that can
be done? It is very dangerous
driving, especially when it’s
dark at 4:30 p.m.
Also, has anyone looked
into the traffi c mess under the
el at Westchester Square? The
city changed the traffi c pattern,
so if you want to go south
on East Tremont Avenue, you
have to move into the right
lane, because there are markings
you cannot cross once
you pass Ferris Place. Yet, the
NYC Department of Transportation
does nothing to deter
double parked cars from
blocking the turning lane.
Anne Schwartz
Details missing
in $51B budget
Dear editor,
Commuters, transportation
advocates, taxpayers and
elected offi cials have good reason
to be concerned about how
realistic the MTA $51 Billion
Five Year 2020 - 2024 Capital
Program Plan is? The devil is
in the details, which the MTA
has been unwilling to share
with anyone outside of their
236 page proposed prospectus
supporting this funding
request. How can the Albany
MTA Capital Program Review
Board possibly approve this
proposal without suffi cient information?
Too many projects
contained in this new Capital
Plan are still in the conceptual
planning stage. Cost estimates
can easily change. Few project
environmental reviews have
been completed. Will the environmental
review process
follow the State Environmental
Quality Uniform Act or National
Environmental Protect
Act?
Going through the NEPA
process is mandatory if the
MTA wishes to be eligible for
Federal Transit Administration
funding. Cost estimates
for each project contained
in this new Capital Plan will
have to be refi ned as progress
proceeds beyond the planning
and environmental phases
into fi nal design and engineering.
History has shown that
estimated costs for construction
usually trend upwards as
projects mature toward completion
of fi nal design.
Progression of fi nal design
refi nes the detailed scope of
work necessary to support
construction. Costs would
be further refi ned by award
of construction contracts followed
by any unforeseen site
conditions and change orders
to the base contracts during
the construction phase. The
anticipated fi nal potential
cost can never be known until
reaching benefi cial use, acceptance
of maintenance manuals
for the physical assets, inspection
and acceptance, completion
of all contract punch list
items followed by release of retainage
and fi nal payment to
the vendor(s).
How wlll the MTA be able
to integrate management for
billions in active capital projects
from the current 2015 -
2019 Capital Plan into 2020 and
beyond? Many will carry over
into the next Five Year Plan.
All of this old work will have
to be integrated with future
annual Track Outage, Force
Account (in house employees),
Routine Maintenance and
Procurement Strategy plans
starting in 2020 forward for
each MTA agency including
New York City Transit, Long
Island Rail Road, Metro North
Rail Road, MTA Capital Construction
and MTA Bus. This
is necessary to support each
agencies respective capital
programs. These concerns
and questions deserve to be
answered in detail before we
invest a record $51 billion.
Larry Penner
SENATOR ALLESANDRA BIAGGI
The following As Stated
commentaries provide insight
into the Nike-NY Yankees
merchandise agreement
and the New York state
proposal on public financing.
Statement from Borough
President Ruben Diaz, Jr.
re the deal on New York Yankees
merchandise and local
Bronx businesses..... “I
am pleased to learn that the
New York Yankees, Nike and
Major League Baseball were
receptive to public pressure
to do the right thing, and
have heeded the concerns
of our business community
in the area surrounding
Yankee Stadium. The news
that these three entities
have reversed their policy
that would have prevented
these longtime mom-andpop
stores from selling official
Yankee merchandise is
a welcome one.
“As one of the richest
sports franchises in the
world, it was incumbent on
the Yankees to do what was
right and protect this small
business community that
almost exclusively caters to
their fan base. Inaction on
this issue would have certainly
reaped huge profits
for the Yankees, Nike and
Major League Baseball.
However, it would have most
definitely crippled our local
economy that the New
York Yankees promised to
enhance, as part of the deal
that built their new stadium
with significant taxpayer
funds.
“I want to thank Cary
Goodman, the executive director
at the 161 Street BID,
for bringing this to our attention,
as well as the New
York Yankees for doing their
due diligence and addressing
this alarming issue that
would have had a huge negative
impact on The Bronx.”
State Senator Alessandra
Biaggi issued the following
statement on Public
Campaign Financing Commission
proposal..... “I want
to extend my gratitude to the
Public Campaign Financing
Commission for their hard
work on this issue. The public
service they have done in
dedicating their time to this
issue is appreciated.
“However, I am disappointed
in the outcome. It is
upsetting that their proposal
to create a public finance
system for New York’s elections
does not meet the legislative
intent of the Commission
nor the political will of
the people. The Commission
was created to put forth a
plan for public campaign financing
that empowers everyday
New Yorkers and reduces
the influence of money
in our politics – the existing
proposal only scratches the
surface in achieving that
aim, failing to significantly
lower contribution limits
and maintaining an advantage
for wealthy donors.
“But what is perhaps the
most disheartening about
this proposal is that it includes
provisions that have
nothing to do with public financing,
and everything to
do with advancing a political
agenda. The Commission’s
motion to increase barriers
for third parties is completely
unjustified, and does
not fall into the scope of the
body’s intent.
“This proposal is halfbaked
and does not reflect
the vision of the New Yorkers
who testified at the Commission’s
hearings, and who
raised their voices throughout
this entire process. Looking
forward, the Legislature
now has the responsibility
to fulfill our promise to the
people and get the job done.
We must pass clean legislation
that creates a robust
campaign financing system
that will reduce the dangerous
influence of money
in politics, diversify political
power, and amplify the
voices of all New Yorkers.
The fight for fair elections
must, and will, continue.”
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