BY GEORGE HAVRANEK
Perhaps, A Good Thing
There are times when
boredom is simply a sign of
lengthy peace and calm. It is
refreshing when civic association
meetings require creative
stimulations. The 50-50
chances, wine raffl es, neighborhood
banter and the traditional
post business coffee
and cake are spices that add
fl avor to neighborhood civic
meetings. There are many
civic organizations that yearn
for agendas fi lled with items
of triviality. In the past year
I have interacted with numerous
civic leaders. Through
information exchanges and
detailed discussions the consensus
reached is we are a
fortunate community. Experiences
with steady streams of
nuisance behaviors and violent
crimes that lead to mindsets
of mass exodus have not
reached our doorsteps. However,
there can be calm before
a storm. We must remain
a vigilant, unifi ed, and prepared
community to ensure
our long-term wellbeing.
Location, Location, etc
The Spencer Estate community
has unique ‘Perimeters
Of Protection’. The
neighborhood boundaries of
I-95, Pelham Bay Park, Eastchester
Bay, and our friendly
neighbors in Country Club
are insularly components.
Low-density zoning regulations
shield us from the direct
affects of vertical overdevelopments.
Our limited
commercial corridor lessens
the probability of businesses
that could alter the
charm and characteristic
of the neighborhood. However,
overdevelopments that
have negatively affected our
friends in nearby communities
have an ancillary effect
on our residents. Services
utilized in these nearby communities
such as education,
medical, retail, banking, and
dining is being strained by
rampant overdevelopment.
The overwhelming population
BRONX TIMES R 36 EPORTER, JANUARY 3-9, 2020 BTR
increase has brought
virulent nuisance issues to
many communities. Panhandling,
vagrancy, and petty
crimes; most notably vehicle
vandalism, and other behaviors
that infringe on our
quality of life are now more
noticeable. We need to stand
together and recognize that
it is better to be proactive
than forced to be reactive. “If
we want to keep and reap the
blessings of our fi ne quality
of life we must undergo the
fatigue of supporting it.”
Community Footnotes
We advise all area senior
citizens and disabled individuals,
Bronx Jewish Center’s
Community Dinner
incapable of performing
mandated snow removal
duties, to register for
Councilman Mark Gjonaj’s
‘Snow Removal Program’.
To enroll in this fine community
services call the
councilman’s office at (718)
931-1721. A ‘We are Family’
attitude is a trait commonly
found within our tightknit
community. In the spirit of
neighborhood tradition, remember
to check on family
members, neighbors, and
friends especially during periods
of harsh weather.
Our friends at Community
Board 10 inform us that
on Wednesday, January 30 at
7 p.m., the 45th Precinct Sector
B (Pelham Bay, Spencer
Estate, Country Club, Waterbury
–LaSalle) ‘Build A
Block’ meeting will take place
at Greek American Institute,
3573 Bruckner Boulevard. In
the wake of recent events and
changes to current laws this
is an opportunity to support
our NYPD and express community
concerns.
During the cold and dark of
winter it appears that pet owners
are less compliant with
mandated cleanup laws. It is
true that an overwhelming
majority of pet owners comply
with the law. However, it
only takes a few to tarnish the
neighborhood and the reputations
of all pet owners. Please,
be respectful neighbors and
clean up after your pets.
The Spencer Estate Civic
Association monthly meetings
will commence Wednesday,
March 18, 7:30 p.m. at the
Knights of Columbus (corner
of Ampere and Research avenues).
Any area homeowner
or renter interested in membership
to the inclusive Spencer
Estate Civic Association
in box George Havranek on
Facebook or send-email with
subject matter Spencer Estate
to gghh55@aol.com.
Remember: ‘Inclusion
Brings Solutions.’
Join the Bronx Jewish
Center for their next community
Shabbat dinner on
Friday, January 3, starting
at 7 p,m, at the Bronx Jewish
Center, located at 1969
Haight Avenue.
The Bronx Jewish Center
will be going white. The
special theme for that evening
will be ‘Snowy White’
in honor of the winter.
All of your traditional
style dishes will take center
stage. Enjoy a delicious
four-course dinner with
your fellow neighbors.
Turn your Friday night
Shabbat into an evening of
spiritual awakening, inspiration,
Jewish songs and
culinary delight.
RSVP to (718) 812-1701.
Shabbat dinners are held
the fi rst Friday of every
month.
The dinner is free of
charge and all are welcome
to join.
For more information
visitwww.BronxJewish-
Center. org, or offi ce@
bronxjewishcenter.org
BY GENE DEFRANCIS
Welcome 2020! A chance
for a fresh start and new beginnings.
A chance for you to
reinvent yourself and realize
anything is possible.
Allerton International
Merchants experienced an interesting
2019 to say the least.
In the end, we maintained our
integrity and did what was
best for the community.
We celebrated another anniversary
and honored NYC
Department of Sanitation
Commissioner Steven Costas.
We hosted another successful
Allerton International Food
Festival. Our Community
Clean-ups were fun and invigorating.
Lots of team building
and community improvement.
We welcomed a few new
stores. Said goodbye to a few
that were not so community
friendly/supportive. And
opened the doors for tremendous
potential to grow our
neighborhood.
Still 2020 has some challenges
that we look forward
to completing. We can accomplish
them if we work together.
Collect our resources
and come to terms with each
other. But this will only be
conducted and lead by the
residents and stakeholders of
Allerton. As always, we will
make sure your voice is heard
and you are represented in
your community. This has
been a testy subject for our
neighbors. But as always, we
guarantee we will not do anything
to hurt their area and at
the same time make sure our
area is not the target of poor
city planning that will displace
our residents.
Our community needs
parking. New buildings went
up and not enough parking
was created. Now we fi nd our
neighbors circling the block
for hours trying to fi nd safe
parking and prevent a ticket.
We need a new elementary
school as well. And we need
Waters Place to handle and
maintain their own 911 calls.
Last quarter, a reported fi ve
hundred 911 calls were made
at this area. There are State
Police on site that are equipped
and competent to arrest and
process. This needs to be a priority
so that our precinct offi -
cers can respond to our calls
in a more timely fashion.
The Safe Haven program
has continued and we look
forward to some of our newer
merchants participating. If
you are not familiar with
this program it is a safe business
where a child who may
feel endangered can enter and
provided assistance. Look for
the orange shield in our local
business windows to fi nd out
which stores are participating.
These stores have been
fully vetted by the 49th Precinct.
The holiday lights returned
but the same ineffective process
continues. We will not
be knocking on your door
5,6,7 times. It’s disrespectful
to our time and energy. You
know every year we collect for
the lights. Be ready and have
your check sent to us by October
31st the latest. Every merchant
on Allerton should be
participating. No exception.
Most neighborhoods charge
more than $100. It’s peanuts.
We heard some say they want
different lighting design. We
want that too but we are not
going to accomplish this if we
have to keep asking the same
stores over and over again to
participate and cooperate.
We are grateful to everyone
who does help make the lights
possible. Despite rumors that
have been circulating, the city
does not pay for the holiday
lights. There is no business improvement
district in Allerton.
It is the Allerton International
Merchants Association and
our merchants that fund our
lights and holiday experience.
It’s time to step up or step
out. Over the years only one
merchant who contributed to
the lights closed their doors
for good and that was due to
family health issues. If you
want longevity in a tight knit
community like Allerton, it
is best to participate in these
opportunities. The neighbors
are paying attention whether
you agree to accept this fact or
not. And the residents and supporting
merchants could do
better to be more vocal about
their support for the lights.
Children eagerly await for the
day they are installed. We had
many phone calls because residents
felt the lights were up
too late this year. We made a
phone call making sure our
vendor knew we needed our
lights up in November and no
later.
We have so many other
things to tackle and address.
This should be the easy part.
Whether you participate in
the journal ad for our upcoming
Anniversary is appreciated
but not a necessity. The
holiday lights I would argue
are a necessity. Whether you
celebrate the holidays or not,
the lights are good for business.
We are still collecting
for the next two weeks then
that’s it. Our contribution list
goes out and the community
knows who has their back. We
hope that you join us in making
Allerton a better place to
live, work, and shop.
For any and all questions,
you are always welcome to attend
our executive meeting
on Tuesday, January 7 at the
Sanz 815 Allerton Avenue. We
meet every fi rst Tuesday of
the month. Or email us at AllertonMerchants@
gmail.com.
and join us on Facebook Allerton
International Merchants
Inc.
Get involved. Your community
is your business.
/bronxjewishcenter.org
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