Benedetto announces collegiate scholarships
Assemblyman Michael R.
Benedetto announced that
the New York Conference of
Italian-American State Legislators
is now accepting applications
for scholarships to
be awarded on Italian-American
Day, Monday, May 18.
Scholarship winners must
be present to accept their
awards.
“Given the high cost of college,
every opportunity must
be made by local students
and their working families to
meet their required expenses
with scholarships as well as
with student loans, available
fi nancial aid, and personal
contributions,” said Benedetto.
“I highly recommend
that our area’s students apply
to the conference for these
prestigious scholarships so
that they may hopefully secure
as much extra help with
their educational expenses
as possible.”
This year the Italian
–American State Legislators
BRONX TIMES R 46 EPORTER, MARCH 6-12, 2020 BTR
Conference will be awarding
four $4,000 scholarships
to four current college students
or high school seniors
entering college from New
York State. Eligibility will
be based upon the student’s
grade point average as well
as individual fi nancial need.
Applicants must reside in the
82nd Assembly District.
“Our conference is very
proud of our role in prompting
higher education and assisting
students in reaching
their academic goals and full
potential for future success
in the global marketplace,”
Benedetto continued. “This
year’s recipients will be invited
to Albany to receive
their scholarship awards in.”
Area students may request
an application by contacting
Assemblyman Benedetto’s
offi ce at (718) 892-2235.
All applications must
be returned to the assemblyman’s
offi ce by Monday,
March 16.
I highly recommend
that our area’s
students apply to
the conference for
these prestigious
scholarships.
Assemblyman
Michael R. Benedetto
It is my sad duty to report
the passing of Gloria Koppie
on Saturday, February 29.
The family held a private service
as were her wishes.
Gloria as most of us knew
her was a steadfast supporter
of the veterans and troops
alike, up until she was recently
sick she was on the go
from morning to night all in
the name of veterans causes.
She was a lifetime supporter
of the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines,
Coast Guard & Airmen’s
Club in midtown Manhattan
founded in 1919, whose
mission was to provide a reasonably
priced option to service
members on leave in the
city.
Gloria attended all veterans
functions and always
had a story to tell with a few
choice words at times, she
was at the recruiters stations
on a weekly basic, sometimes
getting a little boisterous
to get what she wanted. Her
heart was always in the right
place and I was honored to
know her, I render her a slow
hand salute, God’s speed Gloria.
I have recently been made
aware that the price of shipping
a package to our troops
has risen to close to $20 a
package. The Support the
Troops Bingo night Friday,
April 17 hosted at Post 620 is
exactly what this cause is for,
as of this writing there are
still tickets for sale, lets get
out there and raise funds for
this most worthy mission.
Nominations and elections
the next few meetings,
be a part of things and keep
it going, the Legion is not a
building it is the people that
belong to it.
That’s all for now. We are
stronger as one. Let’s work
together.
God bless America.
BY GEORGE HAVRANEK
Keep This Pilot Grounded
Legislation 1004 that overwhelmingly
and quietly passed
the City Council was enacted
in March 2019. The legislation
established a ‘Pilot Program’
legalizing certain basement
and cellar apartments in portions
of Brooklyn. According
to City Council member
Brad Ladner (Brooklyn District
39), “Converting basement
units into safe and legal
housing is an important way
to address the NYC affordable
housing crisis…it will also enable
us…to smartly expand
the program to neighborhoods
around the city.”
All eligible homes must be
owner occupied; however, the
screening and inspection procedure
are fl awed. In Bronx
County, case closeouts related
to access refusals leaves a large
number of illegal tenancy/certifi
cates of occupancy complaints
unresolved. New York
City’s unreliable and ineffective
method of monitoring this
assertive housing plan is an
enticement to absentee landlord
investors. A scan through
the NYC ACRIS system revealed
much property ownerships
in low-density segments
of the Community Board 10
footprint with LLP or LLC status.
This fi nding is congruent
with marked increases in absentee
landlordism. Recent
studies by the National Institute
for Health revealed a
strong relationship between
absentee landlords and a negative
quality of life. The studies
logically concluded that
homes with absentee landlords
are more likely to be neglected
and become points of
neighborhood nuisances than
those with an owner living on
premise. Area residents must
take a proactive stance and
make it abundantly clear that
this Pilot Program will not be
granted permission to land in
our community.
The rampant over-developments
creating mushroom
like clusters of vertical builds
throughout the CB 10 footprint
are not the end games
for self-serving predatory vultures
that circle our communities.
Once the carcasses of
one segment are picked clean
another target is selected. The
predatory vultures salivate
over the prospects of picking
apart our low-density communities.
These slices of suburbia
devoid of the high-density
hustle and bustle of city life
are disdainfully looked upon
as “urban sprawl”. For now,
low-density zoning regulations
remain the prophylactic
preventing greedy developers
from sowing seeds of mass destruction
in these charming
enclaves. However, the City
Hall agenda to combat social
service issues (e.g. homelessness,
substance abuse etc.)
and a questionable housing
crisis places jeopardy upon
our quality of life. Successful
battles against substance
abuse treatment enterprises
affi liated with Miracle City
and Carnegie Hill required
diligent community leadership,
elected offi cial support,
and tenacity from community
residents. The latest cannon
fi re from these predatory
“leaning allegories of want” is
a 200-bed men’s’ homeless shelter
near the Cb11/ CB10 border
at 1400 Blondell Avenue.
This locale is near the controversial
Blondell Commons site
that despite widespread community
oppositions will soon
become reality. At the time of
this writing a multi-community
town hall hosted by Councilman
Mark Gjonaj and Assemblyman
Mike Benedetto
was slated for Monday, February
24. We hope this event
produces benefi cial ideas that
are advantageous to the affl
icted and affected members
of our communities.
Thomas Paine’s challenges
to authoritarianism documented
in the historical work
‘Common Sense’ and French
philosopher Voltaire’s words
“Common sense is not so common
“resonate powerfully
throughout our communities.
Many area residents do not
want ventures such as 1400
Blondell Avenue or Blondell
Commons to become ‘Common’
to the fabric our communities.
Community Footnotes
As technology advances
so does quality of scams. Improved
voice “cloning” software
enables scam artists to
further prey on our vulnerable
seniors. Beware of any phone
calls requesting money to help
a loved one in a dangerous situation.
NYPD reports indicate
multiple seniors throughout
the city have fallen victim to
this nefarious scheme.
Tax season brings an increase
in Social Security and
IRS scams. Never release your
Social Security number or
other sensitive information on
the telephone or Internet. Neither
the Social Security administration
nor the Internal Revenue
Service uses these tools to
gather personal information.
Statistics indicate auto
thefts and vandalisms remain
on the rise. Never leave an
unattended car running and
remember to remove all valuables;
in a scant few seconds
you can become a victim.
Eleven recent graduates
of the NYPD academy will be
assigned to our 45th Precinct.
We are thankful for these necessary
additions to our local
precinct. Good luck to all of
them.
In our quest to attain cease
and desist designation for the
entirety of Spencer Estate, and
by extension the CB10 footprint,
we ask area residents
to bring all unwanted real estate
solicitations to our March
meeting.
Political leaders to gauge a
community’s strength use the
attendances at local civic association
meetings. Large turnouts
by community residents
show elected offi cials that we
have the fortitude and resolve
needed to confront adversity.
The initial 2020 meeting of
the Spencer Estate Civic Association
is Wednesday, March
18, 7:30 p.m., at the Knights of
Columbus (corner of Ampere
and Research avenues) Our
scheduled keynote speaker is
valued friend, Councilman
Gjonaj. Any area homeowner
or renter interested in membership
to the all inclusive
Spencer Estate Civic Association
in box George Havranek
on Facebook or send-email to
spencerestatecivic@gmail.
com Remember: ‘Inclusion
brings solutions.”
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