BRONX TIMES REPORTER, A BTR PR. 30-MAY 6, 2021 41
BY: ANTHONY RIVIECCIO,
FOUNDER
11st Council District Facebook
moderator Shira Silverman
probably says it better
than we ever could , when it
comes to the startling differences
between Riverdale- and
the other 6 neighborhoods in
the district.
When talking to a local
newspaper reporter at The
Riverdale Press, about the
neighborhoods, dealing with
online forums, her response
was:
“I think (the forums) are
more effective in conjunction
with other ways of getting
out the vote,” she said. “And I
think we really need to work
on that. Because Wakefi eld,
Norwood, Bedford Park and
Woodlawn just basically don’t
have any say in the district.”
Over the course of our existence,
knowing the council
district boundaries, we
felt the best way to attempt
representation in Bedford
Park & Norwood (20%) was
to tag team with candidates,
whether they lived in Riverdale
(60%) or not. We supported
Oliver Koppell in 2009,
Cliff Stanton in 2013 and Andrew
Cohen in 2017, all while
trying to keep a subtle balance
in making sure our neighborhoods
were represented while
understanding our neighborhood
will never be considered
” 1st” .
But in 2021, we think we
are in a lot of trouble.
While interviewing candidates
in the 11th Council
district during the special
election, we looked at three:
Marcos Sierra from Norwood,
Dan Padernecht from Van
Courtlandt Village & Abagil
Martin from Riverdale.
With now campaign fi -
nancing being 8-1 you would
believe that all the candidates
would have received thousands
of dollars!. Many did!
You would think they would
have spent their campaign
money at worst case, in proportion
to their district !. All
did NOT– at least not at Bedford
Park & Norwood.
As we can now see, between
these three candidates
alone, they spent 1% or less in
proportion to their campaign
budget. Did you get a mailing?
Did they hand you their
information on the corner?
Have you seen any of their
posters or banners? Have you
seen any information in your
building?
Actually many would say
the only one who spent campaign
money, in our hood,
was candidate Mino Lora.
If you were on the merchant
strips of: Bedford Park Blvd,
Jerome Ave, Gun Hill Road
or 204th Bainbridge, you
would have thought you were
in Mino Lora land! Her signs
were everywhere! Her signs
are STILL there.
So when Mrs Lora, from
Riverdale, decided to do a
last minute rally in Norwood,
at the heart of Mr Sierra’s
area, hundreds showed up . It
wasn’t Senators Biaggi or Rivera
who jumped on the Mino
Lora bandwagon at the last
minute- it was because she Invested
into the neighborhood
and prepared.
So, who do we support for
the 11th CD Primary? Our
home!
It’s not that we don’t like
Mrs Lora?We’ve learned to
appreciate her campaign but
we do not believe she is familiar
with our side of the district.
In regards to the candidates
mentioned above, we
believe while of course they
might have more experience
, by their campaign budgets,
none want to invest in the non
Riverdale side of the district.
And for the Riverdale special
election now councilman
winner, Eric Dinowitz? Not a
dime, either!
As a matter of fact Riverdale
Press editor in chief
, Michael Hinman, deserves
praise on how he has written
many articles in the last
week’s indicating how most of
the candidates spent at least
70% of their monies OUT
SIDE OF THE DISTRICT
EVEN OUTSIDE OF THE
BRONX! We call it: The Year
of The Consultant!.
So what does this all
mean?. After 2 decades, Bedford
Park & Norwood is in
big political ” City Council ”
trouble.
What do we do? Frankly
were not sure ourselves!.
Do we start an Anthony
Rivieccio write in vote? Do we
start a Sheila Sanchez write
in vote? For a hot minute we
were going to ask Civil Court
candidate Yadhira Gonzalez
Taylor to be a write in candidate,
but she lovingly wants
to be a civil court judge!.
So what do we do? To be
continued!
Council District 11 includes
the Northwest Bronx
neighborhoods of Bedford
Park, Kingsbridge, Norwood,
Riverdale, Van Cortlandt Village,
Wakefi eld, and Woodlawn.
Anthony Rivieccio has
been founder of The Northwest
Bronx Democrats , a
community & political organization
since 2003. Their
target areas are: Fordham,
Kingsbridge , Kingsbridge
Heights , Bedford Park, Norwood
, Allerton. The current
President is Sheila Sanchez .
You can fi nd our Facebook
Group page by just going to
Facebook search and tying
in: “Northwest Bronx Democrats”.
We feature daily: NYC
& Bronx community & political
news, activities & events.
Our close to 2000 members include
several distinguished
: activists, NYC agency staff
directors, elected and party
offi cals-, including Councilpeople,
State Assembly, State
Senate & Congressional representatives,
and numerous
people of interest.
CIVIC CENTER
Northwest Bronx
Democrats
April is National Alcohol
Awareness Month. This initiative’s
inception goes back to
1987, when it was developed in
order to combat the dangers related
to alcohol use primarily
in college-bound young adults.
Since then, its efforts have been
expanded to bringing alcohol
awareness to families and communities
on a national level.
Since the prevention of alcohol
misuse is one of TNCAP’s
main objectives, Alcohol
Awareness Month is very dear
to the coalition. The coalition’s
efforts focus on combating alcohol
misuse all year long,
however during the month of
April, we are primarily focusing
on starting two student-led
initiatives that would give students
the opportunity to create
communications projects that
would highlight awareness for
parents in the community. The
intent of this initiative is to encourage
parents to start the
conversation with their children
about the dangers of alcohol
and how it can impact their
wellbeing.
To learn more about the
dangers of underage drinking,
as well as how to talk to your
child about this topic, go to:
https://www.samhsa.gov/underage
drinking https://www.
niaaa.nih.gov/publications/
brochures-and-fact-sheets/underage
drinking
About TNCAP:
Throggs Neck Community
Action Partnership (TNCAP)
is an urban coalition which
has been working together to
prevent alcohol and other substance
abuse among our youth
since 1998.
Our membership of over 20
organizations meets monthly to
plan and collaborate on projects
that recognize and address the
diverse needs of Throggs Neck
in the southeast section of the
Bronx, New York. The coalition
is under the auspices of
the Archdiocese of New York
Drug Abuse Prevention Program.
The coalition continues
to thrive through current funding
from the federal government’s
Center for Substance
Abuse Prevention and the NYS
Offi ce of Addiction Services
and Supports (OASAS). Since
its inception, TNCAP takes
pride in implementing policy
and environmental strategies
that positively impact people’s
lives.
CIVIC CENTER
Throggs Neck
Community Action
Partnership
BY COUNCILMAN
MARK GJONAJ
Last week and weekend’s
pet food giveaway events and
spay/neuter clinic offerings
were a tremendous success,
as was the unveiling of my
legislation to protect animals
from irritating de-icing
road salt. It was a true pleasure
to see all the pets of District
13.
The weekend’s events
were then wrapped up with
a much-deserved street conaming
in honor of the late
Robert Leder—a Bronx educator
and inspiring leader
in his capacity as principal
of Lehman High School for
nearly three decades. He is
missed but we are proud to
enshrine his legacy with this
street co-naming on East
Tremont Avenue.
This week we have another
full docket of constituent
service offerings as my
team continues its unwavering
commitment to the District.
We presented Council
citations to Ralph Bonavita
and Giuseppe DiPuppo of
Bonavita Markets Key-
Food, earlier in the week.
We wanted to celebrate both
individuals’ commitment
to the district by their tireless
partnership in our food
giveaway events. On Friday
April 30th we will have our
fi nal COVID-19 rapid testing
of the month at the NYCHA
Throggs Neck Houses at 475
Swinton Avenue from 10a to
2p. No appointment is necessary
for these events and
tests will be distributed on
a fi rst come, fi rst served basis.
Photo ID, however, is required.
On the horizon, we will be
hosting an “Ice Cream with
Mom” event at Pelham Parkway
South on May 8th, socially
distanced and masked
of course. Questions or further
details about the event
can redirected to my district
offi ce.
For assistance from my
constituent services team and
additional information about
upcoming district events,
please contact my offi ce at either
(718) 931-1721 or at MGjonaj@
council.nyc.gov. Thank
you and stay safe.
From Councilman Mark Gjonaj
Call 718.260.2555
..to sell your car in our
CLASSIFIED SECTIONS
& get...Real Results!
link
/un-derage-drinking
/un-derage-drinking
/www
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/council.nyc.gov