BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J BTR ULY 23-29, 2021 13
letters & comments
TO THE EDITOR,
The following is an open
letter to Pete Buttigieg, secretary
of the U.S. Department
ofTransportation, that was
sent to the Bronx Times by its
author.
I write to you to voice my
opposition to a proposal to
“cap” the Cross Bronx Expressway,
in its currentiteration.
It completely ignores
similar problems affecting the
communities I represent in
the New YorkState Assembly’s
82nd District.
While I agree with the
premise for “decking” of the
Cross Bronx Expressway as
expressed in a letteraddressed
to you from my colleagues in
the Bronx Delegation, the proposal
leaves out the BrucknerExpressway
portion of I-95
which should also be included.
This roadway travels
through Throggs Neck and-
Pelham Bay.
I do not understand why
these areas were omitted. The
citizens in the Throggs Neck
and Pelham Baycommunities
should be entitled to the same
benefi ts as other communities
along the I-95 corridor.I therefore
implore you to include all
highways that comprise the
I-95 corridor in the name ofenvironmental
justice for all
Bronx residents.
Michael Benedetto,
New York State Assembly
TO THE EDITOR,
Having a column in the
Bronx Times like Frank Vernuccio’s
is a breath of fresh
air!
Being inundated by the
hard left‘s policies, which in
my opinion are destroying our
cities and country, and the polarization
of politics in the last
few years, it seems to me, to be
getting out of control.
I recently read a letter in
the Bronx Times condemning
Mr. Vernuccio’s column, but
just like most of hiscolumn,
it’s an opinion and should
be taken as that. Everyone’s
voice should be heard,
whether right or left, and condemning
one’s opinion is OK,
yet asking for one to be shut
down is not OK.
Also, let me point out that
calling a duly elected president
a dictator shows the mentality
of the writer. The person
that wrote that his column is
hate fi lled, I beg to differ. He
just points out facts that the
left choose to ignore, mostly
inconvenient truths.Then,
calling an administration a
“reign of terror,” is totally inappropriate.
But when calling
the Biden administration incompetent,
which seems to be
an understatement, you get attacked.
I applaud Mr. Vernuccio’s
column and opinions, and
hope it’s expanded.
John Provetto
TO THE EDITOR,
Snippets demonstrating
the intellectual dishonesty of
the resident right-wing columnist
from the July 16 edition
of the Bronx Times:1.
Progressives seek to diminish
the constitutional form of government.
Evidence offered,
none. In his view, Conservatives
are the only true patriots
and since Progressives have a
differingviewpoint they are a
danger to our form of government.
2. Progressives weaken
the structure of the Supreme
Court. Evidence offered, none.
No mention of Republicans
ramming through appointments
of unqualifi ed, right
wing jurists. 3. Progressives
propagate falsehoods about
the past. Evidence offered,
none. Recently, the gentleman
extolled the 1776 Report
which reduces history to hero
worship, while overlooking
any evidence that our history
is not 100% fl awless. Propaganda
in education, new concerns
about defi cit spending
and every “talking point” of
his movement are routinely
featured, slandering those
who are not with his program.
Enough already!
Pasqual Pelosi
TO THE EDITOR,
I read with interest the
letter you chose to highlight
from Sandi Lusk in the Bronx
Times. As someone who has
known Frank Vernuccio for
more than 20 years, please
allow me to respond.While
Frank is, and has always
been, a conservative voice, he
is not, and never has been, a
“political hatchet job.” He consistently
writes from a factual
basis, citing to statistics
and reasoned analysis to support
his views. You, and others
may not agree with what
he says — but I thank you for
not denying him the right to
freely express his views.Ms.
Lusk is entitled to her view.
But the danger in her complaint
is the willingness she
expresses to silence someone
with whom she does not
agree. If we only expose ourselves
to opinions with which
we agree, we will soon fi nd
ourselves without the civil
discourse the founders of our
nation intended for our nation.
Hon. John H. Wilson,
Retired judge of Civil
Court, Bronx County
LET US HEAR FROM YOU
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.
Silence from Progressive leaders
on new fulfi llment center
BY MATT CAULFIELD
No, that’s not a new NYCFC
soccer stadium, it’s the largest
multistory fulfi llment center
in the United States.
Our representatives in
Congress talk a big game
about wanting to improve the
air quality and health outcomes
of the Bronx, but seem
unaware or uninterested
about what is happening right
here in their own districts
that will make this problem
worse. Namely, the development
of a massive new lastmile
fulfi llment center at 2505
Bruckner Blvd.
Billed as the largest multistory
fulfi llment center in
the U.S., 2505 Bruckner Blvd.
is poised to dump untold
amounts of new truck traffi
c onto the Bruckner and the
Cross Bronx expressways.
The development is located
in AOC’s 14th District and the
truck traffi c that it spits out
will sit on the highways that
cut through Ritchie Torres’
15th District.
Our representative Ocasio-
Cortez is unmatched in her
ability to bring attention to
social justice issues. Busy doing
the bidding of the Justice
Democrats, a political action
committee, on projects like
the Long Island City-Amazon
deal, the “defund” movement
and the U.S. southern border.
Andonce again left to fend for
ourselves here in the Bronx.
It’s a convenient arrangement
that the Justice Democrats
get to use the underdog
story of an under-empowered
population, slow to demand results
from government, in order
to push a national agenda
formulated by media and political
elites. It’s been called
“Trickle-down social justice.”
These big ideas do not seem
to be reaching the ground in
the Bronx and improving the
quality of life here for working
families. It is still very
recognizable as the place her
parents left to give her a better
start in life.
Torres has been focused on
the issue of poor air quality
that plagues his district and
pitched an extremely ambitious
solution of “capping” the
Cross Bronx with green space.
His silence on this fulfi llment
center makes me question
how serious he is about real
progress and change on this
dire local issue though.
In his own words as quoted
in the Bronx Times,“Children
who live near the Cross Bronx
or who attend school nearby
are – through no fault of their
own – breathing in pollutants
that cause the Bronx to have
among the highest rates of
childhood asthma in the nation.
The diesel trucks that often
congest the Cross Bronx
have been a death sentence for
the people of the south Bronx,
shortening their life spans
with chronic diseases that
have grown lethal in the age of
COVID. The Cross Bronx Expressway
is, both literally and
fi guratively, a structure of environmental
racism whose
dismantling is long overdue.”
Not only is the fulfi llment
center a big step in the wrong
direction on the issue of environmental
justice; it is alarming
to see that the Department
of Transportation is using
taxpayer money to completely
replace the Union Port Bridge
that will provide access to the
highways from 2505 Bruckner
Blvd. It has been a major
inconvenienceto localbusinesses
and residents, and is
set to benefi tthe fulfi llmentcenter
the most. Essentially
subsidizingmoreair pollution.
Tenants of the facility
have not been announced,
but it is some dark comedy to
think that it could be Amazon.
Chased out of someone
else’s district in Queens by
AOC only to continue their expansion
in Manhattan while
dumping more environmental
burdens right here in her own
district in the Bronx, the poorest
of the fi ve boroughs.
Jobs? No question there
will be more economic activity
compared to the abandoned
Whitestone Cinemas,
the former tenants of the site.
But how many low-paying fulfi
llment center jobs — insecure
in the face of automation
— are worth the lifelong burden
of asthma in our children?
opinion
Billed as the largest multistory fulfi llment center in the U.S., 2505
Bruckner Blvd. is poised to dump untold amounts of new truck traffi c
onto the Bruckner and the Cross Bronx expressways.
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