Gjonaj letters & comments
Rally to end gun violence in the Bronx
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,BTR JULY 31-AUGUST 6, 2020 13
BY COUNCILMAN
MARK GJONAJ
In April, we had learned
that the fi rst round of NYC
Small Business Service’s
emergency grant and loan
program had major problems
with its distribution. Despite
the outer boroughs possessing
more small business,
Manhattan nonetheless took
the lion’s share of the thendisbursed
loans at 66% and
53% of grants. By comparison,
Queens received 9% of
loans disbursed in the fi rst
wave and 16% of grants. With
the lowest ranking loan and
grant totals was our community.
The Bronx only received
1% of loans and 3% of grants.
This was and is entirely
unacceptable. So I decided
to pursue, alongside my colleagues,
legislative solutions
to ensure that multi-million
dollar COVID-19 funding
relief pools are distributed
equitably amongst the boroughs,
according to need.
More specifi cally, I introduced
a bill that will require
that 1. SBS post online the
estimated fi nancial need of
each borough’s small business,
and then 2. require that
SBS comes within 5 percentage
points of that estimation
or otherwise prove in a
report to the council a good
faith effort to do so. This
holds SBS accountable to equitable
fund distribution by
giving them a point of reference
for estimated need that
they are expected to match in
how it is allocated. It’s nonbinding
insofar as there is
no punishment for noncompliance,
but it creates greater
transparency to any discrepancies
between need and actual
allocation.
The outer boroughs,
home to the bulk of the city’s
small business, are all-toofrequently
neglected in matters
such as this. They have
also been hit disproportionately
harder from COVID-19
as measured by health and
economic problems. Bronx
small businesses are just
as deserving of fair access
to the grants and loans programs
as any other borough.
For additional questions
about the legislation or if you
are a small business, what resources
are available to you,
please contact my offi ce at
718-931-1721.
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.
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Note that the address and telephone number will NOT be published and the
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right to edit all submissions.
Dear editor,
I have submitted the following
letter several times
but it has never seen the light
of day in your pages. While I
understand that space limitations
sometimes prevent letters
from being published,
I fi nd it diffi cult to believe
that this letter, which was
submitted and rejected multiple
times, falls into that category.
It is diffi cult to reach
any other conclusion than
criticism of the BTR constitutes
suffi cient reason to refuse
publication of a reader’s
viewpoint.
Nonpartisan is defi ned as
“not biased or partisan, especially
toward any particular
political group.” The BTR portrays
itself as a nonpartisan
organization, yet week after
week, it publishes a column
written by an arch conservative
individual who uses half
truths, innuendo and dubious
factoids to attack every progressive
idea, program or politician.
A truly nonpartisan
organization would provide
an opportunity for a countervailing
voice to be heard on
the same weekly basis.
– Pasqual Pelosi
A dear friend of mine was
kind enough to give me an
air conditioner which was
only one year old. On Tuesday
evening, July 21, we
transported it to my front
gated yard. Unfortunately,
we had a bad thunderstorm
on Wednesday evening, leaving
us to install the air conditioner
on Thursday.
Thursday morning at 10
a.m., I came out my front
door and my air conditioner
was removed from the metal
case and was gone. It was
taken by a black van at
9:43 a.m. I hope the CREEP
who stole my AC was nice
and cool through this heat
wave of 100 degrees while
I, an 80-year-old senior, was
sweating without air conditioning
The audacity of you
(CREEP) to come into my
private gated property. Stay
the hell out of Spencer Estates.
– Anonymous
Councilman Gjonaj on
equitable loan distribution
for Bronx businesses
Dear letters editor:
Democratic Senate Minority
and aspiring Majority
Leader Charles Schumer
had another one of his famous
temper tantrums.
On a Zoom conference
call on June 18, he told federal
Treasury Secretary
Steve Munchin and Republican
Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell that he
would block any new CARE
COVID-19 stimulus bill that
did not include another
$3.9 billion in funding for
the New York Metropolitan
Transportation Authority.
Ironic since Schumer consistently
complains how
President Trump and Congressional
Republicans are
infl exible when negotiating
any legislation.
So Schumer would hold
up his own party’s proposed
$3 trillion or the Republicans
$1 trillion next relief
bill over a $4 billion difference?
I never believed that
Schumer, Pelosi and company
could be so partisan
and childish. Schumer has
reached a new low. Like any
child, he clearly needs to
back to his Park Slope co-op
for a time out.
Sincerely,
Larry Penner
Photo courtesy of the New York City Council
As gun violence incidents continue happening across the Bronx and the rest of New York City, politicians,
top brass in the NYPD and residents gathered to say that “enough is enough.” On Thursday, July 24, they
held “A March to End Gun Violence” down Morris Avenue beginning at Mott Playground and going down to
Claremont Park. The march was organized by Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, and protesters were
joined by Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson, Councilman Andy King and Public Advocate Jumanne Williams.
Courtesy of CM Gibson’s offi ce
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