BY MARY JANE MUSANO
I think we are very lucky
to live in a community where
residents will come together
around a situation that threatens
the quality of life of all who
live here. Right now, the problem
is here in Schuylerville
but residents and civic leaders
from every community have
come out to help. They know
that if this community is upzoned,
it will be the start of the
upzoning of our entire community.
Our one- and two-family
homes will disappear and very
tall buildings will rise into the
sky. It will be the end of our low
density, quaint neighborhoods.
This why we must all fi ght this
together. There is strength in
numbers and we can win if everyone
gets involved.
Joe Bivona, owner of Foodtown,
has proposed to upzone
the area from his store, down
to Gifford Avenue and into
Tremont Avenue. The community
quickly pushed back with
petitions, rallies, letters, phone
calls, media coverage and social
media posts. We have garnered
support from our community
board and former
Councilman Jimmy Vacca as
well as the Throggs Neck BID.
Aleksander Mici, a candidate
for City Council, has publicly
pledged his support to our community.
He backed up his support
by sending a legal document
known as a “Cease and
Desist” letter to the Throggs
Neck Associates, LLC. Sammy
Ravello, a candidate for borough
president, has also publicly
pledged his support. Both
have attended our rallies and
petition drives.
Now, we need every local
politician to publicly say that
they will support this community
by helping us defeat the
Bruckner upzoning and others
that are sure to follow. If they
have a vote in this proposal
they must pledge to vote no and
also to urge their colleagues
to line up against this. With
such a strong community outpouring
against this project it
would be political suicide to do
anything else but throw their
full support behind us. I urge
you to vote for the politicians
that commit to voting this proposal
down. Right now, it is the
most important issue because
this proposal has the potential
From left, Fatou Cisse, Marianne Lardo, Virginia Strasser, Gail Cancelino, Julie Rizzo, Joanne Murphy, Dusha
Nikprelaj, Miriam Martinez and Elizabeth Martinez. Photo courtesy Mary Jane Mustano
to change our lives forever.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, A 52 UG. 27-SEPT. 2, 2021 BTR
Our civic association and
other partners will be sending
letters to all local politicians
urging their support. We will
report back the response we received
from each. We ask that
you do the same. Do not accept
the soft responses that we
have received so far. They must
know that they are either with
us or against us. If they are
against us, they will feel our
wrath at the ballot box.
As you see in the photo,
many residents are hitting the
streets with petitions. You can
help by getting your friends
and neighbors to sign. Petitions
are available by emailing
us at waterburylasalle@yahoo.
com. You can also get petitions
at John Cerini’s offi ce, located
at 3600 Tremont Ave.
We are planning to resume
civic meetings in September,
barring any COVID complications.
We rely on your dues as
we do not receive monetary
help from our local elected offi -
cials. So many of you have sent
an extra gift with your dues.
Your generosity is very much
appreciated. If you have not
yet sent in your dues, please
send your $10 yearly dues to
Waterbury LaSalle Community
Association, 1145 Hobart
Ave., Bronx, NY 10461. We are a
501c3, which means that donations
over and above dues are
tax deductible.
Stay well and stay safe during
this crisis. We will get
through this together!
CIVIC CENTER
Waterbury LaSalle
Community
Association
BY AL D’ANGELO
Need a part time job for your
son or daughter? The mayor is
proposing a stipend of $1,000 a
month for teens who are involved
in lethal fi rearms offenses. The
idea is championed by Public Advocate
Jumaane Williams. Who
said crime doesn’t pay? You can’t
make this up. The mayor disbanded
the NYPD’s Anti-Crime
Unit and the result led to a sharp
rise in shootings and murders.
Now he wants to reward those
committing these crimes.
Does anyone know the truth
about the Covid virus? Do the vaccines
work; do all masks work;
do vaccines lose their potency;
should children be in school and
are children immune? These
questions and many more are answered
differently depending on
which experts are asked, while
we remain in the dark. I feel like
I’m in the “Twilight Zone.”
We just suffered the most
embarrassing point in our history
with the withdrawal of our
troops from Afghanistan. I am
far from a military genius, but
when you withdraw from a war
zone doesn’t it make sense to
withdraw your people while the
military can still protect them;
then destroy all weapons and
ordinances that can fall into enemy
hands, so that, when all is
secure, our military can depart
with pride and dignity. We left behind
billions of dollars worth of
equipment: 29 black hawk attack
helicopters, aircrafts, Humvees,
tanks and tons of arms and ammunition,
not to mention American
citizens and those Afghans
that helped us against the Taliban.
How can our allies trust us?
To those men and women who
served and suffered the physical
and psychological tortures of
war, we are deeply in debt to you
for your service.
Yup the “Twilight Zone”:
Crime is up across our nation;
prices on consumer goods are
up; our boarders are a disgrace;
our foreign policy leaves a lot
to be desired; we are now asking
OPEC for oil; Facebook and
Twitter allow the Taliban to
have a voice but not a former
president; gas prices have doubled
over the last eight months;
the news media picks and
chooses what stories are important
and then adds on their own
political twist.
Blacks are pitted against
whites and poor against rich.
When do we wake up and stop
worrying about political parties,
which have polarized our
country, and start voting for
candidates who will fi ght for the
values you believe in?
Are you for or against vouchers;
are you for or against abortion;
are you for or against illegal
immigration; are you for
or against the oil pipeline; are
you for or against voter IDs; are
you for or against the defunding
of the police; are you for or
against bail reform? These are
some questions you should ask
yourself before you vote. Do
your homework your way of life
depends on it. Make a check list
and choose the candidate that is
most aligned with your ideals.
Because they may look like you
or talk like you, it doesn’t mean
they stand for your values.
Many politicians are like unscrupulous
car salesmen trying
to sell you something you don’t
want; do your homework.
All this said, you’ll never
make a difference if you are not
a registered voter. Just because
your registered for one political
party does not mean you have to
vote for that party in the general
election. You get to choose which
candidates represent your ideals.
CIVIC CENTER
Morris Park Community
Association
From Councilman Mark Gjonaj
BY COUNCILMAN
MARK GJONAJ
I hope all residents of
Council District 13 were
able to stay dry as Hurricane
Henri made its way up
the Northeast, passing us by
this weekend. Although this
was, fortunately, amongst the
milder storms we’ve encountered
in the last few years,
New Yorkers were nonetheless
plagued by minor outages
as we saw roughly eight
inches of rain fall.
For the future and for any
recurring outage problems,
please remember to call ConEdison
at 1-800-75-CONED, and
in the case of fallen branches
and trees, call 311. While
Henri may have not been as
signifi cant, we must prepare
for storms that are. Over the
last year I have constructed
a package of legislation to
make NYC more storm resilient
that — although still
awaiting a hearing — would
be of tremendous benefi t to
our coastal infrastructure
and power security.
After the storm this weekend,
Team Gjonaj was able to
take a visit to the seniors at
the Amber Court of Pelham
Gardens, where we distributed
oximeters, masks and
hand sanitizer. We want to
keep our seniors COVID safe.
On Aug. 18, we held a “Meet
Team Gjonaj” pop-up event
at the Throggs Neck Library
where residents were invited
to bring questions and concerns
to an attendant staffer.
Then, rounding out the
week of constituent services
events, we had two book bag
giveaways to prepare our district’s
students for the beginning
of the school year. On
Thursday, we visited the Sue
Ginsburg Senior Center to
distribute books and on Friday
we visited the Throggs
Neck Resident Council to do
the same. Book bags, school
supplies and books were
handed out to make sure all
District 13 learners start this
year out on the right foot.
For further questions or
any concern, please contact
my district offi ce at (718) 931-
1721 or MGjonaj@council.
nyc.gov. Thank you and stay
safe.
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