‘NO’ TO BIKE LANES
Traffi c proposal for Southern Blvd. is unpopular
NYC Department of Transportation Bronx Commissioner Nivardo Lopez (l) and Nick Harris fi eld questions about the proposed
traffi c changes to Southern Boulevard. Silvio Pacifi co
City Islanders, NYPD discuss summertime tourist traffi c
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
City Island leaders had a meeting
with city offi cials to discuss
ways to handle traffi c fl ow during
the island’s peak summer tourist
season.
A meeting between offi cials
from the 45th Precinct, the City
Island Civic Association, City Island
Chamber of Commerce and
NYC Department of Transportation
took place recently where
concerns about how to move traffi
c on City Island, as well as on its
bridge and approach road, were
discussed.
Also on the agenda were safety
and security concerns, said Bill
Stanton, CICA president.
“Traffi c on City Island is inevitable;
it comes with the warm
weather,” said Stanton. “That is
not necessarily a bad thing because
businesses need to thrive.”
Stanton added NYPD traffi c
enforcement is essential and that
there is often a push and pull between
the needs of the island and
the NYPD staffi ng.
As a result of the meeting,
which took place at Councilman
Mark Gjonaj’s district offi ce,
Gjonaj wrote a letter dated Thurs-
Bronx Columbus
Parade grand
marshals selected
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
Two outstanding individuals
were selected for honors during
the 2019 Bronx Columbus Day Parade.
Parade organizers and the
Morris Park Community Association,
which runs the annual community
event, selected Frank Vignali,
a FDNY Captain as grand
marshal and Carol Ann Gilligan,
P.S./M.S. 498 principal as honorary
grand marshal, said Chris
Alessandro, the parade’s coordinator.
Alessandro said that parade
this year will take place on Sunday,
October 13 on Morris Park
Avenue starting at noon.
Vignali, who is third in seniority
in the FDNY, has been
fi ghting fi res in the borough since
1978, when he started at Engine
Company 41 at East 150th Street
and Morris Avenue, and later
worked for decades at Ladder 51
at Eastchester and Boston roads,
he said.
He currently works in the FDNY’s
7th Division, which covers
the eastern and northern parts of
the borough and part of Manhattan,
the grand marshal said.
In addition to his work with
the FDNY, Vignali is a dedicated
east Bronx activist, who advocated
for a traffi c light at Pelham
Parkway near Narragansett Avenue
and against a road narrowing
of Pelham Parkway South, in
order to enhance public safety, he
said.
He is also in his 32nd year as
a volunteer with Van Nest Little
League and has also volunteered
with Astor Little League, said Vignali.
Alessandro said that this year
the MPCA was looking for an individual
who had supported community
endeavors.
“We came up with one name
right away, and that was Frank
Vignali,” said Alessandro. “He
has lived in Morris Park for years
BY ALEX MITCHELL
The NYC Department of
Transportation’s push to install
bicycle lanes throughout
the Bronx hasn’t been well received
by residents in various
neighborhoods.
The most recent example of
this is the DOT proposed new
traffi c pattern for Southern
Boulevard from East 182nd
Street to East 191st Street.
Bronx Borough DOT Commissioner
Nivardo Lopez explained
the city’s proposed plan
that would add bicycle lanes to
the Southern Boulevard corridor
in front of a less-than-enthused
crowd of Belmont residents
at Mount Carmel Senior
Center on Monday, May 6.
For the DOT to proceed with
its plan, the agency would have
to tempoarily remove parking
on that section of Southern
Boulevard from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
during the road’s reworking;
something that is more cause
Your Neighborhood — Your News® May 26, 2019
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Councilman Mark Gjonaj; Nivardo Lopez, NYC Department of Transportation
Bronx commissioner, Bill Stanton and Tom Smith of the City Island Civic Association;
Gerard Giacco of the City Island Chamber of Commerce; and 45th Precinct
commanding offi cer Captain Thomas Fraser and NYPD offi cials meet to discuss
traffi c and safety issues on City Island at the councilman’s offi ce on Friday, April
26. Photo by Fernando Justiniano
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