7 BRONX WEEKLY July 26, 2020 www.BXTimes.com
TN BID against planned road diet
Throggs Neck residents think DOT plans will be bad for the community
BY JASON COHEN
Recently, the Department of
Transportation (DOT) unveiled
plans to implement road diets
and bike lanes in Throggs Neck,
which many in the community
are unhappy about.
DOT is going to put bike lanes
and road diets on East Tremont
Avenue from Cross Bronx Expressway
to Harding Avenue and
on Harding Avenue from Emerson
Avenue to Pennyfi eld Avenue.
Throggs Neck Business Improvement
District Executive Director
Bobby Jaen expressed his
frustration with the DOT Thursday
afternoon.
“Our country, where it is right
now in this pandemic where a lot
of peoples are suffering just to
put food on the table and to turn
around instead of helping us by
doing projects that are going to
help the neighborhood, they’re
going to turn around and hurt
the neighborhood,” Jaen said.
According to Jaen, the city
also plans to fi ne anyone $195
who is double parked near the
bike lanes. In this climate, where
people are doing curbside pickup
and running in for food, he questioned
how people can not be expected
to double park for a minute
or two.
Jaen noted a bike lane makes
sense in Manhattan where the
roads are wider, but surely not
here. He said that the plan will
ruin the community and make
things worse.
“I’m against the road diet and
I’m not against the bike lanes,
but they’re not appropriate here,”
he said. “I’m not saying I’m not
for progress, but it’s got to be
smart.”
When he revealed his concerns
to DOT reps, he said that
they did not seem to care.
“It’s not a project that needs to
be done right now,” he stressed.
He would rather see new
street lights put in. In fact, about
a year ago, a man was stabbed on
Randall and East Tremont as he
could not see the people coming
towards him.
People who work on East Tremont
are not in favor of the planned
work either. Anna Novello, a longtime
employee of Pastosa Ravioli at
3812 East Tremont, told the Bronx
Times how her mom Maria Frasta
was killed a year and a half ago by a
reckless driver while she was walking
on East Tremont.
“If they take two lanes away
that’s ridiculous,” she said.
Wicked Wolf General Manager
Emma Rosenberg did not know
about the impending work and
questioned how it could help the
community. Creating less lanes and
spaces for people to park, will hurt
the businesses, Rosenberg said.
TN Business Improvement District Executive Director Bobby Jaen expressed his
frustration with the DOT Thursday afternoon.
Photo by Jason Cohen
Right now, the restaurant is relying
on curbside pickup and if this
constriction takes place, she is not
sure how the vendors and customers
will park safely.
“I think it’s very dangerous,”
she said. “Do we really need bicycle
lanes right here?”
Bronx Council on the Arts grants
Organization gives $500,000 in grants to local artists and art groups
BY JENNA BAGCAL
A Bronx arts organization
recently announced
its distribution of funds to
the local art community
despite its challenges during
COVID-19.
Earlier this month, the
Bronx Council on the Arts
(BCA) revealed that it donated
over $500,000 through
its annual grant making
programs including over 70
Community Engagement
Grants (CEG) and over 40
Bronx Recognizes Its Own
(BRIO) Awards.
“As COVID-19 continues
to have a devastating
impact, especially in The
Bronx, and resistance to
systemic racism in our society
continues, we hope
that these funds make a
difference for individual
artists, arts collectives and
arts organizations and advance
the vibrant arts and
culture in the borough,”
said BCA in a statement.
Funding support for
these grants came from
2020 BRIO Awards recipients Photo courtesy of Bronx Council on the Arts
the New York State Council
on the Arts (NYSCA)
and the New York City Department
of Cultural Affairs
(DCLA). According to
BCA, “Bronx-based art and
artist have been a driver of
the City’s culture for centuries.”
The organization’s
funding supports arts and
culture projects that center
on the community and also
recognizes outstanding local
artist who represent the
borough’s diversity.
This year, the organization
awarded CEGs to 71
projects that “contribute to
the cultural life of the borough.”
According to BCA,
the grants focus on the
work produced by community
based organizations
and includes categories
like “New Work,” “Arts
Fund,” “Community Arts”
and “Arts on the Block.”
Artist and organizations
who win these grants encompass
all disciplines,
genres and styles.
In 2020, 44 artists in the
literary world, media and
performing and visual arts
were given BRIO Awards,
which “serve to recognize
the wealth of Bronx artistic
talent.”
A full list of grant winners
is available in the
“grants” section of BCA’s
website.
BCA selects winners
based on the tenants of equity,
diversity and inclusion.
The process is led by a
“diverse array of panelists
recruited through an open
process.” Panelists are selected
based on their expertise,
geography, gender,
race and other “diversity
benchmarks.” BRIO winners
are selected through
an anonymous process.
Applications for the
2021 grant cycle will open
on August 10 and will be
available on bronxarts.
org.
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