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2019 8,eptember S WEEKLY BRONX com BXTimes.www.MPCA’s Columbus Day Parade route once again shortened
BY STEVEN GOODSTEIN
One of the borough’s biggest
parades has been forced to
shorten its route - again.
The length of the upcoming
43rd annual Bronx Columbus
Day Parade is being reduced
for the second time in ten
years.
This year’s parade, hosted
by the Morris Park Community
Association and its parade
committee, will take place on
Sunday, October 13, beginning
at noon and kicking off
at Bronxdale and Morris Park
avenues.
In 2010, former Mayor
Michael Bloomberg and the
NYPD shortened the routes of
all NYC parades by 25 percent
and restricted parades to a
maximum of fi ve hours, in order
to save over three million
dollars in the city’s budget.
The Bronx Columbus Day
Parade route originally ran
from White Plains Road along
Morris Park Avenue to Williamsbridge
Road and then
selected as honorary grand
marshal. north to Lydig Avenue with the
reviewing stand and bleachers
set up between Neill and Lydig
avenues. When the portion of
the parade on Williamsbridge
Road, from Morris Park to Lydig
avenues was cut out of the
parade route the NYC Parks
Department reviewing stand
was set up at Morris Park Avenue
and Williamsbridge Road.
Earlier this year the MPCA
parade committee was notifi
ed that a Park’s policy that
went into effect recently would
necessitate another route
change.
According to Parks, “...(the
agency’s) equipment rentals
changed in 2018. The policy
limited the set up of Parks
equipment to be on Park property.”
Parks cited insurance
liability concerns for the new
directive.
To accommodate the new
policy this year’s parade route
will begin at Bronxdale and
Morris Park avenues proceed
along Morris Park Avenue,
turn north at Williamsbridge
Road and end at the Pelham
Parkway South service road,
eliminating the parade march
from White Plains Road to
Bronxdale Avenue.
The traditional pre-parade
Mass and breakfast at St. Dominic’s
Church on Unionport
Road had been a key element of
the parade since it began over
four decades ago. At press time
a discussion was set to possibly
keep the Mass at St. Dominic’s.
“The change in the parade
route was a diffi cult thing to
do - but it would have also been
diffi cult (to hold the parade) if
we didn’t make this change,”
said Al D’Angelo, president of
the MPCA. “In a perfect world,
we would love to have the old
parade route back, because the
businesses who are now not a
part of the parade will suffer.”
“Unfortunately, it’s a loselose
scenario and it’s a situation
where not everyone is
going to be happy about this decision,”
said Chris Alessandro,
chairman of the Morris Park
Columbus Day Parade Committee.
“It’s a shame because
this parade is a great tradition,
not just for Italian Americans
but for the entire neighborhood.”
Alessandro, who marched
in the parade as a kid, has
been involved with the parade
committee for 13 years. This
is his second year as the parade
committee chairman. He
added that the diffi cult decision
to once again shorten the
parade route was not meant
to be a snub against any of the
businesses below Bronxdale
Avenue.
In May, the committee selected
FDNY Captain Frank
Vignali as the parade’s grand
marshal. P.S./M.S. 498 principal
Carol Ann Gilligan was
BY ALEX MITCHELL
As the era of congestion pricing
for the city approaches, one
Bronx assemblyman has proposed
a plan that will ease the
wallets of the boroughs’ travelers.
Assemblyman Michael R.
Benedetto announced a toll
rebate proposal for non-commercial
travellers crossing the
MTA-managed Throgs Neck,
Bronx-Whitestone and RFK
bridges on Thursday, June 29.
The proposed round-trip rebate
would roll back the bridges’
current toll of $19 by mail or
$12.24 by EZ Pass with an approximate
45% discount for all
city residents.
“This could save commuters
between $1,400 to $2,000 per
year,” Benedetto said during
his press conference just yards
away from the Harding Avenue
entrance for the Throgs Neck
Bridge, adding that he is “seeking
justice” on behalf of city
commuters.
Benedetto said that his assembly
district is in what he
discribed as a ‘transportation
desert.’ East Bronx residents
have few transit options when it
comes to crossing the East River
to work, visit family and friends
or take advantage of the many
world-renown institutions and
shopping opportunities on the
other side of the river, he said.
“Bronx residents that work
in Queens and Brooklyn have to
spend $12 or more per day on a
commute. That’s just not fair,”
he said.
“This plan provides opportunities
for commuters in communities
like mine to receive a
much-needed benefi t,” he continued.
The assemblyman’s reduced
price bridge toll proposal
was originally suggested by
traffi c expert ‘Gridlock’ Sam
Schwartz, who recommended
the toll rebate for daily commuters
in response to the state’s recently
approved plan to initiate
congestion-pricing in midtown
Manhattan below 59th Street.
Schwartz said in a statement
the congestion pricing plan fi -
nally addressed the tolling of all
East River crossings, but it did
not relieve the astronomical cost
that the Throgs Neck, Bronx-
Whitestone and RFK bridges
are charging city residents.
A Traffi c Mobility Review
Board will be set up to analyze
the specifi cs of the rebate and
exactly how much of the congestive
pricing generated toll money
will be used to offset transportation
costs in other parts of the
city, according to Benedetto.
Standing alongside Benedetto
in support of his colleague’s
initiative was Councilman
Mark Gjonaj.
He agreed that a rebate was
the appropriate means of action
in response to congestion pricing.
“Easing the quality of life for
our residents is always our mission,”
Gjonaj said. “Giving them
a rebate on their commutes
when other transportation options
are limited is something
I am most defi nitely in support
of,” the councilman added.
While at the podium with
Benedetto, Gjonaj addressed an
additional Throgs Neck Bridge
issue.
The Harding Avenue entrance
for the Throgs Neck
Bridge has become a severe
source of congestion, especially
when roadwork is being done
on the bridge. Locust Point residents
are often stuck behind a
blocks long single line of cars,
waiting to get on the bridge, delaying
their trip home by up to a
half hour.
“I am working with the NYC
Department of Transportation
to install a right turn lane at
Harding Avenue,” Gjonaj explained.
A right turn lane from a dedicated
lane on Harding Avenue at
East 177th Street would provide
Locust Point residents with the
ability to forgo the traffi c backup
at the bridge entrance, he said.
Benedetto proposes toll rebate
for TN, Whitestone, RFK bridges
Assemblyman Michael Benedetto and Councilman Mark Gjonaj at the
Harding Avenue enterance for the Throgs Neck Bridge on Thursday, August
29. Jewel Webber
Elected offi cials march down Morris Park Avenue during last year’s parade.
File photo / Laura Stone