Bronx News Network

Gay Marriage Becomes Law – Diazes React Very Differently

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With the historic passage of gay marriage Friday night in the state Senate and Gov. Cuomo signing the legislation immediately, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. and his father, State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., the only Democrat to vote against the bill, had very different reactions. “God, not Albany, has settled the definition of marriage a long time ago,” Diaz Sr. said on the Senate floor.In sharp contrast, the borough president, who did not publicly support same-sex marriage, said he looked forward to the wedding of his lesbian niece, Erica Diaz, who made headlines when she crashed her grandfather’s anti-gay marriage rally on the courthouse steps and then took him on in a NY Post op-ed, and his chief of staff Paul Del Duca. He added: “Now that the debate on marriage equality has been resolved, it is time for us to come together and move forward in a positive manner with respect for our fellow Bronxites and all New Yorkers, irrespective of our differences, backgrounds and religious beliefs. We must both celebrate and build upon our diversity for a better and brighter future for all of our hard working families. I also wish to complement Governor Andrew Cuomo for working sincerely and diligently to ensure that the appropriate balance of protections are ensured within the bill.

Bronx News Network

Bronx News Weekend Roundup, June 27

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Weather: Mostly sunny and in the 80s today.Quick Hits: The Times’ David Gonzalez, himself a graduate of St. Martin of Tours School in Crotona, offers this poignant piece on the school’s closing and emotional last day of classes, which was last Wednesday. The 86-year-old parochial school is one of 26 closed this year by the Archdiocese of New York because of budget cuts and low enrollment.NY1 catches up with Reverend Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook, the Bronx Baptist preacher now working as the U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom.A Bronx mother of four was struck by a car and killed on Saturday night while crossing a street in Queens.

Bronx News Network

Bronx News Roundup, June 24

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Good morning, everyone. Feels like Ireland out there with the fine, soft rain (in NYese more of a shpritz). Mix of clouds and sun today with a high of 80 degrees. Chance of thunderstorms this evening.We’re a bit short-staffed today and need to work on getting next week’s Norwood News ready, so this will be a quick and dirty roundup.Story of the DayBronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. has been batted around good in the tabloids this week for releasing a 267-page report by his Kingsbridge Armory Task Force that seems to have muddied his message of coming up with some good ideas for reinventing the landmark structure. The pressure is especially on the BP because he led the charge on defeating a Bloomberg administration plan, developed by The Related Companies, that would have turned the Armory into a giant shopping mall.So, the Diaz camp must’ve been especially pleased this morning with Juan Gonzalez’s column in the Daily News showing that Related and the city have fallen far short of promises on jobs while taking advantage of a sweet deal that requires them to pay comparatively very little in taxes.

Bronx News Network

LGBT Activists Discuss Solutions to Bronx Intolerance

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By Kristen GwynneThrough a series of town hall meetings and other public activities, advocates and organizers are working to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender tolerance in the Bronx, a borough that gained a bad reputation for its intolerance last fall when a group of young adults in Morris Heights were arrested for viciously beating and sodomizing two youths and another man because they suspected the victims were gay.On May 31, at a town hall meeting at the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center, Bronx Community Board 7 and other local community organizers pinpointed lack of advertisement, religion, cultural bias and low socio-economic status as the main causes of the borough’s LGBT intolerance. To navigate these obstacles and improve the borough’s reputation, attendees and panelists suggested working with the police and increasing LGBT awareness, especially in notoriously anti-gay communities.Panelist Francisco J. Lazala, of the Bronx Community Pride Center and Gay and the Lesbian Dominican Empowerment Organization (GALDE), said the goal is to host a town hall meeting in every Bronx-based community board and create a network to distribute LGBT services across the borough.Many attendees expressed discontent with police response to harassment and hate crimes. Detective Jim Duffey, part of the NYPD’s three-person LGBT liaison team of openly gay officers, told the audience to call on his team if things weren’t working out through normal channels.“If you have an incident, call the cops first,” Duffey said. “Those who respond may not be as compassionate. If you feel you are not being treated right, contact us.”In comparison to the other boroughs, panelists and advocates said, the Bronx lacks LGBT advertisement, an effective tool for helping to humanize LGBT persons.

Bronx News Network

BP Diaz's Testimony From Last Night's Muller Center Hearing

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The public hearing over the future of the Muller Army Center in Wakefield took place last night, at P.S. 21 on 225th Street.BxNN reporter Alex Kratz was there and will post a more detailed account later, but he said the majority of those who attended-a strong showing of Wakefield and Woodlawn residents, and many members of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition-are against the city’s plan to fill the building with a homeless shelter, and support the idea of moving the National Guard from an annex at the Kingsbridge Armory into the Wakefield site to free up school space (you can read some more background in yesterday’s news roundup).Kratz said that Father Richard Gorman of CB 12 got the crowd going with an impassioned speech that took several hilarious digs at Mayor Bloomberg. Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., who sits on a panel overseeing the building’s redevelopment, also testified-you can read his full statement in the document below.(function() { var scribd = document.createElement(“script”); scribd.type = “text/javascript”; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = “http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js”; var s = document.getElementsByTagName(“script”)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();

Bronx News Network

Bronx News Roundup, June 23

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Weather: Foggy and 71 degrees at the moment, with scattered thunderstorms predicted.Story of the Day: Kemba Walker Ready for His NBA Close-upSoundview native Kemba Walker, who was launched into basketball stardom after leading his UConn Huskies to a national championship this spring, is expected to be a lottery pick in tonight’s NBA draft,

Bronx News Network

Residents Gather in Oval Park to Push for Playground Opening; Parks Dept. Says 'Next Week'

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Local residents gathered in Williamsbridge Oval Park yesterday to demand that two newly renovated sections of the park are completed by June 28, the last day of school.Asked to confirm a completion date for the new playground in the southern part of the Oval, along with the spray showers in front of the park house, the Parks Department said: “We are working with the contractor on the final preparations, including some minor fence work and site cleanup, needed to open the playground area. We expect to open this area next week.” They did not give a specific date.The new basketball court will be open next month. Organized by the Friends of Williamsbridge Oval, parents and kids gathered yesterday to make posters and get their message across. The Friends have asked residents through a steady stream of Facebook postings to call the contractor and the Parks Department to urge them to get the new areas open by Tuesday.

Bronx News Network

Bronx Health: Senator Looks to Shed Pounds, Promote Healthy Living

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Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.Story and Photos by Fausto Giovanny PintoDressed in Rocky-esque training attire — hooded sweatshirt, jogging pants and sneakers — State Senator Gustavo Rivera walked into the Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center and challenged himself to a weigh-in.Rivera was joined by Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. (sans workout attire) and numerous organizations, to launch the Bronx CAN Health Initiative.CAN, which stands for Change Attitudes Now, looks to promote a healthier lifestyle among Bronxites, who often rank last on health polls. To help promote the initiative, which will encourage Bronxites to set healthy goals, Rivera said his goal was to lose 20 pounds by the end of the summer without using any gimmicky diet or workout program.“There is no magic,” said Rivera. “Eat three-fourths of a plate, less fat, less sugar, less salt, less everything.” Dr. Jane Bedell, assistant commissioner for the Bronx District Public Health Office, prefaced the weigh-in with some grim facts. One-third of Bronx adults are currently obese, she said. Even more startling was the prediction that if trends don’t change, as many as 50 percent of Bronx children will develop diabetes.“We have come together before when our children were in danger and now it’s time to come together again,” said Bedell, comparing how Bronxites passed laws in the past for child hazards such as lead poisoning.

Bronx News Network

Bronx News Roundup, June 22

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Weather: In the high 70s today, and thunderstorms likely this evening. Story of the Day: Future of the Muller Center To Be Debated TonightA hearing is scheduled tonight to get public input on the fate of the Muller Army Reserve Center, a 55,000-square-foot former military base in Wakefield that the Bloomberg administration wants to turn into a homeless shelter.Community leaders and elected officials, including BP Ruben Diaz, Jr., strongly oppose the plan, arguing the neighborhood is already over-saturated with homeless shelters. Diaz and education advocates propose the 238th Street site become the new home for the National Guard, currently stationed in an annex of the Kingsbridge Armory-a move they say would free up the Armory space so the city could build a new school there, providing more classroom seats for School District 10, one of the most crowded districts in the city. The decision was in the hands of the Muller Redevelopment Authority (LRA) – a panel made up of Diaz, Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs and Tokumbo Shobowale, the chief of staff for Deputy Mayor Robert Steel. Last fall, Diaz intentionally missed a scheduled meeting of the authority in order to delay a vote on the issue.