Several Candidates Hoping to Topple Espada
July 2, 2010
STATE SENATOR AND SENATE MAJORITY LEADER PEDRO ESPADA, JR (PHOTO: A. WATKINS)
Below is a rundown of who’s looking to unseat State Sen. Pedro Espada, Jr. in the 33rd Senate district, which covers much of the west Bronx. To get on the Democratic primary ballot, each candidate – Espada included – needs to gather 1,000 signatures from registered voters by July 15. The primary is on Sept. 14. See here for Espada’s campaign website.
Daniel Padernacht
Age: 33
Residence: Van Cordlandt Village/Kingsbridge
Resume: Padernacht grew up in and now practices law in Kingsbridge. He touts the fact that his family has lived in the area for 60 years. He serves as a member of Community Board 8, where he sits on the Housing, Land Use and Public Safety committees. He recently volunteered on the promotion committee for the Riverdale Riverfest 2010, a family festival to support a Greenway along the Hudson River. As a lawyer, Padernacht says he spends time doing pro bono legal work.
Campaign Slogan: “From our community, for our community”
Website: www.votefordan2010.com
Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter
Age: 53
Residence: Fordham Hill
Resume: Pilgrim-Hunter was the first challenger to officially enter the race against Espada. She is best known locally for her work as a community activist for the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, where she is a board member. Last year, she became the face of the Coalition’s fight for living wage jobs at the Kingsbridge Armory and has also worked to alleviate overcrowding in public schools and to highlight the foreclosure crisis facing Bronx homeowners. She is also president of the Fordham Hill Owners Cooperative, the borough’s largest privately financed cooperative housing complex.
Campaign Slogan: “Community First”
Website: www.desireehunter.com
Gustavo Rivera
Age: 34
Residence: Kingsbridge
Resume: Until recently, Rivera was an aide to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. He stepped down in May so he could focus on his campaign. Prior to that, Rivera worked for, or campaigned for, a slew of elected officials, including State Senator Jose M. Serrano.
In 2008, he worked in field operations for the Obama campaign in several important primary states. He ended up in Florida, where, as the Obama’s constituency director, he helped drum up support among Hispanics.
Away from politics, Rivera teaches political science at Pace University. He’s also taught at Hunter College.
Website: www.gustavoforstatesenate.com
Fernando Tirado
Age: 40
Residence: Bedford Park
Resume: Tirado and his family moved to Bedford Park from Queens in 2006 and he joined Community Board 7 (Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights) as a member before being plucked to replace longtime district manager Rita Kessler in 2008.
Previously, Tirado, who has a BA in political science, worked for the city’s Health Department for a dozen years.
Last month, CB7 ordered Tirado to take a leave of absence from his job while he campaigned, because the board wanted to avoid the appearance of partisanship.
Campaign Slogan: “Community, Integrity, Dedication”
Website: www.fernandoptirado.com
Compiled by ALEX KRATZ and JAMES FERGUSSON.
Editor’s note: For regular updates on these races, visit the Bronx News Network’s blog.
Castro Faces Tough Challenge From Party-Backed Candidate
July 2, 2010
ASSEMBLYMAN NELSON CASTRO AT HIS CAMPAIGN LAUNCH EVENT LAST MONTH (PHOTO: A. WATKINS)
By JAMES FERGUSSON
When assembly candidate Nelson Castro won the Democratic primary in September 2008, on his way to becoming the first Dominican-American sent up to Albany from the Bronx, he enjoyed the support of the Bronx Democratic County Committee, then led by Assemblyman Jose Rivera.
Not this time.
The party, now chaired by Assemblyman Carl Heastie, is supporting Hector Ramirez, a Bronx district leader and accountant, instead.
At Castro’s reelection party at the Monte Carlo night club on Jerome Avenue on June 7, not a single councilman, senator, or assemblyman, was present, leaving the impression that he’s been hung out to dry.
Still, more than 100 local residents and community leaders showed up to cheer him on and pledge their support. “He’s a people person,” said Willie Simmons, a senior who lives on Morris Avenue. “I’ve gone to him with several problems and he took care of them.”
Simmons said it’s unfortunate that Castro’s colleagues are attempting to oust him. “Everyone connected with Maria [Baez, the former councilwoman, and ally of Rivera], they want them out, and I think it’s unfair,” she said.
For more on Castro and Ramirez, check out their campaign websites at www.hectorramirez.us and www.castro2010.com.
Editor’s note: For a longer version of this article, click here.
City Comes to Budget Deal; Albany Fight Still On
July 2, 2010
By JEANMARIE EVELLY
While lawmakers in Albany have yet to come to an agreement on a state budget for the next fiscal year—despite being nearly three months past deadline—the New York City Council and Mayor Michael Bloomberg agreed on a $63 billion city budget on June 24, and the Council voted to approved it five days later.
In a statement, Bloomberg and the Council announced that the budget was balanced, ahead of its July 1st deadline and doesn’t raise taxes. Still, belt-tightening measures will be taken at every city agency to close a recession-fueled budget gap, the Mayor said in a radio address.
A number of cuts that city politicians fought against for months were spared. Public pools will stay open this summer, and funding to many childcare services were restored. None of the city’s firehouses will close—including Ladder 53 on City Island, which was one of 20 houses on the chopping block.
City Councilman Joel Rivera, whose district covers Fordham, Belmont and East Tremont, said he was mostly happy with how the budget agreement turned out. He hailed the restoration of the city’s firehouse funding, that city parks and cultural institutions would stay open, and that libraries would get enough funding to operate five days a week (though hours will still be cut).
“Those were some of the top priorities—how do we protect those things,” Rivera said. “I think we were able to do that, as tough as it was.”
Cuts to many of the city’s senior centers, however, will remain intact, forcing a number across the city to close their doors. The City Council saved about 20 of the 50 senior centers slated to close – including two in the west Bronx (see p.8) – but that about 30 centers the city deems the least utilized will have to shut down.
“At some point, I’m going to be a senior myself,” Rivera said. “They’ve paid their dues, and now it’s time for them to relax. We should not be cutting that.”
Things haven’t been as smooth for lawmakers in Albany — the State Senate and Assembly are still locked in a disagreement with Governor David Paterson over this year’s budget, which was due on April 1.
Lawmakers passed an amended budget this week that included millions of dollars in restored spending — much of it going towards education — that were immediately vetoed by Governor Paterson.
In a statement, a spokesman for Paterson said the legislators were spending money the state doesn’t have and that their budget ignores the possibility of an additional $1 billion loss the state could face if federal Medicaid funding, known as FMAP, is cut by Congress this year.
“It’s unfortunate,” said Bronx Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, of the budget’s delay. “I understand that [the Governor] needs to see that there’s a balanced budget by making certain cuts. But at the same time, we need to be smart about where those cuts are being made.”
Q & A: Verona Greenland
June 4, 2010
VERONA GREENLAND, THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OF MORRIS HEIGHTS HEALTH CENTER (PHOTO: J. FERGUSSON)
On May 26, Morris Heights Health Center celebrated its 30th anniversary with a gala at Marina Del Ray in Throgs Neck. At the event, the board of directors of the MHHC Foundation, the center’s philanthropic arm, honored Verona Greenland with their 2010 Legacy Award.
Greenland, Morris Heights’ founder, president and CEO, was born in Jamaica, went to high school in England, and moved to the US as a young woman. She lives in Yonkers and has one son. Recently, she sat down with the Monitor to talk about her career and Morris Heights’ history.
Qestion: How did you get interested in healthcare?
Answer: I grew up in a family where people were always helping others. Not that we were rich, but to us it was important to take care of those who were less fortunate. That became a part of who I am. My grandmother always used to say ‘to whom much is given, much is expected.’
Tell me about your early career.
I’m a trained nurse and midwife and so I did that for a little while. Then I went to Columbia University [to obtain a masters degree in public health]. While there, I went to an American Public Health Conference in LA. We went to a skit put on by the Black Caucus, or something like that. It was a long time ago, but I remember being so moved. In essence, what they were saying was that their communities – our communities – were so brain-drained that we needed to come back. They said come back with your German shepherd, come back with your night stick…but we really need you back. Back then, in communities of color, most of us, once we got our degree, we’d migrate out to the suburbs, so therefore our kids didn’t have role models.
How did Morris Heights Health Center come into being?
One Friday [in 1978], I went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral [in Manhattan] and prayed, and then left there and went back to Columbia, where there was a little advertisement posted looking for a project director [for the Morris Heights Neighborhood Improvement Association, a community organization based on Grand Avenue, that was looking to expand into healthcare]. It was about 5 o’clock and I picked up the phone and dialed this number and the person who answered said they had already screened all the candidates they wanted and that they were having interviews on Monday. I talked her into allowing me to come. I arrived, resume in hand, happy to be the first person there, and I was interviewed and I got the job. The rest is history. [Morris Heights Health Center became its own entity in 1981.]
What were those first years like?
I was young and naïve; at the interview I thought there was a space. I arrived the following Monday to discover it was an “idea.” They had no space; they had nothing. In fact all they had was a room in a house on Grand Avenue and $25,000, but we were on the verge of losing it because nothing had been done with it. So it was a matter of working very fast and trying to find a place of our own, and after two years we were able to open a site [at 70 W. Burnside Ave., where the Women’s Health & Birthing Pavilion is today]. It was a very small group of individuals who just wanted to make a difference. This community, at that time, was becoming medically abandoned. Morrisania Hospital closed as did several other hospitals. So this major void happened.
Today the organization employs 400-plus people and serves more than 60,000 people annually from 14 locations. How were you able to grow and thrive over the years?
The need. I think one of the things we pride ourselves on is not so much as reacting [to health conditions], but really analyzing and looking at what is happening in the community, what the needs are, and trying to address those needs. And we do it in concert with the community. We are a community orientated organization, we try hard not to stay in our ivory tower. We look at what we’re seeing, what our patients’ conditions are, and based on those analyses, we plan accordingly.
How has local residents’ health changed over time?
Some things are better. For example, HIV, the onset of HIV in the ‘80s. We didn’t know what we were dealing with. It’s still here, but it’s not a life sentence. Also, we look at the infant mortality rate. When we started here, the infant mortality rate was anything from 15 to 26 infants per 1,000. Those statistics are ones you would see in a Third World country. I think today the mortality rate is about 6 per 1000. More and more kids are getting immunized.
And what’s worse?
Obesity, hypertension [high blood pressure], and cardiovascular issues, and so forth. My community would be considered a young community, but it’s a community with old people’s diseases. One reason, when you’re poor you really don’t have the money to go out and buy the food that you need to. And so it’s the fries and the wings. It’s cheap, it’s plentiful.
In health surveys, the Bronx often tops “worst of” lists. What would it take to turn this around?
The hospitals, the community health centers, the social organizations – everybody – needs to start working together and plan for the healthcare of the entire 1.5 million people in the Bronx. If we really start looking at the community in its totality, and prior to birth, all the way through to death, I think that’s the way we’re going to transform [the borough]. Right now I still think it’s very compartmentalized and haphazardly done. I might be doing my little planning, a hospital’s doing their planning, everybody’s doing their planning, and it’s about them. It’s about looking at the total picture.
Tell me about the Harrison Circle project [the new building on the corner of West Burnside and Harrison avenues].
After many tries, we were able to raise the amount of money we needed from HUD [the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] and other places. We’re hoping by July or August of this year, everything will be completed and we will have 70 apartments for seniors, and about 30,000 for medical and primary specialty care services, and some commercial space, including a pharmacy and other tenants.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
What I enjoy is just the transformation. Thirty-two years ago when I came here, this was like a wilderness. It was abandoned in every conceivable way. It was palpable. Just thinking about walking through the community was very difficult, very frightening. To see how the community and the lives the community has changed, that’s what keeps me going. At the end of the day, I do feel in a very small way that I’ve made a difference and continue to make a difference.
Interview by James Fergusson
Local ‘Women of Distinction’ Honored
June 4, 2010
By JEANMARIE EVELLY
Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. recognized a number of notable community women on Saturday, May 22 at Mount Hope Housing Company’s community center on Townsend Avenue.
The celebration was part of the State Senate’s annual “Women of Distinction” program, where representatives select and honor women from their districts known for their remarkable work within the community.
“This is an opportunity to recognize the many professional and personal achievements of women – entrepreneurs, community activists and business leaders – whose service in both the public and private sectors has touched the lives of so many in the Bronx,” Senator Espada said in a statement.
“Their work and contributions are integral to improving the quality of life and providing a strong foundation of advocacy for thousands of families, senior citizens, tenants, children and businesses throughout the borough,” he said.
Community Board 5 member Dr. Marcia Brown was among those chosen for the honor, along with a number of business leaders, activists and community volunteers. Joy Cousminer, founder and CEO of Bethex Federal Credit Union, which provides free tax preparation assistance to low-income residents, was also one of the honorees, as was
Wilma Alonso, the executive director of Fordham Road BID.
Aida Martinez, the chairperson of Davidson Community Center; Sallie Smith, a community activist; Maxine Brunson, the president of Twin Parks Tenant Association; and Alma Watkins, who runs the youth program “Queens of New York,” and takes photographs for this newspaper, were also among the honorees.
Advocates Say They Were Banned From Espada’s ‘Town Hall’
June 4, 2010
By JEANMARIE EVELLY
A group of housing advocates who tried to attend a “town hall meeting” held by State Senator Pedro Espada say they were physically barred from entering the building, according to two people who attempted to join the meeting.
The event was held at the Davidson Community Center on May 19, and was an opportunity for Espada to explain a rent bill he’s sponsoring, according to a press release. Videos sent with the release show the senator talking about the bill, discussing charter schools and answering questions from the crowd.
But the group says they didn’t get to ask their questions — because they weren’t allowed inside. One woman, who asked that her name not be used for fear of retribution, said she was pushed away and had her hand ripped from the door when she tried to enter the building. The man blocking her entrance told her to “get the hell out” of there, she said.
The woman said Espada’s staffers recognized her from some of the senator’s previous rallies, which she had attended to protest his controversial rent freeze bill — legislation Espada has been pushing for months that would freeze rent prices for some New Yorkers but that tenant advocates claim is pro-landlord legislation in disguise.
Mayor Bloomberg recently sent a memorandum to the State Senate saying Espada’s rent freeze bill was unfeasible.
Michael Leonard, a local resident and self-described activist, says he was also stopped outside and told by a man in a suit that he wasn’t welcome there. He believes he was banned for picking up a flier from a protester who was outside the community center, he said.
“In my view, this was not a ‘town hall’ meeting or any sort of viable community forum,” Leonard said. “This was a pep rally for Espada.”
A spokesman from Espada’s office said the meeting was open to the public, with mailers being sent to addresses throughout the district. Some people were asked not to come inside because they were holding signs and chanting and would disrupt the purpose of the event, according to the spokesman, who denied that anyone was physically removed or blocked.
Five people were banned from the meeting, the woman said. The group then set up shop on the curb and handed out fliers about Espada’s housing bill to people passing by. According to the woman, Espada’s staffers took the fliers out of passersby’s hands and tore them up.
It’s not the first time there’s been a confrontation at an Espada event. Back in 2008, blogger and well-known City Hall gadfly Rafael Martínez Alequín got into a scuffle with Espada staffers at a campaign rally. Martínez Alequín was filming and asking questions, he said, when Espada’s son Alejandro pushed him and broke his camera. A court ordered Alejandro to pay for damages to Martinez Alequín’s camera.
Last week, dozens of Bronx activists took a bus up to Espada’s home in Mamaroneck to demand that the senator, who is head of the Housing Committee, take action on a number of pro-tenant housing bills already passed by the assembly.
“Espada’s rent-freeze bill is bootleg, not working for tenants, working more for landlords,” said Carlea Griffith, one of the protesters. “Espada wouldn’t come to us, so we came to him. We are his constituents.”
Espada says he is still considering some of the legislation passed by the assembly, including a repeal of vacancy decontrol, but he remains committed to his rent-freeze bill.
—additional reporting by Gina Ciliberto
Article first appeared in the Norwood News.
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