Wakefield News

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Wakefield News: Joel Osteen

Wakefield News: Joel Osteen: Popular Pastor Wins Over Bronx with Message of Hope By Howard Goldin BRONX, NEW YORK, JUNE 12- Joel and Victoria Osteen hosted t...

Joel Osteen

Popular Pastor Wins Over Bronx with Message of Hope

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, JUNE 12- Joel and Victoria Osteen hosted their second “America’s Night of Hope” at Yankee Stadium. The iconic venue in the Bronx was filled to capacity to see and hear the very popular televangelist and his wife, their son and daughter and Joel’s mother share uplifting and encouraging words as well as listen to upbeat and modern musical selections from guest vocalists and musicians.

The rally at the historic stadium was only the centerpiece of a concerted effort to bring help to people in need in New York City. Hundreds of volunteers, many from Houston where their Lakewood Church is located, joined the Osteens in New York to provide assistance to those with specific needs.

Last Monday, Osteen explained the mission of the Generation Hope Project, “We don’t just come in word. Young people [who will be coming to provide assistance] have a heart to help. They will be here for most of the week, with a concentration of efforts for several days. We know we can’t do everything. It will be symbolic that we leave something with the community.”

The couple told of this year’s theme of assistance, which will be mentoring of young people. They want those not blessed to have family members that encourage and uplift them as children to be given hope for their lives in the future.

The pastor said, “We all have a responsibility to the next generation.”

His wife focused in words of how much those who help another gain by that effort, “The people who are serving are being blessed.”

Saturday’s rally was the sixth annual major event held at a huge athletic facility. It is neither accidental nor coincidental that the Osteens returned to the site of their first event of this magnitude that took place on April 25, 2009 and was the first non-baseball event in the new Yankee Stadium.

Osteen explained, “New Yorkers are great people. They respond to hope. We didn’t know if they would accept a message from the South.”

The large crowd that attended the pioneer event signified the acceptance they received from residents of “The Big Apple.” Looking back on that day led Osteen to recently proclaim, “Victoria and I love the people of New York. We’re excited to be at Yankee Stadium again, and we believe people will be uplifted and filled with an expectation that their best days are yet to come.”

The Osteens, unlike many representatives of religions, do not have a sectarian outlook or appeal. They have an outlook and manner that transcends barriers of age, politics, socioeconomic class and race. Their universal appeal has much to do with their positive message, “Our message is about empowering and up lifting. We have much in common. It is about a relationship with God. It’s not formal or religious. People come who may not attend church regularly.”

In addition to the Saturday rally at Yankee Stadium, the Osteens were at the stadium on Friday afternoon to meet with clergy from all sections of the nation. At that meeting, Ray Negron, a Yankee executive, has been invited to testify regarding how the late owner of the Yankees, George M. Steinbrenner, changed his life. The extremely articulate Negron will be able to impact his listeners with an example the Osteens are trying to impart in all people.

Wakefield News: Criminal Element ‘Hijacking’ Community

Wakefield News: Criminal Element ‘Hijacking’ Community: Criminal Element ‘Hijacking’ Community- Activist Says By Michael Horowitz BRONX, NEW YORK, JUNE 12- A criminal element is “hijacki...

Criminal Element ‘Hijacking’ Community

Criminal Element ‘Hijacking’ Community- Activist Says

By Michael Horowitz

BRONX, NEW YORK, JUNE 12- A criminal element is “hijacking” Co-op City and its shareholders, destroying the quality of life that shareholders are entitled to, civic activist Junius Williams charged this week.

The civic activist said that his goal is to assure that Co-op City does not become the nation’s largest urban ghetto.

Williams, the parliamentarian of the Building 21 Association and an unsuccessful candidate in last month’s Riverbay board election, said, “I’m not happy with just heat and hot water. I want the whole enchilada when it comes to quality of life in the community where I live.”

Williams has blamed Co-op City’s Department of Public Safety for the recent shooting of a young man at the basketball courts at Bellamy Loop.

The civic activist noted that the young men, who had been harassing him and his neighbors for close to one year, stopped hanging out at the Bellamy Loop basketball courts after last month’s shooting.

A Co-op City shareholder, who wished to remain unidentified, told the News, this week, that the criminal element, who had been hanging out at the Bellamy Loop basketball courts, are now hanging out in the vicinity of Building 24.

The unidentified shareholder said that those hanging out there routinely smoke marijuana, and Public Safety officers, despite being called, have done little to stop this infringement on his quality of life.

Williams, for his part, stressed, “I want to make sure that they don’t come back here to destroy my quality of life and the quality of life that my neighbors have a right to enjoy.”

The civic activist said that if Public Safety officers had been proactive in removing the young men who were hanging out at the Bellamy Loop basketball courts on the night of the shooting, the crime would never have occurred.

“I blame the people in charge of management for what my neighbors I have had to live through,” Williams stressed. “I don’t blame my neighbors because I know that they have been proactive in reporting infringements on their quality of life to the people in the Public Safety Department,” Williams stressed.

The civic activist added, “The people in the Public Safety Department seem to think that we have to accept things because we have a large minority community. This kind of thing didn’t happen in Co-op City when people from other races and ethnicities were dominant in this community.”

Williams stressed that it is incumbent upon Co-op City’s shareholders to demand that they have the same quality of life that people on Manhattan’s Eastside and in Riverdale enjoy.

Monday, June 9, 2014

Bay Plaza

New Mall Under Way

On June 6, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. toured the forthcoming "Mall at Bay Plaza" near Co-op City. Diaz looks out at the construction from the mall's second deck.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Wakefield News: Flying Manhole Cover Kills Driver

Wakefield News: Flying Manhole Cover Kills Driver: Flying Manhole Cover Kills Driver (Photo by David Greene) By David Greene BRONX, NEW YORK, JUNE 5- Police and fire officials ...

Flying Manhole Cover Kills Driver

Flying Manhole Cover Kills Driver

(Photo by David Greene)

By David Greene

BRONX, NEW YORK, JUNE 5- Police and fire officials were on the scene for most of morning Wednesday, after the driver of a semi-trailer was struck and killed by a flying manhole cover.

This incident took place on the westbound Cross Bronx Expressway, just passed the Jerome Avenue exit at 5:25 a.m. on June 4. Cops say the cover, that weighs about 300 pounds was knocked lose and sailed through the windshield striking and briefly pinning Jose Duran, 35, of Springfield, MA.

Duran was rushed to Lincoln Hospital where he later died. Last week in Queens a car burst into flames killing a passenger when a sewer cap popped-up and struck the undercarriage of the vehicle.

Wakefield News: Yankees SOS!

Wakefield News: Yankees SOS!: Yankees SOS! Ellsbury Can’t Save Yanks Yankees Home Woes Continue; Lose Fourth Straight By Howard Goldin BRONX, NEW YORK, JUNE...

Yankees SOS!

Yankees SOS!

Ellsbury Can’t Save Yanks

Yankees Home Woes Continue; Lose Fourth Straight

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, JUNE 5- The Yankees continue to falter at their home ballpark. The 7-4 loss to Oakland on Wednesday night was their fourth straight defeat at home. They have lost 12 of their last 16 games in the Bronx. The combination of poor hitting, especially in the clutch, and lack of dependability from the relief corps has resulted in many recent defeats.

A base on balls to Ichiro Suzuki and three consecutive hits, a single by Brett Gardner, an infield single by Derek Jeter, and a three-run homer by Jacoby Ellsbury provided the Yanks with a four-run inning and a 4-0 lead at the end of three innings.

Unfortunately for the home team, the third was the only inning in which the Yankees scored. During their final five frames, the Yankees only managed two singles. To make matters worse for them, the Athletics scored seven unanswered runs to achieve a victory.

The versatility of Oakland is shown by the variety of ways their runs on Wednesday were driven in. Three were scored on solo home runs. Cuban native Yoenis Cespedes blasted his 11^th of the season in the fourth and his 12^th two innings later. Third sacker Josh Donaldson lifted his 16^th into the stands in the seventh.

Three other runs did not need base hits to move an Oakland runner across the plate. Sacrifice flies by Jed Lowrie in the third, Alberto Callaspo in the sixth and Kyle Blanks in the ninth were as meaningful as the four baggers.

Another strange manner of scoring occurred in the ninth as Brandon Moss was hit by a pitch of Wade LeBlanc in his first game as a Yankee.

Yankee starter Vidal Nuño gave up two runs in 4.2 innings, but the relievers gave up five in 4.1. Matt Daley gave up two, Leblanc surrendered two, and in his major league debut, Jose Ramirez yielded a home run to Donaldson in the seventh, which earned him the loss.

Yankee skipper Joe Girardi said, “It’s a product of not having your bullpen set up the way you want it.”

The passing of Don Zimmer was of far more importance than the loss of a single ballgame. The feisty, colorful, knowledgeable and fun loving individual was a fixture in MLB for 66 years. He was remembered with much emotion by those who knew him well for his time as a Yankee coach.

After the game, Girardi recalled, “I was with him in 10 of my first 11 years. Wherever he went, I went. He was a close friend. I’m going to miss him. Our relationship was always close. He gave me my first opportunity. It’s going to be really strange not to see him.”

Another scene of the evening at Yankee Stadium that had greater meaning than the final score was the thoughtful treatment received by 12-year-old Matthew Miller of Queens and his family by CC Sabathia. Miller was severely injured and his 7 year-old brother Chris killed in a house fire at the start of 2014. Sabathia tried to provide some happy memories for the family who came as his guests for on-the-field activities.