Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Wakefield News: Wakefield Gives Plenty of Shelter
Wakefield News: Wakefield Gives Plenty of Shelter: COMMUNITY BOARD NEWS N’ VIEWS By Father Richard F. Gorman Chairman Community Board #12 (The Bronx) BRONX, NEW YORK, October 10- ...
Wakefield Gives Plenty of Shelter
COMMUNITY BOARD
NEWS N’ VIEWS
By Father Richard F. Gorman
Chairman
Community Board #12 (The Bronx)
BRONX, NEW YORK, October 10- I remember an occasion while in college that I was supposed to be completing a foreign language assignment in the language lab for one of my professors.
Not being especially fond of the designated project, the professor, or the course on the whole, I soon found myself not responding in a foreign language to questions posed to me, but listening to a favorite song of mine that was a hit by the iconic British rock band, THE ROLLING STONES. It was called Gimme Shelter and it initially was released in 1969 as the opening track of THE STONES’ successful album, “Let It Bleed”. It was a fascinating musical masterpiece created by the combination of band member Keith Richards’ expertise on the rhythm guitar and the matchless and distinctive voice of lead vocalist, Mick Jagger. One of the noteworthy and appealing highlights of this tuneful tour de force was the performance of a guest vocalist, Merry Clayton, who was purported to be any number of other female singers. Her presentation with its idiosyncratic high notes is a significant contribution to the overall appeal of this composition, which is ranked thirty-eighth on the list of the trendy music, liberal politics, and pop culture magazine, ROLLING STONE, enumerating “The Five Hundred Greatest Songs of All Time.”
Oh, before I forget, please permit me the opportunity to finish telling you my story about chilling with THE STONES rather than doing my college course work! To cut to the chase, my professor just happened to meander into the language lab for some reason or another at the time and, in the process of checking with the lab technician on the whether or not I was hard at work on my assignment and what sort of progress I had made with it, he discovered my preference for Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Company rather than for his work of art. Interrupting my musical enjoyment, the professor barked through the system and into my headphones that while THE ROLLING STONES might be giving me shelter, he was going to give me the grade of “F” for the assignment if I did not complete it forthwith. Some people just cannot stand to watch other people having fun!
Some people living in good neighborhoods apparently cannot abide by other people enjoying an equivalent quality of life where they live. An article was published almost two weeks ago in THE BRONX SECTION of THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS entitled “Won’t Give Shelter.” Apparently, the caption editor of the newspaper, like myself, is a fan of THE ROLLING STONES and an aficionado(a) of one of their greatest hits. (S)He is not, however, too masterful in creating captions for newspaper articles, at least not in this instance. Far from not wanting to afford shelter to our homeless brothers and sisters, Wakefield, as the article in question aptly reports, is very quickly becoming a great, big colony of shelters servicing one group or another within the homeless population at-large.
With three facilities in short walking distance of each other already slated for Wakefield, it is shamefully unacceptable that this bucolic residential neighborhood would be compelled to assimilate yet a fourth. The people of Wakefield undertook a sustained and hard-fought effort to re-zone their neighborhood in such a way so as to facilitate the construction of higher-density residential and mixed-use development along White Plains Road. They like their neighbors throughout Community Board #12 (The Bronx) sought to attract both new apartment buildings and businesses to this commercial boulevard in desperate need of revitalization. It is simply catastrophic, as it has lately turned out, that most of the new, higher-density structures so far being planned in the re-designated “R-4” Zone encompassing White Plains Road are social service facilities. Are the citizens of Wakefield and of Bronx Community District #12 to be condemned for dreaming of a better quality of life and of a more vibrant neighborhood for themselves and their children? Are they to be criticized for wanting to reinvigorate commercial and residential life along a street with a long and proud history both in our District and the Borough of The Bronx?
Criticism in the aforesaid article comes courtesy of THE ACACIA NETWORK, formerly known as BASICS/Promesa, which seeks in collusion with Westchester developer Mark Stagg to fill 4453 White Plains Road at East 240TH Street with homeless individuals and families. ACACIA Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O.) Raul Russi, a former Commissioner of the New York City Department of Probation, contends that Community Board #12 (The Bronx) has less homeless shelters than other Districts. I do not dispute this fact nor do I disagree with Commissioner Russi if he is arguing that the siting of shelters should be done on a fair and equitable basis. Kindly tell me, therefore, in all fairness, what other District is being saddled with four facilities in the last year and a half? Moreover, if other Community Boards have been unduly burdened with a overabundance of homeless facilities, is it either fair or sensible that the same injustice and unfairness be recreated in Community Board #12 (The Bronx)? I likewise take note of Mr. Russi’s admonition that the homeless person denied adequate and compassionate care might be one’s own blood or next-door neighbor. To this I say, let the residents of Bronx Community District #12, who have family members or local friends who are in fact homeless, bring them forward and I shall work along with Commissioner Russi to see that they are housed in one of the three shelters already intended for Wakefield.
Mark Stagg built 4453 White Plains Road for those who wished to live in our area as apartment dwellers. The fact that he included an underground garage for nearly 30 motor vehicles in his project is obvious proof of this. If Mr. Stagg was enough of a businessman to build this apartment house, then he should be enough of one and as smart as one to market and to rent them as planned. If not, Mr. Stagg should stop scheming with the folks at ACACIA NETWORK to recoup his investments and to balance his books on the backs of the people of Wakefield.
The cottage industry for the homeless forging social activists, special interest advocates, attorneys, Government bureaucrats, retired Government bureaucrats morphed into not-for-profit (N-F-P) bureaucrats, and conniving developers in a conspiracy against local neighborhoods needs to be blown up. It is high time that, at last, we neighborhood residents blow our stacks at it!
Until next time, that is it for this time!
Wakefield News: Cardinal Dolan comes to Wakefield
Wakefield News: Cardinal Dolan comes to Wakefield: Wakefield Area News By Mary V. Lauro BRONX, NEW YORK, October 10- Hey! According to legend, the devil was once an angel too. Please be...
Cardinal Dolan comes to Wakefield
Wakefield Area News
By Mary V. Lauro
BRONX, NEW YORK, October 10- Hey! According to legend, the devil was once an angel too. Please bear that in mind as we praise 300 boys and girls who walked from St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Elementary School on Baychester Avenue to St. Frances of Rome Catholic Church on E. 236th Street, a distance of 7 or 8 blocks. They walked quietly and swiftly, their uniforms accentuating their orderliness. It is true they were accompanied by some teachers, assistants and police, but their brown and black faces shone with purpose. They knew that something important, perhaps historic was going to take place. These mostly non-Catholic children were going to meet Cardinal Dolan.
Cardinal Dolan had come to St. Frances of Rome (SFR) to inaugurate the reopening of its school building on Barnes Avenue as annex to St. Francis of Assisi. The Barnes Avenue School had been closed since 2008. The annex will be used for kindergarten and pre-kindergarten children.
The new facility for preschoolers will be known as the Catherine Corry Early Childhood Academy. It is named in honor of the mother of Rev. Francis J. Corry, the pastor of SFR and administrator of the churches of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Anthony in Wakefield. The three parishes are collectively known as the Catholic Churches of Wakefield.
Cardinal Dolan is a special person. It is always a delight to be in his presence. His homilies are clear and concise. One is struck not by showmanship or pageantry but by an abiding humility which defines him. Nonetheless, with all due deference, our column is not about him but about the well behaved students that sat through the mass without a single sigh of boredom, hands clasped and bright eyes following the action on the altar.
The principal of this amazing school and its students is Mary Jane Helmrich. She said her classes usually hold 25 to 30 students, sometimes more. We mention this because our newspapers are full of reports regarding problems encountered in public schools from teacher inadequacy to student failures. More problematic is the lack of civility found between teachers and students as well as between the students themselves.
While the problems in our Public Schools are various and many, some are perfectly obvious to the layman. They are like a childhood disease which, unfortunately, sometimes persists into adulthood. They are lack of respect for others and lack of civility. It is these two elements of social order that are inculcated in a Catholic School education from Pre-K to graduation. It begins with dressing uniformly. Time is not spent on observing who wears what. Nor is time spent on imitating what is seen on TV. A school uniform emphasizes the principle of equality as does, indoctrination in civility.
As the body needs food, the brain needs to know. Remember that other myth: God forbid Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of knowledge. They ate one apple and haven't stopped chewing since. The brain loves to learn. Once the distractions are removed, children will learn.
Also necessary are caring parents. It is not cheap to send one's child to Catholic School. It is amazing how many non-Catholics choose to do so at great personal sacrifice. It is enormously sad that they must do so when they and we pay our share of taxes for education. It is sadden still for the children who do not receive a fundamentally sound education. What is the point of public education if it cannot vie with Catholic and private education?
Friday, October 5, 2012
Bring on the Rings?
At the end the Yankees seem to have it all together as they await the next step
By Rich Mancuso
BRONX, NEW YORK, October 5- The Texas Rangers or the Baltimore Orioles are awaiting the New York Yankees Sunday night as the new wild card format this season has the lower seed teams hosting the higher seed in the divisional series. But, the Yankees don’t care where they go, or who they play.
Momentum has become a major player the last month or weeks of the baseball season. The Yankees have that right now, so similar to what the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals had in 2010, and last year. Their late season surges continued right to a World Series championship.
And, as every baseball or sports fan knows, a New York Yankees season is not complete, or a success, unless they bring a World Series trophy back to the Bronx. They finished with the best record in the American League, decided when they clinched their second straight division title Wednesday night with a sweep over the Boston Red Sox.
Home field advantage for the first two rounds of the post season goes to the Yankees with a 95-67 finish, second best in baseball to the Washington Nationals. Though sweeping the lowly Boston Red Sox to finish off, and scoring 14-runs in their final game, don’t make that a barometer that they will dominate from here on in.
This was the Red Sox. Not the Rangers, Athletics, Tigers, or the Orioles where pitching, with perhaps the exception of the Rangers collapse, won them games this time of year. The Yankees inconsistency of their pitching staff could be their obstacle as to getting a 28th championship.
“Now the real season starts,” commented Derek Jeter, the Yankees captain who knows something about the meaning of October baseball with five World Series rings.
So, with a September that was one to remember, the Yankees had to fight to the end with Baltimore. The 27-time world champions are confident. Yes, momentum is on their side as the pitching and hitting have come together, as well as a healthy compliment of players off the disabled list.
The season of adversity, one key pitcher or starting player hindered by injuries hurt the Yankees as they struggled and surrendered a 10-game AL east divisional lead to the Orioles.
“This year we had to fight, scratch and claw,” said Nick Swisher who had his struggles and finished with a strong September.
The Yankees at one time or another this season, and Girardi utilized what he could from the roster, saw different players at third, first, in the outfield, at DH, and on the mound.
The losses of pitchers CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Brett Gardner, and other role players, for a short or extended period of time had an impact but they overcame the adversity.
That also included losing all-time saves leader Mariano Rivera, with a freak season ending injury in the outfield shagging fly balls prior to a game at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City. Rafael Sorinao stepped in the closer role, and overall with 42 saves but had the tendency to throw the home run ball in the late going.
Gardner is back and could be on the post season roster, but getting on base and speed came when the Yankees acquired the able Ichiro Suzuki in the second half. Robinson Cano struggled, and the final three weeks the all-star second baseman had the highest hitting percentage in baseball.
The last seven years, New York has won the World Series once, so the obvious dynasty in baseball is a thing of the past with parity an obvious part of the game. However, as was the case with the Giants and Cardinals, pitching wins games this time of year.
“To have the best record and not know where you’re going is strange,” says Yankees manager Joe Girardi. They probably would prefer the Orioles. They split the 18-games between them and scored more runs. The Rangers, though struggling, know how to handle this time of year.
And when it comes to the Yankees and Rangers in October, Girardi is aware that Texas has come up short the last two years in failing to win the World Series, but the Yankees have never done well at the ballpark in Arlington in October baseball games.
The tentative starting rotation in the best- of- five opening round will be Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Pettitte, and Phil Hughes. It looks good, though Hughes has been ineffective in his last three starts and gives up the home run ball. Hughes getting the ball in a game three or four could be detrimental.
“The fact we struggled, we overcame the adversity, I am proud we are at this point,” says Girardi. Driving in the timely run has been the inconsistency and striking out to much, and Curtis Granderson had a team high in strike outs when he was not hitting the home run ball.
Just about every position player is liable to hit the ball out of the park. The Yankees finished 2012 with a club record in round trippers. But we saw something the past few weeks that started to develop.
The Yankees played small ball with the bunt, steal, and that produced some run production that helped them win some close games on the road. They finished four games over .500 away from the Bronx.
The team works out at Yankee Stadium early Friday evening and will watch the wild card game between the Orioles and Rangers. From the Bronx they will have the bags packed and ready to begin the next journey.
The new season begin Sunday evening. The quest with momentum is to bring championship number 28 to the Bronx in a few weeks.
E-Mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com/ Facebook.com/Keep it in the Ring
Thursday, October 4, 2012
It Never Gets Old!
Yanks Clinch AL East
Once Again Head into Playoffs
By Howard Goldin
BRONX, NEW YORK, October 4- With one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, the giant scoreboard in Yankee Stadium displayed the final score of the 4-1 victory of the Rays over the Orioles. The Baltimore loss gave the A.L. East crown to the New York Yankees. The crowd of 47, 393 erupted in cheers, the standing ovation was followed by the chant of “Let’s Go Yankees”.
The excitement was augmented at 10:34 when Freddy Garcia struck out Ivan de Jesus to end a game in which the Yankees crushed the Boston Red Sox, 14-2 in their final game of the 2012 regular season.
Robinson Cano continued his extra torrid hitting during the final contest of the season. He went 4 for 4 with a walk in five trips to the plate. Cano drove in six runs to lead his team to victory, two on his 32rd homer of the season on the first pitch he saw in the third, two more on the first pitch to him in the fifth, and an added two on a single in the sixth. The multi-hit game was the ninth straight for the second sacker. During those games, Cano hit safely 24 times in 39 at bats for a phenomenal .615 batting average.
C.C. Sabathia said of Cano’s recent hitting, “Unbelievable, when he’s riding, he’s the best hitter in baseball.”
The Yankees leading home run hitter also belted two four baggers in the game. In his first trip to the plate in the third, Curtis Granderson hit the first pitch into the right field stands to score three runs. His 43rd homer of the year came on a full-count pitch to lead-off the five run seventh. Although Grandy set a Yankees strike out record with 195, he led the club in runs batted in with 106. The honest and articulate outfielder said of being called a home run hitter, “Not at all, I just got lucky.” He also remarked, “There’s always room for improvement, no matter what your season was.”
The four home runs gave the Yanks 245 for a franchise record, breaking their previous single season high of 244. The club set a major league mark by hitting homers in 131 games during one season.
Cano and Granderson were not the only contributors to the pennant win. Yankees captain Derek Jeter’s single in the sixth raised to 34 the number of consecutive games in which he has reached base. The Yankee skipper praised his captain, “He’s exceeded everyone’s expectations. It’s truly remarkable. It’s one of the greatest seasons I’ve ever seen.”
Starter Hiroki Kuroda also did his part in the Yankees win. He earned his 16th win of the season by hurling seven innings in which he yielded seven hits and two runs.
The Yanks will begin the ALDS on the road in either Maryland or Texas on Sunday facing the winner of the Wild Card playoff on Friday night between the Orioles and the Rangers. The Yankee brass must now decide on the composition of their postseason roster and starting rotation. They will have home field advantage in all American League games as they finished the season with the best won/loss mark in the league. This was the ninth time since 1998 that New York has had the best record in the A.L.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Wakefield News: Homeless shelter #4
Wakefield News: Homeless shelter #4: Wakefield Area News By Mary V. Lauro BRONX, NEW YORK, October 1- "The moving finger writes and having writ moves on. "Not all...
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