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Rebellion is escalating against Bronx’s Dem chief Jose Rivera

That revolt against Bronx Democratic Party Boss Jose Rivera is percolatin’.

We’re told party secretary Aurelia Greene, dean of the Assembly delegation, is weighing joining the Rainbow Rebellion of dissatisfied black, white and Hispanic legislators, and has already taken a preliminary step.

Aurelia didn’t return our calls, but we’re told she’ll be among those who won’t be “binding” (submitting) their nominating petitions for the Sept. 9 primary with the party for filing with the Board of Elections - just in case. Petitioning starts June 3, with filing deadline July 10.

Ditto Assemblymen Carl Heastie of Williamsbridge-Wakefield, Michael Benjamin of Morrisania, and Soundview’s Ruben Diaz Jr. Fellow rebel Jeff Dinowitz of Riverdale always does his own.

On the fence - for now - Assemblymen Peter Rivera of Parkchester, Luis Diaz of the West Bronx and Mike Benedetto of the East Bronx, will file their petitions through the party - but are using an outside lawyer instead of party legal counsel Luis Sepulveda.

• Hardening the battle lines, attorney and longtime party insider Stanley Schlein - until recently Jose’s consigliere - is “in discussions” with the rebel camp, and will be vetting petitions for some of its members.

“You don’t lose your political consigliere who knows all the inner workings,” said one former partycrat, “and not be in a lot of trouble.”

• Some quarters say that if things really get serious, Jose “overtly or covertly” just might support challengers against the rebels.

Jose may be paying for his sins, real or perceived, and those of Councilwoman Maria Baez, who’s been running day-to-day party affairs, for alienating the Rainbow Rebels with all-Puerto Rican-all-the-time spoils and nepotism.

A few possible scenarios that could emerge when the leadership vote is taken at the party convention right after the Sept. 9 primary, or maybe even before it:

The canny Jose either outmaneuvers or makes peace with the rebels; he bails and takes that vacant County Clerk’s job; he’s ousted, or he becomes a weak figurehead leader.

That last option, however, could shrink party clout citywide, especially when jockeying begins for leadership roles in the next City Council.

We just can’t wait for the County Dinner in July. Hoo, boy!

SOURCE: NYDailyNews.com

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Mom’s apple tree being preserved at Bronx Museum of the Arts 

Holly Block, executive director of the Bronx Museum of the Arts, shows off apple tree being preserved in expansion efforts.

Beauty parlor owner Rose Bell Rufus left her life-long home in Texas in 1963 to join her children, who were attending college in New York City.

After bouncing from apartment to apartment, she finally put down her permanent roots in the Bronx in 1970, buying a three-story house at 1040 Grand Concourse.

Little did she realize that an apple tree she planted in her backyard garden to bring a bit of her native Texas with her would someday grow to become a museum centerpiece.

As the tree grew from a sapling to a fruit-bearing adult, the synagogue next door was transformed into the borough’s first art museum. Its popularity grew, and by the time Rufus was diagnosed with cancer in 1990, tourists were flocking to the neighboring Bronx Museum of the Arts.

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Foreclosures affect Bronx homeowners 

Devon Honeyghan spent $25,000 renovating the kitchen of his Bronx house in preparation for selling it and moving to Georgia.

But two “For Sale” signs and an abandoned house standing all in a row across the street have him doubting he will make any of his money back.

Honeyghan, a 42-year-old livery cab driver, lives in Wakefield, the working-class northeast Bronx neighborhood hit hardest by the mortgage foreclosure crisis.

Statistics released this month by the Center for Responsible Lending show the value of nearly 400,000 homes in the Bronx has dropped $4.9 billion because of surrounding foreclosed homes.

The foreclosure crisis began with missed mortgage payments and first-time owners losing their homes. It later hit banks and the financial industry, but its most recent victims are the neighbors who live on streets with abandoned homes.

Honeyghan, who bought his new house in Georgia at the market’s peak, is so desperate to sell his Bronx home that he offered to buy the abandoned house across the street, which has become an eyesore and is filled with stray cats. He could not because it is locked in a divorce case.

“I just don’t see myself getting my money back,” he said. “I was going to spend $10,000 on the bathroom, but it’s not worth it.”

Carmen Rosa, district manager of Community Board 12, says most foreclosed homes in the neighborhood have not deteriorated - just yet - but residents fear what is to come.

“You see the signs up - ‘For Sale, For Sale, For Sale’ - on every street,” Rosa said.

“At our board meetings, residents are very concerned about the impact the foreclosures will have on the value of their homes,” she said, “but they are also concerned if someone walks away from their home that people will break in and they will have to become watchdogs. There is a social impact, too.”

Paul Founsette, 54, a contractor who lives on Ely St. in Wakefield, for example, sweeps the sidewalk and driveway of the two-story brick house across from his. It was foreclosed and has been vacant for more than a year. The “For Sale” sign seems to have given up too, toppled over in the driveway.

“If it’s not clean, it’s going to blow across,” Founsette said. “It just looks bad for everyone. It’s a rough time.”

Two blocks from Founsette is a foreclosed home with an overflowing mailbox and a truck with blown-out tires abandoned out front.

And, posted on telephone poles on every corner throughout the neighborhood are flyers from land sharks calling out to those at their lowest point of desperation - “Wanted - Houses and Land, Bought All Cash, Top $$$.”

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