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Councilman James Vacca fuming mad at Citgo stations

This Citgo gas station, on the Southbound side of the Hutchinson River Parkway, is one of the highest priced gas stations in the Bronx.

Councilman James Vacca got the city to take action against the high prices at the Citgo stations on the Hutch.

They should pour this gas from a Champagne bottle.

A Bronx lawmaker hit the gas price ceiling over what two local gas stations on leased city land were charging motorists - and got results.

Councilman James Vacca took aim at the CITGO gas stations on the Hutchinson River Parkway near East Tremont Ave., where gas prices started at $4.49 last week. According to the American Automobile Association, the average price in the city is $4.12.

“Historically, these gas stations have been the highest in the borough by far,” Vacca said. “Even now, with the current crisis we face, they continue to be the highest. When I saw that it hit $4.49, that was the last straw.”

In a letter to the city Parks and Recreation Department, which owns the land, Vacca called on Commissioner Adrian Benepe to terminate the lease of the twin stations, which face each other on opposite sides of the parkway.

“These two stations are notorious for charging 25 to 35 cents more than stations only three blocks away,” Vacca wrote in a May 23 letter.

A listing of gas prices on MSN.com showed the two CITGO stations ranked as the most expensive in the Bronx.

Vacca’s office has been fielding numerous complaints about the prices.

“With residents of the Bronx feeling the pinch of ever-increasing gas prices every day,” Vacca wrote, “it is unconscionable that the city would tolerate flagrant price-gouging.”

In response, Parks officials said they are sending the concessionaire, Super Value, a “Notice to Cure” that states their gas prices are inconsistent with prices charged at other area stations.

The notice orders the owners to immediately adjust their prices accordingly to comply with the terms of their contract. An inspector is to follow up.

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The Lost Supermarket: A Breed in Need of Replenishment

Even Kings and Queens are facing their own food crisis.

Kings and Queens Counties, that is.

A continuing decline in the number of neighborhood supermarkets has made it harder for millions of New Yorkers to find fresh and affordable food within walking distance of their homes, according to a recent city study. The dearth of nearby supermarkets is most severe in minority and poor neighborhoods already beset by obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

According to the food workers union, only 550 decently sized supermarkets — each occupying at least 10,000 square feet — remain in the city.

In one corner of southeast Queens, four supermarkets have closed in the last two years. Over a similar period in East Harlem, six small supermarkets have closed, and two more are on the brink, local officials said. In some cases, the old storefronts have been converted to drug stores that stand to make money coming and going — first selling processed foods and sodas, then selling medicines for illnesses that could have been prevented by a better diet.

The supermarket closings — not confined to poor neighborhoods — result from rising rents and slim profit margins, among other causes. They have forced residents to take buses or cabs to the closest supermarkets in some areas. Those with cars can drive, but the price of gasoline is making some think twice about that option. In many places, residents said the lack of competition has led to rising prices in the remaining stores.

The residents of the Ingersoll Houses in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, have been without their local supermarket since last year, when it was razed along with a strip of stores and restaurants to make room for new housing and retail developments. What used to be a quick jaunt across the street for Della Dorsett is now a tricky trek, as she maneuvers her electric wheelchair several blocks uphill along Myrtle Avenue, returning home with plastic bags dangling from handles and nestled between her feet.

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Bronx Beaches Are Mostly Private

A member of the American Turner Club had the place all to herself last week.

It may not be Miami, San Diego, or even the Rockaways, but the Bronx - yes, the Bronx - has 10 beaches where visitors can enjoy a summer swim.

While most people know about Orchard Beach along the sprawling shoreline of Long Island Sound in Pelham Bay Park, there are several lesser-known and less-crowded spots to take a dip in the waters of the northernmost borough.

Six of the sandy shores are side-by-side private beaches along a stretch of Clarence Ave. from Throgs Neck to Country Club. They accept new members, but require applicants to be sponsored by a current member in good standing.

“It’s a strip of heaven that we try to keep secret,” said Carol Richardson, who has been working at the American Turner Club, the largest club on the strip, for almost 20 years.

“Oh, wow. This is the Bronx?” she said people exclaim when they see the view from their 180-seat dining room, and from the beach for the first time.

The private club’s 200-foot-wide beach has brownish sand, a pier and a small lawn. There are rocks and some cigarette butts in the sand, making it an entryway to the water, not a spot for sunbathing.

All the beaches on the strip look out on City Island, and the smell of salt water makes the borough’s air pollution problems seem like they belong to another, distant place. The Health Department checks the water almost weekly and assures it is healthy for swimming.

The Danish American Beach Club down the street has a bar, dozens of picnic tables and a sun deck. It is only accessible to its 400 members, but the club accepts new members.

“I don’t think anyone realizes there are beach clubs like this. In the summer, you have to watch where you step because there are a million little children running around,” said Matt Curry, 32, the caretaker of the club, who lives on the property and was a member as a child.

Next door, a member of the White Cross Fishing Club said most people do not know about the strip and “that’s the way we like it.”

He said prospective members must be recommended by two members in good standing to join the 100-member club.

“Strictly private, for members only,” says a sign outside.

The Morris Yacht and Beach Club on City Island also has a beach -its waters are tested regularly for swimming - as do Locust Point and the Schuyler Hill Civic Association.

Orchard Beach is the largest Bronx beach, at 1.1 miles, and the only one run by the Parks and Recreation Department.

SOURCE: NYDailyNews.com

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Botanical Garden Associate VP Francisca Coelho Has Deep Bronx Roots

Francisca Coelho, associate vice president for glasshouses and exhibitions, New York Botanical Garden.

Francisca Coelho grew up in Trinidad with a tropical rain forest just beyond the garden where her parents tended mango and avocado trees.

When she arrived in the Bronx almost 30 years ago to study horticulture at The New York Botanical Garden, she discovered those lush surroundings of her youth had given her a head start.

“I can picture plants and name them. I can see all the characteristics,” she said. “It was very fascinating for me to see the plants I grew up with outside growing in this big glass building.”

After graduation, Coelho was hired to record and track all of the garden’s new plants. Since then, her roots at the garden have grown steadily deeper. Today, she is the associate vice president for glasshouses and exhibitions.

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Northwest Bronx program assist on evictions, problems with landlords 

Northwest Bronx residents with housing concerns can benefit this summer from a new pilot program.

The local community board has joined up with the West Bronx Housing and Neighborhood Resource Center to offer housing assistance to the more than 140,000 people living in the area.

“We decided to partner with them because they needed space, and we needed to help residents,” said Fernando Tirado, district manager of Community Board 7, which covers Jerome Park, Norwood and University Heights.

“It’s to deal with the growing problem of tenants being forced out or not getting the appropriate amount of services from their landlord,” said Tirado.

The program will provide such services as help with filing government housing forms, assistance contacting city agencies with complaints, and mediation of disputes between landlords and tenants.

A representative from the resource center will be at the board’s office at 229-A E. 204th St. on the third Tuesday of each month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to offer housing expertise.

Sandy Dunford, executive director of the resource center, said the board had been referring residents to her office for years, but it was difficult to get them to come in, which often had disastrous consequences.

“Then the problem deepens, and it may be too late by the time they come to us. If we can help earlier, there’s a lot of things we can do,” Dunford said.

“There’s nothing sadder than having someone come in a day before they are evicted or foreclosed on and knowing that if they had come in earlier, we might have been able to do something,” she added.

The first session took place on May 20, and the program is already having an impact.

Just a few people showed up, but several received guidance about how to organize a tenants’ association, and one woman facing foreclosure is receiving help with the problem.

“There’s no way she would have come in if not for this program,” Dunford said. “She didn’t know we existed, but she came to the board, and they said to come in when we were here the next day.”

The program is set to run through September, but if it is successful, it may be extended.

“We hope that people in the community will be supportive of it, so that we can continue our partnership on a permanent basis,” Tirado said.

SOURCE: NYDailyNews.com

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