Talk Bronx New York

 Protest For Profit .. The Walmart Expedition Reason

A brief item inside the City section of yesterday’s New York Times reports on a non-profit group in the Bronx, Highbridge Community Life Center, that, among other services to senior citizens, offers round-trip van rides from the Bronx to a Wal-Mart in Monroe, an hour north of New York City.

“The expeditions,” the Times reports, “are intended to help older residents cope with the ever-rising prices of groceries and household items.” Many of the individuals, the Times reports, “live alone on a fixed income in what is one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.”

The report details one 76-year-old woman, a “retired home health aide,” buying cockroach poison at Wal-Mart for use in her apartment in a public housing project.

What the Times article omits is the reason these elderly individuals have to travel for an hour in a van in one direction and an hour back in the other direction to shop at Wal-Mart. That reason is the New York City Council.

In thrall to labor unions and other forces that are lobbying against Wal-Mart, the Democrat-dominated City Council has all but banned the nation’s largest retailer from New York City. What the report also omits is that Highbridge Community Life Center gets about $2.4 million a year — about 60% of its annual budget — from the New York City and State governments.

In other words, the same City Council that is preventing Wal-Mart from opening a store in New York City is using taxpayer money to pay a non-profit group in the Bronx to drive senior citizens an hour outside New York to shop at Wal-Mart. The city isn’t saying that’s what it is paying for, but money is fungible, and the group is 60% government funded.

So the politicians get to claim credit with the unions for keeping Wal-Mart out of the city while also claiming credit with the seniors for providing them access to every day low prices. Ordinary New Yorkers, who work and pay taxes, are the ones who pay the price.

Their city is deprived of the sales tax revenue that Wal-Mart would bring. If they don’t have two hours to spend traveling or a non-profit to subsidize their shopping trips, they can’t shop at Wal-Mart. Why not just let Wal-Mart open in New York City and eliminate the need for the van rides?

SOURCE: NYSun.com

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Green Cats Make Their Way Through Bronx Neighborhoods

Ever seen a green cat?

The purchase of five hybrid-electric buses by Bronx Clean Air Transportation Services make Bronx CAT one of the greenest fleets in the city.

Funded jointly by the state and the borough president’s office, the buses are now shuttling workers from subway stops into the Hunts Point peninsula, and also have been given to two local community groups.

The 18-passenger vans, the first hybrids in their vehicle class, emit 90% less particulate matter and nitrogen oxide and 33% less greenhouse gases while consuming 30%-50% less fuel than traditional vans.

“These shuttles are simply amazing,” said Borough President Adolfo Carrión. “We are proving once again that it is both easy and economical to be green.”

Bronx CAT is the latest green initiative spearheaded by Carrión in Hunts Point to improve air quality in the asthma-stricken South Bronx.

Two of the buses have been leased for free to the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club and Highbridge Community Life Center for use in their programs, replacing vans more than 10 years old.

“It’s replacing two old vans that were always breaking down,” said Highbridge Development Director Bernadette Kelly.

The gas-electric hybrids, which run on electricity for most city driving, also will save the groups money in running costs.

“It will be a big cost savings for us,” said Highbridge’s executive director, Ellenrita Purcaro. “We’re looking forward to saving a lot on gas.”

The other three buses comprise the Hunts Point Clean Air Transportation (CAT) shuttle service for employees of companies on the Hunts Point peninsula.

Launched in mid-January, the route picks up workers from the 4, 5 and 6 IRT trains and provides service from 6 to 9:30 a.m. and from 3 to 6:30 p.m.

An initial grant of $384,790 from the Bronx Initiative for Energy & the Environment - a program of Carrión’s Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation - spurred grants from Clean Air Communities and the New York State Energy Research Development Authority to pay for the vehicles.

The shuttle van service grew out of concerns raised in the borough president’s Hunts Point Vision Plan, which identified transportation as one of the major concerns in the peninsula.

Carrión, along with BIEE, reached out to various employers to gauge their interest in the program, and response was overwhelming. Service will be free to participating businesses.

SOURCE: NYDailyNews.com

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