Talk Bronx New York

Bronx Museum Leads Borough’s Renaissance

UPTOWN WORLD Holly Block in front of a mural, ‘Activism is Never Over,’ created for the ‘Making It Together’ exhibition by graffiti writer Lady Pink.

When Holly Block left the downtown arts venue Art in General to run the Bronx Museum of the Arts in 2006, many of her friends told her she was crazy. The museum was in serious trouble: It had almost no base of private support, had been running deficits for three years, and was about to open a new building that it didn’t have the funds to operate.

But Ms. Block, who had worked at the museum as a curator in the late 1980s, believed strongly in its mission of collecting Latin-American, Asian-American, African-American, and Bronx-based artists. After 18 years at Art in General, she was ready for a change and believed she could help turn the museum’s fortunes around.

Two years later, she has worked little less than a miracle: The new building, designed by the Miami firm Arquitectonica, is open and running. The museum has more than quadrupled its private fund raising and has run surpluses for two years in a row. This year’s gala, in May, raised $140,000 — an almost 40% increase over last year. The museum’s re-energized board, expanded to 19 members from 14, donated an additional $100,000.

“Holly’s amazing,” the board chairman, Douglass Rice, said. “She’s well-respected; she’s smart; she has incredible contacts. Where she goes, a lot of funders want to follow.”

The road to financial stability wasn’t easy. In her first few months, Ms. Block had to cut the museum’s staff to 22 from 28 and only program in part of the new building.

“That time period was the worst,” Ms. Block said of the fall of 2006.

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James Vacca Coy Over Possible Bronx Borough President Run

East Bronx City Councilman Jimmy Vacca isn’t totally denying he’s thinking about a run for borough president in the 2009 Democratic primary.

Though he’s up for one more Council term, he has yet to declare for any office with the city Campaign Finance Board.

And with three Hispanics - term-limited Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera, Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr. and ex-State Sen. Pedro Espada - likely to dilute the Latino vote, and Councilwoman Helen Foster pulling a heavy black vote, Jimmy just might slide in with the help of the East Bronx/Riverdale white vote.

But we tend to think it could be a bargaining chip with Joel’s dad, Dem Jefe Jose Rivera, to back Jimmy for a council leadership role - from Speaker to chair of a powerful committee, such as land use or finance.

Competing for a Council plum: South Bronx Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo.

East Bronx/Queens Rep. Joe Crowley likes and respects Jimmy, but as Queens Democratic boss, he also has to deal with his homies.

Gettin’ his mojo workin’

Political circles are wondering just when Joel Rivera is gonna get out of the gate in that run for Bronx BP.

While Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr. has been raising bucks and working the boro, Joel’s already spent half his money raised so far and barely been making the rounds.

“It’s like he’s campaigning in his apartment,” said a local political operative - not the only one talking about it.

But Joel’s camp says it’s ready to crank up his political mojo - when the time is right.

One thing for sure - the last thing Daddy Rivera wants is party arch-enemy Pedro Espada having a shot at winning - or being a spoiler. Read more..

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The City Council’s Biggest No-Shows

After Councilwoman Helen Diane Foster, a Bronx Democrat, missed an important vote on congestion pricing this week because of a flight delay, a closer look showed that she has the fifth-poorest attendance record on the City Council — about 72 percent, not counting absences for medical reasons.

So who has the worst record? That distinction goes to another Bronx Democrat, Maria Baez. Ms. Baez, who chairs the Council’s State and Federal Legislation Committee and serves on about half a dozen other committees, has missed 203 of 608 hearings and full Council meetings since 2004. Only 19 of her absences were excused, for an overall attendance rate of 66.61 percent, according to Council records.

The average Council attendance was about 84 percent, the records show. Before joining the Council in 2002, Ms. Baez was a community activist and served as chief of staff to Assemblyman Jose Rivera, the Bronx Democratic party boss who was a former councilman.

Edging Ms. Baez for second worst was Councilman James Sanders Jr., a Queens Democrat, at 66.9 percent. Ms. Baez and Mr. Sanders did not immediately respond to requests for comment this morning.

The gold star for attendance goes to Councilman Tony Avella of Queens, who made 98 percent of his committee hearings and Council hearings. Interestingly, Mr. Avella — who is among the first announced candidates for mayor in 2009 — was one of only five members who in 2006 voted against bumping the Council’s base salaries to $112,500 from $90,000. Ms. Baez had an excused absence that day.

Here is a list of attendance percentages for all sitting council members. The records, supplied by the Council, are from 2004 on — or from the date the member joined the Council if it was after 2004 (as noted in parentheses next to the member’s name).

(Note: After this chart was initially published, Councilwoman Jessica S. Lappin of Manhattan pointed out that her 84.48 percent rating did not account for her maternity leave, which accounted for 35 absences. Remove those, she said, and her attendance record shoots up to 94 percent. Another Council member, Diana Reyna of Brooklyn, also took maternity leave, causing her to miss 28 meetings. With those meetings removed, her attendance record goes from 79.37 percent moves up to 83.7 percent. A third Council member, Thomas White Jr. of Brooklyn, had 13 medical absences; not counting those, his attendance record would have improved to 80 percent from 75.82 percent.)

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Our reader says:

“I am beginning to think that we were Bamboozled by the Bronx Borough President who gave our parkland to the Yankee Organization.”

  The new Yankee Stadium, with a 2009 target date, is being built near the old one in the Bronx.

Building Yankee Stadium But High & Dry On Funds 

Several years ago, as the Yankees negotiated to build a new stadium in the South Bronx, the neighborhood faced the realities of a massive construction project in its midst: parks would be closed and moved, traffic would be horrendous, life would be, for a while, a hassle.

So, as one way to make up for these inconveniences, the Yankees and elected officials signed a community benefits agreement. It required that the team would give roughly $1.2 million a year, starting when the work began, to various community groups through a special panel. The deal was similar to agreements in other major projects, like Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn and Columbia University’s expansion into Harlem.

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Is beep hopeful Joel Rivera aiming for foot on tenants’ bill? 

Has City Council Majority Leader and Bronx BP wannabe Joel Rivera shot himself in the political foot on this one - or even blown it off - by cosponsoring a landlord-backed bill that has tenant groups howling?

While the rest of the Bronx delegation backs Speaker Christine Quinn’s competing bill, tenant advocates charge West Bronx Councilwoman Maria Baez’s bill would muzzle tenants’ rights to complain of harassment while landlords could sue tenants who do complain.

A top Rivera adviser told us Baez’s bill mainly shifts initial complaints from logjammed housing courts to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

“It’s not an anti-tenant bill,” argued Rivera’s guy.

We shall see …

One lucky cop

Detective Dan Rivera is the luckiest sonuva-you-know-what in the NYPD.

The Detectives’ Endowment Association’s Bronx delegate wound up with only a graze wound - dead center on his forehead - in a recent gun battle over on Webster Ave.

He was among those honored last week at the Elks annual Police Night at Frankie & Johnny’s Pine Restaurant.

Deputy Chief Terry Monahan, No.2 honcho over “the minions” at Patrol Borough Bronx - and looking more like boss Tom Purtell with that freshly shaved chrome dome - was also honored, along with Lt. Tom Sullivan of the Lieutenants Benevolent Association, Sgt. Ray Brickley of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, Police Officer Mike Morgillo of the PBA and Lt. Cosmo Costa of the New Rochelle PD.

And Danny, thanks (we think) for sharing with us about your “reward” after the shootout …

Eco boss denies Council bid

Majora Carter, who’s built a nationwide eco-rep as head of Sustainable South Bronx over in Hunts Point, denies, denies, denies an item in last week’s Crain’s Insider column that she’s eying Maria del Carmen Arroyo’s City Council seat.

“I’m having too much fun where I am,” sayeth Majora.

Celebrating the Fat Man

That was some 40th-anniversary bash for the Hunts Point Multi-Service Center at Marina del Rey last week, organized by alumnus and Community Board 1 Chair Georgie Rodriguez.

Though founder Ramon (The Fat Man) Velez took a heavy pounding from Mayor Koch as “a poverty pimp” during the War on Poverty years, the center’s still thriving, while a buncha folks affiliated with it have gone on to elective office.

That includes Rep. Jose Serrano; former Bronx BP Freddy Ferrer; former State Sen. Olga Mendez; Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo; former Assemblyman and current County (and soon-to-be City?) Clerk Hector Diaz and former Assemblyman and Bronx Democratic Boss Roberto Ramirez.

Ramon Jr. told us his dad, now in a local nursing home with Alzheimer’s, “looks well. He’s eating and he’s healthy.”

‘Blue Blood’ goes downtown

You can take Ed Conlon out of the Bronx - to hang out in Manhattan with the literary/showbiz/media crowd - but only after the detective has finished his shift at the gritty 44th Precinct in Highbridge.

The author of the autobiographical, behind-the-badge Times best-seller “Blue Blood” has just seen a new TV pilot based on his book completed and has handed in the first draft of his second book, a novel about - what else? - cops.

Kevin behind the bar at Elaine’s confirms Eddie and the squadmates he drags downtown are regulars there, and we’re told Ed dines with downtown pals over at the next-to-impossible-to-get-into Rao’s in East Harlem.

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