Our next membership meeting will be on November 13 at 7:30 p.m. at P.S. 14 on Bruckner Boulevard. Our guest speaker will be Captain Demetrios Roumeliotis and P.O. Mike O’Connor of the 45th Precinct.
Please join us to welcome our new captain. Bring your questions, concerns and suggestions. Remember that it is helpful to bring concrete information when you are asking for help with a problem. For instance, if you think there are drugs being sold near your home, you need to bring times, dates, descriptions of people and/or cars, license plate numbers and anything else that would help apprehend the offender.
Please mark the date on your calendar and bring your friends and neighbors with you!
3030 Rally
Recently, there was a letter to the editor suggesting that WLCA sponsor more rallies. Well, Mr. Wall, the author of that letter, will be very happy to know that we are in the process of planning two more demonstrations- one at City Hall and another at 3030 Middletown Road. So, we are depending on you, Mr. Wall, to get involved by getting your friends and neighbors to attend. Of course, we need more than WLCA and Mr. Wall if we are to be successful. Please call me if you can help with the organization of these rallies. Remember, the coming year will be a prime time to get the mayor to listen to reason—after all, he is up for re-election and needs our vote!
WLCA would like to thank everyone that took the time to attend the rally on October 18. We joined together to protest overdevelopment and the outdated and ridiculous regulations of HPD, the DOB and City Planning. It is these outdated regulations and loopholes that have allowed this project to go forward. To allow a project such as this to take place without sufficient parking, in an already overdeveloped area, is just plain irresponsible. We must fight until our city comes to its senses.
A demonstration is important because it shows that our patience is wearing thin. We have written letters, signed petitions, made phone calls and sat at meetings but still our voices are not being heard. This is the why the leaders of our major civic associations have united. We need to show city leaders that we have large numbers of people supporting the movement against overdevelopment. Our new organization, North East Bronx Community Alliance, is becoming stronger. We are working together and finding new ways to see that our collective voices are being heard. This rally was attended by members of just about every civic association in our community. This is important because the city must know that it is not just Schuylerville and Pelham Bay that oppose this project and overdevelopment in general. The more civic associations that attend our rallies the more credible our requests become. If we work together, we can move mountains—maybe even apartment buildings!
It was very encouraging to have the support of Senator Klein, Assemblyman Benedetto, Councilman Vacca and Ken Kearns. When our local politicians come out and stand shoulder to shoulder with us, it again adds credibility to what we are trying to do. In the same way, when someone is invited and they do not attend, we must find a way to make them understand how serious our problem is. This is why our next rally must be held in front of City Hall. The mayor has the power to correct the serious problems that lead to overdevelopment and if he won’t come to us, we’ll take our rally to him.
Our rally was a great success thanks to the many residents, civic associations and politicians that came out to join us. Our efforts were noticed by the developer and a meeting will be arranged to discuss our grievances. We even had great signs, thanks to Dotty Poggi and these signs will continue to work for us. The plan is to place them on the fences and in the windows of homes that face 3030 Middletown Road. If you can place a sign on your fence or in your window it will speak our message every single day! That will be a big help. Please call me at 718 792-6385. Don’t wait. We need your help now!
School Playgrounds
Mayor Bloomberg has selected three schools in our area to participate in the “Schoolyards-to-Playgrounds” initiative as part of PlaNYC 2030 and I am just thrilled to hear the news. As a teacher and administrator I have always been bothered by the dull and uninteresting schoolyards that our children play in every day while at school. Where are the trees? Where is the play equipment? Now, our children will have a great place to relax and play after lunch and before and after school. This, Mr. Mayor, is a great use of our tax dollars!
Soon the schoolyards of P.S. 14, P.S. 71 and M.S. 366/371 (formerly I.S. 192) will be transformed into a beautiful place to play, relax and learn. WLCA will attend the meetings and we will keep you informed of the progress. Finally, something wonderful for the public schools in our community!
