THIS WEEK IN POLITICS

POLITICAL ARENA

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Access-a-Reservoir

With construction cranes looming in the distance across an empty Jerome Park Reservoir, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and other civic leaders gathered together on May 20, to demand public access to “a community treasure” denied to the Bronx by the Department of Environmental Protection.

Councilman Oliver Koppell, Assemblymen Jeffrey Dinowitz and Jose Rivera, state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, Father Richard Gorman, chair of Community Board 12 and the Croton Filtration Monitoring Committee, Bob Fanuzzi, vice-chair of Community Board 8, and Kristin Hart, president of the Fort Independence Park Neighborhood Association, joined Mr. Diaz on the patio behind Our Lady of Angels Church, overlooking the Jerome Park Reservoir.

Their message can be summarized with Father Gorman’s biblical words.

“The time has come for the city administration to stop talking with a forked tongue. It’s time for the people downtown to realize that they work for us. That we are indeed the masters and they are the servants,” he said.

After waiting years for a report on the feasibility of public access to the reservoir, the DEP released an 11-page report in March that “says absolutely nothing,” according to Father Gorman.

The DEP said it would not grant public access because of security concerns and so that the public cannot interfere with everyday operations at the reservoir, which when completed will be one small piece of the Croton Water Treatment Plant — a $3 billion project that will provide the city with 10 percent of its drinking water. 

Two chain-link fences surround the entire reservoir but residents want to get closer to what Mr. Dinowitz called the community’s “lake.” Waterfront access is allowed at the Central Park Reservoir and at upstate reservoirs.  

“We can have a secure reservoir and at the same time have public accessibility,” Mr. Diaz said.

To appease the public, the Department of Parks and Recreation is going ahead with a plan to create a jogging path halfway around the reservoir, but community members and elected officials say that is not what was promised. For putting up with Croton construction, $5 million in mitigation funds were allocated in 2004 for a jogging path around the entire reservoir.

Even Mr. Koppell, a member of the Croton Filtration Monitoring Committee, who until now had not taken a strong stance on the issue, demanded more public access. He said the fence as it stands now is permeable and that with modern surveillance, the DEP should be able to allow public access while addressing security concerns.

Mr. Diaz announced a public hearing to discuss public access, which will be on Thursday, June 2, at the Amalgamated Housing Cooperative’s Vladeck Hall, at 6:30 p.m.

Time for livin’

New Yorkers want a living wage mandate for city subsidized developments and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. couldn’t be happier about it.

In a recent poll, the Baruch College Survey Research team asked New Yorkers if they were in favor of “requiring employers that receive taxpayer subsidies to pay $10 an hour plus health benefits.”

The results were overwhelming: 78 percent said they were in favor of the living wage requirement, 15 percent were against it and the remainder did not have an opinion.

“It’s amazing. Seventy-eight percent of New Yorkers say that Bloomberg is wrong,” Mr. Diaz said in a recent interview.

Even a majority of Republicans polled — 56 percent — are in favor of a living wage mandate. The poll showed 83 percent of Democrats and 74 percent of independents in favor of a living wage mandate.

The telephone poll is the result of a random sample of 1,207 adults in the city.  

Mr. Diaz is the central figure in the fight for a living wage legislation and the Bronx has been the battlefield.

In late 2009, Mr. Diaz fought Mayor Michael Bloomberg over a development proposal for the Kingsbridge Armory. Mr. Bloomberg supported a mall that would be developed by the Related Companies, but Mr. Diaz argued that development projects receiving taxpayer subsidies should be mandated to offer “living wage jobs” — defined as paying at least $10 an hour with benefits or $11.50 without.

The plan fell through when the City Council voted against the plan and shot down the mayor’s veto.

Since then, Mr. Diaz has taken a lot of flak for the Armory, which remains empty, but he has used it to launch a campaign for a living wage mandate in New York.

This poll shows New Yorkers are behind him.

But it’s the City Council that needs convincing. Currently, 31 of 51 members are co-sponsors of the bill. To avoid an inevitable veto from Mr. Bloomberg, the bill would need the backing of a two-thirds majority, or 34 council members.

 Every Bronx council member is a co-sponsor, except for Councilman Jimmy Vacca.

Mr. Diaz said he reaches out to Mr. Vacca all the time.

“We’ll get him to come around. We’re working on Jimmy. Hopefully, the fact that 78 percent of New Yorkers are saying it’s a good thing will help not only persuade him but others who are on the fence,” Mr. Diaz said.

IDC on agriculture

The extremely active Independent Democratic Conference, made up of defectors from the Democratic Conference, state Sens. Jeff Klein, David Carlucci, David Valesky and Diane Savino, want to jump start the state’s agriculture industry.

The IDC released a set of bills that will help out farmers and push restaurants to buy locally.

One of the bills would create a tax incentive for restaurants who participate in the Pride of New York Program, a coalition of New York farms. The tax credit would come to $100 for every $1,000 of produce purchased from a participating New York farm.

The other bills would remove fees and penalties for farmers who install small wind turbines or bio-gas generators on their farms and would create tax incentives to boost lending to agriculture.

Yes, but

Rep. Eliot Engel was pleased with President Barack Obama’s speech on the Middle East last week, but he said it “omitted or glossed over several themes.”

Mr. Engel did not like the way Mr. Obama spoke about the militant group Hamas and also criticized the president’s idea of returning to the Israeli/Pakistani borders from 1967.

Mr. Engel released a statement with a list of what he thought Mr. Obama should have said about Hamas. The list comprised conditions set down in 2006 by the Mideast Quartet: the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.

1. “Hamas must recognize Israel’s right to exist.”

2. “Hamas must renounce terrorism.”

3. “Hamas must commit to all of the agreements signed by Israel and the Palestinians.”

On Sunday, Mr. Obama said he wants Palestinians to drop their plans to appeal for recognition from the United Nations. He also said the 1967 lines should be the basis for a peace deal.

Mr. Engel, like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, does not think the 1967 lines are defensible. 

“Israel must not be made to return to them,” Mr. Engel said in a press release.

More soccer please

After all this rain, the fields at Van Cortlandt Park are looking greener than they have in years.

But the $15 million renovation has not pleased everyone.

The Riverdale Soccer Club has access to two fewer fields than it did in the past and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz is calling on the Parks Department to give the club access to the same number of fields as in the past.

“The first priority must be to provide space for young people. Soccer continues to grow in popularity among kids, yet Parks has reduced the number of soccer fields. This is unacceptable and must be changed,” Mr. Dinowitz said in a press release.

The Riverdale Soccer Club is as big as ever and, according to president Bruce Silverman, it is growing every year.

The southern end of the Parade Ground is still fenced off and will not open until June, according to the Parks Department. When it opens, that area has been designated for cricket fields. 

Mr. Dinowitz said he would like to see some of that area, in the southeastern corner of the Parade Ground, used for two additional soccer fields. 

Mr. Dinowitz also questions whether it’s a good idea to have so many cricket fields in the first place.

Beach boogie down

The Bronx Ball on Saturday at Orchard Beach was a hit despite the nasty weather. A handful of electeds, including locals Councilman Oliver Koppell and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, and hundreds of Bronxites joined Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. to celebrate the Boogie Down.

The highlight of the night, other than the endless supply of Jonas Bronck’s Beer Co.’s Pelham Bay IPA and Woodlawn Weiss, was actor Chazz Palminteri’s stirring speech upon being inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame.

Mr. Palminteri, who grew up in Belmont, said it was the Bronx that gave him an edge in Hollywood and that his Bronx roots taught him to never back down, even when he was offered $1 million for the rights to his play, A Bronx Tale. He demanded that he write the screenplay and act in a film adaptation, but was told no. He turned everyone down until Robert de Niro approached him and offered to make the movie with him — the right way.

Irene Cara, Grammy and Golden Globe winner, Joy Bryant, actress and model, and Charles Latibeaudiere, co-executive producer of TMZ, also spoke about their experiences in the Bronx and how it helped them in their careers.

Worth mentioning ...

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman told the Daily News he think the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ignores basic safety standards at the Indian Point nuclear plant. The article reports that there are no hydrants or fire extinguishers in 40 percent of the plant’s zones and no smoke, heat or flame detectors in 63 percent of the plant’s zones. Mr. Schneiderman told the Daily News this was unacceptable and a risk that the 20 million people living within 50 miles of the plant cannot afford.

Jerome Park Reservoir, living wage, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Independent Democratic Conference, Rep. Eliot Engel, Middle East, Riverdale Soccer Club, Bronx Ball, Chazz Palminteri, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Nuclear Regulatory Commission

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