Photos c/o Nilka Martell.
Co-authored by Adam Bermudez, Kathleen Canzoniero & Nilka Martell
Council Member Ritchie Torres (D-Van Nest, Fordham, Bronx Park East, Belmont, Bedford Park) spoke last night at the Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance’s monthly community meeting, where local issues are raised and discussed. The Councilman’s remarks and answers to queries from constituents focused on the infrastructure of the neighborhood, including the need for youth programming and graffiti prevention, as well as dealing with abandoned properties and how the Council funds community programming and organizations.
Videos c/o Kathleen Canzoniero.
Councilman Torres took questions from the community (below) after his remarks (above).
Sharlene Jackson (1st question in the video above), a local resident, spoke about the importance of “positive peer pressure” on residents by focusing on quality of life issues such as graffiti , and the Councilman offered a multi-pronged approach to solving the problem, including involving city agencies as well as his own staff. He also spoke about his advocacy of Council legislation that holds banks accountable for maintaining properties abandoned by owners owned by banks as well as those that have not yet been awarded to the bank after abandonment.
In addition to speaking about plans for local residents and community groups to have the ability to participate in the process of budgeting Council member dollars, [“We want to take the politics out of member item distribution”], Torres advocated for more resources to be geared towards the districts with the most need, defined as those with the highest poverty rates.
“I think it’s offensive that the Upper East Side of Manhattan or Park Slope would receive the same amount of funding as my district,” Torres said. “But I’m in the minority.”
Bernadatte Ferrara, Vice President of the Alliance, spoke about plans for The New Van Nest Park in the heart of the community, and questioned the Councilman about the structured extracurricular programming that deters activities such as graffiti.
(l-r) Bob Nolan, Counsel; Shradhandand Pirtam, President, Councilman Torres; Bernadette Ferrara, Vice President; John Messenger, Treasurer
“We need something here for our children and future families, for people who want to come here,” said Ferrara, (pictured above next to the Councilman). who spoke about her own experiences as a parent attempting to find affordable, qualities activities in the neighborhood, located a bus ride away from many youth offerings.
The meeting was attended by members of the Van Nest Community, as well as local precinct chief Lorenzo A. Johnson (pictured above) and representatives from the offices of Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda, Senator Gustavo Rivera, Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj and Congressman Crowley. (More on what Crowley rep Tommy Messina spoke about here.)
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