Norwood News

By DAVID CRUZ

Where’s the Love, Mr. Mayor?
Noticed these days that appearances from Mayor Bill de Blasio is next to nothing in the Bronx this year. Looking at the first quarter of 2015, Mayor de Blasio has made four appearances in the Bronx compared to 19 in Brooklyn and seven in Queens. Staten Island, heavily Republican, placed last with only one visit. Manhattan was discounted since it’s his home base, but if one were counting, there were about 50 appearances. Our guess. He has roots in Brooklyn, which he could no doubt need for another go at Mayor in 2018, and perhaps is friendlier to a Mayor who resided in the borough. Hey Mr. Mayor! Show the Bronx some love!

Dream Act

It’s déjà vu all over again.
The Dream Act has once again remained in, pardon the pun, Democrats’ dreams. Not even Governor Cuomo’s ploy to link it with an education scholarship bill that favored rich philanthropists could see it through. The Dream Act, which would have given tuition assistance programs access for the children of undocumented New Yorkers, was scrubbed from the budget two days before it was due. About 4,000 students of illegal immigrant parents would have benefitted.

This upset some establishment Democrats such as Senator Gustavo Rivera, a staunch progressive, who knew the likelihood of it passing was “not looking good” ahead of the news.

The budget was due April 1, though Rivera had wished more time was invested to delay the budget. “I don’t think it’s a killer thing to say, ‘Hey, let’s put in a couple days of negotiation so we can get the right production out,’” said Rivera, calling the Dream Act a “small investment,” about $21 million, to the estimated $150 billion budget.

On a separate note, one Bronx Democrat, who asked for anonymity so as not to roil the Cuomo administration, said Governor Andrew Cuomo “doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

“This guy–he is not making any friends right now,” said the source of Cuomo. “Everybody has issues with this guy, everybody has an issue with the way he’s doing things. Completely nonsensical as it relates to education.”

One glimmer of hope etched in the budget is true ethics reform, which offers little wiggle room for rogue legislators. Some of the measures include wiping out pension funds for convicted Albany legislators, limiting personal use of campaign funds, and more disclosure of outside income.

Crespo’s Futuro
The Bronx political establishment pulled into Albany with some swagger at the 2015 Somos El Futuro conference in mid-March, with plenty of props going to newly named Bronx County Leader, Assemblyman Marcos Crespo, who organized the weekend gathering.

“No more Somos El Futuro, Somos now,” Crespo was heard saying to a crowd.

The Norwood News, sadly, was not there to see any of the action that often involves closed-door deals, whispers, and plenty of pats on the back. But the politicos certainly took to Twitter for some of the highlights that included a look at Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s new office. Posing for a shot with Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., one can see an enormous sign reading “The Bronx” in the background. Good to see some representation beyond titles.

Sen. Rivera plugged the mock debate he led with younger guests debating on the Senate floor. It was a culmination of the Model State Senate Program, which puts CUNY/SUNY students inside a district to soak in an issue and verbally joust its merits or lack thereof.

A number of sources said Crespo managed to draw a bigger crowd than last year when Brooklyn Assemblyman Felix Ortiz was at the helm. Between Crespo’s new title, and his chairmanship for the New Americans task force, the building blocks of leadership are certainly mounting.

Domestic Violence Bill
Assemblywoman Latoya Joyner filed her first bill, with a Senate equivalent, that fast tracks temporary orders of protection for victims of domestic violence. With the court system often delaying orders of protection–many times an execution of the order requires the victim’s presence, holding it up long enough for the victim to bow out of the request—Joyner noticed a fix was needed.

“Victims of domestic violence will now be able to electronically file temporary orders of protection and eliminate unnecessary obstacles in these very dangerous situations,” she said.

Joyner’s first bill could languish in committee for a while since bills of some freshman legislators never quite seem to make it out of committee. But maybe not. After all, she was in league with Heastie, who handpicked Joyner to run for the vacant 77th Assembly District seat. Joyner’s people also insist the bill’s gaining traction thanks to other fellow Assembly members. 

Prayer in Schools
Thou shalt not worship in public schools. That’s the position the U.S. Supreme Court took after declining to hear a case that asked whether after hours worship services in schools is okay with the First Amendment. According to a lower court, it’s not, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld it.

Organizers for the near 20-year case are said to take it to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, to find a legislative channel that could see this through. Heastie has supported the policy before, which could give the right to worshippers a leg up needed to see the bill’s passage.

Editor’s Note: The print version of this article misstated that former Assemblyman Nelson Castro represented the 77th Assembly District. He represented the 78th Assembly District.