The March Meeting of the City Island Civic Association will take place on March 27th 2012, at 7:30 p.m. at 190 Fordham Street. We welcome your input and attendance and we need your help.
The guest speaker will be Kenneth Kearns, the District Manager of Community Board #10. Community Board #10 encompasses City Island as well as Throggs Neck, Pelham Bay, Country Club and Westchester Square. All members of Bronx Community Board 10 are volunteers appointed by the Borough President and are selected from among active, involved people of each community, with an effort made to assure that every neighborhood is represented. Community Boards are local representative bodies. There are 59 Community Boards throughout the City of New York. The Community Board and Mr. Kearns have been extremely helpful to our group on many fronts including the closure of the Library Bar, the defeat of the City Island “unipole” project, and has supported the Civic on numerous other land use matters.
They will have updates from officers, committee reports on Crime, Development, Quality of Life and Traffic, and an open public forum for residents to address their grievances.
The 45th Precinct Community Council will be hosting a breakfast on Wednesday May 9th from 8:30-10:30am at the Villa Barone Manor, 737 Throggs Neck Expressway, Bronx NY 10465. All are encouraged to attend. To register call Robert Bieder at (718) 822-4400 or Michelle Sajous at (718) 320-3300 x3532.
The Leonard Hawkins American Legion Post is hosting a golf outing on Friday April 20th. For $150, participants get lunch, a game of golf at nearby Split Rock Golf Course and a barbeque at the post afterwards. For more information call (718) 885-0639.
City Island’s Annual Women’s Herstory Month Celebration will be Sunday, March 25, 2012 from 1:00 PM-4:30 PM at the City Island Community Center, 190 Fordham Street. For information, call Violet (718) 885-0978 or Toby (718) 885-3423.
City Island Chamber of Commerce President Skip Giacco has launched a new clean-up City Island Avenue program. We thank Skip and the Chamber for working to keep our neighborhood clean and look forward to working with them on this initiative.
The Civic wishes all residents a Happy Easter and Passover Holiday.
City Island Civic AssociationMinutes of Meeting held February 28, 2012
The meeting was brought to order at 7:38 p.m. The reading of the January minutes was waived and the minutes accepted. The treasurer was not present but sent information about the Civic bank accounts: regular account $13,999.25 SONE account $10,084.17. 2012 dues are now due.
Crime Report: President Bill Stanton said that crime was not big news this month. Fred Ramftl reported that a white van was caught trying to steal electrical piping out of someone’s yard and warned residents to be on the lookout for someone looking to steal metal. There have been more can collectors around the Island; please call 311 when you witness these events. Frank Fraioli from Jimmy Vacca’s office advised residents that if the cans are on your property, can collectors are trespassing; if cans are on the street, they are public property. There is an initiative for neighborhood watch, but Bill expressed concern because of the close-knit character of the Island, where people know each other and retaliation is a potential problem.
Zoning and Over-development: Barbara Dolensek reported that the IUC buildings at the Fordham Place location are being demolished during March; no construction expected for some time. Concern was raised about the work going on at the golf range near Turtle Cove; a new concessionaire is making improvements to the site and the Parks Dept is having work done to clear the underbrush and invasive plants. Barbara will contact Parks Dept to make sure that the golf range doesn’t extend further into parkland.
The “Worm Bar” (663 City Island Avenue) in spite of the fence is a mess; residents are advised to call 311 to ask the city to clean it up. There is a vacate order on the property, about which there are ownership disputes that have prevented the property from being sold. The city owns part of the property but owner of 663 CIA has never paid rent. The new buildings on CIA at Bridge Street are located in the lowest part of the island and flooding is frequent; buyers should beware. Les Lerner has bought the property and will finish the houses.
Representatives of the Green Jobs Green New York program, sponsored by NYSERDA , presented information about their program which is intended to improve energy efficiency in the Bronx. They will provide free energy analyses of private homes and suggest improvements and provide incentives for energy upgrades and retrofits. Visit the website at nyserda.ny.gov/residential or call 877-NY-SMART. The Public Service Commission is funded by taxes that are included in our Con Ed bills, so all are encouraged to take advantage of the free energy assessment.
Re: City Island Bridge, Frank reported that Jimmy Vacca has tried in vain to get minutes of the meeting of the Design commission that approved the new bridge design. He will continue to support us in our efforts to fight the new bridge design.
A resident noted that bus transfers are no longer available for more than one bus, even if two are necessary to get to the train. This problem is being referred to Jimmy Vacca’s office.
The Coast Guard auxiliary wants to display a sign at the north end of City Island about their boating safety classes; a better location, in Hawkins Park, was suggested. That meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.