Residents are eager to know how their decisions will impact the spending of $1 million in tax revenue this winter in Mott Haven and Melrose.

Last fall, City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito announced her constituents would be able to decide how the money should be spent, as part of a new initiative known as participatory budgeting. Residents of Mark-Viverito’s district, which includes Mott Haven and Harlem, have met several times since the fall to consider what local projects to finance. 

Proposals can call for capital funding for infrastructure-related projects only, not for expense requests, which would require the city to hire new workers.

About 70 budget delegates have started to sift through the projects residents proposed in October and November public meetings.

“Everybody who’s involved seems very enthusiastic about it and they’re happy to be part a process like this,” said John Johnson, a member of Community Board 1 who was elected by his peers to serve as a Mott Haven budget delegate.

Johnson said he would like to see the money go to an increase of closed circuit cameras in the Millbrook public housing projects to help reduce crime.

Carmen Aquino, a resident who attended the first meeting, said she would be disappointed if the more populous Harlem segment of Mark-Viverito’s district ends up overshadowing Mott Haven initiatives.

“This is a needy community.  We need a lot of services here,” she said.

Aquino said public lighting, increased security and housing for seniors are issues that should be addressed with the new funding.

In all, residents submitted more than 550 proposals, at the meetings and online.

Budget delegates were split into seven different committees at the fall meetings, including parks, education and housing. Since then, committee members have had to consult city agencies to learn which of the proposed projects are eligible for capital funding.

Budget delegates have until early February to finalize the wish list. More neighborhood assemblies will follow, at which the delegates will present their findings, before residents get to cast a final vote on the projects of their choice in early March.

Anyone who lives or works in the area can still apply to be a budget delegate by contacting Mark-Viverito’s office to arrange to attend an orientation session.

Mark-Viverito said her constituents’ proposals don’t differ greatly from projects she considered supporting during last year’s traditional budgeting process. Nevertheless, she said, direct community participation is what makes the new initiative special.

“Seeing people want to be more involved in their community is really rewarding and illustrates why this process is important,” she said.

She said her office is getting to hear from people who wouldn’t have otherwise gone to community board meetings, and that residents will be heard at a time when the public has little faith in government.

“This is a way of saying ‘What you have to say matters. This is your money. You should have a more direct say and involvement in that process,’” she said.

Precinct Council President Alex Diaz tried to maintain order. 40th Precinct Council photograph.

Heated meeting dissolves in shouting

Outraged by the arrest of five people at their general assembly in Mott Haven, supporters of Occupy the Bronx took their protest to the 40th Precinct Community Council.

They left frustrated.

Most of the 60 or so people who jammed a small conference room at Lincoln Hospital on Dec. 7 were there to ask why, for the first time, police had moved against Occupy the Bronx, when a handful of supporters gathered at Morning Glory Community Garden, a city-owned lot that residents had planted, only to have the city fence it off.

Mychal Johnson, a member of Community Board 1 who did not take part in the garden protests, praised the people who had planted the vacant lot with flowers and vegetables. Addressing the precinct commander Deputy Inspector Christopher J. McCormack, he said they had done something positive for the community and had been exercising their right to protest against city plans to uproot the garden as part of a plan to build housing.

When he learned of the arrests, Johnson said, he went to the precinct to ask why. “No one could give us answers,” he said, adding, “The community wants to be sure it’s not guilty first and prove your innocence later.”

The demonstrators had no permit, McCormack responded. To howls of protest he insisted that the demonstration was blocking the sidewalk. Waving cell phones loaded with a video of the protest, members of the audience shouted that the video proved that was not so.

Although Alex Diaz, the president of the council struck a conciliatory note, saying “I’m a 99 percenter, too,” and promising to “make sure your issues are addressed,” he angered the occupiers by saying the council’s role was not to criticize the police and acknowledging that he hadn’t prepared for the meeting by watching the widely-circulated videos of the arrests.

As speaker after speaker got up to demand fuller explanation of police conduct or to denounce it, the atmosphere grew more heated. Matters reached a crescendo when Community Affairs Officer Claudia Mera explained why a large contingent of police was waiting for the general assembly when its members arrived at the garden site on Southern Boulevard and East 147th Street.

Mera pointed to the action earlier in the week when a group of gardeners who are also active in Occupy the Bronx briefly seized the office of Community Board 1. She said the police build-up was aimed at preventing a takeover of the garden lot, but the Occupy the Bronx contingent said her remarks showed that the arrests were “payback” for the earlier protest.

At that point, the meeting degenerated into a shouting match. Diaz promised that the council members would view the video and discuss the arrests, but added “You’re highly disrespectful,” as he adjourned the meeting.

About 20 of the protesters convened a meeting outside the hospital, employing the people’s mic to denounce the police, using words like “pigs” and “occupying force.” The line of officers who stood between them and the hospital entrance grew tense, but kept their expressions impassive. But once the demonstrators were out of earshot, some of them began to mock them, imitating their call and response cries of “Mic check, mic check.”

GrowNYC representative Ermin Siljokovic had attendees play the “recycling game” to show them how to separate materials. Photo by Elizabeth Chen

They say they have to because officials aren’t following through

Mott Haven Houses’ resident Brigitte Vincenty doesn’t want to go all the way into Manhattan to make sure her trash gets recycled. So she and her neighbors are taking on the challenge of recycling their community’s trash, which they say the New York City Housing Authority fails to do.

“NYCHA talks a lot about green roofs and retrofitting, things that haven’t been made into law yet,” said Vincenty, organizer for Mott Haven Houses’ Resident Green Committee. “But recycling is the law and they’re not even doing that.”

NYCHA officials did not return calls for comment.

Out of the five boroughs, the Bronx lags behind on recycling, according to a Department of Sanitation’s annual report. The Bronx recycles at a rate of 10.3 percent compared to Manhattan’s 19 percent. Community District 1, where Vincenty lives, has the poorest recycling rate in the Bronx―only 4.8 percent of the total trash in that neighborhood has been diverted for recycling.

The Natural Resources Defense Council observed an 0.6 percent increase in trash collection in the Bronx in the past year, despite a 1.4 percent decrease city-wide, according to a Daily News article in October.

Vincenty and members of her initiative, named the InnerCity Green Team, plan to go door-to-door to collect recyclable materials. They also held an event on November 17 to educate residents about recycling and saving energy at the Mott Haven Community Center.

“This is a little helpful,” said Alfonso Dingwall, a 45-year-old resident. “We could be doing better with recycling.”

They hope their efforts will encourage NYCHA to hire public housing residents to work in maintenance, which they believe will help bring down their community’s high levels of unemployment.

But a week earlier, NYCHA representatives held a closed meeting with the residents  to hear details of their recycling program.

“They were very skeptical,” said Erica Ramos, a Resident Green Committee member. “They sounded like they wanted to help, but you could tell they were really hesitant because of they were worried about costs.”

A statement from NYCHA said that they support the efforts of the Resident Green Committees, which are groups of concerned public housing residents who work on NYCHA’s “Green Agenda” program. However, they refused to comment about the residents’ allegations about recycling in their facilities or about the closed meeting.

GrowNYC, Mothers On the Move and the state’s Public Service Commission also attended the committee’s green awareness event. These organizations distributed compact fluorescent light bulbs and recycling collection bags that colorfully explained how to separate plastic and paper materials.

“NYCHA’s green efforts mostly focus on gardening and planting trees,” said Nova Strachan of Mothers On the Move. “That’s important, but NYCHA also really needs to work on recycling.”

Now, Vincenty’s volunteers look forward to the daunting task ahead of them. Rachel Osorio, a volunteer, felt empowered by the information given at the event.

“Especially in the Bronx, we get forgotten about,” said Osorio. “This is a lot of info I didn’t know before. It makes me want to know more about how I can improve my community.”

New Yorkers Against Gun Violence brought a giant puppet to the 40th Precinct, where they joined with Occupy the Bronx to protest the arrests at Morning Glory Garden. Photo by Elizabeth Chen

Five arrested at Morning Glory Community Garden site

Police arrested five people at the Occupy the Bronx general assembly in Mott Haven Saturday, preempting the organization’s plans to hold a rally and “festival” in a community garden fenced-off by the city in mid-November.

“Of the general assemblies I’ve attended, this is the first that I’ve seen this kind of police presence,” said Carl Lundgren, a member of Bronx Greens, a local environmental advocacy group.

The group had publicized plans for a “day of festivities” at Morning Glory Garden a vacant lot on Southern Boulevard and East 147th Street, where gardeners, many of whom are also among the most active people in Occupy the Bronx, had grown flowers and vegetable for the last two years.

The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development kicked the community group out out and tore up the garden, where it plans to build housing.

In protest, participants in Occupy the Bronx had briefly occupied the offices of Community Board 1, demanding that the board support its efforts to meet with the city housing department.

According to Elliott Liu, both a gardener and a member of the Occupy the Bronx facilitation working group, police ordered the protesters to “keep moving,” saying their meeting was blocking the sidewalk. Although the group did move, Liu said, the police arbitrarily singled-out people to be arrested.

According to NYPD spokesman Mike Wysokowski, the five people were arrested for “blocking pedestrian traffic.”

A video taken by a member of the organization seems to confirm the protesters’ claim that they did not block the sidewalks. It shows the general assembly moving to the fence around the garden, leaving ample room for others—including police officers—to walk by.

In the video police are shown interrogating a News 12 reporter and arresting a freelance journalist, Carla Murphy.

In weekly meetings since mid-October, including one at the Hub on Nov. 17, police stood by while the group held its general assembly, and even provided free entrance to the subway on Oct. 15, when protesters marched from Fordham Plaza to head downtown to Zuccotti Park, headquarters of Occupy Wall Street.

“I’ve been doing this type of work for 15 years and this was the most quiet, peaceful convening I’d ever seen,” said Lisa Ortega, a mainstay of Occupy the Bronx and a leader of the Hunts Point-based organization Rights For Imprisoned People with Psychiatric Disabilities. Ortega’s husband, Carlos Sabater, was one of those arrested. “NYPD was already very hostile and aggressive when we got there,” she said.

After the arrests, the general assembly, swelled by marchers from New Yorkers Against Gun Violence who had been protesting violence in the community and by others made aware of the arrests via messages on Facebook, moved to a street corner directly across from the 40th Precinct on Alexander Avenue and demanded the release of those arrested.

“Let them go!” the crowd chanted at the precinct, while holding up a giant, dancing Statue of Liberty puppet draped in the Puerto Rican flag.

The protesters were released from the precinct’s holding cell in the afternoon after being detained for about three hours. They were given summonses to appear in court.

Alex Kahn, a 25-year-old software developer was among those arrested . This was his first time attending an Occupy the Bronx general assembly.

“It was a little scary, but I was with people who I felt safe with,” said Kahn. “It’s the kind of experience that makes it clear that what the role of the police is in society. If their job was to protect the community, they wouldn’t be arresting people for having a meeting.”

After celebrating the release of their comrades, the general assembly joined the anti-violence march.

Occupy the Bronx members say they plan to continue to defy orders to stay away from Morning Glory Garden. Next Saturday, they say, they will meet at the corner of 149th St. and Third Ave. in Mott Haven to rally again.

They are also asking supporters to attend the 40th Precinct Community Council meeting on Wednesday, where they plan to interrogate officials about the arrests of their members.

“We’re community residents who’ve been oppressed for a long time and we don’t intend to back down by any means,” said Ortega. “And if it means that tons of us will continue to be arrested, we’re willing to do so. We’re not afraid.”

Activists invaded Community Board 1’s office on Monday, using Occupy Wall Street tactics to protest the city’s eviction of the Morning Glory Community Garden at Southern Boulevard and Union Avenue.

They demanded to speak to District Manager Cedric Loftin, and when they were told he wasn’t there refused to leave. Instead, they recited their grievances and telephoned board members, producing the video that accompanies this story as the office receptionist Annie Rojas ordered them to stop.

The demonstrators, who have been active in Occupy the Bronx, say the community board has failed to listen to them. It took the part of the city’s Dept. of Housing Preservation and Development, which destroyed the garden, and canceled the November meeting at which they had signed up to speak.

When board member Freddy Perez showed up, they repeated their demand that the board set up a meeting with HPD before the city agency filed plans to develop the lot.

When they finally left, they chanted, “We’ll be back.”

Elliott Liu, one of Morning Glory’s founders, said the group doesn’t have definite plans to revisit Board 1’s office but will keep asking for support.

“Our understanding is that the Board won’t pay attention to you unless you’re a local business or someone with a lot of connections in government,” said Liu.

“They’re more focused on serving developers’ interests than serving as a forum for the community.”

District Manager Loftin did not respond to requests for comment on the protest.

Photo by Flonia Telegrafi Friday morning at the Give Them to Eat Ministries food pantry.

Spanish Evangelical feeds growing numbers

Every Friday morning, a parade of people minding colorful shopping carts fills the sidewalk along Thurman Munson Way. At any time, someone strolling along the sidewalk can hear Spanish, English, French and Quechua being spoken.

Women, some with small children, and men, young people and the elderly start lining up at 8 a.m. and continue to arrive throughout the day. While most people come from nearby, some come from as far as Manhattan and Queens.

In single file, they push their carts into the parking lot of the Bronx Spanish Evangelical Church where they fill them with vegetables, fruits, bread and cereal.

Give Them to Eat Ministries Feeds Mott Haven Community from Mott Haven on Vimeo.

On a recent Friday, Rev. Jose Torres of the United Chaplains of New York came to the pantry to collect food for his elderly, homebound neighbors.

Patricia, a local resident who lost her job over a year ago, came because she relies on the produce she gets from the pantry and saves her food stamps to buy meat.

Ernesto, a resident of Manhattan who has been coming to the pantry for the past two years, came because he does not make enough money to afford groceries. (Neither gave a last name.)

This weekly tradition that draws hundreds of people began in 1994, when Danilo LaChapel, a member of Spanish Evangelical, founded Give Them to Eat Ministries, a program that runs a food pantry and soup kitchen, providing groceries and hot meals.

LaChapel, the director of the ministry, recalls how the church “exploded” with people when the pantry opened. By its second day, after word had spread about the program, 954 people showed up, he said.

For LaChapel, a longtime Mott Haven resident, the overwhelming response was a reminder of “the social decomposition plaguing the South Bronx during the early ‘90s, a period of serious drug addictions, alcoholism, high unemployment and poverty.”

Now, LaChapel says, renewed hard economic times have caused the number of people seeking food from the ministry to triple. He cites rising rents and higher food prices, leading more people to rely on the program to eat.

One such individual is Margie Lebron, 62, who has volunteered with the ministry for the past two years. Lebron works full-time at a local beer distribution center, despite her deteriorating eyesight. Every day she pushes herself to keep working because she does not want to end up homeless.

Her monthly take home pay is not enough to cover her $1,100 rent, utilities, transportation and groceries. Two years ago, with no food in her home, and in spite of her pride, she was forced to go to the soup kitchen. There she met Lachapel, who invited her to become a member of the church.

LaChapel relies on dedicated volunteers like Lebron to run the pantry and soup kitchen, as well as the ministry’s senior and youth programs. There are 40 volunteers in all, ranging in age from 35 to 65. The group is made up of local residents, and includes members of Spanish Evangelical and of other churches, as well as non-Christians.

For Ines Contreras, 53, who has volunteered with the ministry for over 14 years, her work has allowed her to serve her community while also serving God. Alma Montes came to Give Them to Eat Ministries because of her Christian faith, to work with people who are in need. Alfredo Carrion, who came to the ministry five months ago after losing his job as a superintendent, says that volunteering fulfills his “need to keep working and moving.”

Give Them to Eat Ministries receives food from numerous organizations, including the Food Bank for New York City, City Harvest, United Way and Food For Survival. Kim Keller, the director of member services at the Food Bank, which has been supplying the ministry since it opened its doors, confirms a “93 percent increase of first-time users among its member organizations” citywide.

The Food Bank’s “NYC Hunger Experience 2010” report found that 68 percent of people earning less than $25,000 would not be able to afford food within three months of losing their income, a figure that is up from 24 percent in 2009.

With the median household income in Mott Haven at $21,362, the report’s findings suggest a bleak outcome if the unemployment rate were to rise.

The Food Bank also faces drastic cuts to its food supply. In June, the U.S. House of Representatives cut funds for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) by $3 billion from last year’s levels. If the cuts remain in the final legislation, due for adoption in December, “10 million meals would be lost,” according to Keller. “Private donations would not be able to recoup the loss,” she says.

LaChapel worries about the future. Not only is demand growing, but at times it has been difficult for the church to keep the program going because it does not receive sufficient funds to run the heat and electricity needed to accommodate so many people.

“We as a church can only do so much,” LaChapel says. “The problem of the poor must be resolved by the government.”

From December through April, those who subscribe to the farm share program will get monthly deliveries, making Corbin Hill the first year-round supplier of local produce with a specific emphasis on low-income neighborhoods in New York City.

Full price for a winter share is $240 for the five-month season. Corbin Hill also offers a special subsidized price of $150 for the Winter Farm Share to those eligible for SNAP benefits.

Each month the program will deliver 15-20 pounds of root vegetables and hearty greens that do not need to be refrigerated to local drop-off points.

The produce comes from Corbin Hill Road Farm and several others in Schoharie County, 40 miles west of Albany.

This summer more than 500 participants in the South Bronx and Harlem received weekly deliveries of fruit and vegetables.

In addition to providing fresh, wholesome food, the project is also dedicated to fostering a relationship between rural farming communities and urban neighborhoods. In August, when Hurricane Irene devastated farms and towns in upstate New York, Corbin Hill shareholders collected donations for storm victims.

In the future, Corbin Hill plans to create an upstate-downstate exchange program for young people.

Applications may be picked up and filled out at WHEDco, 50 E. 168th Street or The Point Community Development Corp., 940 Garrison Avenue or be submitted by visiting http://www.corbinhillfarm.com/join.html.

Photo by Gwen McClure Local residents have united to oppose development of this site on E. 144th St. into a mental health and social service facility.

A group of Mott Haven residents has organized to protest a proposed housing development for the mentally ill, saying the neighborhood already has far more than its fair share of social service agencies.

The group, called Voices of the People, is frustrated with the influx of social service programs, and adds they were given no advance notice that plans for still another were underway.

“We have so many shelters and programs and they are all crowded. We are hyper-saturated,”said resident Marcelino Sanchez. “I think it is a crime.”

The publicly funded 60-unit doorman facility on E. 144^th Street between Brook and Willis Ave. will include 18 units dedicated to general low-income housing. Another 42 will be for adults and young adults with mental illness. The low-income housing will include studios and one- and two-bedrooms for tenants and will have a minimum income requirement. For those living with mental illness, there will be on-site support including case management and mental-health counselors.

At a community board meeting in October, residents expressed concern that the development would bring back problems their community faced in previous decades.

Dr. Marian Rivas, whose family has owned a home on 144^th St. since 1949, recalled neighborhood safety problems of the 1960s and ’70s. Since then she has seen the area steadily improve, until several years ago when she started to notice increased drug use and loitering, some of which she and other frustrated residents say stems from unsupervised clients from the area’s many social service facilities.

“It looked like Berlin after the war,” Rivas recalled. “We are survivors through the worst. Why should we have to go through it again?”

According to Carlos Garcia, director of residential programs for The Association for Rehabilitative Case Management and Housing, the non-profit that plans to open the site, this isn’t the first time his organization has received resistance from a community based on concerns about the impact.

He said applicants are screened thoroughly for histories of violence and sex offenses and that only graduates of ACMH programs will be housed.

“Typically we are faced with the ‘not-in-my-backyard’ kind of thing,” Garcia said.

He said that stories of people defecating in the streets and exposing themselves were not based in reality. “It’s just like in any neighborhood,” Garcia said. “If you see that kind of stuff, you call the police.”

But homeowners argue that rather than provide housing for deserving low-income residents from the neighborhood, the developments draw people from elsewhere looking for better access to services. Some residents expressed concerns about the safety of their children, fearing the development will draw a dangerous clientele to a neighborhood filled with schools. Others were concerned about decreasing property values.

“Much of their wealth is tied up in their homes,” Rivas said of her neighbors, adding they will urge elected officials to help stymy the project by cutting off the developers’ funding.

State Senator Jose M. Serrano attended the meeting to discuss other matters, but soon found himself fending off criticism from the group directed towards him and other elected officials for not defending residents’ rights.

“When you have an over-concentration of social services in one community, you have to ask why,” Serrano responded, admitting he knew nothing of the project before hearing the group complain at the October meeting.

“So why don’t we have these facilities on 72^nd and Park Avenue?” he said, adding, “these services can be spread out.”

Community Board 1 district manager Cedric Loftin said the number of units for low-income residents is too small to offset changes he believes will occur in the neighborhood such as an increased police presence and an increased feeling of insecurity. He said the community board will work with the governor’s office and other elected officials to try to get funding reallocated to a project elsewhere.

“The location is bad and it needs to be looked at from the perspective of the community that’s going to be impacted,” said Loftin.

The citizens group has met with elected officials who have vowed to help them fight the project, including Assemblywoman Carmen E. Arroyo.

Daniel Johansson, CEO of the site developer, cited a study done by the Furman Center at NYU in 2008, which found that property values actually increased when supportive housing was developed in the area. He said the area was chosen because of a partnership with Lincoln Hospital and a need for supportive and low-income housing in the area.

“There are so many folks that end up being re-hospitalized in the Bronx who have a mental health issue,” he said. “Once you have a roof over your head it’s so much easier to get your life together.”

]]> http://motthavenherald.com/2011/11/03/residents-rail-against-new-social-service-development/feed/ 2 http://motthavenherald.com/2011/10/20/local-residents-join-wall-street-protest/ http://motthavenherald.com/2011/10/20/local-residents-join-wall-street-protest/#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:16:18 +0000 By Alex Robinson http://motthavenherald.com/?p=4251

Photo by Anika Anand Four-year-old Delphinium Sibley-Wilson made her own sign for the Oct. 15 Occupy the Bronx rally.

Occupy the Bronx calls for weekly rallies on  Fordham Road

A large crowd of people gathered at Fordham Plaza on Saturday to participate in the second weekly meeting of the Bronx’s own contingent of the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Bronxites came together to join the global conversation that was started by a few hundred protesters in Zuccotti Park, a block-square plaza in Manhattan’s financial district, a month ago.

“We are bringing people together and drawing the connection between what is happening down on Wall Street with the reality of life that we are experiencing here in the Bronx,” said Omar Freilla, 38, one of the group’s facilitators.

Freilla said that it was important for the Occupy Wall Street movement to move into the Bronx because Bronxites feel economic hardship more than any other borough.

“The Bronx has been the forgotten part of New York City for too long, and we have been bearing the brunt of the policies that are born down in the financial district and Wall Street that drive the direction of New York City Government, New York State, and the Country,” he said in an interview.

Participants took turns voicing their ideas to a crowd that grew to about a hundred during a two-hour rally, before the participants marched down Fordham Road to board the subway to the downtown protest.

“You don’t have to be a politician, a historian, or an economist to understand that things aren’t working.  So instead of just waiting for our representatives to do it, let’s all come together and start this conversation,” said Erik Maldonado, 31, a Bronx poet and web-designer.

“The Bronx can’t wait for Occupy Wall Street to speak for every need of the Bronx. We’re known as tough no-nonsense citizens. So let’s be that,” said Maldonado.

Ephraim Cruz, 38, a Mott Haven native and facilitator of Occupy the Bronx, said the Occupy Wall Street movement has been criticized for lacking ethnic and cultural diversity.  He said that Occupy the Bronx will bring more legitimacy to the larger movement by adding different voices.

“We are the diversity that Occupy Wall Street has been waiting for,” Cruz said.

In stark contrast to the images that emerged of confrontations between police and protesters in Manhattan’s financial district, the NYPD accommodated the marchers by providing an escort and even stopping traffic for them.

Occupy the Bronx will continue to meet at Fordham Plaza at 11 a.m., according to its Facebook page, which  declares, “It is time Bronxites gathered together, and in the spirit of our reputation as being tough no nonsense citizens, we will show our resolve.”

Occupy the Bronx protesters on the march on Fordham Road. Photo by Anika Anand

“The Bronx is in the house,” thundered 60 or 70 people last Saturday afternoon as they marched into a public square in lower Manhattan.

The chant announced their presence to more than a thousand demonstrators already assembled in Zuccotti Park to protest against corporate greed and a government that serves business and the wealthy at the expense of ordinary people.

Occupy the Bronx had joined Occupy Wall Street.

It’s about time. <!–more–>

Occupy Wall Street is about the sickening disparity between the prosperity of the rich and the worsening conditions of everyone else.

It’s about the fact that the top 1 percent of Americans has accumulated more wealth than the bottom 90 percent.

It’s about a government that fails to connect the fact that it has spent more than a trillion dollars on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with the fact that sick people can’t get health care and able-bodied people can’t find jobs.

It’s about politicians—Republicans and Democrats, from the President of the United States to the lowliest member of the City Council–who serve the 1 percent because they have been purchased with the campaign contributions that keep them in office.

Saying such things encourages class warfare, critics warn. Here’s what class warfare really looks like. It looks like the young woman who spoke to a crowd at Fordham Plaza, telling them that with her masters degree in social work and a job helping ex-convicts she earns $28,000 and is being crushed under the weight of student loans.

It looks like the Upper East Side organization battling against the city’s plan to share the burden of garbage disposal whose leader says that instead of building a waste transfer station in his neighborhood the city should put the facility in Hunts Point.

“The Bronx has for too long been dumped on. We get all of the waste,” said Omar Freilla, one of the organizers of Occupy the Bronx, addressing the hundred or so people who rallied at Fordham Plaza before they marched up Fordham Road and boarded a subway to the Wall Street demonstrations together.

“We get developers who get all of the tax breaks and incentives to build malls that pay not even a living wage” and a government that helps out the richest sports team in the nation at the expense of the people in the poorest Congressional District in the United States, Freilla continued.

Class warfare looks like lines at <a href=”http://motthavenherald.com/2010/04/20/empty-stomachs-strain-mott-haven-pantries/”>food pantries in Mott Haven that are running out of food</a>.  It looks like the unemployment lines in a borough where the official jobless rate is almost twice that of the state, and the number of discouraged workers, underemployed workers and undocumented workers approaches 50 percent.

The Bronx needs the passion of the Occupy Wall Street movement, and Occupy Wall Street needs the Bronx. “We’re the diversity that Occupy Wall Street has been waiting for,” said Ephraim Cruz, another of the organizers of Occupy the Bronx to the crowd at Fordham Plaza, which, like the borough as a whole, was mostly Latino.

Occupy the Bronx will meet at Fordham Plaza near the Metro-North station every Saturday at 11 a.m. Join in. Show the world that the Bronx is in the house.