Ask the Bronx Borough President: June 2025

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News 12 Staff

1218askthebpbronxbblock

Welcome back to ask the borough president right here on News 12 of the Bronx. So many of you are on the line right now. We're gonna get to your questions in just a second for borough president Vanessa Gibson. But I do wanna quickly talk to you about the Kingsbridge fire that took place as well because we saw so many businesses there go up in smoke, having to deal with so much there along West 2 31st Street. I don't know if we have a cause yet for that fire. I think they're still investigating uh as of right now. But you know, more importantly, what can be done to kind of help the businesses in this area right now. Yeah, the investigation is still underway. Uh five alarm fire last Wednesday, December 13th, early morning fire. Uh over 200 firefighters responded. Shout out to the FDNY and everyone that was on the scene. Assembly member, Jeffrey Dinowitz, council member, Eric Dinowitz, my deputy borough president Janet Bigo uh who lives in the area of Kingsbridge. Just really devastating. Uh six businesses completely destroyed a grocery, a cleaners, a nail salon, you know, mom and pop shops, right. That's their bread and butter and then the jobs are impacted small business services. We've been working closely with sbs on some of the existing programs that can help. Obviously, we have to identify if businesses have insurance. What type of insurance if uh they are covered once the cause is, is, is shared and finalized and then really helping them rebuild. Um It's the holiday season and we wanna make sure that they can get back to normal as best as we can. But if you look at pictures and images, those bu those businesses are pretty much destroyed. I mean, that's a business corridor in the Kingsbridge community viable, you know, foot traffic near the train station, a lot of activities. So we're gonna be working closely with SBS um as well as my BXE DC, we do a small micro business loans. So we're going to see if there are any potential opportunities needs for businesses to access loans. But we know right now they really need access to, you know, free money grants. And so that's where SBS comes in commercial lease assistance program and many other existing programs. Neighborhood 360 that can really help. So that's still ongoing efforts for small businesses are so important and such a major issue. You're not just here in the borough but also in the city and I'm gonna go to our calls. I think we have a caller who wants to talk about that. I could be wrong. But let's see. Let's go to Maren right now. Arthur is joining us tonight. Arthur. Thanks for calling in. What's your question for borough president Gibson? Good evening. Happy holidays to y'all. My question has something to do with small businesses. We have a business that black-owned soul food restaurant, a daughter and two sons in Parkchester area. And we want to know what programs is out there to help them with grants and funding to keep their business going. They've been open for about six months now. Oh, nice. Oh, very nice, Arthur. Thank you. Welcome to Park Chester. We appreciate your business and support. We love small businesses. They are the heart and soul fabric of our communities. They need help. Uh Many of them are, are small staff and they have so much compliance from city state agencies uh and just maintaining a business. It's really hard. So our BX CDC, led by President Rob Walsh, we work with Vicky and why our executive director is Rafael Roger and we help small businesses depending on your location, your eligibility. We can help with some of the loans. Uh We have a community advantage loan program and that's really for businesses in the South Bronx because it's focused on empowerment areas and we're able to expend anywhere from several 1000 to hundreds of thousands of dollars and a lot of the loans are matched and guaranteed by SBS the Small Business Administration. And then we also work with the city of New York. We work with SBS, we work with the state uh Department of Financial Services. We work with Empire State Development. We work with a number of different entities. Our goal as an economic development arm of our office is to support small businesses. We wanna allow them to strive and thrive, we want them to grow, we want them to be maintained and we know it's real hard when it comes to some of the incentive programs like that, you know, drive business. When you look at some of the specialty areas in terms of businesses, that's exactly what we want to have in the Bronx. So I'm so grateful that we have a new business in Park Chester because that's a large residential community and we wanna make sure that he's not only valuable, but he's here to stay. So we will reach out and work with him and the owners on any potential opportunities through our office. And if not, we'll work with other entities that could support, love to see a new business as you mentioned here. And then that's why I wish you the best of luck when we move forward here going through there. All right, we're gonna go to another phone call real quick if we can. I know uh what's it called? Your piece issue? Does it? OK. I will give you, give you a chance here to hook that Vanessa is calling to speak to Vanessa. This is probably the only time I can get away with calling you that Vanessa Vanessa Vanessa from Throgs Neck though is on the line Vanessa. Thanks for calling in. What's your question tonight? Ok. My question is I would like um president be Vanessa to see if she can help us to restore. Um, the bus stop on Balcom and Chely Avenue in Theros Neck section of the Bronx when the 42 bus turns on Randall and Balcom, the next stop is Dewey and Balcom. So it goes right by Balcom and Shallah. And that's a pretty long walk for any senior to take. And we have a lot of seniors that live in that particular area. So I'm asking Vanessa if she can help us to restore that bus stop on Balcom and Chely Avenue on the fourth Vanessa Vanessa. Thank you. And this is not the first situation like this with the bus stops that we've heard about or a lot of people who have called in to speak to you about. So when we instituted, we meaning the MT A right, let me be clear when they instituted the better bus redesign plan. Uh There were several 100 bus stops that were eliminated to reduce uh uh repetitiveness and just to make sure that there was an extended period between each bus stop. Uh and then also there was some bus stops that they felt were redundant. And as a result of that we got some backlash and a lot of criticism on some bus stops in front of senior centers where there were high volume in front of public housing developments. And so MC A did an analysis, we sent lists over multiple times and many of those bus stops were restored, but this is new to me and this is the area of throgs neck probably near Balcom Randall, which is a senior only development within throgs neck houses. And we can look at that. I don't know why it was eliminated and I can check to see if our office received any complaints or any concerns about it being eliminated in the first place. And you know, obviously it's based on frequency is based on numbers, but I do believe the MT A does take into consideration if it's an area where you have a lot of older adults with mobility issues. That's something that they'll consider something that like you mentioned that that needs to be focused on and the community wants to just be involved in the decision. Sometimes I know there was a lot with the redesign, but we'll look into that as you mentioned. Thank you. Thank you, Vanessa for the call. Great job with everybody tonight. All right, we've got your health tip. We've got events coming up. We got plenty to talk about. Don't go anywhere. We have more on ask the borough president when we come back

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1218askthebpbronxcblock_2023-12-18-20-53-58

All right, welcome back to ask the borough president right here on News 12, the Bronx BP, Vanessa Gibson here with us as always. And you've got your health tip for us this month and there's more than one on there. I believe we have 3 January 2024 is National Blood Donor Month, Stalking Awareness Month and human trafficking prevention month. This holiday season, we're encouraging Bronx sites to work with the New York Blood Center, visit their website to find a donation location near you and encourage your family and friends to donate. We also want you to keep yourself and your loved ones safe on social media as well as with technology. You can call 311 or Ny C's Domestic Violence hotline which is 24 7. It's 1 806 21. Hope if you are experiencing any stalking human trafficking, as many of you know, is gonna person uses force or coercion to make another person engage in either prostitution or some sort of forced labor. And the Bronx District Attorney's Office has a human trafficking unit that is open Monday to Friday from 9 to 5 at 7188387185. So if you're looking for something good to do to start the New Year, there are three very good causes there right away to start donate 2024. So good job. Very, the easiest thing you can do is just to give blood. Now, as we mentioned here, also, January, there's other events coming up here. You've been so busy around, around the borough just for December, but it doesn't stop in January, does it. So January, we are recognizing uh New Year's, but we are also celebrating three Kings Day. We're having a three Kings Day celebration on Friday, January 5th, 2024 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Sonia Sotomayor Cornerstone at 1000 Rosedale Avenue off of the Bruckner in conjunction with Bronx Care, Pro Health, uh New York City Organizations and Phipps neighborhoods. Fair enough. So, I mean, you've been so busy as we mentioned here this month with, with, with everything that's been going on here. Have any of the uh the holiday events that you've been to has anything stood out to you. Is there something really that's really you, you're gonna stay with you going forward. So we have joined elected officials, community partners, organizations, faith leaders, uh NYPD, we've had a number of menorah lightings across the borough. We lit our own menorah at Bronx Borough Hall. We had a winter wonderland earlier this month where we have a beautiful tree at Lou Gary Plaza. We gave out over 600 toys. We work with the New York Yankees on Winter Wonderland. Uh We've been in the Riverdale community with the Jewish community celebrating the Hanukkah season. We've been to the Riverdale Y we've been to the Jewish Center of Pelham Parkway. We've made sure that the Jewish community feels supported in light of everything happening. And obviously Hanukkah being such an important recognition, the Festival of Lights. But I think I've been most inspired by young people, a lot of performances. So we've had pre Kwanzaa celebrations, mind builders up in co op city. And when these young people perform, it just lights up my world because they're talking in such a positive fashion. They're talking about what their history means, what their culture is all about and they are the light, they are the future. They are hope they are promise for a better tomorrow. So, although it's the holiday season, I know it's a tough time for many, but I want people to find a reason to smile. It's a blessing to wake up every day. We may not have it all, but we're grateful for what we have, which is our faith, our family and our community. So happy holidays with you celebrate Hanukkah Kwanzaa. You celebrate uh three kings, Merry Christmas, happy holidays. My best wishes to all of you for a wonderful and prosperous, happy New Year, the season of giving alive and well right here in the borough that is for sure. Happy holidays to you. Borough president, everyone at your office. Thank you so much for spending another year with us here on news 12. We'll see everybody. We'll see everybody next year. We're gonna have plenty more to talk about. I'm sure. Which is just in a couple of weeks. Thanks everybody. Good night. Happy holidays. Bronx.

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News 12's Kurt Semder sat down with Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson for this month's edition of Ask the Borough President. 

Ask the Bronx Borough President: December 2023

News 12's Kurt Semder sat down with Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson for this month's edition of Ask the Borough President.

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