BRONX: Three More Legionnaires Deaths

Via the New York Times:

An outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the South Bronx has claimed three more lives, bringing the death toll to seven, New York City officials said on Monday amid calls for tighter regulation of water-cooling towers, which are thought to be the origin of the illness. Of the 17 cooling towers officials examined in the South Bronx, five — including towers at the Opera House Hotel and the Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center — tested positive for the legionella bacteria, which can sicken people who inhale water droplets released from such towers. Though the five towers have since been decontaminated, the pollution has raised questions about measures in place to protect the city’s water systems.

Eighty-one Bronx residents have been hospitalized in the current outbreak. Borough leaders last night held an advisory town hall meeting attended by hundreds.

BRONX: Four Die In Legionnaires Outbreak

CNN reports:

The number of deaths in the New York City Legionnaires' disease outbreak is up to four. Seventy-one cases of the flu-like disease have been reported since mid-July in the South Bronx, up from 31 on Thursday, the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said Sunday. Legionnaires' disease is a respiratory bacterial infection usually spread through mist that comes from a water source, such as cooling towers, air conditioning or showers. It is not transmitted person to person. Symptoms of the disease include fever, chills and a cough. Most people recover, but between 5% to 30% of those who get the disease die, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The four victims were all older adults with additional underlying medical problems, the city said. Fifty-five individuals are hospitalized.

The outbreak has so far been traced to five buildings in the south Bronx, including a hospital and a hotel. Bronx borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is calling for a city-wide inspection system that would regularly test the water infrastructure of all buildings. People living with untreated HIV are considered to be at high risk of contracting Legionnaires.

New York City Councilman Fernando Cabrera Praises Uganda's Anti-Gay Laws

Andres Duque writes at YouTube:

In a 30 minute video posted on January of 2014 New York City pastor and Councilmember Fernando Cabrera addressed viewers from Uganda and praised their draconian anti-gay laws for lowering HIV transmission. He also said the United States should have an "department of ethics" such as the one that launched the extreme attacks against the Ugandan LGBT community.

RELATED: Cabrera represents the Bronx and is running for the New York state Senate. The Gotham Gazette wrote about him last month:

City Council Member Fernando Cabrera's run for the state Senate in the Bronx's 33rd district, a seat currently held by Sen. Gustavo Rivera, is becoming more complicated by the minute. Cabrera, a Democrat challenging Rivera in September's primary, has expressed interest in joining the Independent Democratic Conference if elected and appears to have its members' support. However, IDC leader Sen. Jeff Klein, also of the Bronx, recently said that he would have a "litmus test" for any candidate the IDC might support. Based on his conservative stances on reproductive rights and marriage equality, Cabrera appears likely to fail such a test.

Cabrera is a conservative Democrat and pastor at New Life Outreach International. He has ties to the Family Research Council, which was recently labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for insisting that gays and lesbians should be imprisoned. According to records from Westchester County and the New York City Board of Elections, Cabrera switched his registration from Republican to Democrat when he moved to the Bronx in 2007, yet continued to vote in the 2008 Republican presidential primary. Cabrera enjoys support from Sen. Ruben Diaz and from the conservative Democratic base in the Bronx that backs both legislators.

The primary is Tuesday.

NEW YORK CITY: At Least Four Dead In Metro-North Train Derailment In Bronx

A Grand Central-bound Metro-North train filled with returning holiday travelers derailed this morning in the Bronx.  Emergency responders report at least four deaths and dozens of injuries.

The train appeared to be going “a lot faster” than usual as it approached the tricky curve coming into Spuyten Duyvil station, passenger Frank Tatulli told WABC-TV. “It [the train] left them [tracks] because it went too fast,” said Tatulli, who rides this same train every Sunday morning. Neighborhood resident Brendan Conley said he was jarred awake by a loud boom. “I thought I heard what I thought was a building collapsing,” Conley, 22, told The Post. “I came to the window and saw people walking across the tracks. Smoke was coming out of the second car that rolled over. I yelled for my mom to call the fire department. I stood there and saw 40 or 50 people come climbing out of the train on their own.” Tracks involved in Sunday’s crash serve Metro-North’s Hudson line, including station stops in bedroom communities like Peekskill, Croton-Harmon, Ossining, Dobbs Ferry and Yonkers.

Anti-Gay NYC Councilman Fernando Cabrera Investigated For Corruption

In the photo above you'll see NYC Councilman Fernando Cabrera (D-Bronx), who is besties with virulently anti-gay state Sen. Ruben Diaz, attending a June 2011 anti-gay marriage rally at City Hall where the red-caped Catholic loons marched in support. Cabrera has bigger things than homo marriage to worry about these days. Via New York Times:

Bronx residents stand to benefit from new jobs, education programs and even free skating under an ambitious plan to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory into a nine-rink ice center. But now a Bronx councilman is facing questions about whether he sought to benefit from the ice center, too. Councilman Fernando Cabrera has come under scrutiny in the past week after revelations that he demanded that the developer of the ice center, KNIC Partners, pay $100,000 a year for 99 years to a little-known organization, Community Action Unlimited. The organization, which lost its federal tax-exempt status in 2010, has been associated with Mr. Cabrera and his church, New Life Outreach International. Mr. Cabrera’s demand was first reported by The Norwood News. Mr. Cabrera also asked city officials to turn over the former Fordham Library Center to Community Action Unlimited, according to people familiar with the matter.

Lots more juicy details are at the link. (Tipped by JMG reader Duncan)

NEW YORK CITY: Seven Year Sentence In Brutal Bronx Gay Bashing Case

Bronx gang member Nelson Falu, 20, was yesterday sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in a 2010 gay bashing and torture incident that horrified New York City.

Falu was among eight members of the "Latin King Goonies" who tortured and beat two teenage boys and a 30-year-old man over the course of several hours in a Bronx home, while using anti-gay slurs. Prosecutors say the gang members sodomized two of the men with a plunger, chained one to a chair, and used a cigarette lighter to inflict burns. Falu, 20, and two other participants, took guilty pleas in June. The cases against the other gang members are still pending.

RELATED: After the 2010 arrests, the New York Times published a lengthy recounting of the crimes.

Bible-Quoting NYC Principal Allegedly Threatened To Blow Up Middle School

A Bible-quoting Bronx middle school principal is under investigation for allegedly telling staffers in November that, "I'm going to call a conference in the cafeteria, and I’ll put on a vest like the terrorists do and I’m going to blow you all up."  

Neifi Acosta hasn’t been arrested because the police determined it was not a terrorist threat. But it’s still an open investigation for the Education Department. According to Moran and other teachers who spoke anonymously, Acosta opened the meeting by drawing a cross and other religious pictures on a white board. “He drew a throne and said it was ‘God’s throne,’ and said we were putting ourselves in ‘God’s seat,’” said Moran, who saw the drawings on the board.

“He was very angry and he just started making threats,” the 21-year-teacher said. Another staff member described his speech as “spiraling into a doomsday” scenario. “It got very fire and brimstone, very fundamentalist,” the educator said. “I remember him saying that he was ‘really frustrated’ and that he thinks about coming here to the school and then he said those four words — vest, bomb, cafeteria and teachers. Really creepy,” the staffer said. The city started interviewing witnesses in January after complaints were filed against Acosta, who frequently peppers his staff talks with Biblical phrases.

The mechanism for removing New York City educators is infamously slow and may take up to three years in Acosta's case. Meanwhile, teachers at his school have to deal with this:

Acosta has taken to placing large, laminated posters with Biblical quotes outside the classrooms of faculty being called in to speak with investigators, teachers said. The majority feature a quote from the New Testament’s Corinthians. “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed but not driven to despair; persecuted but not forsaken,” read some of the posters, according to the teachers.The tag line on each said, “We will never, ever surrender.” Each had a picture of a ladder to heaven.

Another poster, stamped “NJA,” the principal’s initials, said: “We may not fight for our freedom, however, we know this. We will never surrender our freedom … you would have to attempt to take it away from us, in which case fighting would be inevitable. So … we dare you to try.” Acosta had no comment as he pulled his silver Mercedes S500 into a private parking lot outside the school at about 7 a.m. Monday.

Teachers also complain that Acosta treats male students differently than females.  During a recent school outing, boys were treated to a showing of the Jackie Robinson biopic, 42.  Over teachers' objections that the Robinson film touched on key educational issues - racism, civil rights, American history - the girls were forced to attend a screening of Cinderella.

Bronx Borough President & Son Of NY Sen. Ruben Diaz Endorses Marriage

"After considerable deliberation and introspection, I support marriage equality. My decision, which comes after years of thought and reflection on the issue, is informed by the experiences I have had with close friends, family and loved ones. For example, my chief-of-staff, Paul Del Duca, has for decades worked to help the people of this City. He has helped people find housing and jobs, he has dedicated his professional life to assisting those in need. Why, then, should he and his partner Damion—whose wedding I stood witness to—be denied the same rights of any other loving and committed couple? Moreover, why should my niece, Erica Diaz, be denied the ability to get married when her time comes?" - Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., writing on his official website. (Tipped by JMG reader David)

VERY RELATED: Diaz is the son of New York Senator "Reverend" Ruben Diaz, the only Democrat to vote against marriage equality in his chamber and the buffoon clown accomplice of NOM.  The elder Diaz has led two large anti-gay hate marches through the streets of New York City, the most recent of which literally ended on the steps of the Bronx Borough Hall, the location of his son's office. Erica Diaz, mentioned above, is the granddaughter of the elder Diaz.

This Is A Bronx Subway Station

It may not look like a typical subway station, but if you take the 2/5 to the Bronx Zoo you'll now exit into the above building, which just finished undergoing a $66M restoration. Via Gothamist:

"The building was designed with arches and balconies that give it the distinct look of an Italian villa," said the MTA in a press release today. "On the exterior is a restored plaque topped with the head of Mercury, the Roman god of transportation." Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, the building formerly served as the administration office for the old New York, Westchester and Boston Railway system. The terminal once connected the Bronx with White Plains and Port Chester. In 1940, NYC took ownership of the Bronx portion of the line and tied it into the IRT.

Photos of the interior at the link.

Ruben Diaz Cheers His Third Hate March

"You should remember that when Governor Andrew Cuomo used his office and staff to raise money and to orchestrate the passing of gay marriage in the State, it was the National Organization for Marriage among others, who took the fight on their shoulders. With their help, we organized different rallies and demonstrations where thousands of people came together, in front of Governor Cuomo’s office in Manhattan, On the steps of the Supreme court of Bronx County and in many other places.

“Now, one more time, NOM is giving us the opportunity to join people from all over the nation, in what could be our last opportunity to deal with same sex marriage once and for all. Due to the fact, and you should know, that with the ruling of the United States Supreme Court, same sex marriage will be legal or illegal in every state in the nation, including Puerto Rico and any other colony of the United States.” - New York state Sen. Ruben Diaz, on his participation in what will be his third anti-gay hate march.

Tweet Of The Day - Bill Donohue

Donohue is responding to a study issued yesterday by the NYC Department of Health, which observes that the highest rates of STDs are mostly found, unsurprisingly, in the city's poorest neighborhoods.  But don't expect Bill Donohue to acknowledge that Staten Island is quite prosperous compared to the South Bronx.

Among the most severe examples is ZIP code 10474 in Hunts Point, the Bronx, where rates of hepatitis C, chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV/AIDS all ranked in the top 20 percent of all New York City ZIP codes. Faring even worse was ZIP code 10457, in the Tremont section of the Bronx, which ranked in the top quintile for all seven diseases surveyed. Forty-three percent of residents in the neighborhood live below the federal poverty line, the report said. Overall, the Bronx also had the greatest percentage of ZIP codes – 68 percent – in the top 20 percent citywide for multiple STDs. Nineteen ZIP codes with high rates of poverty in the South Bronx, north-central Brooklyn and northern Manhattan saw top-quintile rates of HIV/AIDS, chlamydia and gonorrhea, the study said.

Zip codes in Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen were also in the top 20% due to higher incidences of HIV. 

NEW YORK CITY: Bronx Pride 2012 Will Go On Despite Embezzlement Scandal

Despite the June embezzlement arrest of the former Bronx LGBT Center executive director, enough money was raised this weekend to ensure that Bronx Pride will go on this Saturday.

Bronx LGBT Center To Close

After its former head was arrested earlier this week for swindling hundreds of thousands of dollars, today we learn that the Bronx LGBT Center will be closing.

After more than two years of scrambling to fill the budget gap caused by the missing funds, the center’s board of directors decided last week to shut down the 16-year-old agency, which serves up to 1,000 clients a month, said Antonio Centeno Jr., the board chairman who joined the group months after Winters left. “I’ve been trying to find money to keep salaries paid, to pay for the programs,” Centeno, 35, said Wednesday. “So even though I never met [Winters], I do feel betrayed.” The board said in a statement that it would work to arrange for other organizations to provide its clients with the services it had offered from its Longwood center, such as HIV testing and counseling, sexuality support groups and case management.

Centeno said that in January 2010 the board asked Winters to leave after whistleblowers said she had acted inappropriately, which in turn sparked an inquiry by the city’s Department of Investigation. After she left, the board reduced the number of staff and tried other measures to slash costs and lower the agency’s debt, Centeno said. They also pressed donors for money, but found that under Winters’ tenure the center had developed scant name recognition, according to Centeno. “When you approach potential donors and they say, ‘What is Bronx Pride?’ that’s not a good thing,” Centeno said

.

NEW YORK CITY: Former Bronx LGBT Center Head Arrested For Embezzlement

The former executive director of the Bronx LGBT Center has been arrested for embezzling over $338,000 from the group she once headed.

Lisa Winters, 42, who was let go as head of the Bronx Community Pride Center in January 2010, used the dough to pay $25,751.74 to Eyes on Africa for a personal trip and $15,953 to a dog-walker, authorities said. She also paid thousands of dollars for trips to the United Kingdom, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Carolinas, according to the criminal complaint. Winters was fired from center by its board of directors in January 2010 after proof surfaced that she misappropriated funds, according to a Department of Investigation report. Winters was arrested June 15 and charged with grand larceny and 23 counts of falsifying business records for allegedly cutting checks for her benefit to the tune of more than $143,000. She was freed without bail at her arraignment. The Bronx district attorney's office is still investigating whether additional charges may be brought, a spokesman said. A DOI report from January concluded Winters swindled as much as $338,000 from the organization between 2005 and 2009, the years she served as executive director. The Hunts Point center helps provide medical and social services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the Bronx.

The above-linked news item reports that it was employees of the Center who brought their charges to its board of directors, adding that they claimed she was often "drunk at work."

iRobbed

Students are banned from carrying cell phones at New York City's public schools, but rather than leave the devices at home, many students pay $1/day to leave them with mobile storage companies whose trucks are parked outside the school grounds. Nice racket, eh? But yesterday one of the trucks was robbed at gunpoint of hundreds of phones. Panic and wailing ensued.

The kids, who use the ironically named Safe Mobile Storage because electronic devices are banned from school, scrambled out from Christopher Columbus HS in a panic when word of the heist spread at about 11 a.m. “They took my iPhone and my iPod Touch,” said Brandon Solas, 18, as he stood helplessly outside the truck parked down the block from his Bronxdale school. Solas said the robbery netted “mostly iPhones, iPod Touches and Blackberrys . . . They got a lot of dough on that one.” Another student, Miriam Hernandez, wept hysterically in her boyfriend’s arms. “That iPhone had everything — pictures of my boyfriend, my niece, my family’s videos — everything,” wailed Hernandez, 15. “I just got that iPhone and just put all that on there. “And it looks like I’m not getting another one!”

The city has repeatedly cited the trucks for unlicensed street vending. One truck owner has filed suit against the city for harassment.

Billboard Of The Day

The above billboard only lasted one day in a Bronx neighborhood notorious for street hookers.

The sign came down early Wednesday afternoon. Rafael Salamanca of the Bronx’s Community Board 2, said he was only partially appeased. “They apologized for the insensitivity of the placement, but they were not too apologetic about their message,” Salamanca said. “It’s not a big deal to them. We’re happy they took care of it, but the message, regardless of where it is, is inappropriate.”

Congressman Ruben Diaz?

Capitol Confidential tips us that asshat bigoted New York state Senator "Reverend" Ruben Diaz is thinking about running for Congress and is pissed off that the state hasn't settled its redistricting disputes. From a Diaz press release:

They seem to be playing games about where New York’s Congressional lines should be drawn. When those lines are finally drawn, the opportunity will be open for many people to consider running for Congress. I wish they would hurry up and appoint a federal judge to draw New York’s Congressional lines because as soon as they do, many people like myself will make up their mind to run for Congress or not. According to the census, the Bronx has gained population and I as well as many others are on the waiting list to decide what our options are. A new congressional seat in the Bronx will give many of us an opportunity to consider moving up.

Diaz' state senate district is fairly contiguous with the congressional district currently held by Rep. Joseph Crowley, a second-term Democrat who voted to repeal DADT and who twice voted against a federal marriage amendment. Crowley is a House cosponsor of the bill to repeal DOMA and the Uniting American Families Act, which seeks to end the deportation of foreign gay spouses.

Diaz better hope for that new district, because the New York Democratic machine is probably not about to let him take on Crowley. In any case, this blog will motherfucking DEVOTE itself to helping any opponent of Ruben Diaz from ANY party.

How To Piss Off Ruben Diaz

Five years ago NYC approved a $29M bond for the construction of 200 low income housing units in the Bronx. The now-finished project includes street level store fronts and office space.

DOWNSIDE: The project is named after the neighborhood's rep in the state senate, evil nasty homophobe Ruben Diaz.

UPSIDE: The newest tenant is Bronx Pride.

WAY UPSIDE: Diaz is furious about it.

The New York Post reports:

The 68-year-old official is far from happy about the new tenants, Bronx political sources said, especially after losing the same-sex marriage battle in Albany this year. “He’s furious,” a source said. “It’s such a direct shot at him.” [Bronx Pride director] McCall claims it’s just a funny coincidence. “It [just] happens to be entertaining that the building’s named after someone who opposes marriage for us.”

UPDATE: Diaz is denying the Post story.

BRONX: Elderly Catholic Priest Busted For Molesting Teenage Girl

Father Jaime Duenas was busted inside his own rectory yesterday and charged with molesting a teenage girl.

“She didn’t protest to getting a massage,” Duenas said in his cell before his arraignment last night, according to prosecutors. “She was wearing short skirts.” Duenas was arraigned last night on charges of sexual abuse, forcible touching and endangering the welfare of a child. He was released without bond. The judge ordered the priest to stay away from the victim.

Duenas is 87.

Red-Caped Anti-Gay Catholic Loons Bring Their Hate Campaign To New York City