The Phone Call from The Bronx Democratic Chairman

We were very surprised that The Bronx Democratic Chairman Carl Heastie called our office and spent "2 hours" of his time to discuss with us, our activities in The NorthWest Bronx.

Firstly, we had to "correct him", when he said, "that the 11 Council manic District political activities are being run by Jeffrey Dinowitz & Ben Franklin". That is partly true, As local people know, (and of course The Koppell campaign) our club is running what we call "the Non Riverdale" portion (Bedford Park, Norwood and Van Courtlandt Village). We have been serving these communities since 2003. And a VERY IMPORTANT 35% of the district. I am glad he understands, now!

I hope he understands for example, that , for example, in the 2005, non riverdale areas of the district brought in an aggregate 12% to Mr Koppell's election. Riverdales majority, per vote, actually went down 7%. Yes Riverdale is the majority-BUT BEDFORD PARK, NORWOOD and VCL are areas underserved in this mixed belief. Ask former Chairman Jose Rivera when he saw that NWB Democrats brought in a Koppell Victory in 2005. Finally, some respect after 20 years-then-a Bronx Political War (2008) and now (2009) non Riverdale is BACK OFF THE RADER SCREEN. We want to thank Mr Heastie for acknowledging this political crack and to recognize community activists who do not want a title.

But sadly, secondly, we also agree with Mr Heastie, that in Bronx Politics, District Leaders (Titles) should run the organization. If we want to take our community activism-to a political level-according to Mr Heastie, run for Leadership Roles. (Oh Lord, 25 yr/50 yr old community activists running for office.........???????)

But most importantly, we apologized for any aggressive tone our organization has had with Mr Heastie recently. Our organization, as he also now knows, comes from 25 years of; 2 Bronx Political wars and years of neglect. Now, as community activists-we want our political voice back. We ended, I hope, with a feeling of mutual respect. Starting today, attempting to work within the boundaries of a very fractured party-we will-at his request-do our best. We only ask, as we said when we hung up the phone "that sometimes, 25 year community activists know more about their community then 2 year/25 year wannabee non neighborhood residents. I think he understood. And once again, thank you Mr Heastie for your phone call