By Eric W. Schoen
The infrastructure in this country is crumbling. Look at our streets. Look at the tunnels we pass under or over. Look at what happened with Hurricane IDA in September. 18 people died. Lately you cannot drive down a street where construction is not taking place.
Roads, bridges, people getting asthma because they have to breathe in the air from the Cross Bronx Expressway traffic. Flat tires. You pull out of the gas station and the alignment just done on your car hits the road and is out of wack. Money down no pun intended the drain.
Does our Congressman who represents Yonkers and a good part of Westchester, Jamaal Bowman, my neighbor, a resident of Park Hill in Yonkers care? Nope. He voted against the Infrastructure Bill to fix not only our regions infrastructure but crumbling infrastructure throughout the country.
He and the members of this so called ‘Squad’ voted against the American people who would not only have had their roads repaired but would have the opportunity for good paying construction jobs. We are talking about white, black and brown people. He put out a video saying the infrastructure bill would only benefit White People.
You see, he is ignorant of the fact that so many rules have been put in place at all levels of government to insure that Minority and Woman owned businesses receive a fair share of jobs on government contracts. He doesn’t recognize the hard work of good Democrats like M. Paul Redd, may he Rest In Peace who was President and Chief Operating Officer of the Westchester/Putnam Affirmative Action Program. During his tenure, the agency successfully placed more than 4000 women and minorities in training programs leading to good paying careers as union tradespeople.
In one week our beloved M. Paul did more for women and minorities to get them good paying construction jobs than Jamaal Bowman will do in his lifetime. Every resident of New York’s 16th Congressional District should be furious at Bowman’s no vote. Every member of the construction and trades Unions in Westchester County should be furious. Every union member in Westchester County should be furious. Every Black, brown, white person and woman who lives in the 16th Congressional District should be furious.
That’s why I say for all you drivers out there who get a flat tire, call Congressman Bowman’s offices. In the Bronx the number is 1-718-530-7710. In Mount Vernon the number is 914-371-9220. In Washington the number is 202-225-2464. Ask him to send a tow truck to fix your tire or pay for a new one if it can’t be fixed. Ask him to pay for new alignment on your car.
You realize when it comes to doling out the money allocated in the bill, the President and Governors are going to fund projects in districts whose representatives voted for the bill. Not so much so for those who voted against it. So Jamaal Bowman screwed those of us who live in his district big time!
Let’s look at some of the many infrastructure projects that Jamaal Bowman voted against. The total bill that Congress passed is $1.2 Trillion. New York State is scheduled to receive $170 Billion. $11.5 Billion for our crumbling roads and highways. $1.9 Billion for bridge repairs. See those bridges in Westchester that are scary to go under as concrete is falling. Bowman voted against their repair.
$14.7 Billion for the Environmental Protection Agencies Drinking Water Fund. $14.7 billion for Water Quality Improvements. You can’t thank Mr. Bowman for cleaner water!
Do you use JFK or LaGuardia airports? $294 million is allocated for JFK and $150 million for LaGuardia. Don’t thank Mr. Bowman for making your air travel more comfortable and safe.
In the realm of Mass Transit, $9.8 Billion is allocated for clean buses, $22 Billion for Amtrak. Money for Improvements to the Gateway Tunnel and Projects under the Hudson River. $24 Billion for the Northeast Corridor modernization. $12 Billion for New York for Intercity Passenger Rail including high speed rail. Have you ever taken the Eurostar high speed rail between London, Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam. If it was up to Mr. Bowman we would have nothing like that intercity in New York and Beyond.
As we go to press New York Leaders including Senator Chuck Schumer are calling on Infrastructure funds to be used for capping portions of the Cross Bronx Expressway. Who doesn’t hate that roadway! The highly-congested 6.5-mile freeway kdisplaced Black and Latino residents and destroyed developing businesses since its conception, as well as left communities with serious health impacts from toxic fumes. Schumer and Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres who voted YES on the infrastructure bill are among those who want to transform the sunken portion of the highway into parks and green space.
“The Cross Bronx Expressway, built by Robert Moses, is both literally and metaphorically a structure of racism, with diesel truck traffic polluting the air black and brown kids breathe everyday,” Torres said. You see all that black ‘schmutz’ (Yiddish word for dirt, filth or grime) when you travel along the Cross Bronx Expressway on the sides of the roadway. People including motorists breathe that in.
Moses designed the highway in the 20s and bulldozed Black, Jewish and Puerto Rico homes, building the highway right in the middle and creating the South Bronx — which has the highest asthma rate anywhere in the country. I guess the amelioration of asthma is not high on Congressman Bowman’s agenda.
The Chairperson of the Westchester Democratic Party in an article in the Journal News said she has never received as much communication as she has on Congressman Bowman’s vote. She is fairly new so that has to tell you something!
This was a bad vote compounded by statements the Congressman has made via email, press release and in my Facebook feed. He had an almost blank slate of community involvement when he was elected (save for a school he ran whose problems were made public) and this vote only goes to show how out of touch the Congressman is with his constituency.
So next time you get a flat, call the numbers in this article and ask Congressman Bowman and his staff what you should do!
Briefs: Kudos to reader Joe Cianciulli, Yonkers long time Zoning Board Chairman for moving Zoning Board meetings to Saunders High School. My guess is this was done to allow for plenty of social distancing and to allow the public to participate. We are all kinda over Zoom meetings. There are plenty of large size venues in Yonkers where Public Meetings can be safely held and members of the public can attend in person.
Those involved with the production of the Travis Scott Astroworld Concert which ended in such tragedy including Scott who encouraged the outrageous behavior that occurred should be thrown in jail for a good long time. And all concert venues should re-evaluate how they operate in light of the long standing problems that have occurred at concerts by this so called ‘artist.’
Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericyonkers. Listen to Eric Schoen and Dan Murphy on the Westchester Rising Radio Show Thursday’s from 10-11 a.m. On WVOX 1460 AM, go to WVOX.com and click the arrow to listen to the live stream or download the WVOX app from the App Store free of charge.
