Ollie Koppell and the Missing L

Bronx News Network has a very funny (and somewhat scary) post about how some of incumbent City Councilmember Oliver Koppell's campaign material misspells the candidate's own name. See the photographic evidence after the jump.

Can't we do better than this in the Bronx?

~ErLu

"Blind People Walk Into Them."

What, you may ask, are all the blind people in the Bronx walking into? Sandwich board signs on sidewalks advertising open houses, or so says Councilmember G. Oliver Koppell.

The New York Times' Jennifer 8. Lee reports that Koppell has proposed legislation that would hold owners of the signs accountable for posting them illegally. Here's Ollie's take on the situation:

“They are dangerous,” Mr. Koppell said. “People put them on the sidewalk. People can trip all over them. Blind people walk into them.” [New York Times]

Ollie, Ollie, Ollie... where do I begin? Rome is burning and you're proposing legislation to control sandwich board advertising?! I gotta say, this particular issue sounds like a ridiculous Riverdale-specific problem (which is usually Councilmember Koppell's forte) that is more of a minor annoyance, not an actual dangerous situation. In fact, I'd like some numbers to back up the claim that blind people are walking into these things. I can safely say that not one of your constituents living over here in Bedford Park could give a crap about this issue.

For a bit of background on this sandwich board advertising epidemic taking place in Riverdale, click here to read a Times' article from two years ago.

~ErLu

Koppell 'Not Optimistic' About Revoking Shelter Contracts

Councilmember Koppell (left) addressing Bronx residents at last evening's
Bedford Mosholu Community Association meeting.

Last evening's Bedford Mosholu Community Association meeting was a fruitful one. We were pleasantly surprised to see that Councilperson Oliver Koppell was in attendance to learn more about the concerns of the residents of the Bedford Park/Norwood area of the BoogieDown.

Number one among residents' concerns was, not surprisingly, the recent uptick of temporary homeless shelters popping up in existing residential buildings (as first reported by Norwood News, and later covered by the Bronx Times and New York Times) in Bedford Park.

When questioned regarding possible steps the community might be able to take to persuade DHS to revoke the shelter contracts at 3001 Briggs Avenue and 15-19 Mosholu Parkway, Councilmember Koppell simply stated that he was "not optimistic" that there was any way of revoking the existing contracts. He also said he believes that cluster housing is a city-wide issue which needs to be studied to prevent systematic problems, and promised to ask Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Councilmember Bill de Blasio, who is chairman of the General Welfare committee, to schedule a hearing to examine it.

One particular detail related to cluster housing Councilmember Koppell stressed is the importance of the ratio of temporary shelter units in a building, saying, "If it's 30 out of 50 units in a building, then you are changing the character of the building."

I was happy to see an elected official present at the BMCA meeting to discuss community issues with constituents. However, it would have been a tad more uplifting if Councilmember Koppell encouraged residents to continue to fight for the termination of the existing contracts of Bedford Park's newly created temporary shelters. After all, there have been accusations that long-time Section 8 residents of the affected buildings were forced out by the landlords to make way for the DHS units, which bring in an above-market-rate rental income of almost $3,000/month.

This blogger wonders... would transitional housing for the homeless pop up in Councilmember Koppell's shee-shee-foo-foo landmarked Fieldston neighborhood of Riverdale? And if shelters did make their way over there in the stealth of the night and without proper notification to the community, would Councilmember Koppell not fight tooth and nail to have the contracts revoked?

Well, on that note, I'd like to report that Tony Perez Cassino, who's running for the Council seat currently held by Koppell, was present at the meeting as well. After the meeting, Tony made a point of shaking hands, giving out business cards, and talking to community members about their biggest concerns for the neighborhood.

Another notable attendee of the meeting was Democratic State Commiteeman Joseph McManus - 80th AD.

~ErLu