Press Conference: Woodlawn Cemetery, 233^rd St. & Webster Avenue @ 4:30 p.m.

On July 16^th 2010 at 4:30 at the Woodlawn Cemetery (233^rd Street and Webster Ave. in the Bronx), a large group of South Bronx Community organizations will announce a Borough wide campaign to pressure the cemeteries Board of Directors to cease the discriminatory treatment of many of its Black and Latino employees.

The campaign has already generated 10,000 signatures from New York residents. Speaking for the group, Pastor Lydia Lebron stated “By the end of the summer we expect to have 25,000 signatures all calling for an end to these discriminatory practices”.

The group alleges that there is a foreman who normally uses the “N word”, the “S word” and uses racial taunts such as “spear chucker”. They state that those who complain are isolated, harassed, given the most difficult jobs or unjustly disciplined. There are no minority supervisors at the Woodlawn Cemetery, nor are there many minorities in skilled positions.

Speaking for the South Bronx Community Congress, Maxi Rivera stated “We are not going to allow our people to be treated as if this was Mississippi in the 40’s”. In a Cemetery where great Civil Rights leaders are buried, we cannot accept such practices.

Along with numerous organizations from the South Bronx, Gubernatorial Candidate, Honorable City Councilman Charles Barron will be present.

Advisory for Thursday July 15, 2010

Contact: Robert Carrillo, 4DSBXCoalition: 347-739-9825 or 4DSBxCoalition@gmail.com www.4dsbxcoalition.org

BRONX COMMUNITY TO DeMAND YANKEES LIVE UP TO PROMISED Benefits FOR LOCAL Residents, BUSINESSES & Organizations

On Thursday, July 15^th at 12 noon, the South Bronx community will stage a press conference outside Yankee Stadium with For The South Bronx Coalition (4DSBXCoalition) and attorneys from the Urban Justice Center to demand that team management deliver on its promises to support local residents, organizations and businesses.

The group will deliver a demand letter to Randy Levine, President of the New York Yankee Partnership, which owns the team, challenging them to release documents tracking each commitment made in the 2006 Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) to transparently show whether they have lived up to – or how far they have fallen short of – those pledges. The Yankees’ CBA outlined specific support for local business development; employment opportunities for Bronx residents; environmental protection oversight; and resources for local not-for-profit and community based organizations. In particular, the team committed to hiring local businesses and residents for the stadium construction and to establishing both a one million dollar job training program and an annual $800,000 fund to provide grants and equipment to local community groups.  Almost $4 million is now at stake with very little if any accountability to the community.

“The Yankees may be All Stars on the playing field, but how Randy Levine and his partnership play with the South Bronx is real bush league”, stated Robert Carrillo, the Coalition’s chairperson. “This is an uphill battle with the Yankees. They have, sadly, local politicians in their back pockets clamoring for a photo op at every opportunity. The truth of the matter is that all these improvements in the community, be they the Metro North Station, Mill Pond Park, even the 3 ball fields, which if the NYCEDC, Parks & Recreation, and the Yankees had done a hint of a community study would know the community had bigger visions for that space, are not intended for those in the community. They’re part of a larger vision by a few for what this community should be. We must fight on, and we will. Our differences notwithstanding, we offer our condolences to the Steinbrenner family on their loss”, he concluded.

On July 16^th 2010 at 4:30 at the Woodlawn Cemetery (233^rd Street and Webster Ave. in the Bronx), a large group of South Bronx Community organizations will announce a Borough wide campaign to pressure the cemeteries Board of Directors to cease the discriminatory treatment of many of its Black and Latino employees.

The campaign has already generated 10,000 signatures from New York residents. Speaking for the group, Pastor Lydia Lebron stated “By the end of the summer we expect to have 25,000 signatures all calling for an end to these discriminatory practices”.

The group alleges that there is a foreman who normally uses the “N word”, the “S word” and uses racial taunts such as “spear chucker”. They state that those who complain are isolated, harassed, given the most difficult jobs or disciplined. There are no minority supervisors at the Woodlawn Cemetery, nor are there many minorities in skilled positions.

Speaking for the South Bronx Community Congress, Maxi Rivera stated “We are not going to allow our people to be treated as if this was Mississippi in the 40’s”. In a Cemetery where great Civil Rights leaders are buried, we cannot accept such practices.

Along with numerous organizations from the South Bronx, Gubernatorial Candidate, City Councilman Charles Barron will be present.

For more information call Ramon Jimenez (917) 517-1320

New York, NY: July 8th Lunch Time rally at 12 noon in front of MLB’s Park Ave office. Read more at:

http://latinosports.com/featured/july-8th-rally-at-mlbs-park-ave.-move-2011-all-star-game-out-of-az.html