'Jenny from the block she's not?'

By David Greene

As the borough's elite wined and dined at the new community center, not all residents were impressed by a visit from the newest Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, who paid a visit to her old neighborhood on June 4^th.

The entire corner around the center at Rosedale Avenue and Bruckner Boulevard was shut down by a team led by a portable NYPD command center, a half dozen Emergency Service Units and a dozen or two patrol units as well as agents from the Department of Justice.

"Was there a shooting?" one resident asked, when told it was a visit from Sotomayor, the resident replied, "She's no Jenny from the block."

Community leaders in the area were surprised by the event. Many who work on various issues affecting the Soundview community were not even notified that Sottomayor was coming let along invited to attend the event.

“Why should they invite us? We’re only the ones trying to keep this community together. It’s easier just to pop in with the mayor and take a few photos and race out,” one activist told the News under condition of anonymity.

Most residents could not recall the last time they saw so many police in the area. A section of the community center connected to the Bronxdale Houses was heavily guarded and, "Locked-down," for the event.

Former Bronxdale resident Barbara Gibson-Lagrant stood in the repressive heat for over two-hours, explaining, "I'm so proud to be apart of this development that she came from and that they are naming after her."

Lagrant was standing at the police barricade, when she recalled, "She came over to us and we told her welcome home." Lagrant returns at least once a year for, "Family Day," a yearly tradition for about the last 30 years, an event that actually stopped for several years, but has recently returned.

As the function inside was underway, ESU cops were called to the back of the building for a, "suspicious package," in a tree. It turned out to be a birds-nest, one cop, unloaded the square nest on the sidewalk, and vowed to return it when the function was over.

Bronxdale resident Candy Toledo and her family knew Sotomayor, back when the first female Latino on the Supreme Court was still a little girl. Toldeo recalled, "I've known her since she was a little girl until she was a teenager. Her mother and I worked together at the old Prospect Hospital."

"She recognized me right away," Toledo said with a great big smile, "She asked about everyone and my mother," before going into a ceremony that will rename Bronxdale Houses, to, "The Sonia Sotomayor Houses."

Residents say worker's have been cleaning up the area around the complex for days in preparation of the visit, "It's funny how they found the money," referring to the New York City Housing Authority money woes.

One inconvenienced resident told a group of friend's, "And you might not see 'em come back to clean it until the next time she returns, which will be never..."

The courtyard of the complex next to the community center, the landscape sparkled, until two unidentified men allowed their dogs to run inside the unlocked fences surrounding the building, letting their dogs doo what they doo.

"That's what we get left with... we get the shit," one resident remarked when he spotted the man and his dog. The resident said they were tired of conflicts within the community dealing with gangs in the projects that just won't go away.

At this point an irate NYCHA employee, upset that she was not allowed to attend, fumed to anyone who would listen, "We were the ones that cleaned up and they didn't let us come in, I don't think that's right."

When the NYCHA employee realized she was speaking in earshot of a reporter, she blurted out, "Oh, I can't talk to you sir." Another worker claimed NYCHA workers who did not clean the area were allowed into the event, while others worked and were not.

"Nobody knows anything about her, " Mildred Belcher said of Sotomayor, adding, "They should name it after Ruben Diaz, Jr., he does a lot for this community, they should name it after him."

One resident said the rats are getting so big the gang members may soon have to leave. His friend Shaunee Butler added, "One is so big he's got muscles," as she flexed his forearms.

The name change sparked a debate between two teens," one teen pleaded, "They shouldn't change the name, they should have just put her name next to it, it's not the Bronxdale Houses anymore."

The teens friend told him, "People leave the Bronxdale Houses everyday... if I get outta here I want an incinerator named after it." His pal wanted to protest, adding it smelled like more garbage to him.