My Father and Puerto Rico’s 65th Infantry Regiment

The American citizens of Puerto Rico are experiencing the ripple effects of the economic and health devastation from the ravages of Hurricane Maria as they wait for electrical power and water services to be restored, more than 90 days after the hurricane struck.  In this devastating moment,  it is important to remember the valiant contributions of thousands of Puerto Ricans in military service to the United States.  This article was  published in the Spring/Fall 2012 The Bronx County Historical Society Journal and was awarded the Carl M. and Nettie M. Halpern Memorial Award  for Best Reminiscence Article.      
                                       

 

PFC Juan Hernandez-Ramos on the left in Korea.

As a little girl, I loved looking in my mother’s “treasure chest” on her dresser.  My small fingers would dip into an Old Masters cigar box and carefully pull out sparkly clusters of  earrings and bright beaded necklaces. There were also two very curious photos of my father.  In one of the sepia-toned snapshots, my father wears soldier’s gear and stands tall and mustached, next to two other soldiers.  In another, he is bent down between two little Asian girls in long dresses.  I asked my father about the pictures and with a mix of pride and nostalgia he said they were taken in a place called Korea.

Like thousands of other Puerto Ricans in the 1950s, my parents came to New York in 1957 and lived in the South Bronx. My parents and older sisters and brother lived in a large four bedroom apartment on Beck Street, near Longwood Avenue.   I was born two years later, the first “New Yorican” in my family.  Growing up, I spoke two languages—Spanish to my mother and English to my father, sisters, and brother.

My father was so strong to me.  Sometimes on Sundays, he would walk my mother, and younger sister and I to Mass at St. Athanasius Church on Tiffany Street, my hand held in his.  His hands felt big and rough.  Later that evening, I would sit beside him on the sofa and laugh along with him as we watched The Jackie Gleason Show on our console black and white TV.  My father was a huge Jackie Gleason fan.  He worked as a hospital orderly and later was a cab driver and  identified with the working class background of Gleason’s characters, especially Ralph Kramden. 

Other evenings, I sat quietly next to him as he diligently practiced his architectural lettering, a home study course he had enrolled in. One especially cold winter day, I awoke feeling enveloped in warmth. My father had placed his winter coat over me as I slept. These moments are special because they were so rare.

With the exception of the two photos in my mother’s jewelry box, there was no other memorabilia of my father’s service in Korea.  It was a chapter my father had lived and put behind him as soon as it was over.  It was not something he ever talked about. 

As a teenager, I grew more curious about my father’s service in Korea.  I learned the Korean War began in 1950.  My parents and older sisters (my brother was not yet born) were living in Puerto Rico.  I wondered how my father could have fought in Korea, when my family was not living in the United States at the time.  When I asked my father about this, he remarked casually that he had served with a Spanish-speaking unit from Puerto Rico. This made me even more curious. 

In college I took a course on the history of Puerto Rico and learned of the complex relationship the island had with the United States.  Puerto Rico was neither a state nor territory and its residents are United States citizens.  It was not until 2000, the year of the 50^th anniversary of the Korean War, that I learned about this unique unit my father served in.

My father had been a solider with the Puerto Ricans of the 65^th Infantry Regiment, also known as the Borinqueneers. Borinquen is the name the Taino Indians had for their island before the Spanish arrived in 1493.  In 1898, Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States after Spain’s defeat in the Spanish- American War under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. The first body of native soldiers was constituted March 2, 1899 when Congress authorized the formation of the Puerto Rico Battalion of  Volunteer Infantry.

Through an act of Congress, the  unit became a part of the Regular Army on June 30, 1908 and was designated the Puerto Rico Provisional Regiment of Infantry.  In 1920, the regiment was re-named the 65th Infantry Regiment.

Prior to the implementation of the Jones Act in 1917, Puerto Ricans were not U.S. citizens and not subject to the draft.  However, threats to the United States from the growing war in Europe and a worldwide outcry and movement away from colonialism compelled Congress to grant citizenship to Puerto Ricans.

A month after Congress passed the Jones Act, the United States entered World War I to help its allies, Britain and France.  Thousands of Puerto Ricans were called into service,  but Puerto Rican battle casualties amounted to 1 killed and five troops wounded, reflecting U.S. Army policy of restricting non-white units to non-combat roles.  Puerto Ricans were sent to guard the Panama Canal Zone and other installations throughout the Caribbean, thus freeing an equal number of American soldiers for combat.  

The Army began sending the 65th overseas in early 1944.  They served mostly in security missions including protecting supply depots, roads and railroads and airfields from attack. The 65^th received battle participation credits for the Napples, Foggia, Rome-Arno, Central Europe and Rhineland Campaigns. saw action in Italy, Central Europe and the Rhineland Campaign.  While on the front lines, its soldiers were awarded a Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars and ninety Purple Hearts.

In 1945, at the age of 17, my father, Juan Hernandez-Ramos, voluntarily enlisted in the Army.  He lied about his age to the recruiter.  His two older brothers, Roque and Wilfredo had already been drafted. “I wanted to follow in my brothers’ footsteps and be a soldier.” For many Puerto Ricans, sentiment for Puerto Ricans to align themselves more politically with the United States also compelled their decision.

My father was sent to Camp Plochet, Louisiana for basic training shortly before the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Japan, bringing the war to a swift end.  After the war, the 65th returned to garrison duty in Puerto Rico.

When his enlistment term ended, my father remained in the Army Reserves.  With the outbreak of the conflict in Korea, my father was called back to active duty.  By then he was married with two daughters and one more on the way.
Col. William W. Harris, Commander of the 65th, wanted to ensure the 65th would be able to maintain its combat readiness in the face of the anticipated difficulty of sending replacements from the island once the regiment entered combat. He requested and was granted permission for a 10 percent increase in company-grade officers and enlisted personnel. 
 Harris reached out to radio stations and local newspapers to help recruit the additional men.

On  August 14 , El Imparcial, one of Puerto Rico’s leading newspapers, announced that the Department of the Army had requested two thousand Puerto Rican volunteers to fight in Korea.  Prospective candi-

dates, the announcement read, could be single or married,  less than thirty years old, and must have served honorably during World War II. The island's other foremost newspaper, El Mundo,  announced that the Army was seeking sixteen hundred men for the 65th Infantry for a twenty-one month deployment.  By August 18 , more than seven hundred veterans had responded to the call.Four days later on the 22nd,  the Department of the Army had also recalled another 1,200 members of the enlisted reserve corps. When the 65th sailed for Korea,  it had 3,880 officers, NCOs, and enlisted men. Sixty-four of the 206 officers were Puerto Rican.

On August 27^th 1950, my father was on his way to the combat zone. They arrived in Pusan, Korea on September 23^rd.  “It took us almost a month to reach Korea,” he said.  “Our ship stopped in Panama to pick up the 3d Battalion, 33d Infantry, (stationed at Fort Kobbe in the Panama Canal Zone).  Four days before reaching Korea, we ran into a typhoon.”

The Puerto Ricans were sent into action immediately. The 65^th was attached to Maj. Gen. John B. Coulter’s IX Corps of the Eighth Army division . My father’s regiment landed at the port city of Pusan ( The name was changed to Busan in  2000, due to a new method of transliterating Korean), on the Korean Peninsula’s southern tip, where the United States forces had been holding a perimeter against the Communist North Korean invaders.  “When we finally arrived, there were soldiers waiting with ammunition in their hands for us,” said my father.
The 65th was ordered to send a rifle battalion to relieve a battalion of the 9th Infantry on Hill 409, near the village of Changyong, while a second battalion would secure the bridge at Yuga-myon along the main supply route linking the division with the Eighth Army supply base at Pusan.The 65th patrolled a  forty-square-mile area to locate and destroy whatever enemy troops remained. They were augmented with two artillery units from the 15th and 503d Field Artillery Battalions, a platoon of tanks from the 9th Infantry regimental tank company, and a unit from the 82d Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) Automatic Weapons Battalion.

My father recalled the fear that consumed much of the time of every soldier in combat situations.  “In the beginning, you are scared, but then you get used to it,” he recalled. “You have to remember your basic training skills.”

The night before his unit  was readying for its next maneuver, my father and some more seasoned soldiers began to take down their camp.  A priest came in to conduct Mass for the men. Joining the seasoned soldiers were a group who had not yet experienced combat. In a spirit of brotherhood, after the Mass my father and other soldiers walked over to offer whatever encouragement they could to the new arrivals. “You could see that the new men were so scared,” he said. “A few of us went to talk to them and told them how we felt the same way when we got there. But I told them, eventually, you will feel better.”

Religion played an important role for the men of the 65^th.  Attendance at Sunday Mass and Protestant services was always high, with only the most necessary duties keeping the men away.  Some companies even initiated a nightly rosary devotion. The men frequently knelt in prayer before heading out to their next action.

While on patrol one day, my father and another soldier were sent to check a house in the distance.  “We decided that I would go into the house and the other soldier would cover me,” he recalled. “The house had two doors and I started to go toward the door on the right side, but then I noticed the left-side door opening.   I froze for a moment and then began to walk toward the left door,” he said. Then the door opened suddenly and a Chinese soldier walked out with his hands up in surrender. That was my lucky day,” he added with a nervous laugh.

Hunger and the harsh winter were other debilitating conditions the soldiers of the 65th battled against. “There was plenty of food in the front of the line, but it didn’t get back to us,” he remembered. “When it did, we would be set to eat and suddenly the Chinese would attack, so there went the food.”

Unaccustomed to the cold, the men found clever ways to keep warm ranging from using blow torches to full-sized squad tent stoves.

Back home on the island, pride in the 65^th was fever pitch.  Stories and pictures of the soldiers got almost unlimited space in the newspapers, with writers giving the highest praise for the sacrifices of the soldiers.  Radio programs and baseball games were dedicated to the troops. 

Tape recordings with an address from then Governor Luis Munoz-Marin, as well as highlights of the latest sports news, and songs from the island’s top entertainers of the era were sent to the men to lift their spirits.  The Lion’s Club of Bayamon shipped 16 cases of such Puerto Rican delicacies as pasteles, arroz con pollo, and arroz con gandules.  In 1952, Mrs. Ines Mendoza de Munoz-Marin, wife of the Governor, sent a copy of the island’s recently approved Constitution to the men. The Puerto Rico Constitution codified the island’s new political status as a Commonwealth, or “Freely Associated State”, as it is referred to in Spanish.

On September 27, three months after being invaded by the North and after 12 days of fierce and bloody battles, the besieged capital of Seoul was finally under the command and control of UN forces. General Douglas MacArthur, Commander in Chief of United Nations Forces in Korea until 1951,  became overconfident and believed that the war should be expanded to include China, despite misgivings from President Truman and the Joint Chief of Staff. 

MacArthur ignored a cable from The Joint Chiefs asking him to reconsider his decision and warnings from Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai of China that if UN troops approached the Yalu River, the Chinese would enter the war. On MacArthur’s orders, South Korean forces streamed toward the city of Unsan on the way to the Yalu River, which separated China from North Korea.

The U.S. led UN forces rapidly approached the Yalu River but on October 25, 1950, 300,000 Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war. “We were no match for them in those days,” said my father.

The Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951. The United States Eighth Army was overrun, and the 1^st Marine Division, with attached United States and British Army units was completely encircled.  The outnumbered Marines had no choice but to retreat and began  battling their way back to Hungnam, the third largest city in North Korea.and a port city on the eastern coast on the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea). The men of the 65th rushed to their defense and were ordered to stay behind and fight the enemy. They were instrumental in protecting the supply lines.  As a result, the Marines were able to withdraw to their ships with the 65th holding the rear guard. The 65^th were among the last units to embark from Hungnam The 65th was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for their defense

Over 43,000 Puerto Ricans served in the military during the Korean War, most with the 65th Infantry Regiment, including almost 40,000 volunteers, and approximately 3,540 of them lost their lives. The 65th was awarded battle participation credits for the following nine campaigns:

UN Defense-1950

UN Offense-1950

CCF Intervenntion-1950

First UN Counterattack Offensive-1951

UN and CCF Spring Offensive-1951

UN Summer-Fall Offensive-1951

2nd Korean Winter 1951-52

Korean Summer-Fall-1952

3rd Korean Winter-1952-53.
         In January 1951, the 65h Infantry Regiment participated in Operation Thunderbolt, a reconnaissance-in-force; and Operation Exploitation, an exploitation to the Han River. By the end of the month, the regiment had advanced to a region just south of Seoul and was ordered to seize three Chinese-held hills. The assault began on Jan. 31 and took three days. On Feb. 2, 1951, with the objective within reach, two battalions of the regiment fixed bayonets and charged the enemy position, forcing the communist soldiers to flee. It was the last U.S. Army battalion-sized bayonet charge in history.

           The 65^th had established a reputation as one of the 3^rd Infantry Division’s best and most dependable formations.  Through the Fall of 1952, the regiment faced fierce fighting at Outpost Kelly and Jackson Heights in the Chorwon Valley of North Korea as the Chinese launched heavy assaults to overtake these positions.

The regiment suffered over 800 casualties (including 500 battle casualties and 306 non-battle casualties) defending and attempting to retake Outpost Kelly and Jackson Heights.  After the battles, the reputation and morale of the regiment were shattered when 95 soldiers of the 65^th and one officer, were ordered court-martialed for charges ranging from desertion to avoiding hazardous duty, to willfully disobeying the orders of a superior officer, and misbehavior before the enemy. 

The Army tried to keep the court-martials quiet, downplaying the number of men tried and the severity of their sentences.  But letters from the soldiers to their family and friends back home triggered a storm of outrage. By late January 1953, newspapers in the United States and Puerto Rico began running stories announcing the court martials.  An investigation ensued.  By 1954, all the sentences had been overturned.

A report on the court martials written in 2000 by the Department of Army’s Center of Military History cited a severe shortage of non-commissioned officers, language problems, inept leadership and ethnic and organizational prejudice as conditions prevalent within the 65th as well as the Eighth Army and 3^rd Infantry Division, which influenced the failure of the 65^th in the Fall of 1952.

In 1956 the 65^th was deactivated making it the last segregated unit to be deactivated and the only unit to be transferred from an active Army to the Puerto Rico National Guard. It was then assigned to the 92nd Infantry Brigade (now the 92nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team) and along with its sister battalion the 1-296th Infantry,  has served in the War Against Terrorism and Operations Iraqi Freedom Enduring Freedom. 

For its valiant service in Korea, the 65^th Infantry received the United States Presidential Unit Citation, United States Meritorious Unit Commendation,  two Republic of Korea Unit Citations and the Greek Gold Medal for Bravery. Individual members of the unit received 156 Bronze Stars, 421 Silver Stars and ten Distinguished Service Crosses, 5 of which were awarded to Puerto Ricans. Finally, in April 2016, the 65th was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in a ceremony on Capitol Hill. 

  Of their service, Gen. MacArthur wrote, "The Puerto Ricans forming the ranks of the gallant 65th Infantry give daily proof on the battlefields of Korea of their courage, determination and resolute will to victory, their invincible loyalty to the United States and their fervent devotion to those immutable principles of human relations which the Americans of the Continent and Puerto Rico have in common, They are writing a brilliant record of heroism in battle, and I am indeed proud to have them under my command."

My father served in Korea for a year and was honorably discharged.  He and a small group of returning soldiers traveled to Japan and then onto Seattle, Washington, the second leg of his long journey home.  There, they received the equivalent of a heroes’ welcome, one not given to returning Korean veterans.  In Seattle, they met the Mayor of the city, who treated the men to a ball game.  They rode in a limousine accompanied by a police escort.  The team owner treated the men to food and beverages. Shortly before the game started, the announcer spoke. “Ladies and gentlemen, I have the pleasure of announcing that with us today is a group of fighting men who have just returned from Korea.”  At that point, the people in the stands stood and gave the veterans a standing ovation.

My parents separated in my early teens and I seldom saw my father. As an adult, my father resurfaced for a short period, but by then our relationship had deteriorated.

As the fiftieth anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War approached, I decided to reach out to my father and interview him about his experiences in Korea. By then, my father had moved back to Puerto Rico. He was living near San Juan and volunteering with his parish church and at the San Juan Veteran’s Center. A year later at my father’s burial service, a fellow veteran's center volunteer recalled how much the staff looked forward to my father's volunteer days and how he would miss “mi hermanito, Juan (my little brother, Juan).” He also told me my father carried my article with him (an early version published on the website, El Boricua in August 2000) and showed it to whomever he could. He is buried in the Puerto Rico National Cemetery in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, the cemetery for veterans.
I’m glad that I reconnected with my father to learn of his experiences with the 65^th.  It helped me to see another side of him, one unaffected by the complications of personal  limitations.

First Christmas

The dishes were done, and the dining table sparkled from just being polished. I stepped back from the table to admire the combination living room and dining space. The beige and floral print living room furniture was brand new.  The table and chairs were hand me downs from my sister and were placed in front of the wall that was covered in wall paper that featured a beach scene.  The chairs had been reupholstered in red vinyl. I was proud of our first apartment.

It was about 1:00 p.m. and the afternoon stretched ahead with no definite plan.

“You’re going in today?” I asked Eddie

“Yeah, sorry,” he said. “Henry has us working like crazy to get these drawings done for this new client next week.  It will just be for a few hours. I’ll be back by 4 or so.  We can go to a movie later,” he added smiling. 

“I think I’ll go to Woolworths and buy some Christmas decorations and ornaments,” I said.  “Maybe tomorrow we can go buy a tree.” 

“You know, there’s a little store near our office,” he said. “We could go there and take a look at the trees.”   

It was the first weekend in December and I was excited about  Christmas—our first Christmas together.

We kissed goodbye and went our separate ways. Once outside, I realized I had bundled up a little too much. The temperature outside was warmer than I expected, the sky was a crystal blue. I was in good spirits as I walked away from our block of connecting pre- war buildings up the hill past the dry cleaner and supermarket. Slightly off in the distance, I could see the brown brick buildings of Parkchester, the city within a city in the Bronx built just before World War II.  Many of the buildings had sculptures of people on the exteriors—mothers with young children, men laboring, even clowns.

I crossed the busy intersection and entered the main shopping area on East Avenue. I passed Womrath’s, the bookstore where I came with my brother in the eighth grade to buy a copy of Of Mice and Men. Next to that was the Selby shoe store.  I loved these stores.  The lettering on the store signs had a nostalgic look, like store fronts that you’d see in TV programs from the 1950s and 60s. It made me feel like I was back in time.

Salvation Army volunteers rang their bells in front of Macys and passersby tossed their coins or placed bills in the iron till that hung from a tripod. I walked past and crossed the street over to Woolworths. 

I began browsing on the street level.  I always went to the cosmetic section, looking at bottles of Cover Girl “clean” makeup, Angel Face pressed powders and blushes, and Maybelline eye shadows in various hues. Mod Sixties fashions had made a comeback and I examined bangle bracelets of varying widths in the jewelry area.  I purchased fuchsia pink and lime green bangles to go with a black, striped tunic dress that was one of my favorite things to wear to work. Pleased with my ability to accessorize for the New Wave look, I proceeded downstairs to choose some ornaments for our first Christmas tree.

Bins in the center of the floor glittered with packs of silver and blue tinsel, next to stiff-looking garland. There were boxes of blue, red, green and pink glass ornaments, some frosted with white glitter.  Those caught my eye. Growing up, the ornaments on our silver tinsel tree were red and white satin-covered balls, which would never break.  Glass ornaments were elegant, classic, like the ornaments on Christmas trees from films and TV shows of the 1960s. I picked up several boxes.  I also picked up a little Santa ornament and a happy little mouse on skis. This little mouse now gets top billing at the top of each year’s Christmas tree.

The next day Eddie and I drove to Mamaroneck.  We had lunch on the main street and then walked over to the household goods shop.  It was a no-frills store. There was a four-foot tree on display and we told the sales person we wanted to buy it. She went to the back and brought out an appropriately sized box. 

When we got home I couldn’t wait to set up and start decorating our first tree.  Eddie got a small knife from the kitchen and sliced through the tape at the top of the box.  He pulled out a small box from the top.  We both thought it was the stand.  When he opened it up, inside was a small tree, about two feet tall.  We looked at each other puzzled.  He pulled out the next box and opened it to find another little tree. There were four more tiny trees and we started to laugh. 

“Hey I could make a little money,” he said. “I could sell these on the corner and make a quick 60 bucks. I was laughing so hard, tears were rolling down my cheeks. 

The next day, we got into our green Datsun and went back to Mamaroneck to return the little trees.  Then we drove to JC Penney. Before paying, we asked the salesperson to open the box so we could double check our tree.  

Lehman Center for the Performing Arts Reaches 35-Year Milestone

Eva Bornstein is proud of Latino events that have made Lehman Center, case de la salsa, home of salsa, in the Bronx

With its 35th season under way, Lehman Center for the Performing Arts continues its tune as a cultural showcase, largely catapulted by Eva Bornstein, its longtime executive director.
The creation of Lehman Center was a dream of Lehman College’s first president, Leonard Lief, who wanted a professional performance arts center for the college. A performance by the New York Philharmonic ushered in the music house on Bedford Park Boulevard in 1980.
This is Bornstein’s 11th year with Lehman Center. Before taking the reins, she managed theaters in New Jersey, Chicago and Toronto. When she arrived, her biggest challenge was to shore up declining attendance at the Center. Indeed, presenting top-notch performances can be costly for a borough deemed the poorest across the city.
But Bornstein set out to explore the borough’s neighborhoods to learn firsthand what rhythmic tunes make Bronxites bob their heads.  Hearing the salsa music from passing cars and stores gave her an idea that was both obvious and groundbreaking for the borough. “Everyone knows that we have a large Puerto Rican community,” said Bornstein, from her office inside Lehman Center, “so we started Latino events. We are Casa de la Salsa (House of Salsa).”
She’s used her ear and intuition to lure Latin performers, a move driven by artistic appetites and business acumen–the Bronx, with a large Latino population, will likely buy a ticket to these performances. It worked last month when the popular contemporary Afro-Cuban group, Los Van Van, performed to a packed house.  “The entire audience of 1800 all stood up and danced much to the dismay of our security,” said Bornstein. “It was like a happening in the Bronx.”
Past Latin performers at Lehman Center have also included salsa legends El Gran Combo orchestra, Ruben Blades and Gilberto Santa Rosa.
Bornstein said other venues such as New Jersey Performing Arts Center and Tribeca Performing Arts Center began to take notice of her winning strategy of bringing Latin artists at family friendly prices. “Several other theaters looked at our success and are doing similar events,” she said. “The main venues are realizing there is a Latino population.”
Over the years, Bornstein broadened the Center’s appeal by scheduling such accomplished artists such as Smokey Robinson, Patti LaBelle, Johnny Mathis, Jose Feliciano, B.B. King, and Michael Bolton. “That was really out of the box,” she said of Bolton’s appearance. Non-musical attractions included a one-night performance by comedian Jerry Seinfeld.
Bornstein was introduced to the arts as a child when her parents took her to the ballet and classical concerts in her native city of Krakow, Poland, then under communist rule. The experience also shaped a strong belief in the importance of the arts for children, which she feels “shape and enhance our senses and our spiritual being.” It’s one reason she’s kept children in mind when booking the Russian National Ballet Theater to perform Swan Lake, and National Circus and Acrobats of The People’s Republic of China. “I’m very happy to see more and more children under the age of 10 attending performances,” she said.
This year’s offerings include big Latin bands, The Machito Orchestra and The Mambo Legends Orchestra performing hits from the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s, and a concert featuring Ex Gran Combo legend, Charlie Aponte, Jose Alberto, “El Canario” and Domingo Quinones. Lehman Center will once again host Parranda Navidena, Doo Wop: Rock & Roll is Here to Stay and Forever Freestyle.
A new event in the Center’s lineup is the first performance by The Orchestra Now, comprised of young musicians who hail from New York’s most prestigious music schools. “I like their entrepreneurial spirit,” said Bornstein.  “It is very exciting to host an inaugural concert.”
Other upcoming international acts include performances by Ballet Folklorico de Mexico,  Compañia Flamenca, The Royal Marine Band of Scotland and Bollywood Masala Orchestra and Dancers of India.
Additional events will be added throughout the year and Bornstein recommends checking the website regularly to stay in the know.  “Our vision is to sustain Lehman Center as the major cultural institution in the borough,” she said. “Our ambition is to become a mini Lincoln Center in the Bronx.”

After Fix, Smoother Strides on Bainbridge Ave.

Broken sidewalk finally repaired in front of 2945 Bainbridge Avenue

After reports of numerous falls on the broken sidewalk in front of 2845 Bainbridge Ave., including one of an elderly woman who died there last year, Steven Bussell, vice president of the 52nd Precinct Community Council, was hitting brick walls in his attempts to get the sidewalk repaired. But a call to a local lawmaker kicked the project into gear.
The sidewalk had been uprooted by two large trees in front of the property. “Half the people would walk in the street to walk around the trees,” said Bussell.
A 42-year resident of the neighborhood, Bussell has been on the Five-Two Council for 18 years, having worked with various agencies to resolve the problem.  “It would never get done because they said they didn’t have the money. It was put on the back burner,” he said. “Then I thought, ‘let’s try [Councilman] Ritchie Torres.’”
Juan Antigua, Torres’ Deputy Chief of Staff, knew first-hand about the hazardous situation, living near the uprooted sidewalk. “Our local constituent was fed up and contacted our office,” said Antigua. “The councilman took it into his own hands.”
Torres reached out to DOT as well as the Department of Parks to determine the status of the repair request and was told it was on a list. After further inquiries, the request was moved up. Five weeks after contacting Torres’ office, Bussell received word from a neighbor in the last week of August that the sidewalk was being repaired.
Repairing sidewalks damaged by uprooted trees is a complex procedure. According to city law, home and property owners are responsible for repair and maintenance of sidewalks abutting their property. However, it is illegal to remove a city-owned tree. Property owners must first obtain a Tree Work Permit via 311. The Department of Parks’ Borough Forestry Office then reviews all proposed site work and designs a plan that meets the Tree Protection Protocol for all affected city trees. Repairs are made based on the severity of damage and the availability of funding. If a homeowner wants to repair the sidewalk themselves, they must schedule a Sidewalk Design Consultation with the Parks Department, who will guide the contractor on how to proceed.  A DOT permit costing $15 is also required to perform the sidewalk repair.
Miguel Rodriguez has lived at 2845 Bainbridge Ave. for a decade and saw someone trip at least once a week in the past few years. “Most of the newly planted trees are going to experience this,” he said of the trees planted throughout the city this past winter through the Million Trees NYC initiative of the Parks Department and the New York Restoration Project. “The city is going to have to invest if they don’t want to have this issue.”
But Bussell was relieved to finally see action taken. “I’m so excited to finally see something go right after working on it for so long,” he said.

Bringing Healthy Food to Norwood

Damon Little picks up his weekly share of produce from the Norwood Bedford Food Cooperative CSA.

Every Thursday during the summer and fall, a truck journeys from Norwich Meadows Farm north of Binghamton to the Bainbridge Community Garden at 2980 Bainbridge Ave. There, members of the Norwood/Bedford Food Cooperative Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) begin unloading the cargo of produce picked just that morning. Bins fill to the brim with zucchini, red and green lettuces, cauliflower, peas, fennel, onions, garlic and black radishes.
For the past 13 years, Zaid and Haifa Kurdieh, owners of Norwich Meadows Farm, have partnered with the Norwood/Bedford Food Cooperative CSA to bring locally grown, organic food to Norwood. They were connected to Norwich Meadows Farm through Just Food, a New York City based non-profit that works to connect communities with local, fresh food, part the city’s ongoing efforts to offer more fresh fruit to Norwood and Bedford Park.
As the summer progresses, the truck will deliver crops that include cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, string beans, melons, sweet potatoes and more.
“The idea of a CSA is to connect people in a community that doesn’t have a lot of farms nearby to farmers growing near the area,” explained Nick Napolitano, a member since 2005 and unofficial CSA spokesperson. “It eliminates the middle person of grocery stores or supermarkets.”
Unlike a farmers market, where a consumer buys the farmer’s produce, a CSA member shares the risk with the farmers by paying $340, working as an advance to buy seeds and all the materials needed to bring the crop to market. In exchange, farmers agree to offer members 22 weeks worth of food.
The Kurdiehs hail from Pakistan. Zaid taught agriculture at Cornell University, later becoming a full-time organic farmer. He utilizes cutting edge techniques such as growing his crops in food tunnels instead of greenhouses to keep pests off the plants.
There are 39 households in the Norwood/Bedford Food Cooperative CSA this year. The Kurdiehs work with other CSAs and numerous restaurants throughout the city, as well as the Union Square and Thompson Square farmers markets. They also partner with other organic farmers to offer a fruit share and orders of dairy products, eggs and beef.
“We get an incredible amount of food and the taste is amazing,” said Napolitano. “We probably had about 15 pounds of vegetables last week.”
Damon Little joined the CSA in 2006. “I like the variety. There are some things that I wouldn’t buy on my own,” he said. “It gets me to try new things, which is nice.”
Cheryll Jarrett lives in nearby Wakefield and feels the weekly bus trip for the past three years is well worth it. “He has a great selection,” she said. “I’ve participated in other CSAs. You don’t get the variety.”
The Bainbridge Community Garden is one of two sites that participates in The New York Botanical Garden NYC Compost Project. People can bring their food scraps Thursday evening which are processed on the spot for use as nutrients in the community garden.
The CSA is one of several efforts to bring fresh produce into the area. The non-profit GrowNYC sponsors the farmers market at Poe Park in Fordham on Tuesdays; The New York Botanical Garden on Wednesday. Thursdays, the Norwood Youth Market, partnered with Montefiore Medical Center, can be found on East Gun Hill Road and DeKalb avenues There are also green markets and green produce carts throughout the Norwood area where you can find fresh produce on a daily basis. “I haven’t seen a lot of produce growth in the bodegas,” said Napolitano. “I think the green carts are more visible and have had a noticeable impact.”
Napolitano also noted the area restaurants that add variety in eating options. “As new immigrant groups come in and get established they start opening up restaurants and serving food that is desirable and culturally connected to them,” he said. He cited the various ethnic eateries–Dominican, Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi restaurants, taco shops and bodegas along on 204^th Street and Bainbridge Avenue, a Salvadoran restaurant on 205^th Street. “That’s a great thing for all of us. That’s part of our vibrancy.”

Just a Quiet Saturday Night

         “Where’s my top?” I asked lazily.  A chill was starting to seep into me despite being under the covers.

          Eddie fished around for it. “Here it is,” he said and handed it to me. I pulled on the flannel shirt.  We resumed our cuddling, his right hand resting on my abdomen. The sound of a distant dog barking drifted in through the window of our yellow bedroom.     

            “Hon, get the TV,” I said to Eddie.  He sprang out of bed and walked the few feet to the living room. The TV was positioned on the side of the room that featured a wallpapered tropical scene. After cleaning and painting our apartment before moving in, we were no longer offended by the mural. It helped to fill the nearly empty room.

We were blissful newlyweds, married a few short months.  Our apartment building on Taylor Avenue, near the Bronx River Expressway, was in a row of dreary, pre-War apartment buildings. The brick wall of the next building was our view from the living room.  Our bedroom faced the rear of another building.

Eddie unplugged our little black and white set and wheeled the cart into our bedroom. He positioned it right in front of the bed of the tiny room. I loved looking at Eddie’s tall, lanky frame. He turned on the set and got back into bed.

“Who’s on Saturday Night Live?” I asked.  He leafed through the TV Guide on his night stand.  “It’s James Brown,” he answered.  “Oh great,” I said snuggling into him.

We watched the last 15 minutes of news before the show started.  A skit with Dana Carvey and host Jamie Lee Curtis opened the show. Then the familiar jazzy theme started and Don Pardo announced “It’s Saturday Night Live with musical guest James Brown” over a wailing clarinet.

It was Saturday, sweet Saturday.  No work the next day to worry about. We could be lazy for another day.

Upstairs the new baby started to cry and I groaned.  In the two months since moving into the building, I had passed our very pregnant upstairs neighbor in the entry hallway a few times.   Our eyes would meet briefly but no greeting was exchanged. I felt badly about that.

In the past week, sleep had been difficult for the new mom and me; the baby would wake us up at regular intervals.   Eddie was undisturbed. He could sleep through anything. 

I could hear the woman get up out of her bed above us and walk toward the kitchen, the baby wailing away.  After a few minutes I heard her walk back and the baby stopped crying.

 Eddie and I enjoyed watching the program for the next few minutes. Then the crying started up again.  I swore to myself that it would be several years before I had to deal with crying babies.

In the midst of the crying, I heard an apartment door fly open in the hallway and a man’s voice bellowing, “Shut that damn baby up!”  My eyes opened wide as I looked at Eddie.  I jumped out of the bed and ran past our tropical beach to the front door and looked out of the peephole. Our retired neighbor from across the hall was storming down the stairs from the next floor. He slammed his door.

I scurried back to our room shocked at his outburst yet laughing. More commotion soon ensued. 

The superintendent came up from his basement apartment and began pounding on the man’s door. He and his wife were Irish and had nine children.

Our neighbor across the hall refused to oblige.  Again I ran to the front door. From the comments, I had the impression the new mom had called the superintendent to complain about our neighbor’s outburst. Eddie was uninterested.  He just wanted to enjoy Saturday Night Live. He sat up in the bed, arms folded behind his head.

“There’s no need for that Frank,” yelled the super.  His wife and several of the children were behind him.

“What did Frank do?” asked one of the younger children.  “He said something bad about the baby,” said another.

The super gave up and walked away. “What an asshole,” he shouted.

Suddenly Frank’s door swung open and he stepped out into the hallway.

 “Call the fucken cops, why don’t you!” he demanded.

 “Oh what’s the matter with you?” demanded the super’s wife.  “Are you sick or somethin? That’s a new baby!”

“Call the fucken cops!” Frank raged and went back to his apartment slamming the door again.

I walked back to the bedroom appalled.  “Oh my God! I can’t believe that man! Who would do such a thing?”

“Frank would,” said Eddie.

We watched the rest of Saturday Night Live. Parodying Fred Rogers from Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, Eddie Murphy welcomed his neighbors to Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood, an urban and grittier version of the beloved children’s program.

“Today boys and girls, I made a new friend,” he said in a syrupy tone as he changed into canvas sneakers, the way the real Mr. Rogers did. The audience laughed.

There was pounding on the door of the Robinson home. “Open up Robinson,” yelled a man. “I know you’ve been with Juanita. I’m gonna kill you!”

Eddie Murphy’s eyes and mouth opened wide in mock surprise.  “Boys and girls, Mr. Robinson is going for a little jog,” he said approaching a window and opening it to step out while the pounding and yelling continued. 

“We’re living in his neighborhood,” said Eddie dryly. I turned to look at him and laughed.  

Chicken keeping in New York City?

Chicken trainer, Lily Kesselman, shows workshop participants how to build a chicken tractor.

Chicken Keeping Workshops Come to the Bronx

Chicken keeping in the city? While it started out as a bucolic activity a few years ago,  chicken keeping has evolved into a serious niche in the sustainable food and urban agriculture movement. “I think it’s because people want to know where their food comes from,” said Greg Anderson, Urban Agriculture Manager for Just Food.   

Just Food supports community run farmers markets and its City Chicken Institute has sponsored over 21 chicken coop building projects in community gardens and a few schools throughout the city. They also offer monthly workshops for individuals interested in chicken keeping at Imani Community Garden in Crown Heights Brooklyn and, starting this year, at Paradise on Earth Community Garden on Fox Street in the Bronx.

The organization also has a City Chicken Meetup group with over 800 members and has discussions on chicken care such as problems and illnesses, coop design and where to find food.

“People are finding out that the way commercial institutions produce food is counter to their own beliefs and value systems,” said Anderson. “They want a bit more control over their food which I think is very similar to the popularity of farmers markets and green markets now.  People want that connection to their food.”

The organization decided to add workshops at the Bronx location because of the growing numbers of people attending their Brooklyn workshops.  Anderson said people have come from New Jersey and Connecticut to not only be educated on chicken raising, but also learn how to change the city ordinances of where they live to keep chickens. In New York City chickens are classified as pets and it is legal to keep them.  But don’t think about getting the hens a male companion. Keeping roosters is illegal due to their crowing.

Lily Kesselman, led the recent workshop in the Bronx and has been conducting chicken training for the last two years. Kesselman learned urban agriculture and animal husbandry from Just Food’s Farm School.  She filed for a grant to build a coop in Brook Park Community  Garden and then built one in her backyard.

“Just like I don’t think you have to be a vet to have a pet, I don’t think you have to be a farmer necessarily to have chickens,” said Kesselman.  She said chickens bring many benefits to a community garden and backyard including aerating soil, pulling weeds and eating food scraps that would normally go into the trash.  “I just think having chickens is really do able, and the eggs are far superior than what you’d buy at a grocery store.”

There’s also the question of how to deal with a chicken when it reaches the end of its egg laying cycle. Anderson said his organization only advocates keeping chickens for their eggs.  “After they stop laying, we can help people find places to send the chickens to.” He noted there are several farm sanctuaries upstate, on Long Island and even a few in Manhattan. But Anderson understands that people have different views about eating the chickens.

“Some people understand that after the chicken stops laying and before old age sets in that they may cull that chicken and eat it.”  Culling is the process of slaughtering the chicken for food.  “Some people view it as humane and others view it as inhumane.  That’s something we leave up to the individual.”

Future chicken keepers also need to know about urban predators.  “A lot of people move to the city and think there are no more prey animals. They let their chickens run around in their yard and they see a hawk come down and grab a chicken. Or they don’t lock their chickens up at night in a safe place and they come back and a raccoon has killed off their chicken,” said Anderson.

Michael Masefield learned about chicken predators the hard way. A former Staten Islander, Masefield has lived in the Bronx for the last ten years and was drawn to chicken keeping because he wanted something less urban in his urban environment. He came to the Bronx workshop to learn how to build a chicken tractor which allows a chicken to free range while being protected. “My chicken got attacked in the yard by a hawk and I wanted to build something to protect them,” he said. 

“Anyone who is looking to become a chicken keeper, educate yourself about the different breeds and what type of things this chicken will need to have a comfortable life,” said Anderson.

Workshops are offered through October in Brooklyn’s Imani Community Garden in Crown Heights on the second Thursday of the month and on the last Wednesday of the month in Paradise on Earth Community Garden on Fox Street in the Bronx.