Bronx News Network

New Assemblyman Vows to Fight Budget Cuts

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Editor’s Note: This story first appeared in this month’s issue of the Tremont Tribune, on the streets and online now.FILE PHOTO BY JAMES FERGUSSONEric Stevenson is barely into his first term as an assemblyman, but he’s already pledged to take Albany on, swinging.His first battle? Tackling Gov. Cuomo’s proposed budget cuts, which take an axe to funding for state agencies and programs across the board in an attempt to reduce the state’s huge deficit.“There’s going to be some uprising from the South Bronx, and the 79th District,” the new legislator said during a phone interview from Albany.“He’s talking about $1.5 billion in cuts to education, and then $2.8 billion to Medicaid,” Stevenson said. “What is that going to do to a district like mine? If I don’t stand up, what do my constituents say?”Stevenson, whose 79th Assembly District includes East Tremont, parts of Bathgate, and large portions of the South Bronx, is no stranger to the neighborhood, or to the local political scene.Before his Assembly run this summer, he was a Democratic district leader, and he’s worked for several legislators, including former Bronx borough presidents Fernando Ferrer and Adolfo Carrion and, most recently, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.Stevenson’s family has political roots in the district: his father was also a district leader and his grandfather, Edward A. Stevenson Sr., was an assemblyman here.Stevenson was sworn in at an inauguration ceremony at Morris High School in January. Since then, he’s been learning the ropes in Albany, where he’s been assigned to the Assembly’s committees on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Corrections, Government Operations, Veteran’s Affairs and Housing.“I’ll accept it,” he said of his committee assignments.

Bronx News Network

Bronx News Roundup, March 1

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Welcome to March, everyone. We made it through a bizarre, quick, cold February and I don’t know about you, but I feel one step closer spring! The first day of the month will be sunny and cool, with temperatures reaching freezing levels tonight and then fluctuating wildly throughout the rest of the week.Story of the Day:Fantastic story and video on Riverdale’s own Mr. Mummy, Bob Brier, an Egyptologist who has dedicated his life – and three consecutive apartments – to collecting what he calls “Egyptomania.” Brier, 67, a world-renowned mummy researcher, has amassed countless Egypt- and mummy-related items, “a collection that runs the gamut, from rare artifacts to dime-store kitsch, from authentic mummy parts to pop culture merchandise,” writes the Times’ Corey Kilganon. Brier once sent his daughter to school with a mummified cat and says (jokingly?) that he’ll be buried with all his Egyptomania.Quick Hits:The Visiting Nurse Service of New York is testing out a new smart phone app with young diabetes patients in the Bronx and Manhattan.