Mayor Richard Thomas Weekly Report for August 26, 2017
Breaking Ground at Brush Park
This week, Mayor Richard Thomas and the City of Mount Vernon broke ground on a new playground at Brush Park. The new park was successfully installed and ready for families to play, just in time for back to school! Mayor Thomas, Recreation Commissioner Darren Morton and Water Commissioner Ben Marable unveiled the brand new water fountains that are now installed in Brush Park. These water fountains have been installed in parks across the city and are part of Mayor Thomas’ commitment to investing in greenspaces, city-wide. Click here to watch the entire press conference. Click here to watch the May 2017 Board of Estimate and Contract meeting where Mayor Thomas and Commissioner Morton advocate for the park and inform Comptroller Maureen Walker and the City Council why these parks are so important.
Mount Vernon Police Youth Academy Graduation Ceremony
The City of Mount Vernon Police Youth Academy had a fun filled and action packed year. From trips to Good Morning America, selfies with Robin Roberts and Michael Strahan, a trip to the studios of Eyewitness News a full day at entertainment company, Roc Nation Studios, the young adults saw a lot of interesting things, met many inspiring professionals and mixed in with the programs learning modules, even had some fun. This past Monday, at the graduation ceremony, Detective Dave Clarke, the director of the Academy, congratulated every student and thanked the parents, friends and supporters for their commitment to the program and the students. You can watch the whole ceremony here.
Mayor Richard Thomas Busts Contractors Illegally Dumping Concrete into Our Sewer
Last week, Mayor Richard Thomas spotted a private contracting crew dumping concrete into our city sewers. The mayor stopped his vehicle and approached, ordering them to stop dumping immediately. The mayor then called in DPW to assess the situation and begin flushing out the sewer to reduce the damage to the city’s crippled sewer system. The contractor IS facing some serious fines, but more importantly, Mayor Thomas has sent a clear message — in our city pay the price for your illegal actions.
Past administrations turned a blind eye to dumping, even on our own beleaguered Memorial Field but we cannot allow people to disrespect Mount Vernon. We deserve clean waterways, revitalized parks, smooth streets. We are our committed to providing quality-of-life initiatives for the people of Mount Vernon.
Weekly Crime Statistics
Overall crime rates in the City of Mount Vernon continue to decline. Compared to the same weekly period in 2016, overall crime is down 20 percent.
Crime is down significantly in several key categories such as robbery (~20 percent decrease) and rape (~50% decline). A detailed synopsis of the weekly crime statistics is below (along with historical comparables dating back to 2010)
These stats show how hard our dedicated policemen and women are working despite being underfunded and understaffed as the department is continuing to do more with less amid budget cuts authorized by the City Council and Comptroller Maureen Walker in 2016.
The Thomas Administration will continue its commitment to transparency by releasing these weekly crime statistics as they become available.
Update on Slide the City
Due to a combination of factors beyond our control, we regret to inform you that the City of Mount Vernon must postpone Slide the City, originally scheduled for Saturday August 26, 2017. While large-scale outdoor events are great for the community, they can often be affected by logistics, weather, and shipping challenges.
Mayor Richard Thomas remains committed to bringing this this fun, safe family event to our city. We will continue to work with the Slide the City team to reschedule the event in the coming weeks. Keep your eyes open for follow-up information from the city. In the meantime, we look forward to seeing you at all our upcoming events.
The weekend is not all lost — there will be fun activities in Hartley Park; a “Rapacon” on 1st Street & 2nd Avenue, and a long list of back-to-school giveaways.
Check out the calendar of upcoming events below:
August 26 — Hartley Park — Fire Safety Trailer, Music, Water Blaster Fights and more!
September 16 — MVCSD Mind, Body, and Soul Event — http://bit.ly/2g5x9ME
September 16 — Mount Vernon City Fest — http://bit.ly/2wyHvvt
We look forward to continuing our new tradition of quality family fun with you and yours so we can create new memories and celebrate each season.
Safe Haven Summer Program Culminating Event
On Friday, August 18, 2017, the Safe Haven Summer Program, held at Columbus School, successfully came to a close with a culminating event for parents and guardians. The Safe Haven young people showcased the projects and activities they worked on during the six week program. The audiences was entertained with performances by singers, musicians, dancers and budding actors and actresses. The Mixed Martial Arts exhibitions amazed and the art project which focused on abuse awareness enlighted all. In addition, fitness instructor Tarsha Gibbons led parents in an activity that emulated some of the routines their children learned while in the program.
Mount Vernon Fresh Market Returns for Third Week
On Friday, the Mount Vernon Fresh Market came back for another week after a very successful launch several weeks ago. Volunteers from City Hall, the Food Bank of Westchester, and across the community distributed over 15,000 pounds of fresh food and produce to Mount Vernon residents and more. The Fresh Market visits Mount Vernon every other Friday under the Park Avenue Bridge in municipal lot 11 offering healthy food solutions — no one is even turned away. Join us for our next Fresh Market event on Friday, September 8th at 4pm.
If Friday doesn’t work, feel free to check out the Farmers Market at City Hall Plaza, every Thursday from 10–3.
Listen to us live:
Every week, Mayor Thomas speaks to Yonkers Tribune radio with host Hezi Aris: Catch this week’s interview here for an unvarnished look at what’s happening in Mount Vernon: Mayor Thomas also hosts Mount Vernon Moving Forward every Friday on WVOX, from 5pm to 6pm. You can listen to last week’s show here for an in-depth discussion about the what’s going on in Mount Vernon. On the Internet, tune in to Future 98.9 every Wednesday at 8:30am to listen to Mayor Thomas and Minister P. Tyson. You can find last week’s interview here. On Tuesdays at 8am, you can hear Mayor Thomas on 101.5 Linkage Radio. Catch last week’s discussion here.
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