A move by a neighborhood to switch community boards has angered residents in the new district who fear it would strain police and sanitation services.
Residents on both sides of the district line are riled about the proposal to shift the Zerega neighborhood, tucked between East Tremont, Westchester and Castle Hill Aves., into Community Board 10, which includes the more affluent Throgs Neck, Pelham Bay and Co-op city neighborhoods. Zerega is now within Community Board 9, which includes Westchester, Parkchester, Unionport and Castle Hill.
Both sides have hired buses to take residents to a hearing on the proposal tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the rotunda of the Bronx County Courthouse. Councilman Michael DeMarco, the Democrat who represents the area, is arranging for two of those buses. Opponents at Board 10 will pay for two more.
Following the hearing, the City Council's Governmental Operations Committee will make a recommendation to the full council, which votes on the proposal in May. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani supports the switch.
Residents of Zerega first proposed the switch 14 months ago. They believe the move will balance out populations in the districts and ensure better community services.
According to a District Needs 1992 census, Board 10 has the lowest number of residents on public assistance of any community board in the borough, with 4,194; Board 9 has the second highest with 32,710.
Dominique Mesullo, president of the Zerega Community Association, and the social service agency Children are Precious, says that for the past five or six years, Board 9 has not worked with the Zerega neighborhood.
"We have gotten summer buses from Community Board 10. Community Board 9 did not give them to us," Mesullo said. "We got baseball tickets from 10, we get summer jobs from 10. You know, we get nothing from 9."
While Mesullo and other Zerega residents say they want redistricting to make their alliance with Board 10 official, critics argue they have other reasons behind supporting the proposal.
"I happen to think it's an ethnic move," said Arthur Taub, chairman of municipal services at Board 10. "There are more whites on our board than there are on Board 9."
Mesullo calls this statement a "crock," saying the board is one of the most integrated in the borough.
Alison Gran, president of the Merchant's Association for Westchester Square, in Zerega, thinks those who support the measure want Board 10's district manager, James Vacca working for them. "Jimmy Vacca's good," Gran said. "He gets things done. But that's no reason to switch."
Board 10 approved the plan a year ago, but the board later backed down unless 29 cops and more district office employees are added.
Board 10, the largest district in the borough, has only 179 officers on patrol, compared to 327 in Board 9. Although Chief Rafael Pineiro, borough commander, has said he can add up to 11 officers to Board 10's 45th Precinct, Board 10 members say that's not enough to account for the 16 percent jump in population the shift would bring.
And city streets may get grimier as Board 10's sanitation team of 12 smaller garbage trucks, compared to Board 9's 19 larger trucks, take over the territory.
Board 10 members have complained of political bullying by Councilman DeMarco, who has been pushing for the bill since it was first proposed.
DeMarco has been unavailable for comment. Lucy Cruz, a District 9 council member supports the proposal. while Councilman Lawrence Warden of the 10th District is undecided.
Clint Roswell, a spokesman for Borough President, Fernando Ferrer, says he thinks the plan to redistrict is "good rationale that somehow got lost in territorial and community board fiefdoms."