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New Development, Neighborhoods Are Biggest Concerns in East Bronx

By Laura Brunts

City Council Member James—or, to nearly everyone, “Jimmy”—Vacca (D-Bronx) wears many hats, and guidance counselor is sometimes one of them. On a recent Friday morning, he found himself discussing middle school.

A constituent came in seeking advice on what to do about her daughter, who had been held back a year in school because of disciplinary problems. She wanted to transfer her daughter to a different school.

“There may be other issues, and there may be other resources available to her,” he said delicately, suggesting she get her daughter evaluated by the Department of Education.

Over the course of that day, he inspected an apartment for health code violations, advised an elderly man on apartment community applications and discussed buildings department problems at City Island with Bronx Borough Commissioner Marshall Kaminer.

Jeff Lynch, Vacca's chief of staff, said the Council member spends a day or two each week in downtown Manhattan at Council meetings, but spends the rest in his district office on East Tremont Avenue. Though roughly half of each day is devoted to meetings, blocks of time are always set aside for returning calls and meeting with constituents.

They ask Vacca for advice on everything from recycling rules to applying for government-subsidized housing. Most of the time, he redirects them to the right person or agency.

“I'm kind of an encyclopedia,” he boasted.

Lynch said that up to 25 percent of the people who call the office get direct contact with Vacca, either over the phone or in person. He answers all his own email. Vacca claims to know the agencies, street grid, and constituents of his district better than perhaps anyone.

“When I go to functions, or block parties, or civic associations, it's still: ‘Jimmy, I need a stop sign,' ‘Jimmy, my block is not as clean as it should be,'” Vacca said. “I don't get many people questioning me about legislation that I'm passing in the City Council.”

“When you give me the number of your house, I know the streets you are between, I know you have a double parking problem on your block, I know you get litter from the grocery store around the corner,” Vacca said. “Our city is neighborhood-based, block-based, and if you realize that, you can really get things done for people one by one.”

In many ways, Vacca is still functioning as the district manger of Bronx Community Board 10, a position he held for 26 years, until he gave it up after winning an open Council race last year.

Though he says the new district manager has taken over some responsibilities, many residents still come to him first.

“When I go to functions, or block parties, or civic associations, it's still: ‘Jimmy, I need a stop sign,' ‘Jimmy, my block is not as clean as it should be,'” Vacca said. “I don't get many people questioning me about legislation that I'm passing in the City Council.”

Yet Vacca still tends to his legislative role, particularly when it comes to running the Council's Senior Centers Committee, which he chairs. Discussing a particular group of seniors who testified at a recent hearing, Vacca said, “I want them to say, ‘Oh my god, we went down to City Hall and something got done in our neighborhood because we went.'” He remains in constant contact with constituents and city officials, making sure they hear each other.

This, he says, is how he gets things done.

“I'm not a letter-writer, I'm a phone picker-upper,” he explains.

He also checks the buildings department website every day, doing it at home before heading to bed if he does not get the chance at the office.

On the website, Vacca looks for anything new – demolitions, alterations, construction or newly approved building permits. More often than not, new development in his district is his biggest problem.

“I've become a one-person watchdog because overdevelopment has really been, I think, the major issue in the East Bronx since 2000,” he said.

While district manager, Vacca pushed to get much of the district down-zoned to prevent cramped three-family homes and row houses from ruining the area's suburban character. To make sure these zoning laws are followed, Vacca constantly checks the website – and the street – for mistakes.

Just about every day, vacca makes his rounds in his maroon Mitsubishi Galant. He checks to make sure that stop-work orders are being followed, or drives by an address where a constituent has warned him of shady construction.

“Who monitors the buildings department? Well, I do… I feel that the buildings department, for years, was treated by our city like a second-fiddle agency,” he said.

Driving the streets, Vacca also checks in on constituents with complaints and on the infamous “pigeon house,” a local home where dozens of birds congregate, leaving the sidewalk covered in droppings.

Vacca says he is always looking for errant construction sites, even when out for the evening with his wife. Constituents approach him on the street, at the grocery store, and once, even in the communion line at church. When his father was alive, they used to go to the supermarket every Saturday, and every Saturday Vacca came home with a to-do list.

“Every Monday morning it was Jimmy bringing in ten little pieces of paper from Key Food,” Lynch said.

“He's not technologically savvy,” Lynch added. “We would love it if he would send it to us on his Blackberry, but I think he prefers it his way.”