Fernando Cabrera, the 14th District’s new council member (Photo: Ryan Vacciana)

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Sept. 15 was a proud day for Fernando Cabrera. He defeated, by a whisker, Councilwoman Maria Baez in the 14th City Council District Democratic primary. On Nov. 3 he easily won the election, and he took office in the New Year.

Just prior to his election victory (which he was expected to win), Cabrera sat down to discuss his plans to better the lives of youth in his district, which covers much of west Bronx, including Fordham, Mount Hope, and University Heights.

One of the major issues Cabrera identified was the lack of youth centers. “We don’t have the facilities that they [young people] need in order to keep them positively engaged, and the activities that require them to be off the street,” he said.

Moreover, the space that there is, isn’t being utilized properly, according to Cabrera. For example, school buildings are often empty after 3 p.m. “We need to expand the programs we have,” he said. “I think after-school programs are essential.”
Cabrera said that running a successful after-school program, or another youth program, doesn’t cost a lot of the money if the building is already there, because you are only paying for the staff to run it.
He thinks these programs will help students do better in school, as well as stay out of trouble. “I want them [children] to go home so tired of having fun and doing the right thing, that they won’t have the energy to do the wrong thing,” Cabera said, adding that he’d also like to see basketball and soccer leagues, which are common in many other city neighborhoods.
Cabrera has been looking for “best-practice organizations” to see which programs are worth funding. I want to “give everyone an opportunity to be heard,” he said.

Cabrera is happy to see that the vacant Hebrew Institute on University Avenue (just north of West Tremont Avenue) has been turned into a community center, set to open in the spring. But he’s angry about the city’s plans to turn another vacant building, the old Fordham Library on Bainbridge Avenue (just north of Fordham Road) into an animal shelter. In his opinion, a youth center should be put there instead.

“I’m a bit disappointed,” Cabrera said of the plans for the shelter. “And you know who’s even more disappointed: the young people, because it sends a message – and I love animals I really do – but the message that kids hear… is that animals are more important than young people.”

As for schools, Cabrera says overcrowding is a major problem, and that he’d like to see more schools built.

When asked about the effort to turn two days in the Muslim holy calendar into official public school holidays – an effort many community groups and local mosques are supporting – Cabrera said he’d yet to take a position on the matter. “I’d like to learn a little more about it,” he said, although he added, “If anything, students need more school days.”

Cabrera, who has a bundle of work ahead of him, insisits he has the knowledge and experience to be successful. “I believe I have a pretty good pulse as to what’s happening in the district,” he said.