{"id":358959,"date":"2026-09-28T17:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T17:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/358959\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T17:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T17:06:08","slug":"bronx-lawmakers-defend-bill-to-recognize-little-yemen-as-cultural-district-amid-pushback-from-van-nest-neighborhood-alliance-bronx-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/358959\/","title":{"rendered":"Bronx lawmakers defend bill to recognize Little Yemen as cultural district amid pushback from Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance \u2013 Bronx Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Senator Nathalia Fernandez and Assemblymember John Zaccaro attended Friday\u2019s full Community Board 11 meeting to defend their state bills that would designate portions of Little Yemen as a cultural district, sparking outcry<\/a> from some community members.<\/p>\n

The community board had drafted a letter of support for the bills, which was slated for discussion at a Sept. 3 committee meeting. The bills have already passed both houses of the state Legislature and are awaiting Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s signature.<\/p>\n

The proposed letter of support came under fire from members of the Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance, who circulated a petition opposing the legislation. The group\u2019s concerns center broadly on what they say was a lack of community engagement before the bills passed, as well as their belief that the Yemeni community in Van Nest has not contributed enough culturally to the neighborhood to warrant the state designation.<\/p>\n

While Little Yemen has existed on Google Maps for several years, the legislation would officially designate portions of the community where Yemeni businesses are concentrated.<\/p>\n

Members of the group, as well as some non-members, voiced those concerns at the Sept. 3 meeting, setting the stage for Friday\u2019s full board meeting, despite the letter of support being tabled for a future meeting.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers defend legislation<\/p>\n

Fernandez, who is sponsoring the Senate version of the bill, attended Friday\u2019s meeting to address concerns over the legislation but ultimately stood by it, pointing to the contributions of the many cultural groups that have shaped the Van Nest community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe intention behind this bill is to bring support and opportunity, the same way we\u2019ve done to the many institutions and groups over the many years,\u201d Fernandez said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen firsthand the contribution of Yemeni families, small businesses, faith leaders, and community organizations that have made this area their home and strengthened the economic and cultural life of the Bronx.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe intention was never to cause anger, hate, or pit people against each other.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Assemblymember John Zaccaro arrived at the meeting toward the end to defend the bill.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI was extremely disappointed at some of what we\u2019ve heard throughout this process. There were legitimate questions and concerns, and those deserve to be heard,\u201d Zaccaro said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen legitimate disagreement crosses into falsehood about what this legislation actually does, or the rhetoric that targets an entire community, that is where we need to draw a line. Disagreement is part of democracy, but bigotry and intolerance is not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zaccaro said he met with members of the Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance for an hour during the summer, followed by a 30-minute meeting to discuss specific concerns with senior members of the group.<\/p>\n

The Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance maintains that it was sidelined during the legislative process and expected more discussion with community stakeholders.\n<\/p>\n

The Bronx Times asked Zaccaro whether he would be open to further discussions with the Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance. He said his office had already made efforts to meet with the group and indicated that he did not see a need for another formal meeting at this stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had tried to get a meeting set. There were terms that they wanted our office to meet, and what we provided them wasn\u2019t deemed sufficient,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean that we still are not willing to take questions or concerns and hear from individuals. But at this point in the legislative process, after over a year and a half or four iterations of this bill, I\u2019m confident in what we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dispute over funding
\n\"VanVan Nest Neighborhood Alliance President Bernadette Ferrara expresses her opposition to the Yemeni cultural district bills. Photo by Marina Samuel<\/p>\n

At Friday\u2019s meeting, the room filled to capacity, bringing several community members out to testify. The Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance distributed buttons reading \u201cI heart Van Nest\u201d and another featuring an X through \u201cA7033D,\u201d the Assembly bill number. The group also distributed pamphlets on Van Nest from the Historic Districts Council.<\/p>\n

Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance President Bernadette Ferrara said she believes the cultural district designation is a ploy intended to help Yemeni leaders secure funding for the completion of the Bronx Muslim Center\u2019s mosque<\/a>, which would also include a community center and weekend school.<\/p>\n

The Bronx Muslim Center has received congressional funding through the office of Rep. Ritchie Torres.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s interesting how you can word something to make it look like everyone will benefit, but the greater Van Nest will not,\u201d Ferrara said.\n<\/p>\n

The cultural district designation could make organizations in the district eligible for certain grants through the New York State Council on the Arts. The funding would not be restricted to Yemeni organizations, and Fernandez clarified that any organization could apply for the grants.<\/p>\n

Despite the opposition, some community members also spoke in support of the legislation.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen city funding and grants come in, they pay for better sidewalks. Those improvements benefit every single person who lives in shops in Van Nest,\u201d said Azhak Alhudis, vice president of the Little Yemen Neighborhood Council.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to say this clearly: we are not your enemies; we are your neighbors. The vision won\u2019t help Van Nest grow, but working together will. Funding will be shared fairly with the entire community. We aren\u2019t here to divide Van Nest. We are here to support it, protect it, and make it better for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debate over Islamophobia<\/p>\n

While members of the Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance have maintained that their opposition is not rooted in prejudice, some board members questioned that position during Friday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n

Board member Ryan Barthel asked Ferrara about her personal Facebook posts about Islam, reading aloud lines from a video posted to her page.\n<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Islam is not a religion. Islam is a civilization with its own oppressive political system that has rules for every moment of a Muslim\u2019s daily life. And these rules, that law is Sharia. You cannot have Sharia law and constitutional law in the same civilization,\u2019\u201d Barthel read aloud from Ferrara\u2019s posts.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, if I follow the path that\u2019s laid out by that video\u2019s direction, they seem to be saying that Muslims are fundamentally incompatible with our society, and that\u2019s a view I vehemently disagree with,\u201d he told Ferrara.<\/p>\n

\"SharleneSharlene Jackson Mendez, vice president of the Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance, dons a pin that says \u201cI Love Van Nest\u201d and another with an X through the Assembly bill number. Photo by Marina Samuel<\/p>\n

Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance Vice President Sharlene Jackson Mendez, who is African American and identifies herself as a descendant of enslaved people, questioned whether the presence of Yemeni-owned businesses alone constitutes a cultural contribution. She held posters listing the contributions of El Barrio and the Harlem Renaissance District.<\/p>\n

\u201cCulture is not just because you own a lot of smoke shops, hookah stores, and restaurants. That doesn\u2019t mean you deserve the honor of having a cultural district,\u201d Mendez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The district, which would be bounded by White Plains Road, Rhinelander Ave, Van Nest Ave, and Bronxdale Ave, contains several Yemeni-owned business including restaurants, cafes, dessert shops, clothing stores and a perfumery. The Bronx Muslim Center and Yemeni American Community Center would also fall in the district\u2019s boundaries.<\/p>\n

Ahead of Yemeni American Day on Sept. 26, Senator Gustavo Rivera, whose district covers portions of Van Nest, issued a statement in response to the Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance\u2019s backlash.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Yemeni community has grown and enriched our borough with its culture, entrepreneurship, faith, and deep commitment to making The Bronx a better place for all of us. Yet our neighbors are facing racist attacks, targeting, and blatant Islamophobia,\u201d Sen. Rivera said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must be unequivocal: there is no place for hate in our streets. Everyone who remembers takes pride in the heritage of their ancestors who immigrated here might remember that those immigrants also experienced the challenges of being a newcomer to our City. We must reject attempts to divide our communities, scapegoat our neighbors, or discriminate based on ethnicity or religion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Little Yemen cultural district discussion took up a majority of the public gallery portion of Friday\u2019s meeting. The board tabled its discussion on the letter of support for a future meeting, but approved a separate letter condemning a viral Islamophobic video filmed outside the Bronx Muslim Center. The motion passed, with several abstentions.<\/p>\n

Community Board 11 Chair Cynthia Rodriguez, who did not comment specifically on the bill, shared her own families\u2019 experiences as immigrants in relation to the comments made against the bills.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs somebody whose mother struggled in this country to try to make a life for me and a living for our family, I personally \u2014 this is my own personal feeling \u2014 have difficulty denying others when they come and walk the same paths that my family walked in this nation,\u201d Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Senator Nathalia Fernandez and Assemblymember John Zaccaro attended Friday\u2019s full Community Board 11 meeting to defend their state…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[133607,128,70313,127093,525,9,24,63,127095,129,131,130,133608,13627,133609],"class_list":["post-358959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bernadette-ferrara","tag-bronx","tag-community-board-11","tag-little-yemen","tag-morris-park","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-sharlene-jackson-mendez","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-van-nest-van-nest-neighborhood-alliance","tag-yemen","tag-yemeni"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}