>> buenos d^as y bienvenidos. good morning. welcome once again to "tiempo." i'm joe torres. latina 50 plus is a newly created organization that honors hispanic females over 50 for being trailblazers in their professions. in return, those pioneers set out to mentor, to motivate, to coach and inspire the younger latina generation. we'll tell you how they do that in just a few minutes. right now, though, we focus on the borough with the largest percentage of latinos. what borough is that, everyone? the bronx. there we go. according to a 2014 u.s. census bureau report, 54.8% of bronxites are latinos, more than half the borough.

president rub\n d^az jr. held his seventh -- can you believe it? -- state of the borough address. there he is. he announced $10 million of his capital budget would go towards renovating the orchard beach pavilion. goals for the bronx include becoming the next silicon valley. yep. he also mentioned millions in projects. 23,000 new units of housing. the workforce participation in the bronx has never been higher. all right. well, that's the overview. let's get down to the details. aqu^ con nosotros esta maana, bronx borough president rub\n d^az jr. >> good to see you. >> where do you want to start? housing, education? >> well, i want to start with the fact that we've been able to highlight over the last six years all the great stuff that's happening in our borough, and we want people to revisit us. we want people to think differently. think the bronx. >> do you think people don't think that way? i mean, i know part of your job is yes, cheerleader for the bronx, yes, look at the bronx. but if you're always pushing that mission, it says to me that the message is not getting out. >> unfortunately, we still

we see so much of hollywood in the past highlight the negative stereotype, the negative images of what the bronx was in the '70s, the '80s, and the '90s. what i want people to know is that over the last six years alone, we've seen over $9.5 billion, private dollars, invested in our borough. we've seen 68 million square feet of development -- housing, retail, commercial. >> yes. >> we've cut unemployment by to 6.5%. >> 6.5%, yeah. >> we've seen the restoration of our public parks to the tune of over $350 million. and we've seen crime reduced to the point where the bronx is the safest bronx that the world has seen in 50 years. >> the question then becomes "to what do you attribute all that?" how have you created this upward path in those areas? >> it's been a collaborative effort between elected leaders, the nypd, community activists, the community boards. just family. the immigrant population, joe -- in this nation, we've seen the

vilification of the immigrant is really coming out of... the republican party -- i'll say it. we in the bronx, we've benefited. 40% of the people who live there were born in another country. >> yes. >> and because they work so hard, because they're faith-based and they're family-oriented, we've benefited tremendously. >> the immigrants are coming from where? >> for the most part, like you said, we're the only county of the 62 counties in the state of new york where the majority of the population are latinos. but they're coming from africa -- west africa. they're bangladeshi. they're albanians. i mean, we are really growing. >> central and south america. >> absolutely. >> i mean, you know, latinos are growing. >> and because of that, we're safer. because of that, jobs are being created. because of that, i was able to highlight not only the good things that are happening in the bronx but also speak of some of the citywide issues that are important to us in the bronx, and offer some solutions. >> nice segue. the mayor's comprehensive housing plan, you say, is not an effective way to meet the housing needs of low-income new yorkers in the bronx. why not? and how would you improve it? >> well, i support the mayor conceptually in making sure that

in the city of new york. >> yes, a big part of his initiative. >> but the problem is that the plan that he has now, he wants the entire city, all the borough boards, all the borough presidents, to vote on something. the proposal is about this thick. they wanted us to do it in 60 days. and it's painting the whole city with one broad stroke. and we in the bronx alone have been rezoning areas -- 14 areas of rezoning since i've been the borough president -- in a neighborhood-by-neighborhood approach. one size does not fit all. >> well, he wants to rezone, too, the mayor, you know, to -- >> but in his rezoning, he's saying that if you rezone in the entire city, then you have to have this -- this sort of level of affordable housing. >> yes. >> sometimes we leave out those who make less than those levels. and in some areas, where we need to go even higher to retain our professionals, that's not happening under his proposal. under his proposal, he would do away with parking spaces in

under his proposal, you're looking at the height of buildings where in some areas, we want higher buildings. in some areas, we don't. so we believe that if it's not broke, don't fix it. we've been able to do a neighborhood-by-neighborhood approach. there's no reason why we should adopt this and do it so hastily. you know, the -- something so profound and so important as the development and the reimagining of the city of new york should not happen in such a short period of time. >> you want to invest $10 million in the orchard beach pavilion specifically. what do you want done there? what needs to be fixed? >> if you look at -- orchard beach is a beautiful beach, but it needs a lot of work. the pavilion, because of the salt air, has been -- deteriorated. the infrastructure. it's gonna take a lot more money than $10 million, but what i did is i put -- this is a deposit. and i challenged the delegations in the assembly, the senate, and the city council, as well as the governor, to match me. and i have i have to say that

officials in my borough who have all said, "you know what? we need to help this out." orchard beach last year saw over 1.5 million visitors. >> well, that tells you it's a gem. you know, i'll tell you it's a gem that has to be -- you can't let it decay. or not you, but it can't be let to decay. >> not only can we not let it decay, we have to make it so that it's a world-class venue so that we can have... >> an attraction. >> ...a lot of concerts, but also have people -- could you imagine that folks -- wedding parties or quinceaeras. or even going to a restaurant there with your wife in the middle of winter. >> yes. >> it should be used -- it should have all-year-round purpose use. >> many more questions. sit tight. when we come back, more on the state of the borough of the bronx. still ahead on "tiempo," latina 50 plus -- newly created organization formed to honor hispanic female pioneers over 50.

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>> welcome back to "tiempo." we've been focusing on the borough with the largest percentage of latinos in new york city, the bronx. the bronx -- the borough president recently held his state of the borough address,

rub\n d^az jr. here with us to provide some insight behind some of his proposals. regarding legionnaires' disease, i've got to touch on that because your words were pretty harsh. "the city failed us during this outbreak." really? why? >> you can't deny that, joe. when you look at, in a span of 2 1/2 weeks, we had 130 people who were sick, and 13 died. >> what would you have done -- >> whenever that happens and there was a slow reaction by the city, then i got to quote it for what it is. and what the city should have done is what we proposed initially, which was making sure that we have a database of where all these cooling towers are, making sure that they get inspected, that they get cleaned up on a periodic basis. they need to start doing that again, and obviously the law was passed that we were able to introduce with councilwoman vanessa gibson. and we also need to inspect other parts of buildings and sewage to make sure that we don't have an outbreak in the bronx or in the city of new york. >> it's one thing to propose that after the outbreak. it's another thing to have

>> right. so we -- again, we thought that the city initially had this database. and it wasn't until this outbreak came about that we -- when we asked the pertinent questions, that we saw, no, we don't have a mechanism to identify these cooling systems, to inspect them, and to clean them up. >> you want to make the bronx the silicon valley of new york or the east coast. >> and why not? >> well, how are you gonna do that? and is it -- are the wheels in motion to make that happen already? >> well, when you look at my capital funding in schools, we've been highlight-- we've been putting a lot of money into tech. we've been doing things like the >> yes. >> having teachers -- train them so they could train the kids. and we also have been bringing in folks from the tech industry. you look at the sunshine studios in the banknote building in hunts point. and organizations like doran jones are working with per scholas. currently right now, 150 people in the bronx are working, testing software for the financial industry. these jobs would have been outsourced to other countries in the past.

and the minimum salary is $46,000 a year. we have the space, we have the interest, we have the intellect, and if silicon valley is looking to the east coast, they should -- we're certainly doing everything that we can to invite them to the bronx. >> you've criticized the mayor a little bit regarding the issue of homelessness, and homelessness is certainly an issue not only in the bronx but across the borough -- across the city. the mayor has now acknowledged that perhaps they could have done more in that area. your housing plan includes a provision reserving apartments for, what is it, 1/3 of shelter residents, who are employed? my question out of that would be, if you have apartments in new developments that should go to homeless people who are employed, what therefore becomes the incentive for them to ultimately get housing on their own that they would pay for? >> well, you've got to understand, the face of homelessness is that on any given night, we have about 40% latino, over 50% african american. 40% of those people, the 60,000 people in the homeless shelter, are children. >> okay.

the pedophiles that everybody thinks they are. right? and a lot of these folks, 1/3, have a salary. these folks are in a homeless shelter only because -- for many different reasons. they either had a fire. maybe they were kicked out because of a landlord. maybe because they didn't have a good credit rating so they can be qualified for an apartment. so what we need to do is work with those folks -- and we've been doing that with spring bank in the bronx -- getting their credit scores and their credit rating up. but the city, when the developer or landlord comes to us as part of the 200,000 units of housing, what we need to do is say, "if you want our assistance, if you want a public benefit, then you have to benefit the public. if you want charity, you have to be charitable." why not dedicate x amount of those units to people who are working, who are responsible, who are in the homeless-shelter system but for whatever reason -- >> do you put a limit on how long they can stay there so that they don't -- >> no. it should be their apartment. there's something called the link program. link program is a program by the city that says, regardless of

only have to pay 30% of your salary, and the city will pick up the rest of that rent. so their landlord would be incentivized because they're getting full rate on their apartment. the person now, whatever their salary is, whether it's minimum wage or somewhere a little bit above that, now they are able to pay that 30%. they get a permanent housing unit instead of us paying even more to house them in shelter or to have this revolving door in temporary housing. >> we've got a minute left. i've got two more questions for you. tell me about the effort to bring metro-north stations to the eastern side of the bronx. >> we're almost there. we have it -- we've been -- this is an idea that's been kicked around for 40 years. we've dusted it off. we got the governor to bite on it. we got the legislature about to vote on this. and the mta just approved over $1 billion for four metro-north stations. this is transformative, joe. this is gonna change not only the bronx, but the entire region. >> as someone who rides the metro-north regularly, yes. that would be a big change. >> that's coming soon. maybe in 2020. >> 30 seconds left. you want to be the next mayor

>> [ laughs ] that's like, you know -- >> save the goody for the last. >> you know what? i'll tell you this. i have one more term if the bronx would have me. i have every intention of running for reelection. the fact is that if something arises in the future, then we have to seriously consider it. >> shoot straight with me. i mean, it would be nice to have the first latino mayor of new york city be rub\n d^az jr. >> it would be nice. a lot of folks in the city of new york and those who left the city of new york have always had that vision. it goes back to herm*n badillo, to fernando ferrer. and, you know, at some point, this city is gonna have that, you know, is gonna have a latino mayor. >> but if i know you well enough, you want to be the -- not just the first latino mayor of new york city, and you don't want people to vote for you because you're latino. you want them to vote -- >> you trying to get an announcement of me. >> [ laughs ] let's make some news on "tiempo." >> [ laughs ] i think that when the time comes, the person has to be someone who's gonna serve the entire city. everyone is in this together. and if that person just so

then so be it. >> un placer, seor. gracias. the door's open, so when you make the announcement, you know, you'll come here, okay? [ laughs ] coming up next on "tiempo," latina 50 plus. this is great -- a newly created organization formed to honor hispanic female pioneers over 50. we'll talk to them next. all across america families are coming back to time warner cable for a whole new experience. that's because we've been working hard to give you better service, and it shows. we came back for internet speeds so fast even the kids are impressed. oh she's impressed. we're catching up on movies and shows on demand just as fast as we can watch them. for $89.99 a month you'll get 100 meg ultra-fast internet, popular hd channels

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>> latina 50 plus -- it is a newly created organization formed to honor hispanic female pioneers over 50. the organization sets out to of latinas. so, how are they doing all that? well, joining us to tell us is the founder, mar^a aponte-gonzalez, and a recent honoree, yvette mart^nez, co-founder of retumba, the all-woman bomba group. thank you both for being here.

>> in its third year. >> third year. >> i need for you and for the sake of the audience to take me back pre-three years ago, earlier, to the moment there where you had the epiphany that said, "you know what? there's an organization that needs to be created here, and i'm gonna do it." what led to that thinking? >> i work in career services at fordham university, so i'm very involved in career-related issues with students. and i was just thinking, "where are we in terms of honoring our latina elders who have made contributions in the different industries that most of us work in today?" so the idea was born actually february 2013, and i took out a black notebook, and i started writing notes, and i started fleshing out this idea of "what can be created to specifically honor our over-50 population of women who have dedicated 20, 30 years into their different

law, medicine, community service?" >> honor them in what way? >> recognition -- recognition of their years of service. because i personally feel when someone stays in a certain area in their life, it's because there's a passion there. there's a love there. it's like asking the board of ed teacher, "why are you still working in -- why are you still in ps..." and they say, "i love kids." and that's the whole answer, but it really isn't. it's really about what did this person do to continue with the changes in the economy, the different areas that happen in education, and how does that affect that path for that person?" found you? yvette, tell me. i mean, did you guys know each other before you were honored? >> yes, we go back, and we've -- you know, as a poet and a writer and as a performer, you know, it's a small circle, so we've known each other for many even longer. we've always been -- we're from

so i've known bobby for many years. >> so when she called you and said, "i'd like you to be an honoree for all you've done with retumba"... >> i thought it was a wonderful idea because, you know, after the age of 40, 50, you disappear. and, you know, really, you no longer exist. and so having that honor and... i think it's just a wonderful thing. >> let me ask you this. i don't know when you were honored. the organization has been around for three years -- >> the first one. >> the first one. >> 2014. >> what have been the effects in your life, in your profession? since the honor, have you seen any radical changes? >> i have. i have actually seen a difference in our fan base. >> yeah? >> you know, just from the media and all of the attention that has got a lot of other young latinas realizing, "wow, you're still doing this after all these years in the field." i have a dance and percussion ensemble, and it's all women, and, you know, it's nontraditional.

for women -- many years have not been allowed to play the drums. so, you know, having that recognition all these years pleasure. >> yeah. i'm looking at video of it now. this is one of your events, correct? >> yes, that's actually one of our holiday shows, the christmas extravaganza. this was three kings holiday celebration at njpac, and i have a wonderful company of multicultural women who are passionate about what we do. >> the organization also helps women to go back to school. >> yes -- >> women over 50. >> yes. i'm a big advocate for education, and so if i was going to do this, it had to be tied in to the professional development, so i wanted to -- i created a scholarship fund. there's two in existence right now. one is for education for a latina woman over 50 going back to school -- career development. and the second one is for community service, dedicated to someone who's in service for 20, 30-plus years with their organization. >> do you find yourself convincing people to go back for education?

decided that they are going back for education, and you're helping them give a push? >> it's a mix, i find -- 'cause i find that returning adults, they've already made that commitment to go back to school, but their dynamic is so different 'cause we're talking about people that already have families, are working full-time, and then they're finding the courage to get on a train or a bus, to head to a campus at 6:00 at night -- >> at 50 plus. >> at 50 plus. and so that should be something that's highlighted and recognized because they tend to be a very committed student population. >> to me, it suggests an evidence of passion. >> yes, yes. >> that "i'm willing to do this at this stage in my life, to go back to school at 50 plus." if that doesn't speak volumes about passion, what does? >> yeah. and also, economically speaking, age does not define us anymore. we're no longer just saying, "i'm gonna retire and i'm going to florida or whatever." you know, that's great if we all could do that. but many people have dreams.

"you know, mar^a, i've been an administrative assistant in a law firm, and i've always wanted to be an artist," and all of a sudden, they're showing me these beautiful illustrations. i'm like, "girl, what have you been doing?" >> oh, this is great. >> and so, what if i could help you get back -- >> get to where you want to go. >> where you want to go. >> sit tight. i've got a few more questions for you guys, as well as a big event, a networking event, that you have coming up. more on latina 50 plus.

>> welcome back to "tiempo." we've been discussing a program that honors hispanic women over 50, and we've been joined this morning by the founder of that organization, mar^a aponte-gonz*lez, and a recent honoree, yvette mart^nez, co-founder of retumba, the all-woman bomba group. mentoring is a big aspect of where you're going with this, correct? the older generation mentoring the younger generation. >> right.

like it to be? >> we're at the very beginning. we just recently got our 501(c) nonprofit. >> congrats. >> i'm getting a lot of younger women attracted to latina 50 plus because they want to get the knowledge from the older woman. so my goal is to -- not this year but maybe next year -- have a conference where i can have latina 50 plus facilitate in the different industries, inviting younger women, and then, moving forward, creating a one-on-one mentoring program. >> who gets the bigger benefit of that? because i can imagine this being just -- >> i think both. >> yeah. wonderful for both sides. >> one, because we're in that age where we want to give our knowledge away, and then the younger folks want that stability and understanding that there's someone that went before them to make it comfortable for them. >> paved the way. >> paved the way, and what can i do to do it better? and then we have the technology aspect, you know. >> they can teach you how to instagram.

instagram, websites -- >> pinterest and todo eso. >> break that bubble of fear where elders don't want to learn i.t. stuff. >> there's a lot to learn both ways. both ways. and it'll just empower everybody and make them feel good about what they're doing. >> yvette, let me put you on the spot. what message do you have for the younger generation of latinas? >> to me, it's "honor your >> yeah. >> look back and look at what the ancestors struggled. some fought. and many of them died in order to make a better place for us. and the way to honor them is to make the best of ourselves. you know? >> i see it as tapping the resource of what's available for you. it's an encyclopedia. it's a library that's there, walking around the kitchen, abuela, t^a, whoever she might be. >> right. >> and, you know, if you don't learn the recipes from them, they're gonna die, and we're not gonna know how to cook the meal. >> absolutely. yeah. >> so...i know i've simplified it. you have a big networking event >> yes.

screen -- here you go. if you go to the event, what's gonna happen there? >> well, it's a networking panel, so we have honorees from 2014, 2015 on the panel. the theme is called "telling our stories." the moderator is one of my advisory board members, nivea castro. i have a keynote speaker, mar^a toro, who is from people espaol. and she's another pioneer, who got into the business without college. 'cause that's the other aspect. what do we do with our members and community that get into the workforce that didn't do that? >> good luck with the event. and good luck with the organization. what you're doing is fantastic. >> thank you. >> before we go, a look at the "tiempo" community calendar for this week. next saturday, march 19th, a very important event for all college-bound students and their parents. the 26th annual latino college expo takes place in manhattan. the expo begins at 9:00 a.m. and runs through 3:00 p.m. at the nyu kimmel center... for more information, there's the number...

dominican salsa singer jos\ alberto "el canario" performs at co-op city auditorium... sunday with us. if you missed any part of our show, no se preocupes. don't worry. you can watch at abc7ny on the web, on your tablet, or even on your smartphone. qu\ bueno. i'm joe torres. thanks for watching. we will see you next time on "tiempo."

>> "here and now," the program featuring the news and interests of the african-american community. here's your host, sandra bookman. >> coming up, racism on college campuses. the documentary "remixing colorblind," that takes a look at the issue. plus, changing lives one beat at a time -- an arts and academic program in brooklyn. and later, making lasting impressions -- an etiquette coach on why social dos and don'ts still matter. that's all ahead on "here and now." everything you need to know about life,