(Former State Sen. Guy Velella in one of his last public appearances was at the Bronx 9/11 memorial at Jacobi Hospital commemorating the ninth anniversary of the attack. - Photo by David Greene)
By Dan Gesslein
Bronxites mourned the passing of former State Senator Guy Velella as a man who fought to make his community a better place.
Velella, 66, passed away last week and community leaders and constituents have been paying tribute to the long-time Republican and not the figure who resigned his post and served time on Rikers Island in connection with a bribery probe.
Unknown to the public Velella suffered from inoperative lung cancer. Despite the grim prognosis Velella was still seen at community events. The News photographed the gaunt Velella when he attended the ceremony honoring the 9th anniversary of 9/11 at Jacobi Hospital. Four months later he spent his final days in Calvary Hospital.
“I am saddened to hear about the passing of Guy Velella, who served the Bronx for many years in both the State Senate and the State Assembly,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. “My thoughts and prayers are with his family during their time of grief.”
Velella served 28 years in the legislature first as Assemblyman and then as State Senator of the 34th District. Velella was also known as the lone Republican in the Democrat-dominated Bronx. This coupled with his long tenure made him an influential force in Albany which translated well for the funds and programs he brought back to his district.
City Councilman James Vacca first met Velella in 1972 when he was local community activist and Velella became an Assemblyman, a post the Republican would hold for a decade.
“I thought Guy Velella was very involved. He was very visible in his district. He did a lot in his community,” said the district manager turned city councilman. “He fought very hard to bring home resources.”
Vacca said Velella will be remembered in his own community based on the good he did for his district where he remains popular till this day for funding such things anti-graffiti, senior citizens and crime victim assistance programs
“I hope that Guy Velella will be remembered for all the great things had did in the Bronx,” said Rev. Richard Gorman, district manager of Community Board 12.
On several times during his tenure as senator, Velella fought off challenges by candidates who won the support of Manhattan based organizations and media organizations who wanted to see a Democrat in his seat. Despite these partisan attempts, Velella was seen as non-partisan. He supported politicians and causes he deemed would be beneficial to the Bronx and fight those he saw would be detrimental.
“Senator Velella will be remembered in my district for his dedication and service to the community,” said Sen. Jeff Klein who has held the seat after winning the election when Velella vacated it. “I’m a Democrat and he was a Republican. But, when it came to our mutual constituents, we worked together and never let partisanship trump people. My thoughts and prayers are with Senator Velella’s family during this difficult time.”
Following his imprisonment in 2005 constituents expressed anger at Velella’s time in prison not at what he had pled guilty to. Many expressed their own stories of how Velella and his staff would help in everything from getting someone to clean up graffiti to help fund crime victims programs.
One choice Velella made was to take on the Koch administration in closing down the Pelham Bay Landfill. Velella, Vacca and then Sen. John Calandra had filed a lawsuit against the city for opening the landfill on park land without the proper permits. The landfill was subsequently closed. To this day families have been trying to proceed with a lawsuit to sue the city over allegedly creating a cancer cluster when the landfill was open.
Velella fought another toxic nightmare in another part of his district. When Hexagon Laboratories slipped out of their plant on Boston Road, they left behind drums of underground chemicals that leaked into the soil. Gorman saw that neither state nor city officials would take the lead in cleaning up the site because no one wanted to be stuck with the cost and responsibility of the massive cleanup. After the abandoned site became a hangout for the homeless and the site where thieves would strip their stolen cars, Gorman reached out to Velella. The senator forced the state to cleanup the toxic soil and keep the property free of vagrants and criminals.
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