DEP Blasting Plan on Hold, Other Bronx News

The big story from yesterday was that opponents of the DEP's controversial blasting plan for the Jerome Park Reservoir scored a big victory in court yesterday when a judge placed a temporary restraining order on the plan, which was not part of the original Environmental Impact Statement for the project. More on this story later.

After a taking a lot of heat from the media, the fund set up by the Yankees and the Bronx Borough President to distribute more than a million dollars a year to local nonprofit groups is finally giving out grants to local organizations. They are still sitting on more than half a million dollars.

Two reports show the Bronx is lagging behind the rest of the city in terms of internet access and has the city's worst beach conditions.

Interesting story in the Times about a Bronx barber shop owner who is about to stand trial for allegedly running a drug depot out of his businesses and for hiring someone to kill a rival drug dealer. The story focuses on how court documents getting leaked to the public can endanger potential witnesses.

Controversial Bronx landlord Jacob Selechnik popped up again, this time in a story in the Riverdale Press. A string of businesses in buildings he controls have recently gone vacant -- sometimes voluntarily, sometimes because he didn't renew their leases -- leading to speculation about what Selechnik plans to do with the buildings. (In other Selechnik-related news, following a couple of stories about a Grand Concourse building where he unfairly jacked up rent, the Norwood News has received several angry calls from residents at other buildings he controls.)