Bronx News Roundup, Oct. 15

Police arrested an 11th suspect in connection with the anti-gay beating and torture of two teenagers, a 30-year-old man and the robbing of his brother. The suspect, 26-year-old Luis Garcia, lives in the Morris Heights neighborhood where the attack occurred. A lawyer for the defendants urged the press and the public to "stop running to judgment." (This is a great point. These 11 young men, many of them teenagers, have been arrested. They have not been convicted of anything yet. What happens next will dictate the rest of their lives.)

Family and friends of one of the accused, 16-year-old Bryan Almonte, said he was a "good kid" who studies a lot. Almonte's supporters -- including his weeping girlfriend -- packed the courtroom yesterday as the Bronx District Attorney asked a judge for more time to gather more evidence.

A new public school complex on Bronxdale Avenue was renamed yesterday after two firefighters who lost their lives battling a blaze on East Tremont in 2005 on what has become known as Black Sunday. The Lieutenant Curtis Meyran and Lieutenant John Bellew Education Campus is a new $58 million facility that houses three schools and seats 1,000 students. Here's some video. 

A lawyer for the family of Wardell Johnson, a Harlem man who was killed in the Bronx by a Pelham Manor police officer on Tuesday, said the officer overreacted and the incident reflected poor training by the Pelham Manor police department. The police officer, Kenneth Stretz, chased Johnson, who was riding an all-terrain vehicle, into the Bronx, pursuing him on foot into the backyard of a home on Edison Avenue. The Pelham Manor police department says Stretz followed protocol.

Tree preservationists won a victory in court yesterday as a judge issued a temporary restraining order on a city project that would kill 50 trees on Pelham Parkway. The city says it needs to remove the trees to install guard rails, but local activists, including TV personality and native Bronxite Regis Philbin, say there should be a way to save the trees. 

The NYPD conducted anti-terrorism training at Rodman's Neck in the Bronx to simulate a terrorist attack similar to the deadly one in Mumbai in 2008.

The Bronx Zoo is getting two new buildings.

The city is estimating that every Yankee home game during the American League Champion Series -- which starts tonight in Texas and returns to the Bronx on Monday -- will generate $12 million in revenue for New York. But some economists caution that while the exposure is good for the city, the Yankees success isn't a factor in the city's economic growth. 

Six Bronx restaurants were added to the 2011 Zagat's dining guide: Ann & Tony's on Arthur Avenue, New Hawaii Sea in Westchester Square, NY Steak on 161st Street, and two City Island spots: Sammy Fishbox and Black Whale.