Bronx News Roundup, Nov. 5

In the Daily News' there's an article (in print but not online) about the New York City Marathon, which is being held this Sunday. In the piece, Alec Diacou of the non-profit Yes The Bronx is quoted as saying the Bronx is "the best place to watch" the action. The runners (and some walkers, too, no doubt) will head over the Willis Avenue Bridge into Mott Haven before re-entering Manhattan by way of the 138th Street Bridge. The section is known as "The Wall," the Daily News reports, because it begins at mile 19, when many marathoners are beginning to flag. 

With all the applicants race organizers turn away, some are wondering if one annual New York City Marathon is enough.  Last year, the city considered - and then squashed - a proposal to bring a marathon to the Bronx.

The city Department of Education is withholding John F. Kennedy High School’s Progress Report, after questions were raised over its student discharge rate.  Other high schools' reports were released earlier this week. 

Since the new school year began, there have been 336 confirmed bedbug cases in public school buildings, compared to 135 in the same period last year.  Of the 336 cases, 39 were in the Bronx.   Brooklyn and Queens had the most. 

The driver of a tractor-trailer was knocked down and killed on the Cross Bronx Expressway yesterday afternoon.  According to police, the man exited his vehicle after it broke down and was struck by an SUV.

Two women were mowed down by hit-and-runs drivers in separate incidents yesterday evening, one in Throgs Neck, the other in Morrisania.  Both women were seriously injured.

A Bronx man has been sentenced to 15-years in prison for the attempted rapes of two women near Times Square. 

The Bronx woman married four men between 1985-94 as part of a cash-for-citizenship scam, the authorities say.  Sonia Estrada applied for another marriage license this past summer, but was denied after city officials became suspicious.

Michael Benjamin, the soon-to-be ex-assemblyman, is preparing for a congressional run in 2012, when he'll challenge Jose Serrano or Eliot Engel.   Benjamin, who's stepping down at the end of this year (Eric Steveson is replacing him), considered running against Serrano this fall, but eventually discarded the idea.  As we reported yesterday, Benjamin's also started blogging. 

State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. is continuing to live up to his critics' charge that he's a Democrat in name-only.  If there's a 31-31 tie in the Senate, Diaz told the Observer yesterday that he would consider voting for a Republican as majority leader.  The State of Politics blog has more.  At least one person - Haile Rivera, a staffer of the soon-to-be former State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. - believes Diaz himself should get the job.  Diaz insists he's not interested. 

Councilman Jimmy Vacca is sponsoring a bill that would require property owners to pay outstanding fines owed to the city, before they could be awarded building permits.