Bronx News Roundup, Sept. 20

Story of the Day:
It's been an unachieved goal of many Bronx borough presidents, but maybe the failure of an over-priced Bronx parking garage near Yankee Stadium will finally lead to an elusive, quality Bronx hotel that's not of the pay-by-the-hour variety.

The leaseholder of city-owned property that is currently home to Yankee Stadium's biggest privately-run parking garage is sinking fast as fans have chosen not to spring for the over-priced spots, leaving about 40 percent of them empty on the average game day.

Bronx Parking owes the city $17 million in rent and taxes and is therefore supporting the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation's (BOEDC) solicitation of proposals for building a hotel at the site, which is on East 153rd Street and River Avenue. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. wants the project to include a conference center, a penthouse restaurant and a Latino Baseball Hall of Fame at the hotel as well.

Proposals are due Nov. 15 and would need to be approved by the city and Bronx Parking's bondholders, according to the Daily News.

Quick Hits: 
Two robbers at a Bronx River Avenue facility were shot by federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as they sped away from the scene. The investigation is ongoing. (For those of you who are curious, like we were, about the addition of "Explosives" in the agency's name, it was added in 2003 when ATF, as it is known, was transferred to the Justice Department from the Treasury Department.) 

Something else we didn't know until today -- there's an L.A. punk band called The Bronx that is currently pursuing a mariachi-style side project, called Mariachi El Bronx.

Prosecutors in the Bronx DA's office will be asking a grand jury to indict 17 officers allegedly involved in the ticket-fixing scandal, according to the Daily News.

A Bronx teen with a very cool name -- Basilous Falconer -- will be honored by the nonprofit Just Food for creating a farm next to his high school in Soundview.

Yesterday we linked to the Times story on the exodus of a number of Social Studies at Bronx Science, the latest sign of disgruntlement at the famous Bedford Park institution, which has produced a number of Nobel laureates. Today we highlight this Gotham Gazette article that traces the discontent back to the days of Harold Levy, another chancellor who needed a waiver from the state Department of Education.

Check out Dan Beekman's nice profile of Louise "Big Momma" Mitchell, who lives in Mount Hope and may be the oldest Bronx resident.