Report: Suicidal Woman Jumps in Front of 1 Train in the Bronx

The Riverdale Press describes a gruesome scene that played out this morning on the elevated 1 train at 231st Street when, police and witnesses say, a "middle-aged woman" intentionally jumped onto the tracks and waited for an oncoming train to strike her. She died with her unnaturally contorted body in view of many onlookers. "The foot was above the torso," one witness told the Press. 

Bronx News Roundup, Friday, July 15

Weather: Not a cloud in the sky. High in the mid-80s. This weekend: more of the same with temperatures creeping up into the high-80s, low-90s. Good beach weather.

Story of the Day: BxNN Beats Times on Muller Story, Loses Headline Battle
A little inside baseball today. (Skip to the Quick Hits if you get bored.) Anyone working in the editorial side of the journalism industry will tell you that a) timing is everything, and b) headline writing is the one of the hardest things to do well. Early yesterday, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.'s press office sent out a press release with a letter attached that accuses the mayor's office of deliberately abusing the BRAC process to ensure that the vacant Muller Army Reserve Center in Wakefield becomes a homeless shelter.

We've been following this story for more than two years, but this letter contained details, strongly-worded allegations and possible legal action. All the elements for a good, poignant news story. So we rushed to get it up on this site as soon as possible. We ended up beating the Times by about an hour. Chalk one up for BxNN! (On a side note: Kudos to former BxNN intern and native Bedford Parker Andrew Boryga for producing a well-written piece for the Grey Lady's website.) For the most part, we can't compete with the bigger papers, but we do strive to bring Bronx news to our readers as swiftly as possible. And we also take pride in the fact that our stories lead to coverage in bigger papers and more-trafficked websites. Our story on the Oval Park pop-up piano drew national attention and we've been banging the drum on this Muller Center story for two years now. We see ourselves as a megaphone for the Bronx and when our stories get picked up, our megaphone gets amplified exponentially. That means more people will pay attention to our oft-overlooked borough. And that's a good thing.

Which brings me back to headlines. Our accurate, boring, and too-long Muller Center headline: "Bronx BP Asks Feds to Intervene in Muller Center Dispute; Yonkers Mayor Asks Bloomberg to Reconsider Shelter Plan." The Times' headline: "City Hall Accused of Steamrolling Opposition to Bronx Shelter." That's also accurate, but also punchy and succinct. Obviously, there's is much better. So I'll take the win for speed, but here's a tip of the cap to the Times' headline writers.

Quick Hits: