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:
Friday, July 15, 2011
Bronx News Roundup, Friday, July 15
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Bronx News Roundup, Feb. 22
Breaking news alert: It's cold! Don't put away your long johns, Bronxites, it's still very much winter here in the northern borough. Cheer up, though, tomorrow it could get up to a balmy 38 degrees.
Story of the Day:
Sidney Flores, the self-appointed guardian and watchdog of his Mt. Eden neighborhood, could be the closest thing the Bronx has to a super hero. The 52-year-old handyman who won the lottery a few years ago, spends his free time showing up at the scenes of crimes and fires and other disasters and does his best to help out. If he sees a fight or a possible drug deal or a broken street lamp, he makes a call to the proper authorities. He was instrumental in getting the Morris Mesa playground next to his apartment fixed up and cleared of drugs and prostitution. And here's the kicker: he doesn't have any political ambitions or want any adulation for his work. “I believe that when you give of yourself,” he told the Times, “it comes back to you somehow, some way.” Is this guy for real?
Quick Hits:
Police are investigating whether NYPD officers used excessive force in arresting a 19-year-old Bronxite who was held in custody for 24 hours and then released with a citation for riding his bike on the sidewalk.
NY1's Dean "the Dream" Meminger profiles the new Black History Month exhibit at the Bronx Museum. It features the work of legendary 95-year-old artist Elizabeth Catlett as well as other artists. In April, Catlett is scheduled to visit the exhibit and speak with some of the other contributing artists.
Surprise! People aren't happy with the closing of two 6 train line stations -- Elder Ave. and St. Lawrence Ave. -- for the next eight months.
Didn't get to this last week or yesterday, but here's a story on Bronx Councilman Fernando Cabrera's simple yet hugely helpful new piece of legislation that would require landlords to post a tenant's bill of rights in the lobbies of apartment buildings and attach it to new leases and renewals. Big news for tenants. More on this soon.
Weather resistant birders descend on Van Cortlandt Park every Saturday morning.
On Fox's network news station in Washington, DC, "Ask Allison" answers a viewer's question about why our lovely borough is called "The Bronx"? This is a good question. Allison says it's for two reasons: because the borough's main inhabitant and land owner was Jonas Bronck, so people would say, "we're going to the Bronck's farm." It's also, because people called the river running through the borough, "the Bronx River." I believe Allison is correct, although I've always been told that it's important to note that the borough is named after the river, not Jonas Bronck. Although, if the river is named after Jonas Bronck, isn't that pretty much the same as naming the borough after the person? Where's Lloyd Ultan when you need him? Here's the video:
Monday, February 21, 2011
Bronx Weekend News Roundup, Feb. 21 (President's Day edition)
And we're back for a President's Day edition of the news roundup, which will include everything we didn't get to last week as we made a final push for your much-needed support. First, though, a hearty and well-deserved thank you to everyone who contributed during our six-week fund-raising appeal. At last count, you had contributed $4,318 toward making our organization, and everything we do, stronger.
Starting today, we will get back to our daily news roundups, weekly features and our continuing mission to bring you invaluable local information and original reporting. (Important side note: Your ongoing support is still important. If you haven't donated yet or want to donate again in the future, just click on our "Donate" button on the upper-right hand corner of this page.)
OK, that's it, we're moving on! To the news!
Story of the Day:
The Daily News editorial board was awed by the feat of technology and engineering going on in Van Cortlandt Park that will allow New York City to filter between 10 and 29 percent of its daily water supply, but says that the city should never do this again. The city's Department of Environmental Protection is on the verge of completing the network of tunnels connecting the Croton Water Filtration Plant in VC Park to the Croton Watershed upstate.
There is still work to do -- most notably, the routing and laying of a waste water pipe from the filtration plant to Wards Island -- but this hulking facility and its side projects should be completed by the end of next year. In the end, the project's price tag will be at least triple the original estimate, not to mention the priceless loss of scarce public parkland. It's all too much. We can't do this again, the DN says.We will be happy not to write about this again, BxNN says.
Quick Hits:
One of the saddest stories last week was the death of 11-year-old Russell Smith, who police say was clipped by a Honda CRV as he was crossing the Grand Concourse at E. 183rd Street. It was the same place a 12-year-old girl was killed by a motorist in 2005 and the Concourse remains a danger zone, residents say.
The "last in, first out" law that requires the city to lay off public school teachers based on seniority could lead to serious problems at new successful schools like the Bronx's Urban Assembly School for Applied Math and Science, which is on pace to graduate 95% of its senior class this year. Some 60% of the school's 47 teachers have less than three years in the classroom. The cuts could also include second-year Bronx teacher, Stany Leblanc.
Ex-Bronx State Senator Pedro Espada spent $1.2 million on a staff and office expenses between April and September last year. His expense total was tops in the state. Not too far behind: the Bronx's Jeff Klein.
A 16-year-old was shot and killed last night on E 184th Street.
"Transformers" actress Megan Fox and "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm are working on their new movie, "Friend with Kids," in the Bronx.
Long-time Bronx DA Dan McCarthy died last week.
We'll let Gothamist sort out the story of the wife of a Bronx precinct commander who lied to police about getting attacked.
A Bronx teen who spent three years in Riker's Island before being acquitted of murder charges, is suing the NYPD and the Bronx DA's office for allegedly suppressing evidence that kept him locked up.
Finger prints and a long rap sheet led to the arrest of a Bronx man wanted on rape charges.
Bobby McFerrin's son, Taylor McFerrin, is teaching beat boxing to students at the Lavelle School for the Blind in the north Bronx.
A Bronx jeweler says he went into "survival mode" when he fended off armed robbers in his shop last week.
Two young children were saved on Friday afternoon by firefighters after a blaze broke out in the apartment they were staying in at Concourse House, a transitional home for single mothers. The kids suffered smoke inhalation, but were listed in stable condition.
The Elder Avenue and Saint Lawrence Avenue stations on the 6 train line will be closed for renovations starting Feb. 28.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Bronx News Roundup, Feb. 8
A lot happened in the Bronx this weekend while the New Orleans Saints were busy scoring the Super Bowl title. Here's a rundown on some of the biggest news stories:
Ex-state Sen. Efrain Gonzalez Jr. says it was bad legal advice that made him plead guilty to 2006 corruption charges, and now wants to withdraw his plea.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Bronx News Roundup, Dec. 24
On Tuesday, a fire destroyed Morris Park Boxing Club. Two days later, one of the men who ran it (a one-time W.B.A welterweight title holder) and his stable of young fighters, found a temporary place to train.
In an editorial, the Daily News ridicules Ruben Diaz Jr. and the City Council for nixing Related Companies' Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment proposal. The pols "stupidly killed employment for thousands" and "don't have a clue" what to do next, the News argues.
The Village Voice's Tom Robbins has mixed feelings about the Council's no vote. He writes: "It's just our luck that the first time the City Council actually musters the courage to face down Mike Bloomberg, it's to kill a plan that—whatever its flaws—would have put hard-pressed New Yorkers back to work."
Five stations on the Pelham 6 Line now have countdown clocks, informing straphangers of when the next train will arrive.
A Bronx priest has been making waves as a fashion designer.
NY Post columnist John Crudele's "Man of the Year" is a 28-year-old veteran from the Bronx who overcame a tough childhood and homelessness - not to mention stints in Iraq and Afghanistan - to land a job as a nursing assistant at James J. Peters VA Hospital on Kingsbridge Road.
Another veteran, homeless since January, has found an apartment in University Heights for him and his family, thanks for the Jericho Project.
An arsonist has been terrorizing an apartment complex in Marble Hill.
Police are looking for two men who robbed a jewelry store in Morris Park on Tuesday afternoon.
