Bronx News Roundup, Oct. 14

The 10 men accused of savagely beating three men because they believed they were gay will appear in Bronx State Supreme Court today. The suspects have been charged with a number of hate crime offenses (for more on the incidents, here's a roundup of links).

Ildefanso (Cheto) Mendez, the 23-year-old accused of orchestrating the violent attacks, tells the Daily News that he's innocent and "not a monster."

Pelham Manor Police Chief Alfred Mosiello says his officer, who shot and killed a man on Boston Road on Tuesday after an altercation,  followed proper police procedure. Officer Kenneth Stretz attempted to pull over Wardell Johnson, of Harlem, who was driving an ATV and then fled when it ran out of gas.

BoogieDowner posts about some new grocery stores, here and here.

A breakout of violence at DeWitt Clinton High School earlier this month has administrators there declaring a "building-wide emergency" state at the school.

NYPD units are in the Bronx today, at a shooting range on Rodman's Neck, to conduct a practice exercise to prepare for a terror attack like the one that occurred at a Mumbai hotel in 2008.

Mayor Bloomberg and a number of volunteers painted the rooftop of a NCYHA housing complex, on E. 146th St., as part of a new program to help make buildings more energy efficient.

A Bronx judge has extended an order of protection against former Gov. Paterson aide David Johnson, who was charged with assaulting his ex-girlfriend at her apartment last year.

Bangladeshi leaders in the Bronx are applauding the arrest of four teenagers accused of mugging an immigrant teen in Parkchester last month. The South Asian community has been calling for more diligence in policing what they see as a growing number of bias crimes against them.

According to a press release from State Sen. Jeff Klein's office, a new security camera has been installed in Keane Square in Pelham Bay to help deter crime and loitering there.

Bronx News Roundup, July 1

Happy July, all! Here's what's happening in the borough this first day of the month:

The BoogieDowner blog raised questions yesterday about senate candidate Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter's work history and wonders how she can continue to receive disability payments while campaigning full-time. The post includes a response from Pilgrim-Hunter's campaign. Pilgrim-Hunter is one of four candidates challenging incumbent Pedro Espada, Jr. in the race for 33rd Senate District seat. A robust and heated debate is developing in the comments section of their post.

The NYOFCo fertilizer plant in Hunts Point is finally leaving the neighborhood--much the delight of residents who've been plagued by the plant's foul-smelling odors for years.

A Bronx car theft ring was broken up by police and the Attorney General's office yesterday, with 17 people arrested on felony charges.

More troubles for the Arroyo clan: an aide to Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo has been accused of posing as a police officer and robbing a Bronx home in May (Arroyo's grandson, Richard Izquierdo Arroyo, was sentenced to a year in jail this week for embezzlement).

Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez donated $250,000 to Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center to construct the hospital's new children's outpatient center.

Two of the four pianos placed at various Bronx sites as part of the "Play Me, I'm Yours," public art project were damaged this week. 

Co-op City workers ratified a new four-year contract yesterday with management company RiverBay Corp. (disputes between the two resulted in a week long, garbage-filled strike at the enormous housing complex last month, as sanitation crews there stopped collecting trash).

Police are looking for a 13-year-old runaway and her baby, who were last seen in Soundview yesterday  morning.

There's a damper on graduation festivities at John F. Kennedy High School, as the school's principal faces accusations that he misused school funds.

Gibson Apologizes for Parking in Bike Lane

Yesterday, a BoogieDowner reader took photos of Assemblywoman Vanessa Gibson's car, which was parked in a bike lane on the Grand Concourse near her district office.  In the window was a police placard, designed to keep the vehicle ticket-free.

We reached out to Gibson's office for comment and they gave us the following statement: 

The bike lane on the Grand Concourse has been a positive addition for a lot of Bronx residents. As you know, there is a serious lack of parking on the Grand Concourse, but I have always respected the bike lane and apologize for blocking it. In this instance, my car was left in the bike lane for a few moments while I was unloading supplies for my district office. I realize that caused some inconvenience and will make every effort to avoid blocking the bike lane in the future.

Gibson (pictured) didn't say why she was using a police placard, but Wiley Norvell, the communications director of Transportation Alternatives, a bicycle advocacy group, told me it was a clear example of "misuse."

For starters, these police permits aren't intended for elected officials, Norvell said.  And even it they were, "there's no permit in the world that lets you park in a bike lane."

By the way, Transportation Alternatives runs a Web site - Uncivil Servants - which allows people to submit photographs of illegally parked cars they've seen and snapped.

Bronx Bloggers on BronxTalk

Lou Cicalese from BoogieDowner and Ed Garcia Conde of Welcome2Melrose appeared on BronxTalk on Monday night to talk about their respective blogs with host Gary Axelbank.

Debate on Supermarket

There's a roiling debate under way over at Boogiedowner about a proposed big-box supermarket at the Kingsbridge Armory.

Boogiedowner is in favor of the idea and tangles with a spokesman for Morton Williams (the supermarket across the street from the armory on Kingsbridge Road, which has been a driving fore in opposing a supermarket at the armory) in the comments section of the post.

Norwood News visited Morton Williams and wrote about the supermarket issue in detail in July, but one question that hasn't gotten much ink is, if the developer beats back the opposition to a market, what kind of market would work at the armory? Many members of Community Board 7 support a supermarket at the armory, and have cited a desire to see a specialty foods market like Whole Foods or Fairway. But it's not certain whether either of those businesses considering opening up shop there. What do supermarket supporters want to see there and what do they think would actually be viable?

Much of the debate on the Boogiedowner centers on the living wage issue, which we also wrote about in July. On its editorial page, Norwood News has supported the push for a living wage requirement at the armory.

Bronx News Roundup, August 12

Yesterday, the 14-year old accomplice of Cheyenne Cherry, a 17-year old who trashed the Bronx apartment and killed the cat of a former friend, pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and animal cruelty. The accomplice, identified as Whitney B., received a sentence of 18 months in juvenile jail.

In news that concerns all of New York City, yesterday Governor Paterson renewed mayoral control of the city's public school system until 2015.

More on that plumb Senate job Pedro Espada's on has landed.

The BoogieDowner blog and the Bedford Mosholu Community Organization are trying to save the post office near the Botanical Garden and Webster Avenue from elimination. Visit BoogieDowner to sign the petition to object to the closing of the post office. For more news on post office closures around New York City, the New York Times reports that seven Bronx postal branches are in danger of closing.

In other BoogieDowner news, the blog posted a glowing review of the newly named Pho Mien Tay, formerly known as the World of Taste Seafood. Pho Mien Tay is a Vietnamese restaurant located on Jerome Avenue near the Kingsbridge Armory.

Bronx News Roundup, August 10

ProPublica, a nonprofit news organization, found that the Bronx has the highest unemployment and poverty levels in New York. Despite this, 13 other counties are receiving more money from the federal stimulus package. The Bronx has currently received $258 million from stimulus packages and WNYC chronicles how different reporters analyze the use of this money.

After multiple protests from the public and Bronx politicians, Fannie Mae canceled their online auction of 19 Bronx buildings. The buildings, owned by Oncelot Capital Group, are in disrepair. Opponents of the auction, including Senator Chuck Schumer, are happy that Fannie Mae did not hold the auctions and sell the buildings to another speculator like Oncelot.

A Bronx-born contestant, Kenny Bermudez, on MTV's America's Best Dance Crew reflects on how he chose dancing over a life of crime. Now as a part of the Bronx-based dance crew, Rhythm City, Bermudez teaches dance classes at the Bronxdale Community Center and tours around the world.

Yesterday, a Bronx man, Angel Cruz, was killed after being hit by a car when walking along Interstate 87. Police are still looking for suspects for the hit-and-run incident.

Police continue to search for a suspect involved in a fatal shooting on Friday night.

In more crime news over the weekend, two Bronx brothers are now facing charges in the death of a Manhattan Holocaust survivor.

Saturday was a day of celebration for many New Yorkers as Bronx native, Judge Sonia Sotomayor was officially sworn into the Supreme Court.

Also over the weekend, a moped accident proved fatal as it left a father dead and his son injured.

A BoogieDowner blogger is wondering why the NY Daily News is so aggressive in covering Bronx real estate. Do they have a vested interest?

Bronx News Roundup, April 3

All kinds of Yankees stories today. The Times reports on "an extensive beautification effort" reaching into the surrounding neighborhood in anticipation of the first game tonight, while the Daily News has a swooning review of the new stadium on its editorial page - complete with a jab at "a few small thinkers [who] raised carping stop-the-stadium cries."
The NY Post, meanwhile, has a different take.

A police officer was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter today for shooting a drunk driver to death in 2007 while off-duty; the officer had claimed he shot the man to save his own life.

Police have opened a homicide investigation in the death of a Bronx mother of two who died after a friend performed illegal plastic surgery on her last month.

The Daily News has a piece on Lightbox-NY, a photography and film studio making its home in Hunts Point.

More stories coming in a moment when we get some links up to this week's Norwood News.

And the folks at Boogiedowner have posted a list of events going on around the Bronx this weekend: take a look.

Bronx News Roundup for March 30

Ashlee Simpson’s kid isn’t the only person named Bronx in the world.

A planned 911 Call Center in Morris Park is about to clear a hurdle. But others remain.

A three-alarm blaze destroyed a block of businesses in Wakefield on Sunday, but no one was injured.

Complicating efforts to pass tenant-friendly legislation in Albany is the fact that state senators have received lots of dough from landlords and their lobbyists since January 2007, according to the Daily News. The list includes Bronx State Senator Jeff Klein who reportedly received almost $240,000 in campaign contributions.

The Boogiedowners say – and show – that the temporary pedestrian walkway around the New York Botanical Garden’s stalled parking lot project (at the corner of Bedford Park Boulevard and Webster Avenue) is obstructed.

Sen. Gillibrand spent Saturday in the Bronx.

Koppell on Cluster-Site Shelters: Boogiedowner Has the Story

The Boogiedowners are giving us traditional journos a run for our money with some solid citizen reporting on the cluster-site issue from last night's Bedford Mosholu Community Association meeting. Nice going!

Child of Boogiedowner

The Boogiedowners have given birth to a new blog focused on parenting -- Little Boogie Downer.

Bedford Park Bloggers Get Their Due from Times

New York Times photo by David Goldman

So, I guess you could say they've now had their 30 minutes of fame (though we bet there's more to come).
First, Bedford Park bloggers Lou and Erin Cicalese (pictured above) -- founders and authors of boogiedowner.blogspot.com -- were covered in The Hunt, a Times column that tracks New Yorkers' searches for the ever-elusive affordable and desirable living situation.
And this morning the couple gets some more ink in the City Section of the Times, this time for the blog, since it's one of the very few in the borough despite the blog-a-block culture in Brooklyn. (Sometimes it seems like there's one for every Bugaboo stroller there.)
Congrats to the boogiedowners.

New Bronx Blog

The number of Bronx blogs in existence has doubled in the past week with the birth of Boogiedowner, a new real estate blog. Ok, that's an exaggeration, but there are probably more blogs in your average Park Slope block than in our entire borough.

According to this thread, the Bedford Park-based Boogiedowner see's itself as a Bronx version of Brownstoner, a hugely popular Brooklyn blog that was recently featured in New York Magazine.

Meanwhile, it looks like Bronx Latino, another fledgling Bronx blog, may have died an early death. "After launching Bronx Latino in April 2008, I am taking a break from it. I have decided to refocus the content for this blog even if it means less blog entries," says an entry on the homepage.