Let's Dance

This is one of the many photographs I took at the Jerome Gun Hill BID festival on Sept. 24

Please click here to see one more from that day.

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Superheroes

I made this photograph on August 2, during the National Night Out event at the Williamsbridge Oval Park.

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Seis Del Sur at the New York Times

This time lapse movie was created from photographs made during the Seis Del Sur presentation at the New York Times building last Thursday.

Thirty years ago, six young men had just started their exploration of an art form called photography. Independently, the six documented their communities in the south Bronx. During this low point in our history the borough lost thousands of buildings to arson, which of course also brought down neighborhoods and families. Their work is unique and beautiful as it is the Bronx examining itself, rather than the work of outsiders making photos of “the poor Bronx” for a few hours.

As a proud Bronx resident and photographer it was inspirational to see their work and hear their thoughts which they shared during a frank, open and very interesting Q&A.

I'll post another slide show of photographs and maybe a sound recording from the event a little later.

Thank you Ricky Flores, Edwin Pagan, Joe Conzo Jr, Angel Franco, David Gonzalez and Francisco Molina Reyes II for sharing your beautiful work. Please visit www.seisdelsur.com to explore their work and them.

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Jerome-Gun Hill Festival

I hope you all can join us for Jerome-Gunhill B.I.D Festival on Saturday the 24th. This is the 10th year of this fabulous street festival. The festivities will be on Jerome Avenue between 208 street and Gunhill Road.
The slide show is of photographs I made last year.

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Fordham Road Renaissance Festival

On Aug 21, I found myself on East Fordham road just east of the Grand Concourse, among thousands who were enjoying the Fordham Road Renaissance Festival. Street photography at close quarters is one of my favorite ways of making photographs. Let me not try and describe what I saw, let me show you! Click on the slide show window to see the photographs larger.
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Clouds And A Blue Bronx Sky

This week we have had some gorgeous weather. This is what you get if you mix blue skies, white puffy clouds and a camera, I shot this time lapse movie earlier in the week.

The Borough President Wants to Know What You Think

(File photo)

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.'s office is asking Bronx residents to fill out a "quality of life" survey and share their thoughts on living in the Boogie Down. The 22-question online survey takes about ten minutes or so to complete and asks about things like local schools, food access, safety, where you do most of your shopping, etc. According to Diaz, the answers will be compiled in a report his office will release this fall.

“It is important that Bronxites participate in this survey and let my office hear from them on the specific issues that face our neighborhoods," Diaz said in a statement.

"The goal of this survey is to build upon newly-released Census data to perform a comprehensive, inclusive, and thorough assessment of where we are as a borough and where we want to go. I hope that as many Bronxites as possible will take a few minutes to fill out this survey and join us in that effort."

And, just in case you'd rather complain to the Borough President face-to-face, survey participants will automatically be entered in a raffle, and the prize: brunch with Diaz!

Fill out the survey here. 

Bronx News Roundup, Friday, July 29

We're short-staffed today, so a quick but substantive round-up folks ... Have a great weekend!

This story in the Riverdale Press caught our eye. The Amalgamated Houses, the sprawling, leafy limited-equity co-operative wedged in between Norwood and Kingsbridge Heights, has hired a new property manager, Charles Zsebedics, who was convicted for participating in a scheme a decade ago that defrauded his former company of $1.3 million. The Amalgamated's board was well aware of Azebedics'history but did its due diligence and decided that he had learned from his mistakes and that he was the best person for the job.

Andrew Boryga, a graduate of BxNN's youth journalism program for high school students, continues to do great work for the New York Times in between his academic pursuits at Cornell. In this Times' City Room blog piece, which also appeared in today's print edition, Boryga profiles artist Nicolas Dumit Estevez who had himself baptized on the Bronx River as a new Bronxite and to bring attention to his new exhibit at the Longwood Art Gallery on the Hostos Community College campus.

A plan to close 17 Bronx post offices, the most in the city, continued to roil postal workers and those who say local post offices are a lifeline for seniors and local communities.

The Daily News reports that 60 Bronx businesses are in danger of going under following the massive Jerome Avenue water main break on Wednesday morning.

Cops are looking for the shooter responsible for shooting a 5-year-old boy in the leg while he was walking with his mom near Holland and Astor avenues in the east Bronx last night.

Four police officers assigned to the Bronx district attorney's office have been caught cheating on their timesheets, the Post reports.

Lots of tasty morsels in Bob Kappstatter's column as usual this week, including the possibility that the financially struggling Bronx Museum of the Arts might try to emulate the Museum of Modern Art by developing a new, substantial revenue stream by building housing for artists on an adjacent property.

Picture the Homeless Challenges Perceptions of Marginalized

In March, Picture The Homeless members Arvernetta Henry (far right) and Jeremy Saunders (second from right) were among protesters at a rally at the Albany Capitol Building. (Photo by Sam J. Miller) 

By RACHEL SANDER

Adjusting the yellow bow in her thick gray locks of hair, Arvenetta Henry clasped her hands under her chin. “Everyone calls me Miss Henry,” she said with a smile, “because I am a teacher.”

Henry, who wouldn’t give her exact age, but admits she is over 50, spent most of her adult life as a Bronx teacher. She is no longer in the traditional classroom setting, but through a nonprofit homeless advocacy organization operated by the very homeless population it serves, Henry continues to teach.

“When I was teaching in the 1980s, I didn’t know what transitional housing meant when my students told me about it,” she said. “Now that term has a whole new concept.”

Fire on E. 204th Street in Norwood (Updated)

Above are photos of a fire last night at 305 E. 204th St. in Norwood. We'll have more details for you later. All photos by Adi Talwar.

Update: A few details. A spokesman for FDNY said 12 units, or about 60 firefighters, responded to the fire call at 3:22 a.m. The fire was under control by 4:03 a.m. The blaze was contained to the second floor, which serves as the offices for Aleseda Management and Realty. They are still investigating the cause of the fire.

[Editor's note: Here's a link to Adi's personal account of the blaze.]

Vacca Calls Out Donald Trump

Bronx City Councilman James Vacca sent out a statement this week blasting Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman-turned-reality TV star-turned-presidential hopeful, for comments he made recently that knocked the Big Apple.

Trump, a native New Yorker, went on CNN this week and referred to LaGaurdia Airport in Queens as a "Third World airport."

"Donald Trump's comments were at best a cheap shot at New York City and at worst an insensitive knock on the diversity that makes our city great," Vacca said in statement sent out Sunday. "Donald Trump has lived in New York his whole life. He has done very well in New York. If he thinks he's going to ride to the White House by picking on New York, he has another thing coming."

Trump also called the United States a "laughingstock" to the rest of the world for its lack of investment in infrastructure, erroneously saying no one can remember the last time the U.S. built a bridge.

"Mr. Trump is free to come to my borough and look at the new Willis Avenue Bridge, completed just last year," Vacca countered. "His statement is really amazing as it shows a complete lack of knowledge about what is going on in his own city."

Movie Shoot on DeKalb Ave and 208th St

The scene today at the corner of DeKalb and 208th, where a Robert DeNiro film was shooting. (Photo by Layza Garcia)

A film production crew was packing up cameras and gear on the corner of Dekalb Avenue and 208th Street today and were off to another undisclosed location in the Bronx, according to Gabrielle, the production supervisor on set.

The movie being filmed, according to publicist Carol McConnaughey, is a yet-untitled drama from Academy Award-nominated writer/director Paul Weitz, ("About a Boy") starring two-time Academy Award winner Robert DeNiro and Paul Dano ("There Will Be Blood").

The dramatic feature is based on Nick Flynn’s 2004 memoir entitled "Another Bulls—t Night in Suck City," and tells the story of a young writer who takes a job at a homeless shelter, where one night he discovers his long-absent father seeking a bed.

"Juno" star Olivia Thirlby co-stars as Dano's love interest, while Golden Globe-nominated Julianne Moore will play his mother, who is seen in flashbacks.

McConnaughey said that the crew is filming throughout the New York City area, but today is the only day in the Bronx. No word on whether the stars were there this afternoon.

Three Bronx Supermarkets on Violations List

William Sloan, an owner of Morton Williams on Jerome Avenue, at a Kingsbridge Armory hearing in 2009. The store was recently named one of the most-fined supermarkets for overcharging consumers. (File photo by Adi Talwar)

Last week, the NY Post published a list of 25 city supermarkets that racked up the highest in violation fines during 2010 from the Department of Consumer Affairs for overcharging customers, failing to properly mark items or using faulty scales to price goods.

Three Bronx markets made the list of worst offenders: a Pathmark in Co-op City, a Pioneer Supermarket in Mott Haven and the Morton Williams on Jerome Avenue in University Heights. All of the stores had over $3,000 in violation fines to their names.

The owners of the the same Morton Williams were a vocal party during the great Kingsbridge Armory debate two years ago, fighting the developer's plan to open a supermarket in the landmark building and storming out of a public hearing after the Community Board 7 voted in favor of a new market (see photo above.)

In the recent Post article, a spokesman for the Food Industry Alliance told the paper that most of the supermarkets made the list for minor, unintentional mistakes.

The Hawk Is Back

A fire escape in the Bronx on a February Sunday afternoon near the Williamsbridge Oval Park.

A Tropical Oasis Emerges In the Dead of Winter

A version of this story first appeared in the latest edition of the Norwood News. You can see more photos from the exhibit here. 

 (Photos by Haybee Camacho)

By Haydee Camacho

Weather forecasters were issuing yet another winter weather advisory on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. But inside the Bronx’s New York Botanical Garden, a new Caribbean Garden exhibit provided welcome relief for winter-weary patrons.

Upon entering the main atrium of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, visitors are transported to a tropical oasis of towering palm trees and lush ferns.

“We have so many beautiful plants in our collection and so many grown in the Caribbean,” said Karen Daubman, the Garden’s director of exhibitions and seasonal Displays. “We wanted to highlight those plants. It’s so beautiful for people to stroll through and feel like they are on vacation.”

Visitors agree. “It’s fantastic,” said Marlene Ostertag, an avid gardener who was visiting with her daughter, Karen, a librarian. “There is a little too much snow piled up and having a place of tropical green in the middle of winter is fantastic.”

Near a fountain, Lisa Imundo watched as her 11-year-old daughter Francesca sketched.

“It’s like a little mini vacation,” she remarked. “It lifts the spirits to come in out of the ice and snow. It’s beautiful like summertime.”

Bronx Events: Rooftop Films at the Bruckner Bar and Grill

Tonight, Rooftop Films will present a screening of the documentary "P-Star Rising," at the Bruckner Bar and Grill, 1 Bruckner Blvd, at 7 p.m.

The film follows 9-year-old rap performer Priscilla Star Diaz, and her single-parent father, as they struggle to make it big in the music business. Both Priscilla and her dad will be at the screening for a special question-and-answer session following the film. See the trailer above or visit Rooftop Films' site for more details.

This and other Bronx events are posted below, in our community calendar.

Editor's note: What did we miss? Send details to bronxnewsnetwork[at]gmail.com.

Bronx Culture Trolley Cancelled Tomorrow

Due to pending inclement weather, the Bronx Culture Trolley that was scheduled for tomorrow night is cancelled, along with art exhibits at Hostos Community College's Longwood art gallery. Our events calendar is posted below, but it's best to double check before you head out in this winter weather.

Editor's note: What did we miss? Send details to bronxnewsnetwork[at]gmail.com.

Fox News' Glenn Beck Knocks Co-Op City

The Bronx took another hit on Cable TV this week when right-wing political pundit Glenn Beck compared  Co-Op City, the borough's massive housing cooperative development, to a socialist country.

Last week, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., blasted the TV show "American Idol," for its negative depictions of the borough, after one contestant took camera crews on a tour of his former home on the Grand Concourse.

Glenn Beck, of course, is no stranger to controversy and stirring up anger. His hour-long show consists of him standing before a TV monitor and giant chalkboard, usually ranting against liberal politics.

In Tuesday's episode--the entirety of which is embedded above--Beck rails against the idea of social equality and uses Co-Op City as an example of  "a place where everyone’s life is interchangeable." His comments start at the 34-minute mark.

"Sounds like these beautiful complexes—this is in New York City," a sarcastic Beck says to the camera, as a photo of Co-Op City appears on the screen behind him. "Don’t you want to live there? Oh, man. That is so beautiful. That’s the great society for you, right there. And those are the lush ones."

Bronx officials and Co-Op City residents immediately fired back.

"How dare he?" Councilman Jimmy Vacca told the Daily News. "I'd like to know the last time Glenn Beck stepped into Co-Op City."

What do you think of Beck's remarks? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

Snow Commute: No Bronx Buses

(File photo courtesy of Sen. Diaz's office)

Morning, folks. The MTA website seems to be having some technical issues, most likely from all the harried commuters who are trying to visit it at once. But they've posted a winter service advisory update to let us know that bus service in the Bronx is suspended right now (bus service in the other boroughs is being restored, slowly.)

As for trains, the agency says most lines are running, but expect delays all around. You can check here for twitter updates on specific lines. 

[Editor's Note:] Just a reminder to our readers that the Bronx News Network is in the middle of our annual fundraising appeal. If you value quality local journalism, please consider donating so we can continue to bring you news and features, like our daily roundup or our borough events calendar. More details on how to contribute can be found here.

Bronx News Roundup, Jan. 26

Yup, more snow. A winter storm warning is in effect today until 6 p.m., so bundle up; the weather folks are saying four to eight inches.

President Obama gave his second State of the Union Address last night, one that called for a bipartisan effort to fix the nation's economy and a proposed 5-year spending freeze.

Salon.com has named Bronx Rep. Eliot Engel number three on a list of Congress' "top five biggest aisle hogs"--politicians who stake out an aisle seat before a big speech in hopes of getting a handshake and a few words from the President. Check out this video of the worst offenders through the years:


The family of a 24-year-old Melissa Barthelemy, one of four victims believed to have been murdered by a serial killer on Long Island, say they received taunting phone calls on the woman's cell phone in the days after she disappeared.

Police are searching for a group of ten men who shot up a Melrose street last night, killing a 21-year-old man.

A Bronx woman pleaded not guilty yesterday to manslaughter charges for hitting and killing a woman with her car in Manhattan in November.

A Lehman College student stuck in Chile during protests there this month became the unofficial spokesman for about 1500 other stranded tourists, and earned himself a certificate of appreciation from the U.S. State Department.

Plans to lay seven miles of pipe from Van Cortlandt Park to Hunts Point have been scrapped by the city due to soaring costs. The plan was part of the ongoing Croton Water Filtration Plant project.

A Bronx couple is facing jail time for animal cruelty charges after nearly 100 emaciated cats were found in their artist's loft in Brooklyn. A neighbor told the Brooklyn paper the two were simply trying to care for the neighborhood's strays.

The widow of a murdered Throgs Neck man gave chilling testimony in court yesterday against her husband's accused killer, an alleged mob man.

A mugger tried to steal the cell phone of former Gov. George Pataki's eldest daughter at the Freeman Street subway stop.

The State Senate's Republican majority gave committee chairmanship roles to Jeff Klein and the other members of his Independent Caucus. Klein will chair the Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.

A 17-year-old student at Celia Cruz High School for Music was found dead in the snow on a Harlem street over the weekend. Loved ones of Gregory Willis Jr. say they are baffled by the quiet teenager's mysterious death; autopsy results are pending.

[Editor's Note:] Just a reminder to our readers that the Bronx News Network is in the middle of our annual fundraising appeal. If you value quality local journalism, please consider donating so we can continue to bring you news and features, like our daily roundup or our borough events calendar. More details on how to contribute can be found here.