Here are a few events taking place in the borough this Sunday, Sept. 11 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks. Let us know in the comments section if you've heard of something we've missed.
Bronx Community College, Meister Hall lobby, 2155 University Ave., 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. - The program will feature speakers from campus reflecting on their personal connection to 9/11. For more information, call (718) 289-5193.
Lehman College, 250 Bedford Pk. Blvd. W., at the College Walk outside Shuster Hall in front of the campus 9/11 memorial, 1 p.m. - The program will include a song by children from Lehman’s Childcare Center as well as “The Star Spangled Banner” and “America the Beautiful” sung by the Lehman College Community Chorus, also speakers, and concludes with the playing of “Taps.” For more information, call (718) 960-4992.
The New York Botanical Garden is offering free All-Garden Pass admission from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Sunday, September 11, 2011. All New Yorkers, particularly Bronx residents who may be in search of a way to commemorate the anniversary locally, are invited to enjoy the Botanical Garden as a beautiful venue that naturally lends itself to both quiet contemplation and family sharing. Add reflections to the memorial tree, which was planted in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden on the first anniversary (10 a.m. –12 p.m.) Hear readings of Jeannette Winter’s September Roses, a resource provided by New York Council for the Humanities, which tells a story of the ways people of diverse backgrounds came together to help each other in the aftermath of the tragedy. (10:30, 11, and 11:30 a.m.)
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Bronx Sept.11 Events
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Upward Bound Career Day at Bronx Commnunity College
This Saturday, Bronx Community College will host a career fair coordinated by the Upward Bound and Talent Search Programs for participating students and families in honor of National TRiO Day, which focuses on increased access to higher education for disadvantaged students. The event will run from 10 to 3 p.m. at the school's Gould Memorial Library Auditorium and will consist of a panel of professional speakers who will share their stories about their own career choices and how they got to where they are today.
From a press release: The Upward Bound and Talent Search programs target eligible area high school students from low-income families and/or first-generation college students, whose parents did not earn a four-year degree, the opportunity to participate in academic classes, tutoring, counseling, workshops, college/cultural trip and a myriad of educational services on the Bronx Community College campus. Both programs help students identify their academic strengths and assist them in enrolling and graduating from post-secondary educational programs.
For more information about Career Day, contact the Upward Bound and Talent Search office at (718) 289-5855.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Bronx News Roundup, March 4
Happy Friday everyone! Apparently, it's warming up just enough for it to rain all weekend. Lovely. To the news!
Story of the Day:
Ridiculously tragic story in the Post today about a 25-year-old Bronx woman, Lana Rosa, who was beaten into a coma, allegedly during a dispute with a man over a parking spot in the East Village. Police arrested Oscar Fuller and charged him with the crime. Here's a video report from the Post:
Quick Hits:
Ex-State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr. is due in a Brooklyn federal court today for a pre-trial hearing. Espada and his son are facing federal fraud charges involving the nonprofit health care clinics Espada founded and runs.
Police are searching for a crew of fire escape burglars who are targeting apartments in Morrisania.
Lots of coverage today on the Bronx's New York Botanical Garden's upcoming "The Orchid Show: On Broadway," a collaboration between the Garden and theater folks (hence the "Broadway" theme) that opens tomorrow. The Times calls it a "Grand Stage for a Diva Plant." Here's video from the Daily News:
A housing coordinator at a special needs apartment building in Melrose was fired after allegedly scamming tenants out of thousands of dollars.
The "Guido Monologues," directed by Pelham Bay native Joseph Mileto, opens off-Broadway next week.
A couple of Bronx teens were nominated for an Emmy this year for a show they did on Bronxnet.
Some love for the grand architecture at Bronx Community College.
The Riverdale Press has a bunch of new Riverdale-Kingsbridge-related stories on its website. I'll let you sift through them.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Bronx Gay and Straight Unity Rally Set for Saturday
Gay and straight leaders in the Bronx are combining forces for the LGBTQS (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning and Straight) United as One March and Rally to counteract what they see is a surge in violence against the gay community.
The two-mile march will travel from Bronx Community College, the starting point for a similar (but silent) rally a few weeks ago, travel to 1901 Osborne Place, the site of the recent and gruesome anti-gay attacks in Morris Heights, and then culminate on the steps of the Bronx County Courthouse.
The rally will assemble around 11 a.m. at BCC, University Avenue and 181st Street.
In a press release, organizers sited the anti-gay attacks at Osborne Place and Mnahattan's Stonewall Inn, as well as attacks on straight people for simply "looking" gay.
Friday, November 5, 2010
New in the Norwood News
Bronx Community College students, staffers and faculty "March for Dignity." Plus, an op-ed from one of the march organizers.
Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and the mayor's office square off again over a Bronx development space that has implications for the Kingsbridge Armory. (I'm detecting a theme between these two political entities.)
Speaking of development, Bronx pols say the city's new living wage study is rigged to favor the mayor's view on development.
High School football rivals DeWitt Clinton and John F. Kennedy are struggling through growing pains this year.
More on the great pumpkin carving king.
In a move to curb New York's rampant obesity and diabetes problems, the city looks to ban people from using food stamps to purchase soda and other sugar-heavy drinks.
And much more.
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Friday, October 29, 2010
BCC Students 'March for Dignity' Following Assaults
Bronx Community College students and staff took part in a silent march yesterday afternoon to show support for the gay community following the vicious and well-publicized assaults that occurred just blocks from the campus earlier this month.
The 250-strong crowd, many of whom carried banners ("We are all the same" "Love not hate" "Put the homophobes in the closet"), gathered outside the Roscoe C. Brown Student Center at noon. They then walked south, to a house on Osborne Place, where police say a gang of youths and twenty-somethings brutally attacked a man and two teenagers on Oct. 8. Two of the victims were sexually assaulted; the authorities say they were targeted because they were gay or perceived to be gay.
The protesters left white and purple carnations on the sidewalk outside the house, before making their way slowly back to BCC.
"I think what they did is really messed up and I just want to promote non-violence," said Zyesha Phillps, a student at the college who took part in the march.
"First of all, this is about dignity," said Eduardo Arias, another student. "I'm gay, and I feel that what I am, God made me this way. I'm a normal person who just likes guys, not girls. We're normal people; it's not right to beat someone because they're gay."
Monday, October 18, 2010
March for Dignity this Thursday
Bronx Community College will be holding a "March for Dignity," this Thursday, Oct. 21 to show support for the LGBT community in light of this month's bias attacks. See the flyer below for more details.
March for Dignity
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Bronx Immigration Forum, Sept. 9
State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. will be hosting a Bronx Immigration Forum on Sept. 9, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at Bronx Community College, 2155 University Avenue in the Gould Memorial Library.
Espada, who held a press conference today to announce the event, said he is holding the forum in response to a wave of bias attacks on immigrants in the Bronx, Staten Island and Long Island. Espada referenced the Sunday shooting, in broad daylight, of a 20-year-old man near St. James Park. There were perhaps dozens of witnesses at the park on Sunday when it happened, but no one has yet to step forward with information about the shooters. he said many of the immigrants may have been immigrants who were scared to come forward with information because they were scared of deportation.
Majority Conference Leader John Sampson is co-hosting the event. He didn't make it to the press conference, but Espada's state senate ally, Ruben Diaz Sr., did.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Cabrera Rips the DOE Over High School's Relocation
By REBECCA THOMAS
Councilman Fernando Cabrera had harsh words on Monday for the Department of Education, which continues to be unreceptive to his proposal to keep University Heights Secondary School in his district.
"The DOE has been duplicitous in their dealings with my office and our constituency,” said Cabrera in a statement released that morning. “They never intended to prevent the move of University Heights and falsely gave the impression that they were willing to negotiate with CUNY and the community in order to provide the best for the kids. It is time they be held accountable.”
The school is located on the Bronx Community College campus in University Heights, but will have to leave because BCC - a CUNY college - needs the space in time for the new school year.
On Monday afternoon, the councilman and 13 students from the school gathered at the corner of 179th Street and Jerome Avenue for a press conference. They stood outside a newly constructed four-story building that Cabrera described as “ideal” for the school but which the DOE has rejected in favor of the South Bronx High School campus in Morrisania.
Cabrera says he suggested the 179th Street site in January after the DOE had said that the lack of suitable buildings was the obstacle to keeping the school in the local area. The building is a five-minute walk from University Heights Secondary School's current site, but Cabrera's proposal was greeted with inaction.
“They asked me to find a building. I found a building, but now nothing!” he said at the press conference. “Don’t ask me to do something if you know at the end that there is no hope!”
Monday, April 26, 2010
Bronx News Roundup, April 26
It's a cloudy day in the BX, perfect for catching up on some Bronx news!
While filming for Channel 2's "Eye of New York," embattled State Senator Pedro Espada exited the building mid-interview when confronted with allegations that he isn't a Bronx resident.
Top Democratic donor Bill Samuels announced that he will direct up to $250,000 toward defeating Senator Espada in this year’s election. Samuels heads the New Roosevelt Initiative.
No more free rides for a Bronx man who held an illegal copy of an all-access- subway key. He was caught by the police peddling $2 rides for people waiting in line for a MetroCard.
An apartment complex on Grand Avenue in Morris Heights might be in for an new look thanks to Bronx-born Francine Kellman of Pacific Housing Advisors. She plans on renovating the building without replacing tenants or raising rent.
After two decades of calling Bronx Community College's campus home, University Heights High School is to be relocated to the South Bronx, against the wishes of parents, students and teachers. More coverage here in the Mount Hope Monitor.
The Bronx motorcycle club "Legion of Doom" lost its vice president early Saturday when he hit a pothole on Magenta Street in Bronxwood.
Environmentalist Majora Carter plans on infusing a Hunts Point apartment building with a fragrance that will make it smell like green grass rather than the local sewage plant.
A Bronx fisherman was rescued just in time after spending 40 minutes in the chilly waters of Eastchester Bay.
School Chancellor Joel I. Klein is in a high-stakes battle with the teachers' union over seniority rules. If the rules remain, the newest teachers will be the first to lose their jobs if the expected layoffs go through. Klein wants to change this, the union wants to keep things the way they are.
ATM scam artists are targeting Bronx residents. Read more here.
Andrew Cuomo would prefer Bill Thompson over Adolfo Carrion as his lieutenant governor, Crain's reports.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Approved: University Heights Secondary School's Move to the South Bronx
On Tuesday night, the city's Panel for Educational Policy voted to approve University Heights Secondary School's move to the South Bronx High School campus.
The school is being forced to relinquish its current building at Bronx Community College at end the school year, because the college says it needs the extra classroom space.
According to Marge Feinberg, a Department of Education spokesperson, nine Panel board members voted in favor of the move, and two against (the representatives of the Manhattan and Brooklyn borough presidents). The Bronx BP's rep was absent because of a car accident, Feinberg said.
We've left messages with teachers at the school, seeking their reaction to the vote, and will update this post when we hear back.
Many in the school community are furious with BCC, and also with the DOE for not doing move to fight the move and for recommending the South Bronx High School campus as the new site. (On BronxTalk on Monday night, host Gary Axelbank interviewed a parent and a teacher from the school, both of whom slammed the relocation plans. You can watch it here. Next Monday at 9 p.m. officials from Bronx Community College will appear on the same show - tune into Bronxnet's Cablevision channel 67 or Verizon Fios channel 33.)
It's possible - in theory - that BCC could reverse its decision, or that the DOE could find a different space more in tune with the school's wishes. (Local developer Frank DeLeonardis wants the city to consider his four-story building on Jerome Avenue at East 179th Street, which is just six or seven blocks from BCC.)
But the Panel for Educational Policy's "yes" vote makes this less lightly. "It doesn't look good for them [the school]" said Xavier Rodriguez, Community Board 5's district manager, at last night's community board meeting.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Bronx News Roundup, March 4
Good news: The snow from last week is almost all melted.
Bad news: It may snow tomorrow.
Bronx news:
Some coverage of the MTA hearings at the Paradise Theater on the Grand Concourse last night. (We'll have our coverage of this later today.)
A Bronx Community College student has received a $200,000 fellowship to study at Harvard University.
Police say a body pulled from Easchester Bay yesterday afternoon is that of the missing Scarsdale doctor who disappeared on Sunday.
The Riverdale Press talks about how the owners of the new Bronx Brewery are continuing a long borough tradition of brewing beer right here in the Bronx (well, they're stationed out of Yonkers, for now). The Bronx Brewery recently premiered its new brew, Riverd(ale), at the Bronx Ale House.
Here's a little story (from Fox News!?) on some hero cops who escorted a Long Island woman through the blizzard last week to the Montefiore Medical Center where she received a new liver.
Another story from The Riverdale Press talks about how Bronx residents in Kingsbridge and Riverdale are still waiting to feel the positive effects of recent stimulus funds.
Here's an article that has to do with a recent news story in Philadelphia, where a Principal used a laptop webcam to spy on a student and accuse him of using drugs. Skip to the middle of the article to read a particularly weird quote from a Bronx school administrator, who says spying on students through laptops is "always fun." Yeesh.
Borough Prez. Ruben Diaz Jr. recently launched a new website. Check it out here.
Several Bronx men with connections to a marijuana grow house were recently arrested after the property was busted.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Bronx News Roundup, March 2
A man has died after falling down an elevator shaft in an apartment building on the Grand Concourse. (UPDATE 12 p.m. - the incident happened at 1749 Grand Concourse, also known at the Lewis Morris. This building, it seems, is rarely out of the news. In 2008, a man was shot dead in the lobby. A year before, one person died and 40 were injured when a fast-moving fire swept along the corridors and up and done the stairs. The building is owned by SG2 Properties, a private equity firm that was taken to court by the Urban Justice Center for failing to make repairs in the apartments. SECOND UPDATE 8 p.m. - SG2 no longer owns the building. Thanks to Marie Toribio, a tenant, for pointing that out. The new landlord is Lemle & Wolff, Inc.)
One of Assemblyman Peter Rivera's aides is calling on Gov. David Paterson to resign. Bronx Democratic Party Chairman Carl Heastie, meanwhile, says the governor should be allowed to serve out his term.
March 7 is Oscar-night, but Cablevision subscribers in the Bronx may have to watch something else, following a contractual dispute between Cablevision and WABC.
A church is the north Bronx is helping undocumented Haitian immigrants apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) so they can stay here legally, rather than return to their earthquake-ravaged homeland.
For the past two decades, a Bronx man who works for the city's Department of Planning has been helping the Census Bureau track down elusive populations.
Nearly 270,000 Bronxites don't have a bank account. A new program, NYC SafeStart, is hoping to change this.
With service cuts imminent, the MTA is hosting a public hearing at the Loew's Paradise Theater tomorrow night.
A talented boxer from the South Bronx will return to the ring next week, after taking time out to have a baby. Nisa Rodriguez is hoping one day to compete in the Olympics.
The Bronx has a new community newspaper. The Bronx Free Press is an off-shoot of the Manhattan Times, a Washington Heights weekly published by David Keisman, who used to run the Bronx Times, and Luis Miranda, who along with Roberto Ramirez (the one-time Bronx Democratic Party boss) heads up the MirRam Group, a political consulting firm.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
DOE Proposes New Home For High School
In December, Bronx Community College divulged its intention to evict University Heights Secondary School from its campus at the end of this school year, so that the college can better accommodate a growing student body.
The decision maddened parents, teachers, and students at the school, as well as local politicians, who have been speaking out against BCC.
The Department of Education, meanwhile, has been busy hunting for a new site for the school, and on Tuesday announced they'd found one: the South Bronx High School Campus, at 701 St. Ann's Ave. (near East 156th Street).
Blogging in the Huffington Post, Alan Stringer, a Hofstra University professor and a friend of a University Heights teacher, criticized the DOE's proposal and said it would "kill" the school. He added:
My prediction is that if this plan goes through, students who would have selected UHHS will choose to go elsewhere and four years from now we will find it on the failing schools list and targeted for reorganization.The proposal (published below) will be discussed at a public hearing on March 11, at the South Bronx High School Campus. The final decision rests with the city’s Panel for Educational Policy.
DOE Proposal for UHSS
Monday, February 1, 2010
"Topping Off" Ceremony at BCC
Bronx Community College held a "Topping Off" ceremony in celebration of its new building last Thursday, Jan. 21.
The college has faced issues of overcrowding, and Williams cited BCC's current enrollment of 11,000 (and counting): "A new building is a necessity<" he said. "We need classroom space and we need a library - we need facilities which enable our faculty to teach and our students to learn."
Also included in the $102 million, 98,000-square-foot building is a two-story information commons.Clerestory windows will bring in a flow of natural light and provide views of the campus, the Cloisters and the Henry Hudson Bridge.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Bronx BP Opposes BCC's Decision To Evict School
Here's a letter Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. sent the president of Bronx Community College last week, asking her to reconsider plans to evict University Heights Secondary School from one of the college's buildings.
Diaz wrote, in part:
"[Moving the school] would not only have a negative effect on current and future students at school but would also put a stop to an educational partnership that serves as a shining example of one of the best methods in improving students outcomes and lives."The college says it needs the extra classroom space to cope with rising enrollment; teachers, parents and students at the high school want to stay where they are, believing a move will hurt students' grades.
More here and here.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Praise and Prayers for Cabrera on Inauguration Day
Fernando Cabrera's ceremonial inauguration last night at Bronx Community College played out like a star-studded spiritual revival as a small army of city politicians lined up to offer congratulations and predict a bright future for the Bronx's newest City Council member.
Although the night was ostensibly about Cabrera, who unseated two-term incumbent Maria Baez last fall, it was also bigger than him.
Speakers, from U.S. Senator Charles Schumer to new Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio to Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., hailed Cabrera's induction into the City Council as another big step in the positive reshaping of the Bronx political landscape.
"Something wonderful is happening in the Bronx," said DeBlasio, going on to praise the "new and dynamic leadership" in the borough.
DeBlasio and others said new B.P. Diaz and new Bronx Democratic Party leader Assemblyman Carl Heastie had made great strides in uniting the borough's historically-fractured gaggle of elected officials.
This manifested itself at the end of 2009 with the Council's nearly unanimous rejection of a Bloomberg-backed plan to turn the Kingsbridge Armory (which sits in the middle of Cabrera's 14th District) into a shopping mall. That wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the Bronx Council delegation's cohesion during the failed negotiations of a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with the Armory's designated developer, The Related Companies.
During his rousing speech, Diaz, who opposed the Armory plan without a CBA that would include guarantees of good-paying jobs, heaped praise on Cabrera for showing "leadership and courage" in stepping up during the negotiating process in December, though he had yet to take office. That was partly due to Baez's inexplicable absence (she's reportedly ill, but never made an official announcement about what's happened to her), but it was also because Cabrera offered his services and proved to be an asset during the process.
"It was there that he showed that over the next four years, we're going to have a productive time," Diaz said.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Bronx News Roundup, Sept. 24
By lifting zoning restrictions, and offering tax increntives, the city is hoping to encourage the buildings of supermarkets in neighborhoods where fresh produce is hard to come by.
There was a bomb scare last night at a warehouse in Highbridge.
In an editorial, the Post criticizes the Bronx DA for initially failing to contest the release of a drug dealer who was shot dead an assistant district attorney in 1990.
Police have arrested a man and 16-year-old boy in connection with the shooting death of a young mother in Mott Haven on Tuesday afternoon. Aisha Santiago was hit by a stray bullet when an argument between two groups of men turned violent.
A Bronx man, injured in a fall from a fire escape, could face jail-time after stealing a friend's identity so he could access health insurance.
Bronx Community College's volleyball team is on a roll, winning its first six games of the season.
Following the arrest of a bogus real estate agent, Bronx BP Ruben Diaz, Jr. is urging other victims to come forward. Josie Almonte allegedly stole thousands of dollars from unsuspecting apartment hunters in Northern Manhattan and the Bronx.
More on Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's failed attempts to rent two mansions in Riverdale.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
New Library and Classrooms for BCC
Bronx Community College broke ground this morning on a $102 million building that will house a huge library, classrooms, a lounge, and more. It's being designed by Robert A.M. Stern, an esteemed architect whose work is more often associated with Yale. Construction is expected to wrap up in 2011.
The "North Instructional Building and Library" is the first academic building to be built on the campus since BCC moved in to replace New York University in 1973. Today, more than 9,000 students are pursing degrees at the college, a 30 percent increase since 2001.
"As our enrollment grew we needed a new building," said President Carolyn Williams at the groundbreaking ceremony. Not that is was easy: it took 12 years to secure the necessary funding and turn the dream into a reality.
Williams called the 98,600-square-foot building "a symbol of our commitment to provide the best for our students."
The 43-acre campus is already home to several magnificent structures, including the Gould Memorial Library (1900) and the Hall of Fame for Great Americans (1901). Both were designed by Stanford White, who was famous both in life (his other masterpieces include the New York Herald Building) and death (he was murdered).
The challenge for Stern, then, was to create something that didn't look out of place, while at the same time making it user-friendly and incorporating 21st Century "green" technology, such as high-efficiency and low-flow plumbing fixtures.
"The interior will knock the socks off people when they see it," said Stern in a statement. "On the one hand it's classical and on the other it's light and airy."
When finished, the three-story building will boast views of the Cloisters and the Henry Hudson Bridge.
