Bronx News Roundup, Feb. 1

Welcome to February, Boogie Downers. Everyone enjoying Mother Nature's offering  this morning of a swirling, prickly mongrel mix of snow and ice? It feels like someone's tossing a fistful of tacks at you while you walk around in this stuff.

This type of sleet/snow is expected to continue through the morning, tapper off in the afternoon and then pick back up tonight with winds blowing everything around after midnight. Then, for a fun change of pace tomorrow, it's going to rain!

[Pause for everyone to throw something or bang their head against their desk.]

OK, we've regrouped. On to the news.

Story of the Day:
Norwood's Foodtown supermarket, which burned down 13 months ago in a fire that investigators say was the result of arson, is scheduled to re-open this month, say co-owners Dan and Noah Katz. Residents say Foodtown's big (11,000-square-feet of shopping space) return will be a boost to a community beset by two devastating 2009 fires.

The other fire, on Halloween of last year, destroyed a bustling commercial corner (where Bainbridge Avenue turns south toward Mosholu Parkway) of 10 businesses. That lot remains vacant and serves as a constant reminder (read: eyesore) to residents. But as we reported last month (and the Daily News reiterated today), West Bronx Stores, Inc., the entity that owns the lot is actively trying to lease and develop the property. Stay tuned.

Quick Hits: 
Despite vague and gossipy rumors of a serious illness, the Bronx's own Father of Hip-Hop, DJ Kool Herc, aka Clive Campbell, is simply recovering from surgery to remove kidney stones. However, it is true that Herc doesn't have medical insurance and is struggling to pay for continued health care.

The Baron Ambrosia, aka Justin Fornal (does everyone have a moniker these days?), the colorfully eccentric star of Bronxnet's "Bronx Flavor" food show, hosted the First Annual Bronx Pipe Smoking Society Small Game Dinner at the old Bronx Borough Courthouse. The Baron asked chefs to prepare meats taken from small woodland creatures, including beavers, muskrats, otters, a squirrels, an opossum and a fisher. Yum.

Cory Gunz, the Bronx rapper managed by his father, Bronx rapper Peter Gunz, is set to star in a new show on MTV. 

More reflections from Bronx-born filmmaker Rashaad Ernesto Green following the debut of his film "Gun Hill Road" at Sundance.

The DN's Bob Kappstatter says Bronx State Senator Jeff Klein's bold move to break away from the Democratic minority conference and form his own independent caucus is paying dividends, as the foursome has garnered three chairmanships (which are handed out by the GOP majority) and is increasingly making the John Sampson-led Democrats "irrelevant." Kappy also has some nice to things to say about the late Bronx pol Guy Velella who died last week and a buffet of other Bronx nuggets.

[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 Weekend News Roundup, Jan. 31

Walked past a sturdy, 60ish woman this morning shoveling her walkway for perhaps the eighth or 15th time this winter. She smiled and rolled her eyes and looked at me. "Just making way for the next one," she said. We both chuckled and cursed, knowing full well, it's not over.

Indeed, the National Weather Service has issued a "Winter Storm Watch" for the Bronx this week and says snow could come as soon as tonight, with more on the way Tuesday, with lingering flurries continuing into Wednesday. Sigh. Gird yourselves, Bronxites.

Story of the Day
A dead Riverdale man, Raphael Klapper, collected 828 votes in the general election for the 31st State Senate District this past fall. Klapper, 85, died in May, but the Conservative Party collected signatures and put his name on the ballot anyway. William Newmark, chairman of the Bronx Conservative Party, said he didn't know Klapper was dead until the Board of Elections called him two months before the election to tell him so.

Which brings us to this question: Who in this situation was most oblivious/inept? The Conservative Party for putting a dead man on the ballot? The Board of Elections for keeping a dead man on the ballot? Or the 828 people who voted for a dead man?

(Note: Democrat Ariano Espaillat won this seat, taking over for new AG Eric Schneiderman. [Follow-up note: this past election, the Conservative Party put up another candidate, John McCarthy, in the 33rd District, without telling McCarthy about it. The Norwood resident found out when he received something in the mail from the Board of Elections.])

Quick Hits
An urban planner at CUNY who helped develop a mobile phone app for finding city landmarks, used his own hand-held device to find the Hall of Fame for Great Americans at Bronx Community College and the Loew's Paradise Theater on the Grand Concourse, below Fordham Road.

A new series on the The Huffington Post uses Milbank Real Estate's disastrous investment in Bronx apartment buildings to highlight how similarly risky ventures across the country are hitting tenants hard this winter. (For BxNN coverage of the Milbank saga, click here.)

Legendary Bronx DJ Kool Herc is reportedly too broke to pay for badly-needed surgery.

Legal nonprofit groups like the Bronx Defenders are using a new Supreme Court ruling to push for lawyers to be more proactive in telling their clients about how pleading guilty could lead to deportation for many immigrants.

Near Yankee Stadium, Muhammed Rashid, a Subway sandwich shop employee, was slashed in the neck yesterday after allegedly refusing to share a cigarette with someone.

After their Van Nest building burned down last year, a Bronx family has struggled to survive.

A Bronx minister was indicted Friday on rape charges.

A Bronx man was sentenced to 46 months for gold robberies in northern Virginia.

[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, May 29

We'll start with the lady of the moment, Supreme Court nominee and Bronxite Sonia Sotomayor. The Times reports that Sotomayor was very active as a board member with the nonprofit Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (now known as Latino Justice), which took up discrimination cases against the likes of the NYPD and Ronald Reagan.


She was a young prosecutor at the time, but conservative critics may link her involvment with the fund and a case in Connecticut where she ruled against two white firefighters who said minority co-workers were getting promotions based on skin color, not merit or test scores.

Sotmayor's getting a break from her current job on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.

The AP, via Google, gives a comprehensive look at the nominee's career and how she's beign portrayed in the media.

Slate writes about Sotomayor's country of ancestry: Puerto Rico.

Other news:
Rev. Run (of Run DMC fame) is working to open a new playground in the Bronx. He and his wife will be holding a fundraiser at Odyssey House, 1328 Clinton Ave. (where the playground will be built), on June 18.

The Red Cross laid off its entire Bronx office last week as part of nation-wide downsizing effort.

Four Bronxites will be inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame on Friday June 19: Hip-hop pioneer DJ Kool Herc, singer Tony Orlando ("Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree"), grammy-winning artist Melissa Manchester and actress Judy Reyes ("Scrubs").

Another Landlord/Tenant Dispute in the West Bronx

The so-called "home of hip-hop" isn't the only Sedgwick Avenue apartment building in the news this week. According to AM New York, tenants living in 1849 Sedgwick Ave. have bought a class action suit against their landlord who's allegedly failed to correct hundreds of housing code violations, leaving them without heat and forcing them to share their apartments with rats and roaches.

If you missed it, HPD recently decided to close the door on the proposed sale of 1520 Sedgwick Ave. The building, once home to hip-hop pioneer DJ Kool Herc, is part of the Mitchell-Lama affordable housing program. (1849 Sedgwick Ave. also used to be enrolled.) Tenants and housing advocates were worried the sale to a wealthy real estate developer - and the building's removal from the program - would result in soaring rents. According to The Times, the sale was scuppered "because the financing of the sale was not viable under current rent restrictions." More here.

In January, tenants announced their intention to buy the building themselves and convert it into affordable co-operatives. Thanks to HPD's decision, that now looks more likely.

Battle in the Bronx to Save Hip-Hop's Home

Here's some shots from this morning's press conference at 1520 Sedgwick Ave., aka the "home the hip-hop," a 100-unit apartment complex in Morris Heights.

It's a building, say housing advocates, that's in danger of losing its affordability, following the landlord's decision, last February, to remove it from Mitchell-Lama housing program, a state program whereby landlords keep rents low in return for tax credits.

At today's event, tenants announced their intention to buy the building themselves (with a little help from HPD) and to convert the apartments into affordable cooperatives. The amount they've raised, however, is a couple of million short of what real estate developer, Mark Karasick, is after. A fundraising Web site has been launched to generate publicity and pull in the rest.


The west Bronx has become a graveyard of sorts for Mitchell-Lama buildings. In 2006, for example, both 1655 Undercliff Ave. and 1889 Sedgwick Ave. were yanked from the program. But it's 1520 Sedgwick Ave. that's getting the attention, chiefly because of its official status as the birthplace of a multi-billion dollar industry.

Originally, tenants and advocates hoped that the building's musical legacy, and the fact that it's now eligible to be listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places, would block the Mitchell-Lama buyout. This now seems unlikely, hence the tenants' decision to try and purchase it.

Pictured above is hip-hop pioneer DJ Kool Herc, who lived in the building in the 1970s. (Herc said he'll be calling P Diddy, 50 Cent, and other stars with deep pockets to ask for a contribution.) Below is New York Senator Chuck Schumer with tenants. Above right, a view of 1520 Sedgwick Ave. from the street. (Photos by J. Fergusson)

More here in The Times. And here's what The Times' David Gonzalez wrote about 1520 Sedgwick Ave. back in May.

Officially, The Birth Place of Hip Hop

Despite a steady downpour this morning, Congressman Jose Serrano, Senator Chuck Schumer, local residents and a handful of Bronx hip-hop legends showed up in the West Bronx to celebrate New York State's formal recognition of 1520 Sedgwick Ave. as the official birth place of hip hop.

The celebration was also an opportunity for the lawmakers to urge that 1520 Sedgwick remain affordable housing and to push for more affordable housing citywide. In February, the owners of the Birth Place of Hip Hop announced their intention to convert the property into market-rate housing. The 100-unit building is currently part of the city's Mitchell-Lama program, which keeps rents affordable, but is being phased out by owners throughout the five boroughs. Here's the Times' David Gonzalez's piece for some more background and depth.

Housing advocates say some 39,000 units may lose their Mitchell-Lama designation soon, forcing out many long-time tenants, unless Mayor Bloomberg puts a moratorium on buy-outs of all city-funded Mitchell-Lama buildings until a suitable preservation strategy can be created and implemented.

In the basement of 1520 Sedgwick, the hip hop music genre was born under the guidance and creaivity of DJ Kool Herc (aka Clive Campbell) in the 1970s. Herc and his sister, Cindy, threw parties in that basement featuring the first forms of hip hop music and dance. Since then, the Bronx has spawned hip hop icons such as Afrikaa Bambataa, Grandmaster Flash and KRS-One, to name just a few, and the genre has exploded across the globe.