Toxins Send PS 51 to Crotona

Editor's Note: This story first appeared in the latest issue of the Norwood News, out now.

Bronx New School, housed on Van  Cortlandt Avenue East in an old lighting factory,
will have a new home in a former Catholic school two miles away in Crotona.
(Photo by Adi Talwar)

By Ronald Chavez

At a tense public hearing last week, the Department of Education announced it will be moving Bedford Park elementary school PS 51, known as the Bronx New School, to a new building two miles south—the result of a discovery earlier this summer that its current site contains hazardous levels of a chemical toxin linked to cancer.

“I apologize to you. It will not happen again,” Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott told a crowd of seething parents at the Aug. 18 meeting at the Bronx High School of Science.

Parents: Tell The DOE What You Think

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott is asking New York City parents what kind of information they want from the DOE about their child's school and education. Here's the link to the survey; deadline is July 25. Check out the flier below for more info.

Bronx News Roundup, July 19

Weather: keep the sunblock handy and the AC cranked on--another hot and sunny one today, with temperatures in the low-90s. The heat will continue through the rest of the week, hitting a peak on Friday.

Story of the Day: Former Council Speaker Turns Bronx Builder
Today's Wall Street Journal takes a closer look at Gifford Miller, a former City Council speaker and one-time mayoral hopeful who, according to the story, "has no interest in ever returning to politics." His new career path--real estate--has brought him to the Bronx, where his firm is attempting to rezone a swath of land  in West Farms/Crotona Park to build a massive affordable housing complex.

We wrote about the $400 million project, which will consist of 10 high-rise buildings around the Cross Bronx and Sheridan Expressways, in the June issue of the Tremont Tribune, and some readers seemed wary of the plan. Read more here. 

Quick Hits:
The family of a 13-year-old Bronx girl say they will sue the Department of Education, claiming the girl was repeatedly raped by a computer repairman employed at her Harlem school.

Bronx News Roundup, June 28

Apologies for the lateness of today's roundup--we're busy going to press with the latest Norwood News, which will be out tomorrow. Here are some other Bronx headlines to keep you up-to-date in the meantime.

Weather: Cloudy and around 80 degrees this afternoon, with thunderstorms expected later tonight.

Gay Bronxites and their straight allies are basking in Friday's historic decision by the state legislature to legalize same-sex marriage. Last week, Bronx Community Pride Center became the first local LGBT group to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

Bronx News Roundup, March 8

It's a clear and beautiful morning in the Bronx today, with highs reaching into the mid-40s this afternoon. On to our news roundup:

Story of the day: 

Reporter David Greene snapped this photo from the scene of a fire on the Grand Concourse yesterday, when firefighters rescued 14 pit bulls from a blazing sixth-floor apartment in a building in Fordham Heights. All of the dogs, including one puppy and four newborns, were safe and one was treated for a minor injury. No people where injured. We'll have more photos and the rest of Greene's account shortly.

Stand-up comedian and Bronx native Mike DeStefano, who spun his troubled childhood and recovery from heroin addiction into his comedic routines, died yesterday. His lawyer told the New York Times that DeStefano was in his 40s, but could not confirm an exact age or cause of death. 

A Bronx woman was struck and killed by a car yesterday after stepping into a lane of traffic on a Westchester road to avoid a puddle caused by recent flooding, police said. Her companion was also injured.

A man accused of beating a 25-year-old Bronx woman into a coma over a parking space apologized outside of a Manhattan court yesterday, and said the injured woman, Lana Rosas, was the one who hit him first.

The cabdriver accused of mowing down two men in Manhattan after refusing to drive them to the Bronx has a history of confrontations with passengers, according to the Daily News. He was fined and suspended by the Taxi and Limosine Commission last year after supposedly abusing another rider.

New York City is poised to become the most gridlocked city in the country, according to a new report, which sites a stretch of the Cross Bronx Expressway as the worst traffic spot. 

A Bronx high school and a middle school, which have yet to be named publicly, will soon be part of the DOE's plan to test a new "turnaround" tactic. Instead of closing down the low-performing schools, as it has done in the past, the city will try replacing the principal and half of the teachers at the sites in hopes of improving them.

Bronx Activists Arrested at DOE Protest

Leaders from Sistas & Brothas United, the youth organizing arm of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, were among those arrested Monday night during a protest against the Department of Education's controversial plans to close 25 public schools across the city.

Sistas & Brothas United helped organize the press conference and rally, outside of DOE headquarters on Chambers Street in downtown Manhattan. Director Maria Fernandez and four other leaders from the group were among those arrested for making a human chain to block the sidewalk outside the DOE's building, in what Fernandez described as an act of "civil disobedience."

"You shut our schools down, we shut your streets down," Fernandez said. "It was 23 of us lined up on Chambers Street. We linked arms, and we had 300 students, parents and allies chanting and cheering us on."

NYPD officers read them their rights, she said, then brought the group to a nearby police precinct for about an hour. Also arrested were City Council Members Jumaane Williams and Charles Barron, of Brooklyn. Fernandez said she received a citation to appear in court in April.

The DOE's Panel for Educational Policy voted last night to shut down 10 schools for poor performance, including four in the Bronx: School for Community Research and Learning, Urban Assembly Academy for History and Citizenship for Young Men, New Day Academy and Monroe Academy for Business/Law High School.

The panel will hold another hearing tomorrow to decide the fates of another batch of schools, including the Bronx's John F. Kennedy High School, Christopher Columbus High School, Global Enterprise High School, P.S.102 and Performance Conservatory High School.

Bronx News Roundup, Dec. 9

Fordham University's basketball team beat out Manhattan College last night in the "Battle of the Bronx."

As BxNN reporter James Fergusson pointed out yesterday, Sen. Pedro Espada told supporters via Facebook in September that he'll "continue being a senator through December 31st," though he's been MIA in Albany the past few weeks (see here and here.)

A woman was convicted yesterday for killing a 91-year-old woman during a robbery in the Bronx in 2003. Nadine Panton, 34, also of the Bronx, faces 25 years to life in prison in a sentencing later this month.

A 48-year-old Bronx man was arrested and charged with carjacking and stealing $100,000 worth of merchandise from a jewelry store in Pelham Manor.

The city is trying to shut down a crackhouse on Hunts Point Avenue by suing under the public nuisance law. Neighbors and police say the building, near the Bruckner Expressway in Hunts Point, has been a problem drug spot for years.

Village Voice reporter Elizabeth Dwoskin eloquently recalls the worst bathroom she's ever seen in her years on the housing beat--one in a neglected apartment building on Lorillard Place.

More outrage over the DOE's plans to close 10 Bronx schools next fall.

Bronx residents, and those across the city, are having a cold winter--over the past two months there have been 71,000 complaint calls to 311 from tenants who have no heat in their buildings.

A Bronx driver accused of killing a pregnant woman when he lost control of his van in Manhattan last year will face jail time.

The Riverdale Press takes a closer look at Londell Byrd, the 18-year-old Riverdale teen who was shot and killed in Soundview this past weekend. Byrd was "well-liked" in the community and was going to Pace University in the fall.

Ed. note: Start a discussion about any of these stories, or anything else you want to talk about in our forum. Highlight problems in your neighborhood with our SeeClickFix feature. And find out what's happening in our constantly-updated events calendar.

Bronx News Roundup, Nov. 4

Congressman Jose E. Serrano says he went to work yesterday with the goal of getting back a Democratic majority in 2012, after this Tuesday's election saw a Republican takeover of the House.

On the local level, it looks like Republicans in the State Senate could be on the verge of taking the majority, or at least ending up with a tie. More here.

A woman discovered an old military explosive while cleaning out her deceased uncle's Throgs Neck home. Police came to dispose of the mortar round, which may have been from the uncle's days in World War II.

Four members of a family from Mott Haven died in a car accident yesterday in Maryland, as they drove back to New York from Virginia Beach. Carmelo Dominguez, his wife Evelyn Morales, daughter Natasha Dominguez and 2-year-old grandson Jose were killed in the wreck.

Students and teachers at Herbert H. Lehman High School, in Westchester Square, worry an 'F' the school received on its DOE report card could mean closure for the school, or at least interfere with a longtime campaign to renovate their unusable football field.

The Post says the replacement of a longtime principal at Lehman two years ago is to blame for its slipping grades, according to some parents.

Mayor Bloomberg says he was unaware of an old city rule that banned cars with city plates from being towed--the regulation meant Assemblyman Nelson Castro, who has $8,600 in unpaid parking tickets, could park without fear.

Bronx News Roundup, Dec. 21

Last night, a Bronx resident, Jesus Vega, was shot dead outside of his home in Parkchester. Police do not yet know the motive or the perpetrator of the crime.

For more information about the devastating fire on 204th Street, visit NY1. Also, check back on the blog for more news updates regarding the fire.

Bronx families struggle to save up money for Christmas presents.

After a public housing complex on Magenta Street flooded last Thursday night, emergency crews worked through Friday morning to bring back water and heat to the building.

If the Department of Education follows through with its plan to close Alfred E. Smith high school, adults will not be able to take classes in plumbing and carpentry at the school, as they do now.

The principal of Academy of Letters in the South Bronx will leave her school to accept a position as the mayor of Los Angeles' deputy mayor of education.

In order to help a Brooklyn mother with leukemia, BronxWorks is holding a bone marrow testing drive at 1130 Grand Concourse today in hopes of finding a bone marrow match, which could save the patient's life.

Bronx News Roundup, May 20

Police are looking for a man they say sexually assaulted two teenager girls in the past 10 days in the same building near the corner of Kingsbridge Road and the Grand Concourse.

According to the NY Post, cops say the man, described as balding, in his mid-30s, 5-9, 180 pounds, attacked an 18-year-old on May 10, but she managed to escape before being raped. But on Monday, cops say the suspect grabbed a 17-year-old girl, dragged her into the same nearby abandoned building as the first victim and raped her.

Police say rapes usually happen domestically, but these are random grab and drag assaults. The first assault happened in the middle of the day. The other late at night.

Here's video and a sketch of the subject on NY1.

On Monday, we wrote that the Armory's developer, Related Companies, is well-connected with the city. Yesterday, Eliot Brown on PolitickerNY.com wrote about how Related managed to not only get the Armory project certified by City Planning, but also its even more gigantic project over the West Side Railyards in Manhattan.

That means both projects will be in the hands of the current roster of Council members and a friendly mayor. Brown writes: "In the wake of November’s elections, the Council’s membership will change somewhat, starting Jan. 1—and perhaps the mayor will, too—adding uncertainty for developers in what can be a highly political process."

Stay tuned.

Scary Albany news that could impact Bronxites and everyone else from the Times: A report by state comptroller says revenue was down 44% from last year, meaning more budget cuts might be needed by the end of the year.

Speaking of cuts, the DOE says schools will have to cut 5% of their budgets for the next school year. The likely casualties: vital after-school and weekend programs.

MS 399 Protest Walk

On Feb. 12, over 150 protesters from the Middle School 399 community rallied a second time outside the school, located on 184th Street at Creston Avenue, in preparation for a one mile march to the Community District 10 Education Council Meeting at MS 45 to contest their school's closure. They held their first rally in December.

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