Bronx News Roundup, Aug. 11

Weather: Another beautiful one in the Bronx today, with temperatures a bit cooler than yesterday (think high 70s/low 80s), blue skies and lots of sun. Take your lunch break outside!

On to the news. Lots of headlines this morning about the Soundview Healthcare Network run by former Bronx Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., which just got kicked out of the state's Medicaid program and is likely facing closure. You can read more on this in our previous post, here. According to the A.P., Espada says he'll fight the state's decision with a court order.

Bronx schools scored the worst of the five boroughs on the state's English exams last year, with only 31 percent of students passing (that's compared to 44 percent citywide).

Hansel Aguero, 17, of Soundview, is off to Amsterdam this week to compete in a Yu-Gi-Oh! world championship tournament (Yu-Gi-Oh!, in case you didn't know, is a Japanese trading card game the kids are apparently into these days. I think the equivalent of my generation's Pogs). We liked Hansel's oh-so-confident, hometown-pride attitude: "I feel pretty confident," he told the Daily News. "I'm from the Bronx. I'm not scared of nothing."

Your Bronxites of the Year!

We posted this last week, but seeing as there will probably be no further posting today we thought we'd once again unveil, in the spirit of MLK Day, your choices for Bronxites of the Year -- those who give, and have given, so much to their communities without much recognition or glory. This is a new feature and something we'll probably do every year. Enjoy!


A few weeks ago, as 2010 came to a close, we asked our readers to submit their choices for Bronxite of the Year--taking a cue from Time Magazine and its annual person of the year. We asked you to nominate a member of your community who you thought made a difference this year, who's been a force for good, and who's gone above and beyond.

To be clear, this isn't a contest, but more of a way to showcase a number of individuals who served the borough with distinction in 2010. We didn't pick a winner--we're posting them all below.

So here they are--your picks for Bronxite of the Year.

Meg Charlop at the Tour de Bronx in 2000 (Norwood News file photo)

Zach Charlop-Powers nominated his mother, Meg Charlop, a long-time Norwood resident and veteran public health advocate who worked at Montefiore for more than 25 years in the Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, and most recently as director for community health in the School Health Program. Charlop passed away in a tragic bicycle accident in March at the age of 57.

"My mother was devoted to the Bronx and the people of the Bronx," Charlop-Powers wrote. "She moved into the Bronx in the 70's when everybody else was leaving, and she worked tirelessly and fearlessly."

Charlop's many accomplishments throughout decades of work include organizing tenants against deadbeat landlords, rallying against the use of lead-paint in Bronx homes, and establishing several school health and fitness programs.

"For the work my mother did, for her unbelievable capacity for love of the people of the Bronx, for her dedication to them, and for the rare ability to actually get things put into motion I think she should be your Bronxite of 2010," Charlop-Powers wrote.

 

Longtime Bronx pastor Father Flynn.
(Photo by David Gonzalez)

Bronx native and New York Times reporter David Gonzalez nominates Father John C. Flynn, who retired this summer from St. Martin of Tours parish, where he was pastor for over 20 years.

Known for his work outside the pulpit as much as within it, Flynn fought for years against neighborhood drug-related violence. He started “Save a Generation,” a program during the 1990s to assist high school dropouts. His campaign for young people to trade their guns in for a crucifix was profiled in the New York Times and other media outlets and he was known for his long daily walks around the church's Crotona neighborhood.

Flynn gave his last sermon in June and is currently living in Riverdale, at a home for retired priests.

Bob Connolly, CEO for BronxWest Consulting, nominates Sister Eileen Richards, who taught math and science at the all-girls Aquinas High School in Belmont for over 44 years. (No photo available.)

"Sister Eileen is as humble and modest a person as I've ever met," Connolly wrote. "She is a person who has spent her entire life in the Bronx. Several times over the years she has had the opportunity to move on to different positions in suburban Catholic schools and each time she decided her place is in the Bronx."

During her decades teaching, Sister Eileen has helped countless young women of the Bronx graduate from high school and go on to college, Connolly said, many of whom "have returned to the Bronx as doctors and other professionals now serving their community in valuable ways."

Bronx political activist Yorman Nunez at a rally (Photo by Adi Talwar)

Kingsbridge Heights resident Jack Marth picked young community organizer Yorman Nunez as his choice--a selection seconded by another reader, Thomas Waters.

Nunez, who's only 22, has worked worked for the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition and even once toyed with a run for City Council in 2009. This year, he jumped on the campaign trail once again to work for two local political candidates--Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, the first person to challenge Pedro Espada, and later for Gustavo Rivera after Pilgrim-Hunter dropped out.

"He managed a remarkably professional campaign," Marth wrote. "The New Roosevelt Initiative eventually hired him to manage its field operations in support of the Rivera candidacy."

Marth also recognized Juan Antigua and Wendoly Marte for working to get Rivera elected.

"I have great hope for the future of the Bronx because of great young leaders in our community like these three," he said.

BxNN reader Connie Anestis wanted to nominate not one person, but the entire staff at Leroy's Pharmacy on 204th Street.

Employees at Leroy's Drug Store (Norwood News file photo)

"They are so much more than a business," she wrote. "They greet each customer, treat everyone with respect, make no distinction between those with insurance and without, those with cash and those with Medicaid cards."

Leroy's employees are always willing to answer questions and make suggestions about a customer's health regimen, Anestis said.

"They are truly an asset to the neighborhood."

Community activist Karen Argenti nominates BronxTalk host and BxNN blog contributor Gary Axelbank as her choice for Bronxite of 2010, for his many roles as an advocate for the community. He's hosted the BRONXNET show for 17 years, one of the longest running TV talk shows in New York City.

"While being completely objective, his interviews on BronxTalk provide Bronxites with unique in-depth access not available anywhere else," Argenti wrote. "The show has highlighted culture, community, economic, educational, environmental, fitness/health, music, and last but not least, he is not afraid to tackle the issues that impact our lifestyle’s most – politics!"

BronxTalk host Gary Axelbank

"Often, he is the first person community advocates turn to for advice on their issues. In many cases and because of his passion for right over wrong, he provides technical advice, publicity and public relations support, often without taking credit for that input."

Axelbank, Argenti said, is also a longtime Bronx resident and devoted husband and father.

"A real Bronx family!" she said.

Bronx real estate broker Gregory Tsougranis casts his vote for Marlene Cintron, President of the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (BOEDC), the economic arm of Bronx Borough President's office, a position she was appointed to last winter.

BOEDC President Marlene Cintron

"When I had my Bronx real estate trolley tour she came down in person (on a Saturday !!) to meet the prospective home buyers interested in making the Bronx their home," Tsougranis explained. "This is beyond the call of duty as Bronx Economic Czar. She is out there making herself available unselfishly to common everyday people."

Cintron was approached by new Gov. Cuomo earlier this month with the prospect of joining his new economic team--an offer she turned down to stay in the Bronx, according to the Daily News.

"Many people use the Bronx as a stepping stone," Tsougranis said. "She stuck with the Bronx even when courted by higher offices."

Bronx News Roundup, June 21

The Times profiles Father John Flynn, the retiring longtime pastor of St. Martins of Tours church whose presence has become a fixture in the Crotona area since 1981. He presided over his last mass (pictured above) on Sunday.  The Tremont Tribune wrote about Father Flynn in March.

The city is holding a hearing today on a proposal that would turn the Grand Concourse -- from 153rd Street to 167th Street -- into New York's newest historic district. Back in the day, "If you lived on the Concourse, it was a sign that you had made it," Bronx Borough Historian Lloyd Ultan told the Post.


 The Daily News writes about a couple of Bronx teens looking for work in a tough job market this summer.

A bail hearing for the four men accused of plotting to bomb two Riverdale synagogues is set for today. Protesters, friends and relatives say there's not enough evidence to keep them in jail. The defendants say they were coerced into the plot by FBI operatives.

As of yesterday, police were still looking for a teenage mother and her daughter who went missing.

An 18-year-old refugee from Sierra Leone who lived in the Bronx was stabbed to death early Sunday morning in Washington Heights. Another man was shot and killed hours later in Melrose.(On early Saturday morning, a 27-year-old man was found dead on Perry Avenue, in Norwood, with multiple gun shot wounds.)

A career military man who grew up in Mott Haven was killed at a Georgia  Army base.

New in the Tremont Tribune

This month's Tribune is now online.  Stories include:

20th Anniversary of Happy Land Fire Nears
Tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of the blaze, started by a jilted ex-boyfriend at a social club at 1959 Southern Blvd that left 87 people dead.

Lessons From Fire Still Linger
The Happy Land fire tradegy is a stark reminder of the dangers posed by unlicensed buildings, and a warning to the city agencies that oversee them.

St. Martin of Tours Pastor Still Hard at Work
It was just last spring that Father John C. Flynn collapsed during a friendly game of golf and had to have a pacemaker put in his heart—an operation that, after complications, landed him in St. Barnabas Hospital for several days. But that bout with illness hasn’t kept the 81-year-old priest from his post at St. Martin of Tours Parish, where he’s been the pastor for over 20 years.

Award for 92-Year-old St. Barnabas Volunteer
Alice Stafford Otis, 92, first started working at St. Barnabas Hospital in 1969, and has been a volunteer there for the past 15 years. 

Also, be sure to check out our What's Going On? section for local events and annoucements.