News Roundup for July 5

The Daily News has an update on the 2 kids who were hospitalized when the building they lived in collapsed Sunday. The 10-year old, Damian, is having his leg amputated today, and his 12-year-old brother Frank is recovering from a broken arm and leg, smashed ribs and punctured lungs. Developer Gerald Lieblich, who also owns the Loew's Paradise, is listed as the owner in city records, but he is claiming he has no interest in the company that owns 2260 Grand Concourse.

This summer, New Yorkers will have access to 69 schoolyards from 8 a.m. to dusk. It's part of a $111 million initiative to open almost 300 schoolyards to the public. In the West Bronx, PS 15, IS 391, PS 279, PS 306, PS 340 and PS 246 are open to the community.

A plan to paint all the subway stations is stalled, according to the Daily News.

And from Tuesday's News, Jeffrey Dinowitz was named Chair of the Assembly Committee on the Aging.

News Roundup for July 3

You heard it here first.
And now it's a done deal. The Bronx Times and Bronx Times Reporter have been gobbled up by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, owner of the New York Post and, as of last year, a bunch of Brooklyn and Queen weeklies.
More on this later.

The Gotham Gazette has a report from Comptroller Bill Thompson on the lack of oversight of Beacon Centers. In the current issue of the Norwood News, we report on a local Beacon Center being taken over by Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC). The center at PS 86 was formerly run by the non-profit Aspira.

In the Daily News:
A team of Daily News reporters learned that the owner of the Grand Concourse building that collapsed Sunday morning, critically injuring two kids, is Gerald Lieblich, the developer who owns the Paradise Theater and the Russian Tea Room. Lieblich faces a hearing on August 17 for allegedly failing to maintain the facade of the 1-story building. He would not comment for the Daily News story.

In "Around the Bronx," Patrice O'Shaughnessy profiles John Mateo, the city employee who died June 24 after being beaten into a coma on Kingsbridge Road and Morris Ave. a month ago. Mateo was a Lehman College graduate and a Latin jazz musician. A suspect has been arrested in the attacks on Mateo and several other men. (Not online yet)

The Bronx section also reports on a Bronx eviction prevention program that's being expanded to Brooklyn and an initiative by Councilman James Vacca to put all Buildings Department permits and applications online to help people monitor what's going on in their neighborhood.

And there's a farewell to CB 7 district manager Rita Kessler, who is leaving the board after 18 years. Here's the Norwood News' story on Kessler's retirement.

The Gotham Gazette has a report from Comptroller Bill Thompson on the lack of oversight of Beacon Centers. In the current issue of the Norwood News, we report on a local Beacon Center being taken over by Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC). The center at PS 86 was formerly run by the non-profit Aspira.