Bronx News Roundup, Oct. 26

The first ever "Savor the Bronx" restaurant week from Nov. 1 to Nov. 13 will feature 20 percent discounts at participating restaurants and more.

A massive West Farms development project is moving closer to reality as the properties on which it will sit have been rezoned by the City Council. The mixed-use project will include 1,300 units (half of them affordable housing) and 46,000 square feet of retail space. It straddles both sides of the Cross Bronx Expressway. The Tremont Tribune reported on planning for the development back in June. Former Council Speaker Gifford Miller is a partner in the development firm, Signature Properties. More coverage here and here.

The Grand Concourse, from 153rd Street to 167th Street, was designated as a historic district by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission yesterday. More history of the century-old thoroughfare here.

Trash output is down all over the city, except the Bronx. (Story is worth checking out for the lede alone:-)

A new species of bat is named for researcher at the Bronx Zoo.

The new Marion Avenue Neighborhood Association formed after a wild gun battled earlier this month on Oct. 9.

Bronx hip-hop duo Rebel Diaz performs their "We're the 99 percent" rap for Democracy Now!

Occupiers and Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition activists merged agendas on Saturday. Norwood News has the story.

Bronx News Roundup, Aug. 31

Weather: Clear and sunny today in the low 80s. It could get a little overcast later this afternoon, but there's no real rain in the forecast until this weekend.

We missed yesterday's news roundup--let's just blame the hurricane--but we're back to our regularly scheduled blogging. Here are some Bronx news headlines from yesterday and this morning.

Crotona Park resident Jose Sierra, 68, is among the 40 or so victims who died during this weekend's storm. A Puerto Rican native and father of 13, Sierra was an avid fisherman who went out to check on his boat at a City Island marina on Sunday morning. His body was found that afternoon in the waters nearby.

Former State Sen. Pedro Espada, Jr., and his son are defending themselves against charges of fraud and money laundering by blaming their accountants. The Espadas' defense lawyer, the Daily News reports, is claiming the men assumed their use of taxpayer funds from the Soundview Health Clinics they controlled--to pay for things like sushi restaurant tabs and birthday party pony rides--were legal because the expenses were approved by an accounting firm.

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 Crime Watch: Police Seek Suspect in Murder of 16-year-old

Investigators are looking for help locating three suspects (see video), described as being Hispanic males in their late teens or early 20s, who police believe are responsible for the recent murder of 16-year-old Jose Miguel Marte.

A resident of Franklyn Avenue, near E. 166th Street, Marte was shot once in the chest and once in the stomach on Sunday night, Feb. 20. Police found him in front of 365 E. 184th St. EMS took Marte to St. Barnabas Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

A week later, police released a video (see above) showing footage of the suspects walking down a street. The footage is grainy, but police managed to zoom in on the suspects’ faces and slow the images down. Police have not yet identified the suspects and are actively seeking the public’s assistance.

Editor’s note: If you have information about this murder, you can call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline, (800) 577-TIPS. You can also submit tips online at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering in the code TIP577.

BP Diaz 'Digusted' by American Idol

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., is firing off against last night's episode of "American Idol," where one contender, a 16-year-old boy named Travis Orlando, took camera crews on a tour of the Bronx neighborhood where he grew up.

"You have robberies, you have killings, anything you can possibly imagine, it goes on here," Orlando said of the shelter where he lived with his family, which appears to be on the Grand Concourse. The video, complete with a dramatic musical montage, shows shots of liter on the street and ambulances whirring by, sirens blazing. You can watch the whole thing above, including Orlando's audition (he sings the Beatles song "Eleanor Rigby.")

In a statement sent out this morning, Diaz said he's "disgusted" with the show's treatment of the borough.

"Rather than focus on the amazing revitalization the Bronx has seen over the past three decades, the producers of the show chose instead to highlight the negative stereotypes that have plagued our borough for years," he said. "The portrayal of the Bronx by the producers of American Idol in such an extremely negative light is not only shameful, it does not accurately represent how far the Bronx has come."

What do you all think? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Bronx News Roundup, June 23

The Obama image on a toolbox that landed a Tremont firehouse in hot water earlier this week has been removed, FDNY officials have said.

A farm in upstate Schoharie County is a new source of fresh produce for the South Bronx.

Two Bronx sites were granted landmark status yesterday. The Haffen Building, on Third Avenue in Melrose, and the Noonan Plaza, on West 168th Street in Highbridge, are now both preserved as city landmarks--meaning they can't be altered without the approval of the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Speaking of landmarks: the city is considering making the Grand Concourse, between 153rd Street to 167th Streets, into a historic district. 

Mayor Bloomberg's tactic of breaking up large, failing schools into smaller ones seems to be working, according to one study. This AP article sites John F. Kennedy High School, which was broken into six smaller schools, as one success story.

A number of medical sites, including Montefiore, are giving free prostate cancer screening tests this week as part of an annual campaign sponsored by the Daily News. A full list of sites offering the tests can be found here.

Former Yankee player Johnny Damon says he misses the team's old stadium. 

State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., who represents many neighborhoods in the South Bronx, says fellow Senator Kevin Parker, of Brooklyn, threatened him on the Senate floor yesterday after Diaz voted against a bill.

Police are searching for a teenage mother and her infant son, who were last seen Monday on Boston Road.

Defense lawyer Murray Richman compared his client--City Councilman Larry Seabrook--to the Kennedy brothers in court yesterday, according to the New York Post. Seabrook is accused of funneling city money to groups that employed his relatives, which Richman compared to the nepotism of the Kennedys, who all worked in government.

On Tuesday afternoon, a 38-year-old man was killed in a propane explosion while he attempted to retrieve a broken barbeque grill from a shed in the Bronx on 2401 White Plains Road.

David Johnson, the former aide to Governor Paterson accused of assaulting a former girlfriend at her Bronx apartment, is refusing to answer questions from investigators by invoking his fifth amendment right.

Hearing on Historic District Designation for the Grand Concourse

If you are wondering what it means when they say the Grand Concourse is up for historic district designation, then you should attend the community meeting tomorrow, April 20, at 7 p.m. at the Bronx Museum of the Arts.

The event will be hosted by the office of Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and will teach people just what a historic district designation means, how it is determined and the effects it might have on the Grand Concourse and the surrounding community.

Members of the Landmarks Preservation Commission will be present to answer any questions or concerns people may have. The Bronx Museum of the Arts is located at 1040 Grand Concourse on East 165th Street.

Bronx News Roundup, Feb. 3

Ever bend over a water fountain and thought: Where's this stuff coming from? Chances are, your water is fine, but that wasn't the case for the workers at a Hunts Point sewage plant. A missing "backflow preventer" is to blame for the water that backed up into the pipes from the plant's massive boilers, leaving its workers to drink (and bathe in!) contaminated water.

A team of four clinicians from Montefiore Medical Center have returned from Haiti with quite a story to tell. ABC Channel 7 News did a story on it Monday night, and you can view the video here.

More on Anibal Lugo, the guy who police say stole an idling police SUV and was caught minutes later. Lugo's being observed at Jacobi Medical Center and Nelson Robles, the NYPD vet who the van belonged to, has been suspended without pay.

Visions for the Bronx's first public skating rink are finally coming to fruition. An agreement has been reached, moving plans from a grassy spot in Joyce Kilmer Park (which would have cost an extra $4,000) to 900 Grand Concourse, formerly the Concourse Plaza Hotel, now a senior citizens' apartment complex. 

Sean Denashvar, owner of the Med Alliance medical clinic near Fordham University, is expanding the clinic's facilities to three stories total. However, the community has been upset by additional plans for plopping 10 more stories of moderate-income rental units right on top. The area's residents will finally be able to voice their opinions about the 13-story behemoth. The hearing will take place today at 6:30 p.m. at the Candy Lounge, 608 E. Fordham Road. However, the BoogieDowner expresses some extremely legitimate concerns about the location of the hearing.

The Army Corps of Engineers will be working with the city Parks Department on the Bronx River. The $6.3 million project will rebuild a wetlands habitat near the mouth of the river in Soundview Park. The project will begin in the Fall, starting with a much-needed cleanup. Soundview Project Manager Ronald Pinzon notes, "There was a lot of stuff dumped there. Rocks, pieces of concrete, even a few refrigerators."

City Limits spotlights Intervale Green, the new eco-friendly affordable housing unit opening its doors at the end of the month on Intervale Avenue near Freeman Street in the Bronx. Many of the benefits of more "luxe" rental options will be included, such as a sculpture garden, decorative lighting, and a free computer with wireless internet with each apartment.

Grand Concourse Honored on 100th Anniversary

In conjunction with Dr. Gary Hermalyn, executive director of the Bronx County Historical Society and Dr. Lloyd Ultan, Bronx Borough Historian, Bronx Congressman Jose Serrano presented a framed copy of the Congressional Resolution celebrating the100th Anniversary of the Grand Concourse to the Bronx County Historical Society. The presentation took place this past Friday at the new Poe Cottage Visitor's Center in Poe Park (Kingsbridge Road and Grand Concourse). 

“The Grand Concourse has been the symbolic heart of the Bronx since it was completed a century ago,” said Serrano. “The millions of people who have passed through the Bronx – arriving from around the world, working, raising families, growing up – they all look on the Grand Concourse as the preeminent connection in their Bronx community. It has seen wealth come and go, it has seen many famous people, it has been the home to triumphs and great creativity. It is hard to put words to the meaning of this great boulevard.

"As its centennial approached, I could think of no better gesture than to have the U.S. House of Representatives vote to recognize it for all that it is. Over the years they have helped me fund millions of dollars in upgrades for the Grand Concourse, but this would be about paying respect to our great thoroughfare. They agreed and we presented the resolution to the Bronx County Historical Society to keep and display for generations to come. As the Grand Concourse lives on and new generations come and go, we must continue to take time to honor this historic street, which is so much more than just a street, but instead is the heart of a borough.”

Serrano presenting the congressional resolution to the Bronx County Historical Society in front of Poe Cottage on the G.C.

Bronx News Roundup, Jan. 20

Fundraising for Haiti has been met with huge success in the Bronx. The Daily News reports on this, including last Saturday's effort, hosted by Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and the New York Hispanic Clergy organization, which raised over $50,000 in monetary donations, as well as two boxes of supplies.

An off-duty police officer was one of four people who were injured in a three-car crash in Pelham Bay Park last night. One driver, who initially fled the scene, has been taken into custody.

Timothy Honey, a Bronx man (and reportedly, a William S. Burroughs lookalike) is being sought in connection with a string of armed robberies in Greenwich Village.

The Tri-State Transportation Campaign has deemed East Gunhill Road, the Grand Concourse and Broadway highly dangerous to pedestrian traffic. In their report, the organization praised city efforts, but criticized the state Department of Transportation. In addition, figures from 2009 were not reflected in the report, a year that saw its own fair share of pedestrian deaths on these streets.

Tired of staring down a pitch-dark tunnel? Done with straining your ears in hopes of hearing your train screech down the tracks? Some Bronx commuters are in luck: five stations in the Bronx have received countdown clocks, tracking the arrival time of trains by the minute.

Bronx Democratic Chairman Carl Heastie implores the media to look past race. When questioned as to whether he will be supporting Harold Ford Jr.'s primary run, Heastie replied, "I don't feel that I have to support him just because I'm black. There's this expectation that because he's black and I'm black, I have to run to support him, and damn a sitting U.S. senator. I'm trying to get people thinking beyond race."

Possum and skunk infestations are irritating the residents of a Throggs Neck housing project. However, their demands for help are not being met.

Just wondering, have you ever been able to drive from the Bronx to midtown in five minutes? "24" hero Jack Bauer need not apply.

Bronx News Roundup, Oct. 29

Michelle Obama and Jill Biden were in the Bronx yesterday to watch the Yankees game. Beforehand, they visited a veterans center in Kingsbridge Heights.

A four-alarm fire destroyed several businesses on Southern Boulavard in Longwood last night.

In the South Bronx, there are dozens of unfinished condo buildings. The dour economy has forced many developers to abandon projects, or at least put them on hold.

The Bronx teen arrested in connection with the shooting death of 92-year-old Sadie Mitchell in Williambridge on Oct. 20, has been indicted on second-degree murder charges.

Two architecture students from Columbia University have won a design competition in which applicants had to present their vision for the future of the Grand Concourse. There were nearly 200 entries from all over the world. The seven best proposals will be displayed at the Bronx Museum, starting this Sunday.

Tenants living in a 54-unit apartment building on Sedgwick Avenue say they've been without heat and hot water since July.

Worshippers at a mosque on Virginia Avenue are asking the police for a sound permit so they use loud speakers when announcing "adhan," the call to prayer. Some of their non-Muslim neighbors oppose the plan, saying it'll cause unnecessary noise.

Bronx News Roundup for August 26

A Bronx man is being held without bail after fingerprints from a minor charge were found to match those sampled from a rape victim in 1993. In 2007, the man's cousin was charged in connection to the crime and now faces up to 25 years in prison.

A worker for Tri-State Electrical Contracting was struck by a lift on the Throngs Neck Bridge. The worker's company was ironically a subcontractor of E.E. Cruz Contracting, the company found responsible for the July 10th fire that shut down Bronx traffic to and from the bridge for more than two weeks.

According to a poll done by the New York Daily News, 76% of baseball game and park-goers rated most of the parks in the Bronx area outside Yankee Stadium with D's or F's on a scale from A-F in terms of maintenance. Residents say they haven't seen where much of the $220 million has gone that was allotted in 2004 by Mayor Bloomberg to revitalize city parks.

Councilman G. Oliver Koppell of the Bronx calls on Sen. Diane Savino to make an apology for remarks that Gov. David Paterson's vision is affecting his ability to govern.

Leaks persist after $32 million was given to do repairs at the Grand Concourse tunnel at 161st Street. The situation has residents wondering where their tax dollars are going and Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. calling it "an ice skating opportunity" for cars.

Mosquitoes infected with the West Nile Virus have been found in the east Bronx. Health officials advise residents of the Ferry Point Park area near Whitestone Bridge as they plan to spray for bugs in the area tonight.

A Bronx team proves the game of cricket will continue to have a big following as the Bronx Lions, the cricket team for Lehman High School that was nonetheless eliminated from playing in the tournament, showed up with hundreds of others to watch the NYPD youth cricket match that was reported on by NBC News.

Some residents of the South Bronx have started up a small farm to raise organic produce as well as interacting with the community to raise cultural and historic awareness of the land.

New from the Norwood News

The latest edition of the Norwood News is hot of the presses and on the streets and online now. Here's a quick preview of our stories and features:

Here's our guide to Bronx Week 2009, which kicked off yesterday and concludes next weekend with a parade and party on Mosholu Parkway. Enjoy the festivities! This is what our readers love about the Bronx. Let us know what you love about the Bronx in our comments section below.

We recap Pedro Espada's role in the Republicans' Senate takeover. Our editorial says Espada's move can't be good for locals.

A look at what the recent endorsements for pastor and college professor Fernando Cabrera mean for 14th District Council race. Note: in the print edition, we also presented quick profiles of all the candidates. If we have time, we'll put them up on the blog later today.

The city has extended it's Grand Concourse bike lane all the way up to Mosholu Parkway on the northbound side of the street.

The MTA is experimenting with an express line for the 4 Train. The city says it will cut commuting time from Woodlawn to 149th Street by 4 minutes. [Note: already we've had some angry calls from Bronx commuters about this. One woman, a teacher who commutes from Woodlawn to Fordham Road, says she think her commute time has increased 10 minutes. Write in if you have any complaints or praise for the new express line, use the comments section below or email norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org.]

The Landmark Preservation Commission wants to designate a stretch of Perry Ave. in Bedford Park as a Historic District.

Plus, check out our extended Neighborhood Notes guide to local programs and services and our Out & About arts, recreation and entertainment guide.

Sketch of Kingsbridge Road Rape Suspect

This is the police sketch of the man suspected of sexually assaulting two teenage girls, on May 10 and May 18, in an abandoned building on the corner of Kingsbridge Road and the Grand Concourse.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto Crime Stoppers' website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to CRIMES (274637), then enter TIP577.

All calls are strictly confidential.

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.

Bronx New Roundup, March 20

Forgive the lack of posting today on the blog, but we're undermanned and a little under the weather. Here's a few links to tide you over till next week.

A 27-year-old man named Eric Collins was arrested yesterday on charges he shot a woman with an arrow at a Riverdale nursing home on Sunday. Here's the Riverdale Press story on the arrest. Video coverage here from NY1.

The city is slashing funding for nine Bronx after- school and child care programs.

The Bronx Zoo and other zoos around country and fighting hard to stave off funding cuts.

WNYC's report on the Bronx Art Museum's Grand Concourse exhibit.

The Daily News' Errol Louis says there's still no justice in the Bronx for a slain 2-year-old, Khamerin Antwine, who was beaten to death a year and a half ago. Louis says Bronx DA Robert Johnson hasn't pressed charges, even though a Bronx family court held both the mother and her boyfriend directly responsible for the child's death.

The city's cutting hospital jobs in the Bronx and other facilities throughout the city.

Lavette Bills, a Bronx real estate broker and radio show host, was charged with scamming the very folks (distressed homeowners who feared foreclosure) she said she was trying to help on her radio show.

Grand Concourse to Make a Comeback?

City Limits takes a look at the Bronx Museum of the Arts' buffet of programming and events in celebration of the Grand Concourse on its 100th birthday. The museum aims to examine the expansive thoroughfare's past and its prospect's for a brighter future.

Update: The art museum's Grand Concourse work also reached the Times' City Room blog today.

Bronx News Roundup Feb. 10

Mayor Bloomberg wants to use federal stimulus funds to finish building a $55 million parking garage at the Botanical Garden. BoogieDowner has more on the 6-story project which has run into difficulties in recent months.

Jay Savino, the Bronx Republican party chairman, is unlikely to support Mayor Bloomberg for reelection, says Bob Kappstatter in his weekly column. According to Kappstatter, Bloomberg has to win over three of the city's five GOP county leaders if he wants to run on the Republican ticket.

The Daily News' Bill Egbert has more on the continued resurrection of the Grand Concourse, which is 100 years old this year. He touches on whether or not the northern section of the Concourse will also see improvements. Xavier Rodriguez, district manager of Community Board 5, hopes so. He thinks it would benefit the Fordham Road shopping area. (For the sake of clarification, the Mount Eden-Highbridge neighborhood is in CB 4, not 5, as written in the article.)

The trial of two tenants and a landlord charged with the deaths of two firefighters on Jan. 23, 2005, is coming to a close. The day became know as Black Sunday after a third firefighter died in Brooklyn that day. See here and here.

We missed this at the time, but the Gotham Gazette recently took a detailed look at some of the bills introduced by the City Council in past few months. Among them is a bill by Council member Maria Baez calling for public schools teachers to be issued with parking permits. A Streetblog blogger thinks it would be a disaster.

The owners of Mainland Media have started a social networking Web site for Bronx residents.

Marking the Grand Concourse's 100th Year

To celebrate the Grand Concourse's centennial year, and to plan for its future, the Bronx Museum is encouraging Bronx residents - and indeed anyone with an interest in the borough's most famous strip - to take part in a new competition.

Applicants are required to answer the following questions:

What does the Bronx of the future need its grandest boulevard to be?
How can the Grand Concourse help inspire harmony and community through design?
Is the Grand Concourse of today obsolete?
Can the Grand Concourse of tomorrow be a force that catalyzes the Bronx’s positive evolution?

You can apply online starting this Monday. There's a $30 application fee. If you want to share you ideas now you can post comments here. (Thanks to the BoogieDowners for drawing our attention to this.)

Also timed to coincide with the Grand Concourse's 100th year: an outdoor art show, the Tree Museum, which is scheduled to open in June, and a book, Boulevard of Dreams: Heady Times, Heartbreak, and Hope along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, which will be published in August.

News Roundup for July 16

The Westchester Journal News reports that since Bee-Line buses started accepting Metrocards in April, a huge number of riders are boarding the buses to commute between Westchester and the Bronx.

The New York Times profiled 1150 Grand Concourse in yesterday's Streetscapes column, describing "Horace Ginsbern’s fantastical but neglected 1937 art moderne essay" as a mosaic that has escaped vandalism and grafitti all these years.

The Times reported Saturday on a rule change for the state's Industrial Development Agency that may threaten funding for the proposed garages at the new Yankee Stadium.

Liz Benjamin analyzes the 11th hour congestion pricing battles in the Daily News.

And the Daily News reports on the last hours of a father who was stabbed to death in University Heights Saturday.