Bronx Food Summit Sat. May 1st

The Bronx Food Summit, being hosted by Bronx BP Ruben Diaz, Jr., will take place on Saturday May 1st at Hostos Community College (450 Grand Concourse) from 9am to 5pm. The event will begin at 10am with a keynote address by the Bronx's own sustainable genius Majora Carter.

Attendees can choose from an impressive variety of workshops that range from hands-on cooking demonstrations, learning how to compost food scraps to reduce landfill waste, conversations about getting healthier foods at bodegas and neighborhood stores, and learning about food-coops and community supported agriculture as alternatives to existing food systems. There's also a workshop track targeted for children and young adults.

The Summit will feature a number of notable Bronx celebrities: Hip Hop icons Afrika Bambaataa, Kurtis Blow, Melle Mel, and Popmaster Fabel, as well as Bronx foodie favorite Baron Ambrosia.

Interested attendees can register online or the morning of between 9-10am.

Bronx Hip-Hop Origins on BronxTalk

Gary Axelbank says this episode of BronxTalk is not to be missed ...

This week BronxTalk features an interview with DJ Disco Wiz and co-author Ivan Sanchez about their new book "It's Just Begun", a hard-hitting, no-holds barred biography of Wiz that documents the violence, drug abuse, and rough Bronx culture that gave birth to the hip hop movement. DJ Disco Wiz claims to be hip hop's first Latino DJ. You can see it all here.

BronxTalk is seen live each Monday night at 9pm on channel 67 (Cablevision) in the Bronx and is repeated each day at 9:30am, 3:30pm, and 9:00pm. It is produced by Jane Folloro.

Bronx News Roundup, March 10

In the South Bronx, banks are few and far between, with a measly 27 branches for an estimated 500,000 residents. The Norwood News reported on this borough-wide shortage last November. The situation is likely to get worse this year, with several JPMorgan Chase and Washington Mutual branches merging.

An assistant Bronx district attorney has written a book titled "My Body Belongs to Me," making it easier for parents to educate their children about child abuse.

In 2006, Adolfo Carrion, President Obama's new urban czar, renovated his City Island home with the help of an architect who weeks later was awarded - by Carrion - a lucrative contract to design a new facility for Boricua Village. The article, which appears in the Daily News, follows on from a previous DN story showing Carrion's habit of rewarding developers who gave him campaign contributions. Last month, the Norwood News looked back at Carrion's seven years as borough president.

Two rappers say hip-hop was born in Queens, not the Bronx.

Earl Brown, the acting Bronx Borough president who happens to live in Brooklyn, talks about East River tolls, the Atlantic Yards project, and which borough he prefers (hint: he gives a very diplomatic answer).

Thirteen high school students from the Bronx are helping to build a school in a village in Mali.

The principal of the Bronx HS of Performance and Stagecraft has been charged with driving drunk and fleeing the scene of an accident.

Ruben Diaz Jr. is a shoo-in for borough president, says Bob Kappstatter.

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.