Bronx News Roundup, Dec. 22

A four-alarm fire that forced the evacuation of a building on the Grand Concourse yesterday was caused by a burnt batch of Christmas cookies, according to a neighbor.

Bronx teenager Justin Tavarez, 19, who was charged with a hate crime this weekend after a late night scuffle in a diner, told friends he was provoked by the victim, who was taunting him over a girl.  Tavarez allegedly smashed a plate over the head of a 42-year-old man while making racial comments, according to police.

John Martinez, the man accused of robbing a number of women in Co-op City and Manhattan while wielding an ice pick, pleaded not guilty yesterday.

The recently indicted Sen. Pedro Espada, Jr., submitted paperwork earlier this month to cash in on his $9,000 a year state pension.

A new bill introduced in Congress this week would provide federal funding for the removal of PCBs, a dangerous construction material, from the city's public schools. This summer, tests found elevated levels of the chemical in three schools, including PS 178 in Co-op City.

A Bronx woman was sentenced to 25 years to life yesterday in the Bronx Supreme Court for the 2003 murder of a 91-year-old woman.

A city sanitation worker was struck by a car and killed yesterday while crossing the street in Castle Hill. Angel Roldan, 39, worked with the Sanitation Department for 11 years; he leaves behind a wife and two children.

The suspected Bronx church burglar, who was busted by police last weekend, says he targeted the houses of worship because he was angry over pedophile-priest scandals. Nathaniel Linden, 51, is believed to be responsible for a string of church break-ins over the last month.

More Bronxites, and residents across the city, are opting to worship from their homes instead of a traditional church, according to ABC.

A&P, the supermarket chain which owns Pathmark, Food Emporium and Waldbaum's, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month. The future of all these stores is uncertain, though the company says it's refinancing and hopes to turn things around over the next year.

Bronx-born actor Steve Landesberg, known for his role on the long-running sitcom “Barney Miller,” died in Los Angeles Monday from colon cancer. He was 74.

Bronx News Roundup, Dec. 21

Friends of a gay Bronx soldier who fought for the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell and died serving in Iraq, visited his grave site on Saturday, shortly after the Senate voted to repeal the controversial policy.

Beleaguered State Sen. Pedro Espada and his son, Pedro G. Espada, could be hit with more indictments in the coming months, according to the Daily News' Bob Kappstatter in his weekly column.

A Bronx teenager has been charged with a felony hate crime. Police say Justin Tavarez, who's a student at Skidmore College in upstate New York, took offense when he saw a white man dining with a black man and smashed a plate over the white man's head.

The man accused of using an ice-pick to threaten and rob several women in the Bronx and Manhattan, carried out the muggings so he could buy Christmas presents for his family, his cousin says. 

Councilman Jimmy Vacca, chair of the Transportation committee, says too many cyclists don't obey traffic laws.

Every year, Bronx resident Milagros Guzman decorates a Christmas tree she calls the "Tree of Angels," to remember victims of homicide, including her own daughter, Jessica, who was murdered in 1990. 

More on the arrest of Nathaniel Linden, the man police suspect of robbing at least two Bronx churches.

Plans are in the works to clean up a contaminated lot by the Major Deegan Expressway at 135th Street, and build a 80-90 room hotel. 

Tenants of 1204 Shakespeare Ave. are being allowed to return home in time for the holidays.  Many of the apartments were evacuated earlier this month after the Department of Buildings found that the building's emergency exits were blocked. 

The legendary Morris Park Boxing Club reopened yesterday, a year after it was almost completely destroyed by a fire. 

Last Thursday, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. appeared on NY1's "Inside City Hall."  Topics for discussion included the Kingsbridge Armory and the Muller Army Reserve Center. Here's the clip.

Yesterday, NYPD Detective Robert Salerno gave out Christmas presents at Lincoln Hospital, the same hospital where he was treated earlier this year after being shot in the line of duty.

Billy Wharton, a writer and activist who edits the Socialist WebZine, was on jury duty recently at the Bronx County Hall of Justice. During his lunch break, he sat in on a few trials and then wrote about his experience for the Examiner website.

Veterinarians at Yonkers' Animal Specialty Center are hoping to reunite an injured Rottweiler with its owner.  The dog was found on a Bronx street two weeks ago, bleeding and limping.

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