Bronx News Roundup, Aug. 17

Weather: Enjoy today, Bronxites, because we're in for more rain tomorrow. It'll be in the high 80s this afternoon and mostly sunny.

Story of the Day: 52nd Precinct Detective Nabbed on Robbery Charges
A veteran NYPD detective based out of the 52nd Precinct--which includes Bedford Park, Norwood and University Heights--was arrested Monday on conspiracy and robbery charges, several news outlets are reporting today. Kyron Collins, 39, along with two non-police accomplices, are accused of committing a string of robberies over the last year, in which they allegedly targeted people selling contraband cigarettes. Collins supposedly used his NYPD shield, a firearm and fake search warrants in carrying out the thefts. The NY Post reports that Collins is a second-generation officer; his father is a retired NYPD cop.

Bronx mom Nicole Perrino started her own blog, www.BronxMama.com, as resource for parents looking for local, kid-friendly events. 

Three men beat and robbed a man on Creston Avenue last week, stealing his belongings and a beloved-bible. 

Sen. Gillibrand Visits Bronx Health Fair

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand checks out a display on healthy snack foods at Montefiore Medical Center.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand made a stop in the Bronx this morning to attend a "healthy eating" fair at Montefiore Children's  Hospital in Norwood.

The senator took a quick tour of several booths set up in the hospital's lobby, where staff presented visitors with nutritional information and tips for eating healthier.

"This display is all about nutrition," said Gillibrand, who sits on the Senate's Agriculture and Nutrition Committee, the first New York representative to do so for nearly four decades. She's sponsored legislation to ban trans-fats in school lunches and increase funding for child fitness programs.

"Too many of our children are obese," she told reporters on her visit today. "We need to do much better."

The Bronx has some of the bleakest obesity statistics in the State. According to a 2009 report from Gillibrand's office, 62.7 percent of Bronx County adults are overweight or obese. In the South Bronx, a third of pre-schoolers enrolled in the city's Head Start program are obese.

Today's healthy eating fair was sponsored by Montefiore as part of the medical center's "Food Education Project," a series of seminars and events that aim to improve the community's eating habits by offering healthy recipes and nutritional tips.

Race Against Espada Getting More Crowded?

Liz Benjamin at the State of Politics blog says Gustavo Rivera, an aide to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, appears to have started a campaign committee to run in the increasingly-crowded race to unseat embattled State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr.

We'll check into this soon, but if it's true, that would mean it could be a four-way race between Espada, Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, Daniel Padernacht and Rivera.

Stay tuned.

Bronx News Roundup, Feb. 2

The Bronx Zoo is at the forefront of an effort to save a species of toad, whose natural habitat was destroyed when a river in Tanzania was dammed.

Police are hunting a group of gypsies suspected of burglarizing at least ten homes in the Bronx and Queens these past few months. The group preys on the elderly, police say, may be responsible for other break-ins in other states.

Yesterday, students at St. Raymond's Elementary School in Parkchester presented New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan with a $15,407 check. The money will go to Haiti.

A building manager, found guilty last year of criminally negligent homicide in the "Black Sunday” fire, will have to wait another week to find out if his conviction will stand. Cesar Rios could go free after a juror on the trial admitted that she e-mailed and tried to "Facebook" a witness.

State Sen. Pedro Espada and his lawyers have accused Attorney General Andrew Cuomo of launching a smear campaign against him.

The future of City Island's only FDNY fire company, Ladder 53, is once again in doubt. Last week, Mayor Bloomberg's 2011 fiscal year budget called for the shuttering of 20 fire companies, and which names and numbers weren't given, Ladder 53 - the quietest unit in the city - is likely on the list.

Blogging in the Huffington Post, a Hofstra University professor has some words of wisdom for University Heights Secondary School students, whose school is in danger of being kicked off Bronx Community College's campus. Here's another post by the same author criticizing BCC's decision (he’s friends with a teacher at the school), and here's an article that appeared the Mount Hope Monitor, concerning opposition to the eviction.

A trauma surgeon at St. Barnabas Hospital, who travelled to his native Haiti the day after the earthquake to help out, recalls his heart-wrenching experiences.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has been wooing Bronx Democrats.

More on the 16th Congressional District's status as the nation's hungriest place.

All eyes on Leroy Comrie as he takes over Land Use Committee, at a time when the City Council is beginning to take strong stands on development projects, as it did with the Kingsbridge Armory.

Peter Rivera Guns for Gillibrand

Assemblyman Peter Rivera is pulling out all the stops in his campaign to undercut Kirsten Gillibrand, the Empire State's brand new senator, for her positions on immigration.

Joel Rivera Organizing Against Gillibrand's Views

The Observer's Politicker reports that City Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera, who is still looking at the possibility of running for Bronx borough president, is organizing a rally at City Hall to "urge newly minted Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to change her views on immigration and gun control."

Open Thread; Sen. Gillibrand?

This is our first open thread -- a place for you to discuss the issue of the day.

Today, we're wondering what our readers thing of Gov. Paterson's seletion of upstate congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to replace Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate.

Just click on the comment button below.