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 Aug. 27

Bronx Democrats apparently knew about Nelson Castro’s prior arrest record before choosing him to replace Bronx Assemblyman Luis Diaz in the Sept. 9 primary reported Bob Kappstatter in his weekly Bronx Borough news column. Castro was arrested for felony grand larceny as well as for driving with a revoked license. [Daily News]

Two men pleaded guilty on Tuesday to participating in an illegal gambling ring, which was ran out of the Hunts Point Market. [NYT]

Late Monday night a livery cab driver was attacked and his cab stolen by an unidentified man. The incident occurred at Carter Avenue and 174th Street in Tremont. [NY1]

A body found this weekend in the Niagara River has been confirmed to be a 12-year-old Bronx girl. Magdalena Lubowska had been missing since Aug. 13. [Newsday]

A Bronx man who claims he was attacked by two female police officers filed a $25 million lawsuit against the city yesterday. Marlon Smith says he was beaten by the two off-duty cops following a traffic incident and needed 35 stitches. [NY1]

The city’s Department of Health confirmed that two city residents were infected with the West Nile Virus. One is a 73-year-old woman from Queens and the other a 60-year-old man from the Bronx. Both were hospitalized in early August. [EmaxHealth]

A 19th century building at 614 Courtland Ave. in Melrose has recently begun renovations, David Gonzalez reports. The building has received a second life thanks to the Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City, New York Landmarks Conservancy and the Landmarks Preservation Commission. [NYT]