Bronx News Roundup, March 30

A  New York's Court of Appeals ruled today that Mazin Assi, who attempted to bomb a Bronx synagogue in 2000, is guilty of a hate crime. The court said that the stricter penalties of a hate crime applied to Assi, even if his crime was directed towards a building and not a person.

All this heavy rain caused a mudslide near the Riverdale Metro-North station early this morning, disrupting service on the Hudson line. Train times were back to normal a little after 11 a.m.

Some seasonal exhibits at the Bronx Zoo will officially reopen this Saturday.

The Daily News reports on a the popularity of hydroponic gardening--growing plants in liquid instead of soil--and how it's perfect for Bronxites who don't have the space for a traditional garden.

New low-income housing near Union Grove Baptist Church, on Hoe Avenue, broke ground on Friday. The buildings will be named after long time pastor Rev. Dr. Fletcher Crawford, who conceptualized the development.

Some Bronx politicians, like Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz, are supporting--and even calling for expansions of--the proposed tax on sugary sodas, according to the Daily News' Bob Kappstatter.

Sen. Eric Schneiderman and other City officials are fighting to have prison inmates who are originally from New York City counted as city residents in the census. Current practices count inmates as residents of the regions where they're incarcerated, often upping census numbers for smaller towns upstate that house large prisons.

Starting April 10, the Parkchester 6 train station will be partially closed for repairs and renovations, which will take about three months to complete.

More on "Whatever it Takes," a documentary that chronicles Edward Tom, principal at the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics, in his goal to have all of his students graduate and go to college. More details on the film, which premieres tonight at 10 p.m., here.

Bronx News Roundup, May 22

Hundreds of people showed up to the Bronx County Building to apply for a job at the new Target that will open at Gateway Mall.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. was sworn in at Lehman College yesterday.

Mayor Bloomberg honored the first responders of the attempt to bomb a synagogue in Riverdale.

Yankees fans can start using the new Metro North stop at 153rd on Saturday

Bronx News Roundup, April Fool's Day

Not surprisingly, the state government failed to meet it's April 1 budget deadline, passing only one budget bill last night.

However, Bronx State Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, provided some drama and heroics when she was rushed to the hospital, diagnosed with walking pneumonia, and then later returned, accompanied by three paramedics to vote on the one budget bill. Her fellow lawmakers gave her a standing ovation.

From now on, we will call Hassell-Thompson the Willis Reed of New York state senators.

And MTA rescue plan, which was reportedly coming together yesterday, was again derailed by a small group of state senators (this time of the upstate variety) who balked at a higher payroll tax.

Two Liberian immigrants who lived in the Bronx and were killed in the former Long Island condo of football player Jonathan Vilma may have been murdered as payback for a counterfeit money scam they concocted.

Yesterday, the Daily News' Bob Kappstatter dished on the vacant county clerkship, Diaz, Jr.'s plans for a swift transition and district leader Kenny Agosto's language skills.

More from the Times on the mishandling of the Yankees community fund money.

Just to flesh this out a little here: Basically, a lawyer hired by the Yankees to oversee the fund filed a lawsuit against Serafin Mariel, who is the chairman of fund, for putting the money into the bank (New York Community Bank) he founded and still works for. The lawyer says this constitutes a conflict of interest. And also, because the money isn't earning any interest, he says it's just irresponsible investment. The lawyer also says the fund hasn't paid him the $35,000 he says the Yankees said he would be paid for overseeing the fund.

Assemblyman Ruben Diaz, Jr. and Councilman Joel Rivera (who helped appoint Mariel) both defended him, but said the matter would be up to the courts to decide. Hope that helps.

Speaking of the Yankees, Metro-North officials say the stop at the new Stadium will open on May 23.

Bronx News (other than term limits) Roundup: Oct. 23

NY1's Dean Meminger reports on how the DOT plans to help alleviate confusion and congestion at one of the busiest intersections in the Bronx -- 3rd Avenue and 149th Street.

A judge ordered that a Bronx building owner has 30 days to fix 269 outstanding violations or he will be forced to forfeit the property to the city.

Stella D'Oro workers are striking in protest of a wage cut imposed by the company's new owners.

The Daily News profiles Eva Bornstein of the Lehman Center for Performing Arts.

Native Bronxite and performer David Gonzalez (not to be confused with the NY Times reporter of the same name) is gaining notoriety for his show, which features "classic tales with a lot of funk."

The new Metro-North Station at Yankee Stadium is moving along swimmingly.

News Roundup for July 23

A report released Friday by watchdog group Good Jobs New York reveals that taxpayers will be subsidizing the new Yankee Stadium by $100 million more than originally reported. WNYC looks at the influence of former and current elected officials on the controversial project's approval, including Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Assemblyman and Democratic County Chair Roberto Ramirez, and Bronx political operative Stanley Schlein. Read the full report here.

Officials declared that the Bronx is making a comeback at the groundbreaking for the Metro North station at Yankee Stadium, the Post reports.

And today's Post talks about the Bronx's construction boom, with an estimated $965 million invested in new developments this year.

The Bronx Times explains the dispute between First Tee of Metropolitan New York and the Parks Department. First Tee, which runs the Mosholu Golf Course, was reimbursed last year for revenue it expected to lose due to the filtration plant construction on the site. Now the city says First Tee underreported its revenue.

The Daily News features two stories about schools in the Evander Childs building on East Gunhill Road. Students from the High School of Computers and Technology are pairing up with Bronxwood Nursing Home to set up a computer lab for the seniors, and students from the Bronx Lab School area headed to China and will blog about their experiences there.

About that Metro North Station ...

Remember that eleventh-hour promise of a Metro North station at Yankee Stadium as the debate over the Bombers' new ballpark boiled over last year around this time? Well, don't plan to take the train to the game just yet. The New York Observer, echoing Real Estate Weekly, reports that the costs are much greater than expected. So, according to the Observer's blog, Borough President Carrion "wants to let a developer build 'an extensive mixed-use development' on top of the station in return for paying for the station's construction."
By the way, there's a lot of recent action on the anti-stadium Save Our Parks Web site, including Joyce Hogi's testimony to a Congressional committee studying stadium financing.