Happy Bronx Anthrax Day (No, Not the Kind of Anthrax You're Thinking)

The Bronx is going metal today, as "The Big 4"--heavy metal bands Anthrax, Metallica, Megadeath and Slayer--take the stage at Yankee Stadium this afternoon. The concert is a big deal for metal-enthusiasts and thousands are expected to turn out for the show, which starts at 4 p.m.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., has even christened today, Sept. 14, "Anthrax Day in the Bronx," honoring the band--three members of which have Bronx roots, in Throggs Neck and Pelham Parkway--with a proclamation in the video below.


Bronx Assemblywoman Vanessa Gibson, meanwhile, is warning residents to expect traffic delays, crowded trains and extra police presence around Yankee Stadium today thanks to the concert.

"It is good to have big name musical acts like Anthrax and Metallica come to the Bronx because they help shine a positive light on our community, but when thousands of visitors come to the west Bronx like this it can lead to some temporary inconveniences for residents,” Gibson said in a statement.

Bronx News Roundup, May 10

Weather: Another clear and sunny day, with temperatures hovering around the mid-60s. Enjoy.

Story of the Day: 46 Arrested in Tour Bus Crackdown
Yesterday, 46 people were arrested on felony charges after two months of investigation into the state's tour bus industry, following a March 12 bus crash in the Bronx that killed 15 passengers. Those arrested are drivers of tour buses, MTA city buses and taxis busted for holding commercial licenses while they had other suspended driving licenses under different names, found by running their photos with facial recognition technology.

Quick Hits:

The growing count of bodies found along a stretch of beaches on the south shore of Long Island may be the work of multiple killers, authorities said yesterday. Among the identified remains was Bronx resident Melissa Barthelmy, 24.

Relive your childhood by taking this tree-climbing class at the Botanical Garden. I totally want to sign up for this; video below.


A Bronx man pleaded guilty yesterday of pimping out underage girls who were staying at a homeless shelter. He faces up to 12 years in jail.

Ever wonder why the Bronx's Manhattan College is named after a different borough? A little history lesson for you.

A teacher at Bronx Prep Charter School chronicles the ups and downs of putting on a school play for Gotham Schools.

Metallica has promised to play their 90s metal tune "Enter Sandman," a fan-favorite, during their much anticipated Sept. 14 concert at Yankee Stadium. Is this good news? Sorry, but I hate that song.

Speaking of Yankee Stadium: three servers at the venue are suing the concession stand where they worked, saying they never got a portion of their tip money.

Jose the Beaver was on hand to congratulate 35 children, from 14 different countries, who took their citizenship oaths at the Bronx Zoo yesterday. 

Bronx Weekend News Roundup, Monday, March 28

Welcome to Monday, Bronx folks. I woke up this morning to the sporadic hissing of the radiator and immediately went about locating my long johns. Despite the calendar's best attempts to tell us otherwise, it's clear winter is making an extended appearance in 2011. Indeed, it remains long john weather. Weather.com says it's 28 degrees this morning, but feels like 16. Temperatures are expected to rise to a less bitter 44 by the afternoon.

To the news!

Story of the Day: Budget Deal Cuts Health and Education Spending
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Albany legislative leaders, five days before the April 1 deadline, announced a budget deal last night that would decrease overall spending by 2 percent and include no new taxes. The deal would, however, cut $2 billion in spending on health care and education, drawing immediate criticism from advocates. Before the budget deal was reached, many city Democrats, including Bronx State Senator Gustavo Rivera,  said such cuts would not have been as substantial if Cuomo had renewed the so-called "millionaire's tax," which had increased tax rates for wealthy New Yorkers over the past two years, but was set to expire this year. On Friday, Rivera told BxNN he wasn't especially confident the millionaire's tax or the extension of rent regulations -- another Bronx Democratic priority -- would be included in this budget, but Democrats would be pushing for both in separate legislation.

On the plus side, state funding for senior centers -- the absence of which could have led to the closing of dozens of Bronx centers -- has been tentatively restored. Details on the budget will be hammered out this week. We'll have more as they come in.

Quick Hits:
In a story that went national, on Friday afternoon, the Bronx Zoo closed its Reptile House indefinitely as it looks for a missing Egyptian cobra. “We are confident that the snake, about 20 inches long, is contained in a non-public, isolation area within the building,” Zoo officials said. As of last night, the snake was still missing. Somewhere, Indiana Jones is terrified. No word yet on whether the Zoo has called in Samuel L. Jackson, who has a history of battling snakes on planes.

A wild car chase on Friday night (early Saturday morning) between police and a fugitive ended in a traffic jam on the Major Deegan, near Alexander Avenue, with cops firing 19 shots and killing 28-year-old Bronxite Orlando Santos, who had an extensive criminal record, but was unarmed. Police said Santos tried to run officers down with his car and would not stop despite repeated warnings. Santos' sister said the shooting was unjustified and friends of Santos orchestrated a protest by slowly retracing the chase route and causing more traffic jams. Here's a map showing the chase route.

According to Census data, the areas of Melrose and Morrisania experienced some of the highest rates of growth in the city, with population up 27.1 percent since the last Census in 2000.

UniverSoul Circus performed in the Bronx this past week on 149th Street. (A toddler was hurt during one of the shows.) Just for fun, here's a youtube clip:



Two lawsuits have been filed in the deadly tour bus crash in the Bronx two weeks ago.

Local residents who live around Yankee Stadium are dreading the coming of Opening Day on Thursday, saying parking in the area turns into a huge, complicated problem.

Speaking of the Yankees, Forbes said the value of the famed Bronx franchise went up 6 percent this past year and is now worth $1.7 billion, almost double the value of the next most valuable team, the Boston Red Sox ($912 million). The average major league team, Forbes says, is worth $543 million.

To operators of the struggling Yankee Stadium parking garages might want to tap into some of those substantial team resources to help dig themselves out of debt, sources told the Daily News.

We'll have more on this, but the City Council last week approved the rezoning of Webster Avenue.

Montefiore Medical Center has revamped its intensive care units and it's working.

Bronx News Roundup, Nov. 17

Police nabbed a Bronx man, wanted for robbing a pharmacy, in upstate Kingston.

The NYPD is looking for three suspects who they believe committed a string of robberies in Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx since August.  

A man armed with an ice pick has been robbing women in Co-Op City. The man has been known to follow his victims into elevators; he's suspected to have committed three muggings in the last week.

NY1 polled some Mott Haven students about advice from soon-to-be Schools Chancellor Cathie Black.

A group of Bronx merchants and Assemblyman Michael Benedetto are asking the city to suspend parking meters during the holiday season to help boost local shopping sales. 

The City Council is giving out $400,000 to select homeowners, including some in Soundview, to upgrade their houses to be more energy efficient.

Sustainable South Bronx founder Majora Carter is taking questions from Huffington Post readers this week as part of its "Creative Minds" series.

Lawmakers are trying to stop car rental companies from charging higher rates to residents who live in the outer boroughs (the companies in question charge Bronx residents an extra $53 a day).

College football is coming to Yankee Stadium this Saturday, as Notre Dame will face Army for the first time in the Bronx since 1969.

The New York Botanical Garden's famous holiday train show returns this weekend.

The Observer has this photo slideshow of a number of South Bronx blocks. 

Bronx Weekend News Roundup, Nov. 1

Welcome to November everyone. To the news!

We'll start with the story of Luis Rosado, 29, a Bronx photographer willing to risk life and limb to capture scenes from the top of buildings and other structures. Rosado says he's been on top of 50 borough buildings, bridges and billboards. 

Now, for the requisite post-Halloween crime stories:

Two men were shot in connection with a Halloween party in Williamsbridge last night. Both are expected to recover. Neither is reportedly cooperating with police.

Two mask-wearing bandits robbed a Bronx man who was working on his motorcycle yesterday. They shot him even after he gave up his wallet and gold chain.
(That wasn't so bad.)

In other news:

On Friday, Carmen Huerta, a 33-year-old Bronx mom, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and driving drunk. A year ago, after drinking cognac at a party, Huerta crashed her station wagon on the West Side Highway, killing an 11-year-old girl. There were six other minors in the car.

A Colombian couple, now broken up, fights for customers of the line of butt-boosting jeans they started together. One has a shop in The Hub on Third Avenue, the other sells out of a store on Fordham Road.

The Bronx Science girls soccer team is second in the latest Post PSAL rankings as it heads into the playoffs.

The Lehman High School football team kept its playoff hopes alive with a thrilling win over Kennedy on Friday night.

Capri Anderson (born Christina Walsh), the porn star found in the bathroom of Charlie Sheen's Plaza hotel room during his allegedly coke-fueled rampage, is apparently a nice Irish girl from the Bronx.

A large man looks to make a big difference at the Andrew Jackson houses in Melrose despite increasing violence.

Gothamist writes about an e-mail they received saying the Bronx DA's office is worried that the NYPD is under-charging offenses to keep felony statistics down.

The Medical Examiner's office has ruled that the death of a Nicaraguan diplomat, who was found with his throat slashed and a fistful of hair in his hand in his Mt. Hope apartment last month, was a suicide, not a murder.

The Daily News named Robert Salerno, the cop shot three times in Morrisania, it's "Hero of the Month" in today's paper, but the story is not online.

And finally, in we-told-you-this-wouldn't-be-a-great-idea news, Bronx Parking, the owner of the new parking garages at the new Yankee Stadium are hiking up game-day prices in an effort to avoid defaulting on millions in tax-exempt bonds it used to build the garages. The Daily News' Juan Gonzalez, who has been critical of the new Yankee Stadium project since its inception, says the city's Economic Development Corporation gave Bronx Parking $100 million for the project as well as the right to raise $237 million in tax-exempt bonds for the construction.

Bronx News Roundup, Sept. 13

On the eve of primary day (also known as election day in the Democrat-saturated Boogie Down), we'll start with some politics. OK, lots of politics. But first, a reminder: VOTE!!!!!

Here's a sprawling article about the 33rd Senate District primary race -- Gustavo Rivera vs. Pedro Espada Jr. -- from a new news and culture site, capitalnewyork.com, that looks like it was created by ex-Observer staffers. In any case, the writer follows the two campaigns as they canvas the district looking to sway voters. Great stuff here. For example: two of the folks working for Espada, a married couple who said they had not been paid, quit mid-canvas, throwing Espada literature into the gutter. Also: while canvassing and asking for support, Espada campaigners are also offering primary day jobs, only to those who are over 18 (or able to vote).  Also: Espada spokesman Franck Laboy, when asked about Espada's residency questions, responded: "99.9 percent of incumbents don't live in their districts. Everybody knows."

Local journalist Eileen Markey, writing for WNYC, talks to Norwood residents about about the 33rd Senate District Race.

BoogieDowner has a few Espada/33rd-Senate-District-race-related tidbits, including staffers from Espada's office who are going around saying they are from the Board of Elections and asking for residents' phone numbers . . . a quick conversation with Espada who said he felt "very, very good" about tomorrow's primary, but seemed "sheepish/distant/aloof." . . . and a reader who has a friend in Tracey Towers said the friend has received calls from people saying (falsely) that they can vote by phone instead of going to the polls. The friend said their caller ID said the call was from Espada.

Daily News Bronx Borough Chief Bob Kappstatter breaks down the 33rd Senate District race as well as other hot primaries.

Espada challenger Gustavo Rivera says this about the possibility of losing in tomorrow's primary: "That hypothetical is not something I'm willing to entertain."

Some 90% of Espada's political contributions come form outside the district, according to the Daily News. The top individual donor: Steve Pigeon, Espada's $150,000-a-year general counsel who lives in Buffalo and helped orchestrate last summer's Senate coup, has given $9,500 to his boss' campaign.

The Times has a good roundup of the Democratic primary for Attorney General, which features five prominent candidates.
OK, moving on.

Tickets to tonight's super-hyped Jay-Z/Eminem concert at the new Yankee Stadium are going for up to $13,000.

NY1 profiles a new jobs program, started during the Great Depression, that has moved into the new Bank  American Note Building in the south Bronx.

Bronx boys soccer teams from Bronx Science and Lehman HS are ranked in the top 10, according to the NY Post.

Bronx News Roundup, July 27

A new study of health violations at sports stadiums across the country found New York among the worst offenders. At Yankee Stadium this year, 48 percent of vendors were cited for unsanitary conditions.

The number of rapes in the Bronx is on the rise, while funding for rape crisis and counseling programs is being cut dramatically.

The tragic deaths of two teens who drowned in the Bronx River this month shouldn't keep residents from enjoying River Park, says Daily News columnist Patrice O'Shaughnessy, who called the park "one of the most beautiful places in the Bronx."

Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera is challenging the petitions of her primary challengers. This and more Bronx political gossip in Bob Kappstatter's weekly column.

A 23-year-old man was shot to death yesterday in Olinville, adding to what's been a rise in the number of homicides in the 47th Precinct. 

A group of women in the south Bronx say the process of applying for welfare is so discouraging that some opt to go without the assistance they need.

Activsts Say Yankees Not Living Up to Their End of Agreement; Lawsuit May Follow

Yankee benefits rally from Alex Kratz on Vimeo.

“We are here because there is a disconnect between the world we live in of the South Bronx and the world of justice and equality,” said Lydia Lebron (see video above), pastor of the Resurrection United Methodist Church in the South Bronx, at a rally outside of Yankee Stadium last week.

Representatives from the For the South Bronx Coalition (4DSBXCoalition), the Urban Justice Center, and the Freedom Party joined Lebron in demanding data from the Yankees baseball club that accounts for commitments the club made in signing a Community Benefits Agreement in 2006. The activists presented their demands to Yankees President Randy Levine in a seven-page letter. (BxNN friend and stadium expert Neil deMause wrote about this last week for the Village Voice's blog.)

The Community Benefits Agreement, signed by Levine, former Borough President Adolfo Carrion, and Council members Maria Baez (who is no longer in office), Joel Rivera and Maria Del Carmen Arroyo in April 2006, said the Yankees would give 25% of stadium construction contracts to Bronx businesses, make sure 25% of construction jobs went to Bronxites, and award 25% of post-construction jobs to Bronxites.

As part of the agreement, the Yankees also created a Community Benefits Fund, controlled by a volunteer board, that would give out $800,000 a year in grants to local community groups, $100,000 a year in equipment and merchandise, and 15,000 free game tickets.While some of these grants, merchandise and tickets have been distributed, activists at the rally said much of it remains unaccounted for.

“The purpose of the money is to offset the cost of the stadium and the traffic and pollution surrounding it,” said Harvey Epstein, director of the Community Development Project at the Urban Justice Center. Epstein, along with the coalition, is interested in seeing the designated money go to “local social services, local parks, local food pantries, and other local community centers.”

The Yankees did not immediately return calls and e-mails seeking comment and the Benefits Fund could not be reached by publication of this article.

Bronx News Roundup, June 29

A group of Ghanaian immigrants now living in the Bronx are bringing a new musical sound to the borough with "hiplife"--a mix of hip hop and African music.

A group of students from the Ghetto Film School in Mott Haven are travelled to Belfast, Ireland to shoot their own horror movie. The school sends students to a different foreign country every year to film, according to this Daily News article.

Jamal Glover, a 32-year-old Bronx man, drowned in a creek while swimming with friends in upstate New York on Sunday night.

The Times' David Gonzalez profiles Ernest "Butch" Kelley, a neighborhood advocate who helped revive a park on Kelly Street in the South Bronx. Kelley passed away last month.

Real estate company Bluestone Group is coming to the rescue of distressed Bronx buildings, abandoned by landlords who defaulted on their mortgages, by buying the properties and fixing them up. The group is in talks to purchase a number of buildings owned by slumlord Sam Suzuki, who was given jail time last week for neglecting to repair a number of his apartments, even after several court orders.

A man was found shot to death this morning in the elevator of an apartment building on East 149th Street.

The Daily News' Bob Kappstatter has a ton of juicy Bronx political gossip in his weekly column. Some highlights? Former state Senator Efrain Gonzalez is finally heading to jail this week, and it looks like there's another contender for Michael Benjamin's assembly seat (we wrote about candidate Eric Stevenson in the last Tremont Tribune).

A groundbreaking ceremony is being held today at the site of Heritage Field, the park being built in the footprint of the old Yankee Stadium. Construction of the park should be done around fall of 2011 (critics have said the project, which was planned to make up for parkland destroyed by construction of the new stadium, has taken too long.)

An NYPD cop and Bronx resident was cleared of assault charges yesterday in a Manhattan court. David London was on trial for the beating of a man in the lobby of a Manhattan apartment building. The incident was caught on tape by surveillance cameras.

A group of animal lovers helped save a hawk that fell from its nest in Mott Haven this weekend.

Bronx News Roundup, June 22

Fire Department officials have launched an internal probe after an image of President Obama, painted on a toolbox inside a Tremont firehouse, was defaced with the words "Hustler" and "Allah Akbar."

More details on the murder of Mohamed Jalloh, the 18-year-old Bronx resident who was stabbed to death in Washington Heights on Sunday.

A Riverdale man was shot dead execution-style outside a hotel in Yonkers early Monday morning.

Richard Izquierdo Arroyo, the nephew of Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo, and grandson of Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo, will be sentenced this Friday. "Little Ricky" pled guilty in March to embezzling $115,000 from a nonprofit group. Despite this, Assemblywoman Arroyo had no qualms keeping him on as her chief-of-staff.

The upcoming trial of Councilman Larry Seabrook may be further delayed after his lawyer, Murray Richman (aka "Don't Worry Murray) told a judge that he - Richman - may have a conflict of interest with one of the witnesses. Seabrook, who has a nickname of his own, faces money laundering, extortion and fraud charges. Some of the charges are tied to the so-called "slush-fund scandal" which has already bought down Richard Izquierdo Arroyo (see above) and former Manhattan councilman Miguel Martinez, among others.

A federal judge will decide later this week whether or not to bail the four men accused of trying to blow up two synagogues in Riverdale last year.

Last Friday, housing adovcates rallied outside State Sen. Jeff Klein's home in Pelham Parkway, to protest his refusal to support a vacancy decontrol bill.

Not for the first time, parks advocates are accusing the city of giving Bronx residents a bum deal with regards to the new parks and playgrounds slated to replace the parkland the Yankee Stadium swallowed up. 

Jewish Home Lifecare recently cut the ribbon on its latest residence for low-income seniors. The 71-unit building is located at 2552 Webb Ave.

Four Bronx youths are suing the city, and demanding $1 million apiece, after being arresting last month for having a water-balloon fight on Walton Avenue.

A community group in Mott Haven wants to reseed Bronx Kill with oysters and mussels, in an effort to clean up the polluted waterway which separates the Bronx from Randalls Island.

At several outdoor locations in the Bronx, pianos have appeared for residents young and old to bang away on.  The pianos are part of a citywide art project called “Play Me, I’m Yours.”

The Jersey Shore's Nicole Polizzi, better known as Snooki, could be Bronx-bound.

Bronx News Roundup, June 7

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all enjoyed your weekend, now for some Bronx news!

Police are asking for the public's assistance in finding two young men who allegedly shot and killed a Bronx, livery cab driver, 48 year-old Cesar Santos, yesterday on Sedgwick Avenue. Read more here.

A car crash on the Cross Bronx yesterday, left three people injured, two of which are in critical condition. Two other passengers fled the scene on foot.

Police are asking for the public's help in finding 54 year-old Bronx resident, Evelyn Rodriguez, who has been missing form her Bronx home on Knox Place since June 1.

38 'Blood' gang members have been indicted and are being hit with a variety of charges, including their alleged involvement in a shooting that led a stray bullet being lodged into the head of Bronx teen, Vada Vasquez. Read more here.

Former Bronx resident and current Broadway show "Wicked" understudy, has filed a civil suit against Bayer, saying that the their birth control pills caused her to have a stroke at the age of 27.

Fight night at the Yankee Stadium this weekend had a great turnout and pleased many. Read more here and here.

Supremem Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor returned to the Bronx last week and made a visit to her old school. Read here and here.

Finally, the Times goes into the home of Roberto Garcia, the senior director of governmental and community relations at Montefiore Medical Center who was recently honored for his work as chairman of Community Board 2. Garcia lives on a historic block in Longwood. (FYI: Garcia used to be the director of the Jerome-Gun Hill BID and also head of economic development for the Mosholu Preservation Corporation, which publishes the Norwood News and also oversees the Bronx News Network.)  

Bronx News Roundup, May 27

The conviction of former Bronx state Senator Efrain Gonzalez--who was sentenced to seven years in prison yesterday for siphoning money from a nonprofit--is just the latest in a string of corrupt politicians across the city, the Daily News says.

It's not just hot dogs or cracker jacks at the ballgame anymore--here's a review of the new Yankee stadium's steakhouse.

Police are asking for help to find 13-year-old Stephanie Vasquez, who has been missing since Tuesday. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1 800 577 TIPS (8477).

Two Bronx residents were convicted of murder yesterday in relation to a 2007 shooting at a poker parlor in Manhattan.

More than two dozen alleged gang members were arrested yesterday in the 43rd Precinct, according to the Bronx District Attorney's office. The arrested of the reputed members of the Bloods and the Crips stemmed from a nine-month drug ring investigation.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine was awarded a $10 million grant for diabetes research from the NIH (the Bronx has some of the highest diabetes rates in the city).

A Kingsbridge church sent off supplies to Haiti this week after months of collecting donations.

Construction of the long-awaited South Bronx Greenway--the network of bike paths and walkways intended to connect several waterfront parks--will begin this summer.

Bronx News Roundup, May 25

A 14-year-old girl has gone missing from her home on East 168 Street, and the police are asking for the public's help in locating her. 

The Daily News' "Best of the Borough Series" looks at Bronx food, Bronx culture, Bronx sports, and the Bronx for kids.

Mayor Bloomberg says the so-called living-wage bill is "poorly thought out and will not work."  The bill (full name: The Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act ) is sponsored by council members Oliver Koppell and Annabel Palma.  It's being introduced today.

Thirty-six individuals have so far graduated from the Osborne Association's Green Career Center in Morrisania.  The center, which opened in March, provides former prisoners with the skills to land a "green" job.

On her blog, a Bronx teacher laments the lack of news coverage Sunday's double-murder in Mount Hope has received. 

This summer, several Bronx pols "will find themselves in real knockdown brawls to hang onto their seats," says the Daily News' Bob Kappstatter.

The Bronx Democratic Party has endorsed Eric Stevenson, a district leader who's running for Michael Benjamin's assembly seat.  Benjamin plans to step down and may challenge Congressman Jose Serrano. 

In an editorial at the weekend, El Diario la Prensa criticized the National Puerto Rican Day Parade Committee for giving State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. a lifetime achievement award.  Diaz is undeserving because of his opposition to gay marriage, the paper argues.  You can read Diaz's response to the editorial here. 

iPADs are banned from the Yankee Stadium. 

The Bronx Zoo's lion cubs are nameless no more.  Daily News' readers picked out Nala, Adamma and Shani.

The Bronx Halls of Justice has been open two years, but court officers' radios still don't work inside, increasing the likelihood of prisoner escapes.

The first in a two-part series about life in River Park Towers, a huge housing complex in Morris Heights on the edge of the Harlem River.  While the view is stunning, the buildings and apartments have seen better days. 

Demolition Continues at Old Yankee Stadium

Old Yankee Stadium from the 161 St. 4 Train platform

Slowly but surely, the demolition of the old Yankee Stadium is picking up steam. As you can see from the picture above, most of the upper levels have been gutted and what was once the field is now dirt and massive piles of rubble. I took these photos yesterday from the 4 train platform at the 161st Street stop, which as this New Yorker piece points out, is the best place to view the stadium’s destruction.

There wasn’t any activity happening yesterday, a dreary, rainy Tuesday. And while the weather might have kept the construction crews at bay, it didn’t stop diehard Yankees fans like Glenn Laste from coming by to catch a glimpse of the old stadium before it’s gone for good.

“It’s so sad, it’s just so sad,” said Laste, of Brooklyn.

Bronx News Roundup, March 11

Congressman Jose E. Serrano is calling for an end to the war in Afghanistan. He spoke on the House Floor yesterday as Congress began debates on war legislation. You can watch the video of his statements here.

The Perez Notes has an interview with Patrick Jenkins, a political consultant and Carl Heastie staffer.  

A city-run apartment for homeless families in Morris Heights is under fire after its ceiling collapsed on a family of five--just days after another apartment in the same building gave a two-year-old lead poisoning.

Sen. Jeff Klein has been named chairman of a Government Efficiency Task Force that's looking to cut wasteful spending in state agencies.

A Bronx woman was arrested for the February hit-and-run accident in Brooklyn that left mayoral aide Erinn Phelan brain dead. 

The Riverdale Press has coverage of last week's state of the borough address from Ruben Diaz, Jr.

Police arrested 27 people on drug charges at the Pelham Parkway Houses yesterday. The investigation of the complex had been going on for nearly a year, according to the Daily News.

More on the demolition of the old Yankee Stadium. The borough president was on the scene as well, and posted some photos of the deconstruction.

Made your St. Patrick's Day plans yet? AmNY features some of the best Bronx spots to celebrate.

A nonprofit arts group named 1520 Sedgwick Ave. the birthplace of hip-hop.

Bronx News Roundup, Feb. 17

Lots of Bronx news out there, let's get right to it. 

Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez reminds everyone that the old Yankee Stadium remains firmly in the way of new replacement community ball fields, leaving youth leagues with no place to play. (The old fields were destroyed to make way for the new Yankee Stadium.) A spokesman for the city's Economic Development Corporation says the stadium will be fully demolished by the spring and the replacement fields will be ready at the end of 2011, five years after the original fields were destroyed.

Neil deMause at Field of Schemes chimes in and notes how activists Joyce Hogi and Karen Argenti say federal funds should be withheld for non-compliance.

Speaking of the Yankees, the club is talking to promoters about holding a big-ticket fight between Miguel Cotto and Yuri Foreman at the new Yankee Stadium in June. 

Carlos Gonzalez, the son of former Bronx state senator Efrain Gonzalez, is exploring a run for state office. City Hall magazine says he could challenge Assemblyman Jose Rivera in the 78th Assembly District. Gonzalez points out that he also lives in the  33rd Senate District, which is currently represented by Pedro Espada.

Surprise! The Bronx is the most unhealthy county in the entire state of New York, according to a recently released report that measured access to health care, economics, behavior and environmental factors. Westchester County, just north of the Bronx, is one of the state's healthiest. 

Here's a video report about the dramatic fire and rescue in Pelham Bay on Monday.

The Times' story about the troubling record of the top to aide to Gov. Paterson takes a detour into the Bronx, where the aide, David W. Johnson, reportedly had an altercation with a woman in October that led to police intervention. (Paterson's office says the complaint about Johnson in the Bronx was withdrawn and that Johnson had turned his life around after being arrested on drug charges as a teenager.)

The Riverdale Press has a list of all the recipients of grants handed out by the Bronx Council on the Arts.

Granola-y tree-hugger Matthew Modine adds some star power to the recently formed Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy.

Bronx News Roundup, Oct. 13

Bronx Borough President, Ruben Diaz, Jr., continues to oppose the proposed Kingsbridge Armory agreement.

Some Bronx bridges may finally get much needed repair.

Renovations at Jerome Park Reservoir are on hiatus while the Parks Department and Department of Environmental Protection duke it out over control of the area.

In more Parks Department news, the agency announced that Heritage Field, the park replacing the old Yankee Stadium, is behind schedule and will not be completed until Fall 2011.

Instead of going for the Department of Environmental Protection's original plan to build huge egg-shaped sewage digesters in Hunts Point, the city is going to refurbish existing digesters, to the relief of community leaders.

NPR highlights the plight of tenants in an old, badly maintained apartment building on University Avenue that they attribute to the real estate crash.

The Daily News reports that the daughter of the Bronx woman who crashed her car on Sunday while driving drunk pleaded with her mother to "slow down." In addition to the daugher, there were five other young girls in the car at the time of the crash, one was killed.

The Daily News lists a slew of bargains to be found at stores in Pelham Bay.

State Sen. Jeffrey Klein proposed legislation to expand the police DNA databank.

Klein is also busy drafting legislation that would ban the fad of "fish pedicures," deeming the practice unsanitary.

The South Bronx High School football team is hoping for a better end of the season than last year.

The Yankees, Unobstructed Sept. 4

The Daily News posted some video footage of the old Yankee Stadium's famous white facade being removed.

For photos of the delicate demolition, click here.

Wondering why it looks like they're treating the facade like it's the Guernica? C'mon, you know why. Say it with me: Steiner Sports is selling bits and pieces of everything from the old Stadium.

In other Yankees demolition news:

It seems Toronto fans want to demolish the Yankees.

Derek Jeter is closing in on Lou Gehrig's record for career hits by a Yankee. Gehrig compiled 2,721 hits in his career and Jeter currently has 2,713. Jeter's parents have convinced him to not nonchalant his way through this record, like he usually does.
Also, if you find it crazy that no Yankee has ever reached 3,000 career hits, you're not alone.

NOTE: Make sure to check back on Fridays for The Yankees, Unobstructed, BNN's weekly (and usually longer) Yankees opinion column.

For more of Graham Kates' sports writing, check out his True/Slant blog "Coaches in the Crosshairs" (www.trueslant.com/grahamkates).

Bronx News Roundup July 14

Judge Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings are underway and already full of controversy. Today, Sotomayor will face direct questioning about her past case rulings and public comments. Just this morning, Sotomayor admitted that she used a bad choice of words when saying that a "wise Latina woman" could reach a better conclusion than a "white man."Sotomayor went on to explain that she believes that "different life experiences" "enrich the legal system." Other issues to be discussed today include abortion, gun control and her ruling in the firefighter discrimination case. Check out the New York Times Live Blog for updates on the hearings.

In a recent article in the New York Daily News, Bob Kappstatter points out that Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. is not the only flawed member of the Bronx Democratic Party.

During the All-Star break halfway through the season, fans and players reflect on the positives and negatives of the new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field.

Tough economic times have left behind a trail of abandoned apartment buildings, many of them in the Bronx. Property owners cannot pay back their loans and apartments are falling into deplorable conditions.

Court documents recently revealed that hundreds of thousands of dollars intended for job training programs in the Bronx were diverted for unknown use in the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp. (BOEDC). Court proceedings are still going on.

Community Board 7 will vote on the redevelopment plan for the Kingsbridge Armory Tonight. For more information about the redevelopment at the Armory, view our Kingsbridge Armory Coverage Preview.

Pinstripe Politics July 8

Take that Irving Berlin

Fans at Yankee Stadium may now move about at will....even if non-national anthem "God Bless America" is playing. From the New York Times:

New York City will pay $10,001 to settle a federal lawsuit on behalf of a Queens man who was ejected from the old Yankee Stadium last August after trying to use the bathroom during the playing of “God Bless America.” In addition, the team has publicly declared that it has no policy prohibiting fans from moving about during the playing of the patriotic song, which the team began playing during games after 9/11.

via On Yankee Stadium Restroom Dispute, City Settles

The city will also pay $12,000 to the New York Civil Liberties Union, to cover the legal fees for Bradford Campeau-Laurion, the Queens resident who was ejected from Yankee Stadium last year.

Moody's : Yankees bonds are medium grade

The Moody's Investor Service assigned a Baa3 rating to bonds associated with the new Yankee Stadium. According to Yahoo! Finance, a Baa rating implies that the bond in question is "medium-grade" but investor worthy. Moody's cited the Yankees previous success and their record-setting 4.3 million tickets sold last year in assigning the rating. It should be noted, however, that the Yankees are not on pace to match that record this year.

Also check out....

Toronto Blue Jays first-basemen/designated hitter Kevin Millar doesn't like the new Stadium. Millar says he used to get booed louder at the old Stadium....also, Millar is not nearly as good as he was when he played at the old Stadium.

Tiger Woods thinks tickets at the new Stadium are too expensive.

Senior citizens paid $5 for $375 seats on Monday

NOTE: Make sure to check back every Wednesday for Pinstripe Politics, your source for that gray area where the Yankees and society converge. Also, check in with the BNN on Fridays for The Yankees, Unobstructed, our weekly Yankee opinion column.

For more of Graham Kates' sports writing, check out his True/Slant blog "Coaches in the Crosshairs" (www.trueslant.com/grahamkates).