Bronx News Roundup, Jan. 20

Fundraising for Haiti has been met with huge success in the Bronx. The Daily News reports on this, including last Saturday's effort, hosted by Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and the New York Hispanic Clergy organization, which raised over $50,000 in monetary donations, as well as two boxes of supplies.

An off-duty police officer was one of four people who were injured in a three-car crash in Pelham Bay Park last night. One driver, who initially fled the scene, has been taken into custody.

Timothy Honey, a Bronx man (and reportedly, a William S. Burroughs lookalike) is being sought in connection with a string of armed robberies in Greenwich Village.

The Tri-State Transportation Campaign has deemed East Gunhill Road, the Grand Concourse and Broadway highly dangerous to pedestrian traffic. In their report, the organization praised city efforts, but criticized the state Department of Transportation. In addition, figures from 2009 were not reflected in the report, a year that saw its own fair share of pedestrian deaths on these streets.

Tired of staring down a pitch-dark tunnel? Done with straining your ears in hopes of hearing your train screech down the tracks? Some Bronx commuters are in luck: five stations in the Bronx have received countdown clocks, tracking the arrival time of trains by the minute.

Bronx Democratic Chairman Carl Heastie implores the media to look past race. When questioned as to whether he will be supporting Harold Ford Jr.'s primary run, Heastie replied, "I don't feel that I have to support him just because I'm black. There's this expectation that because he's black and I'm black, I have to run to support him, and damn a sitting U.S. senator. I'm trying to get people thinking beyond race."

Possum and skunk infestations are irritating the residents of a Throggs Neck housing project. However, their demands for help are not being met.

Just wondering, have you ever been able to drive from the Bronx to midtown in five minutes? "24" hero Jack Bauer need not apply.

Bronx News Roundup, Oct. 23

Gov. David Paterson wants the New York State Senate to vote on a same-sex marriage bill within the next few weeks during a special session of the legislature to address New York’s budget. Sen. Ruben Diaz has vowed to do whatever it takes to prevent the bill to legalize same-sex marriage from becoming law or getting to the floor of the Senate this year.

We've written about Diaz's opposition before, as well as the attitude of Assemblyman Michael Benjamin.

The man suspected of shooting Sadie Mitchell has been charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. He pleaded not guilty in Bronx Criminal Court this morning.

A Bronx father is suing NYC Transit after his son was stabbed on a city bus. He says the bus driver did not call for help and abandoned his bleeding son on the street.

English teacher Greg Van Voorhis at the Bronx School of Law and Finance is being investigated by the New York City Department of Education after allegations that he gave students lewd stories to read.

MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) is adding a pilot Bronx Express program for service between Woodlawn and 149th Street-Grand Concourse. The pilot will begin on Oct. 26. and end on Dec. 11. Express trains will operate every 20 minutes between 7 a.m. and 8:20 a.m.

Bronx resident Rosa N. Rivera pleaded guilty today to aiding and assisting in the presentation of a false individual income tax return for clients and to filing a false individual income tax return.

Seabrook and Liu Hold Transit Meeting

Council Members Larry Seabrook (east Bronx) and John Liu (Queens), who is also a candidate for city comptroller, are holding a meeting on Monday evening about the transit cuts. Details ...

New York City Council Member Larry B. Seabrook, Chair of the Civil Rights Committee and Council Member John Liu, Chair of the Transportation will host a community meeting and speak out in District 12, on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s toll and fare increases and service cuts on bus and subway lines. The increase in transit fare will also mean an increase in the Access-A-Ride fare from $2.00 to $2.50.

This community meeting will be held on Monday, March 30, 2009 at 3825 White Plains Road & E. 220th Street, at 7 p.m.

Bronx News Roundup, Jan 13.

After distributing 795,883 report cards in 2008, the New York City Transit has evaluated eight subway lines, including four lines that make stops in the Bronx: the 2, 4, 5 and B (during rush hour). Most subway lines received average grades, while the 4 train received the lowest grade, a D-, for overcrowding during rush hour.

The New York Assembly committee that is currently investigating the use of millions of dollars of public funding to build the new Yankees stadium has issued subpoenas to Randy Levin, the team’s president, and Seth Pinksy, an official at the city economic development office. Levin and Pinsky are expected to testify tomorrow before the committee.

Another Bronxite comes out in favor of Caroline Kennedy.

The NYPD has released statistics reporting a drop in almost all major crime categories in the Bronx in 2008. But shooting incidents were up across the borough, with 405 total, an 8.5% increase from 2007.

Yesterday we noted the protests against the partial closing of a firehouse on City Island, housing Ladder Company 53. As a sidenote, the Daily News reports that one of the firefighters in the company is charged with 'falsely reporting fires' for orchestrating a series of fake calls to the firehouse after learning of the planned cuts.

Bob Kapstatter reminds us that the Obama Administration had better hurry up and decide whether they want Borough President Adolfo Carrion in the White House: this Thursday is the deadline to declare to the city Campaign Finance Board whether he will be running for City Controller or a third term as BP.

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's yearly "Community Health Profile" reports that the South Bronx has among the highest asthma rates in the city and the area around Morrisania has a diabetes rate twice the city average, at 16%.