Happy Friday folks. Let's get down to Bronx business. To the news!
Weather: Not a cloud in the sky today and tomorrow, with temperatures staying relatively mild in the mid-80s. Look for Sunday showers to break the loveliness.
Story of the Day: Striking Workers Bash Verizon Scab Practices
Yesterday, the Village Voice found a handful of striking Verizon union workers in the South Bronx criticizing their scab worker replacements for shoddy and unsafe work practices. At least a few Bronx politicians, including State Senator Jeff Klein and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, have voiced their support for the 45,000 members of the Communications Workers of America who say Verizon is unfairly "dictating" (not negotiating) terms for a new contract. Here's video the Voice shot yesterday:
Quick Hits:
Weather: Another beautiful one in the Bronx today, with temperatures a bit cooler than yesterday (think high 70s/low 80s), blue skies and lots of sun. Take your lunch break outside!
On to the news. Lots of headlines this morning about the Soundview Healthcare Network run by former Bronx Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., which just got kicked out of the state's Medicaid program and is likely facing closure. You can read more on this in our previous post, here. According to the A.P., Espada says he'll fight the state's decision with a court order.
Bronx schools scored the worst of the five boroughs on the state's English exams last year, with only 31 percent of students passing (that's compared to 44 percent citywide).
Hansel Aguero, 17, of Soundview, is off to Amsterdam this week to compete in a Yu-Gi-Oh! world championship tournament (Yu-Gi-Oh!, in case you didn't know, is a Japanese trading card game the kids are apparently into these days. I think the equivalent of my generation's Pogs). We liked Hansel's oh-so-confident, hometown-pride attitude: "I feel pretty confident," he told the Daily News. "I'm from the Bronx. I'm not scared of nothing."
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| Former Sen. Pedro Espada at a press conference yesterday, defending his network of Bronx health clinics. (Photo by David Greene) |
Weather: Sunny, with a high in the mid-80s until later this afternoon, when rain and thunderstorms became increasingly likely. There's an even higher chance for rain tonight. Should be hotter, less chance of rain, tomorrow.
Story of the Day: Report: City Knew of Bronx New School Contamination 6 Months Ago
According to a Daily News story out today, a contractor performing tests at the Bronx New School's cafeteria found high levels of trichlorethylene (otherwise known as TCE) contamination as early as January. In March, underneath the school's basement floorboard, the contractor discovered TCE contamination levels that were 10,000 times higher than what the state deems safe. Exposure to TCE has been linked to cancer and it can cause severed kidney and liver problems. The Department of Education says they didn't have the contractor's full report until the end of June. But even Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott acknowledged that the city should have informed parents sooner. "I'm totally shocked by the whole thing," one parent told the Daily News. Also, it's still unclear where the school will move now with just a month left before school starts.
Quick Hits:
Happy Monday, Bronxites! Your weather forecast for today calls for sunshine and temps in the high 80s.
Story of the Day: Espada Spent the Most Senate Cash
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| File photo by Jeanmarie Evelly |
Weather: Not too hot today: sunny with some clouds. Unlike last night, it should stay pretty clear through the evening.
Story of the Day:
A second water main break this morning on Jerome Avenue less than a mile away from where last week's was. The Daily News reports that the break occurred around 6 a.m. and was shut off by 7:45 a.m. This break caused far less damage than last week's, but still left two inches of water in the street. According to the Department of Environmental Protection, the two breaks are not related or an indictment of a failing water main system. Nope, simply just a freak coincidence.
Quick Hits:
An elderly priest from Eastchester has been accused of molesting a 16-year-old girl.
Former State Senator Pedro Espada's Bedford Park co-op is still up for sale. The Daily News' Bob Kappstatter reports that Espada may be getting desperate to sell his former home with the beginning of his federal trial for embezzlement charges looming on Sept. 12 and that the property could be a bargain. Plus, other political tidbits.
Weather: Outrageously hot. Because of the extremely temperatures and humidity today in the Bronx and the rest of the region, the National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory until 8 p.m. tonight as well as an air quality alert from 2 to 11 p.m. Stay inside, drink lots of water and if you can, spend some time chillin' in one of the city's 400-plus cooling centers. Click here to locate the center nearest you. Thankfully it is supposed to cool down slightly tomorrow and then temperatures should drop significantly this weekend.
Story of the Day: Shooter Takes Aim at Bronx Students, Hits 16-year-old in the Hip
This is the type of terrifying random-act-of-violence story that keeps parents up at night. Yesterday afternoon, a man stepped off a BX5 bus near the Rincon de Gautier Institute for Law and Public Policy on Story Avenue and opened fire. Fortunately, this didn't turn Columbine-esque. Though "several shots" were fired, only one bullet found a victim, a 16-year-old girl who was hit in the hip and is expected to survive. The scariest part of this is that the shooter remains on the loose as of this posting. One student who attends a nearby school summed it up best for the Daily News: "I don't understand how people can just start shooting at a pack of kids."
Quick Hits:
Speaking of random acts of violence in the Bronx, a Sarah Lawrence College professor who was visiting the Bronx Zoo with his wife and 19-month-old son was hit by a BB gun pellet after parking on Bronx Park South near Daly Avenue.
Okay, enough with the random violence. How about some housing policy? Bronx State Senator Gustavo Rivera says Democrats are pushing hard for stronger rent regulations as the current Emergency Tenant Protection Act is set to expire on July 15, just six days from now. (Note: The story wrongly says regulated apartment rent increases are set by the Rent Stabilization Association, which is lobbying and advocacy group that represents landlords. Rent increases are set by the Rent Guidelines Board.)
The New Jersey Nets are taking a hard look at Bronx hoops product Corey Fisher.
The retired cops of the 41st Precinct, which covers the Longwood-Hunts Point area and was known back in the day as "Fort Apache," will gather to reminisce about the good/bad old days tomorrow night.
Alright, here's a positive, even heroic, Bronx story. A Bronx court officer performed emergency CPR on a 2-year-old girl who had stopped breathing after suffering a seizure. His father told the Daily News: "You're talking about a guy who brought my daughter back to life. I don't know how to thank him. I didn't know we still had people like that out here."
Our favorite Bronx political gossip columnist Bob Kappstatter reports that Bronx Assemblyman Peter Rivera's campaign treasurer pleaded guilty to mail fraud after facing obstruction of justice charges and will spend six months in jail. Meanwhile, former Bronx State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr., had his trial on embezzlment charges moved to Oct. 17. It will be a busy month for legally-entangled Bronx pols. Councilman Larry Seabrook's corruption trial is set to begin Oct. 11.
Bronx rapper Fat Joe may have to change his moniker to Svelte Joe after noticeably slimming down for his latest music video, "Drop a Body," a track from his upcoming "The Darkside II" album. Maybe he should have renamed the song, "Drop a Body Weight." What's your secret Joe? Hopefully he's not trying to live up to his other nickname, "Joey Crack."
Joseph Strasburg, the head of the Rent Stabilization Assocation, a landlord lobbying group, praised former Bronx State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. for saving his industry at this event a couple of nights ago. Comments starts at 0:19 in after the tenant protest.
Hope everyone had a good weekend. Short round-up today ...
Former State Senator Pedro Espada's controversial Bedford Park co-op (he is widely believed to have lived most of the time at his house in Mamaroneck) is up for sale. Shocking.
A part-time counsel for State Senator Jeffrey Klein resigned after the Daily News asked questions about the staffer receiving taxpayer-financed health insurance despite only working 17 hours a week.
Contaminated chicken from Virginia shipped to distribution centers to the Bronx, Brooklyn and Farmingdale has been recalled by the manufacturer.
A 26-year-old father was gunned down in Morrisania on Sunday.
If you're signing for a new phone number in the Bronx (and Brooklyn and Queens) beginning April 16, you may get 929, now that 347, 646, and 917 are close to all used up.
The Riverdale Press beat us to this, but I heard the same thing on my way into work this morning -- loud, melodic ringing at intervals. Reminded me of the sound associated with the 1970s movie E.T. actually. Anyone know what the story is?
And we're back for a President's Day edition of the news roundup, which will include everything we didn't get to last week as we made a final push for your much-needed support. First, though, a hearty and well-deserved thank you to everyone who contributed during our six-week fund-raising appeal. At last count, you had contributed $4,318 toward making our organization, and everything we do, stronger.
Starting today, we will get back to our daily news roundups, weekly features and our continuing mission to bring you invaluable local information and original reporting. (Important side note: Your ongoing support is still important. If you haven't donated yet or want to donate again in the future, just click on our "Donate" button on the upper-right hand corner of this page.)
OK, that's it, we're moving on! To the news!
Story of the Day:
The Daily News editorial board was awed by the feat of technology and engineering going on in Van Cortlandt Park that will allow New York City to filter between 10 and 29 percent of its daily water supply, but says that the city should never do this again. The city's Department of Environmental Protection is on the verge of completing the network of tunnels connecting the Croton Water Filtration Plant in VC Park to the Croton Watershed upstate.
There is still work to do -- most notably, the routing and laying of a waste water pipe from the filtration plant to Wards Island -- but this hulking facility and its side projects should be completed by the end of next year. In the end, the project's price tag will be at least triple the original estimate, not to mention the priceless loss of scarce public parkland. It's all too much. We can't do this again, the DN says.We will be happy not to write about this again, BxNN says.
Quick Hits:
One of the saddest stories last week was the death of 11-year-old Russell Smith, who police say was clipped by a Honda CRV as he was crossing the Grand Concourse at E. 183rd Street. It was the same place a 12-year-old girl was killed by a motorist in 2005 and the Concourse remains a danger zone, residents say.
The "last in, first out" law that requires the city to lay off public school teachers based on seniority could lead to serious problems at new successful schools like the Bronx's Urban Assembly School for Applied Math and Science, which is on pace to graduate 95% of its senior class this year. Some 60% of the school's 47 teachers have less than three years in the classroom. The cuts could also include second-year Bronx teacher, Stany Leblanc.
Ex-Bronx State Senator Pedro Espada spent $1.2 million on a staff and office expenses between April and September last year. His expense total was tops in the state. Not too far behind: the Bronx's Jeff Klein.
A 16-year-old was shot and killed last night on E 184th Street.
"Transformers" actress Megan Fox and "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm are working on their new movie, "Friend with Kids," in the Bronx.
Long-time Bronx DA Dan McCarthy died last week.
We'll let Gothamist sort out the story of the wife of a Bronx precinct commander who lied to police about getting attacked.
A Bronx teen who spent three years in Riker's Island before being acquitted of murder charges, is suing the NYPD and the Bronx DA's office for allegedly suppressing evidence that kept him locked up.
Finger prints and a long rap sheet led to the arrest of a Bronx man wanted on rape charges.
Bobby McFerrin's son, Taylor McFerrin, is teaching beat boxing to students at the Lavelle School for the Blind in the north Bronx.
A Bronx jeweler says he went into "survival mode" when he fended off armed robbers in his shop last week.
Two young children were saved on Friday afternoon by firefighters after a blaze broke out in the apartment they were staying in at Concourse House, a transitional home for single mothers. The kids suffered smoke inhalation, but were listed in stable condition.
The Elder Avenue and Saint Lawrence Avenue stations on the 6 train line will be closed for renovations starting Feb. 28.
Big Brothers and Big Sisters, the organization that matches adult mentors with children and teens, is looking for volunteers in the Bronx. The group received only 27 Bronx mentors last year.
A Bronx woman has been reunited with her daughter, who was kidnapped over two decades ago.
Councilman Oliver Koppell and Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., continue their fight for passage of a Living Wage bill, which stemmed from last year's battle over plans for the Kingbridge Armory. The two pols attended a rally in Harlem last week in support of the legislation, which Mayor Bloomberg and the business community have opposed.
A 16-year-old boy from the Bronx wowed judges on American Idol this week. Travis Orlando "took viewers on a tour of his rough Bronx neighborhood near the Grand Concourse thoroughfare," according to MTV.com.
Rayvon Guice, 21, of the Bronx, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for shooting two women in last year's chaotic "wilding" in Times Square on Easter Sunday.
A student from Bronx High School of Science is a semifinalist in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search for his genetic research project.
The family of Betty Williams, the murdered Bronx woman whose body was discovered inside a suitcase on the Upper East Side last month, are trying to reunite with her 3-year-old son. The boy was placed in foster care after his mother struggled with addiction problems.
A couple was killed early yesterday morning in a car accident on the Grand Concourse near East 165th Street.
Pedro Espada's memoir, which never materialized, was meant to be in part a political attack against then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, according to the Post. Investigators have been looking into the proposed autobiography to find out if Espada used money from his Soundview Health Clinics to pay for the ghostwriter he'd hired.
Students at Theatre Arts Production Company High School, on Webster Avenue, say it's easy to get straight A's at the school, which is one of the higher performing in the city. The Department of Education is looking into whether or not grades at the school have been fudged. The Times has more here.
New York Democrats, including Sen. Jeff Klein, are laying off staff this year due to budget constraints. The party had racked up millions in debt during their two years in power.
A four-alarm fire that forced the evacuation of a building on the Grand Concourse yesterday was caused by a burnt batch of Christmas cookies, according to a neighbor.
Bronx teenager Justin Tavarez, 19, who was charged with a hate crime this weekend after a late night scuffle in a diner, told friends he was provoked by the victim, who was taunting him over a girl. Tavarez allegedly smashed a plate over the head of a 42-year-old man while making racial comments, according to police.
John Martinez, the man accused of robbing a number of women in Co-op City and Manhattan while wielding an ice pick, pleaded not guilty yesterday.
The recently indicted Sen. Pedro Espada, Jr., submitted paperwork earlier this month to cash in on his $9,000 a year state pension.
A new bill introduced in Congress this week would provide federal funding for the removal of PCBs, a dangerous construction material, from the city's public schools. This summer, tests found elevated levels of the chemical in three schools, including PS 178 in Co-op City.
A Bronx woman was sentenced to 25 years to life yesterday in the Bronx Supreme Court for the 2003 murder of a 91-year-old woman.
A city sanitation worker was struck by a car and killed yesterday while crossing the street in Castle Hill. Angel Roldan, 39, worked with the Sanitation Department for 11 years; he leaves behind a wife and two children.
The suspected Bronx church burglar, who was busted by police last weekend, says he targeted the houses of worship because he was angry over pedophile-priest scandals. Nathaniel Linden, 51, is believed to be responsible for a string of church break-ins over the last month.
More Bronxites, and residents across the city, are opting to worship from their homes instead of a traditional church, according to ABC.
A&P, the supermarket chain which owns Pathmark, Food Emporium and Waldbaum's, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month. The future of all these stores is uncertain, though the company says it's refinancing and hopes to turn things around over the next year.
Bronx-born actor Steve Landesberg, known for his role on the long-running sitcom “Barney Miller,” died in Los Angeles Monday from colon cancer. He was 74.
Friends of a gay Bronx soldier who fought for the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell and died serving in Iraq, visited his grave site on Saturday, shortly after the Senate voted to repeal the controversial policy.
Beleaguered State Sen. Pedro Espada and his son, Pedro G. Espada, could be hit with more indictments in the coming months, according to the Daily News' Bob Kappstatter in his weekly column.
A Bronx teenager has been charged with a felony hate crime. Police say Justin Tavarez, who's a student at Skidmore College in upstate New York, took offense when he saw a white man dining with a black man and smashed a plate over the white man's head.
The man accused of using an ice-pick to threaten and rob several women in the Bronx and Manhattan, carried out the muggings so he could buy Christmas presents for his family, his cousin says.
Councilman Jimmy Vacca, chair of the Transportation committee, says too many cyclists don't obey traffic laws.
Every year, Bronx resident Milagros Guzman decorates a Christmas tree she calls the "Tree of Angels," to remember victims of homicide, including her own daughter, Jessica, who was murdered in 1990.
More on the arrest of Nathaniel Linden, the man police suspect of robbing at least two Bronx churches.
Plans are in the works to clean up a contaminated lot by the Major Deegan Expressway at 135th Street, and build a 80-90 room hotel.
Tenants of 1204 Shakespeare Ave. are being allowed to return home in time for the holidays. Many of the apartments were evacuated earlier this month after the Department of Buildings found that the building's emergency exits were blocked.
The legendary Morris Park Boxing Club reopened yesterday, a year after it was almost completely destroyed by a fire.
Last Thursday, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. appeared on NY1's "Inside City Hall." Topics for discussion included the Kingsbridge Armory and the Muller Army Reserve Center. Here's the clip.
Yesterday, NYPD Detective Robert Salerno gave out Christmas presents at Lincoln Hospital, the same hospital where he was treated earlier this year after being shot in the line of duty.
Billy Wharton, a writer and activist who edits the Socialist WebZine, was on jury duty recently at the Bronx County Hall of Justice. During his lunch break, he sat in on a few trials and then wrote about his experience for the Examiner website.
Veterinarians at Yonkers' Animal Specialty Center are hoping to reunite an injured Rottweiler with its owner. The dog was found on a Bronx street two weeks ago, bleeding and limping.
Ed. note: Start a discussion about any of these stories, or anything else you want to talk about, in our forum. Highlight problems in your neighborhood with our SeeClickFix feature. And find out what's happening in our constantly-updated events calendar.
Happy Friday afternoon everyone. Holiday housekeeping prevented us from getting this up earlier, but here's a brief Bronx news roundup, just in time for the Friday evening commute. Please, don't read and drive.
The state health department ignored warnings that Pedro Espada Jr.'s network of nonprofit health care clinics was running afoul of regulations and a recommendation that Espada should give up control of the clinics, according to the Wall Street Journal. Espada and his son were indicted on Tuesday for allegedly using the clinics as their "personal piggy bank." They pleaded not guilty in court on Wednesday.
The Daily News focuses on the Kingsbridge Armory angle in sizing up Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.'s showdown with the mayor over the fate of the vacant Muller Army Reserve Center in Wakefield. We reported (in a BxNN exclusive, I might add) on Wednesday that Diaz was boycotting a meeting to prevent the mayor from voting to turn Muller into a homeless shelter. But what I didn't mention was that Diaz has an alternative plan: moving the National Guard units, currently housed in the Armory's annex buildings, to Muller to make way for new schools.
The Mindful Chef is from the Bronx.
The real estate company of Ex-Red Sox star Mo Vaughn, who makes a brief cameo in our New Yorker-esque story about Councilman Fernando Cabrera, is pledging $30 million to fix up two dilapidated Bronx apartment buildings.
The Fiscal Policy Institute issued a report today on the widening gap between New York's rich and poor, pointing out fun facts like: "Wall Street, with its stratospheric profits and bonuses, sits within 15 miles of the Bronx -- the nation's poorest county." Here's the report itself.
Eater.com's Manhattan/Brooklyn-centric "Who goes there?" feature takes a look at Arthur Avenue's 89-year-old Mario's Italian restaurant.
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| (File photo by Jeanmarie Evelly) |
Fordham University's basketball team beat out Manhattan College last night in the "Battle of the Bronx."
As BxNN reporter James Fergusson pointed out yesterday, Sen. Pedro Espada told supporters via Facebook in September that he'll "continue being a senator through December 31st," though he's been MIA in Albany the past few weeks (see here and here.)
A woman was convicted yesterday for killing a 91-year-old woman during a robbery in the Bronx in 2003. Nadine Panton, 34, also of the Bronx, faces 25 years to life in prison in a sentencing later this month.
A 48-year-old Bronx man was arrested and charged with carjacking and stealing $100,000 worth of merchandise from a jewelry store in Pelham Manor.
The city is trying to shut down a crackhouse on Hunts Point Avenue by suing under the public nuisance law. Neighbors and police say the building, near the Bruckner Expressway in Hunts Point, has been a problem drug spot for years.
Village Voice reporter Elizabeth Dwoskin eloquently recalls the worst bathroom she's ever seen in her years on the housing beat--one in a neglected apartment building on Lorillard Place.
More outrage over the DOE's plans to close 10 Bronx schools next fall.
Bronx residents, and those across the city, are having a cold winter--over the past two months there have been 71,000 complaint calls to 311 from tenants who have no heat in their buildings.
A Bronx driver accused of killing a pregnant woman when he lost control of his van in Manhattan last year will face jail time.
The Riverdale Press takes a closer look at Londell Byrd, the 18-year-old Riverdale teen who was shot and killed in Soundview this past weekend. Byrd was "well-liked" in the community and was going to Pace University in the fall.
Ed. note: Start a discussion about any of these stories, or anything else you want to talk about in our forum. Highlight problems in your neighborhood with our SeeClickFix feature. And find out what's happening in our constantly-updated events calendar.
Two Bronx police officers gave a baby CPR last night, saving her life.
In a civil suit, a Bronx man claims police officers sodomized him with a baton when they responded to a domestic dispute between him and girlfriend in 2004. Ralph Johnson, who works on Wall Street, is suing the NYPD for unspecified damages. The NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau (which the Village Voice portrayed as hugely incompetent in a recent article) previously deemed Johnson's allegations unfounded, and the Bronx DA declined to prosecute.
The Bronx teacher who was reassigned to administrative duties after blogging about her former exploits as a call girl, talks to Maire Claire about her past and present. [via the Daily News]
In his weekly column, the Daily News' Bob Kappstatter remembers Elaine Kaufman, the Bronx-raised owner of Elaine's, the famed Upper East Side restaurant and bar. Kaufman died last Friday age 81.
Come January, six of New York's 62 state senators will be Latino. If they stick together, they may give their fellow Democrats a few sleepness nights, argues political reporter Gerson Borrero. Four of the six represent the Bronx, or parts of the Bronx, including Gustavo Rivera, who Borreo says is "expected to be the lap dog for organized labor."
Looks like Pedro Espada, Jr., the man Rivera is replacing, is AWOL from Albany again. Last week, Espada skipped the special session called by Gov. Paterson.
John F. Kennedy High School is one of a dozen public schools the city Department of Education says its considering phasing-out because of poor performance. The decision wasn't unexpected: JFK received a D grade in its latest progress report. (The closing of troubled schools has been a source of contention in recent times, with the DOE often clashing with parents, teachers, and the teahers' union. Last year, the union and others sued the city, and successfully blocked efforts - temporarily at least - to shutter 19 schools. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. is another critic of the closures. Here's his reaction to yesterday's announcement.)
Students at MS 180 in City Island run a highly successful food drive.
Yesterday, Gov. David Paterson pardoned six immigrants who faced possible deportation because of crimes committed in their younger years. Among the pardoned: a former crack-addict from the Bronx who's now a CUNY big-wig.
Police believe they may have collared the so-called "ice-pick robber" who was wanted for a string of robberies in the Bronx and Manhattan.
A city Department of Transportation pilot program could see the speed limit on some Bronx streets cut to 20 miles an hour.
The Barnes & Noble in Co-op City recently unveiled a 3,000 square-foot toys and games boutique which doubles up as the ultimate play area. Here's the press release.
State Senator Jeff Klein is reminding crooks that it's now a felony to vandalize or steal from a house of worship.
Ed. note: Start a discussion about any of these stories, or anything else you want to talk about in our forum. Highlight problems in your neighborhood with our SeeClickFix feature. And find out what's happening in our constantly-updated events calendar.
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| Ruben Diaz, Jr. (File photo by Jordan Moss) |
Number 10: Ruben Diaz, Jr. The Bronx Borough President seems to have taken over the the spotlight from predecessors Adolfo Carrion, Jr. and Freddy Ferrer as the spokesman for the city's fast-rising Hispanic population. After winning the special election to become Bronx borough president, Diaz made his mark by attempting to have the Board of Education re-constituted and taken out of mayoral control. Last year, he took on the Mayor over the living wage issue at Kingsbridge, and in the election he went after Carl Paladino on Cuomo's behalf. He has emerged as the voice of the left, and while he remains coy about his intentions for higher office, it is clear that Diaz has become a major validator for aspiring pols.Also on the list: Rudy Giuliani, Christine Quinn, Anthony Weiner, Dan Cantor, Kirsten Gillibrand, Al Sharpton, Chuck Schumer, Michael Bloomberg, and Andrew Cuomo, the governor-elect, who earns the top spot.
