Sesame Street on the Bronx River

Native Bronxite Sonia Manzano, who has played Maria on Sesame Street for more than three decades, has been a long-time supporter of the Bronx River Alliance and often appears at their events and fundraisers.

But on Saturday she brought along several of her Sesame Street pals to perform in River Park at 180th Street and Boston Road. Here are some photos (Sonia Manzano is at center of group picture below). For more information on the Bronx River Alliance, go to bronxriver.org. (Photos by Jordan Moss)



P.S. Sonia signed my daughter's copy of her children's book, "No Dogs Allowed," and informed us that it is being turned into a musical this fall. If you live in the Bronx and you've got kids, this is an amazing book.

Bronx News Roundup for Dec. 6

The Times takes a look at the 60-year-old Bronx Symphony Orchestra and a new system of arts funding that might make it more difficult for the symphony to continue.

I thought I had it good at Vassar College where the female to male ratio in the 1980s was 3:2. Well, here’s a story about a Bronx kid who is the ONLY male student Wellesley this year.

Parkchester native Pvt. Isaac T. Cortes, 26, who died in Iraq, is laid to rest.

River Park, which is next to a Bronx River waterfall at 180th Street and Boston Road gets new play equipment, a children’s amphitheater and more.

Speaking of the Bronx River, looks like Jose the Beaver has been busy doing some chompin’.

Council members, who get paid $112,500 a year discussed at a hearing yesterday how much outside work its members permitted and those lucrative additional stipends (which go to members who head a committee or subcommittee – which is almost all of them) known as “lulus.” Guess what? There’s not a heck of lot of support for doing things any differently. In opposing proposed changes, Bronx councilman Larry Seabrook said he “took an oath to serve, not an oath of poverty.”

And the Village Voice’s Tom Robbins takes a close look at two competing tenant harassment bills in the City Council. The one that is more favorable to landlords is sponsored by Council Member Maria Baez and Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera, both of the Bronx. The Mount Hope Monitor will have more on this when the upcoming issue hits the streets later this week.