Controversial Minister Looks to Set Up Shop at the Armory

Creflo Dollar, pictured with his wife, Taffi, in a photo
from the Kingsbridge Armory report.

An evangelical preacher from Georgia, known for his lavish lifestyle and for touting the spiritual benefits of wealth, is proposing to take over the long-vacant Kingsbridge Armory, according to a report released by the Bronx borough president’s office last month.

World Changers Church International, an Atlanta-based, nondenominational parish led by television preacher Creflo Dollar and his wife, Taffi, has proposed turning the 575,000 square-foot West Kingsbridge Road building into a “state of the art church facility” fit with administrative offices, daycare and afterschool program space, a gymnasium, food and clothing banks and a recording studio.

It's My Park Day

Volunteers spread wood chips at the Quarry Ball Fields Park, on E. 181st Street between Hughes Avenue and Quarry Road, as part of a citywide parks cleanup.

Park-lovers across the city got their hands dirty on Saturday to commemorate It's My Park Day, an annual service day sponsored by Partnerships for Parks, where volunteers across the five boroughs pitch in to clean up and beautify their local green spaces.

At the Quarry Road Ball Fields in East Tremont, volunteers and a group of students from PS/MS 3 painted the park's rusty bleachers a vibrant green and planted a flower garden alongside one of the fields.

The students are members of SoBro's Community Justice Project, and have been working since last fall to adopt and renovate the 5-acre ball fields. The group won a $2,500 grant this month from the children's television channel Nickelodeon as part of the station's Big Green Grant Program.

Kids Start Renovations in Campaign to Save Local Park

A group of students at PS/MS 3 are making headway in their efforts to transform a park near their school--five acres of scrappy fields at East 181st between Quarry Road and Hughes Avenue. This month, they'll start planting a garden and painting bleachers after months of hard work under the Community Justice Project, an after-school program run by the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (SoBRO). The Tremont Tribune covered their initial efforts in September's issue.

Since then, the kids landed a meeting in March with Bronx Parks Commissioner Hector Aponte, where they presented their plans. They've also secured a $2,500 grant from children's television station Nickelodeon as part of the channel's Big Green Help Program.

"They're floating," said SoBro program manager Eva Lopez, of the students' recent victories.

The kids will start work on the park on Saturday, May 15th. Watch the video below by nonprofit The After-School Corporation, which supports the project, to see more on the their efforts.


3,840 Minutes : Saving a Local Park from The After-School Corporation on Vimeo.

A new name for the South Bronx?

The Times' David Gonzalez has an article on the City Room blog about recent efforts to re-brand parts of the South Bronx "Downtown Bronx." Not everyone, he reports, has warmed to the idea, including Bronx Congressman Jose Serrano.

“I know the South Bronx was once a bad word,” Serrano told The Times. “But it changed. Imagine you have a guy who ran into trouble when he was young but he straightened his life out. Would you change his name — unless he was in the witness protection program? So why change the name of the neighborhood?”

On a similar note, many residents, it seems, are reluctant to use the "SoBro" moniker. "SoBro just sounds awkward to me," commented one BoogieDowner reader. "Not every neighborhood can become a portmanteau. Before you know it you will be able to go from SoBro, north through MoHi, hit BePa and then end up in KiBri."

Talking of neighborhoods names, we received a press release this afternoon about a new restaurant that's opening in Manhattan on 137th Street, near 12th Avenue. That's West Harlem, right? Not according to the release. Apparently, the BODY Lounge and Restaurant is located in the "Harlem Meat Packing District."