Sen. Jeff Klein on Proposed MTA Cuts

This week, the MTA is hosting a series of public hearings on possible service cuts and fare changes to the city's subway and bus lines. In an effort to dent it's nearly $400 million budget shortfall, the agency has proposed cutting student metrocards and making the following changes to Bronx bus lines:

Discontinue Bx14, Bx18, Bx25, X32, BxM4A, BxM7B and the Barretto Park Pool bus service. Discontinue Bx20, Bx33, Bx34, and Bx55 on weekends. Discontinue Bx34 overnight. Reduce operating hours on Bx17, Bx20, Bx32, Bx33 and Bx55. Reroute or discontinue portion of Bx5, Bx8, Bx26, Bx28, Bx30 and Bx41. Extend portion of Bx39.

The Bronx hearing will be held tomorrow night, Wednesday March 3, at the Paradise Theatre at 2043 Grand Concourse at 187th Street at 6 p.m. We'll be covering the meeting, so be sure to check back here for updates.

This morning, State Sen. Jeffrey Klein sent along this letter expressing his concern over the MTA's proposed changes and urging residents to attend tomorrow's meeting:

Dear Editor,

This week, community leaders and residents will attend a very important hearing regarding an ill-advised proposal by the MTA to eliminate the BX14 and BXM7B daily bus services, the BX34 weekend bus service and vital MTA Student Metrocards. I know how vital these services are to thousands of Bronx residents and will do everything I can to prevent these cuts from happening.

Bronx News Roundup, Dec. 22

With Related Companies’ Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment proposal dead in the water, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. is rethinking what he'd like to see there. One idea: creating a "green" manufacturing hub.

Four men were shot and injured last night during a drive-by shooting in Mount Eden.

A stretch of stinking marshland in Mott Haven has been drained.

Here's The Times story about yesterday's fire on 204th Street. And here's all our coverage.

Norwood gets a mention in today's Wall Street Journal, not because of the fire, but because of soaring unemployment in the north Bronx.

A school bus collided with a police car in East Tremont this morning. Nine people, including six children, suffered minor injuries.

A Bronx food pantry with more visitors than food has been given $2,000 in cash by an anonymous woman who read about the pantry - run out of Transfiguration Lutheran Church on East 156th Street - in the Daily News.

The Center for Urban Community Services has opened a "Single Stop" office on Southern Boulevard, to help Bronx residents determine whether they qualify for different types of public assistance.

A woman who worked at the New Fulton Fish Market in Hunts Points says she was sexually harassed and forced out of her job.

A Bronx high school student has started a FaceBook page (current membership: 76,339 and counting) to protest budget cuts that would eliminate free MetroCards for students.

The Village Voice has nice things to say about El Nuevo Bohio a restaurant on East Tremont Avenue that's serious about pork.

The principal of Bronx Academy of Letters, a high school in Mott Haven, is to become Los Angeles' deputy mayor for education.