New Street Name Honors Longtime Local Bishop

Editor's Note: this article was first published in the July edition of the Tremont Tribune, out and online now.

The section of Crotona Parkway in front of St. Thomas Aquinas Church is now
 Bishop Francisco Garmendia Place, in honor of the parish’s late pastor.
(Photo by Jeanmarie Evelly)

A busy stretch of Crotona Parkway was renamed last week to honor the late Bishop Garmendia Francisco, the first Hispanic bishop to serve the Archdiocese of New York and a longtime presence in East Tremont, known through the years for his work with the neighborhood’s new immigrant populations.

“He loved his people,” said Betty Cleary, who worked for years as Garmendia’s secretary. “He would go to door-to-door through the neighborhood. Everybody was his family.”

West Farms Residents Get Free Home Makeovers

Editor's Note: This article was first published in the June edition of the Tremont Tribune, out now.

Volunteers from Rebuilding Together NYC repair homes on Bronx Park Avenue and East 178th Street, part of the nonprofit’s “Neighborhood Rebuilding Day.” (Photo by F.G. Pinto)

By FAUSTO GIOVANNY PINTO

They came in the early morning in droves brandishing tool belts, saws and a dumpster. Before most people were up they were busy hammering, painting, and repairing in an all-day extreme remodeling session.

Deadly Belmont Fire Points to Illegal Housing Dangers; City Launches Crackdown

Editor's Note: A version of this article first appeared in the May edition of the Tremont Tribune.

A fire at 2321 Prospect Ave. killed
three people in April (Photo by David Greene)

Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council announced yesterday that the city will be taking a new, more aggressive approach in identifying and inspecting apartment buildings suspected of being divided illegally.

At the end of April, a fire tore through an apartment building in Belmont and killed three family members who had been living there--Christina Garcia, 43, Juan Lopez, 36, and their 12-year-old son Christian Garcia.

The early morning blaze broke out on the top floor of a multi-family building at 2321 Prospect Ave., a space that had been subdivided into several rooms using partitions, according to FDNY spokesman Frank Dwyer.

The tragedy has shined a spotlight on the proliferation of dangerous housing conditions in the Bronx, and across the city. Experts and elected officials say practices like illegal divisions, erected by both tenants and landlords alike, are frighteningly common and growing in number.

Sally Dunford, of the West Bronx Housing and Neighborhood Resource Center, called the problem “endemic.”

She described some of what she’s seen in the community in recent years: already small apartments portioned off into even smaller ones, blocking access to the fire escape or stationed dangerously close to the building’s heating source; five people living in a basement with no bathroom or kitchen; an elderly couple living in a closet; tenants moving back into a property immediately after the city ordered them to vacate.

“It’s just scary,” Dunford said.

Arthur Avenue Retail Market Event, Plus Our Vendors Guide

Editor's note: Head on over to the Arthur Avenue Retail Market in Belmont's "Little Italy," this afternoon, from 4 to 7 p.m., for the market's celebration of Bronx Week. Tour the space, meet the vendors, and enjoy free samples and cooking demos.  Remember, Bronx Week will run through this Sunday, May 22. For a full calendar of events, visit www.ilovethebronx.com. For those and other Bronx happenings, check out the BxNN community calendar here.

The story below was originally published in this month's issue of the Tremont Tribune, out now.

Arthur Avenue Market Gets a Makeover
By Fausto Giovanny Pinto

The Arthur Avenue Retail Market is undergoing major renovations this year, including a new exterior facade. (Photo by F.G. Pinto)

In 1940, then-Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia opened indoor markets throughout New York City, a move to get pushcarts off the streets to make room for the increasingly popular automobile.

Among them was the Arthur Avenue Retail Market, an indoor bazaar of vendors hawking foods and goods in the heart of Belmont’s “Little Italy,” on Arthur Avenue between Crescent Avenue and East 187th Street.

Now in existence for over 70 years, the market is undergoing an estimated $1 million renovation this year, thanks to a grant from the city’s Economic Development Corporation with help from Councilman Joel Rivera and Congressman Jose Serrano.

The market’s new modern-looking exterior was unveiled last month and a new service elevator and tiling are also in store.

48 Precinct Community Meeting Moved

Just a quick programming note: the NYPD 48 Precinct's Community Council meeting, happening tonight at 7 p.m., has changed locations. It will now be held at Phipps West Farm Technology and Career Center, 1071-A East Tremont Avenue, near Boston Road (next to Twin Donuts). Call the precinct’s community affairs office at (718) 299-4522 for more information.

Happy Land Fire Remembered

Photos by Fausto Giovanny Pinto


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Last Friday, March 25 marked the 21st anniversary of the tragic fire at the Happy Land Social Club, on Southern Boulevard in East Tremont, where 87 people lost their lives after an arsonist set fire to the building.

Each year, Community Board 6 hosts a memorial mass at nearby St. Thomas Aquinas Parish and at the Happy Land memorial site. These pictures were taken during the service last week by Tremont Tribune reporter Fausto Giovanny Pinto.

New Assemblyman Vows to Fight Budget Cuts

Editor's Note: This story first appeared in this month's issue of the Tremont Tribune, on the streets and online now.

FILE PHOTO BY JAMES FERGUSSON

Eric Stevenson is barely into his first term as an assemblyman, but he’s already pledged to take Albany on, swinging.

His first battle? Tackling Gov. Cuomo’s proposed budget cuts, which take an axe to funding for state agencies and programs across the board in an attempt to reduce the state’s huge deficit.

“There’s going to be some uprising from the South Bronx, and the 79th District,” the new legislator said during a phone interview from Albany.

“He’s talking about $1.5 billion in cuts to education, and then $2.8 billion to Medicaid," Stevenson said. "What is that going to do to a district like mine? If I don’t stand up, what do my constituents say?”

Budget Could Hit Local Homeless Program Hard

Editor's note: this article first appeared in the latest issue of the Tremont Tribune, which is on the streets and online now.

Park Avenue Thorpe, a supportive housing building home to 20 formerly homeless families, could be shuttered this year by funding cuts. (Photos by Jeanmarie Evelly)

Digna, a 42-year-old formerly homeless woman and mother of two, has called Park Avenue Thorpe home for the last 11 years. She found refuge in the six-story yellow brick building in Bathgate, where an onsite caseworker helps her balance her bank account, pay her bills and talk to the teachers at her two sons’ schools, as Digna’s English is somewhat shaky.

The building, on East 184th Street, is run by Thorpe Family Residence, a nonprofit that provides supportive housing and services to chronically homeless families in an effort to keep them out of the city’s sprawling shelter system.

But severe funding cuts, proposed to balance the state’s ballooning budget, have put Thorpe and dozens of other programs like it at risk of closure.

“These cuts may be the beginning of the end for us,” said Executive Director Sister Mary Jane Deodati, who oversees the 20 families that call the building home.

Many of Thorpe’s residents are single mothers who have battled addiction, have physical or emotional disabilities or who have been victims of domestic violence. A caseworker helps each tenant with personal finances, with finding jobs and other day-to-day tasks.

“Many of our people are fragile and need constant support,” Deodati said. “If this program is cut, they’re going to be homeless again.”

Liquor Authority’s Mistake Paves Way for Bikini Bar

Community leaders are fuming over The Luxury Box,  a new bikini bar in West Farms (Photo by F. Pinto) 

Editor's note: this article first appeared in the latest issue of the Tremont Tribune, which is on the streets and online now.

By FAUSTO GIOVANNY PINTO

The Luxury Box Sports Bar and Cabaret, a bikini bar that recently opened at 1101 E. 177th St., received its liquor license even after Community Board 6 sent a letter of disapproval, a mistake the Liquor Authority acknowledges.

“We didn’t recommend this,” said Ivine Galarza, Community Board 6’s district manager. “We don’t want this type of place next to a residential building.”

In a statement, the Liquor Authority admitted it screwed up. Even though they received the Board’s letter, it wasn’t scanned into the file, spokesman William Crowley said.

While community board approval is not needed to obtain a liquor license, a letter of disapproval would have sent The Luxury Box’s application before a three-member panel — and those letters weigh heavily on the board’s decision.

Local Street Takes Late Reverend’s Name

Daisy Staggers, widow of the late Rev. James B. Staggers, with the new street sign. (Photo by F.G. Pinto)

By FAUSTO GIOVANNY PINTO

[Editor's Note: A version of this article first appeared in the latest issue of the Tremont Tribune, which is on the streets now]

On the Anniversary of Martin Luther King JR’s Birthday, a packed congregation came together to honor another great Reverend, the late James B. Staggers, with a street renaming ceremony.

“Rev. James B. Staggers Place” was unveiled by Council Member Joel Rivera and Rev. Staggers’ wife on East 181st Street between Vyse Avenue and Bryant Avenue in front of New Tabernacle Baptist Church.

The choir led by Staggers’ daughter started the ceremony by bringing down the house and everyone to their feet.

Fellow reverends, family and friends, and Council Members including Helen Foster and Joel Rivera then spoke on his many achievements, calling him a loving and caring man.

“I am so proud and happy to see honor restored to my late husband,” said a choked up Daisy Staggers. “He would do anything he could for anyone that needed his help.”

Staggers (December 11, 1925 – September 18, 2008) served as pastor of New Tabernacle Baptist Church for 38 years. During that time he obtained the 501 {c}{3} not-for-profit certification for the church allowing them to establish services such as a food pantry and drug and alcohol programs for the community. He was a member of many religious organizations and conferences throughout the U.S.

Rivera called him a “stabilizing force in the community [who] gave hope in bad times.”

“When a child walks down the street and sees that sign and asks who is that, a story of a struggle will be told,” Rivera, the sponsor of the renaming, added. “Hopefully that child will want to become involved in the church, become a leader.”

Venerable Lechonera Serves Up a Feast

El Nuevo Bohio (The New Hut) is located at 791 E. Tremont Ave. The holiday season is the restaurant's busiest. (Photo by G. Pinto)

[Ed. note: this article appears in the latest issue of the Tremont Tribune, which it out on streets now.]

By FAUSTO GIOVANNY PINTO

At El Nuevo Bohio, pernil is prince. It is also in high demand, the hands-down favorite among all who visit the Puerto Rican restaurant.

“If I don’t have pernil, these people will kill me,” jokes manager Roy Fernandez.

Patrons come from all over for the pernil or roast pork, which is served with your choice of a side, a piece of crispy chicharron (pork skin), and a side of mojito, a crushed garlic sauce. They flock there from the five boroughs, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, and upstate New York, as did recent newcomer Dan Shapiro. This was the second time in two months that he’d made the trip down from Rockland County.

“The atmosphere here is very easy and the roast pork tastes better than any other place I’ve been to,” said Shapiro, who likes to add a plate of white rice and red beans as well as chicken soup to his order.

BxNN Story of the Day: Grace Dodge High School Faces Uncertain Future

Grace H. Dodge Career and Technical High School is one of 34 schools the city says it will overhaul in the coming year. The graduation rate has improved over the last three years, but the Department of Education says that's not enough. Read the whole article on the Tremont Tribune website.

New Tremont Tribune Out & Online

The latest issue of the Tremont Tribune is out on the streets and online now! The Tribune is a monthly, bilingual community newspaper published by the Bronx News Network that covers the neighborhoods of Tremont, Belmont, Bathgate, West Farms, and Crotona.

Visit our website or pick up a copy today to read about the ongoing battle over permit fees at the Mary Mitchell Center, a new hotel opening on Third Avenue that's irked the local Community Board, a local vocational high school that's struggling to stay afloat, and much more.

New Issue of the Tremont Tribune

June's edition of the Tremont Tribune is on the streets and online now. Here are some of the stories featured in this month's issue:

• A longtime dispute between St. Barnabas hospital and its resident doctors may be coming to an end, as the National Labor Relations Board approved a vote for residents to form a union.

• County Democrats are backing district leader Eric Stevenson to fill the seat now occupied by Michael Benjamin, who announced last month that he wouldn't seek re-election (he also recently ditched plans to make a run for Congress).

• A group of home care workers--whose company runs eight locations in the Bronx--are attempting to unionize, despite resistance from their employer. 

• Belmont resident Marie Riolo was honored by Bronx politicians this month for her decades of volunteer work and community service. 

• We interviewed Julio Velez, Captain of the 48th Precinct's Auxiliary Police, a volunteer patrol unit of the NYPD. 

For more, pick up a copy of the Tribune or visit www.tremonttribune.org. And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more updates!

Bronx News Roundup, June 9

Here's your daily dose of BX news around the Web:

State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada has had it with Governor Paterson's proposed budget cuts and is threatening to refrain from voting on any future budget extenders. Paterson needs every Democratic vote in the Senate to solve the budget crisis. Read more here.

The Daily News takes a look into the mixed hertitage restaurant, Coquí Mexicano, in Melrose.

Bronx High School of Science teachers plan to rally outside of Mayor Bloomberg's upper east side home Thursday, aiming to bring to his attention the ongoing battle the teachers from the math department have had with the assistant principal.

Nearly 75 students from P.S. 212, on Tinton Avenue, were behind in all their classes due to the denial of state-mandated language classes until March.

Co-op City's maintenance workers will be back on the job today, after union members and management announced they will give negotiations another shot.

An 87 year-old Bronx man, who is receiving dialysis treatments, has had his Access-a-Ride service suspended due to his alleged failure to show up. NY1 has the story.

The recession may have caused many in the Bronx to lose their jobs, but it has also helped many find new careers working right from home. Read about it here.

The ongoing battle between St. Barnabas Hospital and its interns and resident physicians may have finally been brought to an end by a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board that says interns and residents have the right to form a union. For some background information on this issue, check out the Tremont Tribune.

15 South Bronx environmental workers are heading to the Gulf Coast, for a month to help with the oil spill cleanup.

A Bronx girl is graduating with perfect attendance, never missing a day of school dating back to Kindergarten.

Story Of The Day: For Tenants in Foreclosure Limbo, a New Legal Strategy

Bertha Van Wright holds up a photo of a rat she found in her Garden Street apartment. Her building, one of several in the Bronx owned by Milbank Real Estate, went into foreclosure last year and has since fallen into disrepair, plagued by rodents, insects and mold. Last month, a legal group filed a court motion to hold the bank that oversees the mortgage on many Milbank properties responsible for their upkeep. Read the story in this month's Tremont Tribune. (And for some more background on the issue, read this blog post by contributor Gregory Lobo Jost.)

New In The Tremont Tribune

May's Tremont Tribune is on the streets and online. Check out some of our latest stories:

• The primary race for Pedro Espada's state senate seat is getting crowded, with Community Board 7 manager Fernando Tirado and former Gillibrand staffer Gustavo Rivera both declaring their candidacy. 
• Speaking of Espada: some coverage of his current legal woes, as well as his recent financial contributions to a three local groups. 
• Tenants in two apartment buildings on Garden Street, owned by Milbank Real Estate, have found themselves living in terrible conditions after their buildings went into foreclosure last year. Now, a legal group is working on behalf of residents in ten other Milbank buildings to hold the bank that oversees the mortgage responsible for maintenance. 
• Assemblyman Michael Benjamin, whose district covers much of CB6, says he won't be seeking re-election this fall. He's toying with the idea of running against Congressman Jose E. Serrano instead. 
• A group of students from PS/MS 3 have scored a grant to help fund their quest to clean up a local park.

For more, including some great photos of recent events and our community calendar, visit www.tremonttribune.org. And don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook!

New in the Tremont Tribune

April's edition of the Tremont Tribune is out and online. This month's issue includes:

A profile of NYC Justice Corps, a local program that gives recently incarcerated young adults a chance to start over.

The Borgatti family, Belmont legends who own Borgatti's Ravioli and Egg Noodles on E. 187th Street, have been making handmade pasta for 75 years.

Family, friends and co-workers of Megan Charlop dedicated a "ghost bike" to the beloved Norwood resident at Crotona and East Tremont Avenues, where she was killed in a biking accident in March.

Two contenders recently jumped into the Senate race to challenge Pedro Espada, Jr.--but experts say a run against the incumbent state senator could be an uphill battle.

Bronx River Alliance volunteers snagged an alewife herring near the River Park dam in West Farms. Sightings of the fish have excited conservationists, who say it's another sign the river's health is rebounding.

Plus: A new library for MS 254 . . . Congressman Jose E. Serrano on student loan reform . . . An interview with Belmont Library manager Danielle Wansi . . . Community Boards fight against budget cuts . . . and some neighborhood happenings in our events calendar.

More here.

New in the Tremont Tribune

This month's Tribune is now online.  Stories include:

20th Anniversary of Happy Land Fire Nears
Tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of the blaze, started by a jilted ex-boyfriend at a social club at 1959 Southern Blvd that left 87 people dead.

Lessons From Fire Still Linger
The Happy Land fire tradegy is a stark reminder of the dangers posed by unlicensed buildings, and a warning to the city agencies that oversee them.

St. Martin of Tours Pastor Still Hard at Work
It was just last spring that Father John C. Flynn collapsed during a friendly game of golf and had to have a pacemaker put in his heart—an operation that, after complications, landed him in St. Barnabas Hospital for several days. But that bout with illness hasn’t kept the 81-year-old priest from his post at St. Martin of Tours Parish, where he’s been the pastor for over 20 years.

Award for 92-Year-old St. Barnabas Volunteer
Alice Stafford Otis, 92, first started working at St. Barnabas Hospital in 1969, and has been a volunteer there for the past 15 years. 

Also, be sure to check out our What's Going On? section for local events and annoucements.

New from the Tremont Tribune

November's Tremont Tribune hit the streets last week and is online now. Here's a quick peek at what's inside:

A former industrial site along the Bronx River has been transformed into a park. After a decade of community push, Concrete Plant Park, the newest link in the Bronx River Greenway, officially opened last month between the Bruckner Expressway and Westchester Avenue.

The new pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, one of the pillars of Italian Belmont, talks about keeping Italian traditions alive while welcoming waves of newer immigrants who have reshaped the neighborhood.

A computer lab on Bathgate Avenue is helping Bronxites bridge the digital divide.

The Department of City Planning has unveiled its plan to rezone - and reinvent - large swaths of Third and East Tremont Avenues.

Plus more.

And, as usual, check out our full listing of community events and announcements.