Mess of the Moment: Devoe Terrace Street Trash

On East 190th Street, near Devoe Terrace in University Heights, lies this clutter of mangled Con Edison barricades, chunks of cement and a wood pallet.

Around the corner, on University Avenue, another unmanned Con Edison barricade surrounds a manhole cover.

We have a call in to Con Ed. We'll keep you updated.

Editor's Note: The "Mess of the Moment" is a periodic feature on the blog. If there is a mess you want highlighted or paid attention to, send photos with a location (or at least a location and a description) to bronxnewsnetwork@gmail.com, or just tell us about it in the comments section of this post.

Story Of The Day: U-Heights Church Rebounds After Arson

 (Photo by Adi Talwar)

Last Saturday, parishioners at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church held their first mass since March, when a fire--thought to be the result of arson--destroyed the building's vestibule. Read the whole story here in the newest edition of the Norwood News.

Bronx Events Through Thursday, Dec. 17

A piece of photograhy from the 'Childhood in the Bronx' website.

Lehman College recently created an artistic website exploring, 'Childhood in the Bronx.' The online project was funded by a grant from the Metropolitan New York Library Council and exhibits photographs of Bronx children in schools, playgrounds and community centers that date back to the first decades of the twentieth century. View the work at www.lehman.edu/library/childhood-bronx.

Check out the Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music's final two Winter concert series performances on Wednesday, Dec. 16th, and Thursday, Dec. 17th. Both performances feature different choirs and orchestras and are held at 7 p.m. at the Lovinger Theatre at Lehman College, 250 Bedford Park Blvd. Tickets are a suggested $5 donation. For more information, please call (718) 329-8550.

The University Neighborhood Housing Program is hosting a Homeowner Resource Fair on Tuesday, Dec. 15 at the Concourse House, 2751 Grand Concourse, from 6 to 8 p.m. Topics to be discussed include how to lower your energy costs and how to modify your mortgage. The fair will also give away free weatherization kits and free food. Supplies are limited. For more information or to RSVP, call (718) 933-2539.

Community Board 5’s next general board meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 16, at South Bronx Jobs Corps, 1771 Andrews Ave. All are welcome. For more information, call CB5 at (718) 364-2030 or e-mail brxcb5@optonline.net.

The 46th Precinct’s next Community Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 15, at the precinct station house, at 2120 Ryer Ave., at 7 p.m. Community council meetings fall on the on the third Tuesday of every month. They give residents the chance to meet local police officers and air their concerns. For more information, call (718) 220-5234.

The Office of the Bronx Borough President is holding a briefing on overcrowding in Bronx schools and the new 5-year capital plan, on Dec. 14 at 6 p.m., at the Bronx County Courthouse at 850 Grand Concourse. Leonie Haimson of “Class Size Matters” will give a presentation. A discussion will follow. All are invited to this free event. For more information, call (718) 590-3500.

Bronx News Roundup, Dec. 2

Police have video surveillance of a man who they suspect vandalized four NYPD parking enforcement cars in the Bronx.

An elderly Bronx woman is displeased with the city for planting two trees in front of her home despite her opposition.

The Village Voice calls a rundown apartment on Aqueduct Ave. in the University Heights neighborhood a "madhouse." They report that the location is overrun with prostitutes, gambling and rats.

Many Catholic parishes in the Bronx rely on some Fordham professors to fulfill their duties as ordained priests.

Police believe revenge may have been a motive in the fatal shooting of a 25-year-old Bronx man on Sunday.

A Bronx landlord is dead as a result of what police believe was a quarrel over a mattress with a tenant.

A Bronx man's 30-year prison sentence may be reversed because he didn't receive a speedy trial.

New from the Norwood News

The newest edition of the Norwood News is jam-packed with important stories about the northwest Bronx and it's online and on the streets now. Pick it up for free or browse through our award-winning Web site.

Here's a quick preview of what you'll find:

After a string of damaging blows to her public image -- including an atrocious attendance record at Council meetings and hearings, exorbitant phone bills and the funding of a non-existent tenants association -- The Norwood News spent two months gathering up the details and trying to get Councilwoman Maria Baez to tell her side of the story. Read the entire story here.

A successful program for high school dropouts in the northwest Bronx slated to be closed will stay open for at least another year.

We examine the complex and controversial trend of private equity firms scooping up scores of Bronx apartment buildings.

Plus, Bedford Park nuns assure a successful school's future by leasing their land...the story behind the new Farmers Market in Norwood...Crime down overall in 52nd Precinct, but same-old problems persist...Speaking of crime, vandals completely trashed the Oval Park rec center in Norwood, shutting the place for three days in the middle of summer.

Also, check out our expanded Neighborhood Notes section as well as Out & About, our entertainment and arts guide.

And don't forget to sign up for our e-mail edition and breaking news alerts by filling out a tiny form and creating a Norwood News acount.

Enjoy!

The Latest From the Norwood News

Check out all the latest news from Norwood, Bedford Park, North Fordham and University Heights at the Norwood News Web site. Our latest edition hit streets today.

New Norwood News Stories Online Now

Check out a fresh batch of Norwood News stories, online now.

Hard copies will be out on the streets of Norwood, Bedford Park, North Fordham and University Heights tomorrow.

Enjoy and become informed about your neighborhoods.

Bronx News Roundup for Sept. 4

In today's Metro, Patrick Arden has the story on how, a full-year after the new Yankee Stadium's groundbreaking ceremony, the non-profit that was supposed to dole out $800,000 to other Bronx non-profits (a kind of compensation package for the borough's loss of parkland), has yet to be set up.

Mayor Bloomberg has announced that all Bronx residential and municipal waste will now leave the Bronx by train not truck. In theory this will improve air quality and traffic congestion.

On Saturday night, a woman and four men died in East Tremont after the SUV they were travelling in crashed and slammed into a lamppost.

There were numerous upbeat back-to-school stories in today's papers. This article in the Daily News paints a darker picture of students' academic futures. Dropping out remains a "persistent and pervasive problem" in much of the Bronx, says the paper.

Also in today's Daily News Bronx Boro section, is this piece about Dominicans leaving Washington Heights for the Bronx. In the past few months there's been several stories about this trend. See here and here. Both examine how high Manhattan rents are responsible for the migration. Today's story says Dominicans are also moving because the Bronx is safer, and because there's a better quality of life on offer.

Again in the Daily News, there's more on the mayor's congestion pricing proposal. Apparently there's been grumblings that the Congestion Pricing Committee doesn't have a single Bronx elected official on it. And here's an opinion piece by Assemblymen Jeffrey Dinowitz on the Croton Filtration plant fiasco.

Stabbing death in University Heights

Last Saturday night, David Fuentes, 30, of 2300 University Avenue was stabbed to death in a basement apartment nearby, at 2285 University Avenue. Police say he was stabbed multiple times in the torso and that the investigation is ongoing. The NY Times put a small brief about this in its Metro section yesterday.

Community Board 5 elects new Chair

Community Board 5 board members voted, this evening, to oust current chairperson, Beverly Smith, and replace her with Bola Omotosho, a Nigerian-born doctor currently working out of Jacobi Medical Center. Omotosho officially takes over in September. He won by 16 votes to 4.

Smith, who works for the civilian arm of the NYPD, has been on the Board for 17 years and the chair, an unpaid position, for the last two. Her future plans include running for City Council. She says she has her eye on Council Member Helen Diane Foster's District 16 seat in the South Bronx. (Due to term limits, Foster's time is up at end of 2009.) Smith says she'll quit the Board for good in January to start campaigning.

Omotosho, a quieter less authoritative figure than Smith, describes himself as a good listener. Prior to the vote, he talked briefly about the "desperate need for new leadership," and how he wants to "work with everybody" and bring back "dignity and trust." Later, he said he had great respect for Smith, who he described as an "encyclopedia of this community." (Smith has lived in the neighborhood for four decades.)

The margin of victory suggests Omotosho has the Board behind him. He may have a harder time winning over the core group of local residents who attend the Board's monthly public meetings. Several, clearly disappointed to see Smith go, talked over his acceptance speech. "He doesn't have the experience," lamented Louella Hatch, the 46th Precinct's passionate (and outspoken) community council president. "He'll do whatever they tell him do to." By "they" Hatch said she meant the Board's district manager, Xavier Rodriguez.

Community Board 5 serves Mount Hope, Morris Heights, and parts of University Heights and Fordham. They'll be more about Omotosho, and his plans for the district, in the next print edition of the Mount Hope Monitor coming out July 25.

Community Board 7, in the northwest Bronx, is also going through a transitional period, following district manager Rita Kessler's recent decision to retire. Tomorrow's Norwood News looks back at her 17 years at the helm. We'll link to the story when it's on-line.

Out Now! The first print edition of the Mount Hope Monitor has been published

The first print edition of the Mount Hope Monitor - a free bilingual community newspaper serving Mount Hope, Morris Heights, University Heights, and South Fordham - has been published.
Pick it up at local banks, stores, restaurants, community organizations, and libraries. If you're struggling to find it, let us know and we'll point you in direction of the nearest drop-off point. Or e-mail your address to mounthopenews-at-gmail.com, and we'll send you a copy for free, while supplies last. Please let us know what you think!
Until now, the Monitor, a project of the West Bronx News Network, has only been available on-line. It was created last summer to bring news to a part of the Bronx with no local newspaper.
We're hoping to bring out a second print edition in May or June.