Resurrecting Bronx Pride; Hate Crime Town Hall Meeting at Davidson CC at 6 p.m.

Bronx Community Pride Center (Bronx Pride), the borough's only LGBTQ social services group, is hosting a town hall meeting tonight at Davidson Community Center, 2038 Davidson Ave., from 6 to 8 p.m. All are welcome. It will focus on dealing with the fallout from the anti-gay attacks in Morris Heights in October. Topics will include: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning concerns, building community connections and how we can work together to prevent future attacks. BxNN recently sat down with Dirk McCall, Bronx Pride's relatively new executive director.

Dirk McCall admits he probably could be making two or three times more money working as a political lobbyist of some sort. But what fun would that be?

Bronx Pride's Dirk McCall

When faced with finding his next job earlier this year, instead of going the lobbyist route, McCall decided to tackle the daunting task of resurrecting a struggling nonprofit organization that was on the brink of extinction as recently as this past summer.

Yes, heading the Bronx Community Pride Center (Bronx Pride), the only social service organization solely dedicated to aiding the borough's LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning) youth, means less pay, more hours and more headaches. But McCall couldn't be happier.

"I wake up every day and thank the lord for this job," McCall said yesterday, in between talking about all the painful cut-backs and belt-tightening he's had to do to get Bronx Pride back in the black.

Born and raised in Georgia (he'll break out an accent when imitating his father), McCall is a widely known and well-respected New York Democratic political operative who most recently worked on the successful re-election campaign of Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney.

But now he's putting all of his energy (and it appears to be limitless) into Bronx Pride, which was thrust into the spotlight in October following the brutal anti-gay bias attacks that played out on Osborne Place in Morris Heights and made national headlines.

In Wake of Bronx Bias Attacks, Councilman Cabrera to Introduce Anti-Gang Resolution

Councilman Fernando Cabrera

Fernando Cabrera, the rookie Councilman from the 14th District in the Bronx, said the recent bias attacks in his district exposed the city's lack of a comprehensive gang violence prevention strategy and he wants Congress to act on a bill that could help remedy the situation.

That's why on Wednesday, Cabrera will introduce a resolution in the Council calling on Congress to act on H.R. 3526, which seeks to "develop a comprehensive gang violence prevention strategy." Cabrera says it will also provide funding for nonprofit groups that already work to prevent gang violence or would like to if they had the money.

“We were all horrified in October of this year when it was reported that several young men were kidnapped and brutally tortured by Latin King “Goonies” because of their perceived sexual orientation,” Cabrera said in a statement released earlier today. “But as many of you know, this incident is neither the beginning nor the end of the gang problem present in our city,” he continued.

“As we have experienced an uptick in violent crime in our city, it is imperative that we attack gang-related issues with a comprehensive, communal effort,” Cabrera said. “This is why I’m calling on Congress to pass legislation that develops a gang prevention strategy.”

Bronx Weekend News Roundup, Nov. 22

Welcome to Monday everyone. Here's some Bronx news to get you in the know this week.

The city and the cooperative that operates the Hunts Point Market are not making much progress in crafting a new lease agreement. Both parties agree the site needs about a $320 million upgrade, but there is a large difference of opinion on how much each should contribute to the cause. The cooperative's lease runs out in June.

Loads of coverage of the Army-Notre Dame football game at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. Here's how the baseball stadium was transformed into a football stadium. Lifelong Yankees fan Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, college football's most famous underdog, spoke to Cardinal Hayes High School students the day before the game. In attendance at the game: two dozen soldiers wounded while fighting in the Middle East, where war continues without much attention from folks back at home. Not much drama during the game, which Notre Dame easily won, 27-3.

A couple of traffic tragedies hit the borough this past weekend. Police are searching for a driver who hit a man with his car last night at 167th Street and Jerome Avenue and then left him to die.

Police charged a Boston man with drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter after his vehicle, traveling north in the southbound portion of the Major Deegan, ran into another car, killing a New Jersey man. This, police say, was after the drunk driver hit someone on Fordham Road and then drove onto a southbound off-ramp.

Video monitors will be installed to catch drivers who illegally enter into the city's new bus-only lanes, including the one on Fordham Road for the Bx12.

Former BxNN intern Andrew Boryga (we're so proud!) writes about a lost documentary that followed two Bronx gangs -- the Savage Skulls and Savage Nomads -- in the late 1970s. The documentary, "80 Blocks from Tiffany's," is being re-released.

After a precipitous fall from grace, Bronx native and former boxing champ Iran "The Blade" Barkley is living in a Holiday Inn Express on Boston Road.

A woman is suing a Bronx couple who run an animal shelter for allegedly giving her a crazed cat.

CBS reports that "dozens of people" marched on Saturday in response to a surge in anti-gay attacks, including the brutal torture and sodomizing of three victims last month in Morris Heights. Here's a little background on how and why the march was organized.

BCC Students 'March for Dignity' Following Assaults

The start of yesterday's "March for Dignity" rally (Photo: William Murray)

Bronx Community College students and staff took part in a silent march yesterday afternoon to show support for the gay community following the vicious and well-publicized assaults that occurred just blocks from the campus earlier this month.

The 250-strong crowd, many of whom carried banners ("We are all the same" "Love not hate" "Put the homophobes in the closet"), gathered outside the Roscoe C. Brown Student Center at noon. They then walked south, to a house on Osborne Place, where police say a gang of youths and twenty-somethings brutally attacked a man and two teenagers on Oct. 8.  Two of the victims were sexually assaulted; the authorities say they were targeted because they were gay or perceived to be gay.

The protesters left white and purple carnations on the sidewalk outside the house, before making their way slowly back to BCC. 

"I think what they did is really messed up and I just want to promote non-violence," said Zyesha Phillps, a student at the college who took part in the march.

"First of all, this is about dignity," said Eduardo Arias, another student. "I'm gay, and I feel that what I am, God made me this way. I'm a normal person who just likes guys, not girls. We're normal people; it's not right to beat someone because they're gay."

Bronx News Roundup, Oct. 29

Happy Halloween weekend everyone. Be safe. Be nice.

Three more members of the Latin King Goonies group accused in the brutal Morris Heights anti-gay attacks were indicted yesterday. Charges were dropped against four of the suspects, but now seven of the 11 suspects arrested have been indicted.

An in-depth and often hilarious look at how Bronx Democrat George Gonzalez stumbled into the position of heading the city's Board of Elections (he was fired this week after just two months on the job). The Voice's Tom Robbins writes that Gonzalez was the choice of Bronx Democratic lawyer and political operator Stanley Schlein.

If Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. doesn't vote on the proposal to turn a vacant army reserve center into a homeless shelter (he is boycotting the vote, saying the proposal doesn't meet the needs of the Bronx or the Wakefield community), the mayor's office says the site will be handed over to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which will turn it into a homeless shelter without his input.

While Diaz won't say that he thinks the mayor is delivering payback for the borough president's role in killing the city's plan to transform the Kingsbridge Armory into a shopping mall, Community Board 12 chairman Father Richard Gorman has no problem saying it. "This is payback for the borough president killing the Kingsbridge Armory," Gorman tells Daily News reporter (and former BxNN intern!) Rob Sgobbo. "The city is playing games. They have no interest in what the neighborhood thinks."

Yesterday, we had two posts -- here and here -- on the distressed Milbank buildings that the city is taking a more active role in rehabbing. Several other news organizations also wrote about it, but who needs them when you have us, right?

The man accused of killing a 17-year-old girl on Southern Boulevard told police his girlfriend (who has not been charged in the crime) helped him do it. She apparently thought the co-murder would help them solve their relationship issues, a source told the Daily News.

Speaking of murders, a Bronx gas station attendant was killed in a botched robbery attempt last night.

And when it rains, it pours: A Riverdale man accused of letting his dog die from over-heating in a van will undergo a mental evaluation.

Bronx students and environmentalists are hoping a third attempt to re-introduce oysters in the Bronx River will take and help clean up the water.

The Kentucky women's basketball team is expecting big things from Bronx-bred Jennifer O'Neill.

Bronx News Roundup, Oct. 28

Charges were dropped against a fourth suspect in the Morris Heights anti-gay attacks case. Four of the 11 suspects arrested have been indicted.(Note: there will be a "March for Dignity" today at noon at Bronx Community College in support of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgendered people. The march will go all the way to Osborne Street where the attacks took place.)

Police have arrested a 40-year-old man and charged him with stabbing a 17-year-old Bronx girl to death. We originally reported on this yesterday. Apparently the 17-year-old, Luzbenet Ramirez, was staying with the man arrested, Jose Mendez, and his girlfriend.

Former Giants football star Lawrence Taylor is due back in court today to face charges of statutory rape involving a 16-year Bronx girl.

Anticipating an increase in crime and hijinks, police say they'll beef up patrols in the Bronx this Halloween weekend.

Often, little pranks like throwing eggs at a car can lead to tragedy, as in 1998 when a 21-year-old Bronx man was shot after confronting a group of egg throwers. 

Author Tom Wolfe and Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson talk about "larger-than-life" Bronx judge Burton Roberts who died Sunday.

The scene at the Riverdale stop of the Tour de Bronx.

Bronx News Roundup, Oct, 27

Yesterday, charges were dropped for three of the 11 suspects arrested in connection with the anti-gay attacks in Morris Heights. The Bronx District Attorney’s office told the judge there was not enough evidence to move forward in the case. In response to Tuesday's court proceedings, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn released a statement criticizing the decision, saying: "To prematurely release individuals accused of such horrific crimes does not demonstrate a willingness to use every available tool to make sure justice is served. I urge DA Johnson to aggressively prosecute the remaining suspects, and to add the additional charge of hate crime to all suspects, including the one that was charged today."

The Bronx Museum of the Arts is going worldwide. The State Department announced yesterday it has selected the Bronx Museum to oversee amART power, a new exchange program for visual artists. The $1 million program will ship artists across America to 15 countries, including China, Ecuador, Kenya and Nepal.

The head of the City Council’s Transportation Committee wants to help ease E-ZPass bills for New Yorkers. East Bronx Councilman Jimmy Vacca said drivers should be allowed to pay their E-ZPass bills weekly instead of monthly and at local check-cashing shops. He also wants residents who don’t have a credit card or checking account - to typical manner through which E-ZPass bills are paid – to be permitted to pay their bill at a check cashing shop.Councilman Vacca plans to pitch his proposal at today’s MTA meeting.

For more information on the firing of Board of Elections chief George Gonzalez, here is a video from NY1.

The MTA Board approved the increase of toll fares. On the major crossings, the board is expected to raise tolls for E-ZPass users to $4.80. The one-way toll on the Verrazano Narrows will cost $9.60. On the minor crossings, like the Marine Parkway and Cross Bay Bridges, E-ZPass users will pay $1.80. The toll on the Henry Hudson Bridge will rise to $2.20. Those who pay cash will be hit even harder. Cash tolls on all major crossings will go up to $6.50, except for the Verrazano, where the price will rise to $13. Drivers on the smaller bridges will pay $3.25. The Henry Hudson will cost $4 for those paying cash. The toll and fare hikes are slated to take effect on Dec. 30.

Bronx News Roundup, Oct. 22

Unhappy in the Boogie Down? A new poll says that Bronx residents are the least satisfied compared to those in the other four boroughs.

A junior high school teacher is accused of having had a yearlong affair with a 13-year-old student from IS 299 in Morris Heights, where he previously taught.

Several of the accused assailants in this month's gay bias attacks could be offered plea deals from the Bronx District Attorney next week, according to their lawyers.

A man was awarded $18.5 million by a federal jury this week after he served over 20 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Alan Newton was cleared by DNA evidence and released from jail in 2006, where he'd been wrongfully serving time for a 1984 rape and assault in the Bronx.

Some of the world's largest pumpkins are at the Botanical Garden this week, and will be on display until Halloween. The largest, a world record-holder, weighs in at a whopping 1,810 pounds.

A man has finally been convicted for the murder of a Bedford Park pizzeria owner, 18 years after the crime took place. Police finally solved the case in 2008 after linking a fingerprint found at the scene to Israel Feliciano, who faces sentencing next week.

Bronx-based filmmaker Ronald Armstrong's new short movie is a war film with an unusual all-female cast. 

The NYPD is expanding its investigation of alleged ticket-fixing, which started with the 52nd Precinct's Deputy Inspector John D'Adamo, into other precincts in Queens and Manhattan. D'Adamo has been accused of fixing tickets for friends and relatives.

New York Democrats are lending a hand to fellow Democrats across the country in the form of hefty campaign contributions. Bronx Congressman Eliot Engel, for example, has given $75,000 in donations to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this election season.

March for Dignity this Thursday

Bronx Community College will be holding a "March for Dignity," this Thursday, Oct. 21 to show support for the LGBT community in light of this month's bias attacks. See the flyer below for more details.

March for Dignity

Bronx News Weekend Roundup

Former Norwood News reporter Heather Haddon's story made the cover of yesterday's NY Post: a Bronx man's decision to bury his longtime girlfriend in the same grave as his deceased wife has sparked a family feud.

Columbus High School, long on the DOE's list of low performing schools, is set to be phased out next year. Administrators say that they're struggling in the meantime, working with a minuscule budget and missing extra funding that other low performing schools have received.

The Bronx LGBT community is banding together to address tolerance in the borough after this month's heinous gay bias attacks.

Residents in Wakefield are protesting the construction of a number of planned homeless shelters, worried about what they're calling an "over-saturation" of support services in their neighborhood.

Legendary Yankees fan Freddy Schuman--aka "Freddy Sez"--passed away yesterday at the age of 85. Freddy attended almost every Yankees' home game for decades, and was known for riling up fans by banging a spoon and frying pan together and walking the stadium.

A dispute between Cablevision and Fox-owner News Corp. meant black-outs on the channel for some Bronxites.

Three public school teachers--including one from Fordham High School for the Arts--have been fired for inappropriate behavior on Facebook. The Bronx teacher who got the boot was busted for "friending" a number of his female students and leaving comments on photos he thought were "sexy."

Several rezoning plans in the process of being approved will revitalize large sections of the Bronx, according to the Wall Street Journal. Plans are in the works for Third and E. Tremont Avenues, Webster Avenue and E. Fordham Road.

Nobel Prize winner David Politzer visited his Alma mater, Bronx High School of Science, last week. The school boasts a total of seven Nobel-prize winning alumni.

The Daily News says that the flashing blue lights on the Bx12 bus might be illegal. A state law says that blue lights are intended only for emergency responders, like police and fire department vehicles.

The city came down harder this election season on illegally posted campaign materials. Workers from Adriano Espaillat and Gustavo Rivera's campaign told City Hall they were careful about where volunteers posted their literature for fear of fines from the Department of Sanitation.

A high school in Melrose boasts the first-ever green roof on a public school.

Bronx News Roundup, Oct. 14

The 10 men accused of savagely beating three men because they believed they were gay will appear in Bronx State Supreme Court today. The suspects have been charged with a number of hate crime offenses (for more on the incidents, here's a roundup of links).

Ildefanso (Cheto) Mendez, the 23-year-old accused of orchestrating the violent attacks, tells the Daily News that he's innocent and "not a monster."

Pelham Manor Police Chief Alfred Mosiello says his officer, who shot and killed a man on Boston Road on Tuesday after an altercation,  followed proper police procedure. Officer Kenneth Stretz attempted to pull over Wardell Johnson, of Harlem, who was driving an ATV and then fled when it ran out of gas.

BoogieDowner posts about some new grocery stores, here and here.

A breakout of violence at DeWitt Clinton High School earlier this month has administrators there declaring a "building-wide emergency" state at the school.

NYPD units are in the Bronx today, at a shooting range on Rodman's Neck, to conduct a practice exercise to prepare for a terror attack like the one that occurred at a Mumbai hotel in 2008.

Mayor Bloomberg and a number of volunteers painted the rooftop of a NCYHA housing complex, on E. 146th St., as part of a new program to help make buildings more energy efficient.

A Bronx judge has extended an order of protection against former Gov. Paterson aide David Johnson, who was charged with assaulting his ex-girlfriend at her apartment last year.

Bangladeshi leaders in the Bronx are applauding the arrest of four teenagers accused of mugging an immigrant teen in Parkchester last month. The South Asian community has been calling for more diligence in policing what they see as a growing number of bias crimes against them.

According to a press release from State Sen. Jeff Klein's office, a new security camera has been installed in Keane Square in Pelham Bay to help deter crime and loitering there.

Bronx News Roundup, Oct. 12

If you missed it, here's a separate roundup of headlines concerning last week's appalling gay bias attacks in Morris Heights.

The building where the beatings took place--a brick three-family home at 1910 Osborne Place--is an example of the risky mortgage lending that's led to a growing number of abandoned properties across the city. Banks should notify the NYPD about empty buildings where gang members and dangerous squatters can set up shop, writes the Daily News' Michael Daly.

The four men accused in the Bronx synagogue bomb plot were denied a mistrial yesterday. The men's lawyers requested a mistrial on the grounds that jurors had been shown evidence that was not admitted during the trial; the request was denied, though one juror was dismissed from the case.

The 109-year-old Willis Avenue Bridge will be floated to New Jersey and disassembled this fall. The bridge, connecting the Bronx the northern Manhattan, has been replaced by a new structure.

Bronx Daily News reporter Patrice O'Shaughnessy writes of an unlikely connection between sources from two separate stories she wrote, over the span of several decades, both taking place in the Bronx.

Two Bronx residents have been accused of a major shoplifting heist at the Palisades Mall in Westchester.

A new book takes a look at the life and hardships of Yankees legend Mickey Mantle. 

Speaking of the Yankees: fans are irked by a huge increase in stadium parking fees. The garages have hiked their prices from $23 to--yikes--$40 for a space. 

Headlines in Wake of Bronx Gay Bias Attacks

The Bronx--and the rest of the country--is reeling after last week's horrific antigay attacks, in which a group of men who call themselves the "Latin King Goonies" sodomized and tortured a 30-year-old gay man and two 17-year-olds they suspected of having had sex with him.

The violence comes after the suicides of five gay teenagers across the country over the last month, all of  whom were tormented in school for being gay. Yesterday was National Coming Out Day, and today, Oct. 12, is the 12 year anniversary of Matthew Shephard's death, the 21-year-old gay college student from Laramie, Wyoming, who was brutally beaten and left tied to a fence to die in 1998.

Last week's beatings took place in an abandoned building in Morris Heights, while the suspected ringleader of the gang is a 23-year-old man from Bedford Park.

"The Bronx is hanging its head in shame," this week, writes Daily News columnist Bob Kappstatter. "As if it needed another bad rap, the utter stupidity and vile hatred of some punk gangbangers gave the borough a new black eye."