The First Bronx Food Summit

How much sugar are you drinking? A display at the Bronx Food Summit shows the surprisingly high sugar content of many popular drinks. (Photo by Alex Green)

Saturday, May 1st marked the first ever Bronx Food Summit, a day of workshops and discussions organized by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., and a number of organizations and volunteers, that aimed to put food and nutrition at the top of the borough's agenda.

"We have poor eating habits, and we need to have better food options," Diaz said to the crowd of attendees at Hostos Community College.

He then rattled off a number of disturbing Bronx health statistics: the borough's been named the unhealthiest place to live in New York; one in every four children is obese, yet the South Bronx still has a hunger rate--37 percent--that's twice the national average.

"I don't know about you," Diaz said. "But I'm tired of being number one at everything that's bad and last place at everything that's good."

Bronx News Roundup, May 7

Happy Friday everyone! On to the news!

The city is looking for input on how to best revamp the 162-year-old High Bridge, which connects 170th Street in the Bronx to 173rd Street in Manhattan. It's slated to become a pedestrian promenade and could end up being something like the incredibly popular High Line in the West Village. There will be a public hearing on the bridge next Thursday at 6 p.m., at PS 11, 1257 Ogden Ave.

Bronx students are helping to create an urban farm in Hunts Point.

Bronx Zoo animal keeper Ralph Aversa is in charge of keeping track of the zoo's new lion cubs.

The city's proposed teacher cuts, announced yesterday by Mayor Bloomberg, will disproportionally effect the Bronx.

Some thoughts on last Saturday's Bronx Food Summit.

The NYPD is looking for 16-year-old Caroline Ferreras of 624 Prospect Ave. Click here for a photo and more info. 

In the wake of former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno's conviction on fraud charges, the Times-Union has a round-up of all the recent "unlawful lawmakers." Three of them -- Guy Velella, Gloria Davis and Efrain Gonzalez -- are from the Bronx.

Boxing is back at the Paradise Theater next Friday night.

A study outlines potential greenway routes through the Bronx.

The unconventional DeWitt Clinton H.S. baseball team has bunted its way to a hot start this season.

A pastor who duped hundreds of people -- including many attached to evangelical churches in the Bronx -- into giving up personal documents by telling them they were getting jobs is back in New York.

Bronx Food Summit Sat. May 1st

The Bronx Food Summit, being hosted by Bronx BP Ruben Diaz, Jr., will take place on Saturday May 1st at Hostos Community College (450 Grand Concourse) from 9am to 5pm. The event will begin at 10am with a keynote address by the Bronx's own sustainable genius Majora Carter.

Attendees can choose from an impressive variety of workshops that range from hands-on cooking demonstrations, learning how to compost food scraps to reduce landfill waste, conversations about getting healthier foods at bodegas and neighborhood stores, and learning about food-coops and community supported agriculture as alternatives to existing food systems. There's also a workshop track targeted for children and young adults.

The Summit will feature a number of notable Bronx celebrities: Hip Hop icons Afrika Bambaataa, Kurtis Blow, Melle Mel, and Popmaster Fabel, as well as Bronx foodie favorite Baron Ambrosia.

Interested attendees can register online or the morning of between 9-10am.

Bronx News Roundup, April 29

Yesterday, the attorney general's office filed another civil suit against embattled State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr.  Espada and one of his sons set up a sham training program in order to pay janitors as little as $1.70 an hour, the office alleges.  Espada claims (as he did last week) that Andrew Cuomo is bullying him. More here.

Despite claiming to be a strong advocate for tenants' rights, Espada has deep ties to the the real estate industry, which - through campaign contributions - has helped shape his agenda as chair of the Senate's housing committee, argues the Village Voice's Tom Robbins.

An assistant principal at Bronx Science habitually harassed teachers under her, often reducing them to tears, an independent report has found. But Rosemary Jahoda will likely keep her job after the Department of Education dismissed most of the reports findings.

The first ever Bronx Food Summit is being held next Monday at Hostos Community College.

A new City Council bill could force the NYPD to publish traffic accidents and summonses statistics online. 

A 20-year-old Bronx man has been charged with attempted murder following a night of violence in Midtown in Easter Day. Police say Rayvon Guice fired his gun into a group of people, injuring two men. 

In a lawsuit, a former waitress at the Lobster Box in City Island says was sexually harassed by her supervisor, and fired when she complained.

A new playground has opened in Parkchester.

Students and teachers at Herbert Lehman High School, a 4,500-student school in the east Bronx, have been told that permanent metal detectors are to be installed, following several recent fights and an uptick in gang activity.

Yesterday, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.'s Kingbridge Armory task force toured the mammoth building.

Charlie Ramos of the group "Bronx for Change" is after State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr.'s seat.  More on Ramos here and here.

City comptroller John Liu has created a task force to examine how developers deliver community benefit agreements.  Among the aims: more transparency.

Fernando Aquino, a political consultant who often works with Bronx politicians and wannabe Bronx politicians, was interviewed recently on the Perez Notes radio show.

A former Bronx police officer talks about his new(ish) career as an arborist at the New York Botanical Garden.

Coqui Mexicano, a restaurant in Melrose, won't close after all.  [via BoogieDowner]