Bronx News Roundup, Thursday, April 14

Weather: Enjoy the mid 60s temperatures and sunshine broken up only by the occasional cloud.

To the news!

Story of the Day:
During a 9-year-stretch between 1986 and 1995, 65 bodies (65!) were found in the Bronx's Pelham Bay Park, the city's largest park at 2,700 acres. "It’s vast, vast territory,” Lloyd Ultan, the Bronx borough historian, told the Times in an article about the New York area's many body-hiding hot spots. “A lot of it is wild. It would take a long time for anybody to find anything there that shouldn’t be there.” The article, which stems from the 10 bodies recently found in the Long Island shore brush, says that Pelham Bay Park used to a be a dumping ground for bodies and gives a couple of examples of the grizzly discoveries made at the east Bronx park. But with all that vast, wild land, how do they know it's not still being used in such a manner?

Quick Hits:
Residents and police say a deli in Concourse Village is the root of many evils.

More details on the neighbor who was arrested for killing Bronx grandmother Ethel Parrish.

The Bronx Children's Museum will make its mobile debut at the Bronx Day Parade on May 22. (More on this later today.)

Starting Saturday in the Bronx and other outer boroughs, the 929 area code will be given out  to new landlines and cell phones.

Kappy has details on the ticket-fixing scandal that's centered around Bronx cops. But he says this is bigger than the Bronx: "With tickets now computerized, the informal 'courtesy' system no longer works. But the problem for Bloomberg, Kelly and the cop unions is the tix-fix system has been around just about forever, with the current Bronx probe a potential Pandora's box."

He also says Councilman Fernando Cabrera is finding it difficult to pay back the tax breaks received on his Westchester home while living in the Bronx.

Bronx News Roundup, Dec. 16

Patients at Espada's Soundview Health Clinics told the Post that they wouldn't mind seeing the network's CEO behind bars. "He belongs in jail," said 70-year-old Rosalind Rahamon. Espada and his son pleaded not guilty yesterday at a federal court in Brooklyn; we'll have more on that in a bit.

A spokeswoman from the Health Department told WNYC that the agency supports Espada's removal from his CEO position at Soundview.

Outgoing Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who first brought civil charges against Espada this spring, said of the senator's indictment: "I couldn't leave on a better note."

Mets player Carlos Beltran handed out food to Bronx residents with anti-hunger group City Harvest.

The body of a 38-year-old Bronx man was discovered in a wooded area of Clifton, N.J. yesterday.

Bronx resident George Castro, 48, is accused of stealing $5.7 million from Columbia University. He allegedly diverted funds from the prestigious school's accounts after accessing private financial information, and had more than $200,000 in cash on him when he was arrested by police last month.

Loyal customers at a Carvel store in Wakefield won't let this week's freezing temperatures stop them from enjoying an ice cream cone.

The Mayor says legislators taking advantage of a loophole that lets them collect pension checks while still in office are pulling the "ultimate scam." Bronx Assemblyman Jose Rivera is among the accused.

Four Loko, the controversial booze-and-caffeine beverage that's supposedly been banned from stores, is still available for purchase online, according to Sen. Jeff Klein's office.

Incoming Schools Chancellor Cathie Black, responding to critics that she's out of touch with inner-city students: "I've been to the South Bronx, and that's about as realistic as you can get." Witty commentary at the source.

Today's issue of amNY profiles Concourse Village, and the neighborhood art scene there.

A Bronx-based nonprofit health group is looking update the borough's medical care. Bronx Regional Health Information Organization is partnering with the borough's hospitals to create electronic patients' records--a staple of President Obama's reform plan.

Plans to officially form a Business Improvement District for Westchester Square  are coming together.