Seis Del Sur at the New York Times

This time lapse movie was created from photographs made during the Seis Del Sur presentation at the New York Times building last Thursday.

Thirty years ago, six young men had just started their exploration of an art form called photography. Independently, the six documented their communities in the south Bronx. During this low point in our history the borough lost thousands of buildings to arson, which of course also brought down neighborhoods and families. Their work is unique and beautiful as it is the Bronx examining itself, rather than the work of outsiders making photos of “the poor Bronx” for a few hours.

As a proud Bronx resident and photographer it was inspirational to see their work and hear their thoughts which they shared during a frank, open and very interesting Q&A.

I'll post another slide show of photographs and maybe a sound recording from the event a little later.

Thank you Ricky Flores, Edwin Pagan, Joe Conzo Jr, Angel Franco, David Gonzalez and Francisco Molina Reyes II for sharing your beautiful work. Please visit www.seisdelsur.com to explore their work and them.

rawlat.com/adi
aditalwar.blogspot.com

Bronx News Weekend Roundup, June 27

Weather: Mostly sunny and in the 80s today.

Quick Hits:
The Times' David Gonzalez, himself a graduate of St. Martin of Tours School in Crotona, offers this poignant piece on the school's closing and emotional last day of classes, which was last Wednesday. The 86-year-old parochial school is one of 26 closed this year by the Archdiocese of New York because of budget cuts and low enrollment.

Bronx News Roundup, Jan. 13

Two teenagers were shot, one fatally, inside a deli on Westchester and Wheeler Avenues in Bronx River early this morning. One victim, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene while another 19-year-old is in stable condition at Jacobi Medical Center.

This spat of youth violence comes just days after another boy, 14-year-old Philip Johnson, was shot to death in Williamsbridge Monday night during a fight organized by two groups of feuding teenagers via text message.

More bad health news for the borough: the Bronx had the worst health stats almost across the board in 2009 compared to other parts of the city (with the exception of heart disease, which is most prevalent in Brooklyn).

So far, Sen. Jeff Klein and the three other Democrats who split from the party's conference last week have been denied spots on any Senate committees, though the Republicans can still dole out assignments to them and other Democrats (here's a list of committee assignments Democratic leader John Sampson released a few days ago).

Former NFL star and Giants player Lawrence Taylor is fighting charges that he paid a 16-year-old Bronx girl for sex. Taylor has rejected a plea deal, and could go to trial this month.

More controversy over plans to build a 911 call center on Pelham Parkway, which city Controller John Liu has called out for wasteful spending and the fact that the project is way over budget.

David Gonzalez takes a look at the work of Bronx-native photographer Martin Cohen, in a post for the Times' Lens Blog.

A Bronx man who was hired to shovel snow outside of a Department of Sanitation garage in Inwood fell through a metal sidewalk grate, suffering a head injury. Eric Pagan, 20, was in stable condition yesterday at Harlem Hospital.

Montefiore doctor Alexandra Bastien looks back on her trip to Haiti to help out after the earthquake. The one year anniversary of the disaster was yesterday.

Two people were injured during a fire that broke out yesterday in the basement of an apartment building in Claremont.

Computers that were stolen this summer during a burglary at PS 35 were replaced this month, after HPD and non-profit housing developer Blue Sea Development organized a computer drive for the school.

Pianos in the Park

Children take advantage of "Play Me, I'm Yours" and the shade at Sackerah Woods Playground

Shaded under the open-aired municipal facilities at Sackerah Woods Playground, in Van Cortlandt Park's southeastern corner, sits a curiously inviting blue and green piano.

The piano's creative aesthetic is accompanied by an open invitation: "Play Me, I'm Yours," written just above the keys. The piano is part of a citywide public art project that temporarily placed 60 pianos in parks, playgrounds and gardens. The Sackerah Woods piano is one of four in the Bronx.

The art project is run by the New York-based charity, Sing For Hope, which imported the concept from a similar project in Britain where they envisioned the pianos as "a catalyst for conversation."

At Sackerah Woods on Monday afternoon, the piano was dominated by adolescents investigating the instrument's capabilities while, at the same time, escaping the sun from beneath near-by the monkey bars.

The "Play Me, I'm Yours" project will continue to provide the pianos until July 5 and can also be enjoyed in the Bronx at Fordham Plaza, Grand Concourse and Joyce Kilmer Park.

David Gonzalez recently wrote about the pianos on the New York Times' City Room blog.

Bronx News Roundup, April 23

There are, as to be expected, some Espada headlines gracing the papers this morning:

State prosecutors subpoenaed 10 staff members with ties to Espada's Soundview HealthCare Network yesterday. 

The state senator's legacy will be Soundview and sushi, says the New York Times. The sushi, like Larry Seabrook's infamous $177 bagel, is in reference to $20,000 worth of take out  delivered to Espada's Mamaroneck home, paid for by Soundview. The article goes on to say that Bronx residents still view the health clinic as a valuable resource in the neighborhood, though it's gotten "shabby" in recent years.

Espada defended himself on NY1's "Inside City Hall" last night and on "Good Day New York" this morning.

Meanwhile, Espada's newly announced opponent Desiree-Pilgrim Hunter could be picking up support from two major unions: it's said that both the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union and a local chapter of the Transport Workers Union may endorse the candidate.

In other news:

Sustainable South Bronx is approaching its 10 year anniversary. NY1 ran a segment yesterday (earth day) on the group and all the good work it does to green the borough.

A 15-year-old from Throgs Neck is facing 18 months in juvenile detention for driving his family car into a tree in December, killing his 12-year-old neighbor who was in the passenger seat.

Bronx students continue to fight the elimination of free student Metrocards. 

David Gonzalez of the New York Times has been investigating a Brooklyn pastor who hired and promised paychecks to hundreds of residents in Brooklyn and the Bronx--but the jobs, and the money, never existed.

BoogieDowner posts about a NYT's article on the new mall in Rego Park, Queens and how it's become an economy booster there. BD alludes to the killed Related Companies' plan at the Kingsbridge Armory and the (albeit minimum wage) jobs that might have been provided for Bronxites, had it survived.

Enjoy Nabes Around 161st Without Supporting the Steinbrenners

Get a jump on Sunday’s Times and don’t miss this gem from David Gonzalez suggesting what to do around Yankee Stadium without giving the Yankees a penny.

Looking for Your 1970s Bronx Photos

Following up on his photos and article about the south Bronx of the 1970s, David Gonzalez and the New York Times are looking for YOUR Bronx photos from that era.

To upload them to the Times site, click here. And hey, while you're at it, e-mail them to us at bronxnewsnetwork@gmail.com and we'll try to showcase them here as well.

An Eye On -- and For -- the Bronx

(Photo by David Gonzalez, published in yesterday's New York Times.)

Yesterday's New York Times has a real treat from columnist and native Bronxite David Gonzalez -- a time-capsule look at the south Bronx of 1979, where David is from and returned to to teach photography with the Latino photography group En Foco. Read the essay, and then check out the audio slide show. It's really not be missed. The love Gonzalez has for his life-long home pours out of every frame and you can hear it in his voice.

We've been privileged to have David participate in our youth journalism program, where he has shared his experience, skills and career advice with the students. Every time he's come, he's told student to carry a camera wherever they go, that reporters must have eyes for detail and that photography trains your eye to look for things that give life to the printed word. Boy, he wasn't kidding. So glad he rifled through these old cartons of negatives and we hope there is much more to come.

Bronx News Roundup, April 27

A high school junior died after being accidentally shot in the chest by a friend playing with a gun; he was one of two fatalities in a weekend which saw 13 shootings and 1 near-fatal stabbing in the Bronx.

The Bronx teacher who was arrested after he barricaded himself inside a classroom at the New Millenium Business Academy Middle School last Friday was released without bail on Saturday.

The Daily News reports back from a poetry workshop for Bronx teens in residency programs.

A man tried to turn in a live hand grenade at the NYPD's Gun Buyback program, held in churches around the Bronx on Saturday.

The Botanical Garden will open its new tulip show, "The Glory of Dutch Bulbs" on Friday.

And Boogiedowner beat us to the punch, but these are stories worth reading: David Gonzalez, former NY Times Bronx Bureau Chief, had a story this weekend on immigrant families divided by legal status, while PBS is set to air a story tomorrow on a former communist co-op in the Bronx.

And last but not least, former BP Adolfo Carrion finally paid his bill.

Earl Brown, Professional

My friend and esteemed colleague David Gonzalez at the Times has a little fun this morning with the Brooklyn residency of our interim borough president, Earl Brown.

Lest anyone take away from this gentle gibing that Mr. Brown is not suited to the job -- which will only last about 6 weeks until the special election on April 21 -- I thought I'd just offer my two cents since I've known Earl since the mid-1990s when he was spokesman for the School Construction Authority.

Anyone who was around then and reading the Norwood News around 1996 or so, remembers the relentless reporting we did on the SCA's disastrous performance in building PS 20 and then PS 15 and also PS 54. They just couldn't do anything right and the years-long delays had terrible consequences for local schoolkids, like at PS 8 where the crowding was so bad they had double-sessions .

Earl and I tangled occasionally, like all reporters and city agency spokespeople do. But Earl was a straight-shooter and a professional and did his best in what was one of the city's most thankless jobs at that time. (This wasn't so true of his predecessors there.) He recognized the role of the press and he never took any disagreements personally, which will certainly serve him well in his new job.

Since then Earl has worked in government relations at the New York Botanical Garden and has always been helpful whenever I talked to him when he was deputy borough president. He may live in Brooklyn but, as he told Gonzalez, he spends most of his waking hours in the Bronx.

As David points out in his piece, many Bronx pols are rumored to live not just outside the borough, but outside the city, which unlike Earl's situation is flat-out illegal.

After the new borough president takes office, I hope Earl will have a place in the new administration or at least a job where he can continue serving the people of the Bronx.

Good luck, Earl.

David Gonzalez on Ramon Velez

Sometimes it takes time for a full picture of a recently deceased public figure to emerge. David Gonzalez of the Times adds his brush strokes to the portrait of Ramon Velez. Not to be missed.

Bronx News (other than term limits) Roundup: Oct. 23

NY1's Dean Meminger reports on how the DOT plans to help alleviate confusion and congestion at one of the busiest intersections in the Bronx -- 3rd Avenue and 149th Street.

A judge ordered that a Bronx building owner has 30 days to fix 269 outstanding violations or he will be forced to forfeit the property to the city.

Stella D'Oro workers are striking in protest of a wage cut imposed by the company's new owners.

The Daily News profiles Eva Bornstein of the Lehman Center for Performing Arts.

Native Bronxite and performer David Gonzalez (not to be confused with the NY Times reporter of the same name) is gaining notoriety for his show, which features "classic tales with a lot of funk."

The new Metro-North Station at Yankee Stadium is moving along swimmingly.

Stop Hatin' on Community Organizers!

Opinion by Gregory Lobo Jost
In case you weren't watching last night, a political party repeatedly degraded the role of community organizers at their convention.

Former mayor Giuliani (laughing): "Maybe this is the first problem on [Obama's] resume... he worked as a community organizer!"

VP nominee Sarah Palin: "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities.”

Regardless of whether you are an Obama, McCain, McKinney, or Barr supporter, these comments denegrate important contributions made by thousands of (mostly) young women and men during the past 70 years, in both urban AND rural America. To say the very least, if not for the work of community organizers, redlining would still be official bank policy and the Bronx would still be burning. And what about empowering low income and working class people to stand up and fight for their neighborhoods, take pride in their communities, and make REAL changes in our society? Is this a job without responsibilities? Indeed it is a job that is difficult to perform properly, requires long hard hours, is often thankless and pays very little! Certainly for the millions of Americans who have benefitted from the work done by community organizers (myself and the other 1.4 million Bronx residents) it is nothing to laugh at.

I may be over-reacting, but I take these insults very personally (and I don't even qualify as a pure organizer). Sure, these comments are made for calculated political gain during a campaign, and I expect no better from the former NYC mayor. But to hear it over and over again on national TV (PBS no less!) without any counterpoint just made my blood boil.

Has any other profession been repeatedly ridiculed like this at a political convention before? Could you imagine if this was said about YOUR LIFE'S WORK to millions of viewers with no rebuttal?

Update: David Gonzalez of the New York Times has posted a column, Bronx Organizers React to G.O.P. Punchlines, featuring the work of two past local community organizers still active in the neighborhoods.

2nd Update: A new site has sprung in response to these attacks on organizers, and the initial post (also available on the Indypendent) features west Bronx organizer Jackie del Valle of New Settlement Apartments/CASA!

Community organizers across America, taken aback by a series of attacks from Republican leaders at the GOP convention in St. Paul, came together today to defend their work organizing Americans who have been left behind by unemployment, lack of health insurance and the national housing crisis. The organizers demanded an apology from Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for her statement that community organizers have no “actual responsibilities” and launched a web site, http://organizersfightback.wordpress.com/, to defend themselves against Republican attacks.

Also, this entry on the Huffington Post features the Center for Community Change's official response to the remarks.

Slaughterhouse Bronx

Bronx native and NYT columnist David Gonzalez stops in on a neighborhood vivero -- or slaughterhouse -- and takes a look back at his own childhood while he's there. (The photo is by Gonzalez, too.)

Carlin's Bronx Roots

The New York Times' David Gonzalez remembers George Carlin's complicated, yet humorous, Bronx roots. The legendary comedian died yesterday at the age of 71.

Bronx, the 'Rodney Dangerfield of Boroughs'

That's how Times reporter and Bronxite David Gonzalez describes the Boogie Down in a great article/post that's up on the City Room blog right now.

The article focuses on how guide books, like AAA's, have very little information about lodging and other amenities for those wishing to visit our fine borough -- and then goes on to say that our very own tourism council isn't helping, despite the fact that there is a tourism market (mostly out-of-town baseball fans coming in to catch a Yankee game) that could be taken advantage of.

Gonzalez said he wanted to explore this idea after picking up a guide book in Texas and finding next to zilch written about the Bronx. What he found is that while most lodging facilities in the Bronx still cater to hourly customers, there are a couple of legit hotels that serve actual tourists. He also said the Bronx is still suffering from an outdated image problem, one that's not being helped out by our own tourism council and borough president's lack of action in remedying the problem.

Until there's a real effort to repair this image problem, the Bronx will remain the Rodney Dangerfield of boroughs: Can't get no respect!

Happy Earth Day!

Hope everyone biked or took mass transit to work today. If not, at least read this great article by the Times' David Gonzalez about a unique recycling program in the Bronx.