Huge Water Main Break Floods Jerome Ave.

A massive water main break in Mount Hope this morning has flooded a portion of Jerome Avenue and surrounding side streets, around 177th Street, NBC is reporting.

Check out the video at the link--we're not talking about a little leak here--the streets are completely washed out and water is practically covering some parked cars.

Because of the break, the MTA says riders should expect delays on the 4 line, and there will be no service in both directions between the 167th Street Station and the Bedford Park Boulevard-Lehman College Station. Delays are also posted for the BX1, BX2, BX3, BX18, BX32, BX36, BX40, BX42 and BXM4 buses.

We'll keep you updated as we hear more.

Bronx News Roundup, March 8

It's a clear and beautiful morning in the Bronx today, with highs reaching into the mid-40s this afternoon. On to our news roundup:

Story of the day: 

Reporter David Greene snapped this photo from the scene of a fire on the Grand Concourse yesterday, when firefighters rescued 14 pit bulls from a blazing sixth-floor apartment in a building in Fordham Heights. All of the dogs, including one puppy and four newborns, were safe and one was treated for a minor injury. No people where injured. We'll have more photos and the rest of Greene's account shortly.

Stand-up comedian and Bronx native Mike DeStefano, who spun his troubled childhood and recovery from heroin addiction into his comedic routines, died yesterday. His lawyer told the New York Times that DeStefano was in his 40s, but could not confirm an exact age or cause of death. 

A Bronx woman was struck and killed by a car yesterday after stepping into a lane of traffic on a Westchester road to avoid a puddle caused by recent flooding, police said. Her companion was also injured.

A man accused of beating a 25-year-old Bronx woman into a coma over a parking space apologized outside of a Manhattan court yesterday, and said the injured woman, Lana Rosas, was the one who hit him first.

The cabdriver accused of mowing down two men in Manhattan after refusing to drive them to the Bronx has a history of confrontations with passengers, according to the Daily News. He was fined and suspended by the Taxi and Limosine Commission last year after supposedly abusing another rider.

New York City is poised to become the most gridlocked city in the country, according to a new report, which sites a stretch of the Cross Bronx Expressway as the worst traffic spot. 

A Bronx high school and a middle school, which have yet to be named publicly, will soon be part of the DOE's plan to test a new "turnaround" tactic. Instead of closing down the low-performing schools, as it has done in the past, the city will try replacing the principal and half of the teachers at the sites in hopes of improving them.

Bronx News Roundup, Dec. 21

Last night, a Bronx resident, Jesus Vega, was shot dead outside of his home in Parkchester. Police do not yet know the motive or the perpetrator of the crime.

For more information about the devastating fire on 204th Street, visit NY1. Also, check back on the blog for more news updates regarding the fire.

Bronx families struggle to save up money for Christmas presents.

After a public housing complex on Magenta Street flooded last Thursday night, emergency crews worked through Friday morning to bring back water and heat to the building.

If the Department of Education follows through with its plan to close Alfred E. Smith high school, adults will not be able to take classes in plumbing and carpentry at the school, as they do now.

The principal of Academy of Letters in the South Bronx will leave her school to accept a position as the mayor of Los Angeles' deputy mayor of education.

In order to help a Brooklyn mother with leukemia, BronxWorks is holding a bone marrow testing drive at 1130 Grand Concourse today in hopes of finding a bone marrow match, which could save the patient's life.

August 8 News Roundup

Due to the rain and flooding, most of the subway lines have been affected. Among those, the 4 train is suspended in either direction between the 125th Street and Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall stations and the D train is suspended in either direction between the 145th Street and Norwood-205th Street stations. The Metro-North is back on track. For updates, check out MTA's website.

The Daily News reports on a remarkable young Morris Heights resident who has won a Gates Millennium Scholarship that will pave the way for her to attend Albertus Magnus College in the fall. The student, who is a student leader and activist at her high school, dreams of being a senator some day, spends her free time volunteering. She was nominated for the prestigious scholarship by her education adviser at the Citizen's Advice Bureau.

The City Room Blog reports that 4,000 Con Ed customers were without power today because of power lines damaged by the storm. One fourth of those customers were in the Bronx.

Mexicans are the third largest immigrant group in New York after Dominicans and Chinese, says an article in AM New York. The growing number of Mexicans in New York is partially due to high birth rates as well as the lift on protections of Mexico's corn industry to take place next year. This lift would make it harder to grow corn, forcing people to leave the countryside.

The Daily News reports that the Pelham Bay Landfill, closed in 1978, could be opened to the public soon, but local residents don't think it's safe.

The Crotona pool between East 172nd and East 174th streets has been named a landmark.