Bronx News Roundup, May 7

Not a tremendous amount of Bronx news floating around today. We'll put a few links up here and then get to the business of reporting our own stories. 

The special elections to fill the assembly seats vacated by new Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and his deputy Aurelia Greene will be held on June 2. Carl Heastie, the relatively new Bronx Democratic chairman has announce the party's candidates, Vanessa Gibson (for Greene's seat) and Marcus Crespo (Diaz's), but expects competition, the Daily News' Liz Benjamin writes. 

On Tuesday, the DN's Bob Kappstatter wrote that activist Joel Rivera (not the Councilman and no relation) and Anthony Curry will challenge Gibson for Greene's seat. And Pedro G. Espada, (the state senator's son and former councilman) might be looking to challenge Crespo for Diaz's seat. 

Any candidate wishing to run must collect 1,500 signatures by May 13, next Wednesday. 

Bronx State Senator Jose M. Serrano is pushing for a more consolidated effort to bring transparency to the process of how Stimulus money is being spent in New York. 

NY1 on Bronx-born judge Sonia Sotomayor, a possible Supreme Court nominee. 

A Bronx cabbie was awarded $1.5 million after being wrongly sentenced to prison for allegedly selling drugs to an undercover cop. 

Here's the Riverdale Press' story on the DEP's controversial blasting plan at Jerome Park Reservoir. 

Bronx News Roundup, May 6

Millions of city straphangers can breath a little easier today as the state legislature is expected to pass a much-delayed/anticipated/debated MTA bailout plan, which should reduce fare hikes and avoid much of the service cuts. Basically, subway and bus fares will go rise to $2.25, from $2 and 30-day Metrocards to $89, from $81. The vote was tentatively scheduled for 11 a.m. this morning.

Our friends at the BoogieDowner talked to State Senator Pedro Espada's chief of staff Andrew Yong about a host of issues, including his residency (he supposedly lives in the BD's Bedford Park building, but they've never seen him there), his new (and still non-existent) district office, the aforementioned MTA rescue and his campaign finance violations and outstanding fines. He also clarified a few other positions, which you can read about on the BD's post.

The NY Post writes that Bronx-born judge Sonia Sotomayor, who's on a short list to replace retiring Supreme Court Jusitce David Souter, once said during a panel discussion that she believes judges make policy (not one of their mandates), but that she doesn't advocate for judges doing so. If confirmed, she would be the first Hispanic judge on the Supreme Court.

The Daily News explores shopping options in Mott Haven.

The News reports on the DEP's new plan to use blasting for construction at the Jerome Park Reservoir. We wrote about this here on the blog last Friday and on Monday.

The Bronx Science girls soccer team is destroying the competition this season.

Outrage at DEPs Plan to Use Blasting at Jerome Park Reservoir

It was a packed house last night at Scott Tower where nearly 50 residents gathered for the Croton Facility Monitoring Committee Meeting.

The biggest issue at the meeting was the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) proposal to use blasting to remove a rock as they build a shaft to connect a water tunnel from the reservoir to the filtration plant at Van Cortlandt Park.

Last fall, DEP officials proposed using this blasting method, but backed off after community outrage led to residents, with support from Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz, filed a lawsuit. But last night, DEP was again proposing to use blasting, saying their current method of hoe-ramming is taking too long and is not an efficient method for the size of the rock.

At the meeting, DEP officials presented their proposal for Phase Two of the construction project and also presented an abbreviated version of a “tech memo,” which they say provides detailed information about blasting. The DEP did not bring copies of this memo, and instead directed residents to the DEP website to view the 80-plus page document. (We are still searching for the document online.)

Residents again expressed their frustration with the lack of transparency and demanded that DEP submit a supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) as blasting would be a deviation from the original EIS, which states that no drilling or blasting would take place at the reservoir.

DEP official, Angela Licata, said that the use of blasting was a minor change and referred to the Environmental Conservation Law that states that a supplemental EIS must be submitted if changes are made that affect the environment. Licata said that this will be a construction changes that would not affect the environment, and therefore DEP would not submit a supplemental EIS. She explained that, although hoe-ramming was not listed as a method, it was listed within the document as equipment. Licata responded to several audience members who shouted that DEP was lying and admitted that DEP could have done a better job of informing the community.

“I don’t think we did a very good job of describing hoe-ramming [in the original EIS],” she said.

If DEP uses blasting, it will be in the second phase of the project, which could start as early as September. Phase Two is expected to last three months. Since school will be in session, DEP is planning to blast before and after school hours, but officials explained that blasting would only last several seconds, once or twice a day, three to five times a week, compared to hoe-ramming, which is a constant sound throughout the day. (Apparently, the Bronx High School of Science has been complaining about the noise levels of hoe-ramming and DEP has agreed to work around the school schedule.)

When pressed by one Scott Tower resident, DEP officials said they would be happy to place a vibration monitor in the building to measure the effects of blasting, which DEP says will be minimal at worst and unnoticeable at best.

Anne Marie Garti, president of the Jerome Park Conservancy asked if there would be water in the reservoir during blasting. DEP officials said that although they don’t like to do it, they may have to keep water in the reservoir.

At the end of the meeting, the committee voted to propose that DEP conduct a supplemental EIS. The committee said this would alleviate the concerns of the community as the EIS is a formal process and DEP’s tech memo is not.

DEP officials projected that construction will last until 2012. The next meeting will take place in May.

Hail in the Bronx, Reservoir Rats, A Bronx-born Olympian and more news for Tuesday, Aug. 12

Lots to do today, so let's get to the news:

Yesterday's torrential downpour in the borough included a smattering of hail and one Bronxite saved some to prove it. [NYT]

Scientists warn that blasting at the Jerome Park Reservoir (which the DEP wants to do and the community is adamantly against) could lead to a huge infestation of rats in nearby communities. The community won a temporary restraining order against the blasting plan until Sept. 3, when there will be a hearing on whether the DEP needs to conduct more thorough environmental impact study before going forward.

Daily News borough chief Bob Kappstatter (spelling?) gossips about Council Member Maria Baez "going ghetto" on former Bronx Democratic machine lawyer Stanley Schlein, who ("while no one's pointing any fingers") found two of his tires slashed outside of the Bronx Board of Elections. Schlein apparently had a falling out with the machine and is now siding with the Democratic insurgents.

Here's more on the high school grad rates story from the NY Times. The 55.8 percent graduation mark we reported here yesterday also includes those seniors who graduated after taking summer classes. Without those students, the rate is 52.2 percent. Still, it's the first time more than half of NYC students graduated on time.

A Bronx sanitation worker died on the job yesterday. [Post]

A new gritty movie about the Bronx recently debuted to a small audience. [Daily News]

Construction of the new Yankee Stadium leaves local baseball players with no place to play. [Daily News]

And, finally, the most famous Bronxite in the world right now is Cullen Jones, the gold-medal-winning swimmer who was born in the borough, but grew up outisde of Newark, NJ. More on Jones here and here and here. [Daily News, NY Sun, Kansas City Star]

More on Postponed Blasting Plan

A little more information from the Riverdale Press, on top of the link to the NY Times story we provided in a post earlier today, about the DEP's controversial blasting plan being stopped by a judge yesterday.

Basically, according to both reports, the DEP will not be able to begin blasting until at least Sept. 3. At that point, there will be another hearing to determine whether the DEP will need to complete a new or amended environmental impact study before the blasting plan is allowed to go forward.

Court papers argued that “the DEP has no authority to make the decision to begin blasting at the Jerome Park Reservoir without a new, supplemental or amended Environmental Assessment or Review,” according to the Press article.

The DEP said it was already in the process of completing a more informal impact study, according to the Press, though previously the agency had said they didn't need to do one. But local residents and elected officials (and aspiring elected officials) railed against the plan at a public hearing two weeks ago.

At issue is not only using explosives to excavate 9,000 cubic feet of rock, but also a new plan to truck the rock and other debris from the Jerome Park Reservoir through a slew of densely populated neighborhoods that house several schools (including the area known as the Education Mile that includes Bronx Science, Lehman College and the Walton H.S. Campus).

In the first enviornmental impact statement, the DEP said it would truck debris out through a tunnel that exited out of Van Cortlandt Park a couple of miles away. And there was no mention of blasting either. Residents say this is a classic case of bait and switch.

DEP Blasting Plan on Hold, Other Bronx News

The big story from yesterday was that opponents of the DEP's controversial blasting plan for the Jerome Park Reservoir scored a big victory in court yesterday when a judge placed a temporary restraining order on the plan, which was not part of the original Environmental Impact Statement for the project. More on this story later.

After a taking a lot of heat from the media, the fund set up by the Yankees and the Bronx Borough President to distribute more than a million dollars a year to local nonprofit groups is finally giving out grants to local organizations. They are still sitting on more than half a million dollars.

Two reports show the Bronx is lagging behind the rest of the city in terms of internet access and has the city's worst beach conditions.

Interesting story in the Times about a Bronx barber shop owner who is about to stand trial for allegedly running a drug depot out of his businesses and for hiring someone to kill a rival drug dealer. The story focuses on how court documents getting leaked to the public can endanger potential witnesses.

Controversial Bronx landlord Jacob Selechnik popped up again, this time in a story in the Riverdale Press. A string of businesses in buildings he controls have recently gone vacant -- sometimes voluntarily, sometimes because he didn't renew their leases -- leading to speculation about what Selechnik plans to do with the buildings. (In other Selechnik-related news, following a couple of stories about a Grand Concourse building where he unfairly jacked up rent, the Norwood News has received several angry calls from residents at other buildings he controls.)