Bronx News Roundup, June 28

Organizers were dismayed when the city shut down a public viewing of the United States vs. Ghana World Cup match on Saturday afternoon at Lou Gehrig Park, just blocks from Yankee Stadium. (FYI: Ghana defeated the U.S. 2-1 in overtime). The city cited safety concerns as the reason for the shut down, but Cary Goodman, executive director of the 161 Business Improvement District, wasn't convinced.

Goodman told the NY Times: “Is anybody really saying that in this Bronx neighborhood, where 45,000 people come for a baseball game, that the police cannot safely and successfully ensure a community event like watching TV?”

Anna Maria Silva, 40, was fatally stabbed in her apartment on Watson Avenue shortly after midnight on Saturday. After making a 911 call, a man who the police said was known to the victim admitted to the crime.

The Bronx band "Graveshift," composed of two sisters and two brothers ranging in age from 13 to 20, won second place in the Battle of the Bands contest on Sunday night at Manhattan's Webster Hall. The Daily News has the story.

The principals of Bronx Guild High School and Bronx Regional High School spoke out against a New York State requirement that would require high school students to gain a Regents Diploma in order to graduate. Both administrators expressed practical concerns with the requirement in the Times' article.

Problems at JFK high school continue in the wake of last week's bake sale scandal.

The Times profiles the stylish and effective principal of MS 391, Pedro Santana. (Note: this article wrongly says MS 391 is in the "South Bronx." Actually, it's located in the north central Bronx, on Webster Avenue, between about 182nd and 183rd streets. Decidedly not the South Bronx.)

Watching the World Cup in the Bronx

If you have any interest at all in soccer (and even if you don't), you're likely aware that the world's biggest and most watched sporting event began today in South Africa. 

All 64 games are being broadcast on either ESPN, ESPN 2 or ABC, so you can watch them at home, if you have those channels. Most are also being streamed live on ESPN360.com.

For a more lively atmosphere, you also head to a local bar or restaurant. Rambling House in Woodlawn; the Bronx Ale House in Kingsbridge; the Bruckner Bar and Grill and La Orquídea (both in Mott Haven); and Enzo's Restaurant in Morris Park, are among those showing the games.  Rambling House, for one, is opening at 7:30 a.m. every day, and will have food and drink specials.

Presumably, dozens of other Bronx bars and restaurants are also getting in on the act. Does anyone have any suggestions? Where was good in 2006?  Are any outdoor showings planned?  Do let us know in the comments sections.

Here's a full schedule of who's playing who, and when, in the group stages. The earliest start times are 7:30 a.m., the latest, 2:30 p.m. Not ideal, but workable if you have TiVo, or don't work 9 to 5.

The U.S.'s first game is tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. against England.

Bronx News Roundup, June 8

State legislators have approved $775 million in cuts from New York’s health care budget. Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx Lebanon Hospital, and St. Barnabas Hospital are slated to lose out on $13.9 million, $8.8 million, and $4.4 million, respectively.

The latest political news from the Daily News' Bob Kappstatter, including confirmation that the Bronx Democratic Party will be supporting Hector Ramirez over Nelson Castro, the incumbent assemblyman, in September's Democratic primary.  (We were at Castro's reelection party last night.  More on this later.)

Former mayor Ed Koch is no fan of State senators Pedro Espada and Ruben Diaz, Sr.  Interviewed by New York Magazine, he calls them - and their colleague Carl Kruger - the "three rats."

The police have ignored the plight of four women seriously hurt in last month's Bronx River Parkway car crash, says the Daily News' Patrice O'Shaughnessy.  Two cops - including the driver, who was drunk - died in the wreck.

The trial of a man accused to gunning down 18-year-old Chelsea Frazier in Castle Hill last year is wrapping up.

A Bronx man who  spent the day of his father's funeral in jail on false charges of soliciting sex from a prostitute, has been awarded $40,000 by the city.

The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore has been named among the best children’s hospitals in the country by U.S. News & World Report, for the third consecutive year. It was ranked in the top 10 for Kidney Care, and the top 25 for Neurology and Neurosurgery.

A Bronx woman's life has been saved following a blood transfusion at St. Barnabas Hospital. Her family, who are devout Jehovah's Witnesses, wanted to leave her fate in God's hands, but doctors went to court for an emergency order.

A new book, City on Fire, examines the city's bungled response to the fires that swept the South Bronx, Harlem, and parts of Brooklyn during the 1970s.

Another new book, Freedomland, details the rich history of a long-closed theme park in Co-op City.

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and Sen. Eric Schneiderman are under fire from supporters of charter schools.

Big cats at the Bronx Zoo have a penchant for Obsession for Men, a Calvin Klein fragrance. 

World Cup fever is about to take over the Bronx, and much of the city for that matter. The first games are on Friday.