Happy Bronx Anthrax Day (No, Not the Kind of Anthrax You're Thinking)

The Bronx is going metal today, as "The Big 4"--heavy metal bands Anthrax, Metallica, Megadeath and Slayer--take the stage at Yankee Stadium this afternoon. The concert is a big deal for metal-enthusiasts and thousands are expected to turn out for the show, which starts at 4 p.m.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., has even christened today, Sept. 14, "Anthrax Day in the Bronx," honoring the band--three members of which have Bronx roots, in Throggs Neck and Pelham Parkway--with a proclamation in the video below.


Bronx Assemblywoman Vanessa Gibson, meanwhile, is warning residents to expect traffic delays, crowded trains and extra police presence around Yankee Stadium today thanks to the concert.

"It is good to have big name musical acts like Anthrax and Metallica come to the Bronx because they help shine a positive light on our community, but when thousands of visitors come to the west Bronx like this it can lead to some temporary inconveniences for residents,” Gibson said in a statement.

Bronx News Roundup, April 19

Weather: Temperatures in the low to mid 50s, with rain showers throughout most of the day.

Story Of The Day: Charter School Blues

The Daily News' Daniel Beekman takes us on the scene of a public lottery at the high-performing Bronx Charter School for Excellence, in Morris Park, where 1,635 hopeful parents were vying to get their kids into just 28 open kindergarten spots. The lottery determines who gets in and who goes home, a process (as chronicled in the much-talked about film "Waiting for Superman") which means heartache for most of the families who apply.

"It's a crushing feeling," one parent told the News. "You gamble with your kid's life and just hope you get picked."

Bronx Charter boasts that 88 percent of its fifth-graders passed the state English exams last year--that's compared to the 41 percent average for public schools in Bronx's District 11.

Quick Hits: 

Former Co-Op City janitor Paulino Valenzuela was found guilty yesterday for the 2007 shooting that killed his boss.

More on the Bronx NYPD ticket-fixing probe: the Post reports that part of the massive investigation is focused on highway patrol officers headquartered on the Bronx River Parkway, who are responsible for cruising and ticketing drivers along the West Side Highway and FDR East River Drive.

Livery cab drivers in the south Bronx are sporting bullet proof vests provided by Security USA, which donated the vest in memory of Bronx cab driver Cesar Santos, who was shot and killed in 2010 over a fare dispute.

One Bronx family, and thousands of others, face homelessness or the shelter system as their city-provided rent subsidies run out.

Bronx Assemblywoman Vanessa Gibson is one of several elected officials rallying for the state to establish a domestic violence offender database, following the recent brutal murder of a Lower East Side woman at the hands of her boyfriend.

A jury continues to deliberate in the trial of two NYPD transit officers accused of beating a Bronx man in 2008.

Assemblywoman Gibson Criticizes Mayor's DOE Pick

Add Bronx Assemblywoman Vanessa Gibson to the growing list of legislators criticizing Mayor Bloomberg's appointment of Cathleen Black as the city's new Schools Chancellor. 

In a letter to David M. Steiner, the commissioner of the New York State Education Department, Gibson said she "remain[s] troubled that Cathie Black would assume the role of Chancellor without neither substantial nor comprehensive educational or professional experience in teaching."

State law requires that school chiefs hold certain qualifications, including a professional certificate in educational leadership. But the law also allows the commissioner to make exceptions.  Joel Klein, the outgoing chancellor, was given a waiver when he was offered the job in 2002, and Gibson doesn't want a repeat.  Her letter, which was released to the press, is embedded below.

Gibson's Letter

Gibson and Castro Launch Reelection Campaigns

Vanessa Gibson (in red), the assembly woman in the 79th District, won't face a primary opponant (Photo: J. Fergusson) 

Standing on the steps of the Bronx County Courthouse on Monday morning, Assemblywoman Vanessa Gibson announced her intention to seek reelection.

She was joined by a bevy of her fellow pols - including Congressman Jose Serrano, State Sen. Jose M. Serrano, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., Deputy Borough President Aurelia Greene, and Councilman Fernando Cabrera - and they took turns praising her work ethic and character.

Assemblyman Nelson Castro, who represents the 86th District, just north of Gibson's, launched his reelection bid that same day, with a party at the Monte Carlo night club on Jerome Avenue. 

Petitioning began on Tuesday, hence Gibson's and Castro's timing.  By mid-July, Assembly candidates need to have gathered 500 signatures from registered voters in their district to get on the ballot.  State Senate candidates need 1,000 signatures. Ideally, candidates will secure these numbers and then some, to avoid being kicked off the ballot if certain signatures are challenged. (For example, if a voter signs two candidates' petitions, only the one signed first will count.)

Assemblyman Nelson Castro addressing his supporters on Monday night.  Unlike Gibson, Castro has a real race on his hands (Photo: A. Watkins)

When Castro won the Democratic primary in September 2008, on his way to becoming the first Dominican-American sent up to Albany from the Bronx, he enjoyed the support of the Bronx Democratic County Committee, then led by Assemblyman Jose Rivera.  Not this time.  The party, now chaired by Assemblyman Carl Heastie, is supporting Hector Ramirez, a district leader, instead.  (Here's Ramirez's campaign website, and here's Castro's.)

At Castro's reelection party, then, Diaz, Heastie, Greene, etc. were no where to be seen.  In fact, not a single councilman, senator, or assemblyman, was present, leaving the impression that he's been hung out to dry.

Bronx News Roundup, April 8

Little late on this, but here's a few things to keep you up to date on your Bronx news.

The Boogie Downer's got some updates on the huge sinkhole that is currently blocking traffic on Webster Avenue, between 197th Street and Bedford Park Boulevard.BxNN blogger Greg Jost posted some pictures a little earlier.

Yesterday morning, some 1,500 students were evacuated from a Hunts Point educational campus that houses a handful of small schools when high levels of  carbon monoxide were detected.

Daily News columnist Michael Daly writes about Times Square shooting suspect and Bronx resident (Tremont) Rayvon Guice who he says has a history of gun play.

Gothamist sums up the whole Vanessa Gibson parking in the bike lane fiasco and the fallout.

Emmanuel Reyes, a Bronxite, pleaded "not guilty" yesterday of stealing money from the Tribute World Trade Center Visitor's Center.

The Riverdale Press has a story on how state budget cuts may affect some of the Bronx's major attractions, such as the Bronx Zoo and Wave Hill.

Gibson Apologizes for Parking in Bike Lane

Yesterday, a BoogieDowner reader took photos of Assemblywoman Vanessa Gibson's car, which was parked in a bike lane on the Grand Concourse near her district office.  In the window was a police placard, designed to keep the vehicle ticket-free.

We reached out to Gibson's office for comment and they gave us the following statement: 

The bike lane on the Grand Concourse has been a positive addition for a lot of Bronx residents. As you know, there is a serious lack of parking on the Grand Concourse, but I have always respected the bike lane and apologize for blocking it. In this instance, my car was left in the bike lane for a few moments while I was unloading supplies for my district office. I realize that caused some inconvenience and will make every effort to avoid blocking the bike lane in the future.

Gibson (pictured) didn't say why she was using a police placard, but Wiley Norvell, the communications director of Transportation Alternatives, a bicycle advocacy group, told me it was a clear example of "misuse."

For starters, these police permits aren't intended for elected officials, Norvell said.  And even it they were, "there's no permit in the world that lets you park in a bike lane."

By the way, Transportation Alternatives runs a Web site - Uncivil Servants - which allows people to submit photographs of illegally parked cars they've seen and snapped.

Bronx News Roundup, April 6

A Massachusetts man will spend the rest of his life in prison after being convicted of having his teenage girlfriend murdered. Carlos Cruz, 40, paid his cousin $700 to shot dead Chelsea Frazier on a quiet street in Castle Hill last spring, and make it look like a robbery.

A 65-year-old Bronx man is dead because a surgical sponge was left inside him during open-heart surgery at Montefiore Medical Center, his children charge in a lawsuit.

Daily News columnist Patrice O'Shaughnessy says Gov. Paterson's proposed soda tax "isn't fair" because it would hurt low-income families.  Last Wednesday, New Yorker Against Unfair Taxes, a coalition of businesses opposed to the tax, held a protest and petition-signing at a Fordham supermarket. In response, State Health Commissioner Richard Daines expressed shock that the "beverage lobby has the audacity to bring their fight against the sugary beverage tax to a borough that has the city's highest obesity rate and highest rates of sugar beverage consumption." Daines believes the tax would improve Bronxites' health.

A 27-year-old mother has been arrested after allegedly leaving her three young children unsupervised inside the family's Westchester Square apartment.

Fair-beating is still common-place on the Bx12 Select Bus Service, which runs along Fordham Road and Pelham Parkway.

Four members of a violent drug-trafficking gang, the so-called DeKalb Avenue Crew, have been found guilty of murder, robbery, racketeering, and other charges.

Robert Salerno, the Bronx cop badly injured in a gun-fight on March 22, has been released from hospital. He will spend the next two months or so at a physical-rehabilitation center in White Plains.

A look at the challengers Assembly members Carl Heastie, Naomi Rivers, Nelson Castro, and Peter Rivera, may face in the fall.

BoogieDowner wonders: Has Assemblywoman Vanessa Gibson been taking her parking cues from Pedro Espada? Yesterday, a reader of theirs snapped photos of Gibson's car parked in a bike lane on the Grand Concourse. In the window was a police placard. 

So far, Hunts Point, Morrisania, West Farms, and Wakefield are among the neighborhoods with poor Census participation rates. You can see how your neighborhood's doing here.

A look at how Puerto Ricans came to dominate Bronx politics.

In Van Cortlandt Park, work is ongoing to clear up hundreds of fallen trees that came crashing down in last month's storm.

Public Meeting on Future of New School

Tonight, Assemblymember Vanessa Gibson, Community Board 5, and others, are hosting a public forum so that parents can garner information about the new school building – PS/IS 338 – being built at 1740 Macombs Road in Morris Heights.

"Parents have expressed frustration about public school overcrowding... ," Gibson said in a statement. "This meeting brings all the important stakeholders together and provides parents an opportunity to have input on the direction of this new school."

At the moment, it's unclear as to whether existing schools will simply be moved into the building, or whether PS/IS 338 will be a new school in its own right. The DOE wouldn't answer these questions.

One local school that would like to relocate is PS 204. Their current building - a former synagogue on West 174th Street - doesn't meet students' needs, teachers and parents say.

The meeting starts at 6 p.m. It's being held in the auditorium of Community School 232, at 1700 Macombs Rd, next door to the PS/IS 338 construction site. For information, call Gibson’s district office at (718) 538-2000.

Architectural renderings courtesy of RKT&B.

Bronx News Roundup, September 29

Refugees from Bhutan have come to find a new home in the Bronx. Although many Bhutanese refugees are scattered throughout the Bronx, a large population is concentrated in one apartment building on University Avenue, according to The New York Times. The eight Bhutanese families living in the building share meals, job tips and more. Bhutanese refugees started moving into the United States in 2007 when Nepal refused to give them citizenship. The United States agreed to resettle 60,000 of these refugees and so far, about 170 Bhutanese have moved to New York.

The New York Times recently published a piece about Bronx residents lamenting the possible closing of the Botanical Station post office in Bedford Park. The Norwood News published an article about this issue in August.

If you are looking for an affordable, pleasant-looking apartment, The New York Times suggests looking in Mount Hope.

Bronx Assemblyman and Democratic Party chair Carl Heastie is teaming up with the Brooklyn Democratic Leader, Vito Lopez, to see if they can round up the 26 votes on the City Council needed to oust City Council Speaker Christine Quinn from the speaker's chair, according to the New York Post.

Speaking of Carl Heastie, the Assemblyman almost came to blows with Parkchester Assemblyman Peter Rivera last Thursday at a judicial nominating convention, according to the Daily News' Bob Kappstatter. The fight concerned Rivera's charges that Heastie was including him in decisions over judicial nominations for state Supreme Court. Kappstatter reports that the row could be a precursor to an effort to depose Heastie from the chairmanship.

Tom Robbins at the Village Voice also weighs in on the judicial nominating convention, pointing out that Stanley Schlein is still in the thick of things, despite from being barred from receiving court-appointed cases in 2006.

Meanwhile, a Heastie staffer is getting is getting noticed. His chief of staff, Marricka Scott-McFadden, was named as one of the newspaper City Hall's Rising Stars: 40 under 40. Also included in the list was another Bronx Assembly Member Vanessa Gibson.

Consultants hired by Morton Williams supermarket have come down hard criticizing the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) released by Related Companies, the developer for the Kingsbridge Armory. The consultants claim that the development will cause overwhelming amounts of traffic congestion.

Bronx News Roundup for June 3

Marcos Crespo and Vanessa Gibson were, as expected, victorious in a special election held Tuesday to determine the new Assembly members in the 77th and 85th Districts. They will fill the seats vacated by newly elected Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and his new deputy Aurelia Greene. More on the story here.

A Bronx woman discovered a four-foot yellow rat snake in her Gerard Avenue apartment.

Yankee attendance records are at their lowest since the 2004 season, and a new poll suggests excessive ticket prices at the new stadium are at fault.

The four men charged with the attempted bombings of a Riverdale synagogue pled not guilty at an arraignment this morning in White Plains.

Pedro Espada, Jeffrey Klein, Eric Shneiderman, and Jose Serrano are among 20 New York state senators who say they would vote yes on a bill legalizing gay marriage.

Special election to be held tomorrow

A special election is scheduled for tomorrow to determine who will become the new assembly member in the 77th District. The seat used to belong to Aurelia Greene, but she stepped down last month to take a job as deputy Bronx borough president.

On the Mount Hope Monitor's Web site, we have profiles of the two candidates: Vanessa Gibson, a former staffer of Greene's and the Bronx Democratic Party's pick (and hence the favorite); and Joel R. Rivera, a community activist who despite his underdog status - he's been forced to run as a Conservative - has been putting up a spirited fight.

The district covers Morris Heights, Highbridge, and Morrisania.

New Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr's old assembly seat (85th District) is also up for grabs.

Typcially, very few people actually vote in special elections. More here on the process and why many think it's flawed. Still, if you want to vote, you can - providing you're registered. Call (866) VOTE-NYC for polling locations.

UPDATE: I left a couple messages with the Bronx Republican Party asking who the Republican candidate was in the race for the 77th Assembly seat, but no one got back to me. The Bronx County Young Republican Club seems to be much more responsive, however. I just heard from Chance Haywood, their president. He said there is indeed a Republican candidate, and that her name's Barbara Bowland. There's little on the Web about Bowland, except that she's raised zero funds for her campaign.

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. 

Aurelia Greene's replacement?

Here's a shot of Vanessa Gibson, who's running for Assemblywoman Aurelia Greene's soon-to-be-vacant assembly seat in the 77th District.

Gibson, 30, was at last night Community Board 5 meeting where she spoke about her experience and qualifications - she's worked for Greene for eight years, first as intern in Albany and more recently as her chief-of-staff here in the Bronx, and she's finishing up a Masters in Public Administration at Baruch College.

Gibson said she has Greene's support and hopes to get the party's backing, too. "[If elected] I will not be the type of person who just comes out when I need your vote," she told the audience.

A special election is scheduled for June. Joel R. Rivera, a community activist, is also running. Here's his Web site; Gibson doesn't have one yet. Other candidates could well jump in as the election approaches.

A representative of State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. was also at last night's board meeting. The rep, whose name I didn't catch, announced that her boss's district office will finally open on May 1. It'll be located in the old Sears building at 400 E. Fordham Rd, on the seventh floor. Presumably there's an elevator.

(Photo by J. Fergusson)