Superheroes

I made this photograph on August 2, during the National Night Out event at the Williamsbridge Oval Park.

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National Night Out in the Bronx Features Legendary Latin Jazz Pianist Gilberto Colon, Jr.

National Night Out Oval Park from Alex Kratz on Vimeo.

Above is a quick 360 degree look at the National Night Out event in Williamsbridge Oval on Tuesday night, which was highlighted by the music of legendary Latin jazz keyboardist Gilberto Colon, Jr. and his band Ensalada de Pulpo. ("Pulpo" is Colon's nickname; it means octopus in Spanish. Octopus Salad is the name of the band. For years, Colon played with Salsa legends Hector Lavoe and Tito Puente.)

Bronx Events: Oval Park Clean Up Party Tonight

Friends of Oval Park are hosting a litter pick up party tonight, at Williamsbridge Oval Park, at 7 p.m. Come help pick up trash, hang anti-litter signs and get to know your neighbors better. Garbage bags will be provided, but feel free to bring your own.

For more Bronx events and community meetings, check out our calendar, below.

Editor's note: What did we miss? Send details to bronxnewsnetwork[at]gmail.com.

Sing for Hope's Statement on Oval Piano

At the end of a week-long saga starting with an assumption that the piano in Williamsbridge Oval was stolen followed by a Parks Department admission that its sanitation crew discarded it, Sing for Hope, the nonprofit group that provided the piano, had this to say on Saturday:

"Sing for Hope was informed today by the NYC Parks Department that the missing piano at Wiliamsbridge Oval was mistakenly removed from the park by sanitation staff.  We remain grateful to the City of New York for their continued support of Sing for Hope and look forward to continuing a relationship with the Williamsbridge Oval in the future.  Until then, we congratulate the Friends of the Williamsbridge Oval on replacing the piano and enabling their community to continue making music.

Following Piano Theft, Norwood Residents Say 'You Can't Take Away Our Hope' (VIDEO)

Norwood residents young and old helped paint the new community piano in Oval Park. (Photos by Rachel Sander)

Friends of the Williamsbridge Oval Park and a number of helpful local residents gathered today in the park to paint the recently-donated piano that will replace the Sing for Hope Pop-Up Piano that was stolen earlier this week.

It remains a mystery who took the piano and how they were able to remove the hulking instrument from the park, but the Norwood community is celebrating today and once again feeling hopeful. More than two dozen kids and adults chipped in to give the piano a bright new paint job. (See video at the bottom of this story.)

New Piano Secured For Oval Park

Here's an update in the saga of the purloined piano--BxNN reader Lis says a kind-hearted soul offered to donate an old piano of theirs to to replace it, free of charge (local group Friends of Williamsbridge Oval had been planning to chip in and buy a new one).

Now they just need folks to help pick it up in Midtown and load it into a truck. Here are the details from Lis:

So we are picking it up tonight and placing it in the park tonight; we need all hands on deck! Those who can help with moving and hoisting a piano, please assemble outside of PS 56 on Hull Ave. at 6 pm this evening (Tuesday night). I will be out there in a bright pink shirt with "I Am the Bronx" logo on it... we can then divide up cars and who can ride in the UHaul to pick up the piano.

For those of you with children, I would be happy to watch them at the park while you help get the piano from Mid-town. Tomorrow, at noon, we, along with many area children, will be meeting in the park to paint the piano. We welcome any paint donations.

There you go, folks; head over to PS 56 tonight, or show up to the Oval tomorrow with some paint, if you're looking to lend a hand.

Residents Gather in Oval Park to Push for Playground Opening; Parks Dept. Says 'Next Week'

Local residents gathered in Williamsbridge Oval Park yesterday to demand that two newly renovated sections of the park are completed by June 28, the last day of school.

Oval Park Meeting to Press for Opening of New Spray Showers and Playground

Frustrated with the delay in opening the new playground and spray showers in the Williamsbridge Oval Park, the volunteer group Friends of Williamsbridge Oval Park is gathering and requesting that concerned residents join them at 4:30 today in the southern section of the soccer field near the construction fence. We've heard from Parks officials at the site that the spray showers and playground should be open by July 4, but the Friends are insisting that the renovated areas open by the end of school on June 28. We'll have more later today on official word from the Parks Department on when these new play areas will be open for ruse.

Piano Waiting For You in Williamsbridge Oval Park

This PS 54 student sat down to play the piano in Williamsbridge Oval Park on Tuesday -- exactly the kind of spontaneous music-making organizers of the pop-up piano project have in mind. In fact, shortly after this girl left to hang out with her classmates, a professional piano player named Vadim showed up to play. Part of the program is for pianists to demonstrate the pianos and attract curious people who will then want to tickle the ivories themselves. The piano is only in the park for a couple of more weeks, so get going! (Photo by Jordan Moss)

Parks Dept.: Oval Playground to Open in Late June

Originally scheduled to open last January, the Parks Department now says this playground and other amenities in Williamsbridge Oval Park will be open to the public late this month. (Photo: Jordan Moss)

By Jordan Moss

An early burst of summer weather has residents anxious to utilize a new playground, spray showers and basketball courts in the southern part of Williamsbridge Oval Park.

But they’ll have to wait a little while longer.

The Parks Department says the long anticipated upgrades, funded in connection with the political deal that paved the way for the mammoth water filtration plan now taking root in the Norwood section of Van Cortlandt Park, will be completed in late June after the contractor finishes punch list items. The original completion date was last January but the severe winter pushed the work back, an agency spokesman said.

A rehab of the recreation center, including upgraded bathrooms and ADA compliance, which was supposed to be done by May 31, also suffered from the relentless cold weather and is only 70 percent finished. That building will be completed at the end of the summer.

Park advocates say they love the design of the new playground but hope there are no more delays.
“Friends of the Oval just wants to make sure the park is open as quickly as possible,” said Eileen Markey, a member of the volunteer organization, adding that the sprinklers are “a public health need” that help keep the peace in the heat of summer.

Ed. note: This article appears in the current issue of the Norwood News, on the streets and on-line now.  

Let it Snow

Trees at the Williamsbridge Oval Park waiting for spring!

Bronx News Roundup, Aug 26

Great story in the Times today about a hoarder in Bedford Park whose apartment had turned into a literal sea of stuff. The photos are amazing. Recently, Part of the Solution (POTS), the soup kitchen and multi-service organization on Webster Avenue in Bedford Park, enlisted a company that specializes in extreme hoarder cases to help make the apartment habitable again.

Testimony began in the trial against the four men accused of plotting to blow up two Riverdale synagogues, with an FBI agent saying he paid a confidential informant nearly $100,000 a year to help him catch local would-be terrorists. Defense lawyers say the FBI and the informant came up with the plot and entrapped the four defendants.

NY1's Dean Meminger takes a look at Freedomland, the Bronx amusement park that was located in the space now the Bay Plaza mall in Co-op City. It only lasted five seasons in early 1960s, but was the biggest amusement park in the world when it was built, according to borough historian Lloyd Ultan.

BoogieDowner has details on the new and improved dog run at Williamsbridge Oval Park. (The bloggers, who live in the building where Pedro Espada owns a condo that he claims is his primary residence, also say they recently received a hypocritical robo-call from Espada.)

If Espada is re-elected in the 33rd District this fall, a group of women state senate candidates and incumbents say they will not vote for him as majority leader.

The Bronx DA's office has bed bugs.

Bronx-bred hoop star Corey Fisher, fresh off a 105-point outburst in a summer league game, is ready to take on more of scoring load during his senior season at Villanova.

Take Care of Your Bronx Street Trees

The presence of trees in your neighborhood can often make all difference in the world. When describing so-called "nice" neighborhoods, reporters like me and my colleagues often use terms like "leafy" or "tree-lined." It just makes places look and then sound nicer. Plus, trees help clean the air of pollution and cool sidewalks.

With this in mind, the city has (smartly) planted thousands of trees (375,000, according to city officials) throughout the five boroughs over the past few years as part of the mayor's MillionTreesNYC initiative. 

(A good example of this is on Bainbridge Avenue near Williamsbridge Oval Park in Norwood. The corridor looks much better after trees were planted there last year.)

But those trees are still mostly young saplings in need of a little TLC -- which basically entails only the occasional bucket of water poured into their thirsty roots and not running over into them with your car. This dry and ridiculously hot summer has put those trees in greater peril.

Fortunately, the city is attempting to protect its investment by encouraging residents to take ownership of and water their neighborhood street trees.

Tomorrow morning in Oval Park at the park's northern entrance at 10:30 a.m., Bronx Parks Commissioner Hector Aponte along with Jennifer Beaugrand and her horticultural crew from Mosholu Preservation Corpation will be demonstrating some "creative" watering techniques and encouraging residents and merchants to water the trees in front of their homes and businesses.

(Note: not quite sure how "creative" you can get with watering, I'm just quoting the press release, but we'll report on it afterward and let you know.)

In any case, we'll have more tomorrow. But come to the Oval if you're interested. Because doesn't the "tree-lined streets of Bainbridge Avenue" sound so much better than "the hot concrete streets of Bainbridge Avenue"?