Bronx News Roundup: Nov. 3

First of all, we hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween weekend. Secondly, we hope everyone of age is voting tomorrow. Now, on to the news.

On Halloween, violence hit the Boogie Down particularly hard. Two young men were killed in the Bronx that day. One of them, an immigrant from the Ivory Coast named Terrence Taylor, who his family called Abdul Toure (his African name) was shot in the head at a party in Highbridge.

Another, Alesio Vega, 22, was fatally shot inside a Morris Avenue home.

Last Thursday, Steven Armento, a friend of actor Lillo Brancato, a native Bronxite who starred in "A Bronx Tale" and played a bit role in the "Sopranos," was found guilty in the murder of off duty cop Daniel Enchautegui. Armento, 51, was convicted of first-degree murder after expressing little remorse for the killing, even bragging that it would make him "a king in jail," according to prosecutors.

Armento is actor Brancato's ex-girlfriend's father. The two broke into a Pelham Bay home to look for drugs after spending all night at a Yonkers strip club, when Enchautengui confronted them. A shootout ensued and Enchautegui got the worst of the exchange, taking a bullet to the heart. Click here to read more about the trial. Brancato is expected to face trial later this month.

Validus Preparatory Academy, a new high school in the south Bronx, has gotten political during this long presidential campaign, writing journals, staging debates and a mock election (Democratic candidate Barrack Obama won 88 percent of the votes).

Speaking of elections, Jeffrey Klapper is hanging on as a Conservative candidate in the 81st Assembly district where he faces powerful incumbent Jeffrey Dinowitz. According to the Gotham Gazette, Dinowitz is sitting on $171,067 in campaign contributions, while Klapper hasn't raised a dime.

Bayside High School beat Kennedy in the Bronx school's own girls volleyball tournament last weekend.

The Bronx Mile

"Welcome to da' Bronx"

Sunday's NYC Marathon runners pushed through mile 20 -- which many feel is the toughest mile of the race -- in the Bronx.  Loud music and excited spectators welcomed the athletes into the borough and cheered them on as they returned to Manhattan for the final stretch on the race.

Click here for more photos.

Canadian Radio on Foreclosures in NYC highlights Fordham Bedford

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Radio (think Canadian NPR) came to the Bronx last week to find out about how the financial crisis is affecting neighborhoods througout New York City. Reporter/Producer Deen Karim took a walk with me through some of the streets of Fordham Bedford to look at foreclosed homes and talk about the impact they are having on the neighborhood. Listen here at Part 2: Broken Dreams.

Could the Bronx Lose 13 Bank Branches?

As of this summer, the Bronx had 146 full service bank branches (source: FDIC), 10 more than it had a year earlier (plus a number of credit unions). That may sound like a decent number, but when I ran the numbers last year (when there were 136), our branch to household ration was at 1:3,443 -- dead last in the City, three times off Manhattan's pace (where everyone was complaining about too many bank branches), and lagging behind all 50 states (and, for good measure, Puerto Rico).

Also important to consider is that branches tend to cluster around each other: think of all the branches on Fordham Road and in Norwood on Bainbridge/204th and Jerome. Now how many branches are in between? Two. It's much worse in South Fordham where there aren't any branches until you get to Burnside Ave (where there happens to be a brand new Amalgamated Bank branch).

If you lived at Third Ave and E. 168th Street in Morrissania there wouldn't be a branch for nearly a mile away in any direction. The same would hold true if you lived around Southern Boulevard between Longwood Ave and E 149th Street. (See the map image below for "The Black Hole of Banking in the Bronx" where a densely populated square mile is isolated from any branch presence for at least a half mile away in every direction.)

Despite the presence of decent sized commercial strips in these areas, banks are very hesitant to open up new branches in areas that have no branches. Instead they'd rather open up on strips where they face major competition from other branches.

In addition to leaving large swaths of the borough without a branch (where fringe financial services like check cashsers and pawn shops have filled the void and thrived), this strategy leaves the borough vulnerable to branch closings when mergers and acquisitions take place. For instance, with WaMu's failure and acquisisition by Chase, it's very plausible we'll be out 13 branches in the near future. While the neighborhoods affected will still have at least one bank branch, it will undoubtedly lead to longer lines for a teller.

I've mapped out all the full service bank branches in the Bronx, and there are 12 areas highlighted where a Chase and WaMu branch are within a short walking distance of each other, including Fordham Road where there are two WaMu's and one Chase within that distance:
And finally, if you want to keep score on who's had the most bank branches in the Bronx as of June 2008, here were the standings with Chase and WaMu in the top spots:

30 - JPMorgan Chase Bank
20 - Washington Mutual Bank
14 - Capital One
13 - Citibank
11 - HSBC Bank USA
10 - Bank of America
9 - Ridgewood Savings Bank
5 - Banco Popular North America
5 - Emigrant Savings Bank
4 - Apple Bank for Savings
4 - Ponce De Leon Federal Bank
4 - TD Bank (Commerce)
3 - Amalgamated Bank
2 - Country Bank
2 - Hudson Valley Bank
2 - New York Community Bank
2 - New York National Bank
1 - CheckSpring Bank
1 - NorthEast Community Bank
1 - Signature Bank
1 - Sovereign Bank
1 - The Dime Svgs. Bank of Williamsburgh
1 - Wachovia Bank (Soon to be Wells Fargo?)

Note: I didn't count ATM only branches or Capital One's branch at the Roosevelt Campus.

A Rat on 179th Street

Frank DeLeonardis, a local developer, is building what he hopes will be a school on 179th Street at Jerome Avenue. But he's refusing to use union labor to do it, says Local 79, a union that represents construction and general building laborers. This morning they parked a large, inflatable rat across the street from the construction site.

Fliers have also been posted in the area saying:

Is the New York City Dept. of Education conspiring with Frank DeLeonardis to violate New York City's wage, salary and responsible contractor laws?

Anthony Reid, a union organizer who's responsible for guarding the rodent, says current workers receive no benefits or training, and that most are bought in from outside the Bronx.

"They're not being treated with dignity or respect," said Reid, whose coat bears a badge that says "Kicking ass for the working class."

Bronx News Roundup for Oct. 31

Community organizing has gotten more than its 15 minutes of fame, thanks to the presidential election and the McCain campaign’s assault on community organizing and ACORN. Jon Stewart had ACORN chief Bertha Lewis on his show last night along with a wacko who compared organizing with crack dealing.

State lawmakers, including Assemblymen Michael Benjamin and Ruben Diaz of the Bronx, are supporting a bill that would require any municipality in the state with term limits to hold a referendum on any changes.

David Gonzalez takes a look at the Bronx roots of Grupo Folklorico, a 1970s Latin jazz band which is reuniting for a Bronx concert this Saturday.

The Daily News examines the Bronx lot where old city buses go to die.

If you thought the mayor and the City Council would continue getting along after they agreed on term limits, you’d be wrong. The Times details how City Council members who reluctantly went along with Bloomberg on extending term limits, like Jimmy Vacca of the east Bronx, are teed off now that the administration is quickly pivoting to “reform” the way the city funds senior centers. Cuts are looming and closures may be in the offing. Messing with senior centers is like messing with local pols’ air supply. Fasten your seatbelts.

New from the Norwood News

Check out all the new stories from the Norwood News, out on streets and online now!

Crime is down, but hotspots remain hot in the 52nd Precinct.

The constantly evolving plans at the Croton Water Filtration Plant project, including a dramatic design change, may have led to the projects soaring price tag and could lead to unforeseen environmental impacts.

More than a thousand people attended the parish of St. Brendan's 100th year anniversary mass.

A glimpse at the bowling renaissance at Clinton High School.

In an online exclusive this issue, our Inquiring Photographer asks locals what they're doing on election night.

Plus, our 2008 voter's guide, expanded Neighborhood Notes and our Out & About arts and entertainment guide.

DOE mum on Highbridge middle school

The Highbridge Horizon reached out to Department of Education (DOE) spokesperson Marge Feinberg this morning, seeking comment on Monday's rally in Highbridge demanding the city construct a middle school on West 167th Street between Sedgwick and University Avenues.

Feinberg confirmed that the city's education capital plan -- detailing School Construction Authority (SCA) spending from 2010 to 2014 -- will be unveiled in early November. But she refused to say whether or not a middle school in Highbridge would be part of that plan.

"A neighborhood by neighborhood analysis is a key part of the Capital Plan that we are issuing in early next month," Feinberg wrote in an email to the Horizon. " And we will not elaborate at this time until the Plan is released."

Baez To Hold Fundraiser

The no-longer term limited Maria Baez is moving quickly in her bid to be relected. We hear she's holding her first campaign fundrasier tonight, just seven short days after the City Council voted to overhaul term limits.

As we mentioned previously, Baez could be in for a tough fight.

Bronx News Roundup: Oct. 30

Battle for the Bronx Democratic Party
The Times' City Room writes about the legal wrangling going on at the Bronx County Courthouse between two faction vying for the leadership of the Bronx Democratic Party. Basically, it says the flareup is an embarassment to the party.

Here's a good summation: "At a time when party organizations throughout the area are busy dispatching volunteers to Pennsylvania to work for Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, Bronx leaders have been criticized for a level of infighting so intense that they are spending their days in court."

Embattled current leader Jose Rivera's camp made it's case yesterday and the insurgents, led by Carl Heastie and Jeff Dinowitz, are supposed to outline their arguments today. Closing arguments are set for tomorrow, but a decision might not be made for another couple of weeks.

Other News
A teacher who called his Bronx students "filthy animals" will not be allowed to retain his job. After being fired over the comments last year, he sued the school district. But a judge upheld the firing.

A Bronx man was shot in the leg last night in Mt. Vernon.

The Kalamazoo Gazette profiles Bronx musician Lipbone Redding who started as a subway musician and is now gaining national notoriety. Redding uses his voice to create sounds like a trombone and calls himself a "voicestumentalist."

Two Bronx cops were indicted on assault charges after allegedy spraying a man with tear gas, then pistol-whipping him and beating him with a baton. Apparently, the man was blocking traffic with his door and had yelled something at the officers.

Yankees President Randy Levine said they would have moved the team to New Jersey or somewhere out of the Bronx, if the city didn't issue tax-exempt bonds for the new stadium project. Congress recently conducted hearings into whether the team and the city's Economic Development Corporation inflated the value of the land in order to get the tax-exempt bonds approved.

In the saddest story of the day, a Throgs Neck man allegedly stabbed his wife's beagle to death after the couple had an argument. Warning: if you're a dog lover, this may make you cry. The NY Post's headline reads, "Snoopy Didn't Have to Die."

A Highbridge area soup kitchen may be evicted, but not without protests from local residents.

NY1 takes the Bronx's political temperature and reports that the borough has Obama fever.

Highbridge residents rally for school

One week before the city announces its education capital plan, hundreds of elementary school children joined community activists and local elected officials in demanding that a new middle school in Highbridge be part of that plan.

As reported in last month's Highbridge Horizon, the capital plan-- which outlines School Construction Authority (SCA) spending from 2010 to 2014 -- is set to be unveiled November 3.

Local education advocates including United Parents of Highbridge (UPOH) argue that the absence of a middle school in the Highbridge community forces young children to endure long and unsafe commutes to and from school. A document provided by UPOH lists the number of buses and trains the group says students must take in order to get to school. For instance, according to the document, children must take either 2 buses and 2 trains, or 3 buses, to get to IS 219 at 3630 Third Avenue; they must take 2-3 buses to get to IS 227, at 275 Harlem River Park Bridge.

On Monday, supporters of a Highbridge middle school gathered at the site they are proposing for the facility: West 167th Street between University and Sedgwick Avenues. Organizers of the rally mobilized children from several area elementary schools to turn out. The young children energetically chanted "We need a middle school!"

"There is no other open space in this community we could do this in," Bakary Camara, of UPOH, told the Horizon. "We want them to take it seriously. We want to make a statement today that the whole community is behind us on this process."

State Senator José M. Serrano told the crowd that a middle school in Highbridge was necessary to accomodate a growing population. "Highbridge has some of the fastest-growing immigrant populations anywhere in New York," Serrano said. "We are underserved."

Councilmember Helen Diane Foster suggested that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg must deliver a middle school in Highbridge if he is to keep previous promises. "We will have a middle school," Foster said. "When Mayor Bloomberg says he wants his legacy to be education, it has to be a middle school in Highbridge."

Trevor Brown was one of several members of the Woodycrest Center for Human Development (WCHD)'s youth council on hand to support the middle school campaign.

Brown, now 16, told those gathered at the rally that when he was a middle-school student, he had to travel one hour by bus each morning.

"It's not fair," Brown said, "that other neighborhoods have middle schools and we don't have a middle school."

Photos by Roy Speller, Highbridge Horizon

NYU Report Documents Credit Crunch's arrival in 2007

On Monday, the Furman Center at NYU released a report, Declining Credit & Growing Disparities: Key Findings from HMDA 2007. The report uses recently released Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data to analyze trends in home purchase and refinance lending activity between 2006 and 2007. The report highlights changes in the high cost (sub-prime) and prime markets, and demonstrates these effects on different racial groups. Here's a summary of the report findings from the authors:

Much of the media’s focus has been on signs of tightening credit over the past few months, but our report illustrates that the flow of credit has been slowing for the housing markets for well over a year. In New York City, we saw dramatic declines in home purchase and refinance activity from 2006 to 2007 (14% and 31% respectively)... Moreover, we see troubling signs that New York City's black and Hispanic borrowers are bearing the brunt of this decline in credit, and it is not simply evidence of the subprime market drying up. The number of prime loans awarded to black and Hispanic borrowers fell by 23% and 15% respectively between 2006 and 2007. By contrast, the number of prime loans issued to white borrowers rose by 4% while the number issued to Asians increased by 18%. If these trends continue, and black and Hispanic borrowers are disproportionately affected by the tightening credit market, it may mean less investment in communities of color, an undoing of recent progress in bringing homeownership opportunities to black and Hispanic New Yorkers, and a reshaping of who is buying homes in New York.

Based on the report, the Bronx had the largest drop in home purchase loan originations (-24.9%) of all five boroughs, including the largest drop in prime home purchase loans (-5.4%). It also tied Brooklyn for the largest drop in refinance loan originations (-33.2). In addition to these signs of credit drying up, the data on loans actually being issued isn't good either: for 2007, the Bronx had the highest percent of home purchase loans that would be considered high cost (17.4%), and when you think high-cost, think bad sub-prime products. Here's that chart from the report:

Keep in mind that this data is for 2007 and the changes from 2006. You could make an argument that 2006 was the peak bubble year, or at least late 2006 to early 2007. I suspect the drop-offs on lending in 2008 will be much more dramatic.

On a somewhat related note, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) has completed a study showing the rate at which mortgage borrowers find themselves in default is not primarily related to whether they are poor or prosperous but rather is tied to the type of mortgage products they were sold.