Cupcake-gate

Last night, Halloween night, Bronx Assemblyman Michael Benjamin appeared on the Daily Show. He was interviewed as part of a tongue in cheek piece (Is there any other type on the Daily Show?) about the New York state ban on cupcakes in public schools.

Ex-Saturday Night Live performer Rob Riggle does the interview, which doesn't make Benjamin look too ridiculous as he talks about the merits of cupcakes. Benjamin is sponsoring a bill (A09446) that would make the cupcake New York's official state children's snack.

In the justification section of the bill, it says: "This bill would protect the cupcake from being banned at schools in New York. The recent ban in New York public schools will restrict fundraising capabilities for school activities that rely on cupcake sales and the presence of cupcakes at birthday parties."

This, of course, begs the question: what's the official state children's snack of New Jersey?

One thing's for sure, it's not cupcakes, which are banned in Jersey and California schools as well.

If you know the official state children's snack of any state, please let us and everyone else know by posting in our comments section. But first, watch the Daily Show video. Hilarious. I won't ruin it for you, but Benjamin ends the segment by discussing herpes with Riggle.

Bronx Public Hearing Tonight On Congestion Pricing

The city’s Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission will hold a public hearing tonight at 6pm, at Hostos Community College, on Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan. The commission will take testimony from local politicians, and both supporters and opponents of the plan.

While open to public attendance, persons interested in presenting testimony have to fill out a form ahead of time. Those wanting more info on how to do this can call Andrea Miles-Cole at the New York City Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission: 212 383-7234

The Bronx hearing, similar to those held in the other four boroughs and White Plains, will be at Hostos’ Main Theater C, 450 Grand Concourse (149th Street).

Teaser for Highbridge documentary

Highbridge resident José Gonzalez is hard at work on the pilot for "Highbridge: Past, Present, and Future," a documentary he is making about the hidden history of his neighborhood. In the meantime, you can check out this teaser for the film right here.

BREAKING NEWS: Assembly Delegation Seeks Filter Plant Probe

Read all about it here.

Scary Thought for Section 8 Voucher Holders

It took years and years for new Section 8 vouchers to be issued in New York City, but many of the new 22,000 voucher holders are having a hard time finding an apartment in the hot rental market (2005 data showed the Bronx rental vacancy rate at a citywide low of 2.6%, and most vouchers are concentrated in the west Bronx - see the map). According to an article in the Times today, landlords posting availability of apartments often include the restriction, "No Section 8 or other programs."

Activists and organizers featured in the article claim the anti-voucher discrimination could be a mask for racial or class discrimination, while landlord groups claim the reason is the program’s "payment delays and other administrative problems." They are both right - the program has administrative problems, but not taking the vouchers is an easy and legal way to discriminate.

Part of the problem is that so many new vouchers were released at once into a tight rental market. Landlords in gentrifying neighborhoods won't take the vouchers since it won't maximize their rent increase strategies. In the neighborhoods of the west Bronx, rents are among the lowest in the City, leading to an extremely small number of vacant units. So while owners here generally accept the vouchers, there just aren't enough units to go around for all of the new voucher holders.

Councilman Bill de Blasio has introduced a bill to prohibit this type of discrimination - and laws like these exist in many other large cities and New Jersey. This could be a good idea if it's accompanied by changes made to the administrative side of the program improving the process for the landlords involved.

The worst part of the whole deal is that if a voucher holder can't find an apartment, the voucher is terminated; about 1,400 have been terminated so far this year. In this market of shrinking affordability, such losses make the situation even more dire.

Advocates of Congestion Pricing Argue It'll Help Bronx

Supporters of Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing proposal gathered today at the steps of the Bronx County Courthouse, arguing the mayor’s plan would benefit low-income Bronxites and allow for expansion of the city’s public transit system. The small group who turned out for this morning’s press conference included State Senator José M. Serrano (D-28th District) and representatives of several public-transportation- advocacy organizations.

Under Bloomberg’s plan, motorists would be charged $8 to enter Manhattan below 86th Street. Advocates of the plan said that a very small percentage of Bronx residents would feel the burden of this cost because the vast majority of those who work in the Congestion Pricing Zone (CPZ) commute there by public transit, not by private vehicle: Veronica Vanterpool, policy advocate for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign—a group that works to reduce automobile use in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut—pointed to 2000 U.S. Census Data indicating that only 3.7 percent of Bronx workers drive alone to the CPZ.

But Vanterpool and others argued it’s not just that congestion pricing would not hurt Bronx residents—they said it would help these residents as well: Advocates said the funds generated by congestion pricing (or, specifically, by the Department of Transportation grant that would result when the proposal is implemented) could be used to relieve overcrowding of buses and subways.

“This is the only plan that has an ongoing funding stream for transit improvements,” said Noah S. Budnick, deputy director for Transporation Alternatives—a group that advocates for public- transportation- use in the city.

Bronx resident Sandy Noel, administrative assistant for Walter E. Houston--member of Community Board 4 and president of the 167th Street Business and Professional League-- said these improvements were much needed: “I’m on the trains all day,” Noel said, adding that her daily commute from Claremont Parkway and Washington Avenue to lower Manhattan often takes several hours because several trains and buses that are filled-to-capacity pass her by.

The congestion-pricing supporters further argued that public transit expansion would particularly help low-income Bronxites, since wealthier New Yorkers tend to use public transporation less frequently.

Their support for reducing vehicle traffic from the Bronx to Manhattan having been voiced, the advocates were asked by a reporter about congestion going in the other direction—specifically, traffic that will be generated when new parking-lots are built in the South Bronx as part of the Yankee Stadium project.

Serrano suggested that the forthcoming construction of the new Yankee Stadium Metro North station would encourage fans to take public transportation to Yankee games rather than drive cars.

“That way,” Serrano said, “they can drink more beer at the games, I guess.”

Serrano and the Politics of Spitzer's Drivers License Plan

Talk about team players. State Senator Jose Serrano has been one of the most outspoken legislative supporters of Governor Spitzer's plan to provide driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, even going on CNN to serve as Lou Dobbs' punching bag.

Spitzer scaled back the plan over the weekend, making new enemies out of his staunchest immigrant supporters. Serrano is disappointed, but he refuses to take issue publicly with his fellow Democrat. According to Liz Benjamin at the Daily Politicker, Serrano was one of those invited to breakfast with Spitzer yesterday.

And while he differs with Spitzer's shift on the issue, he wouldn't be drawn into a public fight, lest it give ammo to Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno in his all-out war with the governor.

"I let him know that I can't change my position, I won't change my position," Serrano said. "But I'm not going to bash the governor. I'm not going to engage in a public fight. That's exactly what (Senate Majority Leader Joseph) Bruno wants us to do.

Bronx News Roundup October 29

A young Highbridge woman was one of two people murdered last Thursday at an apartment building near E. 170th Street and Grand Concourse. Ludmily Rosado, 20, of 103 W. 165th Street, was fatally shot in the head, as was Daniel Newton, 34, of Manhattan. A third victim is in critical condition. No arrests have been made.

Patrick Arden of Metro News reports that nearly half of the 27-plus acres of “new parkland” the city has promised as part of the Yankee Stadium project really isn’t new—it is already-existing parkland that is being renovated. To paraphrase Bill Clinton: “I guess it depends on what your definition of ‘new’ is.”

Could a new charter school soon be opening in the South Bronx? On Friday, the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York (SUNY) approved the application of Green Dot Public Schools, the largest charter-school operator in Southern California. Green Dot is partnering with the United Federation of Teachers on the charter school plan, which must now be approved by the state Board of Regents.

It’s official… almost: In deciding on their new manager, the New York Yankees picked Joe Girardi over Don Mattingly, thereby selecting a former catcher who won three rings as a Yankee over a former first baseman who won zero rings as a Yankee. Girardi will reportedly accept the position.

New Stories in the Monitor

The next print edition of the Mount Hope Monitor will hit the streets in early November. Here’s a taster of what you’ll find inside:

Following Death of Principal, P.S. 209 Teachers and Parents Look to rename School in her Honor
Community Leaders Balk at Plans for Hotel on Jerome
Mount Hope Housing Company to Benefit from Citgo Grant

All the above were written by students of the NYCity News Service, which is run out of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. Nadia, Amy, Joe – thanks a lot.

Also, check out this opinion piece by Greg Fuchs, a regular contributor to the Monitor. Fuchs would like to see a weekly Greenmarket in Cedar Playground, and a plaque erected to celebrate the playground's importance in the history of the hip-hop movement.

(UPDATE: We're having some technical issues. If the above links take you through to a blank page, click on switch region at the top of the page, select New York, and then choose West Bronx News Network.)

Pardon Our Appearance as We Remodel

As regular readers of this blog will note, we're tinkering with its look. Please comment in the next couple of days as we try various templates, etc. Thanks!

Bronx News Roundup Oct. 24

The case against two cops from the 44th Precinct, who allegedly beat a man outside a Yonkers bar in September, could be falling apart after the injured man failed to pick them out in a police line-up, says the Post. More on the attack here.

Mayor Bloomberg wants to make each and every borough responsible for handling its own trash, but his plans took a setback yesterday when Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver stopped a key vote. It's now looking unlikely that a recycling transfer plant will be built in Manhattan's Meatpacking District, at least in the foreseeable future. That's bad news for the Bronx. As Assemblyman Ruben Diaz told the Times, "There’s still going to be thousands of trucks and tons of garbage coming into the Bronx that isn’t from the Bronx."

In yesterday's Daily News, there was more on the alleged drug deal inside Our Lady of Refuge Church in North Fordham. CBS also picked up the story. Also in the Daily News was this story about community opposition to affordable housing, and a profile of Mount Hope Housing Company by former Norwood News intern, Heather Appel. Mount Hope celebrates its 21st anniversary at a gala this evening in the northeast Bronx.

We missed this at the time, but here’s a Bronx Times’ article on University Woods, a four-acre wood in University Heights that’s routinely named "the city’s worst park." The story follows on from Greg Fuchs’ opinion piece in the August/September edition of the Mount Hope Monitor. For more about the park check out Friends of the Woods.

Ok, so this has nothing to do with the Bronx, but readers may be interested to hear that the Guardian, Britain's left-leaning broadsheet, has launched a new Web site called Guardian America. It's an attempt to pick up more American readers, and, no doubt, more advertising revenue, too.

Turf Battle at Oval

Any of you living in Norwood will have noticed the bulldozers in Williamsbridge Oval. The reconstruction of the field and track is under way.

It would appear to be too late for an argument about whether the synthetic turf field is the best idea or not. Nonetheless, just such an argument has erupted on the Norwood News letters page. It started with this letter from a member of the Bronx Greens, who believes there are safety and health risks of the material.

But William Crain, a City College professor, wrote in a Times op-ed that the rubber granules that simulate dirt are made of hazardous materials. Here's an excerpt:

For starters, synthetic turf contains highly toxic chemicals. The tiny rubber granules that contribute to the turf’s resiliency are primarily made from recycled tires. Because these granules often lie on the turf’s surface, children and athletes come into frequent contact with them.

Junfeng Zhang, a professor of environmental and occupational health at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, has found that the granules contain worrisome levels of zinc and lead, as well aspolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that are likely to be carcinogenic. Some preliminary research by others suggests that it might be difficult for these toxic chemicals in the granules to get into the body through skin contact, ingestion or inhalation, but more research is needed.

Meanwhile local park advocates like Annette Melendez wonder where the Greens were during several community meetings about the Oval rehab work.

It's an interesting issue and one we're certain to hear more about, as more and more synthetic fields get installed around the country. But as we look out our office windows at the Oval construction here at the Keeper's House on Reservoir Oval, we can only surmise that any consensus on this issue will probably not come until the Oval's new carpet is laid down and open to all next spring.