Bronx News Roundup for Aug. 31

Opposition to Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan is growing, according to a Quinnipiac University poll, and it's strongest in the Bronx, where 74 percent of residents are giving it the thumbs down.

Details of a new exhibit coming to the Bronx Museum of the Arts, and featuring work from Quisqueya Henríquez, a Cuban artist, have been announced.

One of the officers involved in the 1999 Bronx shooting death of unarmed Amadou Diallo, has lost his bid to carry a gun and be reinstated as a full-status police officer, according NY1.

The Daily News has a story about a murder-suicide in Williamsbridge last night. Earlier this month, there a similar tragedy in Mount Hope when Mabelyn Arriola, 18, was stabbed to death by an ex-boyfriend who then killed himself. As the Village Voice later pointed out, Arriola's death was largely ignored by the city's media, who in the same week wrote dozens of articles about the Greenwich Village murder (again at the hands of a boyfriend) of Boitumelo McCallum, the beautiful daughter of an NYU professor. It's always interesting what makes the papers and what doesn't. In a recent (and excellent) editorial the New York Times explored another case of selective news-telling. (You'll need a TimeSelect account to read it).

Talking of what gets attention and what doesn't, feel free to link to any Bronx stories we might have missed in this news roundup, in the comments section.

News Roundup August 30

Today's Daily News reports that the floating pool in Brooklyn--which attracted tens of thousands of visitors this summer while open for less than two months--may be moved to the Bronx next summer. The Parks Department plans to rotate the pool to a different borough every year, and next year it may be relocated to Tiffany St. Pier in Hunts Point.

A city health department survey of high-schoolers released Wednesday by the city health department found that teenage girls in the South Bronx were almost twice as likely as girls nationwide to have unprotected sex. In addition, the survey reported New York city teens are about 10 percent less likely to use birth control than teenagers in other parts of the country; the rate among sexually active New York teens is 8 percent, as compared to 18 percent nationally.

News Roundup for Aug. 29

Surprise, the gap between rich and poor is yawning in New York City, where the Grand Canyon-like chasm is wider than in any other major metropolitan city, according to a 2006 census report. The Bronx remained the poorest borough with 29.1 percent of people living in poverty (though it was down from 29.2 in 2005!). The NY Times article didn't mention the Bronx, except to say that an astounding 54 percent of South Bronx kids are living in poverty.

Here's a funny (actually, sad) post from a Palm Beach Post sports reporter heading back to somewhere "nice" in the Bronx on the 10 bus after the U.S. Open (Riverdale, we assume). The post from his blog is titled: "The Scenic Bronx at 2 a.m." Bronxites are used to this kind of crap, but you'll want to read this anyway. It takes mindless Bronx bashing to a whole new level.

The Daily News scooped us with this story on millions of gallons of underground water being pumped into the overworked sewer system from the Croton Water Filtration Plant project in Van Cortlandt Park. The DEP insists it was prepared for this, but it's yet more fuel for outspoken filter plant critics who wanted the plant built above ground in Westchester rather than below ground in the NW Bronx.

According to the article, Jim Morgan, an NYU professor, predicted the water issue, writing a letter to former DEP commish Chris Ward, saying: "What you're buying here, if you persist on building this thing in Van Cortlandt Park, is the mother of all leaky basements."

We'd also like to point out that the Daily News story, although it doesn't mention her, originated with the activism of Karen Argenti, a relentless Bronx environmentalist, who filed a Freedom of Information Law request (FOIL) with the state Department of Health. The info about the millions of gallons of water at the site would never have seen the light of day, if she hadn't exercised her rights as a citizen and requested the information. Nor would it have gotten any ink, had she and other like-minded activists not badgered reporters about it. Good work, Karen.

Newest Norwood News Stories

First of all, check out all the latest Norwood News stories here. And here's a quick preview:

We've got the story of a former crack head/hustler turned leader at a big Manhattan non-profit who now lives in Bedford Park.

Also, here's the story of a Norwood mother dealing with the death of five of her children in a Virginia car crash. Despite the depth of this tragedy, the story was largely ignored by other media.

The NW Community and Clergy Coalition is taking a new route, through City Hall, in its fight to get more seats, in the Bronx and citywide, included in the DOE's capital plan.

A developer for the Kingsbridge Armory won't be chosen until at least October.

A local murder and some news links, Aug. 28

Late last night a man police identified as 30-year-old Nino Ganan was shot and killed near West Fordham Road and Aqueduct Avenue. Police found Ganan shot twice, once in the back and once in the leg. EMS workers pronounced him dead at the scene. Cops say no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.

According to police, Ganan lived nearby the scene of his death at 83 W. 188th St., just a block or so away.

Here's NY1 reporter Dean Meminger's story on a one-year anniversary ceremony commemorating the deaths of the two Bronx firefighters who died fighting a blaze on Walton Avenue. Go to yesterday's post for more on this.

More fallout from the Deutsche Bank building debacle. According to a NY Post report, Greg Blinn, the CEO of the John Galt Corp., a little known entity doing demolition and asbestos abatement, will remain part of the project because he is also vice president of Regional Scaffolding & Hoisting. Both Regional Scaffolding and the John Galt Corp. are located here in the northwest Bronx on Webster Avenue.

The Daily News reports that John Galt can still make millions by scrapping metal from the project.

And we couldn't resist putting in this little tidbit that showed up in the LA Times yesterday about Jeff Flake, the pork-fighting Republican from Arizona, who continually gets put in his place by Jose Serrano for bashing the Bronx congressman's local earmarks. The LA Times put in a Flake quote from 2006 about a $300,000 grant for the Bronx Council on the Arts.

Here's a few exerpts from the actual exchange on the house floor:

Flake: "Mr. Chairman, my amendment would strike funding for the Bronx Council for marketing local arts initiatives. My staff and I were befuddled as to what the Bronx Council originally was. It appears that a Bronx Council got money last year in the same section of the bill, but the earmark was called, $150,000 for the Bronx Council for the Arts for its Arts Cultural Corridor Project to promote local arts initiatives.''

Serrano: "But, first of all, I notice that three of the gentleman's 10 amendments are directed at New York. I do not know what you are angry about; the Diamondbacks beat the Yankees in the World Series, so you shouldn't be that upset. But the fact of life is that the more you get up on these, sir, the more I realize that you do not know what you are talking about because you seem to spend so much time on either the wording or how it appears when, in fact, you do very little to understand what it is."

Serrano (later): "I make no excuses about getting the Federal Government to earmark dollars into that district. Let me repeat that again: I make no excuses about the fact that I earmark dollars to go into the poorest congressional district in the Nation, which is situated in the richest city on Earth."

News Roundup for Aug. 27

Sen. Chuck Schumer is calling for an end to the deceptive ad practices of mortgage brokers who have contributed to the subprime crisis. And state Sen. Jeff Klein (north Bronx, Westchester) calls for mandatory education of mortgage customers before they sign on the dotted line.

Even buyers with good credit, like these folks on E. Tremont Ave., are facing mortgage difficulties.

A year after a Walton Avenue fire claimed the lives of two firefighters, family members are still awaiting an official report on what led to their deaths.

Just Another Afternoon In the West Bronx

Boys...

shoes...

...and a rooster.


(Photos by Laura Sayer)

Big Surprise: Post Gives Giuliani Way Too Much Credit

Sunday's New York Post opinion piece credits former Mayor Giuliani's policing tactics for the turn-around in the Bronx over the past decade and a half:

"The Bronx's boom is the direct result of the tough policing started in the Giuliani years and largely continued under the present administration."

What about the fact that the Bronx is home to some of the largest and most successful community organizing and community development work in the country's history? The extensive history and critical impact of this work is clearly not on the radar of the Post's editorial board.

One may wonder what happens when a Giuliani-style policing takes place in another scenario -- a City without a history of community organizing and development. Well, look no further than what happened when Giuliani was called into Mexico City (click here if you prefer to watch instead of read).

Plus, if you really want to get into the crime data, maybe we were all duped into thinking the City was safer than it really was.

How will the Subprime Fallout effect the West Bronx?

The recent dramatic changes in the real estate market -- ignited by the realization that making loans to folks who could never repay them was (also) bad for investors -- are slowly beginning to have an effect on the west Bronx housing market.

Up until very recently, New York had been mostly immune to the real estate downturn (dare I say bubble collapse?) occurring in the rest of the country. So while foreclosures are dramatically up in the City, the effects of them are mostly invisible (unless you know a victim), as troubled owners have been able to do a pre-foreclosure sale for more than the value of their mortgage (even if it's to a property-flipping 'we pay cash for houses'-type place). The main point here is that houses haven't been going vacant or boarded-up in recent years because there has been an out.
But while the City's economy remains strong, the troubles on Wall Street may be a sign that New York's real estate market may soon join the nationwide dive. Much of the subprime lending and "creative financing" that inflated this housing bubble is now drying up, as the secondary market (mostly Wall Street investors, but also Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) are no longer interested in packaging or purchasing these riskier loans. That means that fewer potential buyers will have access to the type or amount of credit to pay the asking prices (pop! goes the bubble?).
Another similar issue that is especially relevant to the Bronx is the recent jump in jumbo mortgage rates. Because of concerns in the secondary market (the bank that gives you a mortgage often sells it so it can continue to make new mortgages) interest rates on mortgages above $417,000 have recently spiked. This phenomenon may not last, but if those rates do stay higher, buyers will have a harder time financing the two- and three-family homes for sale in the Bronx. In fact, some of the developers of the new-construction 3 family homes (often posted on craigslist.org) have begun dropping their asking prices lately, and many of these homes still have not sold.
If home prices in the Bronx fall below levels from two or three years ago, many homeowners going into foreclosure won't be able to sell for more than what they owe (most foreclosures are on mortgages made in the last two-five years). The result of this could be more properties actually going to auction, and potentially ending up owned by the bank until they could be resold. This is actually what is going on with distressing frequency across the rest of the country, especially in rust belt cities like Cleveland and Syracuse.
As for the specific foreclosure numbers, last week RealtryTrac reported on the rise in foreclosure rates comparing July 2006 to July 2007. The nation as a whole was up 93%, while NYC was up only 55%. The Bronx was up a measly 54.3%, from 208 filing in 07/2006 to 321 filings in 07/2007. UNHP's tracking of foreclosure data in the Bronx also shows increases in all parts of the borough, including the West Bronx.

On the multifamily side, Crain's is reporting that "financing for almost all large commercial and residential projects in the city has dried up," (subscription required) due to the lack of investor interest on Wall Street (another secondary market issue). However, this is mostly influencing deals outside of the Bronx (office and condo deals in Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn).


The majority of banks and thrifts that finance Bronx apartment buildings keep their mortgages in-house, so they may actually be able to pick up some of the business the secondary market is giving up, Crain's also reports. However, it is possible that many of these lenders will tighten their underwriting guidelines in current mortgage climate.

Overall, things remain fairly stable for owners of Bronx apartment buildings, in terms of their access to credit, but the question remains: What will happen in properties that have recently sold for high prices where the new owners need to raise rents to make their bottom line? Even in this recent strong economy, wages for most working class New Yorkers have stagnated, meaning more and more families pay upwards of half of their income on rent or are forced to double-up. An overall downturn in the economy may spell trouble for everyone, including new building owners who be forced to sell at a loss.

An Editor's Note

Hello everyone.
Just wanted to let you know that we'll resume more frequent posting here shortly. Between staff vacations, the departure of our terrific crop of summer interns here at the Norwood News :-( and our return to print publication (new Norwood News hits the streets tomorrow, and new Mount Hope Monitor and Highbridge Horizon come out next week) we've just been less able to get breaking news and the like up on the blog.
One more thing: If you like this site, we'd really appreciate it if you would tell just one or two friends about it. The more readers, the more interesting the conversation and the greater potential to have an impact with what we post here.
As usual, we'd love to have your ideas as to how to make this site better and more useful.
Hope you're all having a great summer!
Best,
Jordan Moss
Editor, Norwood News

Joining Miles and Duke

Legendary jazz drummer Max Roach will be buried in the Bronx at Woodlawn Cemetery on Friday. Miles Davis and Duke Ellington are buried steps from each other in the same cemetery, which is known for being the final resting place for many famous Americans.

Adolfo in the Granite State

BP Carrion stumps for Hillary in Manchester New Hampshire at Latino Fest.