• Home
• News
• Health
• Politics
• Schools
• Crime
• Business
• Opinion
• Sports
• Culture

 RSS

Jazzing Up the Trolley

By Judy Noy

The Bronx Culture Trolley, a replica of a 20th-century trolley, transports visitors to Bronx venues of arts and culture on the first Wednesday of every month for free.

On Aug. 1, the evening begins at Longwood Art Gallery at Hostos Community College, 450 Grand Concourse at 149th Street at 5 p.m. to view BXI: The Second Bronx Artists Biennial. Also, Longwood will host From Image to the Word, a creative writing students’ reading, a screening of Cuban Roots/Bronx Stories by 2007 BRIO winner Pam Sporn and an origami demonstration by Artisans Initiative Program Director Lisa Curran at Longwood’s Artisans Boutique.

With a clang of its bell, the trolley is off to its three destinations, leaving at 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. Adventures follow at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, followed by 52 Park’s El Teatro Miranda Amphitheater, on Kelly Street between Leggett and Avenue St. John, for free Latin jazz amidst the lightning bugs. But beware, the trolley will only drop off at the Amphitheater, so the way back might truly be an adventure (or a short walk to public transportation). Next up is a film screening at Spanic Attack’s Bronx Salon at Alexander Ave. between 138th and 139th streets, and the final stop is at J. Maxson’s Bar and Grill at 2576 Third Ave. at 139th Street for a jazz performance by La Currita and music of Willie Hernandez.

For more information, call (718) 931-9500 ext. 33 or visit to www.bronxarts.org.

Out and About

By Judy Noy

Onstage

The Bronx Arts Ensemble presents several free concerts Two Irish Tenors, Michael Brown and Neil Farrell, perform on July 29, Romantic Winds, featuring classical music  on Aug. 5, and Music of the Big Band Era  on Aug. 12. Each program will be performed at 2 p.m. at Rockwood Drive Circle, Van Cortlandt Park near Mosholu Avenue and Broadway and at 4 p.m. at McGinley Center, Fordham University, Bronx Rose Hill Campus at Southern Boulevard. For more information, call (718) 601-7399.

Lehman Stages’ SUMMERWORX Festival presents Serenade Under the Stars on July 26 at 8 p.m. at Lehman College’s outdoor amphitheatre. Also Kids Rule Weekend is July 28 and 29 from noon to 5 p.m. Finally, Glengarry Glen Ross, the 1984 Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning play by David Mamet, runs Thursday through Saturday, Aug. 2 through 11 and Sunday at 3 p.m. in the Studio Theatre. In the weeks ahead, Hip-Hop Theory: Evolution, a dance concert, on Aug. 16 and 17 at 8 p.m. and Aug. 18 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. All performances are free. The college is located at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard W. at Goulden Avenue. For more information, call (718) 960-8025.

The Paradise Theater presents Peace, Hope and Unity, a benefit concert, on Saturday, Aug. 18 at 8 p.m., hosted by Joey Vega. Members of the Boy and Girls Club Performing Arts Program will begin the night with song and dance, joined by professional actors for a short play, Boy of Steel, followed Jose Feliciano, Bernie Williams and Friends in concert. Tickets are $55, $90 or $100 and are on sale at ticketmaster.com or at the theater’s ticket booth at 2413 Grand Concourse, the corner of 188th Street. For more information, call (718) 220-6143.

Children ages 6 and over are best for the Magic Show on Aug. 14 at 2 p.m., while ages 4 and older are suggested for The Frog Prince, a puppet show presented by Puppets to Go, on Tuesday, Aug. 21 at 2 p.m. at the Jerome Park Library, located at 118 Eames Place. For more information, call (718) 549-5200.

The Frog Prince, a puppet show suitable for children 4 years and older, will be presented by Puppets to Go on Aug. 14 at 3 p.m. The entire family can attend Classic Doo Wop with the Valentinos on July 28, and The Puerto Rican Cuatro perform Aug. 11. Both performances are at 2:30 p.m. at the Bronx Library Center, located at 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd. off Fordham Road. For more information, call (718) 579-4244/46.

The Bronx River Alliance hosts Arts in the Parks, performances and activities for children at River Park on July 26 and Aug. 2, 9 and 16 at Vidalia Park. For more information and to register, call (718) 430-4636 or visit www.bronxriver.org.

Enjoy Water Lily Concerts, classical music on the New York Botanical Garden’s Conservatory Lawn on July 26 from 6 to 8 p.m., and Caribbean Nights concerts on Aug. 2, 9, 16 and 23. Grounds admission is $6 for adults, $3 for seniors, $2 for students with ID and $1 for children ages 2 to 12. For more information, call (718) 817-8700.

Adults can enjoy Summer Songbooks, a series of concerts at Wave Hill. On Aug. 5 is "Songs for a Summer Afternoon," performed by master cabaret singer and pianist Steve Ross from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Wave Hill House. Tickets are $24 and $15 for members at ext. 385. Wave Hill is located at West 249th Street and Independence Avenue in Riverdale. For more information, call (718) 549-3200 or visit wavehill.org.

People for Progress presents the 17th Annual 52 Latin Jazz Concert Series ’07, for 10 consecutive Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. beginning July 25 and continuing through Sept. 26 at the 52 Parks Miranda Theatre on Kelly Street between Avenue Saint John and Leggett Avenue. For more information, call (718) 548-0315 or (718) 893-9135.

Events

Poe Park has lots to entertain in the coming month. On July 31, Nature in the City features Billy B., the science song and dance man, and on Aug. 7, The Fun and Funny Juggling Show presents new vaudeville with Will Shaw. Both are at 10:30 a.m. On Aug. 14, there’s Cinderella Samba with puppeteers from the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre at 10:30 a.m. followed by a puppet-making workshop at 11:30 a.m. Go to the Grand Concourse at East Kingsbridge Road next to the bandstand. All events are free. For more information, visit www.cityparksfoundation.org.

Fun is taking Van Cortlandt Park from all sides, with various activities at each of the park playgrounds. The Slappy and Monday Clowning Show, featuring NY Goofs, is Aug. 10 at 10:30 a.m. at Van Cortlandt Park’s Classic Playground, at Van Cortlandt Park South and Orloff Avenue. At the Southwest Playground, at Van Cortlandt Park South and Broadway, Cinderella Samba makes a stop on July 31 at 10:30 a.m., with the Wizard of Oz on Aug. 7, also at 10:30 a.m. At the Woodlawn Playground, at Van Cortlandt Park East and Kepler Ave., Friday, July 27 is Van Cortlandt’s turn for Nature in the City at 10:30 a.m., and on Friday, Aug. 3 at the same time, is Mime X 2, involving imagination and motion. All events are free. For more information, visit www.cityparksfoundation.org.

Barefoot Dancing, a night of free dance instruction and live music brings Pandit Charka Kathak Dance Company from northern India to Van Cortlandt Park, July 26 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Enter the park at Broadway and West 246th Street. Bring chairs or a blanket. For more information, call (718) 430-1890 or visit www.nyc.gov/parks.

The Bronx River Alliance extends an invitation to Paddling: Lower River Run, to explore the south Bronx via canoe on Aug. 4, Paddling: From the Border to the Mouth, a full river canoe trip on Aug. 11, and Second Sunday Cycling, a 5-mile bike tour at a gentle pace along the Bronx River Greenway. For more information and to register, call (718) 430-4636 or visit www.bronxriver.org.

The Farmers Market continues at the New York Botanical Garden’s Tulip Tree Allée Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Oct. 31. Admission only to Garden grounds is free from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays and all day Wednesdays. All other times, grounds admission is $6 for adults, $3 for seniors, $2 for students with ID and $1 for children ages 2 to 12. For more information, call (718) 817-8700.

Young Star Liquor Store, at 288 E. 204th St., is holding two free events to thank the community for help in reopening their store. There will be a Martini Tasting on Aug. 4 from 3 to 9 p.m., where guests can learn how to make and taste the drinks, and a Wine Tasting on Aug. 17 from 5 to 9 p.m., with professional representatives at each. For more information, call (718) 231-1653.

Exhibits

Caribbean Gardens: Journey to Paradise, celebrating Caribbean flowers and culture, will run through Sept. 16 at the New York Botanical Garden’s Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. The new buds are accompanied by the Paradise in Print exhibition in the LuEsther T. Mertz Library through Aug. 19. For more information, call (718) 817-8700.

Learning

Wave Hill has a little something for everyone:

First, there are the all-inclusive family art projects. Fashion sticks, string, leaves and bark into a tiny dwelling at A Tiny City on July 28 and 29; make a mixed-media sculptural flower at Playful Petals on Aug. 4 and 5; go on an insect discovery walk at Buggin’ Out on Aug. 11 and 12; use water with paint, crayons and collage to create liquid landscapes to take home at Water, Water Everywhere on Aug. 18 and 19. All are in Wave Hill’s Kerlin Learning Center from 1 to 4 p.m.

Families join musicians from all over the world at Interactive World Music for Children in Wave Hill’s gardens rain or shine from 11 a.m. to noon on the following dates: Shakuhachi and Koto introduce the sounds of medieval Japan on Aug. 1; Clarinet and Bassoon highlights reed instruments on Aug. 8; and Erhu and Pipa features music from China on Aug. 15.

Wave Hill is at West 249th Street and Independence Avenue in Riverdale. For more information, call (718) 549-3200 or visit wavehill.org.

The Bronx Library Center has events for all ages:

There are films for children ages 3 to 12 at 2 p.m. on Aug. 1, 8, 15 and 22.

Ages 7 to 12 can attend several crafts workshops. There’s Jewelry Making on July 26, Bug Magnet Making on Aug. 2, Plate Playmate Making on Aug. 9, Sparkling Spiral Making on Aug. 16 and Butterfly Book Making on Aug. 23. All are at 3 p.m. and require pre-registration.

Also for children are Dandelion, a program about cavemen and a variety of animals before trees or flowers, on July 28 at 3 p.m.; Family Time – Craft & Story Time for ages 3 to 5 with parent or caregiver on Aug. 4 at 11 a.m.; and Sherlock Holmes Takes the Case, where kids can help solve a mystery, on Aug. 6 at 3 p.m.

For adults, there are two days of Author at the Library. First, Steven Torres, author of the Puerto Rican Precinct series, reads from his new work on Aug. 4 at 2:30 p.m. Then, on Aug. 18 at 2 p.m., Gammy Singer, author of The Landlord series, reads from her latest book. Also for adults, The 2007 Bronx N-Spired Film Festival, presenting films by Bronx videographers to bring awareness, renewal and transformation, comes to the Center both on Aug. 13 at 1 p.m. and Aug. 15 at 4 p.m.

The Center is located at 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd. off Fordham Road. For a detailed schedule, call (718) 579-4244/46 or visit www.nypl.org.

Children ages 4 and over can join Summer Crafts on July 26 and Aug. 9 at 3 p.m. (pre-registration is required). Also, there’s Toddler Time, featuring picture book stories and songs, for ages 18 to 36 months with a parent or caregiver, on Aug. 2 and 16 at 10:30 a.m., all at the Mosholu Library, 285 E. 205th St. For more information, call (718) 882-8239.

The Norwood News will be on hiatus after this issue. Our next edition will be issued on Aug. 23. We wish all our readers a happy and healthy summer.

NOTE: Items for consideration should be received in our office by Aug. 13 for the next publication date of Aug. 23.

Police Report

By None

Busts at Illegal Club

Less than two days after a Norwood News article highlighted an illegal club and drug depot being run out of a North Fordham area home, police raided the place and confirmed all the neighbors’ suspicions.

For the past year, residents surrounding 2584 Briggs Ave. had complained of blatant drug use, constant traffic, late-night partying and occasional violence stemming from the house. Police tried to assure residents that they were doing something about it, but still the locals were running out of patience. The constant commotion was ruining their lives, residents said.

With that in mind, police raided the Briggs house as Friday night crept into Saturday morning, July 14. They found a club in full swing, including a full bar, DJ table and a crowd of people. Police also found a large amount of marijuana, broken up into 28 bags for distribution.

According to police, a man named Lindsay O’Neil, who said he lived at the house, was arrested and charged with running an illegal club and several alcohol and beverage laws. Another man, Luis DeJesus of Queens, was slapped with a handful of drug charges stemming from the bags of marijuana.

Police say they will be keeping a very close eye on the place, so it doesn’t start up again. They are working with the Buildings Department to shut the place down completely.

Self Inflicted Wound
A teenager, who had shot himself in the eye near the illegal club, tried to trick police into thinking he’d been shot by someone else by changing his pants on July 15.

While emergency services tended to the victim, witnesses told police that they had seen the 17-year-old go inside his home at 193rd Street and Bainbridge Avenue and change his blood-soaked pants shortly after he’d shot himself, apparently in an attempt to fool police into thinking he’d been shot by someone else.

But police searched the home to find the bloody pants and eventually the teenager confessed to having shot himself when the gun in his waist belt unexpectedly went off.

The teen was charged with gun possession, filing a false police report and reckless endangerment and was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital for treatment. His wound wasn’t serious, police said.

Elderly Man Murdered
Late on Wednesday, July 18, two Hispanic men approached a 75-year-old at his apartment door in North Fordham. They asked for money. When he refused to give them anything, they shot the man in the stomach and took his money anyway.

The shooters fled, while the elderly man lay on the floor of his Decatur Avenue apartment in agony.

Medics took him to St. Barnabas Hospital where he died five days later. Police say the investigation is ongoing.

University Heights Stabbing
Police are looking for two brothers in the brutal stabbing of a man in the basement of a University Heights apartment building.

On Saturday night, July 14, police say two brothers stabbed David Fuentes, 30, a total of 21 times. He was pronounced dead at the scene by medics. Photos of the basement apartment at 2300 University Ave. where it happened show a couch and a room splattered with blood. Fuentes lived a couple of buildings away at 2285 University Ave.

Police say the murder was probably over a drug dispute and that they have a promising lead on where to find the two brothers they suspect did the killing.

Suicide at Botanical Square
Residents of the Botanical Square apartment building on Webster Avenue woke up last Saturday morning to find the body of a 26-year-old woman resident lying on her back in the courtyard in a pool of her own blood.

Police labeled the death a suicide and say she jumped from the roof, seven stories above the pavement.

Though residents said she was planning on getting married, police say the unidentified woman had a history of depression, including a previous suicide attempt.

PS 94 to Get Early Childhood Development Center

By Jessica Glazer

PS 94 will be getting an Early Childhood Development Center to be located on the school’s campus, where portable classrooms currently sit. Although the project is still in the early stages of development, the building is currently slated to be three stories, house Pre-K through third graders and accommodate 428 seats.

The community will have a chance to hear more details and discuss the project at a public hearing on Aug. 1.

Construction of the building will take two years and is supposed to be completed by 2010, said Margie Feinberg, a department of education (DOE) spokesperson.

"Hopefully it will alleviate overcrowding," said Marvin Shelton, the president of the Community Education District Council 10. He said that if the center can both prepare kids for school and help fix PS 94′s chronic overcrowding, it would be great for the district.

Shelton, however, also said it is unclear how the development center will fix overcrowding, especially if it will attract more students from other areas. It’s unclear who will be eligible to attend the new center.

Another of Shelton’s concerns is what will happen to the students who currently attend class in the portable classrooms. These classrooms will be taken down during construction, which is supposed to begin next summer, said PS 94 assistant principal Frank Lucerna.

PS 94 also has an annex building on Gun Hill Road for kindergarteners. It’s unclear if that building and the students there will be affected.

Greg Faulkner, Community Board 7 chairman, also has concerns about the center’s effect on the area. "Any education center is good, but it’s going to impact the existing community," he said.

One of his concerns is increased traffic – both of caregivers dropping off their kids and students’ foot traffic. At this early stage, however, Faulkner emphasized that these are initial concerns to be brought up at the hearing and not necessarily problems in need of fixing just yet.

"Some may be easily resolved," he said. "We want to make this work."

Editor’s note: The public hearing will be held on Aug. 1 at 6:30 p.m. The location is undetermined. For more information, call Community Board 7 at (718) 933 5650.

Aging With Grace and Independence at Kittay

By Cassandra Lizaire

Blink and you’ve missed him. Herman Tannenbaum is always on the move. He pauses for a lunchtime refuel, but then it’s back to business for Tannenbaum, who designs and produces original greeting cards.

The treasurer of his tenants association, Tannenbaum speaks modestly of his having recently been voted Tenant of the Year. He was probably chosen because he tries his best to help other tenants and welcome new faces. But, he says with a wink, what he enjoys most is spending time with this "beautiful lady friend."

The two go out dancing every two weeks and watch "Dancing with the Stars" on TV. At the end of the day, Tannenbaum says, "I feel young."

What makes this story unusual is that Tannenbaum is 94 and resides at Kittay House, a supported independent living home, just below Kingsbridge Road and across the street from the Bronx VA Hospital on Webb Avenue.

For 37 years, Kittay has provided clients like Tannenbaum with what New York Magazine calls the best housing buy for seniors in New York.

Thriving on the five-acre campus of Jewish Home and Hospital, Kittay House has attracted seniors who prioritize autonomy since 1970. That year, Kittay created moderate-income housing for people ages 62 and up in conjunction with the state’s Mitchell-Lama Housing program, which provides affordable rental and cooperative housing to moderate- and middle-income families.

Funded by the Mitchell-Lama subsidy and philanthropic donations, Kittay House continues to provide housing for a middle-class population of former teachers, librarians, and workers and homemakers of all kinds.

"These were givers to their communities," says Kittay House’s executive director Arlene Richman. "Here we support [tenants] in being who they want to be and who they were."

Most residents are in their mid- to late 80s. Kittay’s amenities attract many Bronxites and an increasing number of tenants from Manhattan because of the shortage of affordable housing there, Richman says.

Although affiliated with Jewish Home, Kittay House is not a nursing home. Harriet Rosenberg, a Jewish Home spokesperson describes it as "supported independent living that is part of the [Jewish Home] community, with access to all of its resources."

Jewish Home health and medical programs are fully accessible to Kittay tenants.

This summer, as a $9 million renovation project nears completion, enhancements will increase safety and comfort for Kittay tenants, says Richman.

The rehab began in 2005 with work on the elevators, which were outfitted with a voice automated announcement system and red and green lights indicating when it is safe to enter and leave. There is brighter lighting in common areas as well as new sprinkler and fire systems. Showers have replaced tubs, which are often associated with slips and hip injuries.  

 Common areas have also been renovated, best exemplified by the bigger tenant lounge, and the re-vamped restaurant-style dining room. In the newly furnished, painted, and re-floored area, tenants enjoy meals twice a day.

But it’s the intangibles at Kittay that may be the most telling of why residents consider it home.

Sitting with her husband, Mort, and several friends at lunch, Edna Nelkin, 86, says that next to a game of Trivial Pursuit, the meal is the highlight of her day.

"This is the number one table!" she exclaims, mentioning their discussions on topics ranging from politics to the artist Frida Kahlo. "The conversation starts as soon as we hit the chairs and we’re always the last to leave."

Tenants like Sidney Kronish share their knowledge and exchange ideas through the Scholars-in-Residence lecture series. On this day, for instance, the retired Montclair State University professor has just finished an outline for an upcoming lecture on the American Revolution. Wine-and-cheese get-togethers and movie nights further stoke discussion and friendships among tenants.

Then there’s the everyday amenities that just make life easier. Carola Wigder, who has run the Kittay House sundry shop for a year, sits with shift partner Lorraine Deering. They keep track of shelves stocked with necessities such as cereal and detergent and tenant favorites like Hershey chocolate bars.

Zelda Fassler, 79, enjoys the daily morning run and is able tend to her husband,  Paul, just across the courtyard at the Jewish Home before sitting down to lunch with her close friend, Rhoda Kaufman, 86. The two have known each other for over a year and have enjoyed the opera and other trips to Manhattan together.

As caregivers, both women say they can look after their husbands, while making time for activities they plan for themselves. Fassler has helped Kaufman, one of the newer tenants, adjust to her new home.

"I’m very happy here," Kaufman says.

Ed. note: Kittay House has 295 apartments with monthly studio rentals beginning from $1,431 and one bedroom apartments starting at $2,575. For more information on Kittay, call (718) 410-1420.

How to Fix Congestion Pricing Plan

By None

The Norwood News got its wish (“Not So Fast,” June 28-July 11, 2007 editorial) with the agreement on congestion pricing negotiated on July 19. Before any tolls can be imposed, congestion pricing will be studied by a 17-person commission and its recommendations must be approved first by the New York City Council and then by the state legislature. This provides a golden opportunity to refine the current congestion pricing plan and to make it fair to the entire city.

Congestion pricing itself is a good idea, which I support, but it would have a disruptive and costly effect on the lives of thousands of New Yorkers from the outer boroughs. While traffic would be reduced in Manhattan, a more crowded subway commute would be a certainty and residents of the outer boroughs would have no direct benefits. This is very unfair.

The fatal flaw in the original proposal was suggesting that revenues would be used for vague “transit needs” or maintenance of tunnels and bridges. Based on these assertions, opponents easily branded congestion pricing as just another tax. Even pro-mass transit Assemblyman Richard Brodsky came out against the proposal since it did not specify subway construction. If the revenues were legally dedicated for specific pro-outer borough projects, such as Second Avenue subway extensions into the outer boroughs and subway improvements, chances of securing popular support from the outer boroughs would soar.

The second major flaw in the plan is that the major subways lines would be overwhelmed by the massive increase in ridership. The Transit Authority’s proposal for four new express and four new local bus lines is a good start, but much more is needed and much more can be done.

Now, Bronx elected officials have the opportunity to define and to campaign for mass transit improvements in the Bronx before supporting any new congestion pricing plan. In addition to the Bronx Arterial Needs Major Investment Study (MIS), cited by the Norwood News, there are many effective mass transit ideas out there: all day express service on the Concourse line, a new Concourse subway local-express which would follow the A line routing south of 59th Street and eliminate the need for transfers, more limited bus service, etc. Calling a Bronx Mass Transit Task Force to pull these ideas together and to gain public support is an absolute necessity.

Will residents of the outer boroughs ever emerge winners in mass transit? They will if their elected officials do their part. Will the elected officials rise to the occasion?

John Rozankowski
Bedford Park

Legislative Success

By None

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (r), shaking hands with Governor Eliot Spitzer in June, persevered for three legislative sessions to witness the enactment of his bill creating stiffer penalties for those engaging in forced labor and sexual exploitation.

We’ll Be Right Back

By Editorial

With this issue, the Norwood News takes a brief hiatus. We skip an issue. Our next publication date is Aug. 23, which will include the first of two back-to-school special sections.

But you can get daily news updates in the meantime on our West Bronx Blog at westbronxnews.blogspot.com.

Soon after we publish our next edition on the 23rd, we expect to unveil a brand new Web site with many new features, including the ability to easily print articles and e-mail them to friends. There will be a comment section at the end of each article and you will be able to download a pdf file of the entire paper. The site will be fully searchable.

It’s one of many ways we hope to serve you better in the coming months as we get closer to marking our 20th anniversary in 2008.

Have a great summer, everyone!

The ‘Law’ in Lawmaker

By Editorial

Three men in a room. Dysfunctional. Corrupt.

Yes, these words can and have been used to describe our state government in Albany.

And yes, there is more than a little truth in it.

But that’s why we feel doubly obligated to draw your attention to a welcome example of a state legislator doing some magnificent legislating.

Three years ago, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz learned from advocates about a horrific problem – the trafficking of people, mostly women and children originally from other countries who are subjected to forced labor and sexual exploitation through force or coercion.  

There is a federal law that governs such crimes, but unbelievably there was no state law. Both are necessary, because the federal government mostly only prosecutes the most serious crimes. Once Dinowitz learned this, he and his staff did their homework and reached out to advocates who work with trafficking victims.  

The bill languished in the Assembly for more than two years. Those who work on getting legislation passed in Albany say that the Codes Committee staff who advise Assembly to put the finishing legal touches on legislation have more power than those elected to the legislature. They can bottle up bills at will, especially by not giving the proper amount of attention to complex legislation like the trafficking bill. And despite the unspeakable nature of these crimes, pro-prosecution legislation, regardless of the nature of it, is often not favored by the Democratic-controlled Assembly. But the law-and-order Republican State Senate was mum on the issue, too, as was the former Republican governor.  

But Dinowitz, a liberal Democrat who does not represent an area known to have a trafficking problem, quietly persevered. The legislation got new life when Governor Spitzer took office and assigned the issue to his top staff.

In June, Dinowitz attended the signing ceremony for the legislation, which includes a number of provisions including: the creation of a new class B felony, imposing a mandatory prison sentence of up to 25 years for those who profit from prostitution by engaging in sex trafficking; the addition of a new class D felony for labor trafficking with a penalty of up to seven years in prison; putting convicted sex traffickers on the sex offender registry; and ensuring that sex trafficking victims are eligible for services from the Crime Victims Board.

Staffers with a women’s rights group called Equality Now say that Dinowitz became a leader on this issue before his colleagues had even heard of it.

Dinowitz, who represents Riverdale and part of Norwood, is rightly proud of his accomplishment.

"This is without question the most important legislation I’ve ever passed," he told us, referring to the problem as 21st century slavery. "If I do nothing else in the Assembly, this will make it all worthwhile."

Nice work, assemblyman – and keep it up.

Harris Field Harmony

By None

At the 2007 Annual Harmony Day Picnic at Harris Field in Bedford Park on Tuesday, a child was the price of admission. More than 5,000 kids turned out to this year’s event, which was organized by the 41st Precinct Community Council. It was their last at Harris Field because the park will be under construction next year.

Restaurant Workers Demand Action from Councilman

By Heather Appel

A group of restaurant workers showed up at Councilman Joel Rivera’s office last week to urge him to hold a hearing on a bill that would help protect restaurant workers from abuses in the workplace.

The Responsible Restaurant Act was introduced in the City Council on May 9 and was referred to the Health Committee, which Rivera chairs. It would require restaurants seeking to renew operating licenses to disclose to the Health Department any violations of city, state or federal labor laws and minimum wage laws, and the city could consider this information when deciding whether to renew licenses.

"We are not going to tolerate racial discrimination and not paying workers in our community," said Jeff Mansfield, a community minister from Judson Memorial Church who spoke at a town hall meeting in the Bronx about the bill. He said it’s an important step in protecting the over 160,000 restaurant workers in the city.

Under the legislation, New Yorkers could search for information on employment violations at local restaurants on the health department’s Web site, just as they are currently able to view health code violations.

The Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York (ROC-NY), a workers rights group, and the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition co-sponsored the town hall meeting July 18 at the Belmont Boulevard Apartments on East 185th Street to educate restaurant workers about their rights and garner support for the bill.

Organizers expected Rivera to attend, and when he didn’t show up, the group decided to go to him instead. They marched 10 blocks to his office on Southern Boulevard and presented his staff with over 200 "menus" signed by area residents demanding the Council take action on the bill.

Council staffer Angel Audiffred said the Health Committee was still considering the legislation but that no hearings have been scheduled. "They have to be patient and give the Council time to consider it," he said in a phone interview.

Marisol Ramos, a youth organizer who lives near Fordham Road, got involved with ROC-NY after seeing her father struggle as a dishwasher and cook for 30 years at a City Island restaurant. Ramos translated for Julio Anzures, a restaurant worker who left a job at the Park Avenue Café that forced him to work 60 hours a week while he was only paid for 40.

According to "Behind the Kitchen Door," a study released by the Urban Justice Center and ROC-NY in 2005 that surveyed 530 workers, 60 percent were not paid overtime, and 13 percent earned less than minimum wage.

In Federal Suit, Tenants Take Aim at Pinnacle

By Alex Kratz

The Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organized Acts of 1970, otherwise known as RICO laws, were designed to bring down organized crime syndicates like the mafia. Now, the laws that took down New York mob boss Frank "Funzi" Tieri in 1980 is being used by a tenants association to file federal charges against controversial landlords, the Pinnacle Group, for fraud, harassment, exorbitant rent inflation and illegal evictions.

Backed by what they say is widespread public opinion and the support of elected officials, including Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, a tenant group known as Buyers and Renters United to Save Harlem (BRUSH) and nine tenants have filed suit through law firm Jenner and Block in Federal District Court in Manhattan against Pinnacle and its owner and founder, Joel Weiner.

Though the group is filing on behalf of Harlem tenants, BRUSH president Kim Powell said they are open to the idea of incorporating any of Pinnacle’s disaffected tenants citywide. Pinnacle and Weiner own and operate more than 420 apartment buildings in the city, including eight local buildings here in the northwest Bronx.

Though the story has been leaked to the press, Pinnacle’s lawyer, Ken Fisher, a former city councilman from Brooklyn, said the company has yet to be served by the court. But based on what he’s read in the papers, he called the charges "utter nonsense."

Since the winter of 2005, the Norwood News has extensively covered Pinnacle’s methods of taking hundreds of Bronx tenants to court and inflating major capital improvement repair costs while receiving financial backing from the Praedium investment group.

Recently, at the Botanical Square building on Webster Avenue, a property owned and operated by Pinnacle, a woman with a baby said the super had locked her out of her apartment for being a few days late on rent. Others in the building complained of leaky faucets and ceilings, broken windows and other problems that are rarely attended to.

Powell said its all part of Praedium and Pinnacle’s plan to swallow up buildings, make mostly cosmetic renovations while leaving tenants waiting for basic repairs, force out long-time residents and jack up rents.

In West Harlem, Powell has been fighting Pinnacle and Weiner for almost a decade. But it was only in the last few years, when Pinnacle "mushroomed" into a huge real estate entity citywide that she realized the widespread problems that tenants in Pinnacle buildings were having.

After a couple of successful housing seminars in 2005, the Jenner and Block law firm  said they believed there could be grounds for a lawsuit and conducted its own yearlong investigation. On July 11, Jenner and Block filed the lawsuit.

Fisher said BRUSH’s lawsuit is Powell’s personal vendetta against a company that is currently taking her mother to court. Powell’s 74-year-old mother is being charged with destruction of property for allegedly writing graffiti in the elevator.

Powell said that charge is ridiculous, though she also said her elderly mother was constantly without heat in her West Harlem apartment and had taped notes to the elevator to get other tenants to complain. The super had ripped down the notes every time. One day a message appeared on the elevator wall in permanent black marker: "For heat, call 311."  

Jessica Glazer and Gissette Rojas contributed to this article.

PS/MS 95 Principal Brings Years of Experience to New Job

By Heather Appel

Serge Marshall Davis has always worked in schools in far-flung neighborhoods, from South Shore High School in Brooklyn to Springfield Gardens, Queens, so the northern end of the Bronx seems like a logical next location for him.

Davis was hired as the principal at PS/MS 95 on Hillman Ave., replacing Elizabeth Lopez, who was there for four years.

Davis was impressed by the student work that came out of poetry unit when he came for his first interview, he said.

“I was also impressed with the people I met,” he said, “but most importantly, I saw evidence of students’ work.”

He said he’s not daunted by the challenges of running a school that serves over 1,300 children from kindergarten through eighth grade.

“I welcome challenges, but the benefit is to have five assistant principals, and I’m a firm believer in shared leadership,” he said.

Davis started his career in the New York City public schools as a teacher at South Shore High School, where he taught business and technology for 10 years for both special education and general populations. From there, he obtained his advanced certificate at City College and transitioned to assistant principal at IS 166 in East New York, Brooklyn. After a year, he moved with the IS 166 principal to IS 59 in Springfield Gardens, where he served for three years as assistant principal.

Davis said he’s always known he wants to be in a supervisory position, and he believes PS/MS 95 is a good fit because of its diverse population, “which is a good thing if you consider yourself a lifelong learner.”

Davis was born in Haiti and moved to Brooklyn at the age of 13. He counts his mother, an educator herself, as one of his inspirations, along with Professor O’Donohue at the College of Staten Island, where he earned his undergraduate degree.

“He was very approachable, he made learning fun, and you felt connected with him and felt that he knew you,” he said. “As an educator, that’s an unbelievable skill to have.”

At this point, Davis didn’t have any major projects in the works to share, but he said he was planning to continue the school’s relationship with Dreamyard, an organization that integrates arts into teaching curricula, as well as after-school programs sponsored by Councilman Oliver Koppell.

Parent Coordinator Delis DeLeon said Davis stood out in the interview process.

“He was very passionate when he spoke, and he seemed to be the right fit for the school community,” she said, adding that the people involved in the selection process were looking for someone who would “stay for a while, be passionate, be motivating, but also keep scores up and integrate the different grades.”

As for his mission at the school, Davis said parents should know this about him:

“I’m hardworking, and my only agenda is to create a safe environment for children and student achievement.”

After DEP Meeting, Dinowitz Still Awaits Answers

By Alex Kratz

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, an outspoken critic of the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) mishandling of the vastly over-budget Croton Water Filtration Plant project in Van Cortlandt Park, is waiting for someone to prove him wrong.

And now, after meeting privately with the head of the DEP two weeks ago, he is still waiting.

A month ago, Dinowitz stood on the steps of City Hall to demand an investigation into every aspect of the controversial filter plant project that he says may have been forced on the northwest Bronx under false, and possibly fraudulent, pretenses. He continues to stand by his original demands.

"Corruption, fraud, waste," Dinowitz said. "Because of the huge cost overruns, these are the questions that come to mind. I’m not looking to say ‘I told you so,’ but I believe the public has a right to know what’s going on."

Since an original estimate and analysis in 2004 deemed the Van Cortlandt Park site to be the cheapest of three options, the cost of the project has nearly tripled to the tune of almost $3 billion.  

To ostensibly allay his fears and answer his questions, DEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd quietly approached Dinowitz about setting up a meeting three weeks ago. Then, on Friday, July 13, Lloyd and her deputy commissioner, Anne Canty, sat down with Dinowitz and community activists Gary Axelbank and Karen Argenti in the lawmaker’s Riverdale office.

Though the meeting was cordial, Dinowitz, Axelbank and Argenti said they were not impressed or satisfied by the commissioner’s answers.  

"There’s a lot of outstanding questions," Dinowitz said after the meeting.

Axelbank, who lives near Van Cortlandt Park and has been vocal in his opposition of the project since the beginning, was even more direct about his displeasure.

Because Lloyd is heading a huge project (the most expensive in New York City history) with highly-publicized cost overruns, Axelbank said he expected "that [Lloyd] would be prepared to fully document that budget to an elected official who has publicly raised concerns."

Instead, Axelbank said, all they received were a confusing one-page handout of numbers and rehashed excuses.

The activists said that Lloyd explained, as the DEP had previously, that the cost overruns are due to an unexpected spike in construction costs and changes to the design adopted after the plant was already set to be built in Van Cortlandt Park.

Lloyd’s small audience wasn’t buying it.

"To me it’s more of the same song and dance and lack of accountability that has plagued this project from Day One," Axelbank said.

Argenti said several of her questions were met with a raised eyebrow and a simple response: "I’ll have to get back to you on that." Lloyd said that several times, the activists said, including when Argenti asked what the total cost of the project was.

Dinowitz had hoped Lloyd would join him in calling for a thorough investigation of the project, but the commissioner said she didn’t think one was necessary.

Since last summer, the DEP said it has been working with the city’s Department of Investigation (DOI) to oversee the filtration project. At the meeting, the commissioner said that, in actuality, the DEP had hired a private law firm, Stier Anderson (which is also overseeing the World Trade Center project), to act as a monitor in conjunction with the DOI at a cost of $1 million.

Lloyd reportedly said that Stier Anderson and the DOI could look into the history of the project to unearth possible transgressions, but only if the DEP directed them to do so.

In particular, Dinowitz wants a full investigation into the dealings of former DEP commissioner Chris Ward, who pushed hard, along with the General Contractors Association, to have the plant built in the Bronx rather than Westchester, and then took a job with the association exactly one year after resigning from the DEP. Dinowitz said he thinks the DEP "low-balled" the cost of building in the Bronx for political reasons.

When asked about the coincidence during the meeting, Lloyd reportedly said, "There’s a natural affinity between the DEP and the general contractors because of the kind of work they do." She added that the previous head, Frank McArdle, of the General Contractors was also a former DEP commissioner. Axelbank said they then half-jokingly asked what Lloyd thought her next job would be. According to Axelbank and others in the room, Lloyd didn’t respond.

The DEP didn’t respond to several calls requesting comment about the meeting for this article.

In the end, Lloyd failed to answer Dinowitz’s questions to his satisfaction and wouldn’t agree to investigate further. Ultimately, Dinowitz said "neither side succeeded" in getting what they wanted.

Bronx Waterways Face Sewage Crisis

By Heather Appel

New York City’s sewage system dumps billions of gallons of untreated wastewater into Bronx waterways each year, according to an investigative report released earlier this week by City Limits Investigates.  

The wastewater is a combination of untreated storm runoff and sewage, known as combined sewage overflows (CSO), that is ejected from 494 overflow pipes around the city into dozens of waterways, including the Bronx and Harlem rivers. The third largest overflow pipe in the city is at West 192nd Street on the Harlem River, alongside a dozen others along the northern Harlem River.

Because much of the city’s sewer system combines rainwater and household waste in the same pipe, even a tenth of an inch of rain can overwhelm the city’s 14 sewage treatment plants, spilling human waste, street litter and potentially toxic materials and bacteria into local waterways.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ambitious PlaNYC 2030 proposal includes recommendations for reducing these outfalls, but clean water advocates say it doesn’t go far enough.

"One problem we see is that [the Department of Environmental Protection] has become focused on traditional ‘hard infrastructure’ solutions and has not embraced what we call ‘green infrastructure,’" said Walter Matystik, a Manhattan College professor and environmental engineer. "And people believe those solutions really need to get addressed."

The green solutions Matystik and other Bronx environmentalists would like to see are things like green roofs, rain basins, and porous pavement, which absorb water before it reaches the sewer system. Although PlaNYC includes a five-year tax abatement for green roofs, supporters of that strategy say the incentive may not be attractive enough to developers and landlords.

Environmental experts point to porous pavement projects like one in Seattle, where an absorbent sidewalk reduced stormwater runoff by 99 percent in two years. Other initiatives included in DEP plans to reduce CSOs include 800 new greenstreets, which convert paved surfaces into green space.  

While clean water activists are pleased to see green infrastructure proposals in the city’s plan, they’re frustrated with the city’s reluctance to implement them on a large scale. Rohit Aggarwala, director of the Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, told City Limits Investigates, "What we did in the plan – we did it throughout – is we set goals that we considered to be ambitious but achievable." The plan is focused on trying to restore the most polluted city waters, he said.

"Newtown Creek, Flushing Bay, Paerdegat Basin, parts of the Bronx River-these are the last places in the city where it’s not even safe enough to go out in a rowboat," Aggarwala said.

The methods for cleaning up those waterways include a mix of old standbys and limited green pilots. Officials say the green infrastructure has not been tested in a large urban area like New York, but advocates dismiss that argument.

"There are alternatives that are adopted all over the country, so why can’t you do it in New York City?" said Karen Argenti, who chairs the water committee of the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency has endorsed green infrastructure as a cost-efficient way to protect waterways. The agency recommends approaches that infiltrate or re-use stormwater, such as rain gardens, vegetated swales, trees with basins that can collect stormwater, and green roofs, which absorb rainwater instead of channeling it through the gutter and into the sewer system.

At this stage, there is a small pilot proposed in Jamaica Bay, and Argenti said the Bronx River would be perfect for a model watershed project.

Instead, the city’s plan relies on traditional "end of pipe" solutions, like large concrete tanks to collect excess rainwater, and barriers and nets to catch debris and litter in the water. City officials have argued that the costs of implementing new solutions on a large scale are too high and would raise water rates beyond what New Yorkers can pay.

The concrete tanks the city builds are expensive and not efficient, critics say. The city currently captures only 72 percent of its wet weather flow, and Bloomberg’s plan calls for the city to capture 75 percent, a negligible improvement. A consent order signed by the DEP in 2004 requires that the city meet the 75 percent standard. Under those standards, the city is not in compliance with the Clean Water Act, which calls for a capture rate of 85 percent.

Another controversy underscored in the City Limits article is the failure to make city waterways swimmable and fishable. PlaNYC aims to make 90 percent of the city’s tributaries open for recreation, which advocates assumed meant both primary (swimming, kayaking) and secondary (boating) contact. In recent statements, the administration has revised that goal to make 90 percent safe for secondary contact. That’s a disappointment to water advocates, who have organized the SWIM Coalition to press for higher standards and better methods of reducing sewage overflows to make the rivers safe for swimming and recreation.

SWIM Coalition members are urging the DEP to test out some of the newer approaches to capturing water at the source and reusing it. Their efforts may benefit from a settlement announced last week by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo that directs over $7 million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for projects to reduce storm water pollution of the Bronx River.

The funds come from agreements with Yonkers Racing Corporation and the cities of Yonkers, White Plains, Scarsdale and Greenburgh, all of which had been polluting the Bronx River with untreated sewage.  

This means there will be more money available for greener infrastructure and more low-impact development, said Teresa Crimmins, of the Bronx River Alliance and SWIM Coalition.  

Ed. Note: This article is the result of a collaboration between the Norwood News and City Limits Investigates. To obtain CLI’s full report,"Deep Trouble: New York City Faces its Silent Sewage Crisis," or to read a summary, go to www.citylimits.org.

Engel Withdraws Support of War

By Cassandra Lizaire

A one-time supporter of the Iraq war, Congressman Engel has since realized, "Young American service personnel cannot solve the problem of Iraq."

The Bronx representative lent support to the "Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act" during a speech delivered on Thursday, July 12.

"It’s time to start bringing our troops home," Engel said, calling for the Secretary of Defense to start withdrawing American troops from Iraq 120 days after the bill becomes law.

The congressman also criticized the Bush administration’s control of the war, from "the lack of planning to insufficient number of troops, to incompetent management of reconstruction projects, to the use of torture in military prisons."

Iraq is no longer a military problem, but a political crisis, Engel said. In this, the fifth year of the war, the nation has spent over half a trillion dollars and lost 3,600 American lives, he said, adding that the "evidence that our soldiers are involved in an Iraqi civil war is mounting and a solution seems ever further from our grasp."

Pols CitySolve Graffiti Problems

By Cassandra Lizaire

Council Member Oliver Koppell announced a new district-wide graffiti removal program on Tuesday, July 10, which will be funded with his discretionary Council allotment.

In honor of the occasion, CitySolve, a cleaning company, demonstrated its technique in a particularly graffiti-ridden location in his district.

"The presence of graffiti has a depressing, negative effect on a community, creating a disorderly environment, and affecting the quality of life for its residents and those who work and shop in the area," Koppell said. "Immediate removal and constant attention is the key to ridding a neighborhood of graffiti, which, contrary to popular opinion, does not tend to quickly reappear once removed, as prior experience has demonstrated."

Koppell urges his constituents to call his district office, at (718) 549-7300, with graffiti complaints, so that they may be referred to CitySolve for removal within a week.

Two months ago, Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera announced her own graffiti initiative involving CitySolve. It’s unclear if the two will coordinate their efforts.

Holding the FDA Accountable

By Cassandra Lizaire

Legislation co-sponsored by Congressman Eliot Engel to monitor the safety of drugs after they are on the market passed the House on Wednesday, July 11.

"Until now the focus of the FDA regarding prescription drugs has been to study their safety before they are approved," Engel said to the full House. "There has been a growing concern that, once a drug receives FDA approval, its safety is not monitored. This bill establishes a new program within the FDA to monitor the safety of drugs after they have been approved and marketed."

The bill establishes a surveillance system to track adverse effects of the drug and requires the FDA to conduct a new study of the drug seven years after it goes on the market.

In his capacity as a senior member of the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Engel added to the bill an amendment to strengthen the Critical Path initiative, originally conceived to make the development and evaluation of drugs more effective.

Clinton Protests Security Cuts

By Cassandra Lizaire

Senator Hillary Clinton is concerned about the Department of Homeland Security’s increasingly inadequate funding for New York State. So she took these concerns right to the source – Secretary Michael Chertoff, who faced her displeasure about this year’s anticipated funds head on when they met last Thursday.

Reports indicate that the New York metropolitan area (New York City plus Nassau and Suffolk counties) will receive $134 million for 2007, slightly more than the amount granted in 2006, but far less than in 2005.

Clinton and Congressman Peter King forced the Department to reverse last year’s massive cuts to New York security. The senator’s letter to the secretary used terms such as "absurd" and "disturbing" to describe the Department’s reasoning for cuts after 2005: that first, New York’s application was flawed, and second, the state lacks significant "national monuments or icons."

Clinton says that, according to Chertoff’s own previous statements, funding should go to the most at-risk areas, as per the 9/11 Commission. So why, she asks, is the allocation of funds to New York so disproportionate to New York’s risk?

Cost of Workers Comp. Drops

By Cassandra Lizaire

The rates for workers compensation insurance have decreased 20.5 percent for the 2007-2008 fiscal year, as part of a legislative measure that will save New York businesses about $1 million and put more money in the pockets of injured employees, according to Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz.

This rate drop is part of the 2007 Workers Compensation Reform Act, which, with the support of the Bronx lawmaker, lowered the cost of workers compensation insurance and increased weekly payments to workers as of July 15.

Dinowitz stresses the benefits to both companies and their employees.

“This is another monumental change aimed at reducing the cost of doing business in New York,” he said. “It will help existing firms prosper and eliminate another obstacle that often deters new businesses from setting up shop in our state. The 2007 Workers Compensation Reform Act was a win-win for businesses and working New Yorkers.”

In addition, the Act limits the number of years that partial disability claimants can continue to receive payments, creates programs for prompt treatment and return to employment, and institutes anti-fraud measures.

Housing Cases Now Online

By Cassandra Lizaire

The Department of Housing Preservation and Development added a feature to their Web site to check the status of housing litigation cases initiated by HPD or any cases involving HPD.

New Yorkers can already research code violations, registrations, emergency repair progress and complaint status. This latest feature means that, in addition, residents can look up all cases the HPD has brought to housing court after August 2006 (and even some from before).

According to HPD Commissioner Shaun Donovan, the new feature is just an extension of the Department’s continued commitment to increase the public’s access to information, as well as to improve both landlords’ and tenants’ knowledge of their rights and responsibilities in a city full of renters.

The searchable database includes cases of heat and hot water outages, outstanding code violations, rent collection disputes and certificates for demolition and construction – all at the click of a button.

At www.nyc.gov/hpd, first enter the building address on the Complaint, Violation and Registration Information look-up, and then click on Legislation/Case Status in the left-hand column. Voila!

No Schools in Pipeline for Armory

By Jordan Moss

First there were four.

And then two.

And now maybe none.

Despite earlier assurances in official city documents, the city’s Education Department now says it has no plans to construct schools at the Kingsbridge Armory. They do suggest the possibility of one, but only if their demographic projections change as the redevelopment process goes forward.

In a June 12 letter to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Deputy Schools Chancellor Kathleen Grimm responded to complaints from the Bronx City Council delegation about the removal of 1,700 seats from the Department’s capital plan for school construction.

The Council members stated that the current capital plan does not reflect the city promise of two schools at the armory, which is included in the Economic Development Corporation’s (EDC) request for proposals. They further criticized the city for not replacing facilities “inappropriate for school purposes,” such as the tiny classrooms of PS 246, built originally as a home for the blind.

Grimm responded that the necessary school seats for District 10 have already been sited and that demographic trends have made more schools unnecessary.

As for the Armory, she wrote: “We will continue to monitor our demographic projections, identify any new need that may evolve and work with EDC on developing plans for the Kingsbridge Armory to include a school outside the armory.”

A spokesperson for the Education Department was more blunt. “We do not have a need for seats around the [Kingsbridge] Armory,” she told the Norwood News.

Schools were the linchpin of a community organizing campaign over the last decade to redevelop the armory. As a result of those efforts, led by the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, virtually every development proposal has included school seats. Plans developed by the Coalition and the Richman Group, a firm now collaborating with Atlantic Development Group, one of three bidders on the project, called for four schools at the Armory.

The EDC ensconced those priorities into its RFP, issued in December, though the city reduced the number of schools to two. It states: “… DOE and SCA plan to build schools on the 195th Street frontage of the Schools Site. DOE is prepared to fund and construct one Small Primary School (441 seats) and one Primary/Intermediate School (630 seats) at this location. DOE and SCA will work with the Selected Developer to move the plan for school construction forward during the 2005-2009 Five-Year Capital Plan period.”

In Grimm’s letter to Quinn though, the DOE holds out the faint promise of only one school.

Council Member Oliver Koppell says the DOE’s argument that it has met capacity requirements doesn’t hold water.

“The way they count capacity is false because they count music rooms and laboratories that aren’t being used regularly as classrooms,” Koppell said. “They have a very odd way of determining available capacity.”

The idea that the area has all the school seats it needs, particularly high school seats, offends some local parents.

“They’re building a plan for failure,” said Desiree Hunter, a parent activist with the Coalition, whose daughter’s French class at chronically overcrowded Kennedy High School had 46 students this year. “They’re vested in it. For them it is OK that only 36 percent of kids who entered the ninth grade in 2005 will reach the 12th grade. And they’re OK with building just enough seats for those children.”

The Coalition saw the writing on the wall last winter, when the DOE released its proposed amendment to the capital plan, calling for the reduction of 1,500 District 10 seats stipulated in the original 2005-2009 capital plan.

They released a report in conjunction with the Annenberg Institute for School Reform called “Planning for Failure,” focusing on the 36 percent figure and they pressed Chancellor Klein at a public meeting.

Community leaders say they are disappointed by Grimm’s letter.

Greg Faulkner, chairman of Community Board 7 and a member of the Armory Task Force the EDC created, said he believed there was a clear city commitment to build two schools at the armory.

“If that’s now changing, that’s a problem,” Faulkner said. “They need to come back to the task force and discuss [it].”

Meanwhile Coalition leaders and organizers say they will push to get not just two schools, but the four schools and 2,000 seats they originally proposed, included in the new capital plan or an amendment to the old one.

But their sights aren’t limited to the armory. On July 25, they launched a new campaign called SEATS (Schools Exploding at the Seams) at a legislative breakfast co-sponsored by Koppell, to increase the graduation rate and end overcrowding. The campaign’s “principles of student success” include calling for “a seat for every year of a student’s academic career, from pre-K through high school.”

After Shooting, Community Works to Lessen Youth Tensions

By Alex Kratz

Tensions between residents of neighborhoods on both sides of Mosholu Parkway remain high after a shooting two months ago, but a coalition of community groups, elected officials, police and concerned residents have spent the summer working to alleviate some of the underlying problems.

Those involved with the coalition, known as the Safe Streets task force, say that although some tangible results have been achieved, there is still a long way to go.

After the shooting in early May, which hospitalized four young Ghanaian men from Tracey Towers, residents from the building, young and old, broke down emotionally and cried out for help during two town hall-style meetings at the 871-unit complex.

(Two suspects from the Knox-Gates section of Norwood were arrested for the shooting, but the victims refused to press charges and the suspects were released. Residents from Tracey and Knox-Gates say there is a long-standing and violent beef between the youth and young adults in both communities.)

A bevy of elected officials attended the second meeting and vowed to work to create solutions that would benefit the teens and young adults in both the short and long term. After the meeting, Deputy Borough President Earl Brown said he would organize all the relevant stakeholders to identify resources and implement a plan of action.

Last Friday, those stakeholders gathered for the fourth time (minus Brown who was on vacation and the elected officials except Jamin Sewell, a representative for Council Member Oliver Koppell) and continued to hammer out a plan. Mostly, the discussions have centered on short-term goals, such as providing youth with programs and services as alternatives to violence and gang activity, and long-term goals such as empowering youth, engaging parents and generally creating a more peaceful environment.

‘Deficit of services’

"A lot of these things take time," Brown said before leaving for vacation. "We know there’s a deficit of services in the community, so it’s our challenge to identify the services that we need."

At the center of those services is the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC), the Norwood hub that provides everything from day care to senior art classes.

For the past few years, MMCC has run a part-time youth center inside Tracey. Usually that program shuts down during the summer, but thanks to Safe Streets discussions and additional funding from Koppell, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, and Tracey property managers, the youth center will remain open through August and run continuously through the school year.

MMCC is also expanding its umbrella to include management of the COVE, a youth center in Knox-Gates run by the Knox-Gates Neighborhood Association until a few weeks ago. As a result, the COVE is able to provide more programs and extended hours.

Tracey residents say it’s gang-affiliated teens and unemployed young adults who instigate much of the violence between the two communities, though no one would say the conflict is one-sided.

The short-term goal is to keep both groups busy, but in the long run, especially at Knox-Gates, the goal is to reach out to the disaffected young adults, many of whom are unemployed.

Don Bluestone, MMCC’s executive director, said he wants to eventually hire a "street worker" to build relationships with Knox-Gates’ young adults. That way, Bluestone explains, it will be easier to direct them to some of the educational and job training programs that MMCC already provides.

"You can’t refer them to those things [job training and education opportunities] without first gaining their trust," Bluestone said. "Now, that’s not going to happen overnight."

Brown said another long-term solution includes engaging parents. At the second town hall meeting, several young men from Tracey expressed the need for more discipline in their lives and implored adults to instill that discipline because no one else will do the job.

To this end, Brown brought to the table Council for Unity, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing violence in communities. In the future, the council is looking to implement locally a pilot parent-engagement program with the help of the city teachers union.

Meanwhile, the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition (NWBCC) is using its youth arm, Sistas and Brothas United (SBU), to organize and empower the youth in both camps. The coalition has a youth organizer in DeWitt Clinton High School, which students attend from both sides of the parkway, and has already begun to reach out to youth at Tracey Towers. Sometime in August, the group hopes to use area youth (from Tracey and Knox-Gates) in creating a concert in Van Cortlandt Park to foster dialogue, unity and peace.

Forging a peace

Following the shooting, in an effort to forge a peace, many adults (but not the youth) wanted police to designate the area between Tracey and Knox-Gates an Impact Zone, which would have temporarily flooded the neighborhood with foot-patrolling rookie cops. When in play, Impact Zones have proven effective, but on Friday at the meeting, Deputy Inspector James Alles, the commander of the 52nd Precinct, nixed that plan, saying downtown wouldn’t authorize it. The biggest reason, he said, was that statistics didn’t back up the need. Tracey residents say many incidents go unreported because the victims are illegal immigrants and fear deportation. Alles said if victims report crimes anonymously then the police can at least record them to identify larger trends.

Now, despite hitting snags including not being able to secure a Police Athletic League play street for Tracey youth on Paul Avenue (it was too late in the summer) and SBU still negotiating with property managers about how to go about outreach efforts in Tracey buildings (they reached a compromise at the Friday meeting), and the slow allocation of anti-violence funding that Koppell hopes to secure, there appears to be movement and, perhaps more importantly, dialogue.

It’s even created some unusual alliances. Sam Gillian, the president of the Tracey Towers Tenant Association, is used to butting heads with management over repairs and rent hikes, but now he’s working with them to create solutions to social problems as part of the Safe Streets task force.

"I didn’t sign up for this," said Gillian, an ex-teacher with a dry wit, "but that’s okay. I like problems."

Editor’s Pick: Latin Rhythms

By Judy Noy

The Bronx Arts Ensemble highlights the Latin flavor of the Bronx in
the next two free performances of their summer concert series. A Puerto
Rican Explosion! presents the Afrorican sound of William Cepeda and his
ensemble on July 15, while July 22 is host to El Tango y La Milonga,
featuring Raul Jaurena, Bandoneon and Trio, vocalist Marga Mitchell and
tango dancers. Performances are at 2 p.m. at Van Cortlandt Park. at
Rockwood Drive Circle, near Mosholu Avenue and Broadway and 4 p.m. at
McGinley Center, Fordham University, Bronx Rose Hill Campus at Southern
Boulevard. The rain location for the 2 p.m. performances is Vladeck
Hall in the Amalgamated Houses, at the corner of Van Cortlandt Park
South and Hillman Avenue. For more information, call (718) 601-7399.

Out and About

By Judy Noy

Onstage
In its final days of this summer’s annual outdoor performances, the New York Philharmonic comes to the Bronx’ Van Cortlandt Park on Monday, July 16 at 8 p.m. The concert includes “Le Corsaire Overture” by Berlioz, Mendelssohn’s “Violin Concerto” and Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 6, Pathetique,” followed by a fireworks display. Enter the park on Broadway near 251st Street. For more information, call (212) 875-5709 or visit http://nyphil.org.

Lehman Stages’ SUMMERWORX Festival presents Shakespeare’s The Tempest from July 12 to 22 and Serenade Under the Stars on July 18, 19, 25 and 26, all at 8 p.m. at Lehman College’s outdoor amphitheatre. All performances are free. The college is located at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard W. at Goulden Avenue. For more information, call (718) 960-8211/8109.

The Bronx River Alliance hosts Arts in the Parks, performances and activities for children at River Park on Thursdays in July. The Dazzling Mills Juggling Family represents new vaudeville at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, July 12. For more information and to register, call (718) 430-4636 or visit www.bronxriver.org.

Enjoy Water Lily Concerts featuring classical music on the New York Botanical Garden’s Conservatory Lawn on July 12, 19 and 26 from 6 to 8 p.m. Grounds admission is $6 for adults, $3 for seniors, $2 for students with ID and $1 for children ages 2 to 12. For more information, call (718) 817-8700.

Adults can enjoy Summer Songbooks, a series of concerts at Wave Hill. On Aug. 5 is “Songs for a Summer Afternoon,” performed by master cabaret singer and pianist Steve Ross from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Wave Hill House. Tickets are $24 and $15 for members at ext. 385. Wave Hill is located at West 249th Street and Independence Avenue in Riverdale. For more information, call (718) 549-3200 or visit wavehill.org.

Music and Dance from Bangladesh will be presented by members of the Bangladesh Institute for the Performing Arts on July 21 at 2:30 p.m. at Bronx Library Center, located at 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd. off Fordham Road. For more information, call (718) 579-4244/46 or visit www.nypl.org.

Events

Barefoot Dancing, a night of free dance instruction and live music originally conceived and presented at Wave Hill, moves to Van Cortlandt Park on Thursdays this summer. July 12 is Grand Picnic: North American Contra Dancing from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Park House Museum lawn, and then there’s Tokounou: West African Drumming, on July 19. Enter the park at Broadway and West 246th Street. Bring chairs or a blanket. For more information, call (718) 430-1890 or visit www.nyc.gov/parks.

The Bronx River Alliance extends an invitation to enjoy Paddling: From the Border to the Mouth, a full river canoe trip on July 21. For more information and to register, call (718) 430-4636 or visit www.bronxriver.org.

The Farmers Market continues at the New York Botanical Garden’s Tulip Tree Allée Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Oct. 31. Admission only to Garden grounds is free from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays and all day Wednesdays. All other times, grounds admission is $6 for adults, $3 for seniors, $2 for students with ID and $1 for children ages 2 to 12. For more information, call (718) 817-8700.

Exhibits

Thoreau Reconsidered, one installment of an exhibition series that explores 19th century American writing about nature through the lens of contemporary art, features works by artists inspired by Henry David Thoreau, including his observations about light and life at Walden Pond. The exhibit runs through Aug. 26 in Wave Hill’s Glyndor Gallery and grounds. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at West 249th Street and Independence Avenue in Riverdale. For more information, call (718) 549-3200 or visit wavehill.org.

Caribbean Gardens: Journey to Paradise, celebrating Caribbean flowers and culture, will run through Sept. 16 at the New York Botanical Garden’s Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. The new buds are accompanied by the Paradise in Print exhibition in the LuEsther T. Mertz Library through Aug. 19. For more information, call (718) 817-8700.

Learning

Wave Hill has a little something for everyone:

Sketch some of Wave Hill’s birds and model a colored clay relief at Rainbow Feathers of Clay, one of Wave Hill’s family art projects, on July 14 and 15. Also, create your own custom-made sunglasses for viewing the surroundings at Shades of Summer, on July 21 and 22. Both are in Wave Hill’s Kerlin Learning Center from 1 to 4 p.m.

Also, a workshop called Urban Beekeeping – Summer Hive Inspection invites visitors to don a hat, veil and gloves for a hands-on look inside active honeybee hives on July 14 at 10 a.m. at the Perkins Visitor Center. Registration is required at ext. 305. Cost is $25 and $20 for members.

Children and their families can join musicians from all over the world at Interactive World Music for Children, in Wave Hill’s gardens, rain or shine from 11 a.m. to noon on July 25. Materials are provided. Tony Falanga, jazz and classical bass player, will be featured. Wave Hill is at West 249th Street and Independence Avenue in Riverdale. For more information, call (718) 549-3200 or visit wavehill.org.

The Bronx Library Center has events for all ages:

Children, ages 3 to 12, can see films at 2 p.m. on July 18 and 25. Ages 7 to 12 can attend several crafts workshops: Fan Making on July 12, Log Cabin Making on July 19 and Jewelry Making on July 26. All are at 3 p.m. and require pre-registration. Additional programs for children include Favorites from the Treasure Chest: Storytelling and Puppets for ages 4 to 12 on July 17 at 3 p.m.; Family Time: Craft & Story Time for ages 3 to 5 with parent or caregiver on July 21 at 11 a.m. and Katcha and the Devil and Other Czechoslovak Tales, a puppet show for ages 5 to 12, presented by Vit Horejs, on July 24 at 3 p.m.

For adults, there’s Crochet Club, a free workshop on July 20 at 3 p.m. (bring your own materials). Also, there’s a lecture called Farmers Market Nutrition on fresh fruits and vegetables on July 23 at 6 p.m.

The Center is located at 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd. off Fordham Road. For a detailed schedule, call (718) 579-4244/46 or visit www.nypl.org.

Children ages 18 to 36 months have Toddler Time, featuring picture book stories and songs, with a parent or caregiver, on July 19 at 10:30 a.m. Also, children ages 5 to 12 discover the world of Owls on July 17 at 3 p.m., while ages 4 and over can join Summer Crafts on Thursday, July 26 at 3 p.m. Pre-registration is required for both. Go to the Mosholu Library, 285 E. 205th St. For more information, call (718) 882-8239.

Children ages 4+ can enjoy Mystery, Mayhem and Tales of Mischief, stories presented by LuAnn Adams, on July 17 at 2 p.m. at the Jerome Park Library. Young adults can attend Boomerang!, a workshop to make these flying devices, on July 19 at 3 p.m. The library is located at 118 Eames Place. For more information, call (718) 549-5200.

Mini-Guggenheim at St. Philip Neri

By Alex Kratz

On the last day of school at St. Philip Neri, art teacher Eveline Suarez happily paraded around the heavily-decorated hallways of her building and pointed out all the beautiful artwork her students had produced over the course of the year.

There were murals, collages, Egyptian hieroglyphics and brightly-colored masks, to name just a few of the ubiquitous exhibits that had turned the Catholic school on the Grand Concourse into a mini-Guggenheim.

"These kids did such a wonderful job," said Suarez. "Just look at all the talent on display here."

Wall Street Meets 207th Street

By Heather Appel

The money was imaginary, but the lessons were real for the students at St. Brendan School who participated in the Stock Market Game this spring. The Norwood school had 65 teams of three competing with over 750 other teams in the region and boasted several teams who were at the top of their divisions.

Starting with a virtual cash account of $100,000, the students worked to create the best-performing portfolios using a live trading simulation. One of St. Brendan’s 5th grade teams, made up of Terrill Daniel, Caitlin Harrison and Neal McAllister, won first place in their division.

An eighth-grade team finished second, a sixth-grade team finished fourth, and a seventh-grade team placed sixth in their divisions.

Computer teacher Mary Thompson, who led the project, said the kids often asked to stay late so they could buy one more stock.  She said part of their success came from including a strong math student in each team. The teams earned from $3,400 to $7,000 each from their investments.

The students received ribbons and certificates from the New York Stock Exchange, and the winning fifth-grade team attended an awards luncheon at New York University on June 15.

The top placing investors are: Caitlin Harrison, Terrill Daniel, Neal McAllister, Eucherius Rosario, Michael Perdomo, Elena Peralta, Rochelle Amoncio, Toni Mackey, Gregory St. Mark, Ivan Kaloyanov, Donika Bruncaj, Cierra Forbin.

St. James Park House Finally Complete

By Jessica Glazer

Following a string of missteps, including five contractor defaults since 2003, the St. James Park House, including all the surrounding paths and garden beds, is finally completed and ready for inspection, Parks Department officials said.

The park house, which was supposed to be completed in May 2004, is located next to the playground on the west side of the park. It contains rest rooms with water fountains inside as well as a meeting room with floor-length windows on all sides.

The meeting room is intended for a “multi-function use,” said Bruce Eisenberg, director of architecture at the Parks Department. For example, the room may be used for park employee meetings, as a lunchroom or for community programming.

Although the park house is finished, there is more reconstruction on the way.

Anticipated to begin in September 2007, the next phase of the park overhaul includes renovating the playground, pathway reconstruction in the northwest section of the park and reconstruction of the mall and adjoining pathways. Finally, the area in front of the park house and along Jerome Avenue will be reconstructed.

This next phase will cost $2.4 million and, unlike the park house, is a Croton project, meaning the money is coming from the Department of Environmental Protection as mitigation for building a giant water filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park.

Construction should take about a year and be complete by fall 2008, according to the Parks Department.

Aside from official construction, Ida Levy, the St. James Park gardener, three community youths and two mentors, have begun a five-week-long summer gardening program sponsored by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, which publishes the Norwood News. Levy and the students are mostly weeding and clearing paths. Later in the summer, they plan to plant rose shrubs.

“They are very enthusiastic,” Levy said of her student helpers. “They seem to like what they’re doing.”

Neighborhood Notes

By None

St. Brendan’s Flea Market
A flea market will be held in the yard at St. Brendan’s at Gun Hill Road and Bainbridge Avenue, Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through mid-August.

Computer Training at BCC
Bronx Community College’s displaced homemaker program is offering a basic/intermediate level Microsoft Word and Internet training at BCC, West 181st Street and University Avenue. Classes are free and scheduled to run from July 16 to Aug. 9 and Aug. 20 to Sept. 13 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or 2 to 5 p.m. Students must be fluent in English, read at a fifth grade level and be able to provide proof of income, a passport or birth certificate and social security card. Call (718) 289-5828 for an appointment and orientation date.

Reduced Fare MetroCard Stops
The MTA New York City Transit Bus is scheduled to make the following stops this month: Fordham Road and Grand Concourse, July 13 and 27 from noon to 2:30 p.m.; Scott Towers at 3400 Paul Ave. on July 23 from 1 to 3 p.m.; and Van Cortlandt Village at 3880 Sedgwick Ave. on July 13 and 27 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Customers can add value to and purchase MetroCards or apply for reduced-fare MetroCards with proper ID. For more information, call (212) METROCARD or visit www.mta.info.

PAL Kicks Off Summer Play Street Program
The Police Athletic League (PAL) launched its 2007 summer program in the Bronx on July 2. The program closes off streets and utilizes other public areas to provide children with safe, supervised outdoor activities, including Double Dutch, Hopscotch, Nok Hockey, and basketball. Play Streets will be open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at PS 54, between Webster and Decatur avenues and 195th and 196th streets, and on 196th Street between Briggs and Bainbridge avenues. For more information, call (212) 477-9450.

Summer Supper Series
Mosholu Montefiore Community Center will host a summer supper series for adults ages 50 and over. The Center will provide an early evening of dancing and a light supper for $4 per evening. Events take place at 3450 DeKalb Avenue (corner of Gun Hill Road) from 4:30 to 7 p.m. on July 12 (Latin Favorites) and July 18 (American Dance Party: from Swing to R&B). Space is limited; registration will be accepted in advance. Call (718) 798-6601 for more information.

New Youth Programs at COVE
Mosholu Montefiore Community Center is running two free programs at the COVE at 3418 Gates Place. The Summer Evening Youth Center will provide games, music, recreation, a lounge and art activities on Tuesdays through Saturdays from 5 to 6:30 p.m. for 12 ? to 14 ? year-olds, and 6:30 to 9 p.m. for 15- to 18-year-olds through Aug. 31.

The Safe Streets program, a play program at the COVE supervised by a licensed teacher and staffed by summer youth interns, runs from July 9 to Aug. 17, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday. They will use Cove space, fields, sprinklers and playgrounds across the street. First come, first served. Enrollment is limited. For more information, call (718) 882-4000.

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Feast
The Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel will sponsor its traditional feast from Thursday, July 12 through Monday, July 16, at 627 E. 187th Street in Belmont. The feast will run from 6 to 11 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Monday, and 4 to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and will feature food, games, rides and entertainment. The traditional procession with the statue of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel will take place Sunday, July 15 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., followed by benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. A High Mass will be celebrated July 16 at noon. For more information, call (718) 295-3770.

Free Summer Tennis Program
Youth ages 6 to 18 can register for a free summer tennis program at John F. Kennedy High School, 99 Terrace View Ave., Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to noon, through August 24. Walk-in registration takes place any day the program is in session. For information, call the New York Junior Tennis League, (718) 786-7110 ext. 8157.

Swimming Programs at City Pools
The Department of Parks and Recreation is offering Learn-to-Swim sessions at the city’s 52 outdoor pools for tots (ages 1 and a half to 5) and children (6 to 14). The next sessions run from July 26 to Aug. 10 and Aug. 14 to 31 from 9:15 to 10:30 a.m. Registration is on July 25 for the first session or Aug. 13 for the second. The closest city pool in the northwest Bronx is the Van Cortlandt Pool at West 242nd Street and Broadway.

Youth between the ages of 6 and 18 who can swim 25 yards are invited to participate in the Five-Borough Championship Swimming Competition on Aug. 11 at Hamilton Fish Pool in Manhattan. For training times and locations, visit www.nyc.gov/parks or call 311.

The adult lap swim program began July 5 at 13 pools, giving adults uninterrupted access to the pools. Early Bird (7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.) and Night Owl (7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.) sessions are available.

Bronx Ball Broadcast on BronxNet
BronxNet will cablecast the Bronx Ball, the Bronx Week event held in June at the restored Utopia’s Paradise Theater on the Grand Concourse. Viewers can watch the festivities on Channel 67 on Thursday July 12 at 5 p.m. and Wednesday July 18 at 7 p.m. The honorees at this year’s ball included Tim Zagat of Zagat Survey, Bachata band Aventura, singer Dion DiMucci and Doris Roberts of “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

Sports and Art Camp at PS 86
A free sports and art camp for children 6 to 12 years old runs through Aug. 8 at PS 86, 2756 Reservoir Ave. from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Activities will include sports, field trips and crafts instruction. For more information, call (718) 549-7300.

Social Security Assistance
Representatives of the Social Security Administration will be at Congressman Eliot Engel’s Bronx office, 3655 Johnson Ave. on Thursday, July 26, to assist people with questions or problems. The service is available by appointment only. For an appointment, call Richard Fedderman at (718) 796-9700.

Paradise Theater in Hands of Utopia

By Heather Appel

After several false starts, the historic Loew’s Paradise Theater has a new name and a new life under the administration of Utopia Studios, a company headed by developer Joe Gentile and his wife, the actress Cathy Moriarty-Gentile.

For the Bronx-born star and her husband, it’s a new venture but also a homecoming.

"It’s a new day, but it’s nice because it’s an old day at the same time," said Gentile in a recent interview. "It’s a comeback. I see nothing but good things."

Utopia’s Paradise Theater, as it is now called, will host large-scale music, theater and sports events geared toward families, and beginning in the fall, it will serve as a television studio, where shows will be taped before a live audience.

Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión first approached Gentile about investing in the Loew’s Paradise in 2002 when Moriarty-Gentile was inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame. Gentile said that with so much talent coming from the Bronx (including his wife, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role in "Raging Bull"), he thought it was fitting that there be a venue to showcase that talent.

"Who wouldn’t want to set up shop where the talent is?" he said.  

The Grand Concourse theater was closed from 1994 until 2005, when a major restoration was completed. Built in 1929 as a movie theater, it’s the third largest theater of its kind in the state. Under an agreement with the owner of the building, Utopia Studios has exclusive control over the theater for the long term. City property records list the owner as Gerald Lieblich of First Paradise Theaters Corp., who took over the theater in 2005.

Gentile didn’t comment on the failures of previous owners or managers, but he said his company is making a transition away from some of the less successful programming of the past two years and has already had tremendous success.

"It’s a given that the parties bringing it together are competent," he said.

The theater has been active over the past few weeks, hosting the annual Bronx Ball June 23, as well as boxing and rhythm and blues events in early July. Rehearsals are under way for a benefit event called Peace, Unity and Hope on Aug. 18 featuring music by Jose Feliciano and Yankees outfield/guitarist Bernie Williams, and a play starring New York baseball stars Darryl Strawberry and Jim Leyritz.

Strawberry and Leyritz are scheduled to perform a stage version of "The Boy of Steel," a children’s book written by Yankees consultant Ray Negron about a child with brain cancer who becomes a Yankees bat boy for one day.

Negron said the Utopia’s Paradise Theater is an ideal place for the premiere of his play. "This is like the Yankee Stadium of theater-Sinatra, Jolson, Sammy Davis Jr., they all performed here," he said. "What better place to do "The Boy of Steel?"

Debbie Medina, the president of Events and Entertainment, Ltd., which is producing the benefit event, plans to bring several productions to the theater, including a comedy show with big-name comedians and "Youth Explosion," featuring musical entertainment for young people. All of the events will donate a certain percentage to charity, she said. Gentile is not planning to publicly announce all the plans for Utopia Studios television programs until August, but in a recent interview he described two shows that will begin production in August.  

The first is a women’s daytime talk show called "Tea With You" that has attracted "A-list talent," he said. The other is "Kids-O-Rama," a Sunday morning program that will be broadcast in English and Spanish.

Starting in August, TV producers will host children’s shows in the theater where they will select kids from the audience to audition for future shows.

"We’re looking for the next stars to come out of the Bronx with auditions, rehearsals, music concerts as well as grassroots community events,” said Cathy Moriarty-Gentile in a statement.

People’s History of Sachkerah Woods

By None

The new playground in Van Cortlandt Park has its roots in the volunteer activities of Norwood resident Ora Holloway (pictured here building the Saturn Playground in 1996) and her neighbors.

See editorial.

Trouble in the Oval

By None

Sunday, July 8 at Oval Park, around 7:30 p.m. (I wasn’t really looking at the time, just trying to enjoy the hot evening with my kids), a fight erupted right in front of the park’s bathroom building.  

A group of Mexican men, who constantly sit above the tunnel by the stone wall waiting and watching for trouble, came down the nearby stairs and attacked another young man who did not provoke the attack in any way. He was hit with punches and chains and left bleeding.  

He stumbled into the building for assistance, where we assume the police were called. They took 15 minutes to respond, and, of course, the gang was long gone.  

But don’t worry, they will be back, sitting there waiting to do more harm. We are losing our precious park to hoodlums and gangs and will have no safe place to take our kids to very soon.  

You cannot contact the Parks Department directly any more and have to go thru 311 to get any complaints through. This takes longer, and less and less seems to be accomplished from the Parks Department lately. Patrol cars are hardly visible, and never when they are really needed, like on the weekends when the soccer teams and their families are there drinking alcohol openly and leaving their garbage everywhere. Come and visit late Sunday evening or early Monday morning and see the destruction they leave behind.

This park is all some of us have for our kids, and it is being ruined and taken away from us. We need help from police and the Parks Department now, before it’s too late! The Norwood News asks that we sign our names to letters, but for fear of being identified, I ask that you withhold my name in this case.

Name Withheld

New Playground Needs New Traffic Light

By None

At the opening celebration of Sachkerah Woods, I mentioned to several people that there’s a new path leading into the park from Gates Place and Gun Hill Road – but no traffic light to make it safe to cross Gun Hill Road at Gates Place. One of the people I mentioned it to was Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz.

The very next day, in the mail, I received a copy of a letter Jeff Dinowitz wrote to Bronx DOT Commissioner Constance Moran, asking for a study to determine the need for a traffic light at this intersection.

I want to publicly thank Assemblyman Dinowitz for acting so promptly on my concern. I didn’t even actually ask him to do anything about it, but he heard what I said and acted on it.

Now let’s hope the DOT, in studying the intersection, sees the eminent sensibility of making it safe for people to enter the park at Gates Place.

Margaret Groarke

Wanted: A City Manager

By Alex Kratz

As we report in this issue, Community Board 7 has embarked on a process to hire a district manager.

Community boards aren’t generally well known by community residents, but they should be because they essentially function as local branches of city government. The rap against them is they aren’t powerful because they mostly serve as an advisory body to City Hall and city agencies.

But like a muscle, they can be quite strong when exercised on a regular basis. Community boards with active, informed members garner the attention and respect of city officials. On some issues, the city may go against the decision of a local board, but when a board does its homework and takes firm stances on issues, or agitates for attention to local problems, the bureaucrats take notice.

The district manager position is critical to this function. Without an effective manager to hound and work with agency officials, to help identify solutions to local problems, and to provide the board with the information it needs, a Board cannot be effective.

We are pleased that Board Chair Greg Faulkner has chosen to make the process to choose a new district manager as public and open as possible.

We think that will enable the Board to come to the best decision as to who to hire for what is essentially a city-sized area of 141,000 people.

Ora’s Playground

By Editorial

It would be easy to just  credit the controversial filtration plant deal for the construction of the beautiful new Sachkerah Woods Playground in Van Cortlandt Park.

The $2.9 million for the playground comes directly from the deal that made it possible for the city to destroy public parkland in order to site the plant.

If you relied on official information like the Parks Department press release, that’s all you would know.

You wouldn’t know that the Parks Department virtually abandoned that 11-acre section of the park in the 1990s, surrendering it to the weeds, and the illicit activity that took root among them.

And you wouldn’t know that it was ordinary residents like Ora Holloway and other volunteers who banded to together in their free time to reclaim the area. On weekends they collected litter, cleared weeds and planted flowers.

Or that in 1996, on the ground the volunteers cleared, they helped staffers from the Saturn car company build a playground in a single day.  

You also wouldn’t know that in 2002 an innovative community design project, organized by the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park and New Yorkers for Parks, which solicited input from local youth, gave shape to the Parks Department’s final architectural plans.

It’s important to remember that many community achievements like Sachkerah Woods are tilled and cultivated at the grassroots over many years.

Holloway jokingly suggested in comments at the ribbon-cutting that, because the new playground is so close to her heart, it should be called Ora’s Playground.

We’ve already started calling it that.

New Noise Code Aims to Put a Lid on It

By Jessica Glazer

Mister Softee, beware. Starting this summer, the omnipresent jingle that means a roving ice cream truck is just around the corner will theoretically be heard less thanks to a new noise code, which took effect July 1. It specifically targets Mister Softee trucks, along with music blasters, barking dogs, and other chronic disturbances.

It’s the first major change to the code in 30 years.

According to the mayor’s office, noise complaints are the "number one quality of life issue for New York City residents." In 2005, the year the revision of the noise code was finally passed, the 311 hotline received over 335,000 clamor-related complaints. In 2007, Community Board 7 alone has had 6,357 noise complaints.

The end result appears to be that regulations will be stricter and more specific, while punishments will be more flexible and focused on mitigation rather than fines.

For example, the code now says that an animal cannot make noise for more than 10 minutes consecutively during the day or five minutes during the night, and it’s up to the owner to remedy this. The old code was vaguer, saying just that it would be a problem if the dog barked for an "unreasonable" amount of time.

Despite the greater clarity, how effective enforcement will be is still an open question.

A dog barking excessively, for example,  is "hard to enforce" said Lieutenant Charles Hammer, the daytime special projects officer at the 52nd Precinct.

Precincts will be armed with one or two decibel meters apiece but even those may not be a magic bullet. John Reilly, head of the Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation, donated a  meter to the 52nd Precinct in the mid-1990s, in the interest of quieting things down around the organization’s many apartment buildings. Reilly said getting the meter calibrated every six months or so proved problematic, as was the fact that too few officers were trained to use it.

When summonses are issued, the code is fairly flexible, at least for first-time offenders. A barking-dog fine could be up to $175 for first-time offenders and up to $525 for repeat offenders, but in most cases the fine could be waived if a plan for reducing the sound is provided. "There are fines, but the real attempt is to mitigate it, to make it a little quieter," said Michael Saucier, the Department of Environmental Protection’s director of public affairs.

To avoid fines, construction sites and nightclubs that exceed the permitted decibel levels will have to take measures to mitigate the noise, like noise-muffling devices on jackhammers or heavy curtains for clubs.

As for Mister Softee, drivers  are not allowed to play their music when stopped. This is not sitting too well with local drivers of the ice cream trucks.

"It’s not fair for us," said Michael Ortiz, a Mr. Softee driver interviewed on his rounds in Norwood, who complained that turning off the music would make him invisible to residents inside their homes. "We’re gonna lose business."

Some of his customers aren’t buying it, though.

"It’s annoying to hear the music continuing on and on," said Letty, a local resident who didn’t give her last name, as she purchased some ice cream from Ortiz. "When you hear it coming, you’ll know it’s there."

Raucous Illegal Club, Squatters Plague Block

By Alex Kratz

A stretch of Bainbridge Avenue, a quiet residential street of quaint single-family homes and small apartment buildings just north of the bustling commerce and commotion of Fordham Road, has become a haven for squatters and late-night parties and a nightmare for local residents.

For the past year, people on the block say they have been tormented by two residences where rowdy, uncouth and illegal activity rages from the early afternoon into the wee hours of the morning. Weekends are worse than weekdays, but not by much.

Several residents have begun to make noise at community meetings after making literally hundreds of calls to police and 311 since the beginning of last summer for everything from an illegal conversion of a garage to prostitution and open drug use.

All of those interviewed for this article requested anonymity because they feared retaliation from the offending parties.

"It’s a truly terrible situation and a nightmare for everyone on the block," said one local resident who has lived in the area for several years. "Most of us are hard-working people. We have to work in the morning and they’re still out there partying and carrying on. We can’t sleep, it’s so bad. It’s not fair that we should have to live like this."

Another local homeowner with a big yard, a rarity in New York City, said he can’t even let his children take advantage of their space and play outside because of what they might be subjected to in terms of drugs or violence.

Lt. Steve Phalen, director of special operations at the 52nd Precinct, just a few months on the job here in the northwest Bronx, acknowledged the "numerous" calls his station has received about problems in the area.

One major obstacle in the way of police putting an end to the behavior, Phalen says, is location.

Residents say a squatter house overrun by junkies at 2583 Bainbridge is annoying, but the more unruly and explosive situation stems from the back of 2584 Briggs Ave., which is only accessible by cars and pedestrians via Poe Place, a dead-end alleyway that is not part of regular police patrols. Poe Place bisects Bainbridge and Briggs avenues and can only be accessed by Bainbridge Avenue.

Residents of both Bainbridge and Briggs say the traffic on Poe Place, pedestrian and vehicular, is relentless day and night. Combined with blaring reggae and rap music and the constant stench of people smoking marijuana, residents say they are convinced the place doubles as both a club and drug depot.

Phalen says they’ve made a handful of drug arrests in the area, but nothing concrete enough that could be used as evidence to gain a search warrant for the house. Patrolling the dead-end alley is also difficult, he says.

Though, fortunately, there have been no reports of gunfire, residents say the occasional fight breaks out and bottles are thrown. Still, residents live in fear that the violence might escalate and an innocent bystander, maybe a child playing in the yard or somebody asleep in their bed, might take a stray bullet.

"We’re just waiting for something bad to happen," said one woman who lives near the house. "My husband says, ‘That’s the problem with this city: Everyone waits for something terrible to happen and then they start to pay attention.’ After the fact. That’s how this city operates."

Phalen says he’s trying to "clean up" the situation, literally. He says the precinct is quick to respond to all calls from the area and will arrest anyone caught doing illegal activity. He’s also working with the Buildings Department to see if the city can close the house for violating regulations. In the meantime, he says he’s organizing a "community clean-up" for Poe Place that would involve off-duty officers and the Little Explorers, the NYPD youth program.

"If the place is cleaned up and if we start ticketing their cars, it won’t be so easy for them to do what they’re doing," Phalen says.

The house on Briggs and a handful of others on the block are owned by a Jamaican man named Herbert Spencer. Residents say most of the partygoers are also of Jamaican descent and that Spencer condones the activity going on.

On a recent sunny Friday afternoon, there were about 15 people hanging outside on Poe Place playing Dominoes loudly and smoking marijuana. People were coming in and out of the house like it was a convenience store.  

On June 25, complaints were filed with the Buildings Department saying that 2584 Briggs is "being used as an illegal club." But according to public records, inspectors have not come by.

Phalen has assured residents that, if given time, he’ll have the place cleaned up. But while residents say Phalen has been responsive, they are growing increasingly frustrated and sleep-deprived.

Just last week, on July 6, residents scored a small victory when bulldozers came and destroyed the squatter house on Bainbridge.

Before the house was cleared, a homeless man named Greg, who lived in the house with several others, said he already had a plan for his next residence. "I’ll just move on to the next abanda-minium."

Sure enough, residents say Greg and his crew have moved to an abandoned house on Briggs that they access via a vacant parking lot, just half a block from the raucous party house.  

Jessica Glazer contributed to this story.

A New Webster Avenue

By Alex Kratz and Jessica Glazer

The Webster Avenue corridor where the Doe Fund wants to build is currently zoned for heavy commercial use and is made up of mostly auto shops, gas stations and other industrial businesses. There are also private homes and apartment buildings, but Community Board 7 wants to attract more housing through a rezoning process that would limit heavy commercial use.

Recently, the New York Botanical Garden received the go-ahead from the city to build a four-story parking garage on Webster at the northeast corner of Bedford Park Boulevard. But last fall, the community, including several board members rallied to try to stop a Comfort Inn from being constructed right near PS/MS 20, located on Webster just north of Mosholu Parkway.

The Board wants there to be more guidelines in place to make development less haphazard and to prevent unwanted projects like the proposed hotel (plans have been approved but the developer has yet to apply for a permit).

"We want to improve the look of the area," said Sandra Erickson, chair of CB7′s Land Use Committee.

That also means bringing in developers who share in the Board’s vision for a more residential future, which Faulkner said is not a problem. "If you rezone it, they will come," Faulkner said with confidence.

Still, rezoning is a process, Faulkner said. "We can’t speed the process."

Currently, New York City Planning is surveying Webster Avenue to help the Board with rezoning. Then the city must complete an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) to review the effect rezoning would have on the area. Erickson expects the EIS to be completed by this winter, at which point rezoning can be considered.

Buildings in Pipeline for Webster

By Jessica Glazer

As Community Board 7 begins the process of rezoning Webster Avenue to allow for more residences, the corridor is on the verge of welcoming two new apartment buildings to the neighborhood.

The Doe Fund, a non-profit organization that provides services for the formerly homeless and formerly incarcerated, as well as others, is currently working to obtain a variance that would allow them to build two eight-story apartment buildings on Webster Avenue.

Because of zoning restrictions, the fund, which provides street cleaning services on Bainbridge Avenue and East 204th Street in Norwood using its members, needs the city’s permission to build higher than four stories. One of the buildings is meant for low- and middle-income families, while the other is to contain 84 single-room occupancy apartments (SROs) for men 55 and older.

Many of the residents will be Doe Fund members, formerly homeless and incarcerated individuals, who will be moving into a support system as well as an apartment building.

Although CB7 has approved the Fund’s plan, which is independent from the rezoning effort, they aren’t ready to let a building go up without making sure it will have a positive impact on the community.

CB7 has two concerns with the buildings. One is that eight stories is too high for the area aesthetically, and two, the SRO rooms are too small.

“We can’t assume they won’t have visitors,” Faulkner said about room size. “It should be a situation where they can have self-esteem.”

He said the Board of Standards and Appeals, which is reviewing the proposals on July 10, shared concerns with room size. His solution would be to double the square footage of each room and then have half the amount of rooms, making it a more “live-able” space.

The Doe Fund already has SRO residences that have been successful and they have no qualms about the room size. It has proved to be “absolutely fantastic,” said Eric Palatnik, a lawyer for the Doe Fund.

Still, former CB7 District Manager Rita Kessler echoed the views of many when she said bigger rooms means occupants have the option of living with someone, which creates more stability – the Board’s ultimate goal.

Although Kessler expressed some concerns with the backgrounds of the would-be residents, she said the fact that they go through Doe Fund training and the apartments are rent-stabilized will help make them more stable community members.

Faulkner, too, has no real concerns about the residents themselves. “They are older and have been through the program,” he said. “The Doe Fund has a great reputation and we are willing to take that gamble.”

His only concern is that a future developer might have reservations about building next to an SRO building. However, Faulkner said that, “ironically, in areas where the Doe Fund has built, property value goes up. The Doe Fund has a good track record.”

Filtration Construction Shuts Driving Range

By Heather Appel

Golfers who use the driving range at Mosholu Golf Course will have to practice their swings elsewhere for the foreseeable future.

Despite promises by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that the golf course and temporary driving range would remain open during construction of the Croton water filtration plant, the driving range is now closed to the public.

A sign posted at the golf course indicates that golf balls were flying into the filtration plant construction site, despite a 75-foot mesh fence between the golf course and the construction site.  

"It seems to me if they can protect our water supply from terrorists, they can protect their heads from golf balls," said Jane Sokolow, a board member of Friends of Van Cortlandt Park. "If you look at Chelsea Piers, they have a very high net for the driving range, so I don’t know why they can’t do that here."

First Tee, the youth golf organization that runs the golf course for the city parks department, said its board decided to limit access to the driving range because of safety and liability issues. The workers at the filtration recently moved closer to the end of the site that adjoins the driving range, said First Tee Director Barry McLaughlin.

First Tee is still using the driving range for its summer youth camps, and McLaughlin said adults who are taking a training class are also permitted to use the range.

"The only thing we’ve had to suspend is the [unsupervised] hitting of range balls as a warmup or in practice," he said.

According to McLaughlin, his organization is looking for a solution to open it back up, but couldn’t give a timeline.

"If we can come up with a resolution, we will do it," he said. "And we need DEP to help fund it."

Several calls to the DEP requesting comment were not returned. Because of several setbacks, the filtration plant is not expected to be completed until 2012.

In a "Statement of Findings," then-DEP Commissioner Chris Ward in the Environmental Impact Statement for the Project, said that the driving range, which was originally closer to Jerome Avenue, and golf course "would be replaced on a temporary basis during construction and on a permanent basis after construction."   

Sokolow was disappointed that there were no public hearings or meetings with the community to discuss how to solve the problem without closing down that portion of the golf course.

"They said they’d keep things open, that it wouldn’t impact on the golfers," she said. "It’s incredible that it’s shut down."

Keeping It Affordable

By Heather Appel

Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation will acquire and renovate 283 apartments in six buildings in the northwest Bronx, thanks to a $23 million loan from the city’s new Acquisition Fund. It’s the first loan made through the $230 million initiative.

Commissioner Shaun Donovan of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced the loan on June 27 in front of 2825 Webb Ave., one of the apartment buildings acquired through the fund.

He was joined by representatives of the Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation (FBHC), Enterprise New York, and several banks and foundations that invested in the fund, which is a centerpiece of the mayor’s "New Housing Marketplace" plan to build or preserve 165,000 units of housing for 500,000 New Yorkers.

"The point is not just to fix up the buildings," Donovan said, "but also to make sure, over the next 10, 20 or 30 years that these buildings stay affordable."

Marisol Rodriguez, a mother of three who lives in 2825 Webb and runs a daycare center nearby, said she was relieved that the building will remain affordable, especially because it’s the nicest building she’s ever lived in.

"It’s very difficult to live in New York on my income and not have to step over cracked bottles and worry about who got shot," Rodriguez said. "And this is one neighborhood where you don’t have that."

The Acquisition Fund was created to help nonprofit developers compete with commercial developers, who can often move much faster to buy buildings because of the money and resources they have.

Donovan said the fund has become a model for other cities, like Chicago and Los Angeles, where officials want to create a similar resource.

The advantage the fund gives to nonprofit developers is timing, said Abby Jo Sigal, vice president of Enterprise New York, which is managing the fund.

"When people want to sell property, they want to sell it now," Sigal said. "What this fund does is enable you to close and then secure all the financing."

For FBHC, having resources makes a big difference in its ability to acquire buildings, said executive director John Reilly.

"We’ve been at a particular disadvantage since the prices have gone up so much," Reilly said. A lot of owners make money because the price of their property goes up, he said, but FBHC isn’t interested in selling or making a profit – Reilly plans to renovate the buildings while keeping them affordable for the long-term.

Douglas Sachs of Sachson Realty, the former owner of 2825 Webb and the other five buildings, said his family had owned some of the properties since 1936 and wanted to sell them to someone who would maintain them and keep the rents affordable. Sachs had worked with Fordham Bedford in the past and was pleased to see them take over the buildings.

The other buildings sold to Fordham Bedford are 200 E. Mosholu Parkway, 457 E. 187th St., 111 W. 183rd St., 1874 Loring Pl., and 2065 Davidson Ave.

There are four projects currently in the pipeline with financing from the Acquisition Fund, Sigal said. The $23 million loan to Fordham Bedford is the largest in Enterprise’s history and makes up 10 percent of the fund. The other projects underway are supportive housing developments linked to services (such as transitional housing for formerly homeless people).

The $230 million Acquisition Fund is made up of $8 million in city funding, $32.6 million from foundations, a $12.5 million challenge grant from the Starr Foundation (a New York-based nonprofit) and $190 million from banks and financial institutions.

CB7 Begins Search for New District Manager

By Jordan Moss

Are you a resident of New York City? Do you have excellent communication, managerial and organizational skills? What about experience in urban planning and managing budgets?

If you have these qualifications, and several others, you may be just the right person to fill the district manager position at Community Board 7.

Rita Kessler, District 7′s longtime head staffer, resigned June 30 leaving the position vacant for the first time in 18 years. Few current members of the Board have ever participated in the hiring of a district manager. In fact, says Board chair Gregory Faulkner, most board members were surprised that the Board played any role in the process, much less make the final decision about who to hire.

“The Community Board makes this decision and it’s probably the most important decision this Board can make,” Faulkner said.

In the absence of any city guidelines for how to go about out finding a new district manager, Faulkner and the Board’s search committee have come up with their own.

Stopping by the Norwood News office last Thursday, Faulkner laid out each step in the process, starting with advertisements in newspapers and ending, probably in October, with the final selection of a new district manager.

Official posting of the job and distribution of the position to the media and board members was scheduled for July 9. The deadline for applications is Aug. 15. The Board’s Search Committee will conduct the first round of interviews the week of Sept. 4 and three finalists will be interviewed in public, possibly with the participation of representatives of local community organizations, the week of Sept. 24. The search committee will meet to select a candidate the week of Oct. 8 and the Board will hold a special meeting to vote on the candidate the week of Oct. 22.

Faulkner said the public interview portion of the process is designed to invite community input. He vowed that there would be “no back-room deals.”

“It’s all going to be on the merits,” he said. “We want an outstanding person.”

Public and Community Meetings

By None

• Community Education Council 10 will meet Thursday, July 19 at 6:15 p.m. at PS/MS 279, 2100 Walton Ave.
• Community Board 7, the 52nd Precinct Community Council and the Croton Facility Monitoring Committee will not meet again until September.

Speaker Promotes Greenmarkets at Poe

By Heather Appel

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn visited the Poe Park Greenmarket to spread the word about the growing number of farmers markets that accept food stamps and EBT cards.

With almost $300,000 of additional funding this year from the City Council, many more New Yorkers will be able to buy fresh produce from local farms at their neighborhood Greenmarkets. Markets are now equipped with wireless scanners where shoppers swipe their EBT cards in exchange for wooden tokens they can then spend at any stand.

Quinn praised the program as a way to bring fresh, nutritious produce to the communities that need it the most.  

The Department of Health will also distribute 15,000 "Health Bucks" this summer, $2 coupons accepted at farmers markets throughout the Bronx. Shoppers will receive one Health Buck for every $5 spent using food stamps.

Since the Poe Park market started providing the tokens last year, the amount of food stamps spent at the market has grown to over $500 a day, a Greenmarket spokesman said.

Poe Park is one of a handful of Greenmarkets in the Bronx and is open Tuesdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Engel Introduces Greenhouse Gas Bill

By None

Congressman Eliot Engel introduced the Greenhouse Gas Accountability Act of 2007, a bill that would create a comprehensive registry of companies’ greenhouse gas emissions. The bill is one of two proposals under consideration that aim to reduce emissions through greater disclosure.

“To construct a comprehensive, economy-wide global warming policy, we have to know what we are currently emitting, who is emitting it, and data on where in the economy it makes sense to regulate,” said Engel.

The legislation would also require international companies who trade on American stock exchanges to report their emissions abroad as well, which Engel said will help policymakers understand how foreign operations are adding to the accumulation of greenhouse gases.

The bill was sent to the committees on energy and commerce and financial services in late June. No hearings are scheduled yet.

Serrano’s Bill to Help Disadvantaged Communities

By Heather Appel

Congressman José Serrano presided over the passage of a Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill that he said will provide hundreds of millions of dollars for consumer protection, community development, taxpayer assistance and grants to help states comply with the Help America Vote Act.

The bill includes $100 million for financial services in disadvantaged communities through housing loans, micro-business loans, community development banks and credit unions; $3.6 billion for the Internal Revenue Service to support a National Taxpayer Advocate and taxpayer education programs; $300 million for an election assistance commission; and $248 million for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate sub-prime lending practices and identity theft.

Murdoch Buys Bronx Times

By Cassandra Lizaire

Australian media titan Rupert Murdoch’s company News Corp., which specializes in tabloid-style journalism and produces the New York Post, officially announced the purchase of the Bronx Times Reporter and the Bronx Times papers last week.

Combined with chains of Queens and Brooklyn papers, the Bronx Times’ weekly circulation of 40,000 will boost News Corp.’s total community newspaper circulation in New York close to 300,000, according to a company statement.

"This acquisition, on the heels of last year’s purchase of the Times-Ledger (Queens) and Courier Life (Brooklyn) newspapers, gives us increased and comprehensive penetration," News Corp. Senior Vice President Les Goodstein said in a statement.

"This is an incredible development for the Bronx and for our readers that will allow us to enhance the quality of the Bronx Times," said Times publisher John Collazzi in a statement. Collazzi founded the Times with Democratic Assemblyman Michael Benedetto in 1981 and co-publishes the paper with David Keisman.

Collazzi has a second job as Benedetto’s chief of staff. Keisman also has ties to the Bronx Democratic Party, having served on Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion’s transition committee when he was first elected. The MirRam political consulting group, run by Bronx Democratic insiders Roberto Ramirez and Luis Miranda, is a partner with Keisman on the Manhattan Times, another free community newspaper in Washington Heights.

In its own announcement, the Bronx Times said Collazzi will remain as publisher under the new ownership. The statement underscored Collazzi’s stance that the paper’s staff will stay the same and that there are "no plans to alter its content or mission."

Sachkerah Woods Open for Play

By Jordan Moss

With giggling, running children as a backdrop, as well as a crane hovering nearby over the mammoth crater that will eventually host a water filtration plant, the city cut the ribbon on a new playground for the southeast corner of Van Cortlandt Park on June 28.

Sachkerah Woods, named for an Algonquian saying roughly translated as “extended land,” is the first playground to be built with $200 million flowing from water bond sales – an arrangement that greased the political levers in the state legislature to secure lawmakers’ permission to build the controversial plant in the park at Mosholu Golf Course.

The $2.9 million playground can also be traced to the concern and activism of Ora Holloway and her neighbors in the vicinity of the park, who, more than a decade ago, would gather on Saturdays to plant flowers and remove litter from the weed-choked meadow, where only vagrants and drug dealers ventured. Holloway, who now sits on the board of the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park, also lobbied the Parks Department to cut the weeds and maintain the area.

These efforts paved the way for a small playground to be built by the Saturn car company and local volunteers in a single day in 1996.

At the playground’s groundbreaking in 2005, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe acknowledged that the playground’s design reflected community input generated during a planning process in 2002 led by the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park and a Harvard School of Architecture student provided by New Yorkers for Parks. Youth from the COVE and the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center in Norwood participated in that process.

The playground includes an attractive comfort station built with Corinthian granite, play equipment, swings, benches, fencing, and new paths to improve access to the area. Honoring the Mosholu Golf Course, which has been reconfigured to make way for the plant construction, the playground incorporates a golf theme, with a spray shower in the form of a 19th hole flag, green concrete representing the putting green, and safety surfacing mimicking sand traps.

There are nine Bronx park projects currently in construction stemming from the filtration plant funding, including projects at Devoe and St. James parks.

Assaults, Murder on Kingsbridge Bring Increased Surveillance

By Heather Appel

Police have stepped up surveillance and residents are taking precautions after a string of violent attacks last month in the vicinity of Kingsbridge Road and Morris Avenue that left one man dead and five others hospitalized.

After the death of musician and social worker Jose Mateo, 50, on June 24, the Police Department released details of the attacks and appealed for the public’s help in identifying the attackers.

Mateo and another man were attacked June 1.

According to news accounts, as many as 10 young men in their 20s surrounded the victims and beat them. News reports also said that the same group attacked four more times, on June 22 and 23 and that all the victims were Hispanic men.

On June 27, police reported that they had arrested Robert Robertson, 23, of Manhattan, and charged him with the murder of Mateo. Police are looking for at least two other suspects who may have contributed to the death of Mateo, but all they have are street names at this point, said Lieutenant Steve Phalen, director of special operations at the 52nd Precinct.

Some people in the area suggested that the attacks may have been racially motivated. Robertson is black and Mateo is Hispanic. Since the attacks, a mobile surveillance tower, known as a Sky Watch, has been stationed on the corner of Kingsbridge Road and Morris Avenue and people in the neighborhood report increased police patrols.  

Francia Perez, an employee at the 99-cent store on that block, said she was aware of the attacks but felt comfortable now that police have stepped up their presence in the area.

For others, the security measures didn’t come soon enough.

"It’s a hot block. They have that police tower here now, but it’s too late," said a father of two who didn’t want to be identified.

"The area is horrible, the kids are really bad," said Beatriz Lake, who lives a couple of blocks from the surveillance site. She had heard an account of a 20-year-old who lost an eye in a recent assault. But since they put the NYPD unit there, it’s been quiet, she said.

Lake was heartbroken over the death of Mateo, who was her social worker at the local job center for the past three years. "He was a tremendous person and a tremendous social worker," she said in Spanish.

Current Print Edition

Click here for PDF downloads of recent editions. Click here for all recent print edition stories.

Latest from Breaking Bronx

• Tomorrow: Live Coverage From The Bronx BP’s State of Borough Speech Wed, Feb 22 at 5:27pm
• Bronx Nabe Note: Become Your Own Boss Workshop, Thursday Night Wed, Feb 22 at 4:35pm
• Wednesday’s Bronx News Links Wed, Feb 22 at 3:17pm
• Local Initiative Puts Focus on Teens’ Reproductive Health Wed, Feb 22 at 12:33pm
• Bicycles and Basketballs Could be in the Armory’s Future Wed, Feb 22 at 5:58am

Archives

Copyright © 2007 Norwood News · Log in