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Out & About

By Judy Noy

Onstage

 

• The Mosholu Library, at 285 E. 205th St., hosts A Celebration of Polynesian Dance & Music featuring The Aloha Iolani Dance Troupe, Aug. 23 at 2:30 p.m. For more information, call (718) 882-8239.

 

• The Bronx Library Center hosts A Musical Tribute to Jazz Vocalist Johnny Hartman by Cody Childs, Aug. 23 at 2:30 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.

 

• The New York Botanical Garden presents an outdoor concert to complement its Henry Moore exhibition, featuring jazz musicians The David Grossman Ensemble, in the Leon Levy Visitor Center, Aug. 21 at 7 p.m. For more information, call (718) 817-8700.

 

Events

 

• Revolution!, the new rock ‘n roll dance party, will take place at Bruckner Bar & Gallery, 1 Bruckner Blvd. at the corner of Third Avenue under the Third Avenue Bridge, Aug. 22 starting at 10 p.m., for ages 21 and up. Cost is $7 or $5 with flyer, or rsvp on www.going.com. Events include live music, art, nightlife, and DJs. For more information, call (917) 804-3541.

 

• JASA Van Cortlandt Senior Center is taking several trips next month. Sept. 9 is Empire City Casino; Sept. 11 is Cross County Mall; and Sept. 23 is the Poe Park Farmers Market. Meet at the Center at 3880 Sedgwick Ave. Call Maritiza at (718) 549-4700 to reserve, or for information on other events.

 

• Wave Hill offers up two family art projects, Shades of Summer, to create custom-made colored sunglasses, Aug. 23 to 24, and another on Aug. 30 to 31, to be announced, both in the Kerlin Learning Center from 1 to 4 p.m. On Labor Day, there will be tours called “In Response: Summer Projects,” on the last day of their exhibition. Tours are also given every Thursday at noon and Saturday at 2:15 p.m. Wave Hill is located at 675 W. 252nd St. For more information, call (718) 549-3200.

 

• The New York Botanical Garden’s Tulip Tree Allee hosts its Farmers Market, Wednesdays through Oct. 29, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It offers seasonal produce, home-baked goods and natural products from New York State farmers and merchants. There will be free demonstrations and educational and fun programs from noon to 2 p.m. on the first and last Wednesday of each month. The Garden is located at Bronx River Parkway and Fordham Road. For more information, call (718) 817-8700.

 

Exhibits

 

• The Bronx Library Center hosts an exhibit of photographs by Arlette Landestoy called Weekend Visitors to Inwood Park Hill (The Dominican People), presented by En Foco, through Oct. 31. The Center is located at 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd. off Fordham Road. For more information, call (718) 579-4244/46 or visit www.nypl.org.

 

• Darcy Dahl’s installation piece Insula has the gallery glowing in light and color, through Sept. 13 at the Bronx Museum’s Project Space. It takes drawings, paintings and projections and transforms the space, inspired by the insula, or part of the brain which translates objective physiological states into subjective emotional experiences. It’s at 11 Bruckner Blvd. at the corner of Lincoln Avenue, Saturdays 1 to 5 p.m. or by appointment at (718) 681-6000.

 

• Take a peek into the story of Freedomland – New York City’s Disneyland, through Oct. 19, at the Valentine-Varian House or Museum of Bronx History. The exhibition tells the story of the American History-themed amusement park opened in 1960 on the 205-acre site now home to Bay Plaza and Co-op City. The museum is located at 3266 Bainbridge Ave. at East 208th Street. For more information, call (718) 881-8900.

 

• The New York Botanical Garden presents Moore in America, featuring approximately 20 pieces of installation pieces by Henry Moore, through Nov. 2, running concurrently with “The Art of Henry Moore,” documentary film Fridays to Sundays at noon and 2 p.m. in the Arthur and Janet Ross Lecture Hall. Children can create works of art, including a collage and clay sculptures, in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, Tuesdays through Fridays from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Also visit The Heirloom Tomato, a photographic exhibit of tomato varieties by Victor Schrager, through Aug. 30 in the Arthur and Janet Ross Gallery. For more information, call (718) 817-8700.

 

• Live and Active, a group exhibition exploring friction between states, psychologies and ideologies, will be held at the Bronx River Art Center at 1087 E. Tremont Ave. through Aug. 23. The exhibit includes the work of artists Tom Bogaert, Hasan Elahi, Jessica Feldman and John Movius. Summer gallery hours are 2 to 5:30 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays; 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays; and noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays. For more information, call (718) 589-5819 or visit www.bronxriverart.org.

 

Learning

The Bronx Library Center has events for all ages:

• For children and preschoolers, there are films, Aug. 27 at 2 p.m.; Big Jeff Music, Aug. 22 at noon, and Preschool Romp, Sept. 4 at 11 a.m.

• Also, for school-aged children, there is Friendly Critter Magnets, Aug. 21 at 3 p.m.; The Princess Who Escaped From Pirates, Aug. 22 at 2 p.m.; Presley and Melody, Aug. 22 at 4 p.m.; Jeremy’s Jungle Adventure, Aug. 23 at 2 p.m.; and Tissue Paper Mosaic, Aug. 28 at 3 p.m.

• Young adults can attend Fierce and Fabulous: Fashion Design, Aug. 21 and 28 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.

 

• The Mosholu Library presents Tales for the Teeny Tiny, Aug. 21 at 10:30 a.m., and The Art of Mime, Aug. 22 at 2 p.m., both for young children. Also, there’s Magic With Bob Friedhoffer, Aug. 23 at 3 p.m. for young adults. The library is located at 285 E. 205th St. For more information, call (718) 882-8239.

 

• The Jerome Park Library at 118 Eames Place, hosts Arts and Crafts, Aug. 25 at 3 p.m. and Sept. 5 at 3:30 p.m.; How the Elephant Got Its Trunk, Aug. 26 at 4 p.m.; and Presley and Melody, Aug. 21 at 3 p.m. For more information, call (718) 549-5200.

 

NOTE: Items for consideration should be received in our office by Aug. 25 for the next publication date of Sept. 4.

Neighborhood Notes

By None

Social Security Assistance

Representatives from the Social Security Administration will be answering questions and concerns about Social Security at Congressman Eliot Engel’s Bronx office, 3655 Johnson Ave., on Wednesday, Aug. 27.  To make an appointment, call Richard Fedderman at (718) 796-9700.

Choruses Seeking Members

The Lehman College Chorus and the Lehman College Community Chorus are both accepting new members for the fall semester. Community members are eligible to join either chorus, and there is no fee. The Lehman College Chorus meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:30 to 5 p.m., starting Aug. 27. The Community Chorus meets on Tuesdays from 7 to 9:30 p.m., beginning Sept. 2. Both choruses rehearse in room 330 of the Music Building on the Lehman Campus, at Bedford Park Blvd. West and Goulden Avenue. For more information, call Prof. Diana Battipagli at (718) 960-7795.

Soccer Players

The Bronx Bombers girls travel soccer team is looking for a few good fourth grade players. Students born after Aug. 1, 1998 must be able to attend twice-weekly practices in Van Cortlandt Park and travel to southern Westchester for games. For more information, contact Sean Maher at (917) 854-5494 or e-mail seanatnds@yahoo.com.

Adult ESL and Computer Classes

PS 94 will offer ESL Levels 1 and 2 and Computer Skills classes beginning in September through Summer 2009. Both classes meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Computer classes will be taught in English and will include lessons on keyboarding, Microsoft Word and other programs. Registration is first come, first served. For more information, call Ms. Seminario, the parent coordinator, at (347) 563-4772 or (718) 405-6345.

MS 80 Requiring Tetanus Booster

MS 80 has announced that all students entering 6th or 7th grade in the 2008-09 school year and who are 11 years or older must receive the tetanus booster (“Tdap”) vaccine. For more information, please read a letter to parents on the Office of School Health’s Web site at http://schools.nyc.gov/offices/health/ImmunizationInfo/default.htm, or call Miriam Alejandro at (646) 359-9873.

Flea Market

Saint Ann’s Church at 3519 Bainbridge Ave. holds flea markets Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through August. For more information, call (718) 547-9350.

English Classes

The New York Public Library will offer free classes in English for speakers of other languages beginning in September at the Bronx Library Center, 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd. (off Fordham Road).  Registration begins Sept. 11.  For more information, call the Library’s Office of Community Outreach Services at (212) 340-0918 or visit www.nypl.org/calendar.esol.html.

Career Seminars

The Office of Continuing Education at Lehman College is offering free career information seminars in September for its fall semester non-credit certificate programs, including, among others, bookkeeping, nurse and medical technician, and computer information technology.  For more information, call (718) 960-8512 or visit www.lehman.edu/ce.

Housing Assistance Program

Community Board 7 and the West Bronx Housing and Neighborhood Resource Center are offering housing counseling services, every third Tuesday of the month, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., through September. For more information, call (718) 933-5650

Farmers Market

The North Central Bronx Hospital and Harvest Home Farmers Market, Inc. have opened a farmers market on the east side of the park below the Mosholu Parkway Station on the No. 4 line on Jerome Avenue. The market operates every Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., through mid-November. Vendors will feature fresh produce from regional farmers, as well as baked goods and specialty items. For more information, call Mike Heller at (718) 918-3826.

Fordham Road Discount

The Fordham Road “Advantage” Program, sponsored by the Fordham Road BID, is scheduled to run from August 2008 to July 2009, and offers specified discounts to students, faculty, and staff members of participating area colleges, institutions, medical facilities and healthcare training centers who display their photo identification cards at the time of a purchase. Participants include: 1199 SEIU Healthcare Training Center, 1199 SEIU Child Care Corp., ABC Training Center, Bronx Community College, Choice Care Professional Registry, Inc., CUNY on the Concourse, Family Support Systems Unlimited, Inc., Fordham University, Lehman College, Monroe College and Montefiore Medical Group on the Concourse. The discounts and offers range from a free gift to up to 50% off purchases.

More Schools Top Back-to-School Shopping List

By Carey Dunne

The daily routine of many Bronx public high school students goes something like this: get to school an hour early to be herded through metal detectors, eat lunch at 10 a.m. in a crowded cafeteria, and go home without having had any art, music, or science classes.

Experiences like these brought more than 60 Bronx youth, educators and activists to a press conference and rally on the steps of City Hall on Aug. 7, demanding better funding for Bronx public education in the next five-year capital plan (2010-2014), which the Department of Education is drafting now.

The protesters, organized by the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition and its youth arm, Sistas and Brothas United, presented a “Back to School Shopping List” to the DOE, Mayor Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor Walcott, speaking to cameras from major news channels about their experiences with overcrowded schools.

A large sign in the crowd ticked off the protesters’ list of demands: “build more schools, restore the 1,703 seats cut from the Bronx midway through the current capital plan, build 2,000 seats at the Kingsbridge Armory, build a new school for the Leadership Institute [a fledgling local high school fast running out of space], build more libraries, computer labs, gym and recreation areas, art and music classes, and science labs.”

In yellow shirts that said, “Say Yes to the Northwest Bronx” students chanted a familiar refrain: “What do we want? More schools! When do we want them? Now!” Last year, the Coalition organized a similarly themed protest. The DOE has acknowledged overcrowding problems in the northwest Bronx’s District 10 and says it’s taking steps to alleviate the problems in the next capital plan. There are no plans, however, the DOE says, to restore the 1,703 lost seats, which it says were cut based partially on diminished (and controversial) population projections in the area, as well as a low graduation rate.

“They’re using closets as classrooms. I don’t know how they survive,” Councilman Oliver Koppell said at the podium. “I demand our schools be treated as well as those in Manhattan. The Bronx should not be a stepchild.” (Assemblyman Jose Rivera also attended the rally.)

Koppell pointed out that Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott convened an emergency task force for an overcrowded Manhattan district, but not District 10.

New York City’s graduation rate ranks 46th out of 50 major city school systems. At an average of 99 percent capacity, District 10 schools are the third most overcrowded in the city, according to a report by city Comptroller William Thompson.

“In the next capital plan there should be new schools, because otherwise everyone’s going to drop out,” said Divisai Flow, 17, a student at Bronx Leadership Academy and Sistas and Brothas activist. “The DOE expects only 36 percent of kids to graduate. That’s disturbing. They should be able to say that 100 percent of kids can graduate.”

There is hope that students will effect change. Bronx Leadership International School student Natia Williams, 17, recently travelled with the Coalition to Albany and to a meeting with Walcott. After persistent pushing, they got $66,000 for school computers, she said.

With computer labs turned into classrooms, they’re still looking for a place to put their new machines, Natia said. But, “by getting the computers, we’ve shown that change is possible, with a little pressure,” she said.

 

Devoe Makeover Complete

By None

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe (3rd from right) was joined by a phalanx of Bronx elected officials and community representatives at Devoe Park on Aug. 14 to celebrate the re-opening of the park after extensive renovations. The park has new spray showers, seating, landscaping and play equipment.  Three other Bronx parks also re-opened on the same day as Devoe: Story Playground, Soundview Park and Aqueduct Lands Playground. The total cost came to $14 million and comes out of a $200 million pool of mitigation funds related to the construction of the Croton water filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park. 

Small Schools Spread Wings As Two Giants Close

By Stephen Baron

Kent Hoffman, an assistant principal at the High School for the Contemporary Arts, is excited about new construction projects and space at the school’s Evander Childs campus, where there will be one less tenant this year.

After this past school year, the city’s Department of Education (DOE) closed both Evander Childs in Williamsbridge and Walton in Kingsbridge Heights – two storied, but recently underperforming high schools in District 10. Both schools stopped accepting students in 2005.

In their absence, the 11 smaller schools on the two campuses — including Hoffman’s — which have been phased in over the past four years, will gain some much needed elbow room.

“There has been a lot of construction over the past couple of years,” Hoffman said. “This will allow for the final reorganization, and hopefully we’ll have our own space. We always need more classrooms, storage space and offices.”

These small schools are now getting new construction projects, more space and are hiring more teachers and accepting more students. Security will not change, but scheduling will. And those changes will be decided through dialogue among the campuses’ principals, said Melody Meyer, a DOE spokesperson.

Evander Childs, which opened in 1913 and was named for a popular teacher, will be getting new art rooms, science labs, a black box theater and a renovated auditorium, Hoffman said. Walton, which opened in the early 1920s, will be getting a new library. It will also reopen the pool that has been closed since the 1980s, according to the DOE.

Walton, however, probably will not have more space, as Individual Pathways, a program for Walton dropouts to earn their degrees, will be moving from East Tremont into Walton, said Dr. William Rodriguez, the principal at Celia Cruz High School for Music on the Walton campus.

Small Schools, Big Gains

Evander Childs and Walton are two of the 24 large high schools in the city the DOE has either closed or is in the process of closing. The city has been pushing for small schools since 2002, which, proponents say, have a more personalized atmosphere and are more flexible in partnering with community and private support organizations.

Small school administrators at the Evander Childs and Walton campuses said issues of overcrowding, violence and low graduation rates at the two schools were not as bad as the media made them out to be.

But both large schools had been placed on the Impact Schools list in 2004 for having some of the worst school safety records in the city. Both schools were overcrowded, according to students and parents. And the schools graduated only about 35 percent of their students in four years, a DOE report found.

“Walton and Evander Childs had a long history of poor performance,” Meyer said. “The school structure of these large schools failed to meet the needs of the students.”

The small schools have been overwhelmingly successful. Since their arrival, graduation rates have spiked and both campuses have been taken off the Impact Schools list (Evander Childs in 2005, Walton in 2008). Overcrowding is down, too. With last year’s enrollment at these small schools ranging from 328 to 532 students, they were able to reduce class sizes, according to the DOE.

“I’ve been here for four years, and the building looks significantly different,” Rodriguez said. “Now kids feel safe and we have high attendance and graduation rates.”

At the Evander Childs campus, 80 percent of students graduated in four years, and 64 percent did at the Walton campus, according to a DOE report on 2006 graduates. At three of the small schools, graduation rates hover at or above 90 percent.

“Small schools provide the opportunity for every adult to know every student, instead of one adult who is expected to know all the students,” said Capt. Barbara Kirkweg, principal at the Bronx Aerospace Academy on the Evander Childs campus, whose military-style school has graduated more than 90 percent of its students the past two years. “Small schools have been proven to be successful. Why else would I be here?”

Small Schools by the Numbers

The DOE has closed or is in the process of closing five other Bronx high schools: Morris, Theodore Roosevelt, South Bronx, Adlai E. Stevenson, and William H. Taft. This coming school year, the Bronx will have 113 of the city’s 291 small schools.

Citywide, 19 large high schools, including Bedford Park’s DeWitt Clinton and Fordham’s Grace Dodge, have been converted into Small Learning Communities (each with about 250-450 students and led by a core group of teachers and staff), instead of creating new schools with new administrations. Meyer says that model works best with middle-performing schools.

Moving On

The DOE says the legacy of Walton and Evander Childs will be maintained because the campuses will retain their names, sports teams will be campus-wide and alumni networks will be maintained.

But not everyone is happy with the transition.

“Parents are not thrilled since Evander had 15 students who didn’t graduate [this year],” and will be forced to transfer to finish up, said Patricia Appleton, Evander Childs’ parent coordinator. “Students are sad and very upset since they have no school or teachers to come back to,” Appleton said.

Still, hundreds of alumni from the schools showed their support by attending Walton’s and Evander Childs’ closing galas.

“Though we’ll miss everyone, life is full of changes and we have to move on,” Appleton said.

Kids Craft Their Own Superheroes

By Emma Jacobs

The latest crop of superheroes to hit the Bronx won’t all come from the box office this summer.

A stop by the bare corner in front of the recreation center at St. James Park reveals a lunch table chock full of brand new neighborhood superheroes created by students from MS 399 in Fordham on East 184th Street.

There is no Hulk or Dark Knight. Instead, “Mr. Justice” dispenses justice against evildoers. And “Power Mother” wields the weapon of raising her three daughters, the “Super Love Girls.”

The students’ superhero artwork, titled “The New Bronx Generation Fights to Reclaim Their Streets From the Evil Powers of Violence” appears on a standard lunchroom table as part of “A View From the Lunchroom,” a project of the non-profit Learning through an Expanded Arts Program (LEAP). It’s being publicly shown in parks like St. James in cooperation with the Parks Department.

Ten tables installed across the five boroughs this summer make up the largest student art exhibition in the history of New York City parks, according to Alexandra Leff, deputy director of LEAP.

Leff says the lunch table “was chosen as the canvas of this program because it’s the forum for student conversations.”

LEAP’s project, the first it’s ever made public, seeks to make those conversations available to the masses, or at least park goers.

Supervising artist Sam Osheroff worked with 27 English language learners at MS 399 over the course of eight weeks, culminating with the students’ creative effort.

“What superpowers would you use to fight violence?” Osheroff recalls asking near the start of the project.

“Dog food,” one of his students responded.

“Uh-oh,” Osheroff remembers thinking, “maybe they’re not getting this concept.” Then his student went on to explain. If you could throw dog food at a monster, they reasoned, it would stop to eat it, and you could catch it with a net.

“That’s when I realized these kids were way ahead of me,” Osheroff says.

Osheroff, who works at several public schools, was not at MS 399 when he learned the students’ final project had been completely destroyed by vandals (a group of MS 399 students) days after its completion at the end of May, just two days before it was to be shown publicly.

Donald Long, the MS 399 art teacher who worked with Osheroff, says school administrators granted him two solid days with the students and a new lunch table to reconstruct the project.

“Because they were all so supportive, we were able to recreate the table, better than ever,” says Long. They also finished in time for the opening.

The entire process was mutually beneficial.

“[When] you work in arts education, you’re never sure of the impact you’re making,” says Osheroff. “This was one instance where you could really see it. These kids got a lot out of it. They were so proud of themselves by the end of it.”

Long sees additional benefits as well. “These students have limited English language abilities and they really don’t connect a lot to the school outside of their families,” she said. What’s nice is they actually got to represent the school, to see what the city has to offer and feel somewhat embraced by the city as well.

LEAP is still assessing the feasibility of future projects at 399, but Long says he’s looking forward to the continuation of their ongoing involvement at MS 399.

 

Ed. note: The LEAP lunch table will be on display in St. James Park through August. After the exhibition ends, it will return to MS 399.

Select Bus Complaints

By None

Regarding your article “Rapid Bus Line Premieres on Fordham Road” in your July 10-23 issue, I agree with many of the sentiments expressed by another reader, Judy Noy.

I would like to add that the elimination of the west- and east-bound Fordham Road/Sedgwick Avenue stops in the new Select Bus Service (SBS) routing creates hardship on the area population, which has ballooned over the years. It also creates havoc on the Fordham Hill Co-op residents. This Co-op, located nearby, consists of nine buildings, 17 stories each, and 1224+ units. Many of its residents are seniors and young children. If the SBS west- and east-bound Sedgwick Avenue stops remain eliminated, they will suffer unduly. The area is surrounded by wooded and vacant areas; and when it snows, snow removal takes forever, making accidents a great possibility. Also, the new SBS stops are located on hilly streets, making accessibility very dangerous, especially in bad weather.

Also, why does the new system require paper receipts? I thought we were trying to cut down on litter and unnecessary paper use, which this system promotes? It requires two steps: one to insert the fare card and the other to collect a receipt. You have to wait to get your receipt. While doing so, you could miss the bus! Those who have used the new system say it also makes transfers difficult, and non-paying riders can board the bus from rear exits.

I hope Bronx and city officials will heed the complaints of the public. We have been negatively impacted by costly and fault-ridden procedures instituted for the new Bx 12 Select Bus Service system. I therefore urge the inclusion of a Sedgwick Avenue stop in the Bx 12 SBS west- and east-bound routing and the elimination of receipt machines.

Joy Clark

We Deserve a Better Choice

By Editorial

A little more than 300,000 people live in the 33rd Senate District, which includes the entire readership area of the Norwood News.

The incumbent, State Senator Efrain Gonzalez, is charged with stealing more than $400,000 in taxpayer money from nonprofits he controls. Sure, a jury could possibly declare him innocent, when he finally gets to trial, but that doesn’t absolve Gonzalez from the sin of setting up and funding ghost groups that do virtually nothing for constituents, wasting precious taxpayer money. Court papers and reporting by the Norwood News found zero evidence of any work the nonprofits have done.

Gonzalez’s legal troubles blew a cavernous opening in the usual Machine-erected brick wall protecting incumbents.

If you thought a small army of young, ambitious pols would be jumping through, ballot petitions in hand, you’d be wrong.

Instead, we get Pedro Espada, a former south Bronx state senator, who at least deserves credit for identifying a district where the ethically challenged excel.

Espada heads a group of south Bronx health care centers. Three of his executives pleaded guilty to diverting $30,000 from family care and AIDS treatment programs to Espada’s 2001 bid for Bronx borough president (he lost by just a few points to Adolfo Carrion). The state attorney general’s office said the health center officials even took food “intended for AIDS patients and [gave] it instead to Espada campaign workers,” according to a New York Times report. 

In recent weeks Espada has been pushing free food giveaways, including one on Gun Hill Road and DeKalb Avenue in conjunction with his Burnside Medical Center.

What a coincidence that these events overlap with his Senate bid!

Espada is a newcomer to the area. He says he moved to Bedford Park with his wife when suddenly his neighbors begged him to run for Senate.

“People started asking me to get more involved in community activities, from visiting schools to participating in Little League activities.”

Yeah, right.

Espada did buy a co-op in Bedford Park, but residents say they rarely see him there, and Espada himself admits to owning a home in Mamaroneck.

And this is the choice we get as to who will represent us in Albany?

Why is it this way? Why are our choices so lousy? Where are the young up-and-coming Bronx politicians that are legion in other boroughs like Brooklyn and Manhattan?

They’re around, but as soon as they show a little gumption, Democratic Party regulars bat them down like a game of political Whac-A-Mole.

Not to mention the fact that most of the seats are reserved for the political veterans’ children (see Riveras, Diazes, Arroyos, et al.)

But there are some signs of hope. A brainstorming session at Lehman College about the Kingsbridge Armory a few weeks ago turned out a couple of hundred people — some of them familiar faces — but also many people who probably had never been to a meeting like that before. Seven hundred members of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition packed St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church in June to get answers from elected officials on housing foreclosure, school safety, and immigration.

A newly invigorated community board — something Carrion deserves credit for – has introduced many new residents from diverse backgrounds to public life.

We hope it isn’t too long before some new candidates emerge from these ranks.

In the meantime, what can you do?

First, learn what you can about elected officials, candidates, and community issues. Attend and participate in community meetings. You’re already on the right track if you’re reading this newspaper and newspapers in general. If there are things in the political sphere you’d like to know more about, let us know and we’ll try to respond either in the paper or on the West Bronx Blog.

Second, run for office yourself, or encourage a friend or colleague to do so. We’re serious.

Third, and most importantly, vote — even if you have to write in your mother’s name! More voters mean more accountability.

Learn and participate. Run. Vote. It’s that simple.

The primary election is on Sept. 9. See you at the polls!

Renovation Displaces Firefighters

By Graham Kates

The lights are on inside the Engine 79 and Ladder 37 firehouse in Bedford Park, but no one is home. The building is closed for renovations through the end of the year, and possibly into January.

A sign is taped behind the window of the firehouse’s front door. As of July 15, it says, the building’s tenants have been moved to other headquarters, “Engine 79 is now in E-62’s quarters.” Engine 62’s firehouse is approximately 1.7 miles away on White Plains Road in Williamsbridge.

The crew of Ladder 37 has been moved to Engine 81’s firehouse, which is 1.9 miles away on Bailey Avenue in Kingsbridge.

Jim Long, a Fire Department spokesman, said the 103-year-old firehouse on Briggs Avenue will be getting an “apparatus floor upgrade.” The apparatus floor is where large equipment, such as fire trucks, are kept. Long explained that a century ago, firehouses “weren’t built to support the weight of [modern] trucks.”

Long said fire response times would not be affected and that the Fire Department received no complaints since the move.

Since its founding in 1904, the firehouse’s companies have seen over 155,000 runs, including their heralded response to the five-alarm fire at St. Philip Neri Church in 1997. Despite the intense magnitude of that fire, firefighters were able to save many of the church’s religious artifacts.

Select Bus’ Raises Ire of Manhattan-Bound Residents

By Stephen Baron

Hundreds of west Bronx bus riders are calling for the city to make traveling from Fordham Road to Manhattan easier by restoring local service to Manhattan and restoring a bus stop that was eliminated with the debut of the new, supposedly faster Select Bus Service.

Angry residents say the changes are seriously inconveniencing riders and that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) did not get community input before eliminating both the Bx12 local service into Manhattan and the Sedgwick Avenue stop on the new Select Bus Service (SBS) route (which used to be part of the old Bx12 Limited route).

“People didn’t discover the changes until the bus map was mailed to their homes or boarded the buses,” said Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, the board president of the Fordham Hill Owners Association and a member of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition.

Transit officials expect the new SBS route, which replaced the Bx12 limited on June 28, to cut down on travel time along Fordham Road by about 10 minutes (from end to end).

With the advent of the SBS, the Bx12 local route now terminates at Sedgwick Avenue and West Fordham Road in the Bronx, instead of going to 207th Street and Broadway in Upper Manhattan, where riders used to easily transfer to the No. 1 and A trains.

Now bus riders going to Manhattan must walk a couple of blocks east on West Fordham Road from Sedgwick Avenue to University Avenue or west to Cedar Avenue to transfer to the SBS.

“This is a serious hardship for elderly and disabled riders, in addition to mothers with baby carriages,” Pilgrim-Hunter said. “And what happens at night? Residents have to cross Devoe Park (between Sedgwick and University avenues), which has a lot of drug and gang activity.”

Fordham Hill, which is located near the Sedgwick stop and already has hundreds of signatures on a petition to restore it, held a meeting on the issue last week. State Sen. Efrain Gonzalez (D-Bronx), a Fordham Hill resident, attended the meeting, Pilgrim-Hunter said, as well as Jose Rivera (D-Bronx), CB 7 chair Greg Faulkner and representatives of the MTA and the Department of Transportation.

The MTA eliminated the Sedgwick stop because it was too close to the ones at Cedar Avenue and University Avenue, according to MTA bus officials Robert Newhouser and Buckley Yung.

And local service to Manhattan was discontinued due to low ridership numbers and limited parking space near Broadway and 207th Street, they said. Also, the MTA wanted to have the local route run in the Bronx while having the SBS cross boroughs.

The MTA still does not have new SBS ridership numbers, but the Bx12 local bus had more than 40,000 daily riders in 2006, according to an MTA report on its Web site.

“We understand it’s difficult for the elderly, but there are no plans to continue the local to Manhattan,” Yung said. In response, the MTA has increased the frequency of the SBS, he said. “It might be a slightly longer walk (to the bus stop), but there is significantly faster service on Fordham Road.”

Fordham Hill resident Henry Raine, who alerted the Norwood News to the Bx12 changes on our West Bronx Blog, is against the changes.

“For the MTA to say there were not enough people is crazy. There were always 30 to 40 people waiting at Sedgwick Avenue,” the 47-year-old librarian said. “The MTA should be encouraging people to take public transportation, not limiting our options.”

Despite outraged riders, neither Community Board 7 nor transit advocacy group Straphangers Campaign said they were backing riders just yet.

“I would need to see the data first about putting back a stop at Sedgwick Avenue,” said Fernando Tirado, the Community Board’s district manager. “But [without the stop] it could be especially difficult for seniors. It’s sunny now, but what about when it rains or snows?”

(Tirado added he has received complaints about businesses receiving tickets for parking in bus lanes though the city did not replace some delivery zone signs until last week, and has received complaints that SBS buses are not traveling in the designated bus lanes.)

Pilgrim-Hunter reported attendance at the public meeting was high and that Jacqueline Carter, the representative present for the MTA had committed to working with CB 7 to remedy the situation.  Pilgrim-Hunter hopes to meet with Carter again in the coming weeks.

“If this was in Manhattan, the MTA would’ve added the bus stop immediately,” she said. “It doesn’t look good that the MTA imposed this on a minority community without [our] input and is exposing [us] to danger.”

Theater in the Park

By None

The Norwood News sponsored a Pregones Theater  performance of Migrants! In Williamsbridge Oval Park on Aug. 6. About 200 residents attended and most stayed afterwards for a performance of the Ibrahim Gonzalez Quintet, which was sponsored by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, and the BLOOMS Initiative.

A Civil Court Race With Wider Political Significance

By Emma Jacobs

The race for a seat on the Bronx Civil Court has gotten a lot more interesting, thanks to some upper-level political machinations. A coalition of legislators opposing Bronx Democratic party leader and Assemblyman Jose Rivera, have backed an opponent to Rivera’s pick for the open judgeship.

A coalition of Democratic party stalwarts and longtime dissenters (termed the “Rainbow Rebellion” by the Daily News) headed by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, have thrown their support behind Elizabeth A. Taylor.

Taylor, a Bronx native and former board member of the Bronx Bar Association, founded and heads the Thurgood Marshall Junior Mock Trial Program for middle school students.

Rivera is backing Maria Matos, a former assistant attorney general of New York State and current head of the Puerto Rican Bar Association.

Dinowitz says his support for Taylor rested on her qualifications and independence, especially at a time of increased scrutiny of political influence on judges.

The Democratic primary race has become a point of contention in the Bronx political world.

Five state Assembly members currently back Taylor — Aurelia Greene, Carl Heastie, Michael Benjamin, Ruben Diaz, Jr., and Dinowitz.

Diaz, Jr. cites Taylor’s role in the Thurgood Marshall program, calling her a leader in “creating opportunities for our youth.”

Diaz cites a breached commitment Rivera made with the African-American community to appoint an African -American candidate for the judgeship this cycle. “He decided to walk away from that. You have to find the best qualified,” Diaz said. “I am a Hispanic Puerto Rican supporting an Afro-American candidate. Jose Rivera is supporting a Puerto Rican candidate. He believes in Puerto Rican power.”

“Right now, my focus is not on the politics,” says Taylor. “My focus is to get out to all the citizens of Bronx County with my qualifications.”

Similarly, Matos says she’s “trying to stay above the fray,” and wants the focus to be on her qualifications as an experienced lawyer and a law clerk for the Bronx Supreme Court. “It’s hard [being in the middle of a political struggle], and a real eye-opening experience,” Matos said. “I try not to listen to the gossip mill and all that stuff.”

Carmen Goldberg, Matos’ campaign manager, agreed, saying Matos “has separated completely from whatever politically is going on. She is campaigning based on her experience.”

Jose Rivera could not be reached for comment.

At a public theatre performance at Williamsbridge Oval Park a couple of weeks ago, Matos and Taylor both showed up to mingle and campaign. Dinowitz escorted Taylor to the event, while Goldberg assisted Matos.

“Does this [race] have ramifications? I don’t know,” Dinowitz said. “I am disappointed that there isn’t more of an effort being made to unify the party right now.”     —Emma Jacobs

Quinn Wants Schools at Armory, Seat Cut Review

By Stephen Baron

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Bronx City Council members Joel Rivera and Oliver Koppell all want schools built in the Kingsbridge Armory project to reduce school overcrowding, they said at a roundtable discussion with Bronx journalists in late July.

The Department of Education (DOE) took new Armory schools off the table last year and has cut more than 1,700 Bronx school seats from the current capital plan based on controversial population projections.

“We’re going to hold oversight hearings in the fall about DOE seat cuts,” said Quinn, who is ramping up her bid to replace Mayor Bloomberg when his term runs out in 2009. “We’ll also be meeting with [the DOE] to see if the formula for seat distribution needs to be changed, and if there need to be changes in [school] zoning and planning.”

The Bronx roundtable discussion was one of a series Quinn is holding in each borough.

City Council member and Bronx Delegation Chair Maria Baez, weathering a storm of media criticism, was notably absent from the discussion at Pete’s Café at 570 E. Fordham Rd., even though Quinn’s office originally said she would be attending.

Rivera, who confirmed to the Norwood News at the discussion that he will be running for Bronx borough president, speculated BAez may have been at a subcommittee meeting at City Hall. Baez has the worst attendance record of all City Council members. “Some Council members go to lots of events, but she doesn’t need the accolades,” Rivera said afterwards. “She’s a much more behind-the-scenes person.”

Reporters grilled Quinn on the oversight of education funding distribution, the city’s claim that schools have improved, and questioned whether test scores are the best measurement of a student’s achievement.

Quinn said the DOE’s new Fair School Funding has improved oversight and that schools have improved based on test scores and anecdotal evidence from teachers and parents.

Reporters also questioned why large neighborhood schools like Walton and Evander Childs could not have been divided into “small learning communities” like DeWitt Clinton instead of being eliminated and replaced with small schools (see our story in the Special Schools Section, page 9). Quinn defended the small school movement since it has led to higher graduation rates and smaller class sizes.

“I hear people talk enthusiastically about neighborhood schools, but I’m not sure if we can return to that,” she said. “But why not do both [small learning communities and small school] models if we have both models?”

Quinn trumpeted the City Council’s complete restoration of the $129 million in proposed education budget cuts. Though she supports mayoral control of schools, she emphasized that it should be renewed by the City Council instead of the State Legislature.

Quinn conceded everything wasn’t hunky dory with the schools. “We also have huge middle school questions,” she said. “But if Bronx schools had received $30 million less, then the situation would be a lot worse.”

Gonzalez Seeks Trial Dismissal

By Alex Kratz

As of Tuesday afternoon before the Norwood News went to press, it was still up in the air whether State Senator Efrain Gonzalez’s trial on federal fraud and corruption charges would go forward as scheduled on Oct. 6.

Facing significant prison time and fighting for his political life in an upcoming primary just weeks away, Gonzalez’s lawyers attempted to have his case thrown out on a legal technicality. During pre-trial oral arguments, Gonzalez’s lawyers and those of his three co-defendants — Neil Berger, Lucia Sanchez and Miguel Castanos — attempted to challenge the federal indictment, saying federal prosecutors overstepped their jurisdiction in charging their clients for meddling with state funds.

“By bringing this prosecution against a New York State Senator and charities registered with the State of New York based on member items obtained from the New York State Legislature, the federal government improperly intruded on the primary authority of New York State to define and enforce it laws,” argued the defendants’ lawyers, the New York Sun reported. “The prosecutor’s action destroys any distinction between what is truly national and what is truly local.”

Judge William H. Pauley was supposed to rule by last Friday, Aug. 15, but had yet to make his decision known by Tuesday evening.

Gonzalez is accused of funneling more than $420,000 in state money into his own pockets. The co-defendants stand accused of helping him.

Berger’s lawyers are also seeking to have their client tried separately from Gonzalez and the other co-defendants. Gonzalez’s lawyer, Murray Richman, said they have not decided if Gonzalez would testify on Berger’s behalf if a separate trial is granted.    —Alex Kratz

Merchants Wage Signage Battle in Bedford Park

By Stephen Baron

Two businesses on Bedford Park Boulevard plan on erecting signs to block the view of a huge new and possibly illegal sign and awning protruding from a bold new neighbor’s storefront. The businesses say the enormous signage is blocking their own signs and hurting their bottom line.

When the Kennedy Fried Chicken and Biscuit at 381 Bedford Park Blvd. opened in early July, the owner installed a pyramidal awning that juts out the entire length of the sidewalk, where thin metal rods anchor it to the concrete.

The bright red awning blocks views of signs of two neighboring businesses — Bedford Park Gourmet Deli and the Rose Flower Chinese Restaurant — both on the corner of Decatur Avenue.

Neither business has complained to the Department of Buildings or Community Board 7. Instead, deli owner Salah Mohamad is taking matters into his own hands. Mohamad said he complained to the business owner, who refused to take down the awning. On Aug. 1, Mohamad said he applied for permits for two signs costing $13,000 total: one on his deli and one on the Chinese restaurant.

“I’m going to block [Kennedy Fried Chicken] out on both sides,” said the 40-year-old Mohamad. “I’m not going to complain to the city because that would take a lot of time. The neighborhood’s going to look like s—-, but what can I do?”

The two businesses said they have lost hundreds of dollars a day as a result of Kennedy obscuring their signs (and, they admit, having lower prices and a wider menu than previous tenant Crown Fried Chicken). Mohamad said he is losing $500 to $600 a day, while Rose Flower employee Wei Chen said the restaurant is losing a third of its business, about $400 a day.

Though building owner Poonam Goel said Kennedy’s owner received a permit for the awning, the awning appears to be illegal, especially since the Department of Buildings could not find any recent sign permits for any of the businesses.

Rules for storefront awnings say the installations must be supported entirely by the building, meaning it should not be supported by the sidewalk like the Kennedy sign is.

The city zoning rules also require the surface area of non-illuminated signs on awnings to be 12 square feet or less and say letters cannot be more than a foot high and that signs can only list the name and address.

The Buildings Department would not say whether Kennedy’s sign was in violation of city awning regulations and they did not respond to questions regarding enforcement procedures.

Mohamad, who has owned the deli for nearly three years, says the awning is illegal, since its area is too large, the letters are too tall and it has images and words of the different foods in addition to the name and address.

Mohamad and nearby Allen Cleaners have complained to the Bedford Mosholu Community Association, according to its president, Barbara Stronczer. Stronczer, in turn, called Fernando Tirado, the district manager at Community Board 7. Though Tirado wishes the businesses had contacted him first, he said he believes the awning is legal.

Attempts to reach the elusive Kennedy owner for comment were unsuccessful. Goel and Kennedy employees refused to disclose his name, and employees repeatedly said he was not there. Kennedy restaurants are all owned and operated independently, so there is no corporate office that oversees all of its restaurants. This particular Kennedy location is not registered with the Bronx Chamber of Commerce or the Bronx County Clerk’s office, but that might just be because their application hasn’t been processed yet, a clerk’s office staffer said.

Regardless of who owns the offending restaurant, Stronczer said residents are wary of a coming conflict.

“A sign war, that’s all we need,” Stronczer said. “I hope we do not get any more signs as big as Kennedy’s.”

Working Toward Opening Day 2009

By Carey Dunne

By Carey Dunne

In his speech at a recent groundbreaking ceremony at Harris Park, Bronx Parks Commissioner Hector Aponte braced the audience for change.

“It’s a long time coming, but take a look around, because what you see will soon be unrecognizable,” Aponte said.

Aponte was referring to the mounds of dirt and tractors that cover most of Harris Park, which is now being refurbished with six new ball fields.

A project of the Parks Department during what the agency is calling the city’s largest construction period since the 1930s, Harris Park will also receive two new playgrounds, three new disability-accessible staircases, and a track with a misting station.

The construction is funded with $9 million of a $200 million investment in Bronx parks, courtesy of mitigation funds from the construction of the Croton Water Filtration Plant in Van Cortlandt Park. The Parks Department said it expects to complete the Harris Park renovations by spring 2009, in time for baseball season.

At the groundbreaking on Aug. 6, Assemblyman Jose Rivera, who was instrumental in securing funds for the parks in the filtration plant deal (which he and other local lawmakers were also criticized for), called youngsters from the audience to put on hardhats and grab shovels for the official groundbreaking along with Councilman Oliver Koppell, Aponte, and himself. They dug in and flung soil into the air, yelling “Hip hip hooray!”

“I’m very happy that they’re making this park for the kids so they can have a safe place to play and enjoy the summer instead of being out in the streets,” said Ramona Serrano, whose kids Nikolas and Cristal Rivera wore baseball uniforms at the ceremony.

“Thousands and thousands of people will appreciate the renovation of this park for generations to come,” Koppell said.

Suit Stalls Reservoir Blasting

By Jordan Moss

The city can’t blast at the Jerome Park Reservoir until a Sept. 3 court hearing, a state Supreme Court justice ordered.

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Councilman Oliver Koppell and the Bronx Council on Environmental Quality brought suit against the Department of Environmental Protection, which was planning to blast near Goulden Avenue in order to build a connector shaft at the reservoir, which will re-direct water to the filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park.

The original Environmental Impact Statement said there would be no blasting at the reservoir site and that debris would be trucked through the water tunnel and would exit at the Van Cortlandt Park site.

Those bringing the suit want the DEP to undertake a proper environmental review. They are concerned about dust and debris from blasting, as well as the 90 trucks a week that would be hauling debris from the reservoir.  

The trucking route — from Goulden Avenue to Bedford Park Boulevard, to Jerome Avenue, then to Fordham Road and onto the Major Deegan — has also elicited criticism from residents and elected officials.

Bizarre Senate Race Plays Out on YouTube

By Alex Kratz

The Bronx’s most heated and contentious political race is being fought on multiple fronts — in the blogosphere, across two counties, at local meetings, in various court rooms and on YouTube. Welcome to the bizarre world of the 33rd District Senate race.

For 19 years, incumbent State Senator Efrain Gonzalez held this seat, which stretches from the Cross Bronx Expressway to Riverdale, without fear of competition. But federal prosecutors indicted Gonzalez on fraud and corruption charges during the last election cycle two years ago, opening the door to competition from a well-known and well-funded opponent — Pedro Espada, Jr.

(Though he’s registered and fund-raising for the 33rd District senate race, Richard Soto, who operates a Bronx real estate company, has largely been an absentee candidate and could be not reached for comment.)

Espada, Jr., a longtime Bronx political figure who runs a group of health centers in the borough, has been quite visible and highly critical of Gonzalez at local meetings, hearings, and town halls, pointing out Gonzalez’s upcoming trial at every opportunity and saying the incumbent isn’t doing enough to represent his constituents.

“People have simply not heard from the incumbent,” Espada told the New York Times. “And that’s not just in the last two years, but in the last 20 years.”

Meanwhile, Gonzalez’s campaign team is quick to remind people that Espada, a former state senator and council member, only recently purchased a co-op in Bedford Park and is more of a political mercenary than a legitimate representative of the area.

Gonzalez’s lawyers vigorously challenged Espada’s claim of residency in front of the Bronx Board of Elections, arguing that he also owns a home in Westchester, has a tiny energy bill at the condo and is rarely seen there by residents. Espada admitted he owns the Westchester house, but said he and his wife often spend time with their grandchildren in the Bedford Park co-op. The election board upheld his residency and Espada’s campaign continues. He says he spent $5,000 on lawyers to defend against the challenge.

During a fund-raiser at Espada’s co-op, two weeks before the Board of Elections showdown, Rafael Martinez-Alequinn, an operative and part-time journalist paid by Gonzalez, showed up with a video camera and a couple of angry shareholders. On the subsequent video, which showed up on YouTube, Espada is seen sniping at a shareholder who admonishes the candidate for using the residential building to further his political agenda.

Espada wouldn’t comment on that night specifically or how much time he spends at each residence in general.

“Residency is a non-issue,” Espada said. “It’s another desperate attempt to keep me out of the race.”

Martinez-Alequinn, who also writes a blog that is highly critical of Espada, has posted a handful of other YouTube videos, which he claims are evidence that Espada has used his health center resources to collect signatures for his ballot petition. (In 2001, three of Espada’s health center employees were convicted for illegally using Medicare funds to aid his campaign for borough president, which he lost. Espada himself was not charged in the case.) The petition signatures held up to scrutiny in front of the election board.

Not to be outdone, Espada has posted a sharply produced five-part series on YouTube chronicling his efforts to help the people of the Bronx, including the creation of two new health care centers.

Speaking about the ongoing battle, Espada said recently, “If you’re going to contrast his crimes against mine, go ahead.”

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