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Missing Person

 

 

The NYPD is seeking the public’s assistance in locating the following missing person who was last seen on October 23rd at approximately midnight, when he left his residence at 162 W. Kingsbridge Rd.

The man is described to be 5’9″, 156 lbs, with grey hair, brown eyes and glasses.

Anyone with information in regards to this person is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or texting it to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls and texts are strictly confidential.

Bronx Pumpkin Fest and Halloween Spooktacular

 

Bronx President Ruben Diaz Jr. and the West Bronx Recreation Center invites you to the Bronx Pumpkin Fest and Halloween Spooktacular! Come in costume for pumpkin designing, face painting, pop corn, cotton candy and a maze of horrors for those who dare!

The party’s  located at the Bronx Recreation Center (1527 Jesup Avenue on East 172nd Street) today from 4 – 8 pm.  For more information call 718- 590- 3522 or email lroldan@bronxbp.nyc.gov

 

Bronx Youth Journalists Report: What Should Fill the Bainbridge Fire Lot? (Video)

Two years ago today, on Halloween morning, a fire tore through a string of stores at the corner of Bainbridge Avenue and East 204th Street, reducing the 10 businesses housed there to little more than charred remains. Today, the space still sits empty, boarded up and strewn with rubble.

We sent a team of student reporters from the Bronx Youth Journalism Initiative – a journalism program for Bronx High School students run by the Norwood News — out on the street recently to ask local residents what they’d like to see built in the vacant lot. Read more

Friday News & Notes

Quick rapid fire version of Friday News & Notes today.

– As you can see from the photo above, I attended the 52nd Precinct Community Council’s annual breakfast and love fest this morning. In addition to the folks above, other notable political guests included Comptroller John Liu (who’s been spending a lot of time in the Boogie Down lately), State Senator Gustavo Rivera, State Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson and Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz.

– DA Robert Johnson was given an award at about the same time 16 NYPD officers and five civilians were arraigned for various offense stemming from the ticket-fixing probe that has rocked the department. In his brief remarks, Johnson alluded to the charges, saying it “was a difficult day” for his office and that the actions of those implicated in the scandal should in “no way represents the big picture of the organization.”

– At least one of the officers indicted is from the Five-Two. (We’ll have more from the precinct council breakfast, including some good stories about our Finest, and the ticket-fixing scandal next week in our print edition and on Breaking Bronx.)

– Slimming State Senator Gustavo Rivera will have his final weigh-in tomorrow at St. James Park. At the beginning of the summer, as part of his Bronx CAN Health Initiative, Rivera said he would lose 20 pounds by the end of October. Last we heard, he was down 16. District Leader Kenny Agosto was also at the precinct council breakfast and said, while sweating after working the room a good hour, he was down 15 pounds.

– There are rumors of a rift growing between Community Board 7 members as evidenced by the razor-thin difference in the voting in of new Vice Chair Adaline Walker-Santiago-Higgins (yes, she wants all three names included). Walker-Santiago-Higgins said yes, the vote was tight, but that she didn’t sense any serious turmoil. Stay tuned.

– Walker-Santiago-Higgins said she’s working to secure a use for the Old Fordham Library, which is now apparently being used for storage and shredding purposes by the Department of Health, which is scrapping its plan to turn the building into an animal shelter.

– Enjoy and have a safe Halloween weekend!

 

CB 7 Land Use Meeting Tonight

Apologies. Little late on this alert, but Community Board 7 is holding its Land Use/Zoning Committee meeting tonight at the board office, 229A E. 204th St., starting at 6:30 p.m. Some interesting items on the agenda, including:

– A waterfront tour presentation by Khadejah Gully
– A discussion on Bedford/Moshulu Rezone
– And Kingsbridge Amory: the bike track suggestion

Diaz and City say ‘Cut the Crap’ to all ‘Pooper-trators’ (Video)

After a steady flow of complaints to the Bronx Borough President’s office, other elected officials, and community board offices, the city’s Sanitation Department (DSNYC)  kicked off its “Don’t Be a Pooper-trator” campaign to crack down on negligent dog owners.

While the “pooper scooper” law of 1978 created a fine, now $250, for failing to clean up after your pooch, the sidewalks and parks of the Bronx clearly show that few dog owners are fearful of it. At a press conference today at the Bedford Park Senior Center, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., joined by Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty and Community Board managers Fernando Tirado (District 7) and Jeremy Warneck (District 9), laid out the new enforcement plan.

“If you are walking your dog and you are caught without cleaning up after it, the pooper scooper law will be enforced, and it will be the most expensive piece of crap you’ll ever pay for. We’re dead serious about this,” said Diaz.

Diaz reiterated that sanitation officers will be on the prowl in areas with high levels of sidewalk and park poop, and that there will be zero forgiveness for these tickets. Read more

Opening of Poe Park Visitor’s Center Delayed Indefinitely

By By Alex Kratz

The edgy new $4.5 million, bird-shaped Poe Park Visitor’s Center, once on pace to open four months ago, remains shuttered and is not scheduled to open any time soon as the Parks Department scrambles to figure out how to staff it, according to an article today in the New York Times.

In early June, the Norwood News asked the Parks Department when the Visitor’s Center would open to the public. In an e-mail, Parks Department spokesman Zachary Feder responded: “We’re in the process of making the final preparations needed to open the center. The center will be open before the end of the month.”

Nearly five months later, the Visitor’s Center still hasn’t opened. Angel Hernandez, of the Bronx Historical Society, which helps run the recently renovated Poe Cottage, told the Times that the neither the society or the Parks Department can afford to staff the new center. Hernandez said they’ve failed to secure any grants or funding to help staff it and the Parks Department rejected a proposal to sell paving stones engraved with the names of donors, as they’ve done in at least one other city park, the Times points out.

“We are looking into the intricacies of managing the center,” Deputy Parks Commission Larry Scott Blackmon told the Times.

Meanwhile, Poe Park visitors still don’t have a place to use the bathroom — the Times reported that there was a note saying the locked bathrooms were under repair when a reporter visited last week — and the exterior of the building is already being vandalized.

Other than all that gloom, there’s a load of great detail about Poe Cottage, the final home of Edgar Allan Poe, as well as the interesting a mysterious history of the writer’s final years.

Here’s a Norwood News story on the Poe Cottage renovation project, and another story on the visitor’s center, which reports that it was originally slated to open in April, of 2010.

– Alex Kratz

Free Women’s Health Screening

The Montefiore Medical Center will offer medical screenings and information at the fourth annual Dr. Edward S. Greenwald Women’s Health Screening on Saturday October 28 from 8 am – 12 pm.

The screenings are open to all women in the community, with or without health insurance, and will include breast exams, Pap smears for women 18 and older and Mammograms for women 40 and older (eligible to women that have not received one in the last 12 months), as well as free education on how to perform a breast self-examination.

All services will be provided free of charge for women without insurance, and co-pays will apply to women with insurance.

The event will be held The Montefiore Medical Center North Division, Out Patient Oncology (6th floor) at 600 East 233rd Street.
 

 

 

Comptroller Visits BCC, Highlights Bronx Unemployment Woes

Last week, City Comptroller took a little mini-tour of the Bronx. Above, you can see video of his exchange with Bronx Community College Student Body President Tricia Warren during which he briefly discusses the economy, President Barack Obama’s jobs bill, and the Tea Party.

Liu, who was joined by State Assemblyman Nelson Castro at BCC, also visited the Morris Heights Senior Center and the South Bronx Job Corps Center.

Since that visit, disturbing Bronx unemployment statistics have poured in from Liu’s office. At 13.7 percent, the unemployment rate in the Bronx is the worst of the five boroughs. Read more

Calling All Local Youth Leaders–Apply Now For Yankees Award!

The staff over at Community Board 7 is looking for local youths to nominate for the Yankees’ Youth Leadership Award, a $750 prize for  upstanding young Bronx residents doled out each year by the Yankees Community Council. The deadline is Oct. 31.

Each Bronx Community Board gets to submit the names of five nominees, and CB7 District Manager Fernando Tirado says they’ve yet to receive any applications. Applicants must reside within the district–for CB7 that means the neighborhoods of Bedford Park, Norwood, Fordham, Kingsbridge Heights and University Heights--and each youth selected is required to complete 50 hours of community service work.

Here’s a link to more details and an application form. For more info, contact Community Board 7 at (718) 933-5650.

New Bronx Documentary Center Highlights Work of Slain Photojournalist

This weekend marked the opening of the Bronx Documentary Center, a new gallery and educational space in Melrose showcasing works of photography, film and multimedia.

The center’s first exhibit, titled “Visions: Tim Hetherington,” is a personal one, featuring a series of photos by Hetherington, an acclaimed photojournalist who was killed in April while covering the conflict in Libya.

Bronx Documentary Center founder Michael Kamber, a distinguished photographer for the New York Times who owns and lives in the landmarked South Bronx building where the gallery is housed, was a close friend of Hetherington’s. In the Times’ “Lens” blog, Kamber writes that the two had mused about opening such a space in the months before Hetherington’s death.

“This would be a place, we decided, that was focused not on wealthy collectors, but on disseminating photojournalism and multimedia to the youth and residents of New York City,” Kamper writes. “‘Look at this neighborhood,’ Tim marveled, as crowds of kids walked home from school speaking mixtures of English, Spanish, French and Wolof. The Bronx reminded Tim of all the places he’d worked around the world.”

“Visions” will be on display until Dec. 2. The Bronx Documentary Center, located at 614 Courtlandt Ave., is open Wednesdays through Sundays, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. More info here.

To see more photos from this weekend’s opening, check out photographer Adi Talwar’s slideshow here.

–Jeanmarie Evelly

<<<Click here to return to the Breaking Bronx blog.

New Occupiers and Bronx Stalwarts Meet in the Middle

By David Greene

This past Saturday, demonstrators from the nascent Occupy the Bronx movement joined forces with old guard grassroots organizers from the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition to collectively call out big banks for their role in creating in the country’s economic crisis.

But first, each group held their own separate assemblies on opposite ends of Fordham Road. Read more

We Toured de Bronx

Story and Video by Emily Piccone

Early Sunday morning thousands gathered on 161st street for the start of the 17th annual Tour de Bronx. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. welcomed the huge crowd of people, coming from the five boroughs, Westchester County and even as far as Stamford, Conn., to take part in the annual ride. Read more

Clinton Edges JFK in Emotional Win

The hotly anticipated match-up between old football rivals the DeWitt Clinton Governors and the John F. Kennedy’s Knights ended with redemption for Kennedy coach turned Clinton Defensive Coordinator Alex Vega, according to the NY Post.

Clinton was ahead 14-13 with just over three minutes to go, but the Knights were well into the Clinton red zone (inside the 20-yard line, for those non-football fanatics). That’s when Clinton sophomore linebacker Xavier Worrell intercepted a pass that would have put JFK in the lead and securing the one-point victory for the Governors. Clinton is now 4-3 on the season,  while JFK dropped to 3-4.

As big as the win was for the team, it was a personal victory for Vega, who used to coach at Kennedy.  Clinton’s defensive coordinator cried and told the Post, “Other than the day my son was born, this is the happiest day of my life.” Read more

Bronx Celebrates ‘Food Day’ With New School Health Initiative

Today is officially Food Day in New York City–the first annual government-sponsored day to celebrate “real food and healthy eating,” marked by events across the five boroughs with a focus on nutrition.

In the Bronx this morning, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., and State Sen. Gustavo Rivera were at Mount St. Ursula Academy in Bedford Park to kick off a new health initiative for local schools. The Family Health Challenge, developed alongside the Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center and the Committee of Interns and Residents, asks students and their families to set small goals for themselves–cut out soda one week, eat one piece of fruit a day for another–based on the idea that changing one simple habit at a time will, in the long run, lead to a healthier lifestyle.

Read more

Meeting Tonight: How to Fix Gun Hill Road

The Department of Transportation is holding another public input session concerning Gun Hill Road’s congestion and safety problems at Mosholu Montefiore Community Center, 3450 Dekalb Ave., tonight at 6:30 p.m. Everyone is invited to participate.

The DOT held a meeting earlier this year to highlight some of Gun Hill Road’s problems (at least the section from White Plains Road to Jerome Avenue) and brainstorm ideas about how to remedy the situation. At that meeting, project director Kol Gjelaj said they would take all the ideas and come back to the community with recommendations.

Since it’s being billed as a “public input session,” we’re guessing tonight might not be the night those recommendations are revealed. Stay tuned.

– Alex Kratz

Send Us Your Health Questions!

 

 

 

Got a pressing health, fitness, or nutrition question on your mind? Send them our way! We’re ready to tackle your queries about food, sex, illness, health insurance, prescription medications–any health-related topics that puzzle or interest you.

We’ll answer your question in a new Q&A feature appearing in the Norwood News‘ Be Healthy! column. If we don’t know, we’ll ask to experts. You can sign your name or send it anonymously.

Send your queries to: norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org.

Here’s a link to the first installment of the Be Healthy! Q&A, which was featured in last week’s Norwood News.

<<<Click here to return to the Breaking Bronx blog.

Bronx Weekend Wrap, Oct. 24

Happy Monday, Breaking Bronx readers. From here on out, we’ll be starting each work week off with a post called “Weekend Wrap,”  linking to relevant local news and big Bronx stories that went down over the weekend. Make sure you check back with us here every Monday.

Some items from the last few days:

A bill passed recently by the City Council will require the DOE to provide extensive reports on how school space is being utilized–though local parents are skeptical this will do anything for the crammed classrooms in the notoriously overcrowded Bronx District 10. This Daily News story sites local Bedford Park schools PS 8 and PS 86 among the most packed, with some classes holding as many as 40 students.

According to the MTA’s website service on the No. 4, 5 and 6 trains is back to normal this afternoon after a derailment downtown caused serious delays on the line this morning.

Read more

Friday News & Notes

Friday News & Notes is a new regular feature we’re implementing on Breaking Bronx as a way to report news tidbits, preview weekend happenings, and point out some of the stories you may have missed earlier in the week. Like Breaking Bronx, this will be an evolving feature.

– “Master carver” Ray Villafane will be at the Botanical Garden this weekend carving up the world’s largest pumpkin, which weighs in at 1,818.5 pounds. The photo above, by Adi Talwar, is from last year’s giant pumpkin carving extravaganza at the Garden. Click here for more of Adi’s pumpkin carving photos.

– The Norwood News talked with Councilman Fernando Cabrera for an article about the sector stats legislation he introduced two weeks ago. This didn’t make it into the story, but he called the Norwood News the “instigator” and the “conscious awakener” of the bill.

– Speaking of neighborhood crime stats, we recently interviewed longtime NYC crime reporter Murray Weiss, who spearheaded an amazingly thorough new crime statistics database on dnainfo.com. Check back for our interview with Weiss next week on Breaking Bronx. And look for our detailed crime statistics analysis of all 15 sectors in the 52nd Precinct in the next edition of the Norwood News print edition, Nov. 3.

– Spoke with new Community Board 7 Vice Chair Adaline Walker-Santiago this morning. Walker-Santiago narrowly defeated Parks Chair William Francis, 16-14, at Tuesday night’s meeting to take over for the late great Ozzie Brown. Walker-Santiago, a former city and DOE employee, is fast becoming one of the most active members of CB 7. She was instrumental in implementing a new free course for students at MS 80 (the Mosholu Parkway school on the chopping block after years of low performance) that will give students concentrated help in studying for the entrance exams into specialized high schools, like Bronx Science. (More on this next week and in the next print edition.) During a speech at the first-ever Bronx Education Summit, Boro Prez Ruben Diaz, Jr. commented on the lack of Bronx kids in specialized schools, “Our flagship school — the Bronx High School of Science — barely has any Bronx students within its walls.”

– The Tour de Bronx is Sunday! Get your ride on, Bronxites.

PS 51 Parents Hold Rally, Walcott Agrees to Meet

By Ronald Chavez

After persistent lobbying, Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said he would meet with parents of students at PS 51, the Bronx New School, which was moved from Bedford Park to Crotona after the building the school had inhabited for nearly two decades was found to be contaminated.

But parents, who rallied outside of a Panel for Education Policy meeting that Walcott attended, say they’re still skeptical about the Department of Education’s willingness to address their concerns.

It’s been three months since parents were alerted to the fact that the Bedford Park building that housed the Bronx New School had tested positive for sky-high levels of trichloroethylene, a toxin linked to cancer. The school was moved to St. Martin of Tours on 182nd Street in Crotona with just weeks to go before the start of the school year. Read more

Cabrera Pushes for Transparency on Neighborhood Crime Stats

By Alex Kratz

Spurred on by a Norwood News campaign, Councilman Fernando Cabrera introduced legislation this month that would force the New York City Police Department to publish neighborhood crime statistics each month.

On its website, the NYPD provides updated crime statistics for each of the city’s precincts. But police also generate statistics for several neighborhoods within each precinct. Those more detailed and localized statistics are provided by some precinct commanders. But most, including the those in the 52nd Precinct, force you to file a Freedom of Information Law request to obtain the statistics. The NYPD can take anywhere from a few months to more than a year to fulfill most FOIL requests.

Cabrera says providing the statistics to the public is “not an option, it’s a necessity.” Read more

Cemetery for Famous Registered As National Landmark

By Emily Piccone

Since 1863, the sprawling Woodlawn Cemetery has seen jazz greats, literary giants, political leaders and everyone in between entombed above and beneath its hallowed grounds. On Sunday, Oct. 16, the cemetery was inducted into the National Historic Landmark Registry. It is the sixth Bronx institution to make the list.

“From every racial background, the Woodlawn Cemetery represents the largest and most distinguished register of mausoleums in the country,” said John Liu, the New York City Comptroller.

The ceremony joined together Woodlawn Cemetery President John P. Toale, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., State Senator Jeffrey Klein, Bronx Historian Lloyd Ultan, Lehman College President Ricardo Fernandez, and many others who assisted in distinguishing the cemetery as a National Landmark. Read more

Bronx Education Summit a Chance to Chart New Path

By Ronald Chavez

For the first-ever Bronx Education Summit at Lehman College, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. said he wanted to spark conversation.

He got what he wanted.

In an early morning speech, education scholar Diane Ravitch blasted the city’s education system since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took the reigns in 2002, saying rising test scores are misleading and that fewer and fewer of high school graduates are prepared for college.

“The DOE responds to systemic problems with a simple formula,” she said. “The same formula now for 10 years: close the schools that enroll low performing students. Open new schools, especially charter schools. This doesn’t help children learn English.” Read more

Welcome to the Norwood News’ Digital Evolution

Dear Readers,

Whether you are a regular reader of the Norwood News or you are just checking out this website for the first time, I would like to personally thank you for your support of vital community journalism. Now, starting this week, we would like to reward you for your support by offering you more. More news. More photos. More information. More analysis. More multi-media. All of this for free. I know. Sounds too good to be true, right? Let me explain.

For nearly a quarter century (we began publishing in 1988!), the Norwood News has produced quality, vibrant and civically important journalism through its print edition. We began as a bimonthly newspaper covering just one neighborhood: Norwood. Today, we publish every two weeks and cover the neighborhoods of Community District 7 — Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights — plus anything else borough, city, state or nationwide that we feel is important or of interest to you.

The problem now is that our coverage cannot be contained in the limited space we can afford to produce bi-weekly. So, instead of having you wait for the next print edition for your news, we are working hard to deliver it to you digitally via several online platforms.

The heart of this extended coverage will be the Norwood News website, norwoodnews.org, where we will still provide you with every story produced in the print edition, plus features like Neighborhood Notes (our guide to local programs, services and announcements) and Out & About (our arts and entertainment calendar). We will also include a link to a pdf version of the actual print edition in case you want to read the paper, as it was produced, on your computer (or smart tablet or iPhone, etc.). Read more

At Norwood Store, Cigars Are an Art

By Lindsay Armstrong

Francisco Rosario sits at a worn wooden desk behind a storefront window, transforming a pile of flat, brown leaves into cigars as thick as Italian sausages. He holds the butt of a cigar snugly between his lips as he works, tearing, smoothing, and rolling the fragrant leaves. Our Lady of Fatima, emblazoned on a gold medal hanging from his neck, presides over the ritual.

Rosario, 52, has been making cigars since his childhood in the Dominican Republic. In spite of chatter to the contrary, he insists that Dominican cigars are the best.

“Cubans are famous because no one can get them here,” he said in a mix of Spanish and English. “But Dominican cigars are better. They have two kinds of tobacco. We have eight.”

After moving to New York at age 34, Rosario dreamed of opening his own cigar shop. Eight years later, that dream became a reality. Rosario’s Cigars, on East Gun Hill Road in Norwood, is now celebrating its 10th anniversary. Read more

Cemetery Workers Say Problems Continue

By David Greene

Nearly two years after filing a grievance against the management of Woodlawn Cemetery, with claims of unfair labor practices and racism, employees continue to speak out, even after 15 of 37 workers were laid off in April.

A handful of workers and their supporters gathered outside the cemetery on Saturday, Oct. 15, a day before a plaque would be dedicated in honor of Woodlawn becoming a national landmark.

Frank Russo, a former U.S. Marine who has worked at Woodlawn since 1979, said that since testifying before the independent attorney who was investigating workers’ claims last summer, he has become a target of supervisors.

“I worked for seven years in the crematory,” he said. “The minute I spoke to the attorney, that was it, my days were numbered there.”

Russo, a white man who says he spoke out on behalf of minority employees, says he was immediately transferred and lost his overtime, which amounted to about $300 a week. Read more

Mayor’s ‘Young Men’s Initiative’ Focused on Reading

By Jeanmarie Evelly

Mayor Bloomberg and a number of city and elected officials gathered at the Bronx Library Center on Kingsbridge Road last week to launch the first effort of the city’s “Young Men’s Initiative,” a $127 million multi-agency program unveiled this summer to address the disparities faced by the city’s young black and Latino men.

The first leg of the initiative will focus on improving youth reading skills, the mayor announced last week, with $3 million funneled to the expansion of the Young Adult Literacy Program, which works with 16 to 24 year olds who read between the fourth and eighth grade levels.

The program, founded in 2008, will now be offered at 17 sites across the city and will nearly double the number of participants to an estimated 1,000 young people this year. Read more

Be Healthy! Answers Your Questions

By Jeanmarie Evelly

Q: I would like to know why my nose runs whenever I eat or drink. This has been occurring for a number of years and is very disturbing and embarrassing. I don’t have any allergies or an ongoing cold. I am a junior senior, in reasonably good health, of average height and weight, and do not take any medications. What is the cause and how can this be remedied — preferably without medication? —Judy Noy

A: There is a technical term for what you’re experiencing: gustatory rhinitis. “Rhinitis” is the fancy word for runny nose, and “gustatory” is relating to food and tasting—in short, gustatory rhinitis means the mucous membranes in your nasal passages get irritated when you eat or drink, resulting in the kind of unpleasant symptoms you’re describing. Read more

Assemblywoman Aims to ‘Fight the Bulge’

By Emily Piccone

Teaming up with professional mixed martial artists, a celebrity fitness trainer and a dietician from Jacobi Medical Center, Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera has set out to tackle childhood obesity in her new “Fight the Bulge” campaign.

The obesity epidemic has replaced smoking as the leading killer of Americans, Rivera said in a press release, and Hispanic children are particularly at risk: nearly half of Latinos born after the year 2000 will develop diabetes, a recent study estimates.

On Oct. 10, Rivera hosted an educational forum at Bronx House, on Pelham Parkway, to discuss the risks associated with an unhealthy lifestyle and the best tactics for combating obesity.  In attendance were personal trainer Donovan Green, nutritionist Dr. Gloria Brent of Jacobi Medical Center, and UFC professional fighters Nick Pace and Louis “Good Night” Gaudinot.   Read more

Sen. Rivera Teaching Free Civics Classes

By Jeanmarie Evelly

Bronx State Sen. Gustavo Rivera is getting back to his roots as educator, teaching a series of free civics classes this month at the Bronx Library Center that cover topics like the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, elections and how different levels of government work.

Rivera, who has taught at Pace University and CUNY Hunter, said he wanted to do something productive during his time off from Albany (the legislative session starts back up in January) and thought the classes would help stress the importance of civic participation to his constituents.

“I’ve always believed that people need to participate in local government,” Rivera said. “People should understand how government works so they can demand more of their government.”

The classes started last week and will be held every Thursday evening, from 6 to 7 p.m. until Nov. 3 at the Bronx Library Center, 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd. Future series are being planned for other areas of the district.

Classes are free and open to the public, and you can attend one or attend all, Rivera said. To RSVP or for more information, call (718) 933-2034.

Training Wheels Off: Tour De Bronx Returns

Bronx bicycling enthusiasts can get in gear for the 17th annual Tour de Bronx, as registration for the Oct. 23 event is now open. The tour is a joint project by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, and local hospitals to promote health and exercise.

“Riding a bike around our borough is the healthiest way to see the best of the Bronx, and I invite everyone to join me again this year to tour our wonderful borough,” Diaz said in a press release.

The borough president kicked off the event at a press conference at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore last Wednesday.

For Roxanne Watson, the event could be another marker in her recovery. Watson received a heart transplant at Montefiore Hospital last year and has recovered well enough to try and bike the borough.

“For a long time I couldn’t even walk.  Now I’m exercising three times a week and willing to try new things like Tour de Bronx,” Watson said.

It’s the largest free cycling event in the state, according to a press release. Bicyclists can choose between a 25-mile course designed for all skill levels or a more rigorous 40-mile course, for more experienced bikers.

The tour starts at the Bronx County Building on 161st Street and the Grand Concourse, heads into Mott Haven, then snakes around the southeastern edges of the borough. It pulls northward and to the west after Throgs Neck and ends near Bedford Park.

To register for this year’s Tour de Bronx, head to http://tourdebronx.org/register or call (718) 590-3518.

Clinton-JFK Square Off Under Friday Night Lights

By Ronald Chavez

An ancient rivalry is back in the Bronx for an emotional showdown under Friday night lights. Dewitt Clinton’s Governors are headed to John F. Kennedy’s Riverdale campus in what should be a hard-fought contest that starts at 7 p.m.

The Governors have beaten JFK the past two years after suffering 11 straight losses to the Knights.

In an interview yesterday, Clinton head coach Howard Langley said he’s expecting an emotional game. “Kids are going to experience emotion and adrenaline that they’re never going to feel again,” he said.

Former Knights coach Alex Vega will find himself in an unusual position –- trying to keep his old team off the scoreboard. Now the defensive coordinator for Clinton, Vega declined to talk to the press, but Langley said it would be like playing against family for him.

The teams are both 3-3 after losses last week, and have each dropped off the NY Post’s power rankings.

Engel: With Qaddafi’s Death, Real Work in Libya Begins

Bronx Congressman Eliot Engel, a senior member of the house foreign affairs committee, sent out a swift response to the news of former Libyan dictator Muammar el-Qaddafi’s violent death earlier today, saying it’s time for Libyans to get down to the business of setting up a functioning democracy. Below is a quote from Engel’s press release:

“With the death of Moamar Qadaffi, it is time for Libyans to get on with the difficult job of setting up a functioning government and rebuilding their country. The United States and our European allies should help the transitional authorities in Libya as they establish democratic institutions, but we must also caution that they contain radical elements. It is my hope that a democratically-chosen government in Libya will promote the freedom and prosperity of its citizens and will quickly discard the extremist agenda of Qadaffi who spent more time propping up dictators in Africa, vilifying Israel, and blowing up civilian airliners than bettering his own country.”

Community District 10 Education Council Meeting Tonight

The Community District 10 Education Council, which encompasses much of the northwest Bronx, will hold its monthly meeting tonight, Thursday, Oct. 20 at 6:30 p.m. at PS 33, 2424 Jerome Ave.

Tonight’s meeting will include a presentation by Deputy Chancellor Suransky on Common Core Standards and a presentation on the Contract 4 Excellence by the Office of Portfolio Planning.

For more information, call (718) 741-5836 or e-mail: CEC10@schools.nyc.gov.

Thursday’s Bronx Links

Here are the stories Breaking Bronx is following today:

Mott Haven Herald Editor Bernard Stein says “It’s about time” the Bronx joined the Occupy Wall Street movement.

At a meeting with District 7 parents last night, Chancellor Walcott defended the Special Education Student Information System, downplaying concerns that it left out some special needs students. Called SESIS, the web-based system was created to track information about students with disabilities, but teachers say the system is a burden to use. Last night’s meeting was part of a law requiring the Chancellor to visit each of the city’s 33 districts in a two-year period.

Bronx cop José Ramos is being investigated for fixing tickets in exchange for receiving stolen goods — including a flat screen TV. Ramos was caught through a wiretap while in conversation with Harry Mingo, a friend with several charges on his record including forgery, larceny, and possession of stolen property. Ramos was also the subject of an Internal Affairs investigation over his relationship with alleged drug dealer Lee King, aka Marco Mack. Read more

Occupy the Bronx 101; Movement to Join Forces with Coalition

Bronx Assemblyman Jose Rivera, perhaps the most prolific videographer in the borough, shot this footage last Saturday at the Occupy the Bronx assembly in Fordham Plaza. It’s long — with a running time of 46 minutes, 54 seconds — but gives a good sense of the scene last weekend and how the Occupy movement conducts business.

The third person who speaks, starting at about the 10-minute mark, is Ephraim Cruz, who sat down with BronxTalk’s Gary Axelbank on Monday evening. Cruz is a co-founder of Bronx for Change, a recently-created political organization. Another co-founder of Bronx for Change, Charlie Ramos, lost badly in his attempt to unseat Bronx State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. last year.

On Saturday, the Occupy the Bronx movement will be joining forces with the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, which is holding a rally at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church, from noon to 2 p.m., to “demand support for struggling schools, Living Wage jobs at the Kingsbridge Armory, and accountability for abusive landlords,” according to a press release. The plan is for the Occupiers to walk from Fordham Plaza to Tolentine, at Fordham Road and University Avenue, and then have everyone at the rally take the train down to Zuccotti Park to join up with Occupy Wall Street. Below is text from the Coalition’s press release: Read more

Croton Facilities Monitoring Committee Tonight

The monthly Croton Facilities Monitoring Committee will be held tonight, Wednesday, Oct. 19, at the DEP outreach office, 3660 Jerome Ave. at 7 p.m. Usually, the committee meets on the third Thursday of every month, but this month, due to some scheduling difficulties, it’s happening tonight.

A couple of interesting items on the agenda tonight.

The Department of Environmental Protection will provide a status update on their consideration of A) the feasibility of building a pedestrian bridge over the Major Deegan Expressway. The DEP promised it would do this study in exchange for using public parkland to build the filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park. B) Removing trees around the Jerome Park Reservoir.

They will also discuss Bronx jobs at the construction site and the project’s enormous cost overruns.

Good times.

Filipino Parish of St. Brendan’s Celebrates 17 Years

Slide show and Story By Lindsay Armstrong

More than 250 people crowded into St. Brendan’s auditorium on a recent Sunday evening to celebrate the 17th anniversary of the church’s Filipino parish.

Lumen Castaneda, a former resident of Norwood, founded the parish in conjunction with St. Brendan’s in 1994. The church offers a monthly mass in Tagalog, the Philippine native tongue.

Head pastor, Father George Stewart says the group is a vibrant part of the larger church community. “This is a very ethnically diverse parish. We have 48 nations represented and they all add to the experience,” Stewart said. “We’re very excited for them.”

Read more

Living Wage Backers Seek Compromise; Second Hearing Planned for November

Supporters of a living wage bill that’s been lingering in the City Council for over a year now are making another effort to revive the lagging legislation, in a drawn-out battle with the Bloomberg administration and business leaders who say it would ultimately kill jobs.

Sponsors of the proposed Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act, which would require developers receiving substantial taxpayer-funded subsidies to pay workers $10 an hour with benefits, or $11.50 without, unveiled revisions to the bill earlier this month in an attempt to compromise with critics. Whether the newly watered-down version of the legislation is enough to sway its opponents will likely be debated on Nov. 22, when a public hearing for the bill—its second to date—has been scheduled by the City Council.
Read more

Welcome to Breaking Bronx

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Breaking Bronx, the new blog produced by the Norwood News.

This is still a work in progress, but essentially, this will be the space where we post breaking news stories, reports and information that didn’t make it into our print edition, multi-media efforts from our staff and freelancers, opinion and analysis from guest writers, links to relevant and important news stories, meeting and events alerts and much more.

As Breaking Bronx evolves, we hope to include regular features like, for example, a local sports column or a guide to weekend events. And, of course, we are wide open for suggestions. What do you want to us to write about? Do you want more videos? More audio? More photo slide shows? This space is like a big ball of soft clay, ready and willing to be molded by you.

You can e-mail suggestions to us at norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or just use the comment function. Also, we’ll be alerting readers to new stories, features and information on Breaking Bronx through our Twitter feed (@norwoodnews) and the Norwood News’ Facebook page.

Our first featured story on Breaking Bronx is an exclusive first-read of our Occupy the Bronx cover story for our latest edition Norwood News print edition, which will start hitting local streets later today.

Enjoy.

–Alex Kratz, Editor-in-Chief, Norwood News

(PS: Cheers to Norwood News staff writer Jeanmarie Evelly for coming up with the Breaking Bronx name.)

‘Occupy’ Movement Takes Up Residence in the Bronx

Gabriel De Los Santos, a veteran of the Occupy Wall Street movement now stretching into its second month, showed up at the first Occupy the Bronx rally at Fordham Plaza last Saturday. He held a hand-written cardboard sign, a replica of dozens he had created and distributed during the past month. It read: “Land of the Free? Hypocrisy.”

Sporting a backwards Suicidal Tendencies baseball cap, sleeveless black Cannibal Corpse T-shirt and a faint wisp of a mustache, De Los Santos is 15-year-old student at Lehman High School who lives just blocks from Fordham Plaza. He was one of close to 100 people who attended the rally — evidence that the Occupy movement is spreading, not only to the outer boroughs, but to locations around the world. Similar Occupy-type rallies took place last Saturday in Chicago, Rome, Sydney, Tokyo and Hong Kong, according to the New York Times. Read more

CB7 Youth Committee Meeting Tonight

Community Board 7′s Youth Services Committe will meet tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the board office in Bedford Park, 229A E. 204th St. Here’s the agenda posted form the CB7 website:

1) FY 13 (Financial Year 2013) Capital and Expense Requests

2) FY 12 (Financial Year 2012) Goals

3) Additional Items

a) Spring physical fitness event

Get Civics Lessons From Your State Senator

Before Gustavo Rivera became a state senator here in the Bronx’s 33rd District, he was an adjunct political science professor at Pace University. In fact, before catching the campaign politics bug soon after  moving to New York from his native Puerto Rico for graduate school in 1998, Rivera appeared destined for a career in academia. Although he never completed his masters degree, Rivera continued to teach while serving as a campaign field operative for several politicians, including former Gov. David Paterson, Bronx State Senator Jose M. Serrano and President Obama.

Tonight, Rivera slides back into his role as educator at the Bronx Library Center on Kingsbridge Road. There, at 6 p.m., he will begin a series of classes on civics that will continue every Thursday, same time, same place, for an hour each time, until Nov. 3.

The class is free and open to anyone of any age who wants to attend. According to a press release, “the course will focus on learning about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the different levels of government, as well as how government and elections work.”

CB 7 Committe Meetings Tonight: Traffic/Transportation and Sanitation/Environment

There are two Community Board 7 committee meetings — Traffic/Transportation and Sanitation/Environment — tonight at the board office, 229A E. 204th St., both starting at 6:30 p.m.

Here’s the agenda for Traffic/Transportation, according to the CB7 website:

Old Business: Goulden Ave Update; Update on Gun Hill Road Project; Results of Consultation Hearing

New Business: Bike Racks (Katz request)

There’s no posted agenda for Sanitation/Environment.

Training Wheels Off For 2011 Tour de Bronx

Bronx bicycling enthusiasts can now get in gear for the 17th annual Tour de Bronx bike ride as registration for the Oct. 23 event is now open.

Participants can take in views of the borough on bicycle in a joint project by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Transportation Alternatives, and local hospitals. The idea behind it being to promote the beauty of Bronx, as well as to encourage healthy living and exercise in the state’s unhealthiest county.

“Riding a bike around our borough is the healthiest way to see the best of the Bronx, and I invite everyone to join me again this year to tour our wonderful borough,” said Diaz in a press release.

Diaz kicked off the event during a press conference in Norwood at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore yesterday.

For Roxanne Watson, the event could be another marker in her recovery. Watson received a heart transplant at Montefiore Medical Center last year and has recovered well enough to try her hand at the Tour de Bronx.

“For a long time I couldn’t even walk,” Watson said. “Now I’m exercising three times a week and willing to try new things like Tour de Bronx,”

It’s the largest free cycling event in the state, according to the press release.

Bicyclists can choose from 2 different courses. A 25-mile course meant for all skill levels or a more rigorous and speedier 40-mile course for more experienced bicyclists.

The course starts on 161 Street and the Grand Concourse and heads into Mott Haven. Then it snakes around the southeastern edges of the borough. It pulls northward and to the west after Throgs Neck and ends near Bedford Park.

To register for this year’s Tour de Bronx, click here.

–Ronald Chavez

Lehman College Speaker Series Takes Stage Tonight

By Ronald Chavez

Lehman College School of Arts and Humanities’ fall 2011 speaker series will open with Spanish flair. The series is set to begin tonight with two speakers who will do much more than speak. Francisco Roldan and Thelma Ithier-Sterling will perform, “Music by Spanish and Latin American Composers” as part of the college’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. The performance is at 6 p.m. in Recital Hall in the Music Building. Read more

CB7 Economic Development Meeting Tonight

Community Board 7 is holding its Economic Development Meeting tonight at 6:45 p.m. at the board office, 229A E. 204th St., in Bedford Park. On the agenda:

1. Update on supermarket pricing
2. Capital budget recommendations (review of city preliminary requests)
3. Develop a strategy for economic map interpretation

Bronx Students, Parents Protest Education Dept. Layoffs

By Jeanmarie Evelly

Students, parents and school workers rallied outside of the Bronx’s PS 66 in West Farms last week to protest the planned layoff of some 700 city school workers, among them aides, parent coordinators and other school support staff.

The layoffs are the result of state and city budget cuts, and if a compromise isn’t reached, the employees on the chopping block could be out of work within the next few weeks.

“Most of those job losses would be felt in East New York, Brownsville, Williamsburg, Washington Heights, and the south Bronx. These communities are already in need of enhanced social services and are suffering with higher unemployment rates,” said Santos Crespo, president of local Union 372, which represents the workers. “The economic sense in laying off city workers does not add up.” Read more

Williamsbridge Oval Park Muggings Inspire Solidarity March

By Lindsay Armstrong and David Greene

A group of concerned Norwood residents marched through Williamsbridge Reservoir Oval in late September in a show of solidarity amid a recent spate of muggings in the park.

Friends of the Williamsbridge Oval, a local advocacy group, organized the event following news of the fifth mugging in the past month.

“I heard people saying things like ‘Don’t go into the park.’ To me that seems like the wrong reaction,” said Eileen Markey, one of the organizers. “We want to say: ‘We don’t accept that behavior here.’”

About 25 other residents joined Markey in sending that message. They marched around the track and along the park’s pathways, holding up hand-lettered signs and chanting, “What do we want? A safe park. When do we want it? Now.”

James McGeown, executive officer of the 52nd Precinct said police regularly patrol this area, but have stepped up their presence in response to the muggings, which all follow a similar pattern. The muggers approach the victim from behind, knock the person down, and grab his or her belongings before fleeing.

A day earlier, the NYPD announced the arrest of Jose Velazquez, 21. Police said Velazquez stole a cell phone from a victim on Reservoir Oval East on Sept. 19. He is being charged with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and unlawful possession of marijuana. Police believe Velazquez had an accomplice who is still at large. Read more

Police Investigating A Burned Quran as a Hate Crime

By Jasmeet Sidhu

On the morning before the 10th anniversary of 9/11, Imam Ifa Yahha made a jarring discovery outside the Masjid Hefaz mosque.

An unmarked package stuffed with roast meat, a photo of Osama bin Laden, mysterious white powder, and the burned remains of a Quran was placed in front of the door on East 198th Street off the Grand Concourse, said a mosque member.

“As far as I know, nothing of this magnitude has happened before,” said Fahaam Razack, 27, a nursing student at Lehman College who has attended the mosque since he was 14. Read more

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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

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