One Giant Megaphone for Armory

Maybe it’s a Bronx thing or an “other boroughs” thing. Apparently up here the city doesn’t announce the advancement of huge neighborhood-changing development projects. They just sort of leak them and rumor them and move forward without saying much.

We’re talking, of course, about the Kingsbridge Armory, the massive vacant building slated to be renovated sometime in the near future. Community Board 7 Chair Greg Faulkner has said publicly, at a general board meeting, that The Related Companies, whose principal is pals and former business partners with former deputy mayor Dan Doctoroff, has been awarded the contract to revamp the Armory. The Daily News reported the same story using anonymous sources three weeks ago. The city Economic Development Corporation is not denying it, but they’re not admitting it either.

How sad. The biggest project to hit the northwest Bronx in generations is limping past a major milestone as if it doesn’t really matter. This situation only reinforces the century-old public impression that the city administration, regardless of who is mayor, only really cares about Manhattan.

Fortunately, we are a community that has found its voice and struggled mightily for this project and is now gearing up for face-to-face negotiations with the developer.

Prostitutes Still in Bronx

The Bronx has the largest number of known public street locations for prostitution in the city, and yet according to the citywide arrest statistics they have the lowest number of arrests for this crime. The locations include: West Farms area and East Tremont Avenue, St. James Park, Hunts Points, Bronx Terminal Market, Jerome Avenue between Gun Hill Road and Woodlawn, East 241st Street and White Plains Road, Jerome Avenue from 4 a.m. until 7 a.m. between Fordham Road and Kingsbridge Road, Westchester Square and East 233rd Street and the New England Thruway area. The Office of the Patrol Borough Bronx


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Library Needs Crosswalk

I am a citizen living in the Fordham area and I have younger siblings who visit the Bronx Library Center at 310 Kingsbridge Road. I began to notice that there are no crosswalks conveniently located near the library center when I witnessed a group of children jaywalking across the street from the Briggs Avenue side of the street to the front of the library. This is a busy and wide street that is dangerous for pedestrians. I began to look for a solution by writing to my council member, Joel Rivera, and Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, Jr. Also, by


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Where is the Housing?

I am homeless, disabled and I sleep on a recliner. In 1999, I was in a car accident and lost my apartment. My 15-year-old son had to move in with his father who lives in Pennsylvania, and we’ve been separated since September, when school started there. I have gone to Housing Court, the Social Security welfare offices, and Citizen’s Advice Bureau. I receive a once-a-month payout from SSI, pay my bills and on the 2nd I have no money left to my name. I don’t want to move to a shelter. I’ve been going from my son’s apartment to my


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Out & About

A listing of entertainment and community events in the northwest Bronx.

Neighborhood Notes

A listing of programs and services for our readership in the northwest Bronx.

Murders Begin to Pile Up After Rough Weekend

It took nearly two months for the first murder to happen in the 52nd Precinct. It took just two days, during one noisy weekend a couple of weeks ago, for that number to triple. Though murder numbers are still down – from four during this time last year to three this year – violent crime is picking up after a welcomed slow start to 2008.

Volunteers Plant Flowers, Clean Up Aqueduct Walk

Half a dozen rakes scraped along the dirt where Aqueduct Walk meets Fordham Road, last Saturday. Their spindles, leaving in their wake manicured soil, dragged paper, glass, and other odd bits of trash to piles where the garbage would eventually be bagged.