Bronx News Roundup: Grumblings About Bronx Boss, a Cricket Haven and Eating Like a Man

Welcome to the latest edition of the Bronx News Roundup. These are the Bronx stories we’re following today.

Bronx Notes: English Conversation Skills

Speakers of any language (all levels) are invited to join English conversation classes at LIFT-the Bronx, 2381 Belmont Ave., between 187th and 186th streets, Wednesdays from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Topics will range from current events to sports. For more information, call (718) 733-4061 or email liftenglishconversation@gmail.com.

Smoky Wakefield Fire Destroys Shops, Mosque, Injures 10

Investigators continue to sift through the ashes from a devastating fire that wiped-out an entire city block, leaving a row of stores and an apartment building in a pile of ash and rubble.

Out & About in the Bronx

Our Out & About feature is a guide to what’s going on in the Bronx in arts, entertainment and recreation.

‘Serious’ Vacca Protege Making Waves in Crowded Bronx Council Race

Ritchie Torres is so young that his mother named him after seeing “La Bamba,” a movie about Mexican-American pop singer Ritchie Valens who died in a plane crash in 1959. The movie, staring Lou Diamond Phillips, was released in 1987.

Kingsbridge Reacts to Ice Center Plans for Armory

Plans to turn the Kingsbridge Armory into the world’s largest ice sports complex, which were announced last week, drew a mix of reactions, most of them positive, from local residents, business owners, and students interested in the future of the Armory’s neighborhood. Rose Mangubat, who lives near the Armory on University Avenue, said the city’s plans to turn the building into the Kingsbridge National Ice Center will bring the borough economic success. But a local resident who identified herself as Jackie R. said that even though the future ice center will bring the Bronx a financial boost, she stressed that

Bronx News Roundup: Fire, Fatalities, and Fordham

by Will Speros Investigators are looking into what caused the massive five-alarm fire this morning at 226th Street and White Plains Road in Wakefield. The fire started in a shed a little after 6 am, and quickly spread to nearby businesses and a mosque. The 2 and 5 trains were suspended as firefighters spent nearly four hours getting the fire under control. An eleven-year-old was hospitalized for minor injuries from smoke inhalation and ten firefighters are being treated for minor injuries. The community is now facing the aftermath of the destruction to the whole business block, NY1 reports. Sherika Stewart

A couple of days after the mayor announced that the Kingsbridge Armory would be transformed into the world’s largest ice sports complex, Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter sat across the street from the vacant building in a bustling diner and tried valiantly to stay awake.

Armory to Become ‘Global’ Ice Sports Destination

After nearly two decades of failed efforts to re-energize the massive Kingsbridge Armory and dire warnings that it may never happen, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced last week that the iconic, 575,000-square-foot brick castle in the west Bronx would be turned into the world’s largest ice sports complex.