Bronx Breakdown: Church and School Confusion, FreshDirect, Just 1 Crime Story and SNL

The Bronx Breakdown is back with a special President’s Day edition, where we wrestle with our favorite three subjects — the separation of church and state, city subsidies for development projects, ridiculously sad crime stories — and have some fun with SNL. Let’s break it on down. (FYI, above is our temporary new Bronx Breakdown logo. It’s taken from a photo my mother took of Mercedes Benz parked on Seattle street. The Bronx is everywhere!)

Bronx Sports Report: Your Bronx-Centric Guide to the PSAL Playoffs

The Public School Athletic League playoffs kicked off this week with a slew of early round match-ups. But now we hit the tournament pause button as the city’s schools take next week off. It will give some teams a chance to regroup, while slowing the momentum of others.

Churches Can Stay in Schools for 10 More Days, Judge Says

A city policy banning worship in public school buildings during non-school hours was put on hold today, after a federal judge issued a temporary injunction this morning that will allow churches and other religious groups to continue holding services in schools, at least for the next 10 days. The ban was supposed to go into effect Sunday, Feb. 12, following a federal court’s decision last spring that the Department of Education could legally evict the religious groups on the grounds of separation of church and state. Bronx Household of Faith, a small University Heights-based church that has held services in

Bronx Nabe Note: Croton Facility Monitoring Committee Meeting Tonight

The Croton Facility Monitoring Committee will meet tonight, Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. at the DEP Office, 3660 Jerome Ave. For more information, call (718) 231-8470.

Bronx Nabe Note: CSI for Teens at BCC

Bronx Community College‘s Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP), offers aspiring middle and high school students classes in the fundamentals of crime scene investigating.

Be Healthy Wednesdays! Bronx Students, School Health Advocates Advance on Albany

Editor’s Note: Every Wednesday, Breaking Bronx features a health-related story, event or tidbit as part of an online expansion of our Be Healthy! column. Bronx Students, School Health Advocates Advance on Albany A group of Bronx students, parents and teachers affiliated with Montefiore Medical Center traveled to the state capitol yesterday to take part in an advocacy day event, looking to drum up political support for school-based health centers–full service health clinics, situated in schools, which provide care for students there, a tactic advocates say is effective in improving health outcomes for young people in low-income and minority communities. Over

Bronx Youth Journalism Initiative–FINAL DEADLINE!

Today, Wednesday, Feb. 15, is the last day to apply to the spring semester of the Bronx Youth Journalism Initiative, the free high school journalism after-school program run by the Norwood News. Founded in 2008, the Bronx Youth Journalism Initiative is open to any high school student who lives or goes to school in the Bronx. Spring classes will start at the end of February and are held every Wednesday afternoon from 4 to 6 p.m. at Hostos Community College, on the Grand Concourse. The course runs for 12 weeks, and teaches the ins and outs of reporting, writing, and

BP Diaz, Bronx Business Leaders Defend Fresh Direct Funding

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., is looking to appease critics of online grocer FreshDirect, which was granted $127.8 million from the city last week in exchange for staying in New York. The company had been considering another lucrative offer to relocate to New Jersey, prompting the Bloomberg administration to counter with an even bigger package of tax breaks and subsidies to convince it to move its headquarters to the Bronx’s Harlem River Yards instead. FreshDirect is currently based in Long Island City, Queens. Some have lashed out against the deal as too generous to a company that pays 38% of

The city has denied a federal judge’s request to delay the evictions of dozens of faith-based groups that hold worship services in public schools, saying the enforcement of the policy has already been pushed back twice, according to a letter sent by the city’s Law Department. Yesterday, Judge Loretta Preska asked the city to allow churches and other groups that rent public school space on weekends to continue to use the facilities while she deliberates on the issue. The Department of Education policy banning religious groups from worshiping in school buildings, citing the separation of church and state, was supposed