Legal Services NYC-Bronx To Open Community Office at the Hub

A group that offers free legal services to low-income Bronx residents will be getting a new and improved home at the busy HUB commercial corridor, at Brook Avenue and E. 149th Street, a number of local elected officials announced last week. Legal Services NYC-Bronx will move into a commercial condominium that’s being built as part of City-sanctioned development project on a stretch of undeveloped property at the HUB. When completed, the group’s new offices will feature a green space and be fully handicap accessible, according to a press release sent out by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., who is

It’s that time of year again–budget negotiation time, as lawmakers hammer out deals on how much the city and state governments should spend, and on what. City Council members have until the start of the next fiscal year, on July 1, to agree on a plan for the city’s spending. Mayor Bloomberg released a $68.7 billion preliminary budget proposal in February, which he boasted would close a $2 billion budget gap without raising taxes. But not everyone, of course, is happy with the Mayor’s plan. Bronx City Council Member Annabel Palma, who represents Parkchester, Soundview, Castle Hill, and Classon Point,

Two Bronx legislators are looking to pass a bill that would ban employers from requesting social media site passwords from job applicants, a practice they say is growing in popularity and a threat to the privacy of job-seekers. “This legislation will address a terrible and growing abuse by certain employers,” said Assemblyman Jeffery Dinowitz, who is sponsoring the version of the bill in the Assembly. “Employers should not be snooping on social media communications that are private, and they certainly should not be given passwords that are supposed to be kept secret. It’s like an employer asking for a copy

Former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, who has spent the past three years working for the Obama administration, is taking a job in the private sector with CSA Group, which bills itself as the “largest architectural, engineering, environmental services, consulting, and construction and program management company in the United States.”

Bronx Links Wednesday

Happy Wednesday, and welcome back to Breaking Bronx. It’ll be cloudy and in the mid-60s today. Here are the news stories we’re following this morning: Good news for museum-goers on a budget: in honor of its 40th anniversary, the Bronx Museum of the Arts is eliminating its $5 suggested admission fee starting tomorrow. Is the South Bronx gentrifying? A New York Times piece this week says yes, pointing to an influx of white, middle-class professionals who are making their homes around the Grand Concourse area near Yankee Stadium. UNHP’s Gregory Jobo Lost, in a guest post on the new blog

Lawmakers Strike Redistricting Deal; How The Bronx Will Be Affected By Controversial New Lines

After months of debate, state lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo approved a redistricting deal last week that will re-set State Senate and Assembly lines for the next decade, and establish an independent commission to take over the process after the next Census in 2020 — a plan that many local leaders are unhappy with.

Bronx Breakdown: A Redistrict-culous Process

Here’s what the New York State Legislature wants you to know about redistricting: (silence … birds chirping, crickets singing, the ghost of Guy Velella chuckling) In other words, nothing.

Finance Chief for Nonprofit Founded By Ruben Diaz, Sr., Arrested for Embezzlement

Clement Gardner, the financial officer for a charity founded by Bronx State Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr., was arrested yesterday for stealing $75,000 from the organization, according to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman– funds that were intended for programs to serve Bronx children and seniors. Diaz, Sr., founded the organization, the Christian Community Benevolent Association, in 1977 and served as the executive director for the nonprofit until 2002, and directed nearly $500,000 in public member item money to the group in 2006 and 2007, according to the New York Times. Diaz told the paper he was “shocked” by the news. In a

Bronx Links, Wednesday

Good morning! Welcome back to Breaking Bronx. We’re in for another beautiful day of spring weather today, with plenty of sunshine and a high of 68. Enjoy it. Here are the local news stories we’re following this Wednesday: Local leaders and politicians are once again looking for ways to battle the ongoing problem of dog poop on sidewalks here in the Bronx. Raising fines and increasing funding for enforcement of the city’s pooper-scooper law are among the suggestions, according to the Daily News. Opening arguments being today in the corruption trial of former Bronx State Sen. Pedro Espada. Espada and