Politics

Bronx Meetings and Events

Lots of community events happening tonight! The 52 Precinct’s monthly community council meeting will be held tonight at the New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Blvd., from 7 to 9 p.m. Get there early, at 5:30 p.m., and you can check out the garden’s famous holiday train show for free. For more details call council president Brenda Caldwell-Paris at 917-650-0620. Community Board 7 will host its annual holiday tree lighting tonight at 6 p.m., at Bainbridge Avenue and Mosholu Parkway. And last but not least, the Community Education Council for School District 10 meets tonight at 6:30 p.m. at PS


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A Year After Split, Klein’s Independence Holds Weight

As the one-year anniversary of Bronx/Westchester State Sen. Klein’s Independent Democratic Conference approaches in January, the senator defends his caucus with pride, calling it a productive division from the Democrats’ dysfunctional leadership, and from the partisan gridlock that characterized the tumultuous two years the party was in power.

Editorial: Protecting Our Kids From What?

Let’s not overthink this. The Department of Education’s policy precluding churches and other religious organizations from worshiping in city schools is discriminatory and impractical.

Bronx Pols Get Behind Cuomo’s Tax Plan

Yesterday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that legislative leaders in the senate and assembly had reached an agreement that would lower taxes for the middle-class New Yorkers, while increasing taxes for the wealthiest. Bronx pols say it will benefit the Boogie Down.

Seabrook Jury Split; Judge Warns Defense Team

The jury deciding the fate of City Councilman Larry Seabrook is split on whether or not to convict the Bronx rep, who faces federal corruption charges of fraud, money laundering and soliciting bribes. Deliberations began last week, and the jury announced Friday that they were deadlocked over one of the charges against Seabrook–that he’d given a lucrative Yankee Stadium contract to a boilermaker in exchange for $50,000. After a second day of deliberating yesterday, the group announced they could not agree on any of the 12 counts charged against the councilman. The group continues to review evidence today in the


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In Last Fall’s Primary, New Voting Machines Lost 1,500 Bronx Votes

By Jeanmarie Evelly Remember those fancy new voting machines the state rolled out last September? Instead of heading into a booth and pulling a lever, voters on Election Day last year filled out paper ballots by hand and feed them into an optical scanning machine (pictured above). The change was made to ensure an accurate vote count–states were required by federal law to update their voting machines, a response to the 2000 presidential election fiasco. But a report released this week found that flaws with the new method resulted in 50,000 to 60,000 votes across the state going uncounted because


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The Bronx Breakdown: Sitting Down with Sal, Bronx Corruption Updates, A Church Hopes for Supreme Court Help and More

The Bronx Breakdown is a re-imagined and re-invigorated version of what we once called “Friday News & Notes,” which was lacking in both an interesting title and consistency. We’ll be experimenting a little in this space, but for the most part, the weekly Breakdown, which will appear Friday afternoons, will consist of (1) a subjective breakdown of the week’s biggest and most intriguing news stories, (2) tidbits and newsbits we’ve come across and thought you should know about (3) a youtube clip, probably from Bronx Assemblyman and amateur Scorsese, Jose Rivera and (4) recommendations for things to do in the Bronx this weekend. So settle in, grab a cup of coffee or a Bronx Brewery Pale Ale and enjoy the Breakdown.