Monday Bronx Links

Here are some news stories we’re following this morning on Breaking Bronx.

Bronx Breakdown: Star Bronx Teacher Banished to Basement & More (Updated)

This week on the Bronx Breakdown we break news about Discovery High School teacher Steve Ritz whose successful program somehow landed him in the basement and unable to continue the work he started. Plus, speaking about the unspeakable violence over jackets, the Bronx’s famous new resident and what you should do this weekend.

Aspiring Young Actors, Dancers and Musicians Wanted for Mind-Building

Madaha Kinsey-Lamb, a former public school teacher, started Mind-Builders in 1978. The nonprofit program that uses professional, working performing artists to share their expertise and instruct the next generation has grown into a thriving organization with a $600,000-a-year budget. Mind-Builders is scheduled to move into a newly-renovated building on the corner of White Plains Road and East Gun Hill Road this fall. But for now is using an annex building at St. Brendan’s School in Norwood as a temporary home. On Tuesday night, Kinsey-Lamb, still the program’s executive director three decades after its founding, was doing the dirty work of

The VIP Café, on the corner of Rochambeau Avenue and East Gun Hill Road, recently reopened after a fire in early July left its doors closed for four months.

Bronx Science Students, Alumni Protest Against Principal

A group of current and former students from the Bronx High School of Science, organizing under the name “Take Back Bronx Science,” rallied across the street from the prestigious public school last Thursday, protesting administrative policies they say are harming the school’s reputation and causing a number of teachers there to resign or retire prematurely.

New Bronx ‘Green’ Program Seeks to Cut Home Energy Costs

Bronx officials are hoping to make the borough a more environmentally-friendly place, with the launch of a new community outreach program this month that aims to reduce energy usage in Bronx building and homes.

Bronx Sports Report: Fantastic Finishes

The Bronx Sports Report is a new feature on Breaking Bronx and will appear every Thursday. We will feature the most compelling sports stories coming out of the Boogie Down.

Officials Step Up Efforts Against Cyber-Bullying

Traditional schoolyard bullying has moved from campus grounds to the computers, and cell phones, of many teenagers. After a rash of bullying-related deaths last year, the public’s awareness of cyber-bullying has grown, and local schools and government officials are taking more serious actions to prevent it.

Stressed Out? Enjoy Four Seasons at the Garden

There is something very calming about this time-lapse photo montage posted today by the folks at the New York Botanical Garden here in the Bronx. Enjoy.