The bulk of the borough’s political leadership quickly got behind Mayor Bloomberg’s environmental master plan known as PlaNYC, including the controversial congestion pricing proposal. We know the mayor’s in a hurry to get congestion pricing through the state legislature because of a deadline to be eligible for federal funds, but why are Bronx elected officials running all the stop signs to get behind the rest of PlaNYC?

Several of Community Board 7’s new officers and other members gathered together to march in the Bronx Week Parade last Sunday on Mosholu Parkway. 

As we report in this issue, the Board has a lot of work ahead this summer, including reviewing and commenting on proposals for redeveloping the Kingsbridge Armory and hiring a new district manager. We wish the Board the best of luck as they begin addressing critical community issues.

It is an unfortunate fact of life that we no longer live in innocent times. With cable TV, computer porn, and R-rated movies, very little is left to the imagination, and young people, who seem to get younger and younger, are more influenced than ever by what they see, especially teens with raging hormones who are more likely to want to "test the waters."

In 2006, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene issued a report with alarming news for the Bronx community of Highbridge. In almost every health category: premature death, HIV infection, heart disease, drug and alcohol abuse, etc., this community has the worst record in the entire city.

Your recent editorial opinion expressing your conviction that President Bush fails to recognize the importance of a free press or an independent Congress is quite remarkable – not because your assumption is accurate, but rather because it demonstrates, in a way I’m quite sure you never intended, that so much of the press in general, and your editorial staff in particular, has abdicated any pretense at impartiality or journalistic integrity.

I’ve been a resident of the Bedford Park/Bainbridge area for over 25 years. I love this neighborhood for all the beautiful trees in this environment and the wonderful buildings and homes that we have. One thing that I’ve been doing some advocacy about is the situation with the underpass under the Grand Concourse at Bedford Park Boulevard that leads to the D train entrance.

As a resident of Bedford Park for over 40 years, a member of the Board of Directors of the Scott Tower Cooperative and a member of the Jerome Park Conservancy, I attended the June 21 meeting of the Croton Facility Monitoring Committee.

There are spots available at Bronx Community College’s Project Hire, a 20-week program that prepares people to enter construction unions. Candidates must be between 18 and 60, low-income and a citizen or resident alien. No construction experience is necessary. There’s also a free GED preparation class beginning in June, for which citizenship is not a requirement. Sign up for one or both at the Department of Environmental Protection office at 3660 Jerome Ave., Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call (718) 231-8470.

Aleisha Smith pleaded guilty on June 19 for her role in the beating death of her 4-year-old son, Quachaun Browne, last January in her Kossuth Avenue apartment.