Blasting was scheduled to begin this week in Van Cortlandt Park in order to make a giant hole for the Croton water filtration plant.

After a long delay, footlockers containing personal and military supplies belonging to members of the Army National Guard’s 145th Maintenance Company are said to be on their way to Iraq, after several local officials joined the letter-writing campaign started by Norwood resident Vivian Hernandez.

Tracey Towers tenants fired off a fusillade of complaints to a management representative last week during their first meeting since the buildings’ dangerous conditions received international attention.

Throughout Community District 7, local parks are undergoing renovations. Following is a rundown of each of the projects: Williamsbridge Oval Park, St. James Park, Poe Park, and Devoe Park.

Two local construction projects have stopped mid-development due to permit problems, violations and inadequate financing. Demolition of the former Grace Lutheran School, located at 2950 Grand Concourse, ceased two months ago, and a construction site at 301 E. Gun Hill Rd. has remained idle for weeks now.

Lest there be a sliver of doubt that the MTA is not prioritizing the rehabilitation of its most dilapidated stations, including the disastrous 205th Street stop on the D line, just consider this: The agency is spending close to half a billion dollars (not a typo) on the South Ferry subway station just so passengers can board or disembark from an additional five subway cars.

… If you’re interested in getting Henry Stern’s newsletter (referred to above), e-mail him at starquest@nycivic.org   … In looking for a last-minute brisket for Passover dinner, we went to the Web site for Fairway, the big specialty food supermarket just down the West Side Highway at 125th Street to see what time they closed. Here’s the information we found there about the communities they deliver to: “$5.25 for deliveries between 181st and 210th streets. Riverdale customers add $4.00 toll. No deliveries to the Bronx area.” Uh, and Riverdale is in what borough? Out of the Woodwork is an occasional collection

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A new program to be implemented at DeWitt Clinton High School as soon as this fall will keep thousands of students from buying lunch and other items on Jerome Avenue.

Navigating the basement of Bronx Community College’s Meister Hall, with its warren of subterranean corridors, could easily give one the jitters. After all, criminal activity, of a sort, does take place there. But have no fear: all the shooting is digital.