B
    Bronx News Network

    Bronx News Network

    Contributor

  • Bronx to Get $11.5 Million in Federal Transit Funding

    The Bronx is about to receive an $11.5 million injection of federal money to fund two borough projects, according to a press release sent out earlier today by Congressman Jose Serrano. The bulk of the money, $10 million, will go toward funding the reconstruction of the Fordham transit hub, which sits above the Metro-North line and across the street from Fordham University. The other $1.5 million will "fund the creation of a vision plan for the Sheridan Expressway and Hunts Point area."...

  • "Coming Out" Event at Hostos Tonight

    ?The New York Times' Sam Dolnick had a story today--in the wake of the heinous bias attacks that happened two weeks ago--about the hardships of being openly gay in the Bronx. "Gay and lesbian residents said it can be especially difficult to be gay in the Bronx, given the macho culture of the street, the local gang codes and the rise of storefront churches that call homosexuality a sin," the story reads.

  • Bronx High School Fair & Other Events This Week

    The Department of Education is sponsoring five borough high school fairs this weekend to help 8th and 9th graders--and those ambitious 7th graders who want to get a head start--in selecting and applying to a high school. Fairs are being held in each borough and will focus exclusively on schools within that borough.

  • Headlines in Wake of Bronx Gay Bias Attacks

    The Bronx--and the rest of the country--is reeling after last week's horrific antigay attacks, in which a group of men who call themselves the "Latin King Goonies" sodomized and tortured a 30-year-old gay man and two 17-year-olds they suspected of having had sex with him. Yesterday was National Coming Out Day, and today, Oct. 12, is the...

  • Happy Columbus Day

    Not a holiday here at Bronx News Network, but we're pretty short-staffed as a couple of key people are on vacation, etc. So, we'll have a news roundup for you a little later on. It's a great place to share and get information on a variety of Bronx issues.You can always get to it by clicking the "Forum" button on the navigation bar at the top of the page.

  • Seven Arrested in Bronx Bias Attacks

    Police say a group of nine young men held two teenagers and a 30-year-old man hostage in an empty Morris Heights apartment and then beat and tortured them over the course of several hours last weekend while hurling anti-gay slurs at them. Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on?HuffPost.

  • Gustavo Rivera, Ari Hoffnung Make '40 Under 40' List

    A few Bronxites made the grade, including Gustavo Rivera (who?trounced incumbent State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. in?last month's Democratic primary) and Riverdalian?Ari Hoffnung, a?one-time primary opponent?of Councilman Oliver Koppell who now boasts a pretty wordy job title: Assistant Comptroller for Budget/Chief Policy Officer at the New York City Comptroller's Office. Ditto several other young(ish) Bronx pols?such as?Assemblymember Vanessa Gibson and Councilman Joel Rivera.

  • Bronx (Weekend) News Roundup, Oct. 4

    The case is wrapping up this week as?closing arguments are set to begin today. Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. had some harsh words for gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino this weekend,?calling the Republican an "utter nut job."?Diaz and former BP Freddy Ferrer were both on hand in Manhattan on Saturday to endorse Paladino's rival, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Progress reports released by the DOE show a?drop in evaluation grades for Bronx elementary and middle schools, though many blame the slip on tougher state testing standards.

  • Poe in the Bronx, and Other Events This Week

    ? This week, the anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe's death, the Borough President's Office and the Bronx Historical Society will host a screening premiere of Edgar Allan Poe in The Bronx: His Life & Times at Poe Cottage, a documentary look at how the Bronx influenced the renowned writer's life and work. The video, created by Emmy-award winning Derek Woods of BronxNet Television, will be part of a temporary Poe exhibit at the Bronx County Historical Society's Valentine-Varian House Museum. Poe spent the end of his life at his cottage in the Bronx, now located at Kingsbridge Road and the Grand Concourse and currently undergoing renovations.

  • The Mary Mitchell Center's Future is Uncertain; Staff Are Meeting With the DOE Today

    In July, the city's Department of Education, which owns the building and?provides maintainence, contacted staff, demanding that they now pay to use the space. Asked for comment, the DOE, which runs a GED program in the building, released a statement. The fees were waived during the summer months, after Councilman Joel Rivera and Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. reached out to the DOE.

  • Bronx News Roundup, Oct. 1

    If you couldn't tell by the soggy weather this morning, it is indeed October now. First, an?awesome picture of some of the subway flooding problems?and a report that the 4 train was delayed after a tree fell near the 167th St. stop. To the relief of its 800-plus workers and doctors, Westchester Square Medical Center, slated to close on Dec. 31, will remain open?but the amount of beds in the hospital will shrink, state Health Department officials say.

  • Comptroller's Task Force Releases CBA Report Based Partly On Lessons Learned From Bronx Projects

    What started out as a local story went citywide and Community Benefits Agreements -- or CBAs: agreements signed between the developer and community stakeholders that promise additional benefits for local residents impacted by the coming development -- became a hot button issue among political, development and labor circles. While?strong CBAs,?including some with living wage guarantees, were being signed in other big cities around the country, developers in New York City, backed by it's pro-development (with no string attached) mayor, was late to the game.

  • Bronx News Roundup, Sept. 30

    Mayor Bloomberg wasted no time in?yanking Bronx teacher Melissa Petro from her classroom?at PS 70 after he learned of her very public musings about her past as a sex worker. Councilman Fernando Cabrera, whose district includes PS 70, chimed in about Petro--and her tenure--in a panel discussion on Fox News yesterday.?Watch the video here. BronxTalk host Gary Axelbank was on the radio program The Perez Notes yesterday?to talk about his show and Bronx politics.

  • Tenants Hold Prayer Vigil; Demand Change

    "We shouldn't have to live like this," said Sergio Cuevas, whose apartment at 2785 Sedgewick Ave. is plagued by leaks, mold and rotting floors. The vigil was held just hours after a Bronx Supreme Court judge ordered LNR Property LLC, the servicer to the loan that oversees the portfolio of buildings, to pay $2.5 million within the next 30 days on repairs. "As far as I know, this is the first decision of this kind," said Jonathan Levy of Legal Services-NYC, which filed a motion on behalf of the tenants to hold LNR or Wells Fargo, the bank that serves as the trustee on the mortgage, financially responsible for fixing the buildings.

  • Bronx News Roundup, Sept. 29

    Lehman High School teacher?James McSherry's independent film?based on his life experiences won him several awards and recognition. The film tells the story of McSherry's friend who was arrested in Throgs Neck for a drug-related murder during the 1980s. The defendants claim they were entrapped by an FBI informant who provided them with fake weapons.

  • Vigil and Press Conference Planned for Millbank Buildings; Rent Strike Anticipated

    The vigil, organized by the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, is designed to bring more attention to the worsening condition of the buildings and to put pressure on the city to intervene on tenants' behalf. Milbank is in foreclosure on the properties and there is supposedly a mysterious buyer who wants to buy them, but they have not been identified.

  • Judge Orders Servicer to Pay $2.5 Million to Fix Milbank Buildings

    A big update in the ongoing Milbank saga--the portfolio of ten apartment buildings that have fallen into disrepair since?Milbank Real Estate went into foreclosure proceedings on them. Tenants have been trying to get LNR, the servicer that oversees Milbank's $35 million mortgage, to help finance some of the 3,000 housing violations that need repairing, and Legal Services-NYC Bronx had?filed a legal motion on behalf of the residents this year?to try and make that happen. Meanwhile, LNR is supposedly looking to sell the buildings to a mystery buyer in a deal that was rumored to be closing today.

  • City Council Releases Report on Milbank's Woes

    The program will elicit the help of pro-bono engineers and architects to assess the damage in properties like Milbank's so that tenants can have a detailed list of their building's problems, and better hold landlords accountable for making repairs. "We believe it's important for residents to be armed, so they can advocate for their own solutions," said Andrew Reicher, executive director of the Urban Homestead Housing Board, which has been working with Milbank tenants for the past several months. The first property survey, done by Baer Architect Group and the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, is a nightmarish list of 3,300 housing violations in the ten Milbank's properties, which are scattered throughout the northwest Bronx.

  • Bronx News Roundup, Sept. 28

    Police are?hunting for a hit-and-run driver?who struck and killed a man?on the Cross Bronx Expressway this morning. A funeral service will be held Friday?for the six members of a Bronx church who died?earlier this month?when their van crashed on the?New York State Thruway. A Bronx motorcyclist was killed?on the?Taconic State Parkway on Sunday.

  • Orchard Beach To Expand; Help for the South Groin

    Between October and next summer, 250,000 cubic yards of sand -- about 15,000 dump truck loads worth -- will be added to Orchard Beach to expand its total area and help protect the beach's eroding "south groin," according to a press release sent out today by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Army Corps say they are partnering with the city's Parks Department, 50-50, on a $10.6 million contract they recently awarded to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company of Oak Brook, Illinois. "The work will help combat erosion at Orchard Beach by replacing lost sand and repairing the south groin to inhibit future erosion," the release says.