Bronx

Bronx News Roundup, Friday, July 15

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Weather: Not a cloud in the sky. High in the mid-80s. This weekend: more of the same with temperatures creeping up into the high-80s, low-90s. Good beach weather. Story of the Day: BxNN Beats Times on Muller Story, Loses Headline BattleA little inside baseball today.

Bronx

Bronx Neighborhood Farmers Markets Return for the Summer

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The farmer market at Montefiore is open Thursdays. (Photo by Justin Bodden)The warm weather means the return of outdoor farmers markets, offering a variety of fruits, vegetables, baked goods and other farm-fresh items. Today, a new farmers market, run by Bronx high school students in conjunction with Community Board 8 and GrowNYC, is opening up near the Kingsbridge Armory. It’s a new addition to our comprehensive list of Bronx markets, which you can find below. (If we missed any, fill us in with a comment.)New York Botanical Garden Green MarketWhere: The Mosholu Gate, on Southern Boulevard between Mosholu Parkway and Bedford Park BoulevardWhen: Wednesdays, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Bronx

RizzQue Business: Get Your Sexy On at New Bronx Dance Studio

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RizzQue owner Jeanette Cardona (foreground) and instructors like Philicia Edwards (background) have brought pole dance fitness to Norwood. (Photo by Adi Talwar)By Rachel Sander Jeanette Cardona originally planned on naming her new Webster Avenue dance studio and boutique Casa Cardona. But considering the studio’s offerings, which include instruction in both belly and pole dancing, Cardona decided instead to take a risk and be bold, maybe even a little risqu

Bronx

Bronx Business: A Place Where Mexican Cowboys Can Suit Up

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Owner Mario Martinez (Photo: F. G. Pinto)By Fausto Giovanny PintoAlong the ethnically-diverse enclave that is the stretch of the Grand Concourse between 182nd Street and Fordham Road, lies African grocery stores, Dominican barbershops and a scene out of a Mexican-flavored Wild West movie.Spurs, heavy-duty rope (to lasso bulls) and countless styles of cowboy boots and hats fill the shelves and walls that make up the niche clothing shop, Rudy El Vaquero.“Here they have what I want, for good prices,” said Angelica Valerio, who has been shopping at the store for over a year. “And whatever they don’t have, they will get.”The business opened 10 years ago as a record shop. Owner Mario Martinez said people were travelling as far away as Queens and New Jersey to get their Mexican music fix and he wanted to offer these tunes closer to home.Then one day after the record shop opened, Martinez brought in a pair of cowboy boots, a style popular among native Mexicans, Martinez included.A pair of boots grew to a few. Soon he had hats, shirts and a growing demand. Six years ago, he moved the record shop two stores down to a smaller location and opened Rudy El Vaquero in its stead.According to the 2010 Census, Hispanics make up more than 50 percent of the Bronx population, including a fast growing number of Mexicans.

Bronx

Bronx BP Asks Feds to Intervene in Muller Center Dispute; Yonkers Mayor Asks Bloomberg to Reconsider Shelter Plan

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In a letter to federal authorities, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. said the mayor’s office blatantly skirted the formal process meant to determine a new use for the vacant Muller Army Reserve Center in Wakefield in order to push its own agenda – the creation of a 200-bed men’s homeless shelter at the center.Because of this, and what Diaz characterized as a complete disregard of public sentiment, Diaz asked the two agencies responsible for approving a plan for the Muller Center – the United State Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Office of Economic Adjustment (OEM)- to reject the shelter plan submitted by the mayor’s office. He also asked them to “convene a meeting amongst the parties to determine how, if possible, a conforming submission could still be provided.”If this doesn’t happen, Diaz says, “I will have no choice but to pursue legal action.”Meanwhile, Yonkers Mayor Philip Amicone sent a letter to Bloomberg urging his administration to reconsider its “seriously flawed” shelter plan because of the negative impact it would have on Yonkers, which shares a border-line with Wakefield that lies just 250 feet from the Muller Center.”Astonishingly,” Amicone writes, the mayor’s plan “makes no mention of the proposed facility’s possible effects on our City nor our residents.” He adds one paragraph later, “For this reason alone, the plan to locate a homeless shelter at the Muller facility is seriously flawed and should be reconsidered.” After closing the Muller Center, the Department of Defense created a local redevelopment authority (LRA) to come up with a plan for the building’s re-use. Diaz and two of Bloomberg’s deputy mayors, Linda Gibbs and Robert Steel, make up the LRA.From the beginning, the mayor’s office has insisted the site become a homeless shelter, saying there is a need for more beds and the Bronx isn’t doing its part in housing homeless men.

Bronx

Bronx 'Renaissance Man’ and Activist Ozzie Brown Remembered

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Ozzie Brown (left) and Paul Foster share a laugh at last month’s Community Board 7 meeting. (Photo courtesy CB7)By Alex KratzOzzie Brown, a colorful, loquacious and dedicated member of Community Board 7 who was also active in the civil rights movement and an advocate for diabetes awareness, died last week after a battle with cancer. He was 67 years old.Locally, Brown was best known for the active role he took as a member of the community board. But Brown was much more than that, a “true Renaissance Man,” said former Bronx Borough President Adolf Carrion, one of Brown’s best friends.“Ozzie was a worldly person,” Carrion said. “He brought a mix of experiences that many people would be surprised to hear about.