Bronx

Pride, Relief and an Uncertain Future for Lehman College Graduates

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“Why does King Lear suffer? What is a neutron?” poet Billy Collins asked a crowd of 3,000 anxious graduates, proud parents, and supportive friends, during his speech at Lehman College’s commencement ceremony last Thursday morning in the Bronx’s Bedford Park neighborhood.“It’s not about knowing the answers to these questions,” Collins said. “It’s about having the intelligence to know how to think.”Emphasizing his point, Collins quoted the biography of Noah Webster, founding father of Webster’s Dictionary. For Webster, Collins said, “completing the requirements for his degree would signify not that he was a learned man, but that he had acquired the necessary tools to become one.”Gloriana B. Waters, a vice chancellor at the school, echoed Collins’ theme. “Your time here has not only given you the education but the knowledge and with hard work and tenacity you can accomplish anything.

Bronx News Network

Bronx News Roundup, Monday, June 6

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Welcome back to the program ladies and gentleman of the Bronx and beyond. Lots of great stories and information on tap for this week, so let’s get to it. To the news!Weather: In a word: Perfect. Sunny, 80 degrees with a lovely cooling breeze from the northeast. Could be looking at some rain tomorrow afternoon.

Bronx News Network

More Details on Bronx BP's “Five Borough Taxi Plan” Recommendations

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As a supplement to what we reported earlier, below is the letter Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. sent to the powers that be in the city and state talking about how he would create a “framework” to ratify the mayor’s so-called “Five Borough Taxi Plan.”Five Borough Taxi Plan Letter by Bp Diaz(function() { var scribd = document.createElement(“script”); scribd.type = “text/javascript”; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = “http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js”; var s = document.getElementsByTagName(“script”)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();

Bronx News Network

'Gun Hill Road', Not Your Typical Bronx Tale

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Editor’s note: A version of this story appears in the latest issue of the Norwood News, out on streets now.By Alex KratzOne of the great pleasures of watching “Gun Hill Road,” a new independent film by Bronx native Rashaad Ernesto Green that debuted in front of a New York audience during the first-ever Bronx Week Film Festival in mid-May, is its familiarity.Look, there’s New Capitol diner on Kingsbridge Road and Jerome! Is he getting on the 2 train or the 4 train? Wait, isn’t that the bodega on Gun Hill Road in Norwood?“The Bronx itself is a character,” Green said during a question-and-answer session after the screening.While the setting, characters and dialogue all feel like the Bronx, the storyline deals with difficult topics — most notably, transgender lifestyle choices and how they play out in Latino families — that are only now starting to be discussed openly in the borough.The history of Bronx-based film is filled with crime stories and gangster tales (think: “A Bronx Tale,” “Fort Apache, The Bronx,” or “The Wanderers”). And “Gun Hill Road,” shot entirely in the Bronx, contains some of those elements. It begins with a prison cafeteria stabbing carried out by the main character, a father played by Bronx-native Esai Morales, who has lived a life of crime.But the heart of the story centers around how Morales’ character, having just been released from prison, deals with the discovery that his teenage son is transgender.

Bronx

Divinely Inspired, a Youth Basketball League Takes on the Bronx's Devoe Park

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A new hoops league that preaches Christian values plays at Devoe Park every Saturday. (Photo by Adi Talwar)Editor’s note: A version of this story appeared in the latest edition of the Norwood News, out on streets now. Shane Barker, a 16-year-old University Heights resident, does not usually use Devoe Park, the triangular and hilly green space that sits on the corner of Fordham Road and University Avenue and is just blocks from his home.“Me and my brother don’t come down here because there’s troublemakers,” he says.But today is different. It’s a gorgeous, sunny Saturday morning and Shane, sporting cornrows and the wispy beginnings of facial hair, is one of 70 kids participating in a newly-formed basketball program created by a Bronx-based group called the New York City Christian Athletic League.Aided by word of mouth and an infusion of funding from local Councilman Fernando Cabrera, the hoops program is flourishing in a park that has become synonomous with trouble.The league’s founder, Edwin Santiago, and his “right-hand man,” Frank Abarca, both attend Bronx Household of Faith, an evangelical Christian church that meets at PS 15/291 on Andrews Avenue in University Heights.In 2005, Santiago, who lives in Soundview and works part-time at Horace Mann, started a men’s softball league that has grown to the point where it now includes 10 other city churches. He wanted to expand the league to include youth leagues, but only recently decided to take “a leap of faith” and go for it.

Bronx News Network

Bronx News Roundup, June 3

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A federal appeals court has ruled that the city can bar religious institutions from conducting services in public schools on weekends. Coincidentally, the ruling stems from a case brought by the Bronx Household of Faith in 1995. That church, which uses PS/MS 15 on Andrews Avenue for services, has led the creation of a new youth basketball league in Devoe Park. The Norwood News just profiled the program this week. Picture the Homeless, a northwest Bronx group we recently profiled, is partnering with Hunter College’s Center for Community Planning and Development to identify vacant land in the borough to help make their case that there is available land to ease the burden on the city’s bursting-at-the-seams shelter system.

Bronx News Network

Bronx News Roundup, Thursday, June 2,

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Weather: Blissfully not as hot today in the Bronx with a nice cool breeze.Story of the Day: New Housing Designed to Battle BulgeIt’s no secret that the Bronx has an obesity problem. The latest statistics say one in every four Bronx adults suffers from being extremely overweight. With that in mind, a new cooperative apartment complex in Longwood called the Melody, which was designed to encourage an active, healthy lifestyle, was unveiled to the public yesterday. The $18 million project, with financing provided by the city, state and borough, is meant for families making $90,000 or less. The building incorporates many of the suggestions contained in an Active Design Guidelines report published by the city in 2010.

Bronx News Network

Parks Dept.: Oval Playground to Open in Late June

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Originally scheduled to open last January, the Parks Department now says this playground and other amenities in Williamsbridge Oval Park will be open to the public late this month. (Photo: Jordan Moss)By Jordan MossAn early burst of summer weather has residents anxious to utilize a new playground, spray showers and basketball courts in the southern part of Williamsbridge Oval Park. But they’ll have to wait a little while longer.The Parks Department says the long anticipated upgrades, funded in connection with the political deal that paved the way for the mammoth water filtration plan now taking root in the Norwood section of Van Cortlandt Park, will be completed in late June after the contractor finishes punch list items. The original completion date was last January but the severe winter pushed the work back, an agency spokesman said.A rehab of the recreation center, including upgraded bathrooms and ADA compliance, which was supposed to be done by May 31, also suffered from the relentless cold weather and is only 70 percent finished. That building will be completed at the end of the summer.Park advocates say they love the design of the new playground but hope there are no more delays.“Friends of the Oval just wants to make sure the park is open as quickly as possible,” said Eileen Markey, a member of the volunteer organization, adding that the sprinklers are “a public health need” that help keep the peace in the heat of summer.Ed. note: This article appears in the current issue of the Norwood News, on the streets and on-line now.