Bronx

Sunshine Week at BxNN: Your Right to Know

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The Bronx News Network is a proud supporter and participant in Sunshine Week, an initiative started by journalists that seeks to shed light – sun light, if you will – on the importance of open government and freedom of information. Here’s the official tagline: “Sunshine Week seeks to enlighten and empower people to play an active role in their government at all levels, and to give them access to information that makes their lives better and their communities stronger.”In other words, open government equals more accountable government and a more-informed public citizenry. As journalists, it is our goal to shed light on how the government works (or isn’t working) for our communities. Oftentimes, as you might imagine, we run into resistance while working on this quest. Some agencies and elected officials are better than others.

Bronx News Network

Bedford Park Seniors Facing Loss Of ‘Second Home’

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Editor’s note: this article was published in the latest edition of the Norwood News, out on streets now. By Rachel Sander Proposed budget cuts could shut down 105 senior centers citywide this year, 22 of which are in the Bronx, including the Sister Annunciata Bethel Senior Center, also known as the Bedford Park Senior Center, and the Van Cortlandt Senior Center.Local politicians are gearing up for a fight, while regulars at the Bedford Park center, on East 204th Street near Mosholu Parkway, emphasized how devastating the loss would be. Erneszstin Bakos, an 89-year-old member and volunteer for the center, works at the front door, greeting the 60 to 70 seniors that attend the center daily. “I love this place,” she said. “It’s my second home.” “I’m so happy here!

Bronx News Network

Community Centers Hit Hard By Govt. Budget Cuts

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By JEANMARIE EVELLYMajor cutbacks in government spending, on both the local and federal level, have left several community centers in the northwest Bronx struggling to make ends meet this year.Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC) in Norwood, which runs dozens of after-school sites, a senior citizen center, and other programs serving more than 28,000 Bronxites each year, has been appealing to neighbors for donations over the last few months in an effort to keep the center afloat.“Bottom line, we are probably close to a million dollars in cuts,” said Executive Director Donald Bluestone. “We’ve been closing programs, laying off staff. It’s a serious problem.”MMCC relies largely on funding from legislators and government agencies that have seen their budgets slashed in the face of ballooning deficits. “The staff here didn’t have a raise last year, and we’re probably looking at the same situation this year,” Bluestone continued. “It’s just a very bad time.”The center is losing out this year on federal funding in the form of member items or earmarks — money provided by legislators to projects or organizations in their home districts — an act banned this year by Congress in an effort to cut back on spending.

Bronx News Network

New, Improved Foodtown Rises From the Ashes

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Slideshow: Watch as Foodtown burns to the ground and then opens up last Saturday. (All photos by Adi Talwar)By Jordan Moss and Lulaine CompereNorwood’s popular Foodtown supermarket which was razed in a suspected incident of arson at the end of 2009 is back in business.The store, now 50 percent larger with many more offerings, has taken up two neighboring storefronts that were home to a diner and a dental office that were also destroyed in the blaze. “We expanded the store, we have a bigger seafood department, bakery department, produce department, and we have expanded the deli,” said Noah Katz, a member of the family that has owned the store since 1956. Organic produce and frozen goods are new additions as are an olive and cheese counter and a section with a variety of coffee beans called Brewed Awakening. Katz led the design of the new store, he said, and his pride in the store’s bright, spacious new look was palpable throughout a quick tour on Tuesday.

Bronx News Network

Drive begins to help fire victims

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A five-alarm fire at 754 Manida Street destroyed a four-story apartment building on March 9 afternoon and led to over a dozen injuries to firefighters and residents of the building.The fire also claimed the possessions of the families who lived in the building. The Point Community Development Corp. has begun a drive to help them.The Point is accepting donations at its community center, 940 Garrison Avenue. Every cent collected, The Point says, will go to the families. More at The Hunts Point Express.

Bronx News Network

Bronx News Roundup, March 10

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Rain, rain and more rain today in the Bronx and surrounding areas as the National Weather Service has issued a “coastal flood warning” as well as a “hazardous weather outlook” for the region. Get out your galoshes. To the news!Story of the Day:A nasty five-alarm fire destroyed a Hunts Point apartment building yesterday afternoon, injuring more than a dozen people, including one person who was taken to the hospital with burns over 50 percent of their body. Eleven firefighters suffered injuries while battling the blaze, including two that were shocked by dangling wires obscured by the billowing smoke. Tenants and a deputy fire chief praised the efforts of New York’s Bravest, who they say rescued at least a couple of trapped residents.