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

'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 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.

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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.

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Tomorrow: Bronx Rally for Marriage Equality

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A number of LGBT advocacy groups and several local elected officials will be demonstrating tomorrow afternoon on the steps of the Bronx County Courthouse in support of marriage equality. The rally was organized by Bronx Rainbow Independent Democratic Association and Marriage Equality New York.Expected to attend: State Senators Jose M. Serrano, Gustavo Rivera, Jeff Klein and Adriano Espaillat, Assemblymembers Carmen Arroyo, Jeffrey Dinowitz and Jose Rivera and NYC Councilmember Maria del Carmen Arroyo.According to a press release, the event is in part a response to State Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr.’s controversial March 15 parade against the passage of a gay marriage bill for New York.

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Rent Hike Rattles Biggest High Rise in the Bronx

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File photo by Adi TalwarEditor’s note: A version of this story appears in the latest issue of the Norwood News, which is out on streets now. Tenants at Tracey Towers are meeting tonight to discuss strategy. By Alex KratzResidents at Tracey Towers, the twin concrete high-rises (one of them looms in the background of the photo to your right) on Mosholu Parkway, are bracing for another battle with management over their desire to raise rents up to 77 percent over the course of the next three years.In a recent letter to tenants, RY Management, which has run the 869-unit apartment complex since the early 1980s, said the current rent rates do not cover the cost of maintaining the buildings and they had applied for a rent increase with the city’s department of Housing, Preservation and Development (HPD). Because it was built under the state’s Mitchell-Llama program, HPD must approve any rent increase.Tracey residents claim RY’s problems are the result of mismanagement and they shouldn’t be the ones to shoulder all of the burden.In the past, tenants say, RY has squandered funding that tenants have paid for. A few years ago, RY received a $4 million loan to repair the roof and do some work on the fa

Bronx News Network

Bronx News Roundup, Wednesday, June 1

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Welcome to June, Bronxophiles. Here’s today’s lineup of Bronx news!Weather: The National Weather Service is issuing a “hazardous weather outlook” warning, which could amount to nothing, or severe thunderstorms. After a high of 89 today, it’s supposed to cool off tomorrow, down to a less stifling 76 degrees.

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Hunts Point Produce Market to Stay in the Bronx for at Least 3 More Years

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The Hunts Point Produce Market and its 2,400 employees will remain in the Bronx for at least three more years as city officials expressed confidence that they were on their way to reaching a long-term deal with the cooperative that would include a revamp of the market. For the next nine months, the city will have exclusive negotiating rights with the market cooperative, leaving suitors from New Jersey out in the cold until at least early 2012. “Thanks to this agreement, the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Cooperative will extend its lease, recommit to the Bronx, and, for the next nine months, work with New York City – and New York City only – on a long-term plan for a larger, modernized market,” Mayor Bloomberg said in a statement today. “Our Administration and the Co-op both want that to be built in the Bronx, and in the coming months, we will continue working together to make it happen.”With its lease at Hunts Point recently running out, the cooperative was beginning a month-to-month rental situation. The plan was to work on a short-term deal to stay in the Bronx while the cooperative’s 47 vendors negotiated a long-term lease, either in Hunts Point or New Jersey.

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Cuomo Pulls New York From Federal Deportation Program

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today that he’ll be suspending the state’s participation in the controversial Secure Communities program, a measure that requires local law enforcement agencies to share the fingerprints of anyone who’s been arrested with federal immigration officials, who then check the prints for a person’s green card status.Cuomo’s move comes after weeks of mounting pressure from local legislators and immigrant advocacy groups, who say the program is not meeting its supposed goal of deporting serious and violent criminal offenders.