Bronx News Network

BronxTalk – Access to the Jerome Park Reservoir

|

In advance of a June 2 public hearing on the subject, this week BronxTalk featured the notion of public access to the Jerome Park Reservoir as well as exclusive photos taken during a recent tour by public officials who were examining the possibilities for the historic water facility. On the show, Community Board 12 Chairman Fr. Richard Gorman, who is also the chair of the Croton Facilities Monitoring Committee, and CB8 parks committee Chairman Bob Bender discussed the question of access as well as plans to renovate Ft. Independence Park,

Bronx News Network

Bronx News Roundup, May 25

|

Weather: Finally, a full day of sunshine and blue clouds, with a high of 82 degrees this afternoon.Story of the Day: Ticket-Fixing Scandal Could Foil Another Court CaseThe arresting officer in a drunken-driving case admitted on the stand in Bronx Supreme Court yesterday that she’s fixed tickets for family members and friends, the second time such testimony has been brought up in cases unrelated to the ongoing NYPD scandal. Officer Julissa Goris was questioned in the trial of defendant Stephen Lopresti, a lawyer accused of driving under the influence and crashing his car on the Grand Concourse in 2006. Last week, a man on trial for a murder in Mott Haven was acquitted after defense lawyers painted his arresting officers as corrupt and unreliable due to their ticket-fixing histories.Meanwhile, celebrities Derek Jeter, late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and hip-hop mogul Jay-Z are among those who have had traffic tickets taken care of. The grand jury hearing of the case will likely last through June, the Daily News reports. Quick Hits:Supporters of the controversial living wage bill, sponsored by two Bronx Council members and backed by a large coalition of local groups, are looking to amend the legislation in the hopes of winning over some critics.

Bronx News Network

Clock Ticking on NYPD Freedom of Information Request for Neighborhood Crime Stats

|

if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget(‘541ca520-2641-44df-8677-26f325a8569d’); Get the <a href=”http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/countuptimer”>Count Up Timer 2.0 (Updated Version)</a> widget and many other <a href=”http://www.widgetbox.com/”>great free widgets</a> at <a href=”http://www.widgetbox.com”>Widgetbox</a>! Not seeing a widget? (<a href=”http://docs.widgetbox.com/using-widgets/installing-widgets/why-cant-i-see-my-widget/”>More info</a>)We’ll keep tallying the days until the NYPD fulfills its duty to provide basic public information to the citizens it has sworn to protect. For more, see here.

Bronx News Network

Bronx News Roundup, Tuesday, May 24 (Updated)

|

Welcome to the show, Bronx people and cognoscente. To the news!Weather: My shirt was drenched with sweat by the time I made it into the office today. It’s hot and muggy and cloudy and we’re in for a wildly unpredictable day and evening. There’s a 60 percent chance of precipitation, which means, with these conditions, we could be looking at anything from a drizzle to thunderstorms to hail. Story of the Day: Hunts Point Market to Stay in the Bronx, For NowOn Sunday night, Crain’s NY reported that the Hunts Point Market (full name: Hunts Point Terminal Produce Cooperative Market) were not close to signing a long-term lease, but were “hammering out a short-term extension while they haggle over a 30- or 40-year lease that would include a $320 million revamp of the antiquated facility, the country’s largest wholesale produce market.”

Bronx News Network

Bronx BP Heavily Involved in Hunts Point Negotiations, Spokesman Says

|

Despite a Crain’s article that does not mention his involvement, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. is heavily involved in negotiations to keep the Hunts Point Market in the Bronx, said spokesman John DeSio.In our news roundup earlier today (now updated), we made note of the conspicuous fact that Diaz was not mentioned in the Crain’s article as being part of the city and state’s Hunts Point Market negotiating team. It did mention Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy, the Empire State Development Corp., the city’s Economic Development Corp. and other Bloomberg officials.Diaz has said keeping the Hunts Point Market in the Bronx is a top priority of his administration. DeSio says this remains the case and that Diaz and Duffy are in regular contact, as is Marlene Cintron, the head of the Bronx Overall Development Corp., and the city’s EDC. He added that Diaz was instrumental in bringing New York’s U.S. Senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, into the negotiating fold.

Bronx News Network

Bronx News Roundup, Monday, May 23

|

Welcome back to the program, ladies and gentleman of the Bronx and beyond. Let’s get down to Bronx business. To the news!Weather: Our first post-Bronx Week day will, unfortunately, be more of the same: cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms – the National Weather Service has issued a “hazardous weather” warning. If we can gut it out until Friday, however, we might see some sunshine. Story of the Day: Bronx Week Honoree’s Life Comes “Full Circle”The 40th edition of Bronx Week ended yesterday with a parade and festival on Mosholu Parkway that featured more than 80 of the borough’s schools and culminated with a performance by rap legend Big Daddy Kane.

Bronx News Network

Diaz Sr. Blasts Mayor and Speaker, Forgets Supporting Espada's 'Rent Freeze' Bill

|

Diaz at a rally in Albany last year for former Sen. Pedro Espada’s “rent freeze” bill, which tenant advocates called a “de-control bill in disguise.” (File photo by Alma Watkins)Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr. is on the warpath again, this time blasting Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn for supporting a same-sex marriage bill when, he says, they should really be focusing on the renewal of the state’s rent stabilization laws, which expire on June 15.But, over the past year and a half, Diaz himself has done his share to divert attention away from the strengthening of rent regulations. “I would love to see Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn set their priorities straight and spend a day in Albany to push for an extension of our affordable housing laws before the deadline passes,” Diaz wrote in a statement sent out last week after Bloomberg and Quinn had trekked to the capitol to lobby for gay marriage. “The Rev” has spent a fair amount of his own time focusing on same-sex marriage – he organized a rally last Sunday against its legalization – but he says that was just in response to other politicians pushing the issue.”I’m not putting [same-sex marriage] as a priority,” he said in a phone interview last week.His priority, he says, is the Emergency Tenant Protection Act, the set of state laws that protect the rent-regulated status of hundreds of thousands of apartments in the Bronx, and about a million across the city. Tenant advocates have been pushing to see the laws not only renewed before the June 15 deadline, but strengthened to close some of the loopholes that landlords use to hike rents in regulated units.Diaz said the mayor and Gov. Andrew Cuomo were ignoring the approaching June 15 deadline, and that, he says, “is a crime.”

Bronx News Network

'Aurora' Sculpture in West Farms Square Comes Down

|

“Aurora,” a wooden sculpture that’s occupied West Farms Square since 2009, was removed on Saturday. (Photo by Fausto Giovanny Pinto)Something is conspicuously missing now from West Farms Square, the pedestrian plaza underneath the No. 2 and 5 train subway platform at the corner of East Tremont Avenue and Boston Road.A hulking wooden sculpture that’s been on display in the center of the square’s brick circle for nearly two years was de-installed on Saturday, to make room for another public art piece to be erected in the same spot over the next few months.”Aurora,” an unpainted wooden abstract by Mexican-born artist Diego Medina, stood over 14 feet tall and was inspired, the artist said, by the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca’s 1930 poem, “La Aurora de Nueva York” (Dawn in New York).The sculpture was installed by the Bronx River Art Center (BRAC) and the Department of Transportation in August 2009, part of the DOT’s “UrbanART” program. BRAC says a new piece will replace it in the coming months.”Aurora” filled the West Farms Square plaza for nearly two years. (Photo courtesy of BRAC)

Bronx News Network

Bronx Crime Watch (Editorial): Clock Ticking on NYPD Freedom of Information Request for Neighborhood Crime Stats

|

if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget(‘541ca520-2641-44df-8677-26f325a8569d’); Get the <a href=”http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/countuptimer”>Count Up Timer 2.0 (Updated Version)</a> widget and many other <a href=”http://www.widgetbox.com/”>great free widgets</a> at <a href=”http://www.widgetbox.com”>Widgetbox</a>! Not seeing a widget? (<a href=”http://docs.widgetbox.com/using-widgets/installing-widgets/why-cant-i-see-my-widget/”>More info</a>)Editor’s Note: This editorial appeared in last week’s issue of the Norwood News. We will continue to display this counter (above) until the NYPD releases sector statistics for every Bronx police precinct. Editorial: NYPD Hides Neighborhood Crime StatsThe NYPD has been proud to trumpet plummeting crime stats over the last 15 years or so.