Bronx News Network

Bronx News Roundup, March 30

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Weather: Another sunny day today, finally warming up a bit to hit around 50 degrees this afternoon. Temps will drop again tomorrow, with rain expected and a possibility of light snow on Friday.Story of the Day: Snake FeverThe nation is captivated by the Bronx Zoo’s missing cobra, which disappeared from the park’s reptile house this weekend and then, mysteriously, started posting updates of its whereabouts on Twitter yesterday. @BronxZoosCobra has racked up 136,458 followers and has reached celebrity status, getting shout-outs from Mayor Bloomberg, Steve Martin and the Daily Show’s John Stewart. According to Gothamist: “Some entrepreneurs have already started an ‘I Egyptian Cobra New York’ line of clothing and accessories.” Collectors items, for sure.

Bronx News Network

Bronx Events: St. Barnabas Hospital Blood Drive, Today

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Councilman Joel Rivera, St. Barnabas Hospital and the New York Blood Center are hosting a community blood drive at the hospital’s Hemodialysis Unit, at 451 Third Avenue, until 5:45 p.m. today.From the press release:The need for blood is constant. New York Blood Center alone requires over 2,000 volunteer blood donations each day to meet the transfusion needs of patients in close to 200 New York and New Jersey hospitals. Each donation of blood can help save 3 lives following component into red cell, platelet, and plasma separation. Car accident and trauma victims may need as many as 50 or more red cell transfusions.

Bronx News Network

Happy Land Fire Remembered

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Photos by Fausto Giovanny PintoCreated with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.Last Friday, March 25 marked the 21st anniversary of the tragic fire at the Happy Land Social Club, on Southern Boulevard in East Tremont, where 87 people lost their lives after an arsonist set fire to the building. Each year, Community Board 6 hosts a memorial mass at nearby St. Thomas Aquinas Parish and at the Happy Land memorial site. These pictures were taken during the service last week by Tremont Tribune reporter Fausto Giovanny Pinto.

Bronx

Some thoughts on Census 2010 Population Changes

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I was eager to get into the 2010 Census data at the tract level, but am a bit disappointed that the new American Fact Finder website has been down since Friday. Instead, I was able to download a limited amount of new data from the Department of City Planning website and look at the most basic of statistics, namely population change since 2010 (though the Mayor is officially challenging them). The map below (click on the image to enlarge) shows changes in population by census tract since 2000 for NYC, not as a percent but by the actual number of counted residents. Much of the city shows in light yellow meaning the population stayed mostly the same (up or down by less than 150 residents). The reddish areas show decreases in population while the greenish areas show increases, with the intensity of the color matching the larger decline/increase.While I can’t back this up with the actual data until the AFF site gets back up and running, it will be interesting to see how strong the effects of gentrification in Washington Heights, Inwood, and Astoria were on the large drops in population there.

Bronx News Network

Summer Youth Employment Cuts Hit Bronx Hard This Year

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Cuts to Summer Youth Employment from Bronx News Network on Vimeo.Bronx News Network executive editor Jordan Moss recently caught up with Bob Altman, the associate director of the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center, to talk about how cuts to the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program are affecting teens and organizations here in the Bronx.Summer Youth Employment, a program run by the city’s Department of Youth and Community Development which sets teens up with summer jobs, has seen it’s budget whittled away over the past few years. Watch the video above for more.

Bronx News Network

Bronx Events: Bronx Real Estate Summit, Wednesday 3/30

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This Wednesday, March 30, will mark the 2nd Bronx Real Estate Summit at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., and former Borough President Adolfo Carrion will offer opening remarks, and a number of real estate professional will serve as panelists at this networking event. See the flier below for more info. (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); })(); Check out our constantly updated events calendar, below, to see what’s happening in your neighborhood this week. Editor’s note: What did we miss?

Bronx News Network

Bronx Weekend News Roundup, Monday, March 28

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Welcome to Monday, Bronx folks. I woke up this morning to the sporadic hissing of the radiator and immediately went about locating my long johns. Despite the calendar’s best attempts to tell us otherwise, it’s clear winter is making an extended appearance in 2011. Indeed, it remains long john weather. Weather.com says it’s 28 degrees this morning, but feels like 16.