The Bronx News Network was a daily news blog launched in 2008 by the Norwood News. In 2012, City Limits acquired the network and relaunched it as The Bronx Bureau.
Joseph Strasburg, the head of the Rent Stabilization Assocation, a landlord lobbying group, praised former Bronx State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. for saving his industry at this event a couple of nights ago. Comments starts at 0:19 in after the tenant protest.
Weather: Sunny, but still, sadly, cold. That goes for the whole weekend. Story of the Day: The Holy Grail – A High-Class Bronx HotelDuring his February state of the borough speech at Clinton High School, Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. dared mention the Holy Grail of Bronx BPs – the creation of a high-class hotel in our fair borough. Adolfo Carrion and Freddy Ferrer both tried to prioritize a new hotel to no avail. But Diaz believes he’s recognized a simple solution this time: use one of the failing new Yankee Stadium parking garages that are “going belly up,” Diaz says in an article in the Daily News.
I’m so glad it’s going to be both sunny and chilly this weekend, because that’s my favorite weather for cooking. It’s the perfect weather to make stews or soups that need to sit on the stove for a while without the whole apartment getting hot and stuffy.Here’s a good recipe that I made for dinner recently. Now, I’m not claiming that my recipe is authentic in any way. (Even though I’m Latina, and have eaten my fair share, I’m not an enchilada expert.) It’s just a fun dish that I put together one evening using ingredients that I found at my local grocery store or that I already had in my kitchen. And that’s what we’ve tried to focus on with Bronx Foodie.
The following story appeared in this week’s issue of the Norwood News.By Jeanmarie EvellyA number of local elected officials are urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to renew and strengthen rent regulation laws, in favor of renters, as part of his budget negotiations with the legislature this month.Last week, about 90 lawmakers signed a letter to the governor pressing the issue, which requested that he not only renew the existing Emergency Tenant Protection Act that expires this spring but that he include provisions to repeal vacancy decontrol — the law that lets landlords hike rents of stabilized apartments once tenants vacate them, essentially deregulating the city’s housing market.State Senator Jeffrey Klein Every Bronx state representative put his or her name on the letter with the exception of one: State Sen. Jeff Klein, whose district covers parts of the Bronx and Westchester. Klein, who recently formed a four-member Independent Caucus among centrist Senate Democrats, has been a target of housing advocates’ campaigns in the past, criticized for his inaction on pro-tenant legislation and for receiving substantial campaign contributions from landlord and real estate groups.“Jeff Klein is an operative for the real estate lobby,” said Michael McKee, of the Tenants Political Action Committee. “He works behind the scenes to make sure that pro-tenant legislation does not pass.”Klein’s camp, however, said that the senator was never given the letter to sign.“We don’t have a record of receiving the letter,” said spokesman Rich Azzopardi.When asked where Klein stood on the issue of vacancy decontrol, Azzopardi said the senator would support the legislation if it came up for a vote.“We’re not opposed to having these issues in the budget,” he said. “If the bills come to the floor, he’ll vote for them.”But housing advocates say Klein’s history indicates otherwise. In 2008, his name was absent from another letter of support signed by Senate Democrats at the time to push for the repeal of vacancy decontrol, according to an article in the New York Times.“He has not really been a strong advocate of tenants,” said Mary Tek, of the advocacy group Tenants & Neighbors.
The Monroe Lady Mustangs won the national junior college championship last weekend.
Weather: Welcome to spring! Call me crazy, but doesn’t spring in the Bronx look and feel – the snow, the biting cold – a whole lot like winter? Temperatures will remain in the low 40s today, but skies should clear up this afternoon.
On March 23, Congressman Jos
On Tuesday, Fordham High School for the Arts students gathered for the start of the 3rd Annual NYC August Wilson Monologue Competition hosted by Learning through an Expanded Arts Program (LeAp).Participating students chose a two to three-minute monologue from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson to perform. Wilson is best known for his 10-play depiction of the African-American experience, called the “Pittsburgh Cycle.”The winners!Three winners were Chasity Tuck, John Reyes, and Shantal Melendez. Vianca Peguero was selected as an alternate.The winning trio will compete in the NYC Competition against students from Curtis High School (Staten Island), Hillcrest High School (Queens), Repertory High School for Theatre Arts (Manhattan) and Brooklyn Theatre Arts High School (Brooklyn) on April 12.Winners from the citywide competition will then advance to the National Competition on May 9, at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway, where they will compete against students from Pittsburgh, Chicago, Boston, Seattle and Atlanta.In a press release, LeAp said its goal is to not only introduce hundreds of students to one of America’s greatest playwrights, but also to see “that August Wilson will live through our education system in the same manner and reverence as the works of William Shakespeare.”
The “Battle for the Bronx” skate boarding competition (above is a clip from last year’s competition) returns this spring, but to a new location: the River Avenue Skate Park Plaza. The third annual BFTB will be the first of its kind at the new skate plaza, which opened in August 2010.Last year, the event was held at the skate park in Bronx Park East.Maloof Money Cup, 5Boro and Indigenous Skate Shop are hosting this year’s competition. The event, scheduled for Saturday, May 21, will feature a jam-style contest (a more relaxed, group setting where competitors try out new tricks), product toss (prize giveaway) and other festivities. Spectators are invited to come out and witness local skaters showcase their skills. “With over 200 competitors from the tri-state and beyond expected, the 2011 “Battle for the Bronx” promises to be an event you don’t want to miss,” said Bert Correa, the “Battle for the Bronx” event organizer, in a press release.
The interactive map below, provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, charts the population change in New York. According to Census data collected last year, the Bronx gained 52,458 people over the last 10 years to bring the borough’s population total up to 1,385,108, an increase of 3.9 percent. The Bronx’s growth outpaced that of Queens (+0.1%), Brooklyn (+2.1%) and Manhattan (+3.2%). (Totals for Staten Island weren’t readily available.) New York City as a whole saw an increase of 2.1 percent to put the total number of Big Apple residents at 8,175,133.In reaction to the report, Bronx Congressman Jose E. Serrano said he thinks – no, he’s “certain” – the Bronx population wasn’t completely accounted for due to the fears and non-participation of the borough’s many undocumented residents. In a press release, Serrano said: “I am pleased to see that New York City is growing including a healthy increase in the numbers of people in the Bronx.
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