A Morris Park man who was arrested and accused of raping a prostitute may have a long history of abuse against ladies of the night. Michael Fishbein is on trial for the alleged torture, beating and rape of a 27-year-old prostitute at the end of last month. When she met him at his apartment at 837 Neill Avenue, he held a box cutter to her and allegedly said, “You’re not leaving. You’re going to take your clothes off or I’m going to cut them off. I’ll kill you.” more ›

According to a new tally, the Bronx has less banks than any other borough except Staten Island—it has only 154 bank branches compared with 701 in Manhattan, 428 in Queens and 343 in Brooklyn. In some parts of the borough—including the Van Nest neighborhood which hasn't had a bank in over ten years—you can walk for a mile without coming across one, reported the NY Times. “I don’t think you can have a thriving business community without a bank in the area,” said state senator Jeffrey D. Klein. “They really need a bank to serve as the anchor for the community.” more ›

Word is that some residents of Morris Park in the Bronx were not too happy when a vacant storefront transformed into an Off-Track Betting. On June 19th the Community Board's district manager, John Fratta, began receiving many angry phone calls from locals, after which he called the OTB offices to ask if they were opening a storefront in the neighborhood. They didn't know anything about it. By Monday, the confused community got some clarity when “We found out it was a movie, but they forgot to notify the neighborhood. The phone hasn’t stopped ringing. The outcry was unbelievable.” Bronx native Nick Sandow is filming his movie Ponies in the area, so take a deep breath Morris Parkers, we'd wager that everything will be okay. And OTB, don't get any ideas, Senator Jeff Klein says, “It is incumbent on all of us to ensure new establishments speak to the community before opening their doors"—and from the sound of it, the natives don't fancy you too much. more ›