Results tagged “southbronx”

With rooftop farms all the rage right now, it's nice to see the eco-trend has even made it over to the South Bronx. We're told "a new state of the art affordable housing complex planned for the South Bronx will feature a 10,000 square feet (930 sq meters) fully integrated rooftop farm. The greenhouse will use left-over heat from the residential portion of the building and water harvested from the greenhouse roof. The farm will be used to provide fresh, perishable vegetables to a local non-profit food cooperative." All in all, the farm will supply enough produce to meet the annual veggie needs of up to 450 people! A great thing in any neighborhood, but particularly the South Bronx, which we're told "suffers from food deserts, where residents lack access to fresh vegetables at affordable prices." Learn more about the urban farm here; that's one step closer to becoming the urban farming capital of the world!

Adolfo Carrión Jr., the Bronx borough president who was recently appointed Urban Policy Director in the Obama administration, is one of many who are urging the Landmarks Preservation Commission to declare that Rincón Criollo and other South Bronx casitas are city landmarks.

The Birthplace of Hip Hop, 1520 Sedgwick, was recently sold to a new owner (a developer), leaving its future more questionable than ever. Luckily, folks are preserving the history of the area in any way they can, most recently Bronx Rhymes launched, which is a multi-media installation by digital artists Claudia Bernett and Maria Ioveva that "celebrates Hip Hop's innovative artistry, inspirational impact and community contributions. It highlights now legendary locations and milestones through a guerilla graphics campaign in the borough where it all began."

     

The last time we looked at the South Bronx it was 1979 through 1987, and now photographer Ray Mortenson focuses in on 1982 through 1984 in his new exhibit titled "Broken Glass: Photographs of the South Bronx." Opening November 14th (and running through March 9th) at the Museum of the City of New York, Mortenson's exhibit of 50 black & white prints will take a look at "the abandoned, burnt out, and razed structures of entire city blocks in the South Bronx in the aftermath of the 1970s, during which this neighborhood experienced dramatic decline." (Did you know about 12,000 fires occurred annually in the neighborhood throughout the decade?)

   

Author and photographer Lisa Kahane spent a good deal of the 1980s documenting the South Bronx, which at the time was plagued by arson, disease, poor economic planning and displacement. She captured "the human side of urban decay" as the neighborhood fell apart and tried to pick itself back up. She now shows it all, decades later, in her book Do Not Give Way To Evil: Photographs of the South Bronx, 1979-1987 -- here are some images from it.

Everyone's least favorite Paul McCartney ex, Heather Mills, is trying to earn points by doing some good...and right here in New York, no less (where she resides part-time). NYMag reports that after cashing in on her divorce with the Beatle to the tune of $50 million, she is now donating $1 million in vegetarian food products to the children of Hunts Point (Mills is a honorary chairperson of the Hunts Point Alliance for Children). The South Bronx neighborhood, where more than half the population is below poverty level, will now be stocked up with soy products from the vegan--and she'll be on hand tomorrow, grilling up some of the goods, at a ceremony with Congressman José Serrano.

Vendors at the Hunts Point wholesale produce market, located on 125 acres of city-owned land in the South Bronx, have said they will consider leaving the site for points “north or west” because the city is not cooperating with their expansion needs. According to the AP, the market supplies 3.3 billion pounds of fruits and vegetables a year, mostly to restaurants and small grocers.

Cardinal Hayes High School, says the allegations are “absolutely, positively 100% false." Officials have confirmed that Keogan’s hard drive was storing pictures of nude men and that since there were no minors depicted, Keogan does not face any criminal charges, though of course his career is destroyed.

Although Rev. Al Sharpton appeared with officer Christopher Ridley's family after the Mt. Vernon cop's death, advising people not to rush to judgment, questions about the shooting are turning in the direction of race and societal divisions. The Friday night shooting occurred when Ridley, off-duty police officer, tried to stop a fight and Westchester police shot at him.

The city’s food charities are dealing with dire shortages this year, exacerbated by cutbacks in federal food aid. Many places like St. Benedict the Moor Neighborhood Center in the South Bronx are almost barren; according to today’s Times, the center’s pantry used to be stacked up to the ceiling with food but now holds just “a few sacks of potatoes, some cornflakes, juice and peanut butter.” To help fill the void, City Harvest, the non-profit...

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a double stabbing at 14-19 31 Drive in Queens, a double shooting at 138th St. and 59th Ave. in Queens, and a commercial robbery on East 12th St. between 3rd and 4th Aves. in Manhattan. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is committing millions of dollars to residents of the South Bronx, pleasing some, rankling others, and infuriating the Mayor of Caracas, which is Venezuela's desperately poor capital. Marilyn Kaytor, who...

Plans for a water park on Randall's Island are on the verge of collapse as the developer granted a state concession to build the amusement complex missed its second deadline in seven months to secure financing. According to the Daily News, many East Harlem residents and park advocates were ecstatic at the project's possible failure. Tickets for the water park would have been priced at $37 a person and would result in a de facto reduction of public park space for those unable to afford admission. The neighborhoods closest to the proposed water park are the South Bronx and East Harlem.

It was reported last week that the 71 year-old Hartsdale, Westchester Carvel -- the very first outpost of the ice cream shop -- will likely be demolished at the end of next summer to make room for businesses that presumably make more money. Yes, the 68% milkfat solid, sidereal softy known as Cookie Puss is crying tiny crunchy tears as we speak; Flying Saucers are slowing down for their final approach. While the building’s current location is the site of the original Carvel store, the fact that it has been renovated over the years to look more retro apparently complicates bids for historic preservation. Tom Carvel, the chain’s gravelly voiced founder who also used to narrate its television commercials (vintage WPIX, anyone?) once lived with his wife Agnes in quarters behind the shop.

The summer of 1977 was host to a serial killer, a day-long blackout and a crime rate around 75% higher than today's. The NY Sun reports that "politicians, police officers, and reporters are gathering together to remember that time and celebrate." John Jay College of Criminal Justice's Eugene O'Donnell is the one holding the press conference today which will focus on the anniversary of the capture of David Berkowitz, aka the " Son of Sam."

When Omar Freilla founded Green Worker Cooperatives, an incubator for eco-friendly worker coops, he set the initial goal of $700,000. “We weren’t even sure how we were going to raise that much,” he said in a recent telephone call. Almost four years later, the organization has raised well beyond their initial goal, thanks to RSF Social Finance and numerous local churches.

Mayor Bloomberg returned from Sun Valley's media mogul conference to stump for his congestion pricing program at three churches yesterday. And today he's headed to Albany, as the congestion pricing program will be discussed by the Legislature. The Bloomberg administration has pointed out that the federal Department of Transportation is pretty willing to give $537 million in funding to NYC if the concept of congestion pricing is passed by Albany lawmakers, but the deadline for that money is today.

In response to the annual Fancy Food Show taking place July 8-10 at the Jacob Javits Center, Marlow and Sons buyer and fromager Tom Mylan, along with artisanal cheese expert Sasha Davies, will be staging the first ever New York Unfancy Food Show, to be held at the East River Bar in south Williamsburg this Sunday afternoon from 1 to 7 PM. For a $5 suggested donation, attendees will be able to sample a score of products from mostly local producers. It should be a day of small batch, hand-made, farm-to-table, heirloom, and award winning food; all just steps away from the illustrious East River, and definitely free of the blitz that occurs when anywhere from 19,000 to 32,000 food industry folk descend on Jalepeno Popper Pavillion at the Javits Center every year for the golden-fried, cream cheese and bacon flavored kind. The smaller scale, Unfancy Food Show participants include Mateo from Jasper Hill Farm, Roger Rephol from Bronx Bee Honey (made in the South Bronx!), and Jon Orren from Wheelhouse Pickles. Representatives from Gorilla Coffee, Consider Bardwell Farm, and Taza Chocolate will also be on hand with samples of their products, and it is likely that some grass-fed beef will be grilled up by Josh and Jessica Applestone from Fleischer’s Meats. As if the mere prospect of attending the culinary underdog event of the summer season isn’t compelling enough on its own, some assorted trophies (size, shape, meaning and purpose as yet to be determined) will be given out to best-in-show participants; all purveyors currently signed on for the Unfancy Food Show seemingly qualify for the title. It is needless to say that eating local is a win-win situation, and this is a great, no nonsense opportunity to meet the people who actually produce local food. It's also taking place at a bar. Go and talk about sustainability, washed rind cheese, or just the weather. Mark your calendars now.

Con Ed is laying the blame on Mame Mother Nature for the two power outages this past week. The utility issued a statement saying that the 48-minute blackout on Wednesday - the one that hit the Upper East Side and South Bronx - was caused by a "strong lightning strike." This is what the Con Ed statement said:

Information obtained from real-time lightning tracking data show that detection instruments measured a lightning strike of 34,000 amperes in the vicinity of a substation in Queens at 3:42 p.m. on Wednesday, precisely at the time of the power loss. The lightning strike momentarily affected communication equipment that prompted circuit breakers on multiple transmission feeders to open, causing the service interruption.

We're getting reports of a blackout on the Upper East Side, from the East 60s up to Harlem, on Third Avenue (mostly about transit blackouts) and York Avenue in the 80s. Subway service is affected - the 4/5/6 line is down. A reader whose friend was at Randalls Island says a Con Ed station exploded.

Some NYPD members aren't exactly burnishing the department's reputation this weekend. In separate incidents, one pair of cops was arrested for allegedly participating in a drug ring and another officer was arrested for possibly killing a man during a dispute. New Jersey cops arrested NYPD officers Hector Alvarez and Miguel Castillo as they were reportedly planning hold-ups in North Bergen and Rutherford. Initially, the cops, who work out of Brooklyn and Manhattan, claimed they were undercover, but their NJ counterparts found burlgary tools in their car. Investigators think they may have been planning a drug-robbery and are involved in an illegal drug ring.

On November 23, 1990 a bouncer outside of the Palladium nightclub (now an NYU dorm on 14th St.) was shot and killed when a fistfight escalated to gunplay. A year later, David Lemus and Olmedo Hidalgo were convicted of the killing and sent to prison, despite their defense that they were not even at the Palladium that night. Hidalgo's conviction was later overturned and Lemus was released from prison after 14 years, only to face a retrial by New York prosecutors. The New York Times is now reporting, however, that a former prosecutor for the city who was arguing for that retrial had serious doubts about the man's guilt even as he argued for his prosecution.

He headed first to the United Nations, where he met with the secretary-general, Kurt Waldheim, and addressed the General Assembly. The pope then had lunch with the pope's representative to the United Nations, Archbishop Giovanni Cheli, at the legate's Manhattan apartment. It was then off to the seat of Catholicism in New York, St. Patrick's Cathedral, where John Paul II met with Cardinal Terrence Cooke before celebrating Mass. More than 3,000 priests, brothers, and nuns were in attendance.

Continue reading "Pope RSVPs to UN Invite"

Last night at the Waldorf Astoria, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - the first hip-hop act to receive the honor! The South Bronx group pioneered the genre, being the first to incorporate deejaying and emceeing.

The city's Franchise and Concession Review Committee is scheduled to vote this coming week on whether or not to approve a proposal to have twenty Manhattan private schools pay for part of the renovation of Randall's Island athletic fields in return for exclusive use of a majority of the fields. The plan, which is separate from the controversial water park, calls for schools such as Dalton and Spence to pay the city $52 million dollars over twenty years. The city would kick in an additional $18 million for the fields, and $53 million for island infrastructure. In return for the payment the schools would get exclusive 3-6 p.m. use of at least two-thirds of the 63 playing fields.

Yesterday, the Mayor unveiled the South Bronx Greenway Plan, which is part of the Hunts Point plan that " improve access to the waterfront, provide much-needed recreational opportunities, improve transportation safety and greatly enhance the network of bike and pedestrian paths on the South Bronx peninsula." The city will start four projects that will bring a waterfront park (with floating dock for boaters and kayakers) and paths for joggers and bicyclists. Construction will begin next summer, for completion in 2011.

A recent NYU study found that children in the South Bronx suffer from astronomical asthma rates: in one Hunt’s Point elementary school, one in four children showed symptoms of the respiratory disease. The study attributed the frequency of asthma to the maze of highways and truck routes that traverse the area.

Even without the sleep-busting noise and window-covering grime that come from the passing traffic, living near a highway comes with other hazards. The Times reports today about a recent NYU study that found that children who live in the Bronx suffer from higher asthma rates thanks to the number of busy roads that tread so close to where they work and play. The study, which involved asthma-stricken schoolchildren wearing detectors that analyzed the air around them, concluded that the kiddies were definitely exposed to high levels of pollutants and children in the South Bronx were twice as likely to go school near a highway when compared to students in other parts of the city. The students wheeled the backpacks around with them daily, reported to researchers twice a day, and kept diaries of their symptoms. The main culprit is felt to be small particles arising from diesel fuel, which are tiny enough to embed themselves in the tot's lungs. And Bronx County is one of ten New York State Counties that exceed the current federal air quality standards for fine particles.

The year 2030 is in the MTA's sights, as it starts to work on solutions as the city will grow and change. AMNY was at the briefing panel, where director of planning William Wheeler said, "I've never seen a more exciting time in terms of growth in the region." Exciting, yes, but it's also scary when we think about what the MTA will need to do to accomodate for the expected 1.5 million increase in population that's expected in 25 years.

Chubby in Staten Island

-- Gawker has Jared Paul Stern's book proposal. Better get those presses running quick, boys-- his 15 minutes are running out fast!