Pilgrim-Hunter Ends Bid to Supplant Espada in Senate

Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, the community activist who led the local fight to defeat the mayor’s plans to build a mall in the Kingsbridge Armory, told the Bronx News Network late on Tuesday that she was ending her candidacy for state Senate in the 33rd District. “This has been one of the hardest decisions I’ll ever have to make,” she said. “In the interest of making sure that [incumbent state Senator] Pedro Espada is out of office, and also building power in my community, I’ve decided to withdraw.”Money, or lack of it, was the main reason she decided to end her bid, she said. Despite several fundraisers in supporters’ homes, she had raised only $30,000, while Espada already has more than $300,000 on hand. “We did a really good job of fundraising,” she said referring to the number of small donors in the community who gave to the campaign.

Reactions to Steinbrenner's Passing

There’s been an outpouring of obituaries and statements from public figures this morning following the death of legendary Bronx Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who passed away from a heart attack today at his home in Tampa, Florida. He was 80 years old.”This is a sad day not only for Yankee fans, but for our entire City, as few people have had a bigger impact on New York over the past four decades than George Steinbrenner,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement.

BxNN Story of the Day: Instead of the Sheridan …

Sam Dolnick of The Times has a story today about a report due out today from the state Department of Transportation that may give cheer to south Bronx community advocates who want to eliminate the Sheridan Expressway (a prime route for truckers headed to the Hunts Point Market). That would restore 13 acres of land that would give the community access to the Bronx River, connect it to other green space and allow the construction of affordable housing (see rendering above). The effort to de-map the Sheridan goes back a long way as the Hunts Point Express, a BxNN affiliate, has documented. For more on the Sheridan in the Express click here, here, here and here.