President Barack Obama talks with kids from the Children's Miracle Network in the East Room of the White House, June 9, 2010.
In this op-ed, an advocate says a multibillion-dollar federal initiative is needed to bring disconnected youth back into the mainstream—not just for their sake, but for ours, too.
Mark Escoffery-Bey owns and runs a copy store in Morrisania. “It’s like Kinkos, but it’s not Kinkos,” he says. The native of Jamaica is also a film-maker and a karaoke host at Bronx bars and restaurants, although both have taken back seat in recent weeks because he’s running against, or trying to run against, State Senator Jose M. Serrano.The 46-year-old Morris Heights resident is, by his own admittance, a long-shot candidate. He has no endorsements and little money, but he feels he’s collected enough petition signatures to at least get on the ballot, even if his signatures are challenged. (The deadline for filing is today.) That would be an improvement on the last time he ran for office in 2008, against Councilwoman Helen Foster.”I made the ballot but then it was challenged and I was taken off,” said Mark Escoffery-Bey (pictured above).
Candidates vying for a spot on the primary ballot this fall have a deadline to meet today. Petitions, or voter signatures of support, have to be filed with the Board of Elections office by the end of the day.Legislators and legislative hopefuls had the last five weeks to collect signatures-a daunting task, considering the signatures must be from voters registered with the candidate’s respective party and who live in their district. Congressional candidates need 1,250 valid signatures, state Senate candidates need 1,000, and 500 are required for the state Assembly.Here’s a little update on how the candidates in the 33rd Senate race fared:We already know that incumbent Pedro Espada’s filed his petitions-he did it very publicly at a press conference at the Bronx Board of Elections office on Monday.
We’ll call it the “power of the Mess.” In response to our “Mess of the Moment” blog post two weeks ago, Councilman Fernando Cabrera’s office called Con Edison to ask the energy provider to take care of the eyesore, which is in his 14th Council District. On July 6, a week after the post appeared here on the blog, Con Edison responded by sending a crew to clean up the pile of barricades and cement blocks, which blocked parking spots in front of an apartment building and neighboring houses. Before (above); After (below)Editor’s Note: The “Mess of the Moment” is a periodic feature on the blog. If there is a mess that you want highlighted or paid attention to, send photos of a location (or at least a locationa and description) to bronxnewsnetwork@gmail.com or just tell us about it in the comments section of this post.
The Hunts Point Express and the New York Times offer different takes on the first meeting in some time between the state Department of Transportation and local residents, advocates and business leaders. The DOT unveiled its predictions for how tearing down the highway would affect car and truck traffic on the streets of Hunts Point, Longwood and West Farms, but the meeting didn’t change minds.
Finding fresh, affordable, locally grown food in the Bronx this summer is becoming as easy as ordering a double bacon cheeseburger at a drive-through window.City-wide, local farm programs, GrowNYC and Just Food, are combining to offer ten different farmer’s markets locations in the Bronx.Throughout Bronx neighborhoods, the farmer’s markets have annually provided residents with fresh fruits, vegetables and other healthy produce grown by regional farmers.In addition to providing fresh food in neighborhoods which lack abundant choices of healthy produce, farmer’s markets promote interaction between the community and farmers. Farmers and vendors are great sources for tips and ideas for the novice chef or urban farmer.One teen-run market in Morisania will be offering workshops, free to the public, on nutrition and healthy eating through cooking demos and take-home pamphlets. The market is part of GrowNYC’s “Learn It, Grow It, Eat It” hands-on urban agriculture and nutrition youth program. In a borough where obesity and diabetes have become prominent fears among children, farmer’s markets provide a novel dietary selection that is both healthy and hands-on. The response has only lead to an increase in vendors and patrons.Although, some markets did not return this year – such as the Botanical Garden Metro North parking lot market – new sites have sprouted up.
It’s been a sad week for the Yankees. A funeral is being held today in Baldwin, Long Island for legendary announcer Bob Shepphard, who died Sunday at the age of 99.Meanwhile, a private service is planned for this weekend for owner George Steinbrenner in Florida.Here in New York, impromptu tributes to “The Boss” are shaping up at Yankee Stadium for this weekend, as the team returns for a home game tomorrow night.Espada challenger Gustavo Rivera tripped getting off a bus on the Grand Concourse and landed face first on the sidewalk, City Hall News reports. Ouch! But he’s not letting the injuries ruin what was otherwise a good week-he’s been endorsed by a major political group and is one rival down now that Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter has ended her campaign.
Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera, in conjunction with Montefiore Medical Center and Beth Abraham Family of Health Services, is sponsoring a free screening of the film, “Transformers” on Mosholu Parkway (between Van Cortlandt and Bainbridge avenues), tomorrow at 8:30 p.m., preceded by a free blood pressure screening at 7 p.m. Bring lawn chairs and blankets. For more information, call Rivera’s office at (718) 409-0109. Other sponsors of the series include Cablevision, BRONXNET, and the Bronx Council on the Arts.
The Brooklyn canal’s Superfund designation has triggered a hunt for the corporations responsible for more than a century of pollution.
About 150 residents gathered Wednesday evening to vent their frustrations with the police, in the aftermath of the stop-and-frisk scandal that recently surfaced in their precinct. Gov. Paterson signed into law a bill that would prevent police from retaining some of the information collected during their stops.
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