Human Factor Looms Large In ACS System

The recent indictment of two Administration for Children’s Services workers in the death of a Brooklyn four-year-old has focused new attention on the city’s system for detecting and stopping child abuse and neglect. In this interview, City Limits’ Helen Zelon explains how legal process and human nature interact in the child welfare system.

Talented Mr. Rivera Honors Bronx's Celia Cruz Singers

A minute and a half into the above clip, you’ll see a passionate and touching performance of the Puerto Rican national anthem turned in by Bronx State Senator Gustavo Rivera at last weekend’s Somos El Futuro conference in Albany. Seriously. Not bad, right? Next stop: Albany Idol.According to Rivera’s communications director Conchita Cruz, the new state senator in the 33rd District is an avid singer who won an award for his killer karaoke work over the weekend. (He was also honored for pushing transparency legislation this year, Cruz said.

No Room For Pork in Cuomo's Budget

It’s a political practice as well-established as candidates kissing babies: a local legislator shows up at a senior center or an elementary school, giant check in hand, to announce that he’ll be funding a daily meals program or buying new uniforms for the spring soccer team.There’s a photo-op and everyone leaves feeling

Bronx News Roundup, Wednesday, April 6

Weather: It looks and feels beautiful out this morning – bright and cool, but not cold – but apparently there’s a 20 percent chance of rain later on. To the news!Story of the Day: ‘Wild Style’ Filmmaker Back in the BronxFilmmaker Charlie Ahearn, who put a spotlight on the Bronx hip-hop and graffiti scene with his seminal documentary, “Wild Style,” is returning to the Boogie Down with his new short film, “Bongo Barbershop.” The new film, which is showing this week during the New York African Film Festival, is set in University Heights, near the cross section of Jerome Avenue and 183rd Street, close to the unofficial birth-place of hip-hop – Kool Herc’s basement in a Sedgwick Avenue building. It focuses on the story of a young MC from Tanzania in search of the “real hip hop” who meets a Bronx legend – Grandmaster Caz, who starred in “Wild Style” – in a barbershop. In the video below from the Daily News, Ahearn talks about his new film.AC_FL_RunContent(‘codebase’,’http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,28,0′,’width’,’485′,’height’,’350′,’title’,’Video Player’,’src’,’http://www.nydailynews.com/swf/video_player/vp_485_single_06092010′, ‘FlashVars’, ’embedCode=o2dDRkMjqV_GoeScn23eSAEDQcV8Hk8g’, ‘quality’,’high’, ‘play’, ‘true’, ‘loop’, ‘true’, ‘allowFullScreen’, ‘true’, ‘pluginspage’,’http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash’,’movie’,’http://www.nydailynews.com/swf/video_player/vp_485_single_06092010′ ); <img src=”http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png” style=”background-color: #b2b2b2; height: 350px; width: 485px; ” class=”BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder” id=”BLOGGER_object_0″ data-original-id=”BLOGGER_object_0″ /> Quick Hits:After rejecting a plea deal, Bronx health clinic founder and ex-State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. and his son pleaded not guilty to embezzlement and fraud charges in Brooklyn yesterday.

Human Factor Looms Large In ACS System

The recent indictment of two ACS workers in a little girl’s death has focused new attention on the city’s child protection regime. In this interview, City Limits’ Helen Zelon explains how legal process and human nature interact in the child welfare system.