CITY WIRE: THE BLOG

City Limits Receives Award From National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association

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On Thursday The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association honored Diana Scholl for her December 2010 investigation of transgender homeless living. The article, “For Transgender Homeless, Choice of Shelter Can Prevent Violence,” assessed the success of New York City’s policy to choose to stay in shelters based on personal identity rather than identity assigned legally or medically. Scholl, City Limits’ Contributing Editor for Housing and Development, won third place for Excellence in News Writing. The first and second place winners were Chris Geidner for MetroWeekly and Steve Freiss for The Daily Beast, respectively.

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(UPDATED) EXCLUSIVE: Oval Park Piano May Have Been Removed as Trash; Not Stolen

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[Update: Following is confirmation from a Parks Department spokesperson that the piano was discarded, not stolen: “Parks workers unknowingly discarded the piano which appeared to have been vandalized and was lying on its side. We were just alerted to this today and we send our apology to the community and sing for hope if any trouble was caused by this.”] According to Deputy Inspector Joseph Dowling, commander of the 52nd Precinct, witnesses interviewed by detectives said that a sanitation truck removed the now-famous, presumed-stolen Sing for Hope piano from near the tennis courts on Williamsbridge Oval, thinking it was a discarded instrument. (A new piano was donated to the community Wed. night, and painted by children yesterday, with the help of the Friends of Williamsbridge Oval, Mosholu Preservation Corp., and community residents.) We’re still waiting for comment from the Parks Department press office, and Dowling said the accounts still needed to be confirmed. An unfortunate bureaucratic snafu if true (we’ll let you know as we find out more), but think of the multiple bright sides this Independence Weekend people: no heartless neighborhood thief stealing music from the children; an indefinite period of public piano playing since Sing for Hope was supposed to retrieve the original piano this weekend; and what better illustration of how awesome the Norwood community is?Have a great, safe Fourth everyone!

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Bronx Transit Alert: No. 2 and 5 Train Service Changes This Weekend

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A little transit update from the MTA on the No. 2 and 5 trains this weekend, and a few other weekends this month. See the poster below for details.(function() { var scribd = document.createElement(“script”); scribd.type = “text/javascript”; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = “http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js”; var s = document.getElementsByTagName(“script”)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();

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Bronx News Roundup, Friday, July 1

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Happy July!Weather: Sunny tonight with temperatures in the mid 80’s. The sun should stay around for the holiday weekend, except for a few scattered thunderstorms on Sunday. Quick Hits: Facing a $10 billion budget gap, Governor Cuomo has announced that he is going to close seven prisons in New York State, including

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Bronx Crime Watch: Rally for Clinton H.S. Shooting Victim Grows On Facebook

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Editor’s note: This article first appears in the latest edition of the Norwood News, out on streets and online now. By Alex KratzWhile 15-year-old DeWitt Clinton High School student Yvette Torres fights for her life at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, a group of people, many of whom have never met her, some from as far away as Massachusetts, are doing their best to track down the person who shot her in the back of the head and bring them to justice.Yvette was shot in the head after she confronted a gunman at a June 11 party in an apartment building near Fordham Road, on the corner of East 187th Street and Valentine Avenue. It’s unclear exactly what sparked the confrontation or why the gunman fired the shot that hit Yvette. But it is clear that there were witnesses to the crime and the shooter remains at large.On June 17, the New York Post reported that a 17-year-old boy had been arrested and charged with Yvette’s shooting. But the NYPD says no one has been arrested and the investigation is ongoing.Seeing that the investigation had stalled, Queens resident Nelson Figueroa decided the police could use some help.