Bronx

Bronx News Roundup, Tuesday, Aug. 2

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Weather: After today’s sizzler – high of 92 expected – Bronx air will cool back down into the low 80s tomorrow and should stay comfortably below 90 for the rest of the week.Story of the Day: Bronx Kids Writing Around Town This summer, the Bronx Council on the Arts is transporting Bronx youngsters to destinations outside of the Northern Borough for rich cultural experiences they otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to enjoy. Before, during and after they go to galleries, museums or places like the Anne Frank Center in SoHo, the kids write about what they’ve seen and experienced. The goal of the Bronx Write Bus, says program director Maria Romano, is two fold: keeping kids stimulated and off the street and, at the same time, exposing them to cool cultural places and ideas. Good story from former BxNN intern turned Times scribe Andrew Boryga. The program ends next week.

Bronx

Bronx Reps Say Debt Limit Deal Unfairly Burdens Middle Class, Gives Free Pass to Rich

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[Video: Engel talks about his opposition to the debt limit deal.] Earlier today, the U.S. Senate voted in favor of a budget agreement that would allow the nation to raise its debt ceiling while making trillions of dollars in cuts to government spending programs. Last night, the Republican-controlled House approved the same plan and President Obama is expected to sign it immediately before the country starts defaulting on its debt obligations. While Democrats were split evenly between yays and nays, the three Bronx representatives, all Democrats, in the House – Jose Serrano, Eliot Engel and Joe Crowley (who’s more of a Queens guy than a Bronx guy, but he still counts) – all voted against the deal. Each said the plan would unfairly burden middle class Americans and eat into the nation’s social safety net, while allowing the ultra-rich and large corporations to get off easy. Serrano summed it up best: “My constituents will not benefit in the slightest from this package—and in fact will suffer from its effects. They work hard, and pay their taxes, and should not see the social safety net that they rely on slashed solely to preserve low tax rates for billionaires.

Bronx

National Night Out Locations in the Bronx

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Tonight is National Night Out, a broad attempt to bridge the gap between police and the communities they serve. It’s also about building community, hanging out in your local parks and getting some safety tips (and often a free bike helmet). Below is a list of every National Night Out event in the Bronx:40th Precinct/Community Board #1St. Mary’s Park at the 147th Street Comfort Station3-7 p.m.41st Precinct/Community Board #2Police Athletic League 991 Longwood Ave. between Southern Boulevard & Kelly Street4-8 p.m.42nd Precinct/Community Board #3Metropolitan Oval (Parkchester)3-7 p.m.44th Precinct/Community Board #4East 169th Street between Gerard Avenue and Walton Avenue3-8 p.m. 45th Precinct/Community Board #10Co-op City – Section 5 Greenway (pedestrians enter at Elgar place.

Bronx

Local Businesses Struggle after Bronx Water Main Break

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A day after a water main burst under Jerome Ave., businesses were still cleaning up. (J. Bodden)Editor’s Note: A spokesman for Small Business Services, which is aiding merchants in the recovery effort, said there will be a recovery meeting for business owners and other concerned parties tomorrow, Aug. 3, at 11 a.m., at Davidson Community Center, 2038 Davidson Avenue. By Justin BoddenA little more than twenty-four hours after a water main break left Jerome Avenue in Mt.

Bronx News Network

News from Mott Haven and Melrose

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The new issue of the Mott Haven Herald is out, with stories that remember the contributions of Evelina Antonetty, surveys an exhibit that enshrines South Bronx buildings, looks at the latest safety efforts in public housing and tells the story of women who’ve gotten their GEDs through a local program, and more. Check it out at www.motthavenherald.com.

Bronx

Bronx Events: From the South Bronx to East Asia “Hip Hop Kung Fu”

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Come to a Hip Hop/Kung open dress rehearsal tomorrow at 7pm at 928 Simpson Street. See the work of Emilio “Buddha Stretch” Austin Jr. that juxtaposes the formality, structure, and strict discipline of Asian martial arts with the looseness and spontaneity of hip hop. Stick around for a Q&A session after. The piece will premiere August 3rd in Manhattan. On August 6th head back to Simpson Street (between 163rd St.

Bronx

Bronx News Roundup Monday,, Aug. 1

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Welcome to August, Bronx people. Let’s get to all the non-debt-ceiling-related Bronx news now. We’ll start with sweat.Weather: Hot today in the Boogie Down. High of 92 predicted, with severe thunderstorms possible from 4 p.m. on. Story of the Day: ‘White Supremacist’ Principal Hire Eventually Causes Outrage Two years after Frank Borzellieri became principal at Our Lady of Mount Carmel elementary school in Fordham, school officials and the Archdiocese are being criticized for hiring the controversial former school board member.

Bronx

Mail Employees Go Postal on Closure of Bronx Plant

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Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the latest issue of the Norwood News, on the streets and online now.By Alex KratzJames Perez, a Kingsbridge Heights resident and 24-year veteran of the United States Postal Service, is having a hard time imagining working outside of the Bronx. But he might not have a choice in the matter. By the end of the fall, his position and at least 231 others at the Bronx mail processing plant will be eliminated as the USPS consolidates all of the Bronx’s mail processing and distribution into the Manhattan plant. Perez and his co-workers may end up in Manhattan, but they could be transplanted to any postal location within 50 miles of the five boroughs. The USPS, citing budget concerns due to a “dramatic” drop in mail volume, said this is a done deal, but the postal workers union is not giving up without a fight.They organized a rally to protest the elimination of the Bronx plant for Wednesday afternoon, July 27.

Bronx

Bronx News Roundup, Friday, July 29

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We’re short-staffed today, so a quick but substantive round-up folks … Have a great weekend!This story in the Riverdale Press caught our eye. The Amalgamated Houses, the sprawling, leafy limited-equity co-operative wedged in between Norwood and Kingsbridge Heights, has hired a new property manager, Charles Zsebedics, who was convicted for participating in a scheme a decade ago that defrauded his former company of $1.3 million. The Amalgamated’s board was well aware of Azebedics’history but did its due diligence and decided that he had learned from his mistakes and that he was the best person for the job.Andrew Boryga, a graduate of BxNN’s youth journalism program for high school students, continues to do great work for the New York Times in between his academic pursuits at Cornell. In this Times’ City Room blog piece, which also appeared in today’s print edition, Boryga profiles artist Nicolas Dumit Estevez who had himself baptized on the Bronx River as a new Bronxite and to bring attention to his new exhibit at the Longwood Art Gallery on the Hostos Community College campus.A plan to close 17 Bronx post offices, the most in the city, continued to roil postal workers and those who say local post offices are a lifeline for seniors and local communities.The Daily News reports that 60 Bronx businesses are in danger of going under following the massive Jerome Avenue water main break on Wednesday morning.Cops are looking for the shooter responsible for shooting a 5-year-old boy in the leg while he was walking with his mom near Holland and Astor avenues in the east Bronx last night.Four police officers assigned to the Bronx district attorney’s office have been caught cheating on their timesheets, the Post reports.Lots of tasty morsels in Bob Kappstatter’s column as usual this week, including the possibility that the financially struggling Bronx Museum of the Arts might try to emulate the Museum of Modern Art by developing a new, substantial revenue stream by building housing for artists on an adjacent property.