So her Madgesty aka Esther aka Madonna is coming to the Boogie Down Bronx for her first tour in four years and performing at Yankee Stadium. Tickets go on sale on February 13, 2012 – maybe she can fill up the $217 million dollar parking lot for 9,000 cars at Yankee Stadium.
Wat Buddhayaram, a Thai Buddhist temple founded in 1965 as a study center was the first ever established in the United States. Most would think that the Bronx would be the last place to find one but that’s exactly the kind of hidden treasure we have here. Read more in the New York Daily News.
Are you a student living in the Bronx or attending high school in the Bronx and interested journalism? Is your child an aspiring journalist or do you know one in your neighborhood? Well Norwood News is looking for students who want to attend their FREE Spring Semester of the Bronx Youth Journalism Initiative!
The Bronx Youth Journalism Initiative is a successful and free after school program for high school students that runs for 12 weeks where students not only learn about the process and such areas like photojournalism but also get real hands on experience. Click on the link below to find out more information about this wonderful program!
Bronx Youth Journalism Initiative–Apply Now! : Norwood News.
A group of young men were busted yesterday for utilizing an abandoned building in Morris Park as a marijuana grow house. How much does this cost the tax payers for this one bust alone?
While we have real crimes being committed such as rapes, murders and beatings – let alone the banking industry which nearly collapsed this country into major financial ruin, we are spending billions upon billions of dollars in this country to fight the “evil” marijuana.
We really need to do some serious soul searching into this because our government is fighting something that is clinically proven to be beneficial yet we allow alcohol to be consumed in vast quantities when 1 in 25 deaths around the world can be attributed to alcohol use? There have been absolutely no deaths on record that were because of marijuana use at all. So where is the problem?
Furthermore, humans and a large majority of life on earth have cannabinoid receptors indicating that we have evolved in conjunction with such substances. Alcohol on the other hand destroys our liver!
The billions spent in New York State alone, fighting marijuana, could be put to better use in education, health care and other social programs to help the poor rather than incarcerate them.
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=8526160
In what first appeared to be a copy cat incident of a shopping cart being thrown over the side of a parking garage in East Harlem last fall, 2 men were injured – one critically yesterday at the Gateway Center in the Bronx.
According to WABC, investigators are eyeing a possible connection with a possible “turf war” between competing taxi drivers at the mall.
I shop at the mall once or twice a week and am constantly harassed by these cab drivers who upon seeing you begin to shout for your attention to secure a fare. When the mall first opened two years ago, the problem was huge because they all swarmed the parking lots and walkways and most of them aren’t even licensed taxi and limo drivers, instead, picking up people in their personal cars with personal license plates.
Eventually, only licensed taxi drivers were allowed inside to pick up fares and it is done in an orderly fashion, much like your see outside Penn Station where cabs stand in line. Now, all the unlicensed cab drivers congregate on River Avenue and Exterior stealing customers away from the licensed taxi drivers who pay 10 dollars a day for the privilege of coming in and out of the mall. Let’s not forget that these hardworking individuals are also paying fees to the base they work from and high insurance premiums as well – none of which the illegal drivers outside the mall pay.
Yes these are harsh economic times and Bronxites are great at doing the odd job here and there to make a buck but this is an instance where it must stop. There is a certain sense of safety one feels when entering a licensed taxi – you assume that this person is not some maniac, etc. Not so when someone stranger misleads you into thinking they are qualified to do the job.
The city and Related Companies must put a stop to this for the safety of all!
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=8525462
CLANK-clank, CLANK-clank,
CLANK-clank, CLANK-clank.
The Silver Serpent begins its daily pilgrimage!
Join us this Saturday as representatives of Sustainable Communities • Bronx Metro North Study provide an interactive tour of the Melrose Metro North Station
and its pedestrian access points.
This is a very important way we, as a community, can band together and give feedback and be part of the process for the future of our neighborhood. Melrose has the best transportation access in the entire Bronx with subway access, bus routes and a Metro North station. Statistics show that 25,000 Bronxites make the reverse commute to work to Westchester and Connecticut making the Melrose Station a critical component for area residents in our transportation network.
Read more below straight from the source and don’t forget to take the community survey!!
The Department of City Planning of the City of New York (DCP) is studying areas surrounding select Metro North Stations in the Bronx. With support from the HUD Sustainable Communities program as part of a regional consortium of cities, counties and planning organizations, DCP is working with communities to plan for the Metro North corridor in the Bronx. The goals of the study are as follows:
· Connect Bronx residents to job centers in the region (25,000+ Bronxites make the reverse commute to jobs in Westchester and CT)
· Capitalize on the Metro North corridors by identifying opportunities for transit-oriented development
· Spur investment in lively, sustainable, mixed-use neighborhoods, by permitting new mixed-income housing around stations where growth is appropriate
· Improve station visibility, pedestrian access and intermodal connections around Bronx metro North stations
In order to successfully achieve these goals we need the full support of all community stakeholders. The DCP is moving forward with some important outreach initiatives described below.
Community Tours
In an effort to understand the community needs, pedestrian environment and transportation options surrounding the Melrose and University Heights Metro North Stations, DCP will be conducting interactive tours of key pedestrian access routes. While DCP staff will be onsite to guide the tours we need your help to make them a success! Please join us on Saturday, January 28 th in an effort to strengthen Bronx Communities. Bring your friends, co-workers, and neighbors. See details below and attached flyer:
Melrose Station
When: Saturday January 28th, 2012 10:00 AM—12:00 PM
Where: Meet at the Melrose Metro North Station Platform (Entrance on Park Avenue at 162nd Street )
University Heights Station:
When: Saturday January 28th, 2012 2:00 PM—4:00 PM
Where: Meet at the University Heights Metro North Station Platform (Entrance at W. Fordham Road and University Heights Bridge)
Please let us know if you will be attending or if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you there!
Community Survey
Your input is an important part of our successful planning effort. As part of our outreach program, DCP has developed a community survey which includes questions to help us understand community needs, land use, the pedestrian environment, and transportation facilities. Below is a link to take survey online and attached is an electronic copy of the survey available in both English and Spanish. Please complete the survey by the March 30 th deadline online, via email, mail, or fax to:
Online:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SCBronx
Or to:
Shawn Brede
One Fordham Plaza, 5 th Floor
Bronx, NY 10458
(718) 220 8505
F (718) 584-8628
sc_bronx_dl@planning.nyc.gov
A walk through the Bronx sometimes reveals interesting nooks and crannies. Anyone care to guess where this is?
Today, I had the pleasure of participating in US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s Listening Session for the 2012 Food and Farm Bill at Hostos Community College right here in the Bronx. Senator Gillibrand is the first US Senator from New York to sit on the Senate Agriculture Committee in over 40 years. This gives New Yorkers a strong voice in the next bill which is set to replace the current Farm Bill that expires this year.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand opened up the talks and spoke about the need to increase food stamp benefits and SNAP benefits which she and her colleagues would like to increase it by 30%. She says that this would be a great step towards assisting families in need especially those in food deserts to be able to spend more money on healthier foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables and produce.
The Senator further went on to speak about the disconnect that exists between Hunts Point Market and the Bronx. Here we have the world’s largest food distribution center right in the Bronx yet there is a disconnect with the neighborhood where it is located. She spoke about how the area is intimidating and generally inaccessible to Bronxites due to its truck stop-like appearance. The floor was soon opened up to those attending and the first one to come up and speak was none other than Karen Washington, our very own urban farmer from the Bronx.
Karen spoke about how the Bronx is on top when it comes to hunger. She pointed out how we need to have more funding for food than to keep people incarcerated and that more is spent on incarcerating people than spending on keeping our people healthy. Karen voiced her dismay at being able to look across to Hunts Point but not being able to access it. All of these issues are issues that disproportionately affect people of color in our borough.
Senator Gillibrand responded enthusiastically to Karen’s speech saying how she looked forward in working together on some of the key issues such as expanding community gardens and connecting with local schools. Karen is a strong advocate of teaching kids starting at kindergarten on up about agriculture and growing food and why it is good for you to eat such foods versus the processed foods that are so readily available.
There were other speakers, one in particular who mentioned that the Bronx was burning in the past but now the Bronx is growing in reference to the hundreds of community gardens out here. Then there was Steve Ritz, a NYC Educator who has successfully worked with high school students installing and maintaining green roofs and walls, who challenged Senator Gillibrand to work on enforcing the ban of selling soda and junk food / candy in our schools.
The one thing that was very discouraging to me and several other Bronxites was that this is a “listening session” to hear the voice of the Bronx yet there were barely people of color or Bronxites in attendance. Thus why I decided on the title, “Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Visits The South Bronx But No One’s Home”. To have such an important meeting to “listen” to the voice of the people at 11AM when people are working is a disservice to the community and constituents which you serve. I mean no disrespect or to belittle her hard work and I actually applaud that she eventually made it to the Bronx but we need to have this listening session after business hours so that BRONXITES can attend, BRONXITES can voice their concerns, BRONXITES can be part of the process and not just the usual suspects who are always in attendance at these meetings because it is what they do. A true listening session in the Bronx would have been made up of a vastly different crowd than was in attendance today at Hostos Community College.
Are you interested in attending such a listening session that will affect policy in the United States for the next 5 years? SOUND OFF in the comments below!
VERY IMPORTANT! PLEASE SHARE FAR AND WIDE!
Tomorrow, Wednesday, January 4th, US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand will be coming to the Bronx at Hostos Community College as part of her listening sessions for the upcoming ” Food and Farm Bill ”. This is an extremely important event for Bronxites in particular since we have the dubious distinction of being the poorest and unhealthiest and atrocious access to healthy and nutritious produce and vegetables that other areas in the state take for granted.
Please do share and if you can’t make it, send a friend, neighbor or relative in your place. I cannot begin to stress the importance of being there. I do have my reservation with the poor selection of time of day that the event will be held, which is 11am thus limiting the number of Bronxites who can attend. Maybe we can convince Senator Gillibrand to hold another session in the evening when it is more convenient for the working families in the Bronx?
**Spread the word!**
US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand will be coming to the Bronx on January 4th to hear community members’ concerns about the food system and seek input on how she can improve access to healthy, affordable through changes in the “Food and Farm Bill”.
We can have a say in how to make affordable healthy food more accessible in grocery stores, farmers markets, CSAs, and new market opportunities. Come out and let your voice be heard this Wednesday! See below for more detailed information.
United States Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand (NY) cordially extends this invitation to attend her upcoming Farm Bill Listening Session in New York City.
As Congress begins debating the next Farm Bill, Senator Gillibrand will continue her statewide agricultural listening sessions to gather input from local farmers and advocates.
As the first New Yorker to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee in nearly 40 years, Senator Gillibrand plans to focus on a broad range of food policy and agricultural issues that are important to New York in the next Farm Bill, including nutrition, access to affordable healthy food, farmers markets, CSAs, organics, new market opportunities, assistance for dairy farms and specialty crops, and investments in renewable energy.
EVENT: Farm Bill Listening Session DATE: January 4, 2012 TIME: 11am PLACE: Hostos Community College, D Building 149th Street and Walton Avenue, Bronx Savoy Multipurpose Room on the 2nd Floor
Please RSVP to FarmBillNYC@Gillibrand.Senate.Gov
**Save The Date – Bronx Food and Sustainability Coalition meeting – February 2012 **
Mike Kamber, renowned photojournalist and Melrose resident, is currently on assignment in Iraq reporting on the close of the Iraqi War. His latest entry in the New York Times is a bittersweet chronology of emotions during that time spent covering the seemingly endless battles, deaths and all the ills that go along with war.
Kamber has put his life on the line one too many times during these past 8 years simply to ensure that the world sees firsthand, through his eyes, or lense if you will, the atrocities of armed conflict. >
Just this morning, a little over an hour ago he reported that, “63 dead in baghdad today, coordinated bombings across the city. nearly impossible to work. if cameras were bombs, this place would be completely safe. can’t even shoot from the hip” on his facebook page.
Read his account in the link below:
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/bearing-witness-in-iraq/?emc=eta1#/1/
Image: Bronx Documentary Center in Melrose on Courtlandt Avenue, founded by Mike Kamber
In an expected move by many, the United States Supreme Court decided not to listen to a case that has been rolling around for well over a decade according to the Daily News.
Bronx Household of Faith v Board of Education of the City of New York tackles the ever so delicate balance of separation of church and state. The case is about the use of New York City public schools by religious groups as a space for Sunday worship.
The Bronx is often referred to as God’s Country due to the plethora houses of worship scattered throughout the borough.
Our founding fathers intended and fought for the separation of church from our government but how far do we have to go to protect that? Bronx Household of Faith and other religious leaders argue that the buildings are not in use on Sundays and wouldn’t interfere with the schools’ main function.
How do you feel about this?
Supreme Court nixes use of NYC public schools for services http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/supreme-court-nixes-nyc-public-schools-fo-services-60-churches-homeless-feb-12-article-1.987052?localLinksEnabled=false
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