It seems that the NYPD in the Bronx continue to forget CPR: Courtesy, Professionalism and Respect. But how if it’s been on squad cars for years now?
Jorge Cartagena, Jr. was brutally assaulted, for lack of a better word, by two NYPD officers and spent over 24 hours in custody for riding a bike on a sidewalk.
This is disgusting and a clear excessive use of force. To add insult to injury, the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau has cleared the officers of any wrongdoing. Check out the video if you haven’t already done so and YOU be the judge.
Fellow Bronxite, Ida Keeling, became the oldest woman to break the 60 meter record in her category. She is an inspiration not only to the Bronx but the rest of the country and the world that one is never too old to keep an active lifestyle.
Here’s looking at you, Ida!! We are proud of your accomplishments! Keep Bronx strong!
This Saturday, February 26th at 6PM, join Italian filmmaker, Fred Kuwornu at PeaceLove Cafe for the free screening of ‘Inside Buffalo‘. Inside Buffalo chronicles the story of the 92nd Buffalo Division, an all African-American segregated combat unit that fought in Italy during World War II.
Reconstructing for the first time an important piece of African American history and placing it within the context of Civil Rights history, the award-winning Inside Buffalo tells the story of the 92nd Buffalo Division, the all African American segregated combat unit that fought with outstanding heroism in Italy during World War II.
Called “Buffalo Soldiers,” these men fought two wars at the same time: one against the Nazis, the other against racial discrimination. Those who survived found that their contributions went unnoticed upon their return to United Stated.
Director Fred Kuwornu, an Italian filmmaker of African heritage, finds little-known aspects of the story, including details of the friendships forged between African American soldiers and the Italian partisan fighters and villagers they liberated from fascist rule. It is a 2008 meeting with Spike Lee—who was shooting Miracle at St. Anna on location in Tuscany—that inspired Kuwornu to start this very personal voyage of discovery, culminating in the powerful documentary.
The last living African American soldier awarded the Medal of Honor in WWII, Vernon Baker, recounts vividly his wartime experiences and the heroism of his unit.
Film screening of the documentary and discussion with filmaker Fred Kuwornu.
Presented in collaboration with the Bronxmedia.com and PeaceLove Cafe’.
Thank to support the Legacy of the 92nd Buffalo Soldiers Division in WWII and American Vets.
Visit Inside Buffalo website http://www.insidebuffalo.org/
PeaceLove Cafe’
617 Melrose Ave, between 151st and 152nd street, Bronx, NY
(347) 577 6397
Take the #2 or #5 train to 3rd Avenue 149th Street and walk 2 blocks to 617 Melrose Ave between 151st & 152nd Street
or Take the # 2,15,19,21,55 bus to the Hub Area.
Free Admission
In this Sunday’s New York Times Real Estate Section, the Living In series takes a look at one of the many working-class neighborhoods of the Bronx, Williamsbridge. [READ MORE: New York Times]
The New York Daily News reports that Morgan Powell, a volunteer since 2004 at the Bronx River Alliance, will lead a tour of African American History on March 12th. The tour will be conducted along parts of the Bronx River Greenway and is free of charge. [READ MORE: NY Daily News]
Bronx Social Media Week was celebrated this past Tuesday, February 8th in Melrose and hosted at PeaceLove Café by Clarisel Gonzalez of PRSun Communications. Panelists included an excellent representation of Bronxites such as Mark Callendar of BronxMedia, Nicole Perrino, founder of Bronx Mama, BronxTalk’s Gary Axelbank, and myself, founder and editor-in-chief of Welcome2Melrose as well as Welcome2TheBronx and mynewyork.
Instead of boring you with my own personal details of the event and for the sake of trying to be as unbiased as possible, feel free to read more on the event by Shannon Lee Gilstad who attended the event and wrote about the evening from her own point of view.
Whilst walking along Melrose Avenue the other night, I came across a most curious ad at a liquor store.
The message was quite simple really and made up of four simple words: Believe in the Bronx.
Believe in the Bronx. Strung together, those four simple words exude a powerful message which any true Bronxite already know. To live in the Bronx is to believe in the Bronx – against all odds and ridicule.
Believe in the Bronx is what we did from the 1970’s through the turn of the century when the government forgot us and refused to believe…in us.
When crime sky rocketed out of control, we continued to believe in the Bronx.
We are a strong people and a resilient borough. Let is ALWAYS believe…in the Bronx.
Young Bronxite, Nuha Dolby, will have her composition debut at Lincoln Center tonight according to the New York Daily News. The budding composer was one of only 6 out of 75 submissions selected from throughout New York City. [READ MORE]
Congratulations to Nuha and thanks for making the Bronx proud!
Besides being such a divisive and controversial figure (see what he has to say on marriage equality)in the New York State Senate, The Reverend Senator needs to get a little grip on reality.
In a recent New York Times piece on the abortion rate in New York City (which is currently at 41%) Senator Rubén Díaz, Sr was quoted as saying that this was an attack on minorities and went on to further say as per the New York Times, “They might think that we will take over, and that they’ve got to stop us,” said Mr. Díaz, who also is a minister. “What they did, they are killing black and Hispanic children.”
Really, Senator Díaz? Killing black and Hispanic children? Last time I checked abortion was an option and a CHOICE not a mandatory procedure so please do enlighten us oh, Reverend Senator Rubén Díaz on how “they” are “killing” blacks Hispanics? Senator Díaz…maybe you should spend less time on the pulpit and more time getting in touch with reality and your constituents before making such ridiculous comments.
This past Saturday, the Old Bronx Courthouse in Melrose was open yet again. This time it wasn’t for a tour but for a special dinner for the First Annual Bronx Pipe Smoking Society. The email invitation was quite simple: Do not tell a soul of the event, dress code is to be “warm” formal (due to the lack of heat in the empty shell of a building), bring your favorite wine glass and arrive at 7PM SHARP. Password to get in: Perique. The fare? Small game such as possum, fisher, muskrat, raccoon, beaver (yes…beaver…and raccoon).
I arrived at the old, grey landmarked beauty with 3 minutes to spare before show time. Several other guests also began congregating at the gate all eager to get inside out of the cold – and into the cold again. At exactly 7PM a gentleman came out to unlock the gate and welcome us to the event. He asked that we simply follow the candles to the our destination. As we made our way from the foyer and into the lobby we made a left and followed the trail of tea lights into a pitch black room. The trail of lights led us to another room with tons of steel debris and a decrepit staircase lined with candles all the way to the top. We braced ourselves for an awkward climb and within seconds we ascended into a large, cavernous chamber.
A long banquet table was set up to accommodate approximately 30 guests, candle lit and all. Slowly but surely the guests began to arrive, many with dishes of the rather exotic menu. Baron Ambrosia, our very own Bronx Culinary Ambassador, was the brainchild of this event and only someone like the Baron could pull this off.
The dishes were all prepared by various chefs and foodies with whatever game was trapped by Jim DeStephano, who the Baron became friends with at native american event. It was very interesting to listen to the challenges the chef had to prepare something that they typically won’t find at a local market further complicated by not having experience in preparing such dishes. That, however, didn’t stop them from creating quite the exquisite dishes.
The Raccoon Sexton, prepared by Julia Sexton, was deliciously sweet and was done as a confit of Adirondack raccoon with juniper berries, sage and rosemary served on a Balthezar baguette. Rafael Mata Sr. owner of local Melrose Mexican restaurant, Xochimilco, made the Marta Pescadora Con Salsa De Guaje – fisher cooked with guajes and Chile morita served with chayotes over green rice. Both of these dishes were particular hits.
These small mammals weren’t the only exotic dishes on the menu. In no particular order of exoticness were, Columbian Big Butt Ants (lightly pan-fried and pretty much tasted like popcorn), Dak Dae (a Thai dish of fried silk worm pupae) and last but definitely not least, Som Tum with Maengda which is a mixture of shredded green papaya, tomato, string beans and ground peanuts with giant water bugs. Yes…water bugs. And no…I did not try that last one. I stopped at the Dak Dae which wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
Mostly everyone tried a little bit of each but there were a few, like myself, who were a little too squeamish to even consider trying the water bug dish. All in all it was a great evening with great people, sharing stories of their experiences with exotic fare and if anything, we all basically learned how to survive in case of war or disaster.
This post is in response to the glowing praise that was heaped upon the late and former New York State Senator Guy Velella, who passed away last week Thursday, January 27th, 2011, by the new editor and writer at the BoogieDowner. For the last few years, the BoogieDowner was a repository of all things Bronx by two local residents simply known to all as “ErLu”. It was a brilliant blog as there was always tons of debates back and forth between readers – pretty much no holds bar.
However, that has all seem to have changed now that the BoogieDowner is in new hands. A recent post by the BoogieDowner, “Tribute To Late NY State Senator Guy Velella” is nothing more than garbage. A tribute to the late Guy Velella? Wasn’t he the one who received contributions from those related to the Genovese Crime family? Or the same individual who according to the NY Daily News back in 1982 pleaded, via a letter to a federal judge, “asking that a mobster be spared time for racketeering charges.” What about when the shit hit the fan back in 2002 when the late state senator, along with two of his cronies, were charged on 25 counts which alleged that he received $127,000 in bribes to hand out contracts to those who paid him and as well as soliciting $250,000 to make sure his crooked friends received lucrative public works contracts? Maybe he’s not worthy of a tribute because he didn’t serve his full sentence and was still receiving his almost $80,000 yearly pension – as a convicted felon! The common man would be stripped of all benefits but Guy walked around like a fat cat.
No, BoogieDowner, the late former NY State Senator is not worthy of a tribute. A simple Rest in Peace would have sufficed, sans the “tribute”. To add further insult to injury the BoogieDowner threatened to take down ANY negative remarks made of the late senator.
BoogieDowner – You quoted Dostoevsky with the following line:
“Every time we pray, if your prayer is sincere, there will be new feeling and new meaning in it which will give you fresh courage and you will understand that prayer is an education.”
I think when referencing Guy Velella, it would have been more appropriate to quote Henry Kissinger, as NY State Senator Liz Krueger mentioned in an October 25, 2004 feature she wrote for the Gotham Gazette:
“Corrupt politicians make the other ten percent look bad.”
Senator Krueger went on to mention that she didn’t feel this quote was accurate and was in fact the opposite, but she was making a simple point that when a politician becomes a convicted felon, the public outcry makes it seem that what Kissinger said is the case.
Glenn Beck, who probably never has set foot in Co-op City, compared the largest cooperative development in the country to the failed socialism of the former Soviet Union. We all know that Co-op City suffers from many ills and is far from perfect but come on…really? Failed socialism? I’m sure that the thousands of families who’ve made Co-op City their home through below market rate purchases think quite the opposite. Should we really care what an alcoholic drug-addict thinks about the Bronx? I think not. Do you live in Co-op City? If so, we’d like to hear from you! info@welcome2thebronx.com
Living in a borough that was for so long abandoned by the city as well as by businesses definitely does something to the collective psyche. For those who call the Bronx home and love it, we are a strong and proud people.
