Spelunking in Melrose – Old Ebling Brewery Beer Caves
ly stopped construction and called City officials in to investigate whether or not they had perhaps encountered a burial ground of sorts or remnants of local Native American tribes. Once confirmed that that was not the case, they proceeded with construction. The only unfortunate part of this is that for engineering purposed the caves must be filled in. A few of them had already collapsed as construction continued along and with the exception of local media, the construction crew, city officials and myself, the caves will be gone from Melrose and a bit of old New York history will be gone.
Melrose Beer Caves
Welcome2Melrose just had the privilege of taking a tour of the former Ebling Brewery's beer caves along with The New York Times. Here are just a few pics taken just moments ago.
Stay tuned for more pictures and more on the brewery!
Ed García Conde
The "Mayor" of Melrose
917-532-7504
http://www.welcome2melrose.com
Holiday Lights in Melrose
Second Annual Prep School Fair – Thursday, December 17 – 3PM – 7PM
This coming Thursday, December 17th from 3:00PM – 7:00PM, talented junior high school and high school students from The Bronx as well as the rest of the city will have an opportunity to meet with representatives of some of the Northeast Region’s top prep schools at the 2nd Annual Prep School Fair thanks to Teamwork Foundation, Inc, a non-profit organization which runs the New York Gauchos which is touted as America’s most successful AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) after school basketball program.
New Waterfront Park Adds a Bit of Manhattan to the South Bronx
With the opening of Mill Pond Park, residents in Melrose and the Lower Concourse area finally get a taste of what Manhattanites have taken for granted for years – A waterfront park. Mill Pond Park is the first in what will eventually (hopefully) be a series of parks along the banks of the Harlem River in the South Bronx.
The 10 acre park features 16 DecoTurf tennis courts, picnic and grass areas, beautifully landscaped paths which meander along the shoreline and even a sandy play area. This month, the Parks Department will also unveil the newly restored historic Power House which will be LEED certified and will have a green roof as well as house a future café. The 25,800 square foot building will also house Parks Department operations and tennis court locker rooms.
Mill Pond Park is part of the Yankee Stadium Redevelopment Program and is the first park to be unveiled since the construction of the New Yankee Stadium gobbled up local parkland. The park is a small step in giving back to the community…a tiny one in fact but a step nonetheless. Maybe we can convince them to more than double the size of Mill Pond Park by developing the Harlem River Parking Lots and Major Deegan Parking lot to the North of the park…after all, wasn’t the purpose of building the $92 million Yankee Stadium Metro North Station to have less cars in the areas and more people using mass transit?
So what are you waiting for? Go visit Mill Pond Park located at East 149th Street and the Harlem River, just north of the 145th Street bridge and across from the Gateway Mall.
ANTHEM: an all-american dystopia – An Evening of Art, Artists, Wine and Coquito
Last night at Hostos Community College, the Longwood Arts Gallery was abuzz with activity for the launch of a new exhibit, ANTHEM: an all-american dystopia. The exhibit is a 20th anniversary celebration of the Bronx Council on the Arts’ BRIO (Bronx Recognizes Its Own) award and according to the Longwood Arts Project, this exhibit, “explores an America within the crux of reforming a national identity; family, health, politics, urban crisis and decay, environmental issues, consumerism and globalization.” The exhibition is curated by Melissa A. Calderón, a local Bronx Latina artist who received her BA in Art History from CUNY Lehman College and works in various forms of media such as sculpture, installations and photography.
Every artists in this program are BRIO award winners from 2008 or 2009 and all have created works that are multidimensional in their scope of message and what you see may not necessarily be what it means. The show is broad in its scope and definitely worth a trip to the Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos Community College whether you are from the Bronx or not so take the 2,4 or 5 express train to 149th/Grand Concourse and check out just a small sample of what The Bronx has to offer.
Also of notable importance, last night during the opening of the exhibit right in the gallery space was also host to The International Coquito Federation – Coquito Masters Qualifier Series for 2009. For those of you who do not know what coquito is, it is Puerto Rico’s answer to Christmas Eggnog made of rum, coconut cream, cinnamon to name just a few of its ingredients. The ICF is the project of Debbie Quiñones who says its mission is to promote coquito around the world as a gourmet drink as well as cultural awareness. Oh and did I mention that Coqui Mexicano‘s entry now qualifies for the great coquito showdown on December 19th at El Museo del Barrio? Yes…You heard it here! If their coquito is good enough to qualify for such a prestigious event, can you imagine what their food is like?
So here’s a big Melrose THANK YOU to Longwood Gallery, Bronx Council on the Arts, all participating artists and supporters for bringing the arts to the Bronx and in particularly to the South Bronx and Melrose.
Also would like to give out or first big WEPA! to Coqui Mexicano for qualifying to compete at the big coquito showdown on December 19th at El Museo del Barrio…Coquito Mexicano truly are what comunidad (community) is all about! (Wepa is a Puerto Rican exclamation of joy and happiness, similar to the Greek OPA!)