LATEST NEWS

After Hearing Community Concerns Over Art Fair, Bronx-Born Swizz Beatz To Work on Special Project for Borough

After speaking with Swizz some more, we agreed to collaborate on a future event that will be curated to include Bronx artists as the highlight and to hold it at a more neutral location that doesn’t have such charged up negativity around it.

No date or logistics is set for this event but the will and commitment are there by Swizz Beatz because he wants to not only give back to the community but to be able to do something for the very very concrete for the community he came from.

Several of the concerns voiced to Swizz was the fact that it’s being held on Rubenstein’s property which many feel and agree is a sort of ground zero for the gentrification that is occurring throughout the South Bronx—an event such as this would only help further the developer’s agenda and also show the precarious world artists have to navigate and often find themselves being used as pawns by said developers.

No date or logistics is set for this event but the will and commitment are there by Swizz Beatz because he wants to not only give back to the community but to be able to do something for the very very concrete for the community he came from.

Shocker! Keith Rubenstein Behind Latest “Piano District” Party This Thursday

We just found out that the Gentrification Art party hosted by Swizz Beatz and Bacardi, the “No Commission Art Fair” we reported on yesterday is being hosted by Keith Rubenstein of Somerset Partners at one of his properties.

If you’ve been following Keith Rubenstein, you constantly hear or read that he claims he wants to be a part of our community yet in the meantime, he’s installing his own little businesses (well not his but handpicked by him) throughout Port Morris to create HIS vision of OUR neighborhood.

You would think that after all the negative press he received after October’s Macabre Suite “Piano District” party, he would have learned something but clearly, it has fallen upon deaf ears.

LATEST NEWS

20th Century Bronx Tour!

Join the Historic Districts Council as we explore the past, present, and future of the Bronx Civic Center’s magnificent range of 20th Century architecture!

Guests will first be treated to a brisk walk with Adrian Untermyer, Deputy Director of the Historic Districts Council, with stops at the Art Deco Bronx County Building, the Grand Concourse Historic District, two Urban Renewal-era housing developments, and more.

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Tomorrow, Thursday 8/4, Meeting to Discuss Parkland Being Taken Away for Development

PLEASE RSVP HERE!

As we reported several weeks ago, New York City somehow decided that it could take away land mapped and slated for parkland development, which was promised to the community, and now hand it over to developers so that they can construct “affordable” housing along our waterfront.

The lot, now known as Lower Concourse North, is sandwiched between Mill Pond Park and the 145th Street Bridge at 149th Street and was promised as part of the extension to Mill Pond.

The city has issued a request for interest expressions of interest (RFEI) and has stated that they will rezone the lot to accommodate up to a 40 story tower and a 26 story tower on the lot.

Although The Bronx is the greenest borough in all of NYC with 25% of our land dedicated to parkland and open spaces, The South Bronx has one of the worst access to green spaces and every acre added matters and is important for our health and well-being.

Fact is, we can’t breathe concrete!

So come out tomorrow and let folks know how you think this land should be developed, after all, it is public land and yes it was promised and slated for development as park land so you should have a voice in the matter. Don’t forget to RSVP!

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First Look at Baz Luhrmann’s South Bronx Series, ‘The Get Down’

17 months after it was first announced that Hollywood director, Baz Luhrmann was teaming up with Netflix to produce a musical series based on the 70s in the South Bronx and the nascent days of hip-hop, we were finally treated to the finished product at the world premiere screening of the first episode right here in The Bronx.

After watching the first episode, I can confidently say that it was worth the wait and they got it right. Not perfect, but the look, the feel, the vibe, the music, every little thing seemed just right as I remembered the late 70s to be.

From the fires to the rubble but more importantly to the LIFE that was going on amidst the devastation, it was captured beautifully as one would expect Baz Luhrmann to do. From the opening scene to the landscape of the South Bronx of the 70s brought to life on a big (or small) screen gave me goosebumps and was a very emotional journey for me to witness this.

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Bronx BP Diaz Jr’s ‘New Bronx’ Isn’t For All—Unless You Can Afford It 

It’s been a while since we’ve heard Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr utter the words ‘New Bronx’, something we’ve been vocally against along with legions of Bronxites.
But he doesn’t have to, the damage is done and it’s already embedded in the psyche of people from billionaire developers of the oligarchy to the working poor who make our beautiful Bronx run.

The Village Voice published an article titled, ‘Brooklynizing The Bronx: Will The Boogie Down’s Boom Leave Thousands of Workers in The Dust?’ which examines, among many things, Ruben Diaz Jr’s ties to real estate interests and his lack of advocacy for the auto workers of Jerome Avenue who are facing displacement and loss of thousands of jobs as the area faces rezoning.

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Creating A Gun-Free Zone To Combat Violence in the South Bronx

Please join community residents and leaders at The Bronx Documentary Center today, Monday through July 25th at 6:30PM to be a part of a coalition to face gun violence in our neighborhoods by creating a gun-free zone in the South Bronx.
What this will entail and look like is up to YOU, our local neighbors and residents so PLEASE spread the word and bring a friend.

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