2014 is quite the year for major Bronx anniversaries. The Bronx County Courthouse and our beloved Borough Hall celebrates the 80th anniversary of the opening of its doors for official business.
In 1934, just 20 years after Bronx County was created, the grand old building was opened up by Mayor LaGuardia in a 3 day celebration of the building’s construction. LaGuardia even moved the seat of government for New York City to the Bronx for 3 days to mark the occasion.
Mayor de Blasio just announced his ambitious housing plan with a 10 year plan to build and preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing. In his announcement he said that this will impact 500,000 New Yorkers and also be one of the solutions to address the homelessness situation. Even extreme low income families making under $25,150 will benefit from this plan — a segment that was neglected in the previous administration.
He declared that residents will not be paying 50% of their income going towards rent: something that recently showed Bronxites pay more than 50% of their income towards rent.
The Bronx is Poetry!
Let’s participate and support writing and poetic events held in The Bronx.
Variety just published this adorable article about a 9 year old Bronxite who has a part in the new ‘Amazing Spider-Man 2’ movie.
Benedict J. Fernandez, (b. 1936), a Puerto Rican and Italian photographer from East Harlem, captured some of the most powerful and emotionally-resonant moments of America during the tumultuous 1960s. This exhibition comprises vintage prints and never before seen work prints from the archives of an underappreciated master.
The Sixties were arguably the years of greatest social change in American history. The country entered the decade full of idealism and hope – the Civil Rights movement was gathering steam and a charismatic president rallied the nation to explore a New Frontier. America limped out ten years later, devastated by assassinations, divided over the Vietnam War, cities aflame in unrest. Through it all were the movements: Civil Rights, Black Power, Students for a Democratic Society, pro and anti-Vietnam War, nascent gay rights, and more.
Here’s part 3 in a series of fun facts about the borough we love, The Bronx. This series is in celebration of our two major milestones: the 100th anniversary of the creation of Bronx County and the 375th anniversary of Jonas Bronck’s arrival to our borough.
MELROSE—A four alarm fire that started this morning around 5AM at a Dunkin’ Donuts quickly spread and destroyed five other businesses before the FDNY could get it under control. The blaze and…
Real Estate in the South Bronx is heating up.
A tiny 4,100 square foot lot in the Lower Concourse Rezoning District of the Bronx is currently listed for a whopping $3,000,000. The property at 100 East 149th Street at Exterior Street is located just across from the the Special Harlem River Waterfront District and at the foot of the 145th Street Bridge into Manhattan. With a zoning of M1-4/R8A, the site can be developed into a 10-12 story residential building.
The 7 time Grammy nominated musical legend, Bobby Sanabria, will be on NY1 tonight , Monday April 28 at 8:30PM.
According to his bio on his website, Bobby Sanabria is a, “…drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, recording artist, producer, filmmaker, conductor, educator, activist, multi-cultural warrior and multiple Grammy nominee – has performed with a veritable Who’s Who in the world of jazz and Latin music, as well as with his own critically acclaimed ensembles. His diverse recording and performing experience includes work with such legendary figures as Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Paquito D’Rivera, Charles McPherson, Mongo Santamaría, Ray Barretto, Marco Rizo, Arturo Sandoval, Roswell Rudd, Chico O’Farrill, Candido, Yomo Toro, Francisco Aguabella, Larry Harlow, Henry Threadgill, and the Godfather of Afro-Cuban Jazz, Mario Bauzá.
The Environmental Defense Fund stated last week that Latinos are 3x more likely to die from asthma than any other racial or ethnic group.
We must ask ourselves why, then, our Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr and other Bronx politicians aren’t demanding an environmental impact statement be done on FreshDirect’s planned move to the South Bronx — and instead are relying on an outdated environmental impact statement.
I grew up in the rock-and-roll ’50s in an immigrant community in the Bronx where all of our friends’ parents had blue tattoos on their arms, some large, some small, some buried under bushy arm hair and silver wristwatches, but always a row of numbers. Our parents had gold teeth, heavy accents, and names we never heard on television. The memories of my childhood summer days — the contrast between the bucolic and the indescribably horrible — served as my Holocaust 101.
Back in January, Welcome2TheBronx wrote about how our Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. sat on the fence on the soccer stadium deal after much wooing them to the Bronx. Now Crain’s New York reports an interview with Diaz Jr, where he says, “On the soccer stadium as a whole, I’ll say this: I’m not there yet. That said, I am open-minded. As I said in my State of the Borough address, with a good community-benefits agreement, with proper community engagement, I think we can get to a place where folks understand the economic benefits of the stadium. But those benefits have to be real and be felt. It can’t just benefit the royal family of Abu Dhabi [who co-owns the franchise] or the Yankees.”
The Mix Pop Up Coffee Shop opened yesterday in Mott Haven as a 3 day social experiment to engage the community and talk about race and identity — over a cup of coffee.
Immediately when you walk into the cafe you are asked, ” WHAT ARE YOU?” by big stenciled letters along the walls. This is one of the most common questions asked to people of color, especially folks who’s ethnic identity isn’t ‘readily apparent’.
