Tag: South Bronx

Special Harlem River Waterfront District Visioning Session: Real Grassroots Planning Or Just Business As Usual?

On Tuesday, May 5th, the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation—better known as SoBro—held a “second” visioning session on the Special Harlem River Waterfront District to discuss the issues of developing the waterfront, residential, needs, and gentrification issues.

The reason I say second in quotes is because SoBro held a block party last year where they had a small station in a corner where they collected surveys about the waterfront yet that was never heavily promoted. Many residents were unaware that a “first” session had occurred.

In the Bronx, Art Fills an Abandoned Neighborhood Landmark – Camera Obscura – Curbed NY

For a community that has only in recent years emerged from the fires, blight, and civic neglect that once scarred the South Bronx landscape, the courthouse’s reopening felt a bit like a homecoming. “It’s like they are seeing an old family member, long lost,” observed Regine Basha, who curated the exhibit for No Longer Empty. “This isn’t our building—it belongs to the community. We just set up the structures through which we could listen to the stories.”

Will Mott Haven Become The Next Williamsburg? We Sure Hope Not

DNAinfo published a piece yesterday that pretty much hyped up the area’s prospects of pending gentrification much to our chagrin.

Unlike a recent piece on Melrose which focuses on revitalization, this piece is more on the pro-gentrification side which will cause much displacement of long time residents.

Right now, rents are so high in the area that those living in rent stabilized unit wouldn’t be able to afford moving in at this point in time.

It also goes on to talk about a lot of what we’ve been reporting in the area about speculative purchases, etc and the money that’s been pouring in.

The Grand Concourse, Boulevard of Bronx Dreams

“THE Grand Concourse, the four-and-a-half-mile boulevard that for much of its life was described as the Champs-Élysées of the Bronx, has often sat for its portrait, as have many of the handsome buildings along its flanks. But there is one image that captures in poignant fashion exactly what the street represented in the mid-20th century.

It is a grainy black-and-white snapshot of a boy named Sam Goodman, a third-generation boulevard resident, wearing a dressy coat and hat and standing in front of the Lorelei fountain in Joyce Kilmer Park. Anyone who knew the area would recognize the luscious white-marble concoction of mermaids and riverfront siren, which had been created in Germany in 1893 and brought to the Bronx with much fanfare six years later.

BREAKING NEWS: Governor Cuomo & Bronx Borough President Diaz Jr To Pull Support For FreshDirect; Mayor de Blasio Calls This A Step to End the Tale of Two Cities

Citing recent studies showing that the South Bronx is suffering a clear burden from dirty industries leading to its residents having 8x the national rate of asthma and 21x the hospitalization rate in New York City for the ailment, New York Governor Cuomo and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr said in a joint statement that they will be pulling all support and funding from FreshDirect’s Bloomberg-era sweetheart deal.

“After years of overwhelming community outcry against this project and their demand and right to a new environmental impact statement instead of relying on a 22 year old one, my office cannot support this project in good conscience any longer,” said Diaz, Jr.

Before Starbucks’ ‘Race Together’, There was The Mix Coffeehaus in The Bronx

Long before Starbucks announced their disastrous #RaceTogether campaign to foster race relations dialogue among its customers and baristas, there was The Mix Pop-Up Coffee Shop (now known as The Mix Coffehaus) in the Port Morris neighborhood The Bronx last year.

When Starbucks launched the campaign almost two weeks ago, Vernicia Colon, the brainchild behind the idea of the Mix Coffeehaus reached out to Welcome2TheBronx with concerns of how similar their campaign was to her project. “We were surprised to see such a large corporation like Starbucks implement what we felt was a very unique concept. It was brought to our attention by many of our followers that noticed similarities between Starbuck’s #RaceTogether campaign and The Mix Coffeehaus” said Colon

WATCH: Baz Luhrmann Speaks At The Ghetto Film School About South Bronx Based ‘The Get Down’ Series Coming to Netflix

Australian film director Baz Luhrmann came to The Bronx yesterday for a press conference at The Ghetto Film School in Port Morris along with Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr and New York City Film Commissioner Cynthia Lopez to discuss his latest project, ‘The Get Down’ heading to Netflix.

The focus of the press conference was to talk more about the television series, which has captured the attention of Bronxites all over the world who lived during the era of the 1970s which the series is set in. Baz Luhrmann said of ‘The Get Down’, “It is about a group of teenagers and it’s specifically about a very intense friendship with two guys and there’s a girl involved.”

URGENT: NO CASTING CALL FOR ‘THE GET DOWN’ THIS FRIDAY!

A SECOND casting call has been issued for Netflix and Baz Luhrmann’s new series on the 1970s South Bronx, ‘The Get Down’.  This time, interested parties can audition live in The Bronx at the Ghetto Film School at 79 Alexander Avenue, #41A.

Call time is at 11AM this Friday, March 6 and once again, the casting company is seeking African and Latino males and females between the ages of 18-21 and you can find out their requirements here.

Casting Call To Bronx Residents for Netflix’s ‘The Get Down’ Due by March 10th!

So it seems the noise we made about making sure Netflix and Baz Luhrmann get their new series about the South Bronx set in the 1970s, ‘The Get Down’ accurate is off to a decent start by issuing a casting call to Bronx residents — which has a deadline of March 10, 2015.

Exclusive: BxArts Factory Reveals New Home Just in Time for Their Launch Party Tonight

Many Bronxites and artists have been talking about the new arts organization, BxArts Factory, since we made the announcement last month on the inception of the this endeavor. Now, today, in anticipation of their launch party tonight at the Bronx Museum, they’ve revealed to Welcome2TheBronx their location.

The BxArts Factory will located in the nationally landmarked Brook Avenue Gardens building on 148th Street and Brook Avenue in Mott Haven at the border of Melrose.