This week's Riverdale Review and Bronx Press

Here are the stories in this week's issue (July 26 - August 1) of the Riverdale Review and Bronx Press

 Bronx residents flocked to Van Cortlandt Park for New York
Philharmonic's 2012 Concerts in the Park series on July 17.

* Parents demand restoration of PS 24 music program > Parents at PS 24 have stepped up their efforts to restore the school's cherished music program and are preparing to take their fight to the Tweed Courthouse. A group of more than 70 concerned parents and residents last week sent a letter to Schools Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott pleading with him to save the school's music department.
* Eleanor McGrath, former school board member, passes away > Eleanor McGrath passed away surrounded by her loving family on the afternoon of Sunday, July 22 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. She was a lifelong Bronx resident and settled in Riverdale in 1954 after marrying Philip McGrath.
* Local activists protest anti-Israel billboard in Metro-North station > A provocative anti-Israel billboard greets locals as they start and end their daily commutes at the Spuyten Duyvil and Riverdale Metro-North train stations. Described by Isaac Geld as "a real poke in the eye," the ad uses a series of four color-coded maps to illustrate a progressive "Palestinian loss of land" from 1946 through 2010 and to support the statement, "4.7 million Palestinians are classified by the U.N. a refugees."

The controversial anti-Israel billboard

* PS 24 ratings fizzle while PS 81 soars > Satisfaction ratings at PS 24 have plummeted, Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy has lifted its game and PS 81 has retained its title as the local school darling among its parents and teachers. Results from the fourth NYC School Survey, released by the Department of Education this week, reveals Riverdale's three schools recorded mixed results. PS 24 was the only school to record a drop in all four assessed categories--academic expectations, communication, engagement, and safety and respect.
* Few local kids excel on state tests > Just 1 percent of Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy students exceeded the state's proficiency level on this year's standardized English test. A special analysis of data from the state's English and math exams found results varied across Riverdale's three public schools when the number of students scoring at Level 4 was taken into account.
* Famous local figure hooks up with the Glee gang > Archie Andrew, one of Riverdale's most famous residents, will be introduced to the cast of Glee in an eagerly awaited collaboration announced by the comic book's publishers. Archie, along with Betty, Veronica, Dilton and Jughead, are slated to meet their match in the crew from McKinley High in an upcoming storyline to hit bookstore shelves next year.
* Koppell reports progress > Department of Transportation crews are currently repaving a section of the Henry Hudson Parkway service road, following a request from Councilman G. Oliver Koppell. Koppell lobbied for the measure after constituents complained about the poor conditions along the busy road, particularly between West 227th and West 232nd streets.

And, in the Bronx Press:
* Bloomberg forces new homeless shelter in Wakefield > City officials are forging ahead with plans to transform the Muller Army Reserve Center into a 200-bed homeless shelter and have negotiated a $91 million contract with a social advocacy group. The Mayor's Office of Contract Services blindisded Bronx residents and held a public hearing on Thursday, July 19, to discuss a proposal to award The Doe Fund, a $91.27 million contract. According to the negotiated contract, the social advocacy group would be charged with developing and operating a "stand-alone transitional residence for homeless adults." The proposed agreement would be retroactively dated and run from July 1, 2012, to December 31, 2033, authorities said.
* MTA caves to politicos and community to restore transit service > Relief is finally on the way for thousands of Bronx bus and Metro-North commuters. As part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's sweeping $29.5 million package, weekend bus service on the Bx34 will be restored, while service on the Bx13 will be extended from East 161st Street to the Gateway Mall. Officials will also establish a brand-new bus route that connects the booming neighborhood of the South Bronx to the commercial areas of Hunts Point.
* Cabrera fights mayor on proposed super-sized ban > Bronx merchants fear their businesses will be driven to the ground if the city approves plans to ban the sale of super-sized sugary drinks. Merchants raised their concerns about shrinking profit margins to Councilman Fernando Cabrera during an impromptu neighborhood walking tour around University Heights last Thursday. Cabrera said many owners pleaded with him to fight the health policy. Although many acknowledged it was proposed with good intentions, they said the plan would adversely affect their bottom line.
* City unveils latest healthy eating plan in The Bronx > Fresh produce will be shifted to grocery entrance areas and water will be displayed at eye level in hundreds of coolers as part of the city's latest healthy eating plan to debut in The Bronx. Authorities unveiled the Shop Healthy NYC Initiative during a news conference outside the C-Town supermarket on Crescent Avenue in Fordham last Wednesday. Under the voluntary pilot program, bodega and supermarket operators will be asked to display a range of healthy foods including fresh fruits and vegetables in prime areas like entrances and checkout aisles, to relegate junk food to the back of their store and to post signs identifying nutritious choices.

The Review of the Bronx

Here's a couple stories of interest that you may want to check out. I know we said we weren't going to do roundups, but our blogging has been slow lately, so this is to make up for that.


Check out this Crain's article about the revival of the Bronx and how the borough is slowly overcoming its bad reputation.

And here's an update on the former state senator Efrain Gonzalez Jr. He attempted to withdraw a guilty plea on corruption charges but was denied.

Over a dozen people were arrested at public pools throughout the city over the weekend. Out of the 14 people arrested, two were at the Van Cortlandt Park swimming pool.

The homeless problem in the Bronx has been fairly evident, and Kyle Smith explains in the New York Post that it's because shelters are cash cows for the well connected.

Here's the obligatory gay marriage story, from the Daily News.

And here's the story about the group looking to file a lawsuit to nullify the marriages. They claim the State Senate did not act correctly when they passed the bill earlier this month.

NIMBY: Not In Manhattan, Bloomberg Yearns [UPDATE]

The homeless problem is evident.

"Not in my backyard" is a bit whiny, so I think it would better suit the people of the Bronx to change the acronym's meaning to something that pokes Mayor Manhattan Bloomberg. It's no secret that the Bronx isn't much more of an afterthought for the city administration, and it becomes especially clear when looking at the placement of homeless shelters in the borough. The big story recently has been the Muller Army Reserve Center. Despite hundreds of people from the Bronx-and even some people from Yonkers-coming out in support of a plan for the National Guard to fill the empty space, the Mayor is still trying to stick a homeless shelter in there.

And if that wasn't enough, here's another story from the Daily News about the city trying to put a 200-bed transitional men's homeless shelter across the street from a junior high school:

"We don't like men we don't know," said 10-year-old Michelle Valdez at Arcilla Playground. "I'm a little girl and I don't want them to come and [do something] bad to me."

Local residents and community leaders are meeting today (pretty much right now, actually), to protest the shelter. This is from a Highbridge community website:

Highbridge will join with Morissania. We will Help protect our children from being exposed, to the tragedies of life, at a very early age. From 3pm to 7pm we will join hands around PS 145 on E. 165th Street in Bronx. Both communities are engaged in the exact same struggle with the City and Our right to have a say.

The website notes the struggles that both Highbridge and Morissania have had in getting the city to listen to them. Highbridge has also struggled with an excessive amount of homeless shelters within a few blocks from one another. They've tried reaching out to Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio and City Comptroller John Liu but haven't had much help.

The group has their own idea of what should happen. They include:

1. In Highbridge, relocate the Men from 1260 Sedgwick away from PS 126 and the community-at-large and return the mothers and babies back to that shelter.
2. In Morrisania, remove the Men's transitional shelter away from the front of PS 145 and the community-at-large and use that building as per Community's recommendations.
3. A call to the Public Advocate to investigate what are the roots of these decisions that endanger children and was done in such a sneaky way. Why is the Bronx being saturated with Transitional Shelters?

Jump below for a disturbing picture of the backside of a homeless man on the street with his pants around his ankles. A message to the two girls taking cell phone pictures of the front of him: Why?

UPDATE: Here's a comment from one of the local residents that needs to be read:

Those are not 2 little girls taking pictures. Those are residents and mothers who have been telling the city that they want the men relocated away from the school. WE WOMAN have had to take pictures to document what OUR CHILDREN have to see and then send them to motivate OUR POLITICIANS TO DO SOMETHING. In the original picture, that is the men who have missed curfew and are sleeping on the stairs to PS126's play yard.