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. 

Another person was shot and killed in the 40th Precinct on 153rd and Courtlandt Avenue and our Precinct has now exceeded the murder count from last year. 

We cannot just sit back and watch people continuously being murdered. 

Tell a friend! Bring a friend! 

The Bronx Documentary Center is located at 614 Courtlandt Avenue at 151st Street. 

Update July 20, 2016 10:22AM: An earlier version reported that speeds would be slower in The Bronx and outer boroughs, however, a spokesperson reached out letting us know that all will have same, fast speeds. 

Back in 2014, it was announced that old New York City  payphones would be removed and in their place a super fast WiFi and charging kiosk would be installed at 7,500 former public phones. 

The system has been slowly rolling out throughout Manhattan and now LinkNYC has arrived in The Bronx—and surprisingly enough—before Brooklyn (and Queens and Staten Island too!) 

I spotted them a couple of weeks along the Concourse in the Fordham Road area but the one that was active was on 149th Street across from Hostos Community College at Walton Avenue (As of this moment, only the West Bronx has them).

The first thing I did when connecting to the free system was to test the speed since the Daily News reported that most of the kiosks in The Bronx would have the slower speeds thanks in part to the tale of two cities we’re still living in. 

According to LinkNYC spokesperson, however, all LinkNYC systems will provide super fast WiFi access, not just Manhattan’s links so we’re happy that this digital divide is no longer the case. 

The LinkNYC kiosk at 149th Street and Walton is definitely one of the faster ones with download speeds reaching 106 megabytes per second and upload speeds reaching 156 megabytes per second. To put it into perspective, that’s 4 times faster download speed with Optimum Internet and 35 times faster uploading speeds. 

Using them as wireless WiFi hot-spots aren’t the only thing LinkNYC is good for. You can plug in your phone to charge in one of several USB “fast charging” ports where the company claims you can get 10% battery in just 1 minute (no, we didn’t get a chance to verify that). 

If you’re out if juice and need to make a phone call you can simply plug in your headphones and voila, you can make free phone calls. 

The kiosks also serve as an information booth where you can use it to look up city services and even push the red button to call 911 in case of an emergency. 

In a perfect world, there would be enough kiosks to blanket the city and provide this free and needed service which pays for itself by advertising on the 55″ digital displays on either side of the LinkNYC system but alas the range isn’t all that far. 

You can connect within 150 foot range although claims are made that 400 foot range is possible, our connection didn’t go beyond 100 feet before severely degrading and ultimately dropping. 

Let us know if you’ve used it yet and what you think! 

For 112 years, the New York City subway system had changed with the times but now it’s about to take a giant forward leap. 

The subway cars of the future have been unveiled complete with WiFi and charging ports for your energy hungry devices along with new station design elements. 

1,025 new subway cars are coming and of those, 750 are expected to be open ended—from front to back it will be just one long open train. 

Doors will also be wider to increase the flow of passengers on and off much faster (in theory, in practice we won’t hold out breath). 

Besides WiFi and charging ports, security cameras (smile!) and digital ad displays are also coming (can you imagine Dr Zizmor ads if he were still in business?) 

But that’s not all. For decades, subway entrances have fairly been unscathed by progress’s touch but even that will get a major face-lift along with virtually every inch of the 31 stations slated to close for these upgrades and renovations (7 are in The Bronx so get ready). 

The MTA has a timeline of having these upgrades completed by 2020 (again, we’re not going to hold our breath) and gone will be the green and red globes we’ve come to know for most of not all of our lifetimes. 

The entrances will be sleek with canopies and provide real-time updates on service so you don’t have to go all the way down (or up) only to find out that yet again, trains are not running due to some excuse like say, rain. 

Lighting elements will be upgrades to provide for safer and brighter stations and two things I’m happy about is that artwork will be a component of these renovations and even more importantly, the architectural legacy of stations will be considered and sensitivity to historical elements will guide the renovations of stations. 

Oh, did we mention that Metrocards will also be phased out? At least the subway token lasted for 50 years before being discontinued. 

So what do you think about these planned  upgrades? Let us know! 

Since its sale almost two years ago to developer YoungWoo and Associates, the Bronx General Post Office has been gearing up for a major overhaul as a new destination for shopping, office space, and dining. 

Now, after the 13 Ben Shahn murals have carefully been restored to their original grandeur, the post office which once occupied the entire grand landmarked building has moved into their new space at the northern wing of the building. 

With the post office in place and out of the way, construction appears to be picking up throughout the building. 

Gone are the old mailboxes and the lobby serving as the post office. You can see straight through from one end of the building to the other as the walls where the post office service windows used to be are being opened up to the cavernous space beyond. 

It’s a little bittersweet moment to know that the grandeur of the landmarked interior lobby will be blocked off during construction but it’s our sincerest hope that once complete, it will serve our borough well as a destination not just for The Bronx but even more specifically those who live in the area. 

In previous conversations, YoungWoo is committed to making sure the place is diverse and reflective of the community and borough not to mention that they are also committing to making it a place for local small business. 

Bronx Post Place, as the project is being called, is scheduled to open sometime in 2017. Take a look at the renderings for the space and let us know what you think. 

A new Fine Fare supermarket opened today in Melrose at the recently opened Triangle Plaza at 149th Street and Brook Avenue.

Once Melrose was a food desert but the South Bronx neighborhood has been flooded with so many supermarkets that you can’t walk 3 or 4 blocks (sometimes less) without running into one.

The new 14,000 square foot Fine Fare has a huge variety of products not to mention an onsite bakery, deli, and butcher shop.

Upon entering the store, the first thing you notice is the huge space dedicated to fresh produce filled with colorful fruits and veggies alongside the typical staples you’d expect in a neighborhood of Latin American, African, and African American descent.

Some notable items we saw was a nice Asian food section, naan Indian bread, challah bread, and lentil chips.

Prices seem to be pretty much in line with others in the area but more supermarkets in the area can only be a good thing because one thing we can never have too much of is access to food.

This is Frank Pimental’s second Fine Fare in Melrose and Mr Pimental said earlier today as we checked the space out, “I’m happy to serve the community, I’m here for the neighborhood and its residents as a small business owner. I’m not a bit chain.”

And Pimental is a man of his word. A few years ago, we had conversations about the new location and we mentioned something we’d like to see and that’s bulk items for purchase such as rice, beans, grains and today we were pleasantly surprised at seeing a small little section dedicated to mostly organic bulk buying.

This is a great way to purchase items as you get to buy as little or as much as you want. From organic lentils (green, red, and french) to oats, shredded coconut, and even hemp seeds. In total, there are currently 28 items available for bulk purchasing. Perfect for those who don’t want to purchase a giant bag of rice or beans or if you want to try something new.

Throughout the store, you’ll see a great variety of items in a clean and bright open space. For those driving, there is even free parking on the rooftop for customers.

We need more mom and pop markets and supermarkets so don’t forget to support locally owned small businesses.

Let us know what you think!

Update 7/13/2016 4:52PM—almost 1,400 have signed on to this platform!

Almost a dozen physicians, some who have worked in The Bronx,  have penned an open letter to their patients on racism and their commitment to them following the aftermath of last week’s killing of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and Delrawn Small.

Jonathan Giftos, MD, who is one of the lead authors of the letter wrote, “Moved by the tragic shootings this past week, and informed by years of clinical practice, a group of us came together and drafted the following response from the physician community (which has for too long been silent on the issue of systemic racism) in the form of a letter of commitment to our patients. In just one day the letter has been signed by over 750 people including department chairs, deans of medical education, surgeons, OBGYNs, primary care docs and psychiatrists. Please read our letter and share widely. Thank you. “

A Letter to Our Patients on Racism

We are doctors and medical students who witnessed the events of the week of July 4th, 2016 with horror and grief. The murders of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Philando Castile in St. Paul, Minnesota and Delrawn Small in Brooklyn, New York reiterated a lesson that we should not have to keep learning: that black and brown people in the United States are at risk of police violence unlike any other group of people. There is a long tradition of physician-activists who have devoted their careers to working for racial justice. Yet historically, physicians as a group have not yet taken adequate responsibility for confronting racism, in our work or outside of it. We write to you now, late in making these promises, to make explicit the following five commitments:

1. We commit to support Black Lives Matter.

We write to express our solidarity with activists around the country who are working to protect and promote the dignity, well-being and equality of black people. We stand with Black Lives Matter in protests and affirm BLM’s commitments to restorative justice and respect for life. We hear in the clarion call for empathy and loving engagement the values that inspire us to care for patients. Following the lead of medical students who have organized themselves to form White Coats 4 Black Lives, we stand with friends and colleagues who organize to fight racial injustice.

2. We commit to dismantling the structural racism embedded in the healthcare system.

We aim to do so through learning, collaboration, activism, advocacy and leadership. We know from well-established research and fromexperiences in clinical practice that our healthcare system treats people of color differently from how it treatswhite people. Black and brown patients have less access to healthcare, endure more discrimination in healthcare settingsand suffer worse health outcomesthan white patients. This begins with our medical system’s failure to recruit and retain a diverse and representative physician workforce, continues with a white-centered curriculum and culture in our medical schools, is made manifest in unequal treatment of patients on the wards and in the clinics, and is perpetuated by research that hasexploited, pathologized and excludedblack and brown people. We commit to recognize our own conscious andunconscious biases, to be honest about the systems and teams in which we work, and to call out what we see. We promise to recognize our potential to lead and to work for change.

3. We commit to learn how to provide trauma-informed care, and to teach this approach to our students, trainees, and fellow providers.

Traumatic experiences linked to community violence, segregation, concentrated poverty and discrimination negatively impact our patients’ health. We commit to partnering with our patients to address the pervasive stress associated with surviving in an unjust world, to recognize signs of trauma in our patients, to respond to trauma in our treatment plans and toavoid retraumatizing those we seek to serve. We will recognize and learn from the strength and resilience of the communities we care for. We will learn to support individual paths to healing. We will strive to practice with transparency in order to promote trust. We will seek to empower rather than patronize and diminish. We commit to practice with deep respect and love.

4. We commit to healing communities ravaged by discriminatory criminal justice practices through engaging public health systems.

We will confront discriminatory practices in the criminal justice system by measuring the questions that matter. These might include but are not limited to: monitoring trendsin police violence; assessing theimpact of mass incarceration on communities of color; and supporting evidence-based public health approaches to community violence. We will explore how local public health systems can convene diverse stakeholders in education, healthcare, law enforcement and faith-based organizations to facilitatetruth and reconciliation forums in communities devastated by structural violence. We commit to models of community-based participatory research in which our patients serve as partners in our inquiries. We will support evidence-based policies that leverage the lessons from this research and we will lobby legislators to prioritize programs that promote racial justice.

5. We commit to using our power as constituents and leaders to insist that every major medical society and association develop a policy on racial justice.

A policy on racial justice is a starting point; we will also hold these organizations accountable to their statements and leverage their influence to elect political leadership that represents our concerns. We will use the powerful organizations that are meant to represent us as physicians to demand change locally and nationally.

Much of what we promise to do in this letter is informed by the work of our activist colleagues and forebears, and some will require we make a new road by walking. We feel an urgency to set these intentions as a step along the path to change, recognizing there are many more steps for us all to take. We see the killing of black and brown people by police as just the edge of the knife; it is the sharpest, most acute consequence of a systemic racism that devalues black and brown lives. We cannot allow it to persist. With humility we make these commitments today to you, our patients, and to the possibility for a more just world.

In solidarity,

Cosignatories (click here to add your signature)