As the greenest borough, we take pride whenever we are recognized as such and students at P.S. / M.S. 194 certainly have made us proud. The Bronx school beat out 21 other schools in a 6 month citywide competition to save the most energy. In that time, the school was able to cut energy consumption by a whopping 21% thanks to its stud
ents and the non-profit organization, Solar One which put together a curriculum and taught students about how electrical equipment uses energy even when turned off.
Thanks to this wonderful collaboration, P.S. / M.S. 194 won the $12,000 prize. It may not seem like much but that certainly makes a difference in this cash-strapped economy.
Congratulations kids for doing such a terrific job!
We got some heavy rains yesterday and for a while it was quite dark but once the clouds cleared, Bronxites were treated to a wonderful double rainbow. We love the Bronx now matter what others may say.
Home Street, Bronx NY/Elena Marrero Rainbow Over Mott Haven/Michael Fernandez Kelly Park, Longwood Avenue/Ivette VieraKelly Park, Longwood Avenue / Ivette Viera Haight Avenue, Bronx NY / Danielle Stephens
In a piece published in Litchfield County Times up in Connecticut, “Monet on the Hudson, A Bronx Tale“, attorney and author of the story, Deyan Ranko Brashich, spends more time dissing the Bronx than actually focusing on his review of the beautiful exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden.
The first half of the review is basically Brashich’s myopic view of the Bronx and he spares no details to paint a distorted reality of the Bronx to the point that at times it appears to take rather bigoted undertones.
Like when he refers to Arthur Avenue as, “…Bronx’ Little Italy, now in Sicilian Vespers death throes orchestrated by hard eyed Albanian immigrants, America’s newest version of the Mafia.”
(No shock there since Brashich is from the former Yugoslavia where ethnic Albanians suffered ethnic cleansing with Serbs trying to drive them out of Kosovo). Then there’s a little jab where he’s talking about driving along the Sheridan and all the negative, gritty things you see including, “…up the street, they sell watermelons from the back of trucks as traffic whizzes by.”
The title of the piece is as inaccurate as it gets, Monet on the Hudson? Apparently geography is not his strong point since NYBG is located on the Bronx River not the Hudson. He then gushes on Riverdale and Fieldston with their manicured estates and they seem to be the only places worthy of praise because the rest of the borough is for the most part, “…Baghdad on the Hudson, or “Bagdad-on-the Subway”, as O. Henry calls it. But flowers do bloom in ghettos and the Bronx now boasts Monet’s sublime water lilies.”
Excuse me Mr. Brashich but in O. Henry’s “What You Want“, the short story opens with the line, “Night had fallen on that great and beautiful city known as Bagdad-on-the-Subway.”
Nowhere in the story does it refer to the Bronx nor modern day Baghdad as a matter of fact but of New York City as a whole and a Baghdad of well over a century ago which he describes as an, “occidental city of romance“.
The Bronx is far from perfect. It is not paradise but it is our home and the place where many of us fought to keep our communities alive when our government, landlords and financial institutions abandoned us out of pure greed.
A better tale to tell when describing the Bronx might be how it is now a vibrant borough where the residents did what the nation and the world thought impossible: make it a place where people want to live and call home. Or that Melrose, once mostly burned out buildings and rubble strewn lots became the first and only LEED Certified Neighborhood District in the State of New York.
Perhaps Mr. Brashich should focus more on the exhibit rather than cowardly, sensationalsitic garbage which he thought his neighbors in Litchfield County Connecticut would be interested in reading.
Last Saturday the residents from the Melrose community and beyond gathered at the Bronx Documentary Center for the launch of Nina Burman’s exhibit, “Bronx Gardens“. (Read Nina Burman’s interview on this project)
The exhibition itself is a journey through community gardens of the South Bronx that documents and tells the story of residents committed to turning rubble strewn lots into mini green oases among the concrete urban jungle landscape. Bronx Gardens is just one of many that are a part the Climate Change projects of the NOOR Foundation which “… is an international non-profit organization creating and distributing compelling photojournalistic works with the aim to raise awareness, enhance an understanding of the world and to contribute to the visual history of mankind.”
The event was celebrated with a good old garden party with eats, face painting for kids and even the next door neighbor providing “coquito helado” (Puerto Rican icees). We arrived promptly at 4PM, the starting time and by the time I left at 7:30PM the party was still quite packed and abuzz with locals just having a good time.
In just a year that the BDC has opened its doors and planted roots in Melrose it has grown to be an integral part of our community and identity in the South Bronx. Not only have they catered to an obvious thirst for cultural and artistic wants and needs of the area but they have become a true part of our very fabric by being exemplary neighbors. This is evident in the amount of locals visible at such events as the garden party. As time has progressed, more and more residents have participated in events clearly showing that BDC is an important part of our family. It is also further proof that local residents want, need and deserve to have such institutions like any other neighborhood in our city.
Bronx Gardens which runs from now through August 16th, 2012 and the garden itself will be used by the Bronx Documentary Center as a platform for workshops for all ages and engage residents in food and environmental justice.
To find out more about how you can help, volunteer and even make a donation just feel free to contact them.
Bronx Documentary Center is located at 614 Courtlandt Avenue and 151st Street in the Melrose neighborhood of the South Bronx.
The Bronx has always been a home of immigrants looking to start their journey in our country and today we bring you three stories from around the web.
New York Regional Chief of the Ashanti From Ghana Is Installed
Dave Sanders for the New York Times
Our borough is home to the largest population of the African diaspora and Ghanaians make up the lion’s share of this diverse group which is why last month a chief was installed to serve the Ghanaian community. Nana Acheampong-Tieku was officially raised as chief in a colorful and elaborate ceremony bringing a bit of Africa to the Bronx.
Read all about it and catch some great photos of the event: New York Times
Emerald Isle Immigration CENTER (EIIC) Threatened By Budget Cuts
From the series, New York's Irish 1994-2008..Beer delivery men in Woodlawn, an Irish enclave in the Bronx in 2001.
A little known fact is that the Bronx is home to one of the largest Irish communities in New York City tucked away in the northwestern neighborhoods of Norwood and Woodlawn. The EIIC is currently between a rock and a hard place as it faces cuts in funding while demand for its services have increased. A fundraiser is scheduled tomorrow and another one on Sunday, June 10th to raise necessary funds to keep their programs running. Irish Central has more information on this story as well as details on the fundraisers.
Honduran Soccer League Unable To Use New Soccer Field They Fought For
Photo Credit: DNAinfo/Patrick Wall
Now this bit of news is a tad on the annoying side. Back in the 1990s, the Honduran community of the Bronx (which is more than double the size of any other borough) formed a soccer league to keep the kids off the street and active in the sport of their homeland.
The league eventually grew much larger and within time grew to 25 teams of not just Hondurans but members of the African and Central American communities.
Together they fought and lobbied the Parks Department to get the city to build a soccer field at Crotona Park. Finally, the field has been built but the soccer league which was the reason the field was built in the first place, are not allowed to play there.
Find out why and other details at DNAinfo.
Tonight, Monday, June 4th at 9pm, BronxTalk’s host, Gary Axelbank will be joined by New York City’s Comptroller John Liu to discuss a variety of items and issues close to Bronxites’ hearts and concern – particularly the FreshDirect sweetheart deal which he has essentially called fiscally irresponsible and placed the sole dissenting vote against it. Another sensitive topic on the list to be discussed is the Croton Filtration Plant in Van Cortlandt Park.
The show is LIVE and calls will be taken so make sure to call in early to get your voice heard!
BronxTalk is on live at 9pm on channels 67 (Cablevision) and 33 (FIOS).
For more information on what South Bronx residents are doing to organize against the FreshDirect deal, visit:
Here’s are a few of the stories on the Bronx radar map that we thought would interest you.
First on our morning travels we stumbled upon an interesting piece on a young Bronxite in Hunts Point who has caught the eyes of a photographer and journalist as he “parkours” throughout the neighborhood with his buddies. Parkour is best described as running combined with acrobatics with a twist of ballet as you leap, somersault or bounce your way through obstacles. The non-competitive sport has its roots in 1920s France and Jose The Amazing is a natural at it.
Next on our travels we came across another piece in the Huffington Post on the Bronx, this time on No Longer Empty: This Side of Paradise at the Andrew Freedman Home on the Grand Concourse. The exhibition is still very well alive in the media since its opening night almost 2 months ago. The writer seeks to examine the unlikely connection between pop-up exhibition-making and community building.
Finally we end today’s journey with Crain’s New York report on the Crotona Park East community’s resurgence from its darkest days – a neighborhood once called by president Jimmy Carter as the “worst” neighborhood in the country. In the past 4 years, commercial vacancy rates have dropped a whopping 8% from 24% in 2008 to a current rate of 16%. This is what community building and perseverance looks like.
Throughout the years Orchard Beach has gone through some great renovations like new playgrounds, handball courts and the likes. Now our tastebuds are going to get a major treat: food options are about to get a major face lift.
The owners of Havana Café on East Tremont in Schuylerville haber secured a contract to manage the three stands at Orchard for 8 years. Each stand will be dedicated to specific cuisines that our borough offers and will feature Italian, Cuban and LatinAmerican, and seafood.
An ad announces that anyone over the age of 13 can go to a shooting range for practice - no license required. The glass fortress of the Bronx County Hall of Justice looms in the background where many of our youth end up in a never ending cycle.
As I headed home walking along 161st street I noticed the most disturbing ad plastered on the side of defunct payphone. “SHOOTING RANGE 13 YEARS AND UP: NO LICENSE REQUIRED” it blared.
As if our youth needs any more seduction into the world of guns and the violence that they lead to in our neighborhoods. Bronxites are no strangers to gun violence. We know the statistics very well and although in the recent decades we’ve seen an exponential decrease in gun deaths, we can still do alot more to continue its decline.
Look, I’m not against limiting our constitutional rights, including the right to bear arms, but I am all for keeping our streets clean of illegal firearms. Advertisements such as this one in a community that still has the some of the highest rates of gun violence is an insult to every resident of our borough and even more so to the memory of the victims of gun violence and their families.
What do you think about such ads in our communities?
This not to be missed event tomorrow at Casita Maria will sure be yet another cultural milestone for the Bronx. The works of famed and award winning photographer, Ricky Flores – one of the Seis del Sur, will be on display in his largest exhibit to date with over 150 photographs.
Flores is a born and bred Bronxite who documented the devastation that the Bronx endured during the 80s and a true inspiration which we can be proud of so don’t forget to come out and join the festivities!
Thursday, April 26th
7pm-9pm
Casita Maria
928 Simpson Street
Bronx, NY
Subway: 2 and 5 trains to Simpson St
6 train to Hunts Point
What happens when you put a spoken word artist raised in the Bronx together with one of the largest latino based social media companies around?
You’ll just have to check out the video to find out.
This past weekend, the latino social media giant , Being Latino got together with Advocate of Wordz to film a project to celebrate National Poetry Month. The result is a short, quirky – yet powerful piece that shows one of Wordz’ works, Nuyorican, in a completely different light.
BTW, did we mention that Being Latino is the brainchild of Lance Ríos, a Bronx resident? Who better than a Bronxite to found one of the largest latino social media group since we are the borough with the most latin flavor in NYC!
Last month, the Daily News ran a wonderful Bronx story about residents of a small West Farms walk-up banding together to try and form a co-op.
After years of neglect by the building’s owner who is located in the Hamptons, these brave tenants embarked on a journey which they hope will eventually lead to homeownership. Instead of simply withholding rent, they continued to do so by putting the rent money into an escrow account and then utilized the funds to correct the most severe of neglect such as rehabilitating several kitchens, hiring an exterminator for the gross infestation they were let to live in and even had their boiler repaired.
Read more about these model Bronxites banning together against injustice.
