Take from the poor, give to the rich.

The New York Times just published a scathing article on the New Yankee Stadium Community Benefits Fund which was founded to make peace with a furious community at the taking over of 25 acres of beloved parkland to create the new Yankee Stadium.

But are we surprised on the findings that this community, which not only endured the nightmare construction of the new stadium and the demolition of the old but also the traffic and pedestrian nightmares that come to the area with home games, has been neglected by the charity?

The purpose of the charity is to provide a benefit to that very community which Yankee Stadium disturbs but as The New York Times shows, only 30% of $6.8 million disbursed between 2008 and 2015 have gone to community organizations in the immediate surrounding zip codes that border the stadium.

70% of the monies have gone to places like Riverdale and The New York Botanical Gardens which are no where near the stadium.

$40 million, 600,000 tickets, and sports equipment were allotted to the fund to distribute over the course of 40 years to the borough but the areas that need it the most and are impacted the most by Yankee Stadium are being shafted.

The New York Times reports:

RIVERDALE―The Whitehall Co-op on Henry Hudson Parkway and W 232nd Street unveiled a massive 30,000 square foot green roof designed by the same landscape designers as Manhattan’s High Line, Genie Masucci.

Costing $6.5 million, the improvement includes a sundeck, children’s playground, walking paths, native trees, grass, shrubs, a fire pit, and gazebos and is being touted by co-op as a, “first-of-its-kind” amenity in The Bronx and one of the largest in New York City.

The Whitehall was built in 1970 and at 23 stories houses over 400 apartments and this luxury development was even the home of Ed Sullivan as well as accomplished actress Yvonne De Carlo (aka Lily Munster of ‘The Munsters’).

Check out the video below

Whatever you call it, b-boying, breaking, breakdancing there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind who knows anything about Hip Hop and its origins that this urban dance form was born here in The Bronx influenced by the predominantly Puerto Rican dancers who created this style of dancing which became one of the 5 pillars of Hip Hop.

Are you surprised that The Bronx creates so much and exports it to the world? The Bronx isn’t just a borough or a county or a geographic place, it’s a way of life, a culture, a living breathing art exhibition in perpetual motion in a flurry of dazzling colors representing all the ethnic groups that make up The Bronx past, present, and future.

Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Italians, Irish, Garifuna, German, Black, Jewish, Russian, Albanian, Mexican, Bengali, West African, Jamaicans, you name it we are ALL of it!

Watch Gabe Pressman’s last piece he did on The Bronx below

Bronx born and raised Gabe Pressman, a legend in broadcast journalism who graced our television screens for over 60 years passed away today at the age of 93 literally working until the day he died.

Pressman was considered by many to be New York City’s first local TV reporters and he told the New York Times in 1998, “All I know, I was alone out there…I was the only one holding the mike.”

As far as his Bronx life, according the New York Times:

The man who has become one of the most recognizable memes in the world was born and raised in The Bronx!

When we saw the headline above from The Schmooze, it immediately caught our attention because we already know who ‘The Most Interesting Man in The world’ is (great job marketing department at Dos Equis for drilling that into our subconsciousness).

Jonathan Goldsmith famous for his line in the commercials, “I don’t always drink beer. But when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.” told The Schmooze that he hails from our awesome borough.

According to the article:

Goldsmith, who was replaced by younger actor Augustin Legrand in 2016, is meeting with me to discuss his new memoir “Stay Interesting: I Don’t Always Tell Stories About My Life, but When I Do They’re True and Amazing” (Dutton), published on June 13th. The book is filled with interesting anecdotes from Goldsmith’s life but the actor doesn’t have much in common with the Latino debonaire he plays in the campaign that made him in a star. In fact, Goldsmith isn’t Latino at all. He’s a Jew from the Bronx.

That plan was dashed when he got a call one day from his agent, who said she knew of a role for which he would be perfect. It was this call that would change his life forever.

Goldsmith had nothing to lose. He said yes to the audition, packed a bag, and drove his old pick-up truck out to Los Angeles. Within the year, his very Yiddishe punim had become synonymous with one of the most famous commercial campaigns of the new millennium.

“There was a line of 500 men and they all looked like Juan Valdez, the coffee merchant,” said Goldsmith of the fateful audition. “I said, I’m all wrong for this.”

The producers of the commercial were looking for an actor with an improvisational background, which Goldsmith had. But his confidence wasn’t at an all-time high.

“I didn’t know if I still had it in me, if I could still make them laugh,” he says. “They asked me to tell them a story – any story – but it had to end with ‘and that’s how I arm-wrestled Fidel Castro.’”

Goldsmith concocted a wild tale about meeting Fidel Castro through a romantic tryst with Che Guevara’s sister. The bit was a roiling success.

“I had them laughing more and more,” says Goldsmith. “And in the end, they chose a Jew from The Bronx.”

Read more: http://forward.com/schmooze/375300/the-most-interesting-man-in-the-world-is-a-nice-jewish-boy-from-the-bronx/

Who knew?!

At a recent real estate conference hosted by Crain’s, development and infrastructure experts presented ambitious proposals on how to handle an ever-growing population in New York City which is expected to hit over 9 million by 2040.

One such proposal was put forth by Curtis & Ginsberg Architects to “create” new land by decking over the Metro North tracks running through The Bronx straight to the county line at Westchester.

Curtis & Ginsberg cite Morrisania Air Rights NYCHA development in Melrose as an example showing that it has already been done in our borough not to mention Park Avenue in Manhattan which once was an exposed mess of train tracks.

While the idea of creating more opportunities for types of housing is enticing especially in a borough where there is a housing crisis with many families teetering on homelessness and the most rent burdened borough in NYC, we have to ask ourselves what exactly will be built if this plan were to go through?

Will it be simply market-rate housing or will there be a mix of true affordable housing for all?

We know that there is an affordability crisis and this is something, if done right, can help solve a lot (not all) of our housing issues.

But the plan goes even further than simply just decking over Metro North and putting up housing. Curtis & Ginsberg envisions

Check out the full presentation which looks at the entire city:

Top architects share visions for the Bronx, Rikers Island and Staten Island by crainsnewyork on Scribd

Thoughts?

On Saturday and Sunday July 15 and 16th, The Bronx will host a huge music festival in Hunts Point featuring artists like Westside Gunn & Conway The Machine, Tunji Ige, Mr Carmack, They. Post Malone, and more.

The Greatest Day Ever event will take place at the massive Bronx Expo Center at 1108 Oakpoint Avenue, a massive 90,000 square foot industrial building that was once home to Castle Oil Corporation as New York City’s largest deepwater petroleum products terminal and is now used as an event space.

According to Bronx Expo Center’s website, the venue itself, which is on 10 acres, has over 400,000 square feet of space available for events and it’s located right on the waterfront.

The space has already hosted major concerts for such as Mexican bands Los Tigueres del Norte and Los Temerarios.

As for The Greatest Day Ever, $35 Early Bird tickets for both dates are sold out already along with the $65 ‘Weekend Warrior’ ticket which grants access to both dates. At this moment, all that’s left are tickets ranging from $50 a day to $190 ‘Elevated’ Weekend Warrior tickets for both days.

The entire event will also feature amusement rides as well.

Curious as to who of our readers have tickets and are heading out!

Mott Haven―Housing lottery is now open for new construction “affordable” apartments going up on Exterior Street directly south of 149th Street across the Harlem River Waterfront but after looking at the income requirements, the question yet again is, affordable for whom?

Sure the rents are well below market rate apartments in the general area ranging from $822 for a studio apartment to a jaw-dropping $1,224 for a three bedroom. Most three bedrooms  in Melrose, Mott Haven, and Port Morris in Community Board 1 which covers where this development is located in, range from $1,800 to well over $2,500.

But in a district where over almost 65% of the population is on some form of public assistance and 56.4% of households make under $24,999, this leaves out the majority of people in the area―the most vulnerable and in need of truly affordable housing―unable to qualify for these apartments where the minimum for a single-person household is $30,069.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise though as the development at 530 Exterior Street will feature stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, bike storage, fitness room, I mean who would want to rent that to low-income tenants? (insert sarcasm here).

One would assume that at 60% of the Area Median Income, the apartments would actually be available to lower income families but we all know that the AMI is nothing but a lie since it is NOT the immediate area but using income data from the rest of NYC combined with that of Westchester, Putnam, and Rockland counties thus inflating the true area median income of the neighborhood.

But enough about my rant on why the name affordable is nothing but bull.

If you’re interested in applying for these units, you can do so here.

When a local synagogue in Parkchester could no longer afford to keep its place of worship, Sheikh Musa Drammeh opened up his mosque to the Jewish community so that they could continue to have a home and a place to worship.

We wrote about this 5 years ago when The Atlantic ran a piece on it and we said that, “After reading the rest of the story then it dawned on me that I shouldn’t be surprised that the other gentleman would suggest to look at the Bronx to see how it’s done. We are a borough of immigrants and many faiths, often times living in the same neighborhoods. People who back in their countries were taught to fear the different. Here in the Bronx they are exposed to each other and old prejudices begin to peel away like the layers of an onion.

We are far from perfect, that we know, but it’s stories like this that makes me proud to be from the Bronx. If we can overcome such obstacles, there’s no limit to what we can do when we are united.

Freethink Media has produced a beautiful video piece on this story that shows the beautiful spirit of coexisting and helping our neighbors that defines The Bronx.

Check it out and let us know what you think!

‘The Zoo’, Animal Planet’s most watched show which took the world behind the scenes of our Bronx Zoo, has been renewed for a second season scheduled to air early 2018.

The show was so successful it made the top ten ad supported cable shows for its time slot with over 1 million viewers per episode.

This year’s season not only showed how the zoo cares for its charges but also how it’s a world leader in conservation efforts and reintroducing species back into their environment from the brink of extinction.

According to a press release issued by the Wildlife Conservation Society:

“Our series, with its unvarnished look at the Bronx Zoo, its animals and the people dedicated to their well-being, has helped define what a Saturday night on Animal Planet is today: a network with heart, and inspirational characters who protect and care for animals,” said Patrice Andrews, General Manager of Animal Planet.

“We are excited to shoot another season of The Zoo with Animal Planet,” said Jim Breheny, Director of the Bronx Zoo and EVP of Zoos and Aquarium at the Wildlife Conservation Society. “The show gave viewers an opportunity to see what happens every day at the zoo, presenting an uncontrived and unscripted look at how we go about caring for the animals and linking our work at the zoo to preserving species in the wild. It was great to receive all the positive feedback from viewers and guests on the relationship between the animals and the people who care for them and the important role that the Association of Zoos and Aquariums members play in conserving species in the wild.”

Many of Welcome2TheBronx’s readers were excited for this show and we’re excited to share this news with you that the show will go on!

What was your favorite moment of the first season?

AFC Urgent Care, the nation’s second largest privately owned and operated urgent care, has opened their first location in the South Bronx neighborhood of Melrose on 149th Street between Morris and Courtlandt Avenues.

The new state-of-the-art facility will provide a largely underserved community with additional options for those seeking medical care without the hassle of going to overcrowded emergency rooms especially for non-emergency related issues.

Dr Rajesh Gupta, an ER doctor who previously has worked at Lincoln Hospital just a block away, understands the needs of the community and the issues it faces in terms of health.

From digital x-ray equipment, to an onsite lab, physicians will be able to diagnose and treat right onsite.

According to their website, AFC Urgent Care treats and diagnose, “…a wide range of non-life threatening illnesses and injuries including”:

• Cold and flu
• Back, joint, and muscle pain
• Rashes and other skin irritations
• Pink eye
• Asthma
• Allergies
• Cuts, bruises, and burns
• Breaks and fractures

AFC Urgent Care is open 7 days a week from 8AM-8PM including holidays and is located at 332 E 149th Street.

Their other Bronx location is at 839 Hutchinson River Parkway inside the Throgs Neck Shopping Center with a third location coming soon in Kingsbridge/Riverdale at 5546 Broadway.

To learn more about AFC Urgent Care, head over to their website.

The Bronx’s Arthur Avenue might just be the birthplace of Italian-American cuisine. / Caption and Image via USA TODAY

We love, love, LOVE Arthur Avenue as you can probably tell.

USA Today posted an article on ’10 Delicious Stops to Make on The Bronx’s Arthur Avenue’ listing some of our favorite and usual suspects of spots like The Bronx Beer Hall, Borgati’s, and Madonia Bakery.

What’s truly fascinating besides the rich culture and history of The Bronx’s Little Italy (and let’s face it, NYC’s REAL Little Italy cuz Mulberry Street ain’t got nothin’ on us, nothin! You got that?!) is the longevity of all these businesses.

Many of these mom and pop shops have been in business for over a century and others not too far behind.

They’ve withstood the test of time to some degree and even if they’re no longer owned by the original founding families, new owners seldom tinker much with these institutions even using recipes and equipment from the previous families to churn out the amazing baked goods.

This is something you don’t see much of throughout our city and we’re happy and proud that you get to see this right here in our borough of The Bronx.

So what’s your favorite place along Arthur Avenue? What’s the one thing you crave the most? We want to know so sound off in the comments below or on our Facebook page!

In the meantime, check out USA Today’s List: 10 delicious stops to make on the Bronx’s Arthur Avenue: Eat & Drink Article by 10Best.com