Social Justice

NYC Council Has a Big Opportunity to Do the Right Thing

When all testimonies are done, whether in favor or against changes to zoning via mandatory Inclusionary housing (MIH) or zoning for quality and affordability (ZQA), New York City’s Council members have an opportunity to side with their constituents in voting down Mayor de Blasio’s ill-conceived plan that is central to his preserving 120,000 affordable units and creating 80,000 new units of “affordable” housing.

The more controversial of the two, MIH, sounds great on paper. It mandates that affordable housing would be mandatory not voluntary and it would be permanent in districts that would be zoned for MIH. Trick is that it isn’t truly affordable.

Bronx Artist is One of 2 Selected for New 40th Precinct Public Art Which Will Be First of Its Kind in NYC

Two weeks ago we reported on the artist selection process for the permanent public art for the new 40th Precinct which was held at The Bronx Documentary Center.

During last week’s presentation, we got a look into what the new 40th Precinct would look like slated for construction at its new location on 149th Street and St Ann’s in Melrose.

The design itself is that of stacked blocks centered around a common atrium, with each block serving a specific purpose. Each rooftop will be green with plantings but what will make this building unique is the dedicated public community room.

3rd Annual Gentrification Conference This Sunday, Jan 10th

This Sunday from 2PM to 5PM, the 3rd Annual Bronx Gentrification Conference will be held, this time, at New Settlement Community Center at 1501 Jerome Avenue.

Since The Bronx Documentary began this series in December of 2012, speculation and gentrification have crept into our borough at a rapid rate despite our Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr denying that gentrification is happening.

2015 became the year that The Bronx was put up for sale and is being sold to the highest bidders not to mention the Piano District party and fiasco which has angered a borough.

Bronx Residents Seek Expanded Waterfront Access Along The Hudson River

Although The Bronx is on the mainland, as a peninsula, we are surrounded by water yet access to our waterfront is limited especially in the West Bronx.

Now a group is pushing for greater access to the Hudson River in Riverdale by expanding a small 600 foot park by 2 miles all the way north to the Westchester County border at the City of Yonkers.

Undocumented Bronx Transgender Woman Wins Fight Against Deportation To Avoid Torture

These past few years, the transgender community (the oft-overlooked T in LGBTQ) has been getting more and more attention in the spotlight as individuals like Laverne Cox of Orange Is The New Black fame and formerly Bruce Jenner of Olympic medal-winning fame turned Kardashian superstar who transitioned into Caitlyn Jenner earlier this year.
But that is the “glamorous” side of this community.

Kim Watson, a Bronx woman and “unrelenting advocate of the LGBT community in The Bronx,” can stay right here in her home with her family in our borough after being threatened with deportation back to her native Barbados where she feared going back.

A Look Inside the Changing Bronx General Post Office, Green Taxis, & 4 Apartment Buildings Get Major Makeover|Bronx AM Links

The top story this morning continues to be how community boards across New York City are striking down de Blasio’s zoning changes. Meanwhile, a look into the world of green taxis, Comptroller Scott Stringer thinks it’s fine time to shut down Rikers, 4 buildings get a new lease on life, and a peek inside the Bronx General Post Office and plans for the landmark.

New York Times Poll Suggests 36% of Bronx Residents Struggling To Get By

The New York Times has released an article on a recent poll they conducted which indicates that roughly half of New York City residents are barely able to make ends meet. In The Bronx, that number is at 36%. The Bronx also leads New York City with the percentage of residents (25% of respondents) who do not feel confident that local government elected officials are not addressing the multitude of problems facing our borough.

NLE Labs Presents: ‘Intersecting Imaginaries’ At The Old Concourse Plaza Hotel

No Longer Empty Curatorial Lab (NLE Lab) is pleased to present Intersecting Imaginaries at 900 Grand Concourse, a site-responsive exhibition curated by Natasha Bunzl, Dalaeja Foreman, Paola Gallio, Mary Kay Judy, Eva Mayhabal Davis, Lindsey O’Connor, Walter Puryear, and Emilia Shaffer-Del Valle. Including sculpture, photography, installation, video, works on paper and commissioned works by Bronx-based and tri-state area artists, Intersecting Imaginaries considers mapping as a method for understanding place, time, and identity.

The title of the exhibition is borrowed from the philosophical concept of the social imaginary, which considers community to be composed of human interaction and perceived connection. Intersecting Imaginaries melds this abstract understanding with an acknowledgement of external circumstance, presenting a constellation of works that speak to memory and lived experience as composite parts of a map, and as the binding fibers of community.

Facing the Bronx Supreme Courthouse, and mere blocks from Yankee Stadium, the storefront sits in a highly frequented intersection of the South Bronx. These landmarks, each controversial in their own right, arouse singular stories within a diverse borough that inform the cultural and sociopolitical discussion at the heart of the exhibition. The site has served many functions: it was once a ballroom as part of the Concourse Plaza Hotel, a diner, a thrift store, and now stands empty, sharing walls with housing provided by the Mid-Bronx Senior Citizen Council. Remnants of its former lives are evident in the raw space, serving as inspiration and context for works that navigate body politics, racial identity, communities in flux, and the natural environment as both separate and intersecting realities.

Bronx Urban Farmer, Karen Young-Washington, Wins $10k In National Contest

Karen Young-Washington, an urban farmer from The Bronx has just won $10,000 in a national voting contest held by NationSwell to help further the work her organization, Rise and Root Farm.

An AllStar Award Nominee favorite, Karen has been one of the local pioneers and leaders in urban farming in our communities serving as a role model which everyone in our borough can look up to.

Score! Final Link of 23 Mile Bronx River Greenway to Receive $10 Million for Completion

Thanks to US Senators from New York, Schumer and Gillibrand, Congressman Serrano, The Bronx River Greenway will receive $10 million from the US Department of Transportation to complete the missing links in our borough and create a contiguous connection from Hunts Point straight through the Kensico Reservoir in Westchester County along the river’s 23 mile course.