The people you see here are not disabled.
Yet they were having a very difficult time walking up what is essentially two flights of stairs this morning. There’s no elevator at this 238th St. station. The 231st Street station, which does have one, is 7 blocks away. The 238th St. station needs an elevator. What can people with any kind of walking difficulty do if they need to get downtown in a timely manner? If you have other thoughts/ideas, please share.
Remember back in 2010/11 when the Bronx Hall of Justice courthouse construction went $100 million over budget accompanied by delays and scandalous conditions resulting in mice infestation, roof leaks and sewage pipes letting go of excrement? Well, at least that got some citywide coverage.
I went to Staten Island today to get my ID NYC at an office over there (OK, way over there from the Bronx, but less of a wait list than to get it in the Bronx or Manhattan), and saw the new courthouse there still under construction. I was going to just post the following photo of the lovely building on Instagram. I like the way it looks architecturally much more than the Bronx Hall of Justice.
This Staten Island Courthouse is way behind schedule. Has there been any citywide coverage? Photo by Jordan Moss
But I just looked up this courthouse construction on-line and can’t find any citywide coverage about how delayed and costly it has been. Only the State Island Advance has written about it and that was a whole year ago, when it said the construction was “bedeviled by delays for more than a decade.” Wow! We have four citywide newspapers, and apparently none find this important enough to cover, much less explore any possible problems in other parts of the state. Maybe it’s just that citywide media doesn’t get over there much, or at all, to notice. (How could they not notice when covering the Eric Garner travesty a few blocks away.) Is the same true of the TV networks? And are Staten Island elected officials saying/doing anything about this?
Let me know if I’m missing something here, folks.
-Jordan Moss
My dad, Jay Moss, is a 91-year-old World War II vet. A sculptor, in relatively good shape, he’s still at it in his Riverdale apartment.
An opening of his first exhibit in about 13 years — Sculpture and Social Consciousness — will be at Manhattan College in Riverdale, this Wednesday evening (10/22) from 4 to 7 p.m. (It’s in the Alumni Room of the O’Malley Library, 1st floor, Room 100. Guards at the college entrance can send you in the right direction to park, walk, etc. Address is 4513 Manhattan College Parkway. Here’s a map.)
My dad’s work is not all, or directly, focused on war, but most of the art you’ll see is simply not what it would be if he missed the war age-wise or otherwise.
I love his work more than ever.
Here’s just a few of the 40-plus sculptures in the big show:
Jay Moss, my dad, has commented that ideally he’d like this Oscar for Torturers to be given to Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. (Photo by Adi Talwar)
‘Prisoner’ and ‘Demented Clown’ before shipping to Manhattan College last Thursday. (Photo by Jordan Moss)
‘Tenement Family’ (Photo by Adi Talwar)
By Jordan Moss
Crossing Guards control traffic around the city in key places where kids are headed to, and from, school. Stop signs and traffic lights are at many corners, but there is nothing like either at a very wide section of Fort Independence Street where Giles Place leads to Kingsbridge Terrace.
Heading to Kingsbridge Heights Community Center, Yalitza Perez and her 2-year-old daughter (upper left) begin their cross of Fort Independence Street where there are no crossing guards, crosswalks, stop signs, or traffic lights. (Photo: Jordan Moss)
About a block west of this intersection is a three-way intersection — where Fort Independence Street, curves north as it meets up with Heath Avenue. DOT did make this intersection clearer last year. But there are no places for walkers to cross at this intersection either.
There are also no crosswalks at this complicated intersection of two wide, curvy streets: Fort Independence Street and Heath Avenue. (Photo: Jordan Moss)
Each of the three parents I spoke to yesterday morning, even as they rushed to drop their children off at school on Kingsbridge Terrace, strongly said that something needs to be done.
With her 10-year-old daughter, Anna Prince crossed from the corner of Giles Place and Fort Independence after looking both ways several times.
“It’s very hard,” she said. “I always think about there being a light or a crossing person.”
Soon after Prince, Yalitza Perez crossed, headed to the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center to drop off her 2-year-old daughter.
“It is so dangerous to cross there,” Perez told Bronx Matters, adding how critical “a crosswalk, a light, or anything,” is to make it a safe crossing.
Headed to PS 360, a couple of blocks past the community center, Patricia Rodriguez crossed the same intersection with her three fourth-grade children (two are twins). She feels the same way as Perez and Prince, and added, “There are some parents that let kids walk for themselves so it’s not safe at all.”
The city’s Department of Transportation did not respond to questions about the Kingsbridge Terrace-Giles intersection, but did about the lack of a crossing area where Fort Independence Street connects with Heath Avenue.
“DOT has not received a formal complaint regarding the Fort Independence Street and Heath Avenue three-way intersection. We resurfaced and reinstalled roadway markings during the Summer of 2013 at the location,” a DOT spokesman said. “The intersection is not stop-controlled. DOT will continue monitoring the location for safety improvements and work with the local community board with the concerns it may have.”
Ed. note: If you have any concerns or suggestions about the intersections on Fort Independence Street, please comment on this post. Thanks!
Ron Terner, owner of Focal Point Gallery on City Island for the last 40 years, had an anniversary party starring his own new work a few weeks ago. I couldn’t make it to the opening but the next day my wife and I enjoyed looking at his work (see below), and chatting with Ron about that and more.
I’ve enjoyed Terner’s work since I first saw his photography — probably almost 20 years ago — and I learned a lot when I took his black-and-white printing class. When my wife and I got engaged 20 years ago, we bought a beautiful framed black-and-white photo of his in place of the traditional engagement ring. It’s still up on our living room wall.
Klein continues to explore various forms of art linked to his photography. Below are “photo collages transferred onto homemade canvas,” Terner says.
Go see this exhibit — as soon as you can. It ends 10/2. There is another “Artist Choice” show, from 10/3 to 10/31. (If you can submit your piece by 10/1 you can be in the exhibit.) For more details, check out this link.
Also, Ron was one of 40 phenomenal Bronx photographers who took part in the first-ever Bronx Artist Documentary Project, which is still showing at the Andrew Freedman home. (My dad, Jay Moss, a sculptor, was one of the Bronx artists photographed for this exhibit.)
All three of these artworks are by Ron Terner.
The Working Families Party endorsed Oliver Koppell yesterday in his bid to unseat State Senator Jeffrey Klein in the Bronx’s District 34. Even though this election is significant statewide, there was virtually no coverage of WFP’s support of the political veteran — who recently left the Council after 12 years due to term limits (he also had been a 20-year Assemblyman, and a brief state attorney general).
Klein is co-founder of the Independent Democratic Conference, which often partners with Republicans on critical issues. Usually, the state Senate leader, the Assembly speaker and the governor control state political power, but Klein was added to the leadership when IDC partnered with the Republican side of the Senate. Essentially, Klein and Republican Dean Skelos are Senate c0-leaders.
Local races like this are rarely relevant for the entire Empire State, but if Koppell defeats Klein (still a tough uphill pursuit), that may help WFP disable IDC depending how each party fares in other key races. The primary is in September.
Aside from a brief mention of the endorsement (WFP’s support of Cuomo, following a party battle, dominated coverage) in Capital New York, there doesn’t appear to be another news source that covered it today.
Norwood News reports on the State Senate primary in District 34: “Senator Jeff Klein emerged victorious in securing an endorsement from the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club, after a lengthy evening of accusations of betrayal, debates, rebuttals and questions over whether their decision could cause a divide.” The vote, in Riverdale last night, was 96 to 38.
The long-time Epiphany Lutheran Church on East 206th Street in Norwood is going to be an Ethiopian Church, now that the latter bought the gorgeous but repair-needing building for $1.3 million, which they acquired from decades of saving. (Daily News)
A union is saying that it was a “faulty 911 processing system [that] caused dispatch error during Spuyten-Duyvil Derailment.” (News 12)
A few fun Bronx art stuff this weekend:
Current art exhibits at the FREE shows at Bronx Museum of Arts.
At Wave Hill in Riverdale, take part in a family art class making wash-away patios out of clay on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (I’m not precisely sure what wash-away patios are but it sounds cool, and my family has gone a bunch of enjoyable times.)
Next Wednesday, check out the second edition of the Bronx memoir project at the Bronx Documentary Center in Melrose.
(I want to post a longer Bronx Art Scene feature once a week, focusing on art events, classes, etc., especially if they are free or low-cost. To do that, I need groups to submit a maximum of two events/happenings — by Wed. at noon — each of which shouldn’t be more than two sentences and should include links to your websites for more information. I don’t have the time right now to go through press releases, etc., so sending that to me won’t be helpful. Let’s try it out next week. My email is bronxmatters-at-gmail.com. Thanks! -Jordan)
Former Council member Oliver Koppell, a veteran Riverdale-based politician who occupied several other key political positions, may have an uphill climb to defeat incumbent Jeffrey Klein, a Democrat who has formed a separate committee to partner closely with Republicans. Some key former Koppell allies are backing Klein, but
Koppell is gathering support and enthusiastically taking it on. City Limits files a detailed report.
Former assemblyman Eric A. Stevenson is headed behind bars for three years for taking bribes from a company wanting legislation to temporarily ban additional adult day care centers. In February, I reported in City Limits that Governor Cuomo was publicly struggling with a decision of whether to have the election to refill District 79 soon or wait until the regular primary on Sept. 9. The latter date won out and there won’t be an assemblyman in that district for another six months following the general election. The same is true for District 77, an office former-assemblywoman Vanessa Gibson left when she became a member of the City Council.
The city celebrated its Shop Healthy Program in the Bronx. Through advertising, the project highlights healthier foods which the Department of Health says works by drawing more customers to food that’s better for them.
Congressman Charles Rangel, who now represents part of the northwest Bronx, leads challenger Adriano Espaillat, now a state senator, 41 to 32 percent in a poll conducted by the New York Times, NY1, and Siena College. (Data chart included.)
And according to the Daily News, Rangel and another candidate in his district have a lotta dough. And Espaillat? Not so much.
The ninth murder this year in the northeast Bronx’s 47th Precinct took place on East 229th Street yesterday. That’s eight more murders than there were last year at this time. The New York Times covered this problem May 18 as well.
(To find out more about crime in your precinct or neighborhood, click here and here for city data from NYPD and DoITT. Tell Bronx Matters if you think this data is helpful or how it can be more helpful.)
Speaking of food, a historic pizza joint, Patsy’s Pizzeria, is opening a Morris Park location next month, the Daily News reports. According to the story, the 81-year-old Patsy’s is considered to be the first pizzeria that sold pizza by the slice.
The Ghetto Film School, based in Mott Haven, is partnering with 20th Century Fox to open a partner school in Los Angeles, the Daily News reports.
If you’d like to get e-mail updates on Bronx Matters blog posts, see bottom of page at left. Thanks! -Jordan
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