Tag Archives: Fresh Direct

Morning Matters — 4/10/12

10 Apr

The New York World reports: “The state Office of Court Administration will reverse the controversial 2004 merger of the Bronx Criminal and Supreme courts, which attorneys have blamed for lengthy delays that infringe on the rights of criminal defendants.” Read more.

Vince Morgan, a former staffer for Congressman Charlie Rangel who challenged his former boss in the 2010 Democratic primary and planned to do so again, has ended his bid  and endorsed Adriano Espaillat.

Community Board 1 residents voted unanimously late last month to condemn the process that led to the approval of the deal that paved the way for Fresh Direct to create its new factory in the Harlem River Yards. The board’s district manager, Cedric Loftin, disagrees.

“Mama’s Boys of the Bronx,” the new TLC reality show that follows a bunch of 35-year-old Italian men who still live at home with their mamas and apparently aren’t shy about reporting and discussion their sexual exploits under the same roof, premiered last night. (Video)

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly was a critic of stop-and-frisk when Giuliani was mayor, Michael Powell reports.

Woodlawn Cemetery now has a tour of gravesites foodies will love.

A sculpture installed in West Farms, called “For Closure” is “meant to represent the fragility of the housing market.” (Video)

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Fresh Direct Opponents and Armory Activists Hit the Streets Tonight

21 Mar

Activists in the south and northwest Bronx are taking to the streets this evening to make their voice heard on two development projects — the Kingsbridge Armory and Fresh Direct respectively.

As Bronx Matters reported yesterday, the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition will be rallying in front of the Kingsbridge Armory tonight at 6 p.m. to call for living wage jobs at the massive landmark, schools in the National Guard building behind the armory, and the creation of space for small businesses and community use

Development proposals are due this week for the Kingsbridge Armory (Photo: J. Moss)

The event takes place at the corner of Reservoir Avenue and Kingsbridge Road. Daniel Beekman at the Daily News reports that a development tea called the Kingsbridge National Ice Center seems to be favored by local politicians like Councilman Fernando Cabrera.  More on the rally here.

Activist Harry Bubbins protests the Fresh Direct deal outside the State of the Borough Address in February. (Photo: J. Moss)

South Bronx activists and supporters from other parts of the borough are headed to the upper west side of Manhattan to launch a boycott of Fresh Direct, which is set to build a facility in the Harlem River Yards with an estimated $130 million in taxpayer subsidies. Opponents object that public money is being used to support an effort that they say will deliver more truck traffic to an asthma-prone community and block efforts to build the Harlem River Greenway. More info from the press release after the jump.

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Morning Matters — 3/20/12

20 Mar

Good morning, everyone.

Here’s some video documenting this year’s annual painting of the giant shamrock on the 231st Street near Broadway for St. Patrick’s Day.

Tenants and advocates will really outside Bronx Housing Court today in support of a bill, sponsored by Council Member Fernando Cabrera, that will require landlords to post a tenants’ bill of rights in their buildings. The legislation has been stalled for a year.

All that redistricting politics was like a big dose of castor oil for most New Yorkers, but now it’s a hard reality, at least in terms of the Congressional lines. Want to see what district you have landed in? Just plug in your home address here.

Congressman Jose E. Serrano tweeted this morning that it was 20 years ago today that he won a special election for his Congressional seat.

Speaking of anniversaries,  not Bronx related (though I heard he once appeared in a folk festival at Hunter College, now Lehman, in the 60s): Bob Dylan celebrates 50 years since he first recorded with Columbia Records.

The opposition to Fresh Direct is ramping up with the group South Bronx Unite launching a boycott against the grocer which is planning on building a factory in the Harlem River Yards. For more on the fledgling South Bronx Unite and a recent gathering in Melrose with veteran foes of the Atlantic Yards development, check out this Bronx Matters exclusive story.

For Bronxophiles this is kind of a must-read. Artists have converged on the stately but empty rooms of the Andrew Freedman home on the Grand Concourse to create installations related to the building and what was left in the areas that the Mid-Bronx Senior Citizens Council does not occupy. The creations won’t be permanent tenants but organizers hope to draw attention to the property and the possibilities of it being a business incubator. There are already plans, the Times reports, to fills some of the empty space with a bed-and-breakfast.

The Center for Public Integrity gave New York a grade of D for its predilection for corruption. Believe it or not, New Jersey got the best grade.

Speaking of corruption, alleged we should say, Pedro Espada’s defense attorney infuriated the judge yesterday.

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Brooklynites Share Development Fight Lessons with Boogie Down Brethren

12 Mar

A panel discussed the "Battle for Brooklyn" after its showing at the Bronx Documentary Center. From left, Atlantic Yards opponent Daniel Goldstein, filmmaker Michael Ganlinsky, Council Member Letitia James, Good Jobs NY director Bettina Damiani and Bronx activist Mychal Johnson. (Photo: J. Moss)

By Jordan Moss

They came to watch the “Battle for Brooklyn.”

They left armed with some advice for their fledgling fight in the Bronx.

The documentary film, shown at the Bronx Documentary Center in Melrose last Thursday evening, chronicles the seven-year civic trench war against the Atlantic Yards development project in downtown Brooklyn. About 30 south Bronx residents and activists, all adamantly opposed to Fresh Direct building a factory in the south Bronx’s Harlem River Yards, came to see it and learn some lessons about what they’re up against.

The Brooklyn project, led by mega-developer Bruce Ratner, is bigger and more expensive and ultimately handed defeat to project’s opponents.

But the story still resonated in the Boogie Down.

Continue reading →

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Morning Matters — 3/5/12

5 Mar

Good morning, all. Here are some Bronx issues that matter ….

Citing the police shooting of Ramarley Graham in Wakefield, Assemblyman Eric Stevenson wants NYC police officers to undergo periodic psychological examinations.

A colleague of the cop that shot Graham tells the Daily News’ Kevin Deutsch that that officer feels “terrible” about the incident.

Worth a read: A lengthy, link-laden takedown of the controversial Fresh Direct deal on Alternet.

Fordham U. students will be rallying today, responding to the racial and homophobic slurs that have been scrawled on campus property in recent weeks.

Judge Roanne Mann will hear arguments today in the redistricting battle which is fielding multiple NYC political armies. According to an article in the New York World, Mann appears to be rather interested in a district-line proposal by the good-government group Common Cause which ignores where particular politicians live (what a concept!). The fight is bringing to the fore ambitions of various lawmakers including Bronx Democratic chair Carl Heastie, an assemblyman. According to El Diario columnist Gerson Berrero (from Twitter, so no link) there was an emergency meeting among Bronx Democrats last night to forge a unified response.

The Riverdale Press examines what shape Congressman Eliot Engel’s district will take if the wishes of Assembly Democrats or Senate Republicans are realized.

This article from Bangla Patrika translated in Voices of NY is from a couple of weeks ago but interesting and important nonetheless. A growing community of Bronx Bangladeshis in Parkschester, Soundview and Castle Hill is exploring putting up a candidate to challenge Council Member Annabel Palma when she faces re-election in 2013.

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Borough President Diaz Discusses Fresh Direct and More on BronxTalk

2 Mar

In case you missed it earlier this week, Gary Axelbank interviewed Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. on BronxTalk. They discussed the controversial Fresh Direct deal, the Kingsbridge Armory, the police shooting of Ramarley Graham and more. Check it out.

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