Beekman in the Bronx

CANADIAN OLYMPIC TEAM HORSES GET FREE RIDE FROM CITY

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

Talk about a free ride: The city is giving away Bronx stable stalls to horses that compete in the Olympic Games for Canada.

The Parks Department is forgoing boarding fees from 43 stalls at the Riverdale Equestrian Centre in Van Cortlandt Park, including several that house horses owned by Canadian equestrian Ashley Holzer, the Daily News has learned. The agency claims the horses “raise the profile” of the sparkling facility on Broadway.

DEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION UNVEILS NEW SLUDGE PLAN

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

The city plans to start trucking its sewer sludge out-of-state, the Daily News has learned.

The Department of Environmental Protection has selected WeCare Organics to transport the sludge generated during wastewater treatment to rural Pennsylvania. Until June 2010, the toxic substance was handled at a stinky facility in Hunts Point, the Bronx.

FIREFIGHTER DELIVERS BABY IN THE BRONX, SAVING INFANT AND MOM

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

Kaden Bell could be the Bravest baby in the Bronx.

The bright-eyed infant was delivered by a firefighter on the bathroom floor of a Mott Haven apartment on Tuesday morning.

Firefighter Sarina Olmo of Engine Co. 83 coached anxious mother Maybelline Marti through the dramatic birth, cut the umbilical cord wrapped around Kaden’s neck and held the tiny baby all the way from E. 141st St. to Lincoln Hospital.

QUACK GETS 8 MONTHS FOR FATAL BUTT IMPLANT SURGERY

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN AND KEVIN DEUTSCH (NYDN)

A “cold and calculating” quack Bronx plastic surgeon whose botched butt implants killed a woman was sentenced to three to nine months in prison Monday.

Elsa Then, 58, broke into sobs when Judge Martin Marcus gave her jail time instead of the probation for which her lawyer begged.

He also admonished her for preying on Hispanic women who frequented her flourishing, but illegal, cosmetology practice.

BRONX COULD FINALLY GET PUBLIC ICE RINK NEXT MONTH

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

The Bronx could finally be getting the ice skating rink that Mayor Bloomberg promised the borough last January - but without formal community input. Local leaders are upset they won’t get to vet how the facility is run.

“The agency has decided to circumvent the public process,” said Bob Bender, Community Board 8 parks committee chairman. “It concerns me greatly.”

STRAPHANGERS SURVEY SLAMS SLOW BRONX BUS ROUTES

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

Straphangers to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority: the Boogie Down needs to speed up.

The Bronx boasts the three slowest bus routes in the city outside of Manhattan, according to a new survey by transit advocates.

But the agency could be shifting gears, with the borough’s voice growing louder at MTA headquarters. The City Council Transportation Committee chairman, two board members and even new MTA executive director Joseph Lhota boast Bronx ties.

YANKEE STADIUM HOSTING BIG-TIME FOOTBALL GAMES

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

The Bronx baseball cathedral is fast becoming a gridiron temple, with big-time football finding a home at Yankee Stadium.

Two Brooklyn high schools battled there Tuesday night, with Abraham Lincoln grinding out a win in the PSAL Championship Division title game against Erasmus Hall, and the house that George Steinbrenner built will host its second college football bowl game on Dec. 30.

BRONX BUILDING CLEANERS STAND FIRM IN CONTACT TALKS

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

More than 22,000 office building cleaners and maintenance workers - including about 4,000 Bronx residents - are at loggerheads with Manhattan landlords over wages and benefits.

The landlords claim they need to cut costs, due to the bad economy. The two sides last negotiated a contract in late 2007, at the height of the real estate boom.

But the workers - members of Service Employees International Union 32BJ - voted last week to approve a strike if they don’t get a favorable new contract by Jan 1.

POLICE ARREST FIVE PEOPLE TO BREAK UP OCCUPY THE BRONX RALLY

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

The national wave of Occupy crackdowns swept through the South Bronx Saturday, as police arrested five people and broke up an Occupy the Bronx rally at the site of a community garden razed by the city.

Four activists and a freelance journalist were handcuffed on the sidewalk outside a vacant lot at Southern Blvd. and Union Ave. in Mott Haven, formerly the Morning Glory Community Garden.

They were the first Occupy the Bronx activists arrested since the movement formed in October.

BRONX ACTIVISTS WIN RIGHT TO SEE CITY RECORDS ON SHELTER

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

The scales of justice may once again be tipping toward the Bronx, with local activists scoring another court victory against the city Department of Homeless Services.

An appellate division judge has ruled that the agency must cough up records related to the controversial siting of a 38-unit homeless shelter in 2009 on St. Peter’s Ave. in Westchester Square.