NEWS RAIL SERVICE FOR EAST BRONX GAINING STEAM
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
Imagine a brand new passenger rail line built over the next decade for $1 billion less than the No. 7 subway extension.
It may sound like fantasy, but a game-changing Bronx rail project is on track and gaining steam, transit insiders insist.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Bronx leaders are all aboard a plan to bring Metro-North service to the East Bronx for the first time.
MORRIS PARK BEMOANS NO HOLIDAY LIGHTS ON SHOPPING STRIP
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in most Bronx neighborhoods, but not in Morris Park.
For only the second time in half a century, there are no holiday lights along Morris Park Ave. and Williamsbridge Road.
13-YEAR OLD BOXING PRODIGY GETS GRAND CONCOURSE DEBUT
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
A pint-sized pugilist from the Bronx is punching his way to the top of the boxing world.
Josue Vargas is only 13 years old, but the 100-pound phenom is already a four-time Junior Olympics champion with a closet full of title belts. Some old timers are calling him the next Sugar Ray Robinson.
The baby-faced boxer makes his prime-time debut Thursday with an undercard bout at the Paradise Theater on the Grand Concourse.
BRONX COLLEGE RESEARCHERS SEEK BRAIN CANCER CURE
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
The Bronx could become known as the birthplace of a cure for brain cancer.
Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine recently began work on an alternative to chemotherapy, using a type of defensive cell that patients already have.
STAKES HIGH AT LOTTERY FOR BX CHARTER SCHOOL
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
In the hushed gymnasium at Bronx Charter School for Excellence, Nelliette Colon was a bundle of nerves as she sat next to her 5-year-old son.
“I wish I could take a shot of tequila right now,” said Colon, one of 1,635 parents whose children are vying for just 28 kindergarten spots at the high-performing school in Morris Park.
“I don’t want my son to end up like me,” said the 42-year-old Soundview woman. “I didn’t finish high school or college. I want more for him. I want him to go all the way.”
An hour later, Colon stood up, took her son’s hand, marched out of the gym - and began to cry. Her son won’t be attending the kindergarten-grade 8 school this fall.
LEADERS HOPING NEW BANK WILL GIVE VAN NEST A BOOST
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
Jerry Esposito hates the hill that leads from Van Nest to his bank in nearby Morris Park.
“I don’t have a car, so I ride my bike there,” said Esposito, 62, of Van Nest. “It gets really cold.”
Overshadowed by affluent Morris Park, Van Nest has lacked a bank for 15 years.
COMMUNITY BOARD 11 GETS FRESH FACE
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
When potholes need fixing and apartment buildings need heat, Jeremy Warneke will be Community Board 11’s main man. The 30-year-old Warneke is the East Bronx board’s new district manager who already works and lives in the district.
FIRE-RAVAGED BOXING CLUB GETS OFF MAT
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
Three days before Christmas last year, an early morning fire delivered an uppercut to a beloved Bronx boxing gym. But the Morris Park Boxing Club in Van Nest officially reopened this week, thanks to timely donations and a landlord who knows how to take a punch.
“Just like a fighter, you get knocked down, but not out,” said Joe DeGuardia, a lawyer and former boxer who owns the Morris Park Ave. building that houses the gym. “You bounce back.”
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
CHANGE BORO NAME TO LEBRONX FOR LEBRON JAMES
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
LeBronx is burning for Lebron.
