Beekman in the Bronx

VAN CORTLANDT PARK REOPENING DELAYED, CRICKETERS ANGRY

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

Bronx parkgoers and cricket players are getting crabby about renovation delays at the Van Cortlandt Park Parade Grounds.

The Parks Department won’t reopen eight cricket fields until next fall because the renovated Parade Grounds contain weeds and crab grass, said an agency spokesman.

The renovations began in 2009 and the fields were slated to open last spring. But the Parks Department contractor hired to reseed the turf has botched the job twice, said Bob Bender, Community Board 8 parks committee chairman.

RABBIS HIKE 15 MILES FROM BK TO BX EVERY SABBATH

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

It could be New York’s longest schlep: Every Saturday, young rabbis trudge 15 miles from Brooklyn to worship with some of the last Jews left in one Bronx neighborhood.

The ultra-Orthodox rabbis lead a small Parkchester synagogue housed in the same ramshackle building as an Islamic school and a mosque.

‘NOTORIOUS PHD RAPS AGAINST GENTRIFICATION

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

A funky fresh Fordham University professor is rapping about rent to warn the Bronx about gentrification. But housing and census experts believe the borough has nothing to fear.

Read more…

SUNSET PARK, FLUSHING OVERTAKE MANHATTAN CHINATOWN

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

Chinatown is no longer the most populous Chinese neighborhood in New York - and that’s not an oxymoron.

Chinese enclaves in Brooklyn and Queens have eclipsed the historic Manhattan neighborhood, according to a new report based on data from the 2010 Census.

BANK-OWNED BRONX BUILDINGS ARE ‘TICKING TIME BOMBS’

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

Bronx foreclosures have racked up hundreds of building code violations of the type that led to a deadly fire on Prospect Ave., according to new report released on Monday.

As of July, there were 899 open violations at 273 bank-owned buildings across the borough, including a property less than three blocks away from 2321 Prospect Ave., the site of the April blaze that killed a family of three.

REFUGEES PUT DOWN ROOTS AT BRONX COMMUNITY GARDEN

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

Refugees from all over the world are putting down roots at a vegetable farm in the Bronx.

The new arrivals - who hail from troubled nations such as Ivory Coast, Iraq, Bhutan and Burma - are growing peanuts, strawberries, radishes, carrots and lettuce at Drew Gardens on E. Tremont Ave. in West Farms.

Their leafy crop is modest, and the refugees face enormous challenges as they look for jobs and adjust to life in the Big Apple.

But the green-thumbed immigrants insist the shovel and spade work helps them heal.

BRONX BOROUGH PREZ DOLES OUT $12 MILLION PLUS IN PORK

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

The Bronx beep is doling out big bucks for local schools, housing projects, parks and community centers.

Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. announced yesterday he plans to allocate $12.85 million in earmarks over the next year.

NEW POLL FINDS 50% OF BRONXITES WORRIED ABOUT HOMELESSNESS

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

A growing number of Bronxites are anxious about becoming homeless due to poverty, unemployment and lack of education, a new poll says.

Roughly 47% of borough residents are worried about winding up on the street, up from 32% last year, according to an opinion poll released last week.

JEROME PARK RESERVOIR TREES FACE AX FROM CITY

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

First the mighty oaks and lindens of Pelham Parkway were slated for removal by the city, prompting protests by Bronx tree-huggers, including Bronx native Regis Philbin.

Now a grove of about 75 trees next to the Jerome Park Reservoir is on the chopping block, community leaders recently discovered.

HISTORIC BRONX ARMORY COULD BECOME CYCLING PALACE

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)

The Bronx’s long-vacant, hotly disputed Kingsbridge Armory could become a massive cycling palace, housing a velodrome and a BMX course.

A proposal submitted this spring to the borough president’s task force calls for the rundown, fortresslike building to host international racing events and free programs for kids. The armory’s large 600-by-300-foot drill floor makes it especially appealing, said would-be developer Michael Green, former president of the Century Road Club Association.