Talk Bronx New York

As the Yankees prepared to take on the Angels, high school bowlers, some in homemade uniforms, battled at Ball Park Lanes in the Bronx

Two teammates shared a pair of headphones as they lustily sang along to Jay-Z’s newest anthem. Another group tried not to get caught sizing up the competition, while a few others flirted with girls who came to watch the Friday night showdown in the Bronx.

No, not the Yankees game — that was later, and across the street. This was a public school bowling match, six high schools battling across 15 lanes in a bowling alley that has seen Yankees dynasties rise and fall like so many clusters of bowling pins.

As the high-schoolers laced up their red-and-blue shoes, the Yankees prepared a block away for the opening of the American League Championship Series — perhaps the biggest game the storied franchise has played since 2004. The Yankees contest added extra sizzle to the midseason bowling match.
“It’s exciting,” said Jose Suncar, coach of the A. Philip Randolph Campus High School team. “We should be ready to compete, just like the Yankees and Angels — no matter the weather.” Read more..

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THE REV. WENDELL FOSTER, who was born 85 years ago in a small town in Alabama, came to New York as a 13-year-old with no parents and no money, only the hope that life “up North” would be different.

In 1978, he became the first black elected city official in the Bronx, where he served for 24 years as a councilman. His daughter, Helen Foster, currently holds his old seat, representing the 16th District, which includes Highbridge, Morrisania and the South Bronx.

A veteran of the civil rights movement, Mr. Foster is sometimes called upon to memorialize his former compatriots. On the occasion of Black History Month, Mr. Foster sat down for a conversation in a small office at Christ Church in Morrisania, where he has been a pastor for 42 years. Dressed in a suit and tie, he spoke about life as it once was in the Bronx and reflected on two old friends. Read more..

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 The economy is tanking, the winter doldrums are setting in, and the tourists and the family are descending, but don’t let that bring you down: pull yourself up by your skinny jeans and hit BowieBall, a glittery, wild-haired, wild-eyed party in honor of the Thin White Duke, in all his gender-bending glory.

Deryck Todd, an artist, fashion designer and David Bowie lover, came up with the idea a few years ago when he was casting about for a party theme. (“I’m a big fan of alliteration,” Mr. Todd, 28, said.) It was an instant hit: by the second ball, at Don Hill’s, there was a line around the block, and the event has been attracting the zip-up-jumpsuit crowd ever since. “It’s gay, it’s straight, it’s bi, it’s hipster, it’s people who are trying to get in with a fake ID, and people who saw Bowie in 1968 in London,” Mr. Todd said. He added, “Bowie gave a voice to so many people, to inspire them to be individuals, to challenge who they are, to pretend they are from other planets and get away with it.” Read more..

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Bronx Science’s Gregory Barber is undoubtedly the best PSAL bowler in the borough. The sophomore has averaged a respectable 183.71 pins per game while leading the Wolverines to a 7-1 record and first place in Bronx II.

Barber began bowling in a league in Queens at age 5; he has his own ball and a private coach, and he entered the week ranked 39th among boys in the PSAL.

But in the Bronx, Gregory Barber is an anomaly.

The borough’s teams have failed to reach the third round of the PSAL playoffs for the past five seasons. The second highest–ranked bowler in the Bronx is Wolverines co-captain Matt Dunay, who averages 171.60 pins per game, good for 83rd in the city. Bronx Science ranks 26th overall in the PSAL. The next-best Bronx squad is Taft, ranked No. 41 before games this week.

Such numbers raise an obvious question: Why is the Bronx stuck in a perpetual traffic jam on the lanes, so many miles behind Staten Island powers Tottenville, McKee/SI Tech and Susan Wagner?

Why are they lagging so far behind Queens contenders Bayside (second) and Thomas Edison (fourth), and Brooklyn’s Goldstein (fourth), Fort Hamilton (seventh) and New Utrecht (eighth).

Barber pauses for a minute, when asked about the paucity of quality Bronx programs.

“I just think they have more money over there,” Barber said.

It’s a provocative thesis, and one of many possible explanations for Bronx bowling’s spot in the PSAL slow lane.

Queried during their matches at Ball Park Lanes on Tuesday, coaches and players alike mentioned economic factors, early exposure to the sport and ready access to the lanes as necessary ingredients for success. Read more..

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