Talk Bronx New York

The city is calling in the Army to save the Bronx River - the Army Corps of Engineers, that is.

In a move that gives new meaning to the term green initiative, the city Parks Department will partner with the Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild a wetlands habitat near the mouth of the river in Soundview Park.

The Corps will foot most of the bill for the $6.3 million project to restore the 3-acre salt marsh, with the Parks Department providing the remaining 35% of the funding.

The Corps is designing the project now, but will contract with a local construction company later this year to do the work, expected to get underway in the fall.

The work will start with clearing away rubble, landfill and construction debris dumped there over the years to raise the low-lying former wetland above the water line, according to Soundview Project Manager Ronald Pinzon.

“There was a lot of stuff dumped there,” Pinzon said. “Rocks, pieces of concrete, even a few refrigerators. Read more..

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Diego Medina’s plywood sculpture ‘Aurora’ has remained free of graffiti and other vandalism during the six months it has been in front of the Bronx River Art Center in West Farms Square.

       Six months, and counting.

It has been that long, and the plywood sculpture in front of the Bronx River Art Center in West Farms Square miraculously has remained graffiti-free.

While storefronts and subway trains around it have been defaced with all manner of tags and symbols, nothing has appeared on the unpainted sculpture.

“It’s pretty amazing. I think it’s great,” said Jose Ruiz, the 34-year-old gallery director and curator for the Bronx River Art Center.

“I never could have imagined that it would last this long without being tagged,” he said. “We felt that the community was changing and so we felt it would be respected, but it was an unknown. We took a risk to do it and it has paid off.”

The 14-foot, multifaceted sculpture, titled “Aurora,” is a tagger’s dream.

It has six unpainted, interlocking geometric shapes and was inspired by the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca’s 1930 poem, “La Aurora de Nueva York” (Dawn in New York).

It was formally unveiled to the public in July and will remain on display in the square until June.

Even a sign that the city Department of Transportation placed in front of the sculpture stating its participation in the project didn’t last.

Although the sign was bolted to the ground, someone made off with it about a week after it was placed. Read more..

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A red eyed tree frog that makes it’s home in the Bronx. The Bronx Zoo is celebrating its 110th birthday this year.

A red ruffled lemur mesmerizes with giant golden eyes

When the Bronx Zoo first opened its gates to the public in 1899, William McKinley was in the White House, the first city subway line was being dug, and the paperclip had just been patented. So much has changed since, but the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo remains an integral part of New York City’s character.

A Palawan peacock is one of the zoo’s feathered inhabitants.

In honor of the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States turning 110 years old, here’s a list of 110 things every New Yorker should know about the Bronx Zoo.

1. The Bronx Zoo opened to visitors on November 8th, 1899.
2. On opening day, the zoo featured 843 animals in 22 exhibits.
3. The zoo borders the south side of the New York Botanical Garden.
4. Most of the land on which the zoo was built was previously owned by Fordham University.
5. Fordham sold it to the city for only $1,000 with the stipulation that the lands be used for a zoo and garden.
6. More than 236 million guests have visited the zoo since its opening.
7. With 265 acres, the Bronx Zoo is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States.
8. The zoo employs over 750 full-time staff per year.
9. Theodore Roosevelt and William Hornaday, the Bronx Zoo’s first director, helped form the American Bison Society (ABS) at the zoo in 1905.
10. The buildings in Astor Court were designed by the firm of Heins & Lafarge, who also designed the original plans for the cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights. Read more..

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                   The start of school is just around the corner

 No doubt students across the Bronx are enjoying one last day of summer freedom before school doors open on Wednesday.

The new school year brings 18 new schools to the Bronx - including four charter schools - five elementary schools, seven middle schools and two high schools.

“These new schools will give families in the Bronx more choices,” said Department of Education spokeswoman Melody Meyer. “The new schools we’ve opened across the borough over the past seven years have done exceptionally well in helping students succeed,” she continued, “and so we look to continue that success.”

Among the new school programs is the Creston Academy at 120 E. 184th St. in Fordham, one of two small middle schools with about 100 sixth-graders to replace failing Middle School 399.

According to Insideschools.org, the school will focus “on issues unique to adolescence” to help keep students engaged.

The Carl C. Icahn elementary charter school in the James Monroe Annex at 1551 E. 172nd St. in Bronx River will open with about 100 kindergarten through second-graders.

It is modeled after the original Icahn Charter School, which opened in Tremont in 2001. The Icahn schools have been praised for high academic performance, small classes and extended classroom hours, with waiting lists to get in.

Another sought-after program is the Girls Prep Charter School of South Bronx, at 681 Kelly St. in Longwood.

“This is already a very successful charter school on the lower East Side in Manhattan,” Meyer said. “Many Bronx parents might not know about it, but it’s very much a high-demand school.”

For parents, the borough president’s office has partnered with the nonprofit Advocates for Children to host a series of education workshops this fall.

The first workshop, General Education: Rights of Students and Parents, will cover enrollment, transfer and transportation, and voluntary and involuntary transfers and discharges.

The workshop will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sept. 21 at the Bronx County Courthouse, 851 Grand Concourse, first floor. For more information, call Jesse Mojica at the borough president’s office at (718) 590-3515.
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Funnyman Jim Breuer does stand-up at Comix Comedy Club. Breuer is perhaps known best for his impressions of Joe Pesci and the character “Goat Boy” during his stint on “Saturday Night Live.” More recently, Breuer’s played host on VH1’s “Web Junk 20,” and has made several appearances on “The Opie & Anthony Show” on satellite radio. 8 p.m.; $32.75. 353 W. 14th St. (212-524-2500).

The results of Hearst Magazines’ 8 x 10 Photography Biennial, an international competition to identify emerging talent, is on display at the Hearst Tower. Over 80 photographs, including portraits, landscapes, fashion, photojournalism and still-life from the winners and runners-ups are on display. Through Sept. 30. By appointment only. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; free admission. 300 W. 57th St. (212-649-2148).

Celebrate Earth Month 2009 by bringing the kids out for a good stretch for a great cause at the Bronx Zoo, where Yoga Works presents family yoga classes to benefit the Wildlife Conservation Society’s efforts in gorilla conservation. 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; free with price of admission, $11-$15. Bronx River Pkwy at Fordham Rd., Bronx. (718-367-1010). Read more..

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