Talk Bronx New York

A Bronx Tree Honors a Slain Journalist

The untimely death of the journalist Tim Russert has been the subject of much commentary and reflections, especially on television in the past week. The unsolved murder of another journalist, Bradley Will, nearly two years ago never received such saturation coverage.

A recently planted apple tree in a South Bronx park is perhaps the only memorial in the city to Mr. Will, a video journalist based in New York, who was shot dead in Mexico in October, 2006, while covering anti-government protests. His killers, who may have been captured on his tape, have not yet been brought to justice.

This is not new in Mexico, which has earned the distinction of being among the 10 worst countries when it comes to impunity for the murders of journalists, according to a recent survey by the Committee to Protect Journalists. In fact, narco-fueled violence has made that country among the world’s most dangerous for journalists, who often resort to self censorship, rather than run the risk of being deleted by drug gangs.

Friends of Mr. Will were very much thinking of this – and of him – in recent days, when some television channels were devoting hours of coverage to the death of Mr. Russert, a beloved media figure.

“It really does highlight the disconnect or distance between hard-hitting investigative journalists who are out there working and the risks they take versus the boys club in D.C.,” said Mark Read, who teaches media studies at New York University. “There is a self-importance there, and rarely do they try to leverage their celebrity to speak out and help protect those who are doing risky, dangerous work.”

Mr. Read had befriended Mr. Will in New York in the late 1990s, when they both were active in the city’s community gardens, which were under threat from officials and developers. Both of them had also come to know Harry Bubbins, an environmental activist in the South Bronx.

“We met while doing environmental organizing,” said Mr. Bubbins. “During the Giuliani administration we were arrested at City Hall for protesting the auction of community gardens.”

Mr. Bubbins said that Mr. Will eventually moved toward independent reporting work, traveling to Latin America often. He went from being part of the story to covering it. Ultimately, his killing became the story one last time.

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Foreclosures affect Bronx homeowners 

Devon Honeyghan spent $25,000 renovating the kitchen of his Bronx house in preparation for selling it and moving to Georgia.

But two “For Sale” signs and an abandoned house standing all in a row across the street have him doubting he will make any of his money back.

Honeyghan, a 42-year-old livery cab driver, lives in Wakefield, the working-class northeast Bronx neighborhood hit hardest by the mortgage foreclosure crisis.

Statistics released this month by the Center for Responsible Lending show the value of nearly 400,000 homes in the Bronx has dropped $4.9 billion because of surrounding foreclosed homes.

The foreclosure crisis began with missed mortgage payments and first-time owners losing their homes. It later hit banks and the financial industry, but its most recent victims are the neighbors who live on streets with abandoned homes.

Honeyghan, who bought his new house in Georgia at the market’s peak, is so desperate to sell his Bronx home that he offered to buy the abandoned house across the street, which has become an eyesore and is filled with stray cats. He could not because it is locked in a divorce case.

“I just don’t see myself getting my money back,” he said. “I was going to spend $10,000 on the bathroom, but it’s not worth it.”

Carmen Rosa, district manager of Community Board 12, says most foreclosed homes in the neighborhood have not deteriorated - just yet - but residents fear what is to come.

“You see the signs up - ‘For Sale, For Sale, For Sale’ - on every street,” Rosa said.

“At our board meetings, residents are very concerned about the impact the foreclosures will have on the value of their homes,” she said, “but they are also concerned if someone walks away from their home that people will break in and they will have to become watchdogs. There is a social impact, too.”

Paul Founsette, 54, a contractor who lives on Ely St. in Wakefield, for example, sweeps the sidewalk and driveway of the two-story brick house across from his. It was foreclosed and has been vacant for more than a year. The “For Sale” sign seems to have given up too, toppled over in the driveway.

“If it’s not clean, it’s going to blow across,” Founsette said. “It just looks bad for everyone. It’s a rough time.”

Two blocks from Founsette is a foreclosed home with an overflowing mailbox and a truck with blown-out tires abandoned out front.

And, posted on telephone poles on every corner throughout the neighborhood are flyers from land sharks calling out to those at their lowest point of desperation - “Wanted - Houses and Land, Bought All Cash, Top $$$.”

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