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Bronx community boards to meet

Community boards are the little City Halls of the city, dealing with local issues involving city agencies.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 1 (Melrose, Mott Haven) meets at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 26, at CB1 Office, 3024 Third Ave. Call (718) 585-7117.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 4 (Highbridge, Mount Eden and Concourse) meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 24, at Bronx Lebanon Hospital, Murray Cohen Auditorium, 1650 Grand Concourse. Call (718) 299-0800.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 5 (Morris Heights, Fordham, Bathgate and Mount Hope) meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, at South Bronx Job Corps - Auditorium, 1771 Andrews Ave. Call (718) 364-2030.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 9 (Soundview, Clasons Point, Parkchester, Bruckner and Harding Park) meets at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 19, at CB9 Office, 1967 Turnbull Ave. Call (718) 823-3034.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 11 (Morris Park, Pelham Parkway, Laconia and Van Nest) meets at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 26, at 1200 Van Nest Ave., Lubin Hall - Mazur Building. Call (718) 892-6262.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 12 (Wakefield, Williamsbridge, Woodlawn Eastchester and Baychester) meets at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 26, at CB12 office, 4101 White Plains Road. Call (718) 881-4455.

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Bronx community boards to meet

Community boards are the little City Halls of the city, dealing with local issues involving city agencies, and serving an advisory role in zoning and other land-use issues.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 1 (Melrose, Mott Haven) meets at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 26, at CB1 Office, 3024 Third Ave. Call (718) 585-7117.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 4 (Highbridge, Mount Eden and Concourse) meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 24, at Bronx Lebanon Hospital, Murray Cohen Auditorium, 1650 Grand Concourse. Call (718) 299-0800.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 5 (Bathgate, Morris Heights, Fordham and Mount Hope) meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, at South Bronx Job Corps - Auditorium, 1771 Andrews Ave. Call (718) 364-2030.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 7 (Norwood, Jerome Park, Kingsbridge Heights and University Heights) meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 17, at the Botanical Gardens, Mosholu Gate Entrance, Visitors Center Café, E. 200th St. and Kazimiroff Blvd. Call (718) 933-5650.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 9 (Soundview, Clasons Point, Parkchester, Bruckner and Harding Park) meets at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 19, at CB9 Office, 1967 Turnbull Ave. Call (718) 823-3034.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 10 (Throgs Neck, City Island, Pelham Bay, Co-op City, Zerega, Westchester Square, Country Club and Edgewater) meets at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 19, at Middletown Senior Center, 3035 Middletown Road. Call (718) 892-1161.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 11 (Morris Park, Pelham Parkway, Laconia and Van Nest) meets at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 26, at 1200 Van Nest Avenue, Lubin Hall, Mazur Building. Call (718) 892-6262.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 12 (Wakefield, Williamsbridge, Woodlawn, Eastchester and Baychester) meets at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 26, at CB12 office, 4101 White Plains Road. Call (718) 881-4455.

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BRONX BOYS OF SUMMER 

The borough’s parks are all being renovated at once, so local teams are sharing crowded turf.

Construction equipment behind them and other teams all around, members of the Love Gospel Assembly Little League found themselves betwixt and between at one recent practice

A view of the Croton Water Filtration Plant under construction, looking northwest from the roof of Montefiore Medical Center.

A stream of cash pouring into the Parks Department budget has created a rehabilitation bonanza at Bronx parks, but the mostly welcome windfall is also displacing community sports teams and visitors to parks across the borough.

As an incentive for Bronx officials to agree to the construction of the nearly $3 billion Croton Water Filtration Plant in Van Cortlandt Park by the New York City Department of Environmental Preservation, the agency agreed to give the Parks Department $220 million to $260 million for rehabilitation projects at 63 parks around the borough.

The deal had one major provision: The money had to be spent by 2009. Officials in the borough aren’t completely sure why that deadline exists, but the result is a rush to spend. As the weather warmed up and both children’s and adults’ baseball teams hit the diamonds, they faced a flurry of rehabbing that’s made it hard to play.

Although park renovation sounds like a great thing to many, critics also fault the undertaking for including too little community input, benefiting disadvantaged neighborhoods like Hunts Point, Soundview and Highbridge less than other areas, and even possibly contravening DEP’s own charter.

“It’s inconveniencing a lot of people with the construction they’re doing,” said Anthony Robles, president of the Bronx Panthers youth football team. The Panthers were booted from the Williamsbridge Oval Park, in nearby Norwood, due to a construction project. Robles said he learned of the Oval project “right when they were coming in with the equipment and closing off the fields.”

Having to share their field, members of the Love Gospel Assembly Little League were forced to move due to several rain puddles at home plate. Coach Rory Gilbert said, “We have to coexist – but I have permits for this field.” Referring to two other large groups, including the young football players currently using the field, Gilbert added, “But I’m getting ready to start batting and if they have a problem with that, I really can’t do anything.”

Obtaining a field requires that an applicant fill out a form and pay an $8 per hour fee, with a two hour use minimum, but one Parks Department staffer explained: “The big problem is if we have the availability.”

When completed, Harris Park – where fences went up in April and several teams are now sharing one field – will have four new ball fields, a multipurpose field as well as a new track, playground and an exercise equipment room with showers.

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Bronx community boards set their meetings 

Community Boards are the little City Halls of the city, dealing with local issues involving city agencies, and serving an advisory role in zoning and other land-use issues.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 1 (Melrose, Mott Haven) meets at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, May 29, at CB1 Office, 3024 Third Ave. Call (718) 585-7117.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 4 (Highbridge, Mount Eden and Concourse) meets at 6p.m., Tuesday, June 24, at Bronx Lebanon Hospital, Murray Cohen Auditorium, 1650 Grand Concourse. Call (718) 299-0800.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 5 (Morris Heights, Fordham, Bathgate and Mount Hope) meets at 6 p.m., Wednesday, June 25, at South Bronx Job Corps - Auditorium, 1771 Andrews Ave. Call (718) 364-2030.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 9 (Soundview, Clasons Point, Parkchester, Bruckner and Harding Park) meets at 7 p.m., Thursday, June 19, at CB9 Office, 1967 Turnbull Ave. Call (718) 823-3034.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 10 (Throgs Neck, City Island, Pelham Bay, Co-op City, Zerega, Westchester Square, Country Club and Edgewater) meets at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, June 19, at Middletown Senior Center, 3035 Middletown Road. Call (718) 892-1161.

- COMMUNITY BOARD 12 (Wakefield, Williamsbridge, Woodlawn Eastchester and Baychester) meets at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, June 26, at CB12 office, 4101 White Plains Road. Call (718) 881-4455.

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City controller’s report blasts Bronx school overcrowding, lack of relief

Bronx schools are bursting at the seams and “flawed” planning is to blame, a new report by the city controller’s office charges.

“There are too many neighborhoods with overcrowded schools, elementary schools in particular, and no relief for years to come,” Controller William Thompson said in releasing the report.

The report compares the new seats provided in the city Department of Education’s 2005-09 Capital Plan with expected neighborhood population growth.

The study highlights several Bronx neighborhoods, including Soundview-Castle Hill, Throgs Neck and Highbridge, where activists have been advocating for a new middle school.

In District 10 in the northwest Bronx, Thompson’s report charges that “schools were over capacity in virtually every CSD 10 neighborhood.”

That finding mirrors the calls of local activists who have been pushing to include two new schools in the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment project.

The DOE, however, has said it sees no need for new schools in the area.

Its 2005-09 capital plan provides for 36,500 new elementary and middle school seats in new school buildings or additions to relieve overcrowding.

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