Talk Bronx New York

A general view of the Hunts Point Riverside Park is seen at the 2009 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize special outdoor tribute on September 3, 2009 in New York City

Residents around the Hunts Point neighborhood in the Bronx can literally breathe a sign of relief.

A sewage treatment plant located in the neighborhood didn’t have its contract renewed with the City on Friday. The City canceled the $34 million per year contract in order to save money, while it finds ways to close an approximately $5 billion budget gap.

The New York Organic Fertilizer Company (NYOFCo) has received a bad reputation for producing unpleasant odors in the neighborhood for many years. Raw sewage was taken to the plant to be converted into fertilizer pellets from 14 sewage plants across the city.

U.S. Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY), who represents parts of the Bronx, said the City’s decision was a victory for the residents.

“NYOFCo has polluted our community’s air for 16 years, and today is the beginning of the end,” said Serrano in a statement. “It is an end to the burning eyes, the coughs, the missed school days, even the asthma attacks, all conditions triggered by NYOFCo acrid odors.”

The congressman added that the plant was the cause for complaints about the smell, as well as a public safety concern for the past 10 years. He has been rallying for the plant’s closure. According to Serrano, the plant not only produced an unpleasant odor but also polluted the area. Read more..

(No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...
 Email This Post

The agency in charge of delivering clean water to New Yorkers forgot to do it for its own employees.

A new building at the Hunts Point sewage plant in the Bronx was built seven months ago without a necessary “backflow preventer” to protect water in the plant’s huge boilers from backing up into its pipes.

That could have allowed water tainted by industrial chemicals to pour out of hallway drinking fountains, locker room showers and lunchroom sinks, the Department of Environmental Protection admits.

“That’s a mistake. We’re looking into that,” said new DEP Commissioner Cas Holloway. “There wasn’t a backflow preventer there. There is now.”

The building opened last June, and 100 employees used the water - including sewage workers who showered there after their shifts.

Nobody noticed the backflow preventer was missing until a sharp-eyed DEP worker reported it to his supervisors Jan. 15, officials said.

“It wasn’t on the plans,” Holloway said. “We’ll look into why it wasn’t put into the original design.”

The next day, employees say, signs went up above the water fountains telling workers not to drink from them and portable water coolers were wheeled into the building for drinking. Read more..

(No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...
 Email This Post

Expects good news from Bronx

HOPE is DHS’ annual, one-night survey of individuals living on city streets.

The 2009 HOPE found that unsheltered homelessness had decreased 47 percent since 2005 and 30 percent since 2008. Although critics such as Coalition for the Homeless, a Manhattan based non-profit group, have questioned HOPE methodology, the estimate is a jewel in DHS’ crown.

Thousands of volunteers help perform HOPE; DHS deployed more than 3,000 volunteers to streets, parks and subways on January 25. Unsheltered homelessness has dropped 72 percent in the Bronx since 2005, a decease Hess called “spectacular.” Last year, the HOPE found 2,238 homeless in the city and 164 in the Bronx. Most were found in Manhattan and on the subway system.

“We have made tremendous progress in the Bronx,” Hess said. “We hope that the 2010 HOPE will show that we’ve maintained that progress or done even better.” Read more..

(No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...
 Email This Post

Whether it’s through prayer or community service, Bronxites are taking time Monday to honor the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

“We can never forget the legacy, leadership and selfless spirit of Dr. King,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

“In a very diverse borough like the Bronx,” he continued, “it is important to promote Dr. King’s ideas and to teach future generations that President Obama is an example of Dr. King’s dream, in which people of all races, religions and classes are equal.”

In Williamsbridge, Trinity Baptist Church is hosting its annual celebration starting at 10 a.m. Monday. This year’s theme: Remember! Celebrate! Act! A Day On, Not a Day Off!

The service, co-hosted by the borough resident’s office and Pastor Naomi Tyler Lloyd, will feature musical selections from the church’s Legacy Choir as well as the Blessed Quietness Choir.

In Hunts Point, up to 1,000 volunteers will fan out across the neighborhood in a mass community service effort to beautify local schools, churches and recreation centers.

The effort is being sponsored by City Year New York, a non-profit that recruits young people for full time community service.

Volunteers will be painting, cleaning and doing light construction at 17 South Bronx sites including Middle School 424

“Dr. King said everybody can be great, because anybody can serve. So we’re just trying to live that out,” said Alice Pak, of City Year. Read more..

(No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...
 Email This Post

A New York City health-clinic operator has received $12 million in federal stimulus money to expand one of its facilities in the South Bronx.

Urban Health Plan will use the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to build a 53,000-square-foot addition to its clinic at 1065 Southern Blvd.

“We have been busting at the seams for some time,” said Paloma Hernandez, president and CEO of Urban Health Plan.

“Even though we are open for 76 hours, seven days per week, we are still unable to care for all the people who need quality primary and specialty services.

“This award makes it possible for us to provide more care, while at the same time improving the economic status of the South Bronx.” Read more..

(No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...
 Email This Post