Talk Bronx New York

Department of Homeless Services adopts a new policy mandating that a homeless shelter provider must first contact the local community board before setting up shop.

 In the end, it was a half-victory.

A Manhattan judge tossed out a suit by a group of Bronx merchants that would have forced the city to conduct a comprehensive study of a neighborhood before opening a homeless shelter there.

The Westchester Merchants Association argued that the city Department of Homeless Services should conduct a “fair share” analysis of an area to see whether it already was saturated with social services organizations before a homeless shelter could open.

State Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Wright tossed the lawsuit Friday.

But the merchants did score a victory two weeks ago, when the department adopted new policies mandating that a homeless shelter provider must first contact the local community board before setting up shop. At the time, one Westchester Square merchant called the change in guidelines “a partial victory.”

A 38-unit shelter opened Aug. 21 on St. Peter’s Ave., just off the Westchester Square shopping district. The Westchester Square Merchants Association took up a collection among its members and filed suit against the city.

With the current economic crisis, the city is facing unprecedented demand for homeless services. Read more..

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A Bronx neighborhood lost the latest round in a legal fight against the city’s Department of Homeless Services for quietly putting a homeless shelter in a new apartment building.

Bronx State Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey D. Wright dismissed a lawsuit against the city agency lodged by the Westchester Square Merchants Association and local residents who wanted to shut down the homeless shelter. The lawsuit argued that the city had skirted the city charter by not notifying the community board about its plans for the shelter, and that other social service facilities already saturated the area.

The judge based his decision on past challenges to the law that questioned whether the city could legally provide and pay for homeless housing in the absence of a concrete lease — as is the situation in the Bronx building where the agency pays a $90 per diem rate for each occupied apartment.

The arrangement drew scorn from community board members, residents and elected officials when the building at 1564 St. Peter’s Avenue debuted as a shelter in late August. They also criticized the lack of notification from the city agency. Read more..

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 This past Saturday afternoon, a group of Bronx bikers, mostly young people, worked the Grand Concourse for Democratic mayoral candidate Bill Thompson like it was their own personal campaign trail.

Yorman Nunez, a former City Council candidate in the 14th District who is now working on the Thompson campaign team, organized the outreach, calling it “Bikers for Billy.”

The Thompson campaigners wore t-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “Eight is Enough,” a dig at Mayor Bloomberg, who pushed an unpopular term-limits extension bill through the City Council last fall so he would be eligible for re-election Read more..

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 Bronxite John Melton checks out audio equipment at Bronx Speakers Store on Boston Road and says he likes to blast car stereo, to the chagrin of many.

 You wouldn’t know it from all the noise, but the Bronx has gotten quieter this year.

Bronxites logged almost 8% fewer noise complaints to the city’s 311 hotline during the first six months of this year than they did over the same period last year.

There were 28,915 noise complaints from Jan. 1 to the end of June, compared with 31,411 last year.

“I have to give some credit to the weather,” said Councilman James Vacca (D-East Bronx). “We’ve had a mild summer so far and a lot of rain and those are both circumstances that are detriments to noise. That’s got to be a contributing factor.”

“I’m not surprised. It seems to be less noisy,” said George Dallas, 72, of Morris Park. “It’s just people blowing their horns. But that’s New York drivers. You have to live with it.”

For the second year in a row, Community Board 7, which includes Norwood, University Heights, Jerome Park, Bedford Park, Fordham and Kingsbridge Heights topped the list with the most noise complaints in the borough.

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Hello,
Be There at the Square – Westchester Square in The Bronx, for a full day of free activities including live music provided by Bronx Underground, an outdoor craft exhibit, an art walk, and more on Saturday, May 16th, from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. All activities are free and open to the public
Including…
At The Huntington Free Library: An Artisan Crafts Workshop featuring members of the Bronx Council on the Arts’ Artisans Initiative (inside the library), a children workshop, a craft exhibit, and face painting for the kids (outside the library).
At Owen Dolen Park Plaza (across from the Huntington Free Library) free outdoor concert featuring the Bronx Indie Musicians of The Bronx Underground who will perform throughout the afternoon. Including Drew Torres (www.myspace.com/drew torres), Safe To Say (www.myspace.com/safetosaynyc) and more!

An Art Walk throughout the Square – Arts & Business Walking Tour will take place at local businesses along the Square featuring work by artists assembled by the Bronx Council on the Arts. Artists include photographers Marisol Diaz, Susan Farley, and Ron Terner, new media artist Kay Reese, and mixed media artists Ruth Marshall and Daniel DelValle.

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