July 10, 2006
Five Killed in Bronx Crash Horror
After their green Acura Legend slowed down for heavy traffic in the southbound lanes, Keywann, the driver, somehow lost control of the car, which ran onto the concrete divider, police said.
Cops said it skidded along the divider for 200 feet, knocking out a lamppost on its wild ride.
It then went flying into the northbound lane - and collided head-on with an Access-a-Ride bus and a Toyota Corolla.
Read the rest of "Five Killed in Bronx Crash Horror".Posted by Michelle at 04:06 PM | Comments (0)
July 06, 2006
In the Land of Gray Hair, Anxiety, Then Accord
The sisters have much company at the Pelham Parkway complex, a tidy collection of 23 six-story brick buildings tucked into a leafy part of the northern Bronx. Nearly 600 of the 2,600 residents are over age 60, and many of them, like the D'Amico sisters, rely on a program that aids inhabitants of such areas, known as "naturally occurring retirement communities," or NORC's.
Read the rest of "In the Land of Gray Hair, Anxiety, Then Accord".Posted by Michelle at 02:06 PM | Comments (0)
April 16, 2006
Enabling Pessah
Years ago there was a controversy in my neighborhood - the Riverdale section of the Bronx in New York City - about establishing a group home for the mentally challenged.
An evening was set aside by the Community Board to debate the issue. I'll never forget arriving to speak on behalf of the group home, only to find many of my congregants in the opposition.
Read the rest of "Enabling Pessah".Posted by Michelle at 12:55 AM | Comments (0)
February 25, 2006
Dinowitz Says Pinnacle Harasses His Constituents
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz is speaking out against the controversial practices of the Pinnacle Group after he discovered the management company aggressively went after two vulnerable tenants in his district.
"The stories are just horrible," said Dinowitz about the incidents, which involve Riverdale and Norwood residents and properties. "They're trying to enrich themselves off of the misery of other people."
In the first case, Pinnacle served a 90-year-old man with court papers for back rent due on his Henry Hudson Parkway apartment, according to Terry Colon, a staffer working on the cases. Colon found that the man had actually overpaid Pinnacle by more than $1,000. The company failed to acknowledge that they received funds from the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption program, which subsidizes the rents of low-income seniors living in regulated apartments.
"He was double dipping," said Dinowitz, referring to Joel Wiener, who heads Pinnacle.
Colon is also trying to assist a tenant at 215 E. Gun Hill Road who was hit by a quick succession of rent increases last year. The hikes were retroactive charges allowed under the stabilization program, but they aren't usually done all at once, according to Colon. The resident has accrued $4,000 in rent arrears. She is also disabled.
Read the rest of "Dinowitz Says Pinnacle Harasses His Constituents".Posted by Michelle at 02:44 AM | Comments (0)
February 09, 2006
Skagit Powersports donates to MS-Express
Scheduled to depart in June, Magno and three-legged assistance dog Katie will travel 4,300 miles along the northern United States, making keynote stops in cities along the route and ending at Yankee Stadium in New York City. The goal of the MS Express is to raise awareness for handicapped accessibility issues on behalf of the City of Anacortes and to raise $1 million for Multiple Sclerosis.
The Spirit of Hope Foundation devotes its resources to education and advocacy for multiple sclerosis and to accessibility and quality of life issues for the disabled.
Read the rest of "Skagit Powersports donates to MS-Express".Posted by Michelle at 03:57 PM | Comments (0)
January 17, 2006
Bronx to get apartments for elderly poor
Three Bronx nonprofits just got the largest chunk of federal grants awarded to the city this year to increase low-income housing for the elderly poor and the disabled.
With the funding from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department, the borough will get three new buildings with 167 one-bedroom apartments and six efficiency apartments earmarked for elderly people with very low incomes.
Read the rest of "Bronx to get apartments for elderly poor".Posted by Michelle at 12:09 AM | Comments (0)
January 15, 2006
Pals to build ramp for Bronx teen
At his former apartment in the Bronx, Edgar Lopez relied on his father to pull and carry him up and down a flight of stairs.
The wheelchair-bound 17-year-old and his family moved to a house in Westbury last year, but the great pains it took for the high school senior to simply arrive home or go out didn't end.
This week, it will.
Read the rest of "Pals to build ramp for Bronx teen".Posted by Michelle at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)
December 19, 2005
Bronx Club Gets Boot
The former Bronx Boys & Girls Club at the center of a scandal over $875,000 funneled to the liberal radio network Air America is fighting eviction from its longtime home at Co-op City, The Post has learned.
The community group, known as the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club until its charter was revoked by the youth organization's national headquarters, was ordered to turn in the keys to a 10,000-square-foot schoolhouse and five meeting rooms.
Gloria Wise lost $9.7 million in city contracts to provide programs for kids, the disabled and senior citizens at Co-op City because of an investigation of its finances.
Read the rest of "Bronx Club Gets Boot".Posted by Michelle at 08:00 PM | Comments (0)
December 12, 2005
Drug hunt preceded Finest slay
[Steven] Armento and [Sopranos actor Lillo] Brancato, his daughter's ex-boyfriend, had been drinking at the Crazy Horse, a strip club on Boston Road, when they decided to score some Valium and other pills, police said.
Their plan, police sources said, was to break into the home of a disabled man they had befriended, Kenneth Scovotti, 63, who kept a trove of prescription drugs in his basement apartment at 3119 Arnow Place, next door to [police officer Daniel] Enchautegui's home.
Read the rest of "Drug hunt preceded Finest slay".Posted by Michelle at 10:54 PM | Comments (0)
December 08, 2005
Blotter: Bronx Cheer
A party for the students of the Bronx Center for Multi-Handicapped Children was going fine Wednesday afternoon when, at about 2:45, a few students started feeling a little funny. More confident. Pugnacious. Flamboyant. And they started talking really loud and repeating pointless stories.
A few other students told teachers that the soda they were all drinking tasted kind of funny.
As 13 of the severely disabled youngsters were rushed to the hospital to sober up, smirking 16-year-old Cordero Harrigan was arrested for allegedly spiking the soda with, of all things, cognac. The merry prankster now faces 13 counts of child endangerment and, for some reason, gang assault. His connection to the party was unclear.
Read the rest of "Blotter: Bronx Cheer".Posted by Michelle at 05:53 PM | Comments (0)
December 05, 2005
City's hire was $helter skelter
The disgraced former head of a charity for disabled children has landed a $20 million city contract to house homeless families in a Bronx hotel--even though he reportedly embezzled $1.4 million at his last job, The Post has learned.
Bernard Kahn, the former CEO of the Hebrew Academy for Special Children, resigned his $244,000-a-year post in 2004 after an internal audit found he allegedly used agency funds for personal expenses, including his daughter's wedding.
Read the rest of "City's hire was $helter skelter".Posted by Michelle at 05:05 PM | Comments (0)
October 31, 2005
Family Sues After Son Is Allegedly Assaulted In School Bathroom
A Bronx mother is suing the Department of Education after she says her learning disabled son was sexually assaulted in a school bathroom.
Read the rest of "Family Sues After Son Is Allegedly Assaulted In School Bathroom".Posted by Michelle at 06:03 PM | Comments (0)
July 09, 2005
Former manager at Bronx group home convicted of embezzlement
A former manager at a Bronx group home for mentally disabled adults has been convicted of embezzling more than $50,000, prosecutors said Friday.
The Bronx district attorney's office said Yvette Belmar, 45, took money from the Sedgwick Group Home's petty cash account between January 1999 and October 2001, submitting false information on receipts and reimbursement forms to justify withdrawals.
Read the rest of "Former manager at Bronx group home convicted of embezzlement".Posted by Michelle at 01:13 PM | Comments (0)