The historic City Island Bridge, which is the first and last thing people see when visiting the the Bronx neighborhood known for its seafood, is in need of repair, but some City Islanders aren't in favor of the plans the city has in store.
Residents Not Happy With Plans To Revamp City Island Bridge
Sat, 29 Dec 2012 00:15:18 GMT
Inmates families get hit hard when a loved one makes a call home but what do you think about this decision??
Via CNN
In the age of free phone calls and Skype, one group of people is still paying exorbitant rates for talk time: prisoners. The bill for a typical 15 minute state-to-state call tops $16 in some areas.
That’s because most prisons offer exclusive deals to phone service providers in exchange for astronomical commissions. The Federal Communications Commission labeled interstate inmate calling services (ICS) a government-sponsored “monopoly.”
The FCC wants it broken up. On Friday, the agency opened for public comment its proposed rules to lower interstate prison phone call rates. Its plans include the establishment of an interstate rate benchmark, caps on rates and the end of exclusivity agreements.
The fees providers pay to prisons add 43% on average to the cost of a call, the FCC estimated. As a result, prisoners pay far less for interstate calls in the small handful of states that do not charge commissions. New York, for instance, has banned commissions, and its average per-minute rates are as low as 5 cents per minute — the lowest of all states’ rates. Colorado’s ICS, which does charge commissions to its payphone vendors, is the nation’s most expensive, at 89 cents per minute.
On top of per-minute rates, most ICS operators charge prisoners call-initiation fees, which vary from 50 cents to $3.95 per call.
Prison calling services differ from typical payphones in some crucial ways. They can block inmates from making calls to certain people, including judges or witnesses. They can’t dial 800 or 900 numbers, and phone conversations can be monitored. If a prisoner is repeatedly making a call to the same number, for instance, corrections officers might listen in or record future calls. The systems also periodically notify the recipient that the call is being placed from a jail.
All those features — and the personnel needed to manage the systems — make prison systems more costly to operate than regular payphones. But the wide disparity in ICS rates suggests that some operators are going overboard.
The FCC proposal comes more than a decade after a U.S. District Court dismissed a class action lawsuit initiated by Martha Wright of Washington, who claimed that she paid $1,000 a year to cover the costs of her grandson’s phone calls from various state prisons. The judge in the case referred Wright to the FCC, which she contacted nine years ago.
Thoughts??
Images via tumblr
The FCC Announces It Wants To Lower Those High Prison Phone Charges
djtrell
Sat, 29 Dec 2012 04:44:28 GMT
Date: January 1, 2013
Poe Park Visitor Center is pleased to host Swamp, an exhibition that explores our shifting relationship with the natural world. The swamp as a bipolar space—half earth, half water—hints at complex connections between the real and fantastic, renewal and abandonment. Fourteen artists explore the delicate balance between visual imagination, illusion and actual environment. Swamp, curated by Kari Adelaide, is on view from December 19, 2012 - January 18, 2013.
In addition to drawing upon environmental sources, the artists also include ideas of embodiment and themes of fluidity, memory and consciousness. The exhibition conjures New York City’s bygone swamps, such as the Bronx’s former Bear Swamp, as well as Central Park’s present-day bodies of water that were created by damming the natural seepage of a swamp. Swamp acknowledges Frederick Law Olmsted's vision of "undignified tricks of disguise" in his Greensward Plan (the original map for Central Park), which emphasized the illusion of extended space—seemingly natural but completely man-made. Olmsted's vision of land rearrangement led to significant changes in the park’s structure and natural conditions: swamps were drained, ten million carts of soil were brought in and 20,800 barrels of gunpowder were used to loosen rock, for example.
The strikingly diverse and visually rich range of artwork negotiates boundaries between physical landscape and human consciousness. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Shadows in still water, and the like, if too eagerly hunted, become shows merely, and mock us with their unreality.”
Artists exhibited include Bhakti Baxter, Jesse Bransford, Benjamin Butler, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Tamara Gonzales, Scott Hug, Juliet Jacobson, Jose Lerma, Lauren Luloff, David Matorin, Max Razdow, Sigga Björg Sigurðardóttir, Ryan Wallace, Max Warsh.
Start time: 8:00 am
End time: 4:00 pm
Contact phone: (718) 365-5516
Location: Poe Park Visitor Center (in Poe Park)
Swamp: Art Exhibition
Fri, 28 Dec 2012 05:00:03 GMT
Within an hour of the mass shooting in Newtown, according to NBC New York, a 37-year-0ld woman named Nouel Alba posted a message on Facebook identifying herself as the aunt of one of the slain children, Noah Pozner. Later, she solicited donations to help her family pay for the funeral through a PayPal account. This would have been a perfectly understandable request, except Alba lives in the Bronx and has no relation to the child. She was arrested today and charged with lying to the FBI, among, presumably, other things.
Read more posts by Dan Amira
Filed Under: awful people ,newtown massacre
Bronx Woman Heard About Newtown Massacre, Decided It Would Be a Good Way to Make Money
Dan Amira
Thu, 27 Dec 2012 07:06:59 GMT
Date: January 2, 2013
Take pride in your community and join the effort to continue the initial park clean-up The South Bronx Over-All Economic Development Corporation( SOBRO)is proposing to continue with the bi-weekly clean-ups starting on October 24,2012. Gloves and Bags will be provided. Volunteer Certificate hours - credits available on request.
Start time: 11:00 am
End time: 2:00 pm
Contact phone: 718.292.3113
Location: Roberto Clemente Plaza
Roberto Clemente Park Volunteer Clean-up Day
Mon, 24 Dec 2012 05:00:02 GMT
Along Bruckner Blvd. the recent conversion of warehouses and factories into lofts and trendy eateries has seen an influx of young, mostly white, residents. A burgeoning artist community has flourished in the area.
Separate worlds in one Bronx precinct: lofts and sushi; drugs and guns
DENIS SLATTERY
Thu, 20 Dec 2012 11:00:15 GMT
More than 500 nurses and staff may find themselves out of work if Montefiore Medical Center buys financially distressed Westchester Square Medical Center.
Hundreds could be laid off if Montefiore buys WSMC
KERRY WILLS , TANYANIKA SAMUELS
Tue, 18 Dec 2012 09:00:28 GMT
The looming passage of a proposed city law requiring paid sick leave has sparked tension between top Bronx officials and some in the business community.
Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. says bill would protect low-wage workers
TANYANIKA SAMUELS
Wed, 12 Dec 2012 11:00:49 GMT
For 77-year old Courtney Campbell, the BronxWorks’ Morris Innovative Senior Center in Fordham Heights is like a second home. “I’d be so bored if I didn’t have this place,” said Campbell, who lives nearby and takes computer classes, volunteers in the pantry and works out in the gym, among other activities.
BronxWorks celebrates its 40th anniversary
TANYANIKA SAMUELS
Tue, 11 Dec 2012 11:00:13 GMT
Wedged between massive Van Cortlandt Park and Woodlawn Cemetery, the northernmost station on the 4 train in the Bronx is known more for its access to greenery than great eats.
Eating Along the 4 Line: Woodlawn
RACHEL WHARTON
Sun, 09 Dec 2012 11:00:33 GMT
Date: December 11, 2012
The Poe Park Visitor Center is home to the III Bienal de Artes Latino Americano del Bronx. Come and enjoy Visual Appearance. You will be amazed!
The title "Visual Appearance" refers to the elucidation of of what happens when we stand in front of an art work. The visual appearance of objects is given by the way in which they reflect and transmit light. The color of objects is determined by the parts of the spectrum of light, reflected or transmitted without being absorbed. Visual Appearance also relates to the meaning of symbolic reference constructed as an icon that stands for an object by signifying or representing it either concretely, or by analogy. In Visual Appearance you will experience conflict, contrast, wonder and especially question what you see.
The Latin American artists include Miguel Trelles, Leenda Bonilla, Rodolfo Edwards, Pepe Villegas, Aisha Sufe, Miguel Martinez, Marina Gutierrez and Ismael Checo. The curator is Luis Stephenberg. The next bienal will be in 2014.
The Poe Park Visitor Center is open from Tuesday-Saturday, 9am-5pm. We are closed Sundays and Mondays.
For your convenience, please call to schedule a visit for your group. We are closed on Thanksgiving.
Start time: 9:00 am
End time: 5:00 pm
Contact phone: (718) 365-5516
Location: Poe Park Visitor Center (in Poe Park)
III Bienial Exhibition of Latin American Artists of the Bronx: Visual Appearance
Thu, 06 Dec 2012 05:00:02 GMT
Orchard Beach is set to re-open Wednesday after Hurricane Sandy impacted the popular area.
Orchard Beach Set To Reopen Wednesday
Wed, 05 Dec 2012 01:42:16 GMT
Star-crossed lovers, struggling boxers, Nazi officers and villanous best friends are just some of the stars of the 10th annual Bronx International Film Festival.
Bronx International film Festival starts Thursday
TANYANIKA SAMUELS
Tue, 04 Dec 2012 11:00:00 GMT
Hector 'Macho' Camacho laid to rest in the Bronx
Thousands of fight fans flocked to Spanish Harlem for the Saturday funeral of local hero Hector "Macho" Camacho, the talented but troubled three-time boxing champ. Many boosters of the murdered fighter waved Puerto Rican flags as they stood behind barricades opposite St. Cecilia’s Church on E. 106th St. Camacho’s mother, ex-wife and their four sons led the packed crowd of family and close friends inside the church as they bid farewell to the charismatic boxer.
Hector 'Macho' Camacho laid to rest in the Bronx
CORINNE LESTCH , LARRY McSHANE
Sat, 01 Dec 2012 18:27:50 GMT
Picketing workers who say they were wrongly fired and want to get back to work were joined by local politicians in confronting a Bronx car wash manager Monday. State Sen.
Sunny Day Car Wash workers on picket line for three weeks
ERICA PEARSON
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 11:00:26 GMT
Strap on your skates and start practicing your triple Axel because the Bronx is finally on ice. The borough will get its own public ice skating rink Tuesday, with the opening of a long-awaited facility in Van Cortlandt Park.
Bronx no longer only borough without public ice skating spot
DANIEL BEEKMAN
Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:00:35 GMT
Date: November 24, 2012
The Poe Park Visitor Center is home to the III Bienal de Artes Latino Americano del Bronx. Come and enjoy Visual Appearance. You will be amazed!
The title "Visual Appearance" refers to the elucidation of of what happens when we stand in front of an art work. The visual appearance of objects is given by the way in which they reflect and transmit light. The color of objects is determined by the parts of the spectrum of light, reflected or transmitted without being absorbed. Visual Appearance also relates to the meaning of symbolic reference constructed as an icon that stands for an object by signifying or representing it either concretely, or by analogy. In Visual Appearance you will experience conflict, contrast, wonder and especially question what you see.
The Latin American artists include Miguel Trelles, Leenda Bonilla, Rodolfo Edwards, Pepe Villegas, Aisha Sufe, Miguel Martinez, Marina Gutierrez and Ismael Checo. The curator is Luis Stephenberg. The next bienal will be in 2014.
The Poe Park Visitor Center is open from Tuesday-Saturday, 9am-5pm. We are closed Sundays and Mondays.
For your convenience, please call to schedule a visit for your group. We are closed on Thanksgiving.
Start time: 9:00 am
End time: 5:00 pm
Contact phone: (718) 365-5516
Location: Poe Park Visitor Center (in Poe Park)
III Bienial Exhibition of Latin American Artists of the Bronx: Visual Appearance
Sun, 18 Nov 2012 05:00:02 GMT
Immigrant workers at a Bronx car wash have walked off the job, saying they want to unionize and their boss hasn't paid them in weeks. More than a dozen men picketed in front of Sunny Day Car Wash on Third Ave. Tuesday, causing at least two potential customers to drive away.
Bronx car-wash workers walk of job, move to unionize
ERICA PEARSON
Tue, 13 Nov 2012 23:32:03 GMT
Date: November 21, 2012
Take pride in your community and join the effort to continue the initial park clean-up The South Bronx Over-All Economic Development Corporation( SOBRO)is proposing to continue with the bi-weekly clean-ups starting on October 24,2012. Gloves and Bags will be provided. Volunteer Certificate hours - credits available on request.
Start time: 11:00 am
End time: 2:00 pm
Contact phone: 718.292.3113
Location: Roberto Clemente Plaza
Roberto Clemente Park Volunteer Clean-up Day
Wed, 14 Nov 2012 05:00:02 GMT
