The Week in Rewind spotlights some of the editorial work of the Bronx Times for the week of Aug.7- Aug. 11
Bronx native’s first feature film, ‘Story Ave,’ to screen at Van Cortlandt Park Tuesday
Imagine you’re a 17-year-old latch-key kid raised by a single mom and you’re in charge of taking care of your little brother who has cerebral palsy. One day he drowns in the tub on your watch and your mom blames you. And it lives in you, turning a knife in your heart, every day. You can’t quell the images of water overflowing from the tub and seeping through the bottom crack of the bathroom door. Every time you close your eyes, the placid expression of a drowned boy flashes in your mind.
That is the plight of Kadir (Asante Blackk) in the movie “Story Ave” (2023), created, directed and co-written by Bronx native Aristotle Torres.
“Story Ave” is about loss, finding oneself, making decisions, taking accountability and controlling your own destiny. It follows Kadir, a mild-mannered young man who likes school and art — but the streets have a hold of him. All he wants is to be part of the graffiti crew OTL, Outside the Lines. Yet, when he is asked to rob someone at gunpoint by the crew leader SKEMES (Melvin Gregg) as an initiation, Kadir finds himself at a crossroads.
Riding the train at night, looking for his target, he meets Luis (Luis Guzmán), a widowed MTA worker with simple pleasures and a mysterious past. Kadir sticks him up on the platform of Story Ave – a fictitious train station along the 6 line, but a real avenue in the Bronx – where Kadir lives and where the story takes a turn.
Luis gives Kadir his wallet and his coat, then offers to buy him a meal and give him enough cash to find a place to sleep for the night. Since choosing a life of crime, Kadir is not welcome at home. Luis takes Kadir to the Caridad Restaurant, located at 1594 Westchester Ave., where several scenes of the movie are filmed and where Kadir finds clarity and comfort. The restaurant recently received a $10,000 grant from DoorDash as part of the company’s Accelarator for Local Restaurants program.
Unlike many movies that build sets to achieve authenticity, Torres instead utilizes the raw landscape of the Bronx. The borough is a main character and the 6 train, a supporting role.
Kadir ends up moving into Luis’ home where he is cared for and fed, until Luis dies and Kadir must find his way again.
“I’ve never robbed anyone before at gunpoint,” Torres told the Bronx Times of the inspiration for the script. “But I am definitely familiar with feeling alone. Of what it feels like to want to aspire for something greater than what’s in front of you.”
Hochul, Adams announce $200M grants for Kingsbridge Armory, which Bronx leaders say will finally get the project off the ground
In what the governor and mayor are calling an unprecedented move, the state’s top elected officials announced on Tuesday a whopping $200 million commitment toward the revitalization of the Kingsbridge Armory.
Located just south of the Jerome Park Reservoir in Kingsbridge Heights, the structure — the largest armory in the nation — was originally opened as a military facility in 1917 but has sat dormant for almost three decades. Since 1996, when the armory was transferred to New York City, multiple community and government initiatives have outlined ambitious plans for its redevelopment — including turning the site into a mall and a huge indoor ice rink — as well as using it as temporary emergency space during the COVID-19 pandemic and after the Twin Parks North West fire.
But each long-term project proposal has failed, leaving the surrounding community skeptical that they’ll ever be able to enjoy the space again.
And while top New York City officials don’t yet know what the space will become — the Request for Proposal (RFP) process for the site has yet to start — they said on Tuesday that they’re committed to seeing this project cross the finish line.
“Now we’re delivering,” Mayor Eric Adams said during a press conference at the building with Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday. “(The) Kingsbridge Armory has the possibility to become a beacon of employment, entrepreneurship and opportunity.”
The primary industries of interest have been boiled down to film and television, sustainable manufacturing, emerging technologies and urban agriculture. That’s according to the Together for Kingsbridge Vision Plan unveiled during the press conference, which Hochul said will serve “as a road map to transform this building into an economic engine for local jobs and a true asset for the community.”
Adams said the vision plan focuses on providing entrepreneurial opportunity for residents in surrounding neighborhoods, and estimated the redevelopment will create around 1,800 jobs and up to $10 billion in economic impact to the Bronx.
‘Love letter to hip-hop’: 161st Street BID celebrates hip-hop’s 50th anniversary with interactive art installation
The Bronx 161st Street Business Improvement District (BID) is celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop with an art installation in Lou Gehrig Plaza next to Yankee Stadium.
The installation, which was created with 161st Street BID partner LeMonde Studio, is made of an amalgamation of one of the most iconic symbols of hip-hop – boomboxes.
“The boombox is our homage to hip-hop culture,” said Nicolas Synnot, COO and managing partner of LeMonde Studio. “By turning the crank, the piece lights up, and music comes out of the various speakers. The project is 100% human-powered and sustainable, reflecting our mission and values.”
With Aug. 11, 1973 serving as the birthdate of hip-hop, the boombox art — which will remain open through September — is part of a citywide celebration this summer paying tribute to the golden anniversary. The festivities will culminate in a star-studded concert at Yankee Stadium with some of the biggest names in hip-hop on Aug. 11.
Beyond creating a “love letter to hip-hop in the form of art,” 161st Street BID Executive Director Trey Jenkins told the Bronx Times that, in creating the installation, the organization hopes to “bring more eyeballs to our district which in turn brings more foot traffic to our businesses during non-event days at Yankee Stadium.”
The 161st Street BID is in the heart of the Bronx Capitol District, located on and around 161st Street and Yankee Stadium. The BID was created to improve the quality of life for those who live, work, visit and shop in the area.
Hip-hop’s half-century history started in an apartment in the Bronx less than a mile away from Yankee Stadium, where Clive Campbell, better known as DJ Kool Herc, revolutionized a new type of DJ style. The genre will be celebrated in a star-studded concert at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 11 with some of the biggest names in hip-hop.
USPS offering $50K reward for info on suspect who assaulted letter carrier near Jerome Avenue
The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information on the reported assault of one of the agency’s letter carriers in the Jerome Avenue area of the Bronx last month.
According to Daniela Lella, a public information officer at the USPIS New York Division, the agency has launched an investigation after a person attempted to rob an on-duty USPS letter carrier near a collection box at the corner of Davidson Avenue and West 190th Street on July 21.
In a video obtained by the USPIS, a person in a white tee shirt and a black backpack is seen tackling and wrestling a letter carrier to the ground near the collection box, located on a scaffold-covered sidewalk. It appears the letter carrier was able to get up and defend himself until the attacker splits off to the other side of the street.
None of the passersby seen in the video during the altercation intervened.
The USPIS is the law enforcement branch of the U.S. Postal Service that has the authority to conduct investigations and make arrests, according to Lella. She did say, however, that the USPS employee reported the attack to “local law enforcement” as well.
Spokespersons from the NYPD did not respond to Bronx Times questions about whether or not the department is aware of the incident and working with the USPIS.
Lella told the Bronx Times on Wednesday that the USPIS has reports of this type of attack happening in all five boroughs. She said sometimes perpetrators aren’t sure what the postal carrier may have on them, and whether or not they carry anything with value.
“The individual saw a crime of opportunity,” Lella said.
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