The Week in Rewind spotlights some of the editorial work of the Bronx Times for the week of June 27- 29
Another Bronx building fire. A familiar cause: Lithium-ion batteries
The fire broke out at 289 Bonner Place around 6:38 a.m. with a large blaze on the third floor of the five-story building. Fire officials say the fire extended to the fourth floor and affected multiple apartments.
The nine injuries are non-life threatening, and FDNY officials noted a lack of smoke detectors present.
Wednesday’s apartment fire required the response of nearly 120 firefighters to contain, with two suffering injuries during the response call.
When lithium–ion batteries and other high energy density batteries are poorly made, overused, incorrectly refurbished or charged too long, they can cause large, fast-spreading fires that are hard to extinguish, according to fire experts.
In New York City alone, since the start of 2023, several high-profile fires — such as a blaze at a Chinatown e-bike store that killed four just last week — have been traced to lithium–ion batteries.
On May 16, a three-alarm fire in the University Heights section of the Bronx was caused by a lithium–ion battery.
Marmorato, Havranek advance to second round of voting in razor-thin CD-13 GOP primary
Excitement and uneasiness filled the air for Republicans in the East Bronx Tuesday night with a tightly contested race between City Council District 13 candidates Kristy Marmorato and George Havranek. Even though Marmorato was within a stone’s throw of victory, the race will move onto a second round of vote tabulations thanks to ranked-choice voting.
The winner is expected to be announced on July 5.
Ranked-choice voting requires candidates to exceed a 50%-vote threshold in order to win. Marmorato came close, reaching nearly 48% with 870 votes and just over 96% of scanners reporting, as Havranek trailed behind her with nearly 44% and 796 votes, according to unofficial tallies by the city Board of Elections (BOE).
Hasime “Samantha” Zherka ran a distant third with just 144 votes. But her voters will now have the final say in determining the winner of the race, both depending on who they listed as second, and if they listed a second candidate at all.
The numbers included absentee ballots received up until Friday, BOE spokesperson Vincent Ignizio confirmed.
On Tuesday night, Marmorato was surrounded by about 25 of her supporters at Brewski’s Bar and Grill in Throggs Neck.
When she found out she was in the lead, she threw her arms around Michael Rendino, her brother and the chair of the Bronx GOP. “It’s me and you against the world,” she told him.
Velázquez brushes off first-term criticisms to secure overwhelming win in District 13 Dem primary
Perception is often not reality. In politics, narratives can dominate a race, but in the end, getting more votes than your opponent is the most tangible and real sign of success.
The perception leading into a loaded June 27 primary for the District 13 City Council seat was that incumbent Councilmember Marjorie Velázquez was perhaps vulnerable due to vocal backlash regarding her about-face over the controversial Bruckner rezoning project in October 2022.
But the reality was that Velázquez and Democratic voters were generally unaffected by the criticisms levied against her by the sea of City Council hopefuls in both the Democratic and Republican primaries.
On Tuesday, Velázquez secured the Democratic nomination overwhelmingly receiving 67% of the total vote, while none of her three challengers — who ran to the right of the incumbent — eclipsed 20%, according to unofficial numbers from the city Board of Elections.
Community Board 11 chair Bernadette Ferrera, a conservative Democrat who characterized Velázquez as a “woke progressive” throughout the campaign, ran a distant second with 19% of the vote, while former female district leader for the 80th Assembly District Irene Estrada and perennial candidate John Perez garnered 7% and 5% of the vote, respectively.
In front of roughly 50 or so supporters at her watch party at the Bronx Democrats Headquarters in Indian Village, Velázquez touted her campaign and the communities she represents from Throggs Neck to City Island as one that welcomes, and not limits, diversity.
The Bronx Independent Cinema Center to host outdoor film screening Thursday
If you’re feeling a movie night this week, you could have ditched the herds at the big-budget blockbusters and opt for something more unique — not to mention free.
On Thursday, the nonprofit Bronx Independent Cinema Center hosted the first of three outdoor film screenings at Joyce Kilmer Park at the Grand Concourse (facing the courthouse).
Squatting couple indicted after children found locked in a room, eating a mattress in Mitchel Houses
A Bronx woman and her boyfriend were indicted by a grand jury for neglecting two young girls who were found by police eating bits of a foam mattress, locked in a filthy room with signs of physical abuse, according to the Bronx district attorney.
They were both arraigned Monday in Bronx Supreme Court, according to Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark’s office, after being arrested on May 27, according to the NYC Department of Correction (DOC).
Stephanie Grabowski, a 40-year-old Bronxite and her boyfriend Mark Russell, 45, were squatting in an apartment at the New York City Housing Authority’s Mitchel Houses at 300 E. 138th St., according to the DA’s office.
NYPD officers went to vacate the apartment on May 3 because it was a known home to squatters. Once they arrived, officers discovered Grabowski’s two daughters inside a filthy bedroom lined with feces, dirty diapers and garbage, according to the DA’s office.
One of Gabrowski’s daughters just turned five last week and the other will turn four next month, according to the indictment.
The officers noticed the bedroom door knob tied together with a nearby closet door with a “ropelike cord,” before kicking in the door and finding the two girls. The children were bruised and naked on a dirty “spongelike mattress” on the floor, according to Clark’s office.
One officer saw the children eating pieces of the mattress, according to Clark’s office.
Additionally, there was urine and feces around the apartment and there did not appear to be sufficient food, amenities, clothing or clean diapers, according to Clark’s office.
“The defendants allegedly kept these little girls in a house of horrors,” Clark said. “They illegally occupied an apartment and left the children alone without food or clothing. Fortunately, police rescued the girls, and a nurse discovered signs of abuse for which they are being treated. The situation is beyond the pale.”
