NEWS ITEMS

DA: Contractor Took Money from Bronx Homeowners
1010 Wins – New York,NY,USA
NEW YORK (AP) — A Long Island man has been indicted by a Bronx grand jury for allegedly taking more than $142000 to make repairs or begin home improvement …
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Bronx Multifamily Sells for $7 Million
CoStar Group – Bethesda,MD,USA
LLC sold the 66-unit multifamily complex at 2842 Grand Concourse in the Bronx to Parkash 2842 LLC for $7.05 million, or approximately $106800 per unit. …
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Nonprofit Ariva to Provide Free Tax Prep Help to Bronx Residents With Help of CheckSpring

Nonprofit Ariva to Provide Free Tax Prep Help to Bronx Residents With Help of CheckSpring

Nearly 4,000 Returns Filed, $5.4 Million in Refunds Since Program
Started in 2004; CheckSpring Bank to Host Program, Offers Help to Unbanked
and Underbanked.

NEW YORK, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Starting today, Ariva, a
Bronx-based non-profit organization providing wealth building knowledge and
tools, is providing tax preparation and financial literacy classes to low
and moderate-income Bronx area residents. The Ariva program will be hosted
at CheckSpring, 69 East 167th St., Bronx, NY.

Ariva will provide over 60 free tax-prep sessions at CheckSpring’s
location Mondays through Thursdays from 4-7:30 p.m. and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on
Saturdays through mid-April 2008. Ariva also be providing 30 mobile tax
preparation days at sites in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn with the
partnership of Signature Bank, Fifth Avenue Committee, Mosholu Preservation
Corp, Asociacion de Tepeyac, Ridgewood Savings Bank, Community Board 12,
Bronx House, and Parkchester Enhancement Program for Seniors (PEP).

After receiving assistance with their taxes, Ariva customers will be
eligible to open accounts with CheckSpring, which works closely with
community organizations in supporting financial education and providing
products and tools needed to manage financial resources. The CheckSpring
Access Account provides tax filers with an account for direct deposit of
refunds so you can get an electronic payment from the IRS. When combined
with E-FILE, customers can expect to receive refunds more quickly (IRS
processing times may vary). The Access Account provides an ATM card used to
withdraw money for free from MoneyPass(R) ATM’s. The card can be used for
Point of Sale and Cash Back transactions or at any ATM.

Ariva has partnered with New York Cares to recruit some 80 dedicated
and talented volunteers who undergo extensive training to be certified by
the IRS. The total volunteer effort will be over 2,000 hours this tax
season.

Members of the local and financial news media are invited to observe a
Free Tax Preparation Day, and speak with Ariva and CheckSpring
representatives on February 23, 2008 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

In partnership with the Internal Revenue Service, ARIVA’s Tax
Assistance Center is a free tax assistance and preparation site for people
who cannot afford professional assistance. ARIVA helps prepare basic tax
returns for taxpayers with low-to-middle incomes, including persons with
disabilities, limited-English proficiency, and elderly taxpayers. Since
2004, Ariva has facilitated the filing of 3,990 tax returns yielding $5.4
million in refunds.

ABOUT ARIVA

In 2007, Ariva completed 2,102 tax returns and helped taxpayers receive
over $3,037,736 in refunds from the IRS and New York State, including the
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) geared to moderate- and low-income
households. Now, Ariva is stepping up its commitment to promoting
individual wealth and economic development in underserved communities with
improved access to financial services and education. For more information
about the Ariva free tax program and workshops, call Kelly Dillon or send
an email to kdillon@arivaonline.com. More information about Ariva also is
available on the Web at http://www.arivaonline.com.

ABOUT CHECKSPRING

CheckSpring inaugurated the first Branch of its new Bank on November 5,
2007. As the first bank founded in the Bronx in over 25 years, CheckSpring
Bank is making a strong commitment to the community CheckSpring thrives
with “unbanked” communities with a niche focus; that goes much farther than
check cashers by providing check cashing customers with the ability to
establish bank accounts. CheckSpring has created a unique and
cost-effective approach to banking inner-city communities and clientele.
CheckSpring is currently adding services and is focused on identifying
additional locations to provide its services.

SOURCE CheckSpring Bank, New York City

Nonprofit Ariva to Provide Free Tax Prep Help to Bronx Residents With Help of CheckSpring.

FreeNYC\

Free First Fridays at The Bronx Museum

Date: Friday, February 1st
Time: 6:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: The Bronx Museum (1040 Grand Concourse 165th St., Bronx)
Cost: Free

Source: FreeNYC\.

video on demand

TotalBlackTV video on demand?

http://www.totalblacktv.com

Calzagne-Hopkins will be an all-out war

Calzagne-Hopkins will be an all-out war

by DAVE SHOLLER, BoxingScene.com
Updated: January 29, 2008,

In the words of Army General Ulysses S. Grant, “The art of war is simple enough: Find out where your enemy is, get at him as soon as you can, strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on.”

Even though some believe the long-awaited clash between super middleweight king Joe Calzaghe and light heavyweight ring general Bernard Hopkins will follow Grant’s dictum, there is a growing belief that the lead up to April 19 will actually feature a treacherous, complex war. While dissecting the bout based on the fighters’ skills alone will be rudimentary, there are many that believe that the Hopkins-Calzaghe battle will mark anything but simplicity.

A controversial exchange in December between Hopkins and Calzaghe proved to be the starting point of the pending collision course. Borderline racist remarks from the light heavyweight served as the first shots fired. Calzaghe, proving to be no saint himself, responded with his own artillery, questioning his future opponent’s in-ring body of work and displaying confidence in making short work of Hopkins. While these verbal blows could be considered hype, it’s hard to argue the general dislike for one another the future Hall of Famers share.

Read [FOX Sports on MSN - Boxing - Calzagne-Hopkins will be an all-out war] .for more

NYPD Detective Accused Of Promoting Prostitution

NYPD Detective Accused Of Promoting Prostitution Of Minor

 

New York City Police Detective Wayne Taylor, a 14-year department veteran, was

arrested and suspended for allegedly endangering the welfare of a child,

promoting prostitution, kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment, police said

Wednesday.

 

 

[http://www.wnbc.com/tu/5vf8ROVKH.html]

Border Officials Brace for Uptick in Passport Requests – January 30, 2008 – The New York Sun

Border Officials Brace for Uptick in Passport Requests

By SARAH GARLAND
Staff Reporter of the Sun
January 30, 2008

The federal customs and border agency is readying for a surge in passport applications as it prepares to tighten identification requirements at the borders this Friday to comply with a post-September 11 security plan, federal officials said in New York yesterday. The officials, from the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, said they were doing the best they could to ramp up capacity and avoid a major backlog as the next phase the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative goes into effect. But they also acknowledged that long waits for documents and long lines at the Mexican and Canadian borders ensued after the first phase began last year, when the agency received 50% more passport applications than usual.

Border Officials Brace for Uptick in Passport Requests – January 30, 2008 – [The New York Sun].

Gotham Gazette – Reports

Most Food Stamp Recipients No Longer Also Welfare Recipients

01/29/08
In 2006, 38 percent of food stamp recipients also received public assistance, down from 80 percent in the mid-1990s, according to a report from the Independent Budget Office. The study includes a review of food stamp caseloads over the last 20 years and concludes that in the future “it could prove difficult to enroll a considerable portion of the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who are eligible for but do not receive food stamps.” (.pdf format)

for more read : Gotham Gazette – Reports.

In the South Bronx, Robotics and Rebirth

In the South Bronx, Robotics and Rebirth

By SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN
Published: January 30, 2008

At the end of a distinctly pugilistic day of sixth grade, Abdoulie Lemon was escorted by a dean to the industrial-arts classroom that doubled as the detention pen. No sooner had he restlessly settled into his chair than he caught sight of a dozen students gathered in rapt attention around a table at the other end of the room.

Joyce Dopkeen/The New York Times

At robotics team practice at Herman Ridder Junior High School, from left: Carl Jules, Azeem Yousaf, Gary Israel, Harold Smith and Sabrina Fletcher.

Not being the obedient sort at this point in his scholastic career, Abdoulie left behind the dean and the chair to check out the hubbub, he recalled recently. He saw on the tabletop a sort of motorized cart made mostly of Lego pieces.

Read the rest : In the South Bronx, Robotics and Rebirth – [New York Times.]

Tags: education

POLITICS

Financing the Bronx Borough President Race
by Azi Paybarah | January 29, 2008

It’s barely 2008 and likely Bronx Borough President candidate and City Councilman Joel Rivera has already spent $144,852 of the $201,996 he raised.

According to the city Campaign Finance Board’s rules, Rivera has exceeded his out-year spending limit for a borough president candidate, which is $129,000. Any money spent beyond that limit will be counted towards the $1,386,000 spending limit for the 2009 primary.

SOURCE : Financing the Bronx Borough President Race | (The New York Observer).

 

We Want Your Bronx Election Reports, Photos!

If you’re volunteering for one of the presidential candidates, or if you attend one of their rallies, we want to hear from you. Send us your impressions of the candidates, and photos if you’ve got them. We’ll post them to the blog and credit you. Just e-mail whatever you’ve got to norwoodnews-at-norwoodnews.org.
Thanks!

SOURCE : West Bronx Blog: We Want Your Bronx Election Reports, Photos!.