Round'em Up

Here are some Bronx-related stories which we've rounded up you, our lovely readers, while trolling the interweb with our horse and lasso this fine morning:

A developer is seeking a change in zoning rules in order to build an additional 10 stories onto his 3-story building on E. Fordham Road at Hughes Avenue...residents and business leaders in the neighborhood fear there will be major traffic implications [Daily News]

BD NOTE: There will be a public hearing regarding this issue this evening at 6:30pm in the Candy Lounge, 608 E. Fordham Road. Additional development on that section of Fordham Road is pretty much a horrible idea. That particular intersection is already a clusterfuck of problems during rush hour - it's right where traffic from the Fordham Road/Crotona Avenue underpass/overpass merge together again, and it's simply horrible. Ten stories of rental units right there is just unnecessary. Who wants to live above a medical clinic anyway? Wait a minute, come to think of it, doesn't this building already have scaffolding up with construction underway? Anyone with intimate knowledge of this project out there?

An iceskating rink will open this week on the ground floor of the former Concourse Plaza Hotel, which is now a senior citizens' apartment complex...skaters will need to pre-register to get ice time [Daily News]

BD NOTE: I'm not trying to be a negative-nancy or anything, but the 161st Street BID was originally told by the City that the rink would have to be built on a grassy meadow of Joyce Kilmer Park. This option would have cost an additional $4,000, but I would think it would be more a draw for people to ice skate outside in a beautiful park than on the ground floor of an old building that has probably lost most of its original luster over the years.

The Parks Department will be working with the Army Corp of Engineers to rebuild a wetlands habitat near the mouth of the Bronx River in Soundview Park [Daily News]

A new building at the Hunts Point sewage plant was built without a necessary backflow preventer, which could have allowed the workers there to drink contaminated water [Daily News]

~ErLu