Movie in the Park Night

Movie in the Park Night

Riverdale Report 

By Robert Press

BRONX, NEW YORK (BRONX NEWS)- Saturday Night was Movie Night in Seton Park where the movie 'The Lion King' was presented by State Senator Jeff Klein and KRVC. 

Over 300 people attended the movie on a Labor Day holiday weekend where many people are away. The audience camped out on the infield of the baseball diamond as the giant inflatable movie screen was set up on home plate. Before the movie Ms. Tracy Shelton (Executive Director of KRVC) thanked Senator Klein for his help in making this and other events for the community happen. Senator Klein was brief in his comments (as it was getting dark) thanking Ms. Shelton and her organization KRVC. Then the movie 'The Lion King' began. You can go to my blog at www.100percentbronx.blogspot.com to see photos of the event, Senator Klein, the crowd, and sponsors such as Buffalo Wild Wings, Country Bank, and KRVC. The next event by KRVC is the North Riverdale Merchants Association Street Festival on Riverdale Avenue between West 256^thand West 259^th Streets on Saturday September 29^th from 12 – 4 PM. Riverdale Avenue will be closed to traffic from West 256^th Street to West 259^th Streets both ways, however there will be a lane open for buses and emergency vehicles sectioned off. 

In case you missed it like most people and most of the parents at the Kennedy Campus there was a Town Hall meeting held last week to inform everyone of the progress of the situation at the Kennedy Campus after the huge gas explosion that ripped apart the 6^th floor of the building. Representatives of The Department of Education, School Construction Authority, and Department of Health were on hand to tell the few parents in attendance that the school will open on the first day of the school year, and that 15 classrooms on the 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th, floors will be closed and partitions have been put up to keep the students away from the closed off areas. 

The School Construction Authority rep Ms. Grillo said that the three workers were still in the hospital and were now having skin grafts over the parts of their bodies that were burnt in the gas explosion. She also said that the reconstruction work will not be done during school hours, the entrance and exits to the school will all be open, the damage is mainly to the 6^th floor area with some damage to the floors above and below where the explosion took place. Mr. Wehle of the Buildings Department said that the building was structurally sound, and safe to occupy. Mr. Dandrea of the Health Department said that air test have and will be done to ensure that the inside environment is safe. Mr. Shea of the Department of Education said that meals will be provided to the students, but that the gas will not be turned on until it is declared safe by Con Edison to, and he had no timetable for that. To a question of heat he answered that heat in the building is not provided by gas. Check my blog archive on the lower left for the heading Kennedy Campus to reopen for more details, and a current photo of what the area where the gas explosion now looks like with many rooms covered with tarps where the windows were blow completely out by the gas explosion. 

The main complaint of the few parents who attended the Town Hall meeting was the lack of notification to parents of the town hall meeting, and where their children were going to be placed. Everyone on the panel said that every effort was made to open the Kennedy Campus on time, and that the building be safe with any areas where the gas explosion affected be closed off completely. The work to rebuild the building will begin sometime next year. I asked Ms. Grillo of the SCA if the work was being done by the contractor or was it a sub contractor, and if the workers doing the work were licensed for the work they were doing. Ms. Grillo answered that it was a sub contractor, and that they were licensed plumbers doing the gas line work. She also said that the original contractor would not be doing any of the reconstruction work. I wonder however since there were sub contractors who wee doing the gas work were they checked out by the SCA before the work was done (or explosion happened), and on how many other SCA jobs are there sub, and even sub/sub contractors who never bid or gave any information to the SCA. 

If you have any comments about this column or would like to have an event listed or covered in this column or on my blog you can e-mail us at 100percentbronxnews@gmail.com or call 718-644-4199 Mr. Robert Press.