The Bronx Ink

The Villa Charlotte Bronte, the castle in Spuyten Duyvil in the Bronx, was hit hard by Hurricane Irene a month ago, and residents in five of the 17 apartments inside still can’t go home, reports the New York Times.

Engineers haven’t been able to determine the safety of the buildings’ foundation. Construction will be not only expensive, but will further exacerbate the exile that residents have already faced.

And since it’s a historic building, original documents are needed from the Department of Buildings before construction can start. Those documents are missing.

Police responded to a 911 call just before 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning in Morris Heights, finding 20-year-old John Vasquez and a 56-year-old with gunshot wounds, reports NY1. Vasquez was pronounced dead. The 56-year-old, as yet unidentified, is in stable condition at Lincoln Hospital.

The shooting occurred at the intersection of Cedar and Sedgwick Avenues. Police are investigating.

Freshmen at the Bronx Lab High School are getting ready for a one-night camping trip at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, reports the New York Daily News.

The trip is possible thanks to the last bit of funding that the Sierra Club’s Building Bridges to the Outdoors Program had left after it closed due to other financial restraints.

The students gathered to learn how to pitch tents, and are also bringing hiking boots, sleeping mats and bags, cooking pots and backpacks donated by the Youth Opportunities Program.

New York’s elementary and middle schools received twice as many D’s and F’s this year from last year under the city’s grading system from the Department of Education, reports SchoolBook, a joint education journalism venture between the New York Times and WNYC radio.

Last year, the Department enacted a rule that schools couldn’t drop more than two letter grades in the School Progress Reports, but this year that safety net was removed and many schools fell further.

Altogether, 79 city schools received D’s and 32 were graded F. Last year, only around 60 school total had received D’s or F’s, reports SchoolBook.

A quarter of schools received A’s, 35 percent were given B’s and another 30 percent got C’s.

The South Bronx Classical Charter School, however, bucked the trend and received an A this year after getting a D last year.

Seventeen New York police officers were indicted by a grand jury in the Bronx yesterday, reported the New York Daily News.

The investigation, which included a number of union delegates, had gone on for two years, focusing mainly on the largest police union, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. Though the probe involved more than 500 officers, the 17 accused will face arraignments next week for perjury, bribery, obstruction, grand larceny and official misconduct. More details should be available after the arraignments, reports the Daily News.

Police have released identification details of a woman accused of slashing two other 4-train passengers, both young women, in the face two separate times, reports NBC New York. There doesn’t appear to be a motive to the crimes, which is worrying other young women riding the train, they report.

Both times, the alleged slasher was last ween wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, a thick green bracelet and translucent plastic gloves, police said.

The first incident happened on Sept. 6 on the uptown 4 train near East 170th Street, according to police. The next was six days later on the downtown 4 train near Mount Eden Avenue.

Kathleen Brick, a 79-year-old Woodlawn woman, has been having a hard time getting around since her double knee surgery, so she’s taking advantage of the new Meals-On-Wheels delivery in the area, New York Daily News.

The nationwide program started in Woodlawn about six weeks ago, coordinated out of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center, reports the Daily News. It provides a free hot meal every day for seniors via a local catering company, Culinary Concepts.

An 87-year-old Bronx woman was killed and her 91-year-old husband critically injured Thursday afternoon after their apartment on Johnson Avenue caught fire, New York Times.

Police identified the woman as Cornelia Dykshoorn and her husband as Marinus Dykshoorn. Both were transported to New York Presbyterian Hospital where Cornelia Dykshoorn was pronounced dead.