The Bronx Ink

Bronx Senator Jeffrey Klein of the 34th District is proposing an anti-bullying bill in response to the spate of online suicides caused by online bullying, reports amNewYork.

The most recent incident involved the suicide of a 14-year-old Buffalo teen, who had received hateful messages online.

The proposed bill by the Democratic senator on anti-cyberbullying could land offenders behind bars for 15 years.

Two Bronx high schools have made the cut for the annual U.S. News & World Report’ s Top 100 ‘Best High Schools’ list, reports the New York Daily News.

The High School of American Studies at Lehman College in the Bronx came in at #19 across the country.

The Bronx High School of Science came in at #58.

Statewide, 30 schools made the list, include a dozen across the city.

A Bronx grand jury has begun to vote on whether to bring charges to police officers accused  in the widespread ticket-fixing scandal, reports the New York Times.

Amongst those possible facing charges relating to ticket-fixing are 10 officials of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, including as many as seven Bronx precinct delegates and three higher-ranking police union officials from the Bronx.

The investigation into the ticket-fixing began almost three years ago, after an officer was caught on wiretap talking about the allegations of ticket-fixing.

Rat Island, a two and half acre island off of City Island in the Bronx, will be put up for auction this Sunday, reports the New York Times.

The island, which is uninhabited and owned by a retired marine contractor who now lives in Florida, is valued by the city at $426,000.

The island, which was bought by the city in the 1880s for Pelham Bay Park, has a rich and sometimes disputable history associated with prisoners, artists, and those placed in quarantine.

The head of the Bronx-based construction coalition, United Hispanic Workers, was expected to be charged Monday after allegedly threatening contractors with violence if they didn’t hire his members at job sites, reports the New York Daily News.

Chief of the organization, David Rodriguez, and his field director, Daryll Jennings, allegedly strong-armed contractors to hire construction workers from their group, often threatening them with violence and labor unrest, the report says.

The United Hispanic Workers was formed in 1982 to advocate for helping members of minorities groups enter into “white dominated building trades.”

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, has asked a Bronx Court to drop a civil lawsuit filed by hotel maid and Bronx resident Nafissatou Diallo, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Lawyers for 62-year-old Strauss-Kahn claim the Frenchman has diplomatic immunity from his former position at the IMF, and has asked the court to dismiss the civil lawsuit filed by the maid after he allegedly sexually assaulted her in May of this year.

The original criminal case against Strauss-Kahn was dropped earlier after prosecutors questioned Diallo’s credibility.

The Ghetto Film School, a program that has been running in the South Bronx for over a decade, is expected to honor ten local student filmmakers tonight by showcasing their work at the Walter Reade Theatre in Manhattan, reports the New York Daily News.

The event will present ten six-minute films created by the students, who have completed either the school’s 15-month or eight-week programs in cinematic storytelling.

Three of the filmmakers will receive $1000 scholarships from Google, awarded by a panel of judges that includes Oscar-winning actress Melissa Leo.

New York City’s buildings department lacks funds and personnel to respond to Bronx housing violations and maintain safety codes, reports the New York Daily News.

Three district managers of community boards and a councilman in the Bronx charge that the city is neglecting the Bronx when it comes to allocating funds and assigning inspectors to assess building code complaints.

If these complaints are not investigated, the Bronx will be prone to more fires linked to illegal subdivisions for example, the local officials charge.

According to data in the recently released Mayor’s Management Report cited by the Daily News, average response time for nonemergency complaints grew last year.