Categorized | Bronx Neighborhoods

DIGITAL BRONX: Seven of the top—and most fascinating—Tweeters in the borough

By Olivia Damavandi

The Bronx Ink canvassed Twitter to find the most followed Bronxites with the most interesting tweets. This is not a comprehensive list, but an eclectic collection of Twitter users across a range of fields.

Bronx Zoo’s Cobra
@BronxZoosCobra
196,986 followers
After escaping from the Bronx Zoo about two weeks ago, the Egyptian snake was nowhere to be found except on Twitter, where her alter-ago amassed almost 200,000 followers. The self-described “Egyptian cobra out on the town” had been slithering the streets of New York and uploading photos from Brooklyn all the way to Ellis Island. Celebrities such as Jon Favreau and Ellen DeGeneres gave suggestions as to where the snake should visit next. The tweeter has not yet been identified, but one public relations firm has already made him or her a job offer. The snake, which was missing in action, has appropriately been named Mia.
Favorite tweet:
“Got a bagel at H & H Bagels on upper west side. When I ordered I said, “I’ll have the snakes on a PLAIN.” He did not laugh. Tough crowd.”

CC Sabathia
@ccsabathia
93,589 followers
With opening day driving Yankee hype through the roof, it’s no surprise that the team’s 6′ 7″ pitcher CC Sabathia is one of the Bronx’s most followed tweeter. Yes, his feed is filled with shameless self-promotion, but also personal stuff you might not know about the Yank.
Favorite tweet:
“Saw my first Hockey game ever tonight! There was a fight, OT and a shootout! What a great time, next time I hope the @thenyrangers win”

Charles Gasparino
@CGasparino
5,853 followers
Love him or hate him, reporter Charlie Gasparino is fun to watch. And when it comes to business and finance news, he knows his stuff. The Bronx-born senior correspondent for Fox Business Network frequently contributes to the New York Post, The Daily Beast and Forbes, among other publications. His Twitter feed reflects his aggressive reporting style (he has said his job is to “rip the lungs out of the competition for Fox Business Network”) and he’s never afraid to engage in a tweet war against anyone who calls him out.
In our favorite tweet, he tells off journalist and documentary filmmaker Patrick Courrielche:
@courrielche you exhibit a for the reason there is so little good reporting coming from the conservative media. sounds like another column.”

Funk Flex
@funkmasterflex
140,037 followers
Funkmaster Flex (Aston George Taylor Jr.) was born in the Bronx and to many, his name is synonymous with hip-hop. He has reigned as one of America’s top hip-hop DJ personalities for more than 10 years, reaching more than 2 million listeners a week through his radio show on WQHT HOT 97 in New York. In addition to his turntable talent, Flex is also well known in the automotive industry for his passion of car customization. He has his own MTV show, “Funk Flex Full Throttle,” which showcases the cars he customizes for high profile celebrities, professional athletes and music artists like Diddy, Ludacris , Manny Ramirez and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Flex’s Twitter feed is fun to read because it’s got all sorts of random news on it that you probably wouldn’t hear from many other outlets. Like this fun fact:
Kobe Bryant Stars in Chinese Smart Car Commercial! http://bit.ly/fiKKXP

Mickey Factz
@MickeyFactz
21,601 followers
In the past few years, the 25-year-old Bronxite dropped out of studying pre-law at NYU to pursue his dream of becoming a hip-hop artist.  After founding his own label, Factz (whose real name is Mickey Williams) is about to release “The Achievement,” his first album under a major record label.
Favorite tweet:
Truthfully: I DO know, Liz Taylor made men MARRY her. Remember that concept ladies?

Ronnie Magro
@mtvronnie
403,108 followers
He may play a Guido from Jersey on TV, but Ronnie from MTV’s “Jersey Shore” hails from the Bronx. If you’re a fan of the show you’re probably already following him on Twitter, where his on-camera persona is resonated through his poorly punctuated tweets about his favorite burgers or his success with the ladies.  For some reason, more than 400,000 people find it endearing. Especially when he tweets to put other guys in their places.
Like this one:
“Let me know if u ever find ur muscles? Think u left them in the pizzeria? Wit ur tan and ur hairline..Clowns.

Ruben Diaz Jr.
@rubendiazjr
520 followers
Yes, Bronx borough president Ruben Diaz tweets. He made our list not because his Twitter feed is funny or witty, or because of the number of his followers, but because it’s a quick and easy way for Bronxites to stay up to speed on what he’s doing in the borough. Mr. Diaz, we apologize in advance for any increase in protests.
Favorite tweet:
Moroccan News featuring Borough President Diaz’s Proclamation declaring Moussem of Tan Tan Day in the Bronx http://bit.ly/edOlwv

(The number of followers were recorded on April 6, 2011)

Click here for more stories on the Digital Bronx.

Leave a Reply