Bronx pool gets quiet in heat wave

The hot, muggy weather means attendance at nearly every public pool citywide is up this summer. But not at the Barretto Point Park floating pool, which has seen 7,300 less visitors this year than last.

That’s because kids have no way to get there, say some. In June, the MTA eliminated a shuttle bus that took kids from the South Bronx to the Hunts Point pool to save $100,000.

“It’s been almost the hottest July on record. Numbers should be up,” said Adam Liebowitz, of the Point Community Development Corporation. “In previous summers you had to wait on line 20, 30 minutes before you could go in. But now I’ve heard the lines are gone. It’s obviously because of the lack of public transportation.”

The floating pool is one the city’s “most popular pools,” said a parks department spokesperson, and frequently reached full capacity this summer.

The shuttle bus first came to the area in 2008 to help kids get there and was supposed to stay for a three-year period.

Now, poolgoers endure a 30-minute walk from the 6 train. Taking the Bx6, which the MTA recommends, still requires an 11-block walk through an industrial area of Hunts Point police say is known for prostitution, and speeding 18-wheelers.

Body of Missing Scarsdale Doctor Pulled From Bronx Bay

Authorities say a body pulled from the Eastchester Bay in the Bronx Wednesday morning may be that of a Scarsdale doctor who was reported missing Sunday.

New York City police removed the body around 11:30 a.m. near City Island

Mona Shimshi, 55, who was reported missing Sunday by her husband, 61-year-old Dr. Mark Greenburg, had been running errands when she vanished. Greenburg said he reportedly received a one-word text message from his wife’s cell phone reading: “goodbye.”

Shimshi, who apparently suffered from bipolar disorder and was under psychiatric care, left the couple’s Scarsdale home around 1 p.m. Her husband notified police of her disappearance 5 hours later when she failed to return home.

Shimshi worked at Bridgeport Hospital in Connecticut and also practiced endocrinology and internal medicine in the Bronx and Bridgeport, Conn.

Authorities reportedly spotted the car near the Rodman’s Neck facility around 9:35 a.m. Tuesday and quickly traced the license plates to Shimshi. According to several people in the area, the car, described as a 2008 gray Honda CRV, had been parked there for several days.

Authorities say when they found the car around 9 a.m. was locked and there was no obvious signs of foul play.

The medical examiner’s office will determine the cause of death. Authorities are reportedly treating it as a suicide case.

Residents Jump Out Window to Escape High-Rise Fire

Some tenants of a Bronx apartment building were forced to jump out of their windows Monday afternoon as a fire tore through the complex.

A woman, desperate for her baby’s survival, tossed her infant from her apartment window.

A witness told  New York’s PIX  News the woman was clearly distraught over the heartbreaking decision she had to make.

“This has got to be a dream. This can’t be happening. Please catch my baby,” a witness said the mother yelled. The baby luckily survived the harrowing ordeal.

The intense flames forced a man to jump from the fourth floor of his apartment. Fire officials say many children were overcome by the thick smoke.

“They were bringing a baby downstairs…and the baby was not breathing,” said another resident. “It was such a pitiful sight.”

Fire officials say the flames broke out inside the Pelham Parkway Houses in the Bronx Monday afternoon.

The fire started on the fifth floor of the building, located on 785 Pelham Parkway North around 2:15 p.m.

Rescue crews say 10 people were injured. One man is reportedly in serious condition.

The building — described as a New York City Public Housing Development — is the home to nearly 3,000 residents.

Suspect Poses As Another Prisoner, Escapes from Bronx Court

A suspect escaped from the Bronx Criminal Court Tuesday after he posed as another prisoner, even attending the other man’s arraignment.

Michael Bautista, 22, pretended to be another prisoner, Marcial Sosa, who was due to be released on a lesser charge of driving with a suspended license.

Believing he was Sosa, authorities inadvertently released Bautista around 10 a.m. from the 44th Precinct at 215 East 161 St.

Bautista is accused of going to his girlfriend’s Castle Hill apartment on Aug. 14 and breaking down the door, punching her in the face and proceeding to destroy items inside. He then allegedly returned later and threatened his girlfriend when police were called to the scene. In addition, Bautista reportedly resisted arrest and assaulted a cop.

Phone calls to the Office of Court Administration were not immediately returned.

New York City police are currently on the hunt for Bautista. He is described as a 22-year-old Hispanic male, roughly 6’0″ tall and 180 lbs. with black hair and brown eyes. He also has a tattoo of a red scorpion holding a heart with letters on the left side of his neck, and a tattoo of a star on the right side.

Anyone with information in regards to the suspect is urged to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS.

Writter By Jeremy Tanner, Stephaine Tanner @ WPIX.com | © Copyright 2010 WPIX-TV

NYC Gets 929 as New Area Code

New Yorkers better think twice before screening calls from area code (929) — the digits have recently be assigned to the existing (718) and (347) area codes serving the city’s outer boroughs.

The code, which is already in effect, serves mainly the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Forecasters estimate that numbering resources in the (718) and (347) area codes will run out by 2012.

The dialing pattern requires all customers to dial 1+(area code)+(7-digit number).

Existing (718) and (347) numbers will not change.