Urban Lifestyle

NEW YORK (AP) — A company that promised sightseer tours to the Bronx that included a New York City “ghetto” has stopped the bus rides under protest from an outraged neighborhood. Real Bronx Tours, which took mostly European tourists from Manhattan to see life in the South Bronx “from a safe distance,” issued a statement this week saying it would immediately cease all tours there. Three times a week, the $45 ride took visitors past food-pantry lines, a housing project and a park a guide described as a pickpocket hangout. Tourists were told they’d get a look at the Bronx that reflects one of the darkest chapters of the city’s history, the 1970s and ’80s, when the tour website said “this borough was notorious for drugs, gangs, crime and murders.” The Bronx lost hundreds of buildings to fires intentionally set by landlords to collect insurance money, hence the phrase, “the Bronx is burning.” But residents say the tours are a misrepresentation of the area where former Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor lived in as children. “Those days are over, the Bronx is being rebuilt, it’s rising again,” said Bronx resident and Grammy-nominated musician Bobby Sanabria. On Monday, Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito sent an open letter to the company owner, Michael Myers, saying they were “sickened by the despicable way” the borough was being portrayed to outsiders. “We strongly urge you to stop profiting off of a tour that misrepresents the Bronx as a haven for poverty and crime, while mocking everything from our landmarks to the less fortunate members of our community who are availing themselves of food assistance programs.” The tour company did not respond to calls and emails requesting comment. It was not clear whether they would resume any of their tours. And by Thursday, the website of the company was no longer accessible. Other companies in the city still offer regular guided trips to the Bronx. Three weeks ago, NYC & Company, the city’s tourism bureau, launched a promotion of the South Bronx as “one of our safest, most exciting boroughs,” with highlights including Art Deco architecture and the Yankees. Real Bronx Tours has been booted from the bureau’s membership list as a result of the language they’ve been using, NYC & Company spokeswoman Kimberly Spell said. Elena Martinez, an anthropologist and Bronx resident, offers visitors walks through the same neighborhood that was on Real Bronx Tours’ itinerary. The human struggles on these still gritty streets have produced urban styles and sounds copied around the world, from hip hop music and outdoor murals to clothing. “Many young Europeans come here as a pilgrimage,” Martinez said. “This was the incubator for hip-hop, salsa, jazz, Afro-Cuban music, R&B.” She points to theaters, lavish dance halls and clubs where salsa came alive, along with some of the biggest names in music. Sanabria, a famed drummer, says he comes from a borough “that has an incredible, majestic music culture.” And although many of the buildings now house stores and offices, or were demolished or burned down, new ones mingle with restored historic ones “and people are helping to bring the neighborhood back,” Martinez said. “We’ve had enough of the gawkers who come to ghettoize us,” says Al Quinones, caretaker of a community park that features a garden with fruit trees and a stone outdoor amphitheater. “Their timing was bad. The Bronx is not burning, not now! Now, it’s resurgence.” On the door to his shack on the grounds is a sign that reads: “Don’t dump on the Bronx.” Sanabria, Martinez and other Bronx residents are meeting Friday to kick-start a counter-campaign to what they call the Bronx̵

Famed choreographer Wade Robson has stirred up controversy with allegations that Michael Jackson sexually abused him from the time he was seven until he was…

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com. NBC New York - An Oklahoma tornado survivor with New York City roots is thankful he and his family escaped serious harm but now faces the devastating dilemma of whether to abandon the life he has built in Moore for the last 18 years. Saad Muhammed lives in the western part of Moore, close to the Oklahoma City border. Originally from East Flatbush, he left Brooklyn in the late 1980s and has been living in Oklahoma for the last 18 years. He was inside his home with his wife Desiree and their twin teenage boys when the tornado swept through. Saad ushered them into a tiny closet. “I put the blanket on them, and I jumped on top of the blanket — just in case something came down and hit me first, so I could protect them,” he said. Desiree recalled, “Our ears started popping, and we just went in there and we were like, ‘It’s coming now.’ And we could hear, it was almost like a train.” Saad walked NBC 4 New York through his tornado-ravaged home on South Robinson Avenue in Moore Wednesday. Debris was scattered everywhere, and part of his roof was ripped off. The ceiling was caved in, with a two-by-four protruding through the living room ceiling. His children’s bedrooms were turned upside down. With 18 years of memories, Saad and Desiree aren’t quite ready to say goodbye. “It’s now hitting me, how difficult it is to know that you’re not coming back,” said Desiree. “And I keep wanting to come back here.” “This is the hard part. We’re at a friend’s house, and I wake up and I’m thinking I’m in my bed. But it takes that few seconds and then I just keep wanting to come here, and I don’t want them to tear this part down,” Desiree said in tears. “I know it’s just a house, but it’s my house.” Click here to read more.

*Chris Brown and his ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran were involved in a collision on Tuesday when the singer drove his Range Rover into the back of a black Mercedes at a light in Beverly Hills. Brown – who was en route to a recording studio with Tran – immediately got out of his vehicle after the smash and exchanged insurance details with the female driver, as Karrueche snapped photos of the accident scene. No one was injured in the accident and police were not called to the scene. “They’re cool. Nobody got hurt,” a source close tells HollywoodLife.com. “Just some minor s**t, but Chris said he and Kae are all good.” The source added, “Insurance is handling all [of it].” Chris and Karrueche have been spending more time together since Chris’ latest split with Rihanna. The two reportedly attended Sunday’s Billboard Music Awards together in Las Vegas. A source tells HollywoodLife.com: “Chris Brown sent Karrueche to the Billboard Gifting Lounge presented by Kari Feinstein PR at the MGM in Las Vegas on Sunday. They arrived together, and then she stepped out of Brown’s trailer into the lounge. Later she was his date to the show. She loved the Vix bikinis and Vega crystal necklaces.”

FLORIDA – A Florida teen who faced criminal charges after she carried out a botched science experiment on school grounds held a press conference Wednesday where she talked about her ordeal. Kiera Wilmot, 16, was a high-flying student at Bartow High School until last month when she was expelled and arrested following an experiment she conducted without supervision. “I made the mistake of performing my experiment outside of the classroom, however that is the only mistake I feel that I have made,” Wilmot said during the conference, with her twin sister Kayla standing next to her, holding her hand. Speaking out for the first time Speaking for the first time since her arrest on April 22, Wilmot explained when she arrived at school she’d planned for her “project to be approved” by her science teacher but bowed to pressure from classmates. At around 7 a.m. before the start of the school day, Wilmot mixed toilet cleaner and a tiny piece of aluminum foil in an 8oz empty plastic water bottle. It caused the lid to pop off and vapor to be released from the bottle. “I was taken to the resource officer’s office and I was arrested,” she said at the gathering in a Lakeland church. After being handcuffed she was escorted to a “juvenile detention for a few hours before my mom got me.” Wilmot faced possible adult charges of making, possessing or discharging a destructive device and with possessing or discharging weapons on school grounds. Both charges are felonies. If she had been convicted the 16-year-old could have faced up to five years in prison. A case which drew national headlines Her case drew national attention on social media sites, with many arguing that the school and police massively overreacted. An online petition on Change.org calling for the charges to be dropped was signed by nearly 200,000 supporters. Principal Ron Pritchard told 10 News, “She made a bad choice. Honestly, I don’t think she was trying to be malicious to harm anybody or destroy something at school. She wanted to see what would happen [when the chemicals mixed] and I think it shocked her.” Speaking to theGrio after the press conference, Kiera’s mother Marie Wilmot said, “The bottle and cap were not damaged. There was no criminal intent. No one was hurt and no property was damaged. “I still believe she shouldn’t have been arrested,” she adds. “She should have been disciplined at school level. They overreacted.” Lakeland lawyer Larry Hardaway, representing Wilmot, said Wednesday everyone who attended the conference got the opportunity to see the “two girls” and the “innocence surrounding them.” Academic future still in question The State Attorney’s Office announced last week it will not pursue criminal charges against Wilmot, provided she completes the conditions outlined in a pretrial diversion program. Those conditions are confidential because she is a juvenile. Wilmot, who is now attending the Bill Duncan Opportunity School for at-risk students while her family tries to negotiate with the school board about her academic future, told theGrio, “It’s been pretty hard the past month. People were teasing me at the alternative school.” However, the 16-year-old has had some good news with an unexpected offer of full scholarship to the United States Advanced Space Academy. “When I heard about Kiera’s situation, I looked into it and discovered she was an honor student who’d never been in any trouble,” former NASA engineer Homer Hickam told theGrio. “To encourage her to continue her interest in science, I decided to provide her a scholarship at the Advanced Space Academy, a college-accredited program at the world famous Space Camp. After Kiera accepted my offer, I discovered she has a twin sister, Kayla, so I started raising funds through the website Crowdtilt.com so that Kayla could go to the Academy, too. The outpouring for Kiera and Kayla was wonderful.” Follow Kunbi Tinuoye on Twitter at @Kunbiti

George Clinton attends the 27th Annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Public Hall on April 14, 2012 in Cleveland *Funk icon George Clinton says he will use his upcoming reality TV show to highlight his various legal battles over the copyright to his songs. The Parliament/Funkadelic legend is caught up in a myriad of current lawsuits over the use of his back catalog. In January, he was ordered to give up the rights to four of his classic tracks to pay off a $1.5 million debt to his former lawyers. In April, he announced that he will star in his own family-based reality show called “The Clintons.” And now, the musician tells Uncut magazine that his legal battles will be at the core of the program. “I’m doing a reality show with my family, with my son Tracy, my six grandkids, Scott Thompson, Brandi – it’s a big family thing. A bit like ‘The Osbournes’ but most of them are, like, musicians, rappers and everything,” said Clinton. “We got to come up with new ways to get the music across, so we’re doing this reality show. So we can expose all the noses out there, stealing the copyrights and taking people’s music and money. This is all gonna be part of the reality show, the copyright fight, plus we still kicking ass onstage.” Below, Clinton announces the reality show during a radio broadcast with Bishop Don “Magic” Juan. No word yet on a network or airdate.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s nominee for transportation secretary — Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx — received a friendly reception from senators of both parties Wednesday laced with warnings that the nation needs to make a host of transportation improvements with no clear way to pay for them. Foxx told a jammed Senate confirmation hearing that he will look for “partners” in local and state government to help find creative ways to finance air, rail and highway improvements. While senators pressed him for commitments on a host of issues from passenger rail improvements in the Northeast to funding air traffic control towers as small airports, the mayor from North Carolina nimbly steered away from controversy. At several points, he asked for more time to study an issue and get back to a senator with a response. “This is probably one of the most pleasant hearings on the Hill today,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., alluding to a House hearing going on at the same time where IRS officials were grilled by lawmakers about the agency’s targeting of tea party groups. Foxx’s reception from Republicans lawmakers was unusually warm. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, predicted his nomination will be “noncontroversial.” But he noted senators from both parties were well represented at the hearing because “everybody we work for” are “totally dependent on the things he is (going to be) responsible for.” Senators tempered their welcome with dire warnings that nation has a backlog of pressing transportation needs and no plan on how to pay for them. The Highway Trust Fund that pays for highway transit programs is forecast to face bankruptcy again, having only been rescued from impending bankruptcy by Congress last year. The fund is dependent on federal gas taxes, which have been raised since 1993. But the revenue raised by the taxes is declining as cars become more fuel efficient and people drive less. The Transportation Department, like other federal agencies, is grappling government-wide, across-the-board spending cuts imposed by Congress that are scheduled to ratchet up next year absent a budget deal between Republican and Democratic leaders and the president. “You have a huge job in front of you, massive. The challenges are many and the solutions are hard,” Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, told the nominee. “I want you to be a good secretary of transportation and you cannot do that without new revenue,” he said, urging Foxx to “goad” Congress into finding more money for transportation. But Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the senior Republican member of the committee, said the responsibility goes both ways, and White House should offer its own funding plan. “I hope you will lead, the president will lead, and come up and put specific ideas on the table how to solve these specific problems,” he said. Foxx, 42, has been nominated to replace Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who is retiring. Foxx won national recognition when Charlotte hosted the Democratic National Convention last year, and he was a key surrogate in North Carolina for the president during his re-election bid last fall. He calls Obama a friend. An attorney for a Charlotte-based transit bus company, Foxx has worked on transportation issues since joining the City Council in 2005, when the mayor was current Republican Gov. Pat McCrory. His mayoral tenure since late 2009 was marked by initial construction for a demonstration electric streetcar line and an agreement with federal transportation officials to pay for half of a light rail line going out to northeast Charlotte. Foxx, who grew up in poverty in Charlotte, recalled riding the bus to get to his first job at a local museum when he was 12 years old. “The Number 6 connected me to the larger world of opportunity, and I truly

*The first photo of the new judging panel for “The X Factor” were released Wednesday, with newcomers Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio joining Demi Lovato and Simon Cowell. The above shot was taken on Tuesday during the first day of auditions in Charleston, SC. Mario Lopez will be the show’s sole host after season 2 co-host Khloe Kardashian was fired. Season 3 premieres this fall.

*The R&B diva and Grammy award winning female vocalist is certainly no stranger to controversy and criticism.  But a resilient and liberated Fantasia took to the stage at the 30th Annual Long Beach Gay Pride Festival on Saturday night in Long Beach, California, rendering a passionate performance. Audaciously fierce and more confident than ever, “Tasia” boldly proclaimed, “I am doin’ me and I don’t care what nobody has to say,” before kicking off her heels onstage. Dressed in a white, tightly fitted cutout party dress, and revealing a much more slender and toned figure, the exceptional vocalist pumped up the crowd with her brief rendition of Drake’s “Started From The Bottom.” If the relationship between Fantasia and the LGBT community was strained by her seemingly disapproving comment about gay marriage posted on Instagram in late December of last year, there was certainly no evidence of that as the crowd of thousands eagerly welcomed and embraced her. To further demonstrate her affection for the supportive attendees, she spent several minutes stating, “I hate the gates” and requested venue workers to “open the gates” that were serving as a barrier between the stage and the front row of the audience.  She went on to clarify that she needed to “feel some people”—a gesture in alignment with her personable and down-to-earth reputation. But after a bit of housekeeping, ‘Tasia didn’t waste any time kicking into high vocal gear with crowd favorites like “Man of the House,” “Free Yourself” and “Collards and Cornbread.” Moments after confessing that she was a “music baby” who grew up on the “meat and potatoes” music from the 80s, Fantasia and her band brought the crowd to its feet with an invigorating throwback performance of “Nasty Girl” by Vanity 6, “In My House” by the Mary Jane Girls, Shelia E’s “The Glamorous Life” and “The Bird” by Morris Day & The Time. Visibly empowered and energized, ‘Tasia continued to walk the crowd down memory lane with her rendition of “If I Ruled The World.” Although concert goers got a strong sense of Fantasia’s reawakening as an individual and as an artist, when she performed “Bittersweet” and “Even Angels,” humbly stating, “Guess I gotta’ let it go, the situation wasn’t good for me,” we got a sense that Ms. Barrino is still in the process of recovering from the effects of failed relationships and disappointments.  And this could be no clearer than in her hit song, “Lose to Win” which she sang near the close of her performance. Fantasia’s success with her newly released fourth album, Side Effects of You, and her recent Pride appearance certainly indicates that she’s on the upswing in her career.  Her performance of “Lighthouse” revealed that she remains undaunted by her critics and is determined to continue recording and performing with a greater sense of purpose.   In a nutshell, she’s finally “winning” again. Dana L. Stringer  Dana Stringer is a freelance writer, playwright, poet and activist based in Southern California.  You may contact her at dana@danastringer.com or follow her on Facebook and Twitter: @danalstringer.