www.BXTimes.com BRONX WEEKLY March 10, 2019 10
Bronx Native appears on Viceland show ‘Hustle’
John Henry and the Bronx Native crew at the viewing. Photo courtesy of Bronx Native The viewing party at the Port Morris Distillery. Photo courtesy of Bronx Native
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Two Bronx celebrities were
just put in the national spotlight.
Brother and sister Amaurys
and Roselyn Grullon, founders
and owners of Bronx Native clothing
of 127 Lincoln Avenue in Mott
Haven were featured on Viceland
network’s show, ‘Hustle’ on Sunday,
March 3.
It’s hosted by self-made
26-year-old Harlem business
guru John Henry that focuses
on how to develop entrepreneurs
and small businesses around the
nation.
Selling a million dollar business
in the same year that he
could legally drink is just one
bullet point on Henry’s resume...
to put things in perspective.
Henry steered Amaurys and
Woodlawn Taxpayers concerned about 18-wheeler parking
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
The northwest Bronx is inundated
with an illegal parking problem
of titanic proportions.
Members of the Woodlawn
Heights Community and Taxpayers
Association have become increasingly
concerned about the
illegal parking of commercial
tractor-trailer trucks, and other
large trucks and trailers, along a
stretch of Webster Avenue that is
the gateway to their community.
The civic group is reaching out
to the 47th Precinct to request increased
summonsing of the illegally
parked 18-wheelers on Webster
Avenue adjacent to Woodlawn
Cemetery and the Metro North
rail tracks running north from
Norwood to East 233rd Street.
Kathleen Corrigan, the association’s
fi rst vice president, said her
group have noted as many as 55
parked and unoccupied 18-wheelers,
tractor-trailer trucks, large
trucks, buses and commercial vehicles
stored for long periods of
time along the street next to the
landmarked cemetery.
There may even be people living
in some of the recreational
vehicles that are thrown into the
mix, she said.
“There is no light at the end of
the tunnel,” said Corrigan of the
overnight truck parking.
She said that the arrival of the
large 18-wheelers was followed by
trucks that were carrying new autos.
Now, they are seeing tourist
buses, cherry pickers and trailers
just left on the street detached
from any rig.
“Some of the vehicles are ancient
and falling apart,” said Corrigan.
“(Some) don’t have commercial
plates.”
Corrigan said that members of
her group spoke to a truck driver
they saw park and leave his vehicle
on Webster Avenue recently,
and he said that he lived nearby
and that it was easier just to pay
the tickets than to fi nd a lot to legally
park.
Ciara Gannon, a WHTCA corresponding
secretary, said that
she believes it is a quality of life issue
that refl ects poorly on the major
thoroughfare that leads to both
Woodlawn and Norwood.
“I think it goes to the root of the
problem that there is nowhere for
these truckers to stop in New York
City, and they need to go someplace
The illegally parked trucks on Webster Avenue running south from East 233rd
Street include tractor trailers, buses, large trucks, cherry pickers and trailers
without a cab in front. Schneps Media / Patrick Rocchio
safe where they can stop,”
said Gannon.
The truckers appear to be leaving
a lot of garbage behind and
there also are concerns that the
situation may attract prostitution,
she said.
WHTCA also worries that the
truck parking could overfl ow to
the neighborhood’s nearby streets
such as East 233rd Street, said Coorigan.
She is particularly concerned
about Van Cortlandt Park East,
which has residences on one side
and park land on the other, she
said.
She has noticed a few commercial
vehicles park there, and is
carefully watching the growing
trend.
The association recently
teamed up with Assemblyman Jeff
Dinowitz on a successful graffi ti
removal operation near the same
stretch of Webster Avenue.
A Dinowitz spokesman said
that the 47th Precinct has stepped
up ticketing efforts in the area due
to issues raised by the WHTCA.
“They told us that they were being
much more attentive to the issue
in terms of issuing violations,”
said the spokesman.
Though, he said, in some cases
it seems that the truckers accept
the tickets as the cost of doing
business.
This is one of a handful of trailers that weren’t attached to a vehicle or cab in
front observed by the Bronx Times on Webster Avenue adjacent to Woodlawn
Cemetery recently. Schneps Media / Patrick Rocchio
Roselyn towards new concepts on
how to fl ip a profi t, taking them
to Brooklyn to see how other
outer borough-based entrepreneurs,
like the sneaker company
GREATS, have found success.
Before heading down to
Brooklyn though, the trio spent
some time in the hub of 149th
Street and 3rd Avenue to inquire
from Bronxites how Bronx Native
could become the brand of
the borough.
While Bronx Native had some
improvements to make, Henry
ultimately acknowledged the
overwhelming amount of social
capital that the duo has accrued.
What that means is essentially,
Amaurys and Roselyn can
get the Bronx behind almost anything
they do because of their local
credibility.
Despite snowy conditions,
Henry along with much of the
Bronx showed up to the episode’s
watch party last Sunday night at
the Port Morris Distillery at 780
E. 133rd Street.
If you’re feeling as inspired
as this reporter to support Bronx
Native, visit their website at
bronxnative.com
/www.BXTimes.com
/www.BXTimes.com
/www.BXTimes.com
/www.BXTimes.com
/bronxnative.com