Women’s Rights’ Pioneer Remembered at Woodlawn Cemetery

An American milestone was celebrated at Woodlawn Cemetery, with women around the area celebrating the 200th birthday of an activist for the women’s suffrage movement. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who inspired millions of women to make their voices heard in the battle for the right to vote, was remembered Nov. 12, who was born on that day 200 years ago. The event was marked by a ride along around the cemetery and an appearance by New York’s Lieutenant Governor, Kathleen C. Hochul, one of the few female lieutenant governors in the state’s history. First stop for the group was the Stanton


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CB7 Gets Turn to Vote on City Housing Plan

  Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposal to create more affordable housing for New Yorkers dubbed Housing New York might hit a bump as community boards, including Community Board 7, will vote for or against the plan. At issue with CB7, where its general board is expected to vote down the measure when it meets Nov. 17, is the loss of an in-house parking requirement for new buildings that could lead to increased demand for street parking. The rule would apply to neighborhoods falling under a so-called Transit Zone, where there’s ample public transportation for neighbors. In mid-October, CB7’s Land Use


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Meeting on Oval Park Violence Fizzles

Representatives from a number of Bronx-based anti-violence groups gathered on Nov. 4 to discuss strategies to reduce youth violence. The meeting occurred after a few recent violent incidents in the Williamsbridge Oval Park, including a couple of large fights among students of a nearby school. But in the audience assembled in the Oval Recreation Center, there was a central demographic missing: young people. “The people who need to hear it are not here,” said Abdul “Sleep” Johnson, founder and CEO of the Community Board Athletic Leadership League, noting that all the interested people in the room could not effect change


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Be Healthy – Bronx Wins RWJF Culture of Health Prize

Vital Stats: 62 – Health ranking of Bronx County. (Source: New York State Department of Health)  The Bronx’s collective goal of improving public health has earned it the highly competitive “Culture of Health” prize from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). After a yearlong application process spearheaded by hospitals, nonprofits, and the New York State Department of Health, the Bronx has been chosen as one of eight winners from a pool of 340 nationwide communities. For health professionals in a county that consistently ranks as New York’s unhealthiest, the prize is a symbol of positive change. “It marks a turning


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Inquiring Photographer

With some recent high-profile motor vehicle crashes, we asked readers their thoughts on the implementation of Vision Zero and whether pedestrian safety has gotten better or worse. It doesn’t matter because the drivers don’t abide by the law anyway. People complain when you go too slow; they beep you and try and make you go faster and if people don’t see police around, they’re moving. Who wants to do 25 miles per hour? They’re in a hurry. You ever drive 25 and see how far you get? You hold other drivers up. T. Becerra Norwood I believe that traffic has gotten


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Inner Goblins Run Rampant at Annual Pumpkin Smash

  It’s become a popular post-Halloween ritual in the Bronx—the Pumpkin Smash at Lehman College, sponsored by NYC Compost Project, an initiative of the City Department of Sanitation. On Nov. 4, the community was once again invited to constructively channel their inner goblins, to create compost for greening local parks. The New York Botanical Garden contributed an impressive display of hundreds of fading gourds and pumpkins for dropping, and neighbors could donate their own drooping jack-o-lanterns as well. Participants chose a straight drop from the two-story plaza onto a tarp below, or a catapult rigged to propel the gourds onto


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At Public Hearing, Bronx Housing Groups Blast Officials Over Housing Plan

An overwhelming number of Bronx residents vented frustrations over Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing New York initiative at a hearing over the plan, tying it to gentrification and framing their plight as a struggle between haves and have-nots. Hundreds packed the pews at the hearing, an optional public forum organized by the Bronx Borough President’s Office, and separate of the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) on Housing New York. The plan, touted by Mayor Bill de Blasio since May 2014, seeks to build 80,000 affordable units while preserving 120,000 already built apartments across the city. That will happen


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Out & About – Take a Stroll Around the Oval

Editor’s Pick  Walk With a Doc  The public is invited to join a free one-hour walk in the park with the doctors at Montefiore, Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. at the Williamsbridge Oval. Walking can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, osteoporosis and obesity, improve blood pressure and blood sugar levels, maintain body weight, enhance mental well-being, and more. Meet at the Oval’s Recreation Center. For more information, call (718) 543-8672. Onstage Lehman College for the Performing Arts, 250 Bedford Pk. Blvd., W., presents Lalo Rodriguez, 40 Años de Historia Musical, featuring 17-piece orchestra performing salsa and Latin music,


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Chronicling The South Bronx’s Rise Via RENTCafé

As South Bronx groups wrangle with developers and politicians over the future of a neighborhood that’s made a comeback, a real estate tracking group is chronicling the neighborhoods’ rise in its skyline. It’s done so via RENTCafé, an apartment listing website that offers before and after slider windows of eleven plots of land, once either barren or housing a one-story property, now occupied by high-rise residential spaces. RENTCafé allows users to view a listing of available apartments across the country, including the Bronx, via property managers. It’s affiliated with Property Shark, a heavily used New York-based real estate website that profiles


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