There’s a new precinct commander at the Five-Two, as there is at every precinct in the city every two or three years. So, community residents that attend community meetings are accustomed to seeing a new face more often then they’d probably like.

As part of the 52nd Precinct’s new crackdown on quality of life offenses, police officials want to make it plain that graffiti won’t be tolerated. Last month, the precinct instituted its new "quality of life" initiative, which will now be called the Conditions Unit and will be dedicated to stopping graffiti, excessive noise and public drinking.

Editor’s Pick: On June 6, the South Bronx Cultural Corridor celebrates its own. A festival, called BX1: The Second Bronx Artist Biennial, pays tribute to the talented Bronxites who were chosen to receive BRIO (Bronx Recognizes Its Own) Individual Artist Fellowships this year.

Register your child for a free summer program, courtesy of the Fresh Air Fund. There will be free registration for children ages 6 to 12 on Friday, June 1 from 4 to 8 p.m. at PS 93, at 1535 Story Ave. Registration is free.

Clean My Neighborhood
Pit Bull Killed our Dog
‘Irish,’ not ‘Gaelic’
Taking Issue with Tracey Management

For the 41st year in a row, members of the Jewish War Veterans, Neuman Goldman Post No. 69, gathered at the Museum of Bronx History on Bainbridge Avenue on Memorial Day to honor those who have died in American wars. Joining County Commander Mel Sacks, were Frank Vernucci of the Bronx Borough President’s office, Fr. William Kalaldjian, chaplain of the Bronx V.A. Hospital and Bronx historian, Professor Lloyd Ultan.

Sachkerah Woods Playground is open!

The southeast corner of Van Cortlandt Park (at the corner of Jerome Avenue and Gun Hill Road) has a new playground, picnic area, bench-lined pathways and a comfort station. The rehab project is part of more than $200 million in Bronx  park improvements that the city offered Bronx state legislators in exchange for their approval on the controversial construction of a water filtration plant, also in Van Cortlandt Park, adjacent to the new playground.

A formal ribbon-cutting ceremony has not yet been scheduled.

Sachkerah Woods is named for an Algonquin phrase that is loosely translated as "extended land," according to the Parks Department.

Staff members of North Central Bronx Hospital Midwifery Service gathered Wednesday, May 23 to remember former colleague Sonja Dowie, who passed away in 2003. On what would have been the 30th anniversary of her service, the hospital named the Triage Unit after Dowie, a founding member of the service. The program is pioneering because of its synthesis of advanced medicine and midwifery, with obstetricians and nurse-midwives working together to provide intensive care during and after pregnancy.

Volunteers took to area parks for It’s My Park Day on May 19. On Mosholu Parkway at Webster Avenue, 15 youngsters from the 52nd Precinct Explorers Program joined members of the Bedford Mosholu Community Association to rake leaves, pick up garbage and paint walls. They even removed grafitti from one area garage. In Williamsbridge Oval, the Friends of Williamsbridge Oval, a new group of volunteers, planted fresh plants and shrubs.