Mayor Announces More Tenant Protections

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

When Destiny Armstead moved into 1561 Walton Ave. with her son Destin, 6, last December they were both excited. “We couldn’t even sleep the first night because everything was new and beautiful. It’s like a dream come true for me,” said Armstead. Mayor Bill de Blasio came to Armstead’s building in Mt. Eden to see an example of how his initiative to provide 300,000 affordable apartments by 2026 is progressing. After taking a tour of Armstead’s $509 per month two-bedroom apartment, led mostly by Destin, the mayor announced that the city financed more than 32,000 affordable homes in the 2018

By CHRISTY RAE AMMONS

City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer is proposing new ways for New Yorkers to pay for security deposits because of the alarming number of issues specifically faced by low-income tenants. A report released by Stringer’s office shows that in the Bronx tenants are paying on average more than 10 percent of their annual income to secure an apartment. In Melrose, Longwood, and Hunts Point, tenants are paying 15.8 percent of their annual income, and in Claremont-Bathgate they pay 25 percent. “Every day, New Yorkers are working harder and saving less – and right now, huge proportions of their annual incomes are

Latest Edition of the Norwood News is Out!

By DAVID CRUZ

Dear Fellow Readers, The latest edition of the Norwood News, covering the Bronx, is out and loaded with 20 pages of original news content covering the Bronx. In keeping with tradition we begin with page one! This one focuses on the re-opening of Whalen Park, which unlike other park projects has opened in record time (see headline). Find out how what prompted this park to open so quickly. Also, you can hear from what parents think of the revamped park. On page 3 you’ll find a great feel-good story of Bobby Gonzalez, a Norwood man who will be honored for his

By DAVID GREENE

This week we asked readers about the latest NYPD statistics that show overall crime is down, but homicides, shootings and rapes are all up substantially. I think it’s worse than ever. I’m going to be honest with you, I was telling people it seems like we’re going back to the ‘90s a little bit, when something was always happening in every neighborhood. It wasn’t just pinpointed in one area, it’s just everywhere now. They need to have more cops patrolling on foot, not driving by. They need to walk through neighborhoods that they know violence is happening and drugs being

By SOPHIA EBANKS

Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced that 12 members of the Trinitarios gang have been indicted in the brutal killing of 15-year-old Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz that occurred last month outside a bodega in Belmont. “We will not tolerate violence, especially by gangs, on our streets,” said Clark, flanked by prosecutors and NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill. “This indictment is an early step in the criminal justice process so I ask the community to be patient as the case takes its course.” Clark stated that all 12 men, ranging in ages 18 to 29, have been charged with second-degree murder, first-degree

By CHRISTY RAE AMMONS and ANGEL MINDANAO

Whalen Park quietly re-opened to the public in June with a colorful, brand new playground that features two slides, monkey bars, and toddler-friendly climbing blocks. To the delight of parents, the area previously known as the “sitting park” was revamped into a more traditional playground. Though the project was first proposed seven years ago, building the Norwood park took less than a year, an unusual time frame given the city Parks Department’s poor track record in completing projects promptly. In 2017, there had been seven projects delayed since 2009, including a bathroom for Ferry Point Park that had been in

By MARTIKA ORNELLA

Browsing the collage of colorful posters that make up the “Norwood Column,” Senator Jamaal T. Bailey, who represents the 36th New York Senate District which covers Norwood, came across one that caught his eye. “This is what the Bronx is about,” Bailey said at the unveiling of the public art installation on July 16, pointing to a poster describing the Bronx as a “mini United Nations. “This is the world’s borough,” he said. The “Norwood Column,” located at the southeast corner of East Mosholu Parkway and the Grand Concourse, across from the Pickwick Arms, is a temporary installation of the

Crime File: City Touts Low Crime Numbers

By MARTIKA ORNELLA

City Touts Low Crime Stats Overall crime is at record lows, according to newly released stats by the NYPD. Speaking to a room of reporters in the 40th Precinct on July 10, Mayor Bill de Blasio said total crime in the city is down 1.8 percent for the year to date compared to last year’s numbers. However, not all crime is down. Rape has gone up over 33 percent this year compared to the first six months of 2017, and shooting deaths have also risen. In the Bronx, fatal shootings are on the rise, with 12 more this year than

By SOPHIA EBANKS

The city Department of Transportation has picked five companies for the pilot bike share program in boroughs outside Manhattan. Two of those companies, the Hong Kong-based Ofo and Brooklyn-based JUMP, will supply bikes to the Bronx. The program will bring at least 200 bikes to the central Bronx and Fordham area. “Our goal is to make cycling accessible to anyone anywhere,” said Jordan Levine, head of northeast communications at Ofo. “We want to make it both as affordable and approachable as possible by taking away traditional barriers like having bikes being stolen or dishing out a few hundred dollars to