Getting a Seat at the Bronx County Committee Table

By MARTIKA ORNELLA and DAVID CRUZ

As the Bronx political season kicks into high gear, community organizers like Samelys Lopez of Bedford Park are working to ensure more equitable political participation across the borough. This not only includes going to the polls, but running for a county committee seat, a governing body composed of members of the same political party. As it stands, the process is esoteric. How does one get on a county committee? The question stood at the heart of a workshop organized by Lopez, who corralled community activists and leaders from various political groups across the city to St. Paul’s Church in Parkchester

Tributes and Anger for Lesandro Guzman-Feliz Killing

By JOSE A. GIRALT

The crowd at the corner of East 183rd Street and Bathgate Avenue in Belmont, the scene of the vicious murder of 15-year-old Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz, nearly squeezes out of the metal barriers police have set up. An NYPD officer stands in the middle of the street directing a traffic jam as cars slow to take in the scores of candles laid at the steps where Lesandro drew some of his final breaths. His murder, brutally captured on surveillance footage, has captured the city’s attention over its senselessness. In front of the shutters at Zesarina bodega, Belmont resident Jennifer Pagan has

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

By PROF. ANTHONY RIVIECCIO, MBA, PFA

So what is all this talk about a trade war? We’ll tax China and Canada, Trump says. Other countries want to tax America? What is international trade? What does it mean to our economy? The” balance of trade” is the difference between the value of a country’s imports and exports for a given period. The balance of trade (BOT) is the largest component of a country’s balance of payments. Economists use the BOT to measure the relative strength of a country’s economy. The balance of trade is also referred to as the trade balance or the international trade balance. The balance of trade, commercial balance, or net

By KATHERINE MENDOZA

I am 17-years-old and I live in the Belmont section of the Bronx. Over the past couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity to work with NYC Smoke-Free at Public Health Solutions. Their teen advocacy program, Reality Check, helped me to learn more about Big Tobacco and its impact on teenagers. I learned a lot about tobacco use and its influence among teenagers. Did you know that in the Bronx an alarming 1,000 public high school students smoke cigarettes? I became more concerned about tobacco use when I started learning about youth exposure to non-traditional tobacco products such as

Insurance Help Free insurance enrollment help is available at NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx, 3424 Kossuth Ave., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the following dates: June 21, 22, 28 and 29. For more information, call 311. New Social Security Cards New replacement Social Security cards can be now obtained by going to www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount. The new cards will no longer include the Social Security number to further protect privacy. For more detailed information, visit www.socialsecurity.gov/ssnumber_. Free Immigration Service West Bronx Housing, 220 E. 204th St., provides free basic immigration services. They offer application assistance for citizenship, permanent residence

Bronx Night Market Brings Evenings of Music and Food to Fordham

By SOPHIA EBANKS

Fordham Plaza is getting its first-ever night market this summer, aimed at celebrating the diversity within the borough. Similar to the Queens Night Market and the Brooklyn Night Bazaar, the Bronx Night Market will be a free outdoor festival that will last all summer and offer food, culture, and entertainment. The market is run by quarterly magazine Edible Bronx and the creative agency BLOX in conjunction with the Fordham Road Business Improvement District. Amanda Celestino, the Edible Bronx publisher and Bronx Night Market co-founder, hopes that it will show visitors all that the organizers believe the Bronx has to offer.

Clergy and Bronx Electeds Slam Trump Immigration Policy

By ANGEL MINDANAO

Clergy, community leaders and Democratic elected officials interlocked arms as they sang “We Shall Overcome” at a prayer vigil and rally on June 22, calling for the reunification of immigrant families detained at America’s southern border. The event saw legislators from the city, state and federal governments weighing in on a policy that, up until June 20, saw families of illegal immigrants separated. It was a policy done away with by an Executive Order President Donald Trump had signed. Legislators saw this as a moment to pounce on Mr. Trump despite the reversal. “There is no substitution for the care

By ANGEL MINDANAO

Calling for “much-needed reform,” borough president Ruben Diaz Jr. is hosting a prayer vigil and rally today in collaboration with clergy, community leaders, and elected officials to demand that the Trump Administration immediately return immigrant children being held in the Bronx to their parents. The event will be co-sponsored by the Bronx Clergy Task Force and will take place on the steps of The Bronx County Building, 851 Grand Concourse (at the corner of East 161st Street), at noon. According to Diaz, his office has been contact with Catholic Guardian Services and Lutheran Social Services of New York, two organizations

By NORWOOD NEWS

The Norwood News, the community publication covering the Bronx and celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, won a first place prize once again for Best Small Circulation Publication at this year’s Ippies Awards. The contest, now in its sixteenth year, celebrates the work of community and ethnic media outlets across the city. The Center for Community & Ethnic Media, which has its offices at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, has organized the show since its inception. Tom Robbins, investigative reporter in residence at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, cited the paper’s 2016 February 16 to March 1 edition