Letter: KNIC Project Could Start 8-10 Months From Now

By DAVID CRUZ

It could be another 8 to 10 months until developers of the Kingsbridge National Ice Center could see shovels in the ground. Those are some of the new details outlined in a letter drafted on March 5 that recapped a closed-door meeting between Kevin Parker, founder of the project, and community stakeholders tied to the project on March 2. The Norwood News obtained a copy from a source who asked for anonymity as they are not authorized to speak on the project. “[T]he bottom line is that KNIC has basic agreements for the financing for Phase I and Phase II but

BID to Unveil Norwood Column...And They Need Your Help

By NIALL RIDGLEY

What’s your favorite food? Where do you like to hang out? The Jerome-Gun Hill Business Improvement District (BID) wants to pick your brain for answers to these questions, and others, as part of an art installation slated for placement this spring. The installation, a project, between the BID and the city Department of Transportation (DOT), in the shape of a column, will display posters with quotes solicited from the community. It will be located at the intersection of the Grand Concourse and Mosholu Parkway, one of several gateways into Norwood’s commercial strip. Jenny Hung was commissioned to design the project,

Dear Fellow Readers! The latest edition of the Norwood News, covering the northwest Bronx, is out with its latest edition for 2018. We welcome you to check out plenty of stories featured in this fresh edition. We begin, of course, with page one and a story involving a community garden and one headstrong neighbor who refuses to throw in the towel. Read about Elizabeth Carson and her quest for governance at Risse Street Garden. Also, get a sense of how the agency tasked to bring order to community gardens is handling this. Inside the cover you’ll find a recap of

By DAVID CRUZ

Kitty Fabrico (l) with her husband Steve and curator Victoria Marin (c), attend the Kittay House gallery exhibit opening featuring artworks painted by Kitty. The exhibit, dubbed “Shades of Dark and Light – Fine Portraits of People and Nature,” opened at the Kittay House, a senior home in Kingsbridge Heights, on March 20. It celebrated the work of the 86-year-old artist, a Holocaust survivor. The display was made possible from a grant by Councilman Fernando Cabrera, who represents the district. Photo by Miriam Quinones

Inquiring Photographer: Rezoning Jerome Avenue

By DAVID GREENE

This week we asked local residents their thoughts on the recent decision to rezone a large chunk of Jerome Avenue, a lofty plan that looks to bring 4000 units of affordable housing in the coming years. Before you rezone the area, where are the parking spaces going to be? You have no parking, the garages are filled, the schools are overcrowded. Before you start rezoning you need to come up with a cohesive plan. This is just taking the people who have been here for 20 or 30 years and throwing us to the sidelines and making it whatever the

Jerome Avenue Approved for Massive Rezoning

By MARY MELLON

After three years of back and forth talks, the Jerome Avenue Rezoning Plan was approved, opening the door for the rezoning of 92 blocks of Jerome Avenue, ushering in 4600 units of affordable housing, of which 1500 will be permanently affordable. The rezoning plan is the largest since the 1970s, and can jeopardize the neighborhood’s existing automotive sector. The plan represents a major win for City Council members Vanessa Gibson and Fernando Cabrera, whose districts cover the area to be rezoned. They believe rezoning will allow current residents to remain in place while adding to the stock of affordable housing.

COMMUNITY LEADERS FROM the various professional sectors were honored at Community Board 7’s second annual Women’s Empowerment Summit, “Powerful Women Share Their Secrets of Financial Independence and Success.” The event happened March 28 at Herbert H. Lehman College and involved panels, mentoring sessions, and workshops about how women can network for success. The event comes at the end of March’s National Women’s History Month. Photo courtesy Marketing and Advertising Solutions

Battle Sprouts at Risse Street Garden

By DAVID CRUZ

In the last five years, Elizabeth Carson has enjoyed cultivating her horticultural passions at Risse Street Garden, a tiny oasis insulated from the malaise of traffic at Jerome Avenue and Risse Street on the tip of Norwood. She’s proud to have put in the time. As a full-fledged volunteer gardener, Carson is entitled to keys to the city-owned garden, allowing her time to work the landscape, tend to perennials and enjoy the therapeutic thrill of seeing the birth of plants. But since last year, Carson’s sense of tranquility at the garden has been disrupted by a war of words with

By DAVID GREENE

A special fund created to help the family of an M.S. 280 student who died in a horrific fire in Belmont has so far raised $5,000 and hopes to raise a total of $15,000. Jordan Conde, 14, was a 7th grader at the Norwood school. According to the posting by an unknown author, “Jordan was the class clown that everybody loved,” adding, “[Jordan] was able to attract everyone’s attention in the entire school.” The blaze broke out on the first floor of an apartment building at 2381 Hoffman Street at 1:30 a.m. on March 5, where the Conde family lived on the