Latest Edition of the Norwood News is Out!

Dear Fellow Readers, The latest edition of the Norwood News, covering the Norwood and the surrounding Bronx communities, is out with our second to last issue before year’s end (time flies when you’re having fun). With 16 pages of news from end to end, it’s best we get into it. We begin with page one, of course, and the issue of the Jerome Avenue Rezoning plan still in the making. The plan has received the blessing from the Bronx Borough Board, though with stipulations attached. Critics say it does not go far enough. Read what reporter Aaron Mayorga dug up. Inside

Health Check: Avoid Painkillers When Possible

By AMANDA PARSONS

You may be hearing a lot about opioids lately, particularly in the Bronx where more residents die of drug overdoses than in any other borough. Frequently used opioids include illegal drugs like heroin, but also legal drugs like morphine, hydrocodone (such as Vicodin), oxycodone (such as Percocet and OxyContin), and codeine (such as Tylenol #3). These drugs can be highly addictive and share similar effects on the body like relaxation, pain relief, and feeling “high.” But in higher doses, they can also lead to respiratory failure (when your breathing slows or stops) and death. Fentanyl, a known opioid, is particularly dangerous

Parents Protest Mosholu Library’s Sparse Children’s Services

By YARA PALIN

Outside the Mosholu Public Library, 10 children sat on the sidewalk on Dec. 1 as Elaine Langer, a Norwood resident and concerned parent, read to them during story time. Since the summer, the library hasn’t been able to consistently offer children’s services and has been without a children’s librarian since September. Moments before the unorthodox story time, Langer and around two dozen other parents expressed their grievances by protesting in front of the library. Tancy Rodriguez, another Norwood resident, says that her family moved to the community six years ago because “[the community] had a good library. If we expand

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

By DAVID CRUZ

A one-year-old child is still being treated at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore after reportedly ingesting heroin from his father’s stash. This happened over the weekend at the child’s Tiebout Avenue home in the Fordham section of the Bronx. Police say that the father, 20-year-old Edgardo Rodriguez, confessed that he had no idea that white powder had landed on his bed. Rodriguez reportedly went to sleep after taking heroin with his two kids in bed with him just after midnight. When Rodriguez woke up at 8 a.m. to find the child struggling to breathe, they took her to the hospital. The

By ALICIA SCHWARTZ, RN at VNSNY CHOICE Health Plans

Two words that the holidays bring to mind for many of us these days are food and stress. With no shortage of sugary, fattening foods and a seemingly never-ending to-do list, it is easy for people with busy lives, particularly family caregivers who often lack time to care for themselves, to resort to unhealthy food habits like stress-eating during the holidays. Does this picture sound familiar: the holiday is right around the corner, you’ve been tending to your elderly parents all day, traveling to appointments, doing housework, and running errands while squeezing in that last minute holiday shopping, decorating, gift wrapping, cooking, and travel plan coordination.

By ANTHONY RIVIECCIO, MBA, PFA

Yes, there has been much confusion regarding the congressional tax bill that has just passed. I even have a few clients that are still in denial that this is happening. “It’s not gonna pass Anthony. There are too many congressional disagreements,” says one of my clients (we will call them “Mark”). “‘But Mark,’ I said, ‘I think it’s clear that tax rates will be adjusted and your tax life has to adjust with it. Or you won’t like your tax bite or refund next year.’” “Thanks Anthony, but I’ll keep it the way it is.” Now, my bigger worry is

Children Services at Mosholu Library on Hold for Now

By SOFIA MAHAIRAS

Frustrated parents plan to demonstrate in front of the Mosholu Public Library on Dec. 1 over the lack of consistent children’s librarians at the Norwood library. But library officials say they’re working on getting a full-time children’s librarian by next month. To Elaine Langer, a resident slated to join parents at the afternoon protest, the rally is a way for the community to remind the “City, [New York Public Library], and electeds that we matter too.” “We are hoping to bring attention to the absurd situation of two librarians transferring out of a library (and within the NYPL system) within

iPhone Thefts in Norwood Police need help identifying two suspects wanted for stealing two iPhones in Norwood. According to police, the men allegedly stole an iPhone 8 and an iPhone 8 Plus from the T-Mobile store on 370 East Gun Hill Road on Oct 26. Both men are dark skinned and slender, police say. Kingsbridge Hts. Stabbing Police are looking for a man who stabbed a woman in the back and chest numerous times with an unknown object, and escaped with his bike. The assault took place at 2701 Marion Ave. in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx

By DAVID CRUZ

The latest delay on securing a Community Board 7 district manager has to do with an untidy office. At the last CB7 general board meeting on Nov. 21, the holdup was blamed on finding a vendor to properly sanitize the office. “The process has to be delayed to allow time for the board office to undergo a thorough, professional, hygienic cleaning in order to safeguard the health and well-being of the staff, the income new district manager and visitors,” read Andrew Laiosa, chair of the Search Committee conducting interviews of prospective district managers. The board’s previous district manager, Andrew Sandler,