Op-Ed: Construction Bill Would Harm Mayor’s MWBE and Job Creation Initiatives

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

By REV. JACQUES ANDRE DeGRAFF

Mayor Bill de Blasio has set laudable and ambitious goals for creating jobs and supporting minority- and women-owned businesses across New York City. But these initiatives are now at risk of being undermined by ill-conceived City Council legislation – Intro 1447 – that would significantly change the city’s construction industry. Faith leaders and minority community advocates like myself are extremely concerned that City Council is considering a vote on Intro 1447 as early as September 7. MWBEs were unfairly left out of the discussion around this bill, which apparently went on for over a year without any outreach to our community.

Police have arrested a man they first believed had been shot by an alleged car thief only to find he made up a bogus story to hide he had accidentally shot himself. Police at the 52nd Precinct say the man was in his car when he got into an argument with another person East 199th Street and Bainbridge Avenue in Bedford Park. The driver then pulled out a gun, which went off, hitting the driver. The driver sped off to East 207th Street and Bainbridge Avenue. Witnesses say the victim had bled profusely. The victim then flagged police who came

So much for resting in peace. Cops are looking for a couple of crooks who robbed a half-dozen caskets out of a mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery. Officials told the Daily News and New York Post the discovery was made today at around 1:30 p.m. It’s unclear why the unopened crypts were removed, but police are treating it as a burglary. Investigators were seen standing near the mausoleum where the disturbance happened. Woodlawn Cemetery is the enormous final resting place for many famous New Yorkers, including famed urban planner Robert Moses, newspaper legend Joseph Pulitzer, and music icon Celia Cruz.

SEE VIDEO: Solar Eclipse a Moment for the Ages in Norwood

By DAVID CRUZ

With a pair of special solar eclipse glasses, Ashley Abril peered up in the shaded sky at Williamsbridge Oval Park, paused for a moment and did something few have thought to do: she made a wish. It was her hope that the rarity of the solar eclipse, the first for the Bronx since 1978, would make her wish come true. “It’s something special,” Abril said after witnessing the celestial event. She didn’t have special eclipse glasses of her own. They were on loan from the Norwood News, which found few Norwood residents ready to look up. Many seized the moment

RESIDENTS LIVING WITHIN the 52nd Precinct’s Sector C division are invited to a Safety Summit Meeting organized by Neighborhood Coordination Officers Stephen Urbanowicz and Tara Convery on Aug. 29 at 6 p.m. at Lehman College’s Music Building, 250 Bedford Pk. Blvd. W. Sector C encompasses from West Gun Hill Road to Webster Avenue at Mosholu Parkway and from Goulden Avenue south to Kingsbridge Road and west to east along East 196th Street. For more information, email Stephen.Urbanowicz@nypd.org or Tara.Convery@nypd.org. Residents living within the 52nd Precinct’s Sector B, which encompasses East 196th Street and Fordham Road and Webster avenue and Goulden

WWE Stars Visit Sick Children at Montefiore

By DAVID GREENE

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstars Becky Lynch, “Bayley,” Xavier Woods and the “Big E” joined WWE ambassador Dana Warrior as the group paid a special visit to sick and chronically ill kids at The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in Norwood. The special event was held at the Bainbridge Avenue hospital on Aug. 16, ahead of WWE’s SummerSlam, held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Aug. 20. Passing doctors and nurses snapped cell phone photos of the wrestlers as they spoke with the children, posed for pictures and signed autographs. Jhenlyva Vargas of Westchester County, who would turn 18 the

By DAVID CRUZ

Police need help finding a person caught on video stealing a woman’s credit cards from her wallet and using them to buy cigarettes nearby. The incident happened Aug. 14 just before 10 a.m. inside Montefiore Health System’s Greene Medical Arts Pavilion – Henkind Institute at 3400 Bainbridge Ave. Video surveillance showed the suspected thief allegedly using the victim’s credit card at Tita’s Mini Market at 137 E. Gun Hill Rd., just several blocks away, to buy the cigarettes. The suspect eventually fled and hasn’t been seen since. The suspected thief is described as a black man, around 30 to 35 years

By BRENDA BOATSWAIN, PhD.

According to the U.S. Surgeon General, “cigarette smoking remains the chief preventable killer in America, with more than 40 million Americans caught in a web of tobacco dependence.” Each day, more than 3,200 youth (younger than 18 years of age) smoke their first cigarette and another 2,100 youth and young adults who are occasional smokers progress to become daily smokers. Studies have shown that smokers are more likely than non-smokers to develop heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer. Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States. Pregnant women and those who have a heart

Out & About: Enjoy a Weekend Walk in Norwood

Editor’s Pick: Free Events at Oval Park Williamsbridge Oval presents the following free events: Outdoor Movie, “La La Land,” Aug. 18 at 8 p.m. (held indoors if inclement weather); Back-to-School, Aug. 19 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring school supplies giveaways, library presentations, cooking demo, and fitness demos; and Splash From the Beach, Aug. 23 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., featuring sandboxes, water tables, beach games and more. For more information, call (718) 367-3657. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THE WEEKEND WALKS AT EAST 204TH STREET FEATURED IN THE PRINT VERSION OF OUT & ABOUT HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL SEPT.