Popular Norwood Deli Shut in Alleged Food Stamp Fraud

By DAVID GREENE

The owner of a popular deli in Norwood faces a slew of charged after he and several others were arrested in an early morning raid last week, followed by a second raid the following day at the man’s home. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office confirms that the entire family has been charged in a $296,000 food stamp fraud scheme. Police stormed into the AKS Halal Deli and Grill at 319 E. 204th St. on June 24. The popular deli boasts a large spread of hot food for its regulars and passersby. Police say the owner, Ali Shahzad, 61, was taken into

By Bronx Community Health Leaders

Don’t think there are opportunities in the Bronx to achieve your dreams? Think again. Julissa de La Cruz is a young, single mom, living in the Bronx, but any standard narrative ends there. Every Tuesday night she gathers young Bronx college students at Family Health Center, Montefiore’s primary care site, to cultivate their dreams of becoming doctors and serving their communities. The group of 40 students – some of whom are the first in their families to attend college – is named Bronx Community Health Leaders (BxCHL), a yearlong peer network support group where its recent crop of students graduated. Members start

Bronxites head to the polls today to do something that hasn’t happened in nearly 50 years: putting someone else other than Congressman Charles Rangel in the 13th Congressional District seat. Nine candidates are vying for the seat, in a race that’s become quite ugly within the last few days. Rangel, who announced his retirement over a year ago, was considered a political giant in Washington D.C., bringing concerns of Harlem to Capitol Hill. The 13th Congressional District was reconfigured a few years ago to include the Bronx, including the Norwood section of the borough. Learn about the candidates in this

By JASMINE GOMEZ

For the past few years, about 250 dogwood trees have been blooming in what was once an open field covered in green grass. But the fate of those trees has been left dangling like a dead tree limb. The dogwoods, found along Mosholu Parkway, were planted by the forestry division of the New York City Department of Parks in 2014. An official explanation on why they’re being removed in September is not clear. But Elizabeth Quaranta, president of Friends of Mosholu Parkland, said she first heard the news by a Parks employee who explained the dogwoods would be removed citing

This week we asked readers if they think domestic terrorism is on the rise and if stricter federal gun control laws would solve the problem. Most certainly domestic terrorism is definitely on the rise as shown in Orlando, Fla. I believe what [President] Barack Obama was saying at a town hall meeting, and he made a great analogy with driving and guns. People were dying in accidents at a phenomenal rate until they did a study and they were able to determine that seat belts save lives. The gun lobbyists won’t let us do any kind of research at all,

By DAVID CRUZ

The CUNY School of Journalism, which oversees the Center for Community & Ethnic Media (CCEM), announced a $1 million grant aimed at offering continuing education workshops to the city’s trove of journalists covering community news with scant resources. The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) made the announcement at the school’s offices in midtown Manhattan. The office’s commissioner, Julie Menin, announced the award aimed at creating multimedia-based classes that can help “stay ahead of the changes.” CUNY School of Journalism dean Sarah Bartlett, joining Menin, called the grant a “dream come true.” Menin was also joined by CCEM’s co-director,

By LATOYA JOYNER

Of the 58,000 people sleeping in shelters on any given night, nearly three-quarters are parents and their children, who are unable to afford an apartment in our increasingly unaffordable city. For the six-year-old living in a shelter or doubled up in the home of a family friend, the daunting prospects of learning to read and social dynamics of making new friends are fraught with the instability of homelessness. Children who are homeless are more likely to be suspended and to have behavioral issues in school. Due to the often longer commutes, they may struggle to complete their homework and study

By DAVID CRUZ

In the last three decades, employees from Montefiore Health System made it a point to join hundreds of people in marching at the Gay Pride Parade in Manhattan. Teams of hospital employees, decked out in rainbow-colored shirts, would amble along Fifth Avenue in solidarity with members of the LGBTQ community, in which many call Montefiore their go-to hospital or their employer. This year, and perhaps in perpetuity, a first-ever float bearing the hospital logo will roll out at the festal parade, joining a cavalcade of other floats that send its message of support to the gay community. It also serves

Police in the 52nd Precinct are on the lookout for a suspect of a crew wanted for a daylight stabbing of a teen on Wednesday near the #4 subway station in Norwood. Police say the stabbing is likely gang-related since the victim, known to have affiliation with a local crew near Knox Place, had stepped off the subway at the Mosholu Parkway stop when he was hit by a cane and later stabbed. The suspect fled with two other teens who were later arrested, according to police. The victim, said to be 15 years old, was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center,