Bronx Youth Empowerment Program Celebrates 10 Years

By DANIELA BEASLEY

The Bronx Youth Empowerment Program (YEP) rang in their 10th anniversary with its yearly Youth Speaks event on April 20 at the Richard R. Green School auditorium. The event was complete, with several performances leading into a panel discussion to make up this year’s theme of excelling in life. Youth Speaks is hosted by Bronx YEP in partnership with Councilman Andy King, founded in that same auditorium by King and his wife Neva Shillingford-King. They developed the Youth Empowerment program after the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club closed down, which left around 60 kids with nowhere to go

5-Boro Bike Tour May 1 will have 40 miles of NYC streets totally free of cars to allow 32,000 cyclists to ride through all the boroughs, with proceeds funding the largest free urban bike education program of its kind in the world as well as more than 50 charity fundraising partners. Riders come from every state and many countries, and will be entertained along the route by 25 acts from disco to hip-hop to folk and modern dance. For more information, visit www.bike.nyc. Tenant Issue Support A tenant specialist from the Mayor’s Tenant Support Unit will be at the office of

Editor’s Pick Keeping Fit The public is invited to join the following fundraisers, and exercise at the same time, both on April 30: Wildlife Conservation Society – Run for the Wild, a Run and Family Fun Run/Walk at the Bronx Zoo. Registration fee includes complimentary admission and parking, free post-run activities, refreshments, entertainment and a silent disco. For more information, visit wcsrunforthewild.org. Mosholu Community Center – B’N Fit Teen & Community Walk at the NY Botanical Garden, to call attention to ending teen obesity. In-person registration begins at 7:30 a.m.; walk begins at 8 a.m. Participants who raise $50 walk for

By VIVIAN CARTER

The trend in New York City real estate development is unquestionably upward. But residents in the Woodlawn Heights section of the Bronx have orchestrated a reversal. Woodlawn Heights is an outlier, a hilly neighborhood of one- and two-family homes along the city’s northern line, surrounded by Van Cortlandt Park, the fences of Woodlawn Cemetery, and a bustling Webster Avenue corridor. The bulk of Woodlawn Heights (except along the cemetery and Webster Avenue) is zoned R4A, allowing only suburban-style homes. For years, three local homeowners groups have been working closely with local legislators and the community board to maintain the

TRAFFIC IS A jumbled mess at the intersection of East Gun Hill Road and Webster Avenue…or as the neighborhood calls it, Friday! The jumbled mess is a typical Friday at this stretch in working class Norwood. Residents have long demanded traffic-calming measures at the strip.Photo by David Cruz

Announcement of Senate Candidacy in the Bronx Doubles as Endorsement

By DAVID CRUZ

Jamaal Bailey, an employee and established protégé of Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, announced his run for the 36th Senate District, a seat currently held by Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, who plans to step down. The announcement quickly became a major endorsement for Bailey by the Bronx Democratic County Committee (BDCC). Outside Wakefield’s Butler Memorial Methodist Church, where Bailey sometimes speaks, Bailey stood alongside Speaker Heastie and other Bronx legislators, including BDCC chairman Marcos Crespo. “What a time to be alive,” said Bailey, 33, also flanked by his parents, wife and daughter as he delivered a Democratic platform of education reform, criminal justice reform and

By JASMINE GOMEZ

Inspector Nilda Hofmann of the 52nd Precinct announced a reassignment from the Five-Two precinct after more than two years on the job. “It’s bittersweet,” said Hofmann, making her announcement at Community Board 7’s general board meeting April 21. Her news was met with loud sighs and a resounding “no” from CB7 chair, Adaline Walker-Santiago. “It’s been two plus years but I wanted to thank everybody here,” continued Hofmann, who was given a standing ovation from attendees at the meeting. Hofmann began her tour at the 52nd Precinct in 2013, having replaced the previous inspector, Joseph Dowling. Hofmann began her career with the

Hello Loyal Readers! The ninth edition of the Norwood News, covering community news you can use, is out, hitting over 300 locations throughout Norwood and its surrounding neighborhoods. Of course, we begin in Norwood, at the enormous Tracey Towers. There, residents are supporting a proposal to review the books of its management company’s $40 million renovation. Read why the tenants association are backing an audit proposal. We then recap a meeting involving Norwood’s community stakeholders and the Bangladeshi community. Aldo Perez organized the meeting. Learn why he believes crimes against Bangladeshis and Muslims are under-reported. There’s also a piece on the story

The authorities swept in at dawn. At the end, 120 people were rounded up for a litany of offenses affiliated with gang life. It’s now purported as the largest gang takedown in the history of the city, and in the Bronx. The NYPD led the raid at Eastchester Gardens on April 27, with authorities from the Department of Homeland Security. They went into various apartments, cuffing suspects linked to the 2Fly YGz street gang, a subdivision of the Young Gunnaz. Another group of suspects belonged to the Big Money Bosses gang, considered a rival of the Young Gunnaz. A long list of charges include