The Bedford Mosholu Community Association (BMCA) committee announced during their last meeting before the summer recess that this year, it was honoring Síle Moloney, Norwood News editor, with the association’s annual Jack Kelly Memorial Award.

 

Moloney joined Norwood News as an intern in 2019 while completing a master’s degree in journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism in Manhattan, part of the City University of New York. She took over the reins of the nonprofit publication from former editor-in-chief David Cruz on the last day of March 2020, just weeks after the COVID-19 pandemic hit New York.

 

Presenting the award on the later date of Friday, July 28, BMCA President Barbara Stronczer, who was joined by committee members, Robin, Joy Syeeda LaFontaine and Leonia, for the occasion said, “Jack was one of the early founders of this association [which] started out as a local community patrol in the neighborhood and then, after more than a few years, we could no longer be volunteers and we decided, rather than just disbanding, we would become a community association.”

 

Stronczer added that BMCA has been in existence since the late 1970s. “The award is in recognition of outstanding service to our community,” she said. The group has previously also honored other members of the community with the Annual Mary Vallati Memorial Award, including, in 2021, Sirio Guerino of Guerinos Against Graffitti* for his graffiti removal efforts and, in 2022, Marisa Canapi for her gardening work in the local neighborhood.

 

Moloney said she was humbled, honored and very happy to receive the award, which she accepted on behalf of all her Norwood News colleagues, the majority of whom are part-time freelancers, saying it was a team effort. She thanked the BMCA committee and members for the honor and commended them on all the uplifting work they did for the local community.

 

Their work includes but is not limited to regular park clean-ups, facilitating civic engagement, encouraging residents to vote, and sharing vital information to keep residents safe, informed, and happy. BCMA affiliates include Perry Avenue Block Association, North Marion Avenue Block Association, Decatur Avenue Block Association, East 201st Street Block Association, Mosholu Parkway Block Association, North Central Avenue Block Association, and Botanical Square Block Association.

 

Moloney also said that having reported on and knowing the caliber of some of the previous BMCA award recipients, including Sirio Guerino of Guerinos against Graffitti,* NYPD Community Affairs Officer Stephen Echevarria, and Marisa Canapi, it was a particular honor to be recognized. She went on to praise a prior Norwood News intern who she said was from the local Bedford Park community, while also commending the publication’s current summer intern, Ashley Castillo, who is a wheelchair user, and who she said was doing a great job.

 

Of the prior local intern from Bedford Park, Moloney added, “I won’t say her name, but she was a great intern. I think of her today. She went through a lot of [personal] difficulties that summer and I just wish her well because she did a really good job and, you know, she embodies the resilient spirit of the community and of The Bronx as a whole. I’m very, very honored. Thank you so much.”