Public & Community Meetings

COMMUNITY BOARD 7 will hold its general board meeting on June 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the New York Botanical Garden Visitor Center Café (Note: The Board will go on hiatus until September). CB7 committee meetings are held on the following dates at the board office, 229A E. 204th St. at 6:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted: Housing/Land Use/Zoning & Senior Services on June 17; Education/Libraries on June 18; and Parks & Recreation on June 24. For more information, call (718) 933-5650. THE 52ND PRECINCT COMMUNITY COUNCIL will meet on June 25 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Part of the

By DAVID GREENE This week we asked readers to rate the performance of Mayor Bill de Blasio after a year and a half in office.

Briggs Avenue Wall Gets Mural Makeover Courtesy of Grant

By KIMBERLY JACOBS In May, Samelys Lopez and the Bedford Mosholu Community Association received a $1,250 grant to paint a graffiti mural on a blank wall across from PS 8 on Briggs Avenue at 202nd Street.

As Albany Talks Rent, Tenants Talk Rent Freeze with RGB

By IMANI HALL At the latest Rent Guidelines Board hearing, landlord Al Versace, who has owned buildings in the city for years, fears he will no longer be able to afford to maintain one of his buildings.

Norwood News Wins Big In Journalism Contest

By NORWOOD NEWS The Norwood News walked away a big winner at the 2015 Ippies Awards, sponsored by the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

Out & About: Westchester Square Gears Up for Fair @ The Square

Editor’s Pick Annual Fair at Westchester Square The Westchester Square Merchants Association presents its free 7th annual Fair @ the Square, June 20 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (rain or shine) along the streets of Westchester Square between St. Raymond and Westchester avenues. Events include an all-day concert series featuring a variety of music with host and performers, plus both an adult and kid Elvis impersonator. Also featured will be art, an MTA antique bus, a kids’ activity area offering face painting and arts and crafts, an FDNY smokehouse and antique fire engine, rock wall, games, exhibits and other

By DAVID CRUZ & BOB KAPPSTATTER The 52nd Precinct is set to get a new batch of officers amid efforts to curb a rising gang problem west of Bedford Park.

Latest Edition of the Norwood News Is Out!

By DAVID CRUZ The Norwood News is once again out with a new edition available online and across the northwest Bronx and filled with plenty of community news you can use! We begin with a micro-local story that can play out anywhere–the “in-stall-ation” of speed hump on a street that’s at both a Neighborhood Slow Zone and school zone. Neighbors are in an uproar over a year-long delay, especially after a vehicle recently plowed in three parked cars before turning over. Find out what the commotion is about. We also delve into the existing rent protection laws that are slated to

FEGS’ Bronx Programs Transferred to The Jewish Board

By VIVIAN CARTER Federation Employment & Guidance Services (FEGS) of Norwood, now bankrupt, will keep its social services programs going, after transferring them to the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services for $75 million. New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH), primary provider of licenses and contracts for the programs, authorized the transfer. The Jewish Board, in existence for more than 140 years, currently helps over 5,880 clients in the Bronx (and 35,000 citywide) to live as independently as possible, through care management services, mental health clinics, preventive services, emergency shelter for survivors of domestic violence, supportive housing, apartment