Latest Edition of the Norwood News is Out!

By DAVID CRUZ

Dear Fellow Readers, The year’s eighteenth edition of the Norwood News is out with plenty of interesting community news stories to read and share. We have 28 pages packed full of news from this corner of the Bronx, capturing all kinds of stuff. We’re actually veering from our page one, and moving to page two! Our other top story focuses on a Legionnaires’ scare impacting Tracey Towers. The New York City Health Department is now investigating how the bacteria caused two residents to contract the disease. Reporter Jose A. Giralt stopped by a meeting to get a complete breakdown. Back

An Enigma of a Parking Spot Surfaces at Tracey Towers

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

After delivering notices of a second resident contracting Legionnaires’ disease at 20 W. Mosholu Pkwy. S. within the last 12 months, an official from the city Department of Health (DOH) told concerned residents that testing for the bacteria will soon take place. At a meeting Tuesday night inside the building’s community room, Ricky Wong, director of Community Affairs at DOH, informed the tenants of the department’s plan to start testing the building’s water for the bacteria. He said that water testing could “potentially happen at the earliest by the end of this week.” Results from the water samples can take

Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit The Tenant Support Unit, offering tenant protection help, will be available in the Bronx at various dates and times: the Office of State Senator Gustavo Rivera at 2432 Grand Concourse from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sept. 17 and 24; Office of Assemblyman Michael Blake, 780 Concourse Village West, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sept. 17 and 24; and University Neighborhood Housing Program at 2715 Bainbridge Ave. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sept. 19. For more information, call 311. Fridays With Fernandez Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez hosts a “Fridays With Fernandez” meet

By KATIE PANCZNER

With the school year in full swing, parents may be wondering how to keep kids nourished during the school day and after school. Providing your child with healthy snacks is an excellent way to keep them focused and full throughout the day. A healthy snack can include foods from all five food groups—fruits, vegetables, proteins, grains, and dairy—to give children the energy they need between meals. Snacks can provide a great energy boost between meals and supply important vitamins and minerals. With a bit of planning and a little creativity, you can offer kid-friendly snack ideas that can please even

Oppose Gas-Fired Facility Less than 50 miles north of our Norwood-Bedford Park community, residents of Newburgh, NY and nearby towns and cities are fighting a plan by Danskammer Energy LLC to turn a little used power plant on the shore of the Hudson River into a year-round, 24/7 fracked gas facility. The proposed gas-fired plant would generate air pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, which can cause serious respiratory problems, and carbon dioxide and methane, which trap heat in the atmosphere and are the key culprits in the warming of our planet. Because air pollutants travel, residents of the Bronx (well known

By DAVID CRUZ

A report released by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. ahead of the first day of school proposes major fixes to the School Construction Authority (SCA), the body tasked to build new schools across the city, pointing out “inefficiencies” at a time when the borough’s public school districts are grossly overcrowded. After examining the SCA, which was created in 1988, Diaz Jr.’s office outlined 10 recommendations needed to streamline the authority. Among them is greater transparency, citing the lack of information that came out of a task force created by the New York City Council last year that studied the

City to Pick Up Tab on Tree-Damaged Sidewalks Near Homes

By DAVID CRUZ

Homeowners will be getting a reprieve from the city which will begin fixing sidewalks damaged by uprooted trees, a constant headache for homeowners. “It will not happen overnight. I mean as much as I appreciate the gratitude, I also know my colleagues and I are all realistic,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference on Sept. 10. He was joined by Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and state Sen. Jamaal Bailey, who represents Norwood, for the announcement at Community Board 12 in Wakefield. The Department of Transportation (DOT) holds oversight of sidewalks. In the past, if a city-owned tree

MMCC to Bring Head Start Programs Thanks to $2.1M Boost

By JONATHAN CUSTODIO

Mosholu Montefiore Community Center’s (MMCC) Child Development Center (CDC) is opening two new pre-kindergarten sites via federal funding provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Head Start program, which offers early childhood education and support services. The two buildings housing the programs will be named after Natly Esnard and Nora Feury, two long-time employees with MMCC. U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced that a total of $9.3 million would be awarded to five community centers in the Bronx, with MMCC receiving $2.1 million. “[Head Start] is an early childhood education program but family comes first,”

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

In July 2018, Whalen Park was reopened amid fanfare with family members of the park’s namesake present. At a cost of $1.8 million, Councilman Andrew Cohen said at the time, “Today we have a park that’s as good as any park in the city.” Now, some residents are worrying over activities inside the park that go beyond just “hanging out,” with some fears the playground may revert back to the days when vagrancy was such a normal occurrence. Indeed, the park had been such an eyesore that it left then-Deputy Borough President Aurelia Greene to declare it was once “plagued