Pair of Buildings, 229 Total Units, Could Change Bedford Park Landscape

By CHRISTY RAE AMMONS

In the coming months, affordable housing construction on two developments will begin in Bedford Park. The Bedford Mosholu Community Association (BMCA) discussed these projects coming to the neighborhood at their monthly meeting on Nov. 7. “Unfortunately, we’re losing a lot of our private homes in the area,” said Barbara Stronczer, BMCA president, at the latest meeting. The building will be built along a stretch of lots once belonging to one- and two-family homes. Among those lots is 267 E. 202nd Street, which had been a two-family home. Its owner, Peter Fine, knocked down the property along with two adjacent homes

By DAVID CRUZ

Dear Fellow Readers! The Norwood News is out with its latest edition covering Bronx communities. With 24 pages packed into this paper let’s get into the coverage! The front page focuses on the longstanding issue of mailbox fishing. The practice has become the ire of the NYPD, now trying to curb it with a new offensive. The Norwood News interviewed the lead cop at the 52nd Precinct behind the initiative. We also have an editorial on the NYPD’s tough task. The paper also has results on the General Election. The outcomes made the September primary official with some new faces going

Store Vacancies Draw Interest from Potential Business Owners in Norwood

By JONATHAN CUSTODIO

The Jerome Gun Hill Improvement District (JGHBID) recently led several prospective shop tenants across its commercial district, showcasing at least a dozen store vacancies while outlining needed services currently unavailable at the BID. The commercial vacancy tour is the first for JGHBID. Shopkeepers first met at the Keeper’s House, the BID’s headquarters, with BID Executive Director, Jennifer Tausig, and Ariana Cipriani, the BID’s community liaison. Prospective business tenants surveyed locations like a former T-Mobile store with intrigue, evaluating the neighborhood, foot traffic, and empty storefronts. “My business has been operating for over two years already. Right now, I’m just a

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

By JONATHAN CUSTODIO

@BOENYC only one machine out of 6 working at my polling place. District assembly 80. Need some IT people to fix the others — ☀️curly☀️ (@sunshinelova11) November 6, 2018 Amid malfunctioning machines, long lines, and ballot confusion, a hearing on the New York City Board of Elections’ (BOE) handling of the midterm elections is expected in the near future. At Scott Towers on Paul Avenue, the situation was described by at least one voter as “borderline chaotic,” though poll workers kept cool as ballot scanners were being repaired. Machines ceased working at approximately 10:19 a.m. on Tuesday, jamming the

Past and present faces of the Norwood News came to break bread and hail the paper’s 30-year milestone with a celebration at Lehman College on Nov. 1. The event drew roughly 130 guests to the college’s Faculty Dining Room in the Music Building, which included an awards program and keynote address by Errol Louis of NY1. Opening the ceremony was Jennifer Tausig, executive director of Mosholu Preservation Corporation (MPC), the not-for-profit that produces the Norwood News. Dr. José Luis Cruz, president of Lehman College, and Dr. Peter Semczuk, executive director of Montefiore Health System’s Moses Campus, spoke of the paper’s

By JOSEPH KONIG

Punditry and speculation about winners and losers was rampant nationwide ahead of Tuesday’s election. In the Bronx, however, virtually every race saw the winner of the September Democratic primary come out on top. Democratic-socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez cruised to victory over Republican Anthony Pappas, an economics professor at St. John’s University recently disavowed by the Bronx and Queens Republican parties after party officials learned of domestic violence allegations against Pappas (which he denies). Ocasio-Cortez, at age 28 and representing Congressional District 14, is the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. She officially beat her opponent, Congressman Joseph Crowley, who ran on the Working Families

It’s difficult to quantify the large amounts of money lost from mailbox fishing, the subject of our front page story. The problem is not new. Mailbox fishing has victimized scores of people who depend on the mail to send out their rent check, money orders for utilities, or even a gift card for a loved one. Yet, it hasn’t abated, and the NYPD continues to face a tough task in nailing mailbox fishers. The NYPD could be helped in curbing this kind of fraud that’s blanketed the Bronx. Yet, when reading that a bank won’t give up surveillance video of

WWII Tribute for Dominican-Born Soldiers Unveiled at BCC

By JOSEPH KONIG

Bronx elected officials welcomed 10 diplomatic officials from the Dominican Republic at the Nov. 2 grand opening of the nation’s first monument for Dominican veterans of World War II. The monument, funded in part by $400,000 in state and local funding secured by Councilman Fernando Cabrera, is located on the campus of Bronx Community College (BCC) in University Heights. “More than 300 Dominican men and women risked and sacrificed their lives for the United States during World War II,” Cabrera, who is part Dominican, said. “These soldiers have been largely left out of U.S. history and I believed their rightful and

Five-Two Part of New Major Offensive Against Mailbox Fishers

By JOSEPH KONIG

Crime Prevention Officer Frank Pacella has spent much of the last few weeks visiting at least 60 U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mailboxes within the 52nd Precinct. At each stop, Pacella pulls out a clipboard and jots down the locations of nearby security cameras he’s spotted. The initiative is the most recent step taken by the NYPD to combat mail fishing, a tactic thieves use to steal checks and commit identity fraud. The order came down from the NYPD’s Crime Prevention Division ahead of the start of the holiday season, when rates of mailbox fishing and other mail fraud typically increase.