How to Pay for Kingsbridge Ice Center In Focus…Again

By AARON MAYORGA

The beleaguered project to convert the Kingsbridge Armory into the world’s largest ice skating center overcame a major financing hurdle as residents and community leaders backed a multi-million-dollar state loan for developers at a hearing. The state-mandated hearing represents a return to square one for backers of the Kingsbridge National Ice Center (KNIC), an expected to be state-of-the-art ice rink that is estimated to cost $353 million. Since receiving the green light from the New York City Council in December 2013, the project has languished in delays, with construction at the Armory yet to begin. At the Oct. 12 hearing,

By DAVID CRUZ

Repeat Robber Cops need help tracking a mystery man (left picture) wanted for a couple of robberies around the northwest Bronx over the span of three days. Police say the first incident happened on Oct. 10 just before 8 a.m. around Valentine Avenue and East 192nd Street. It’s there the suspect approached a 15 year old boy, flashed a knife and demanded headphones. The victim gave in and the perp took out. A day later, the suspect struck twice–once at the Grand Concourse near East 192nd Street around 7:15 a.m. robbing a 14-year-old boy after threatening to stab him with

By DAVID CRUZ

Community Board 7 is now among the groups supporting a move to rename a street after the late Andrew Sandler, who died in August after serving a year and a half as the board’s district manager. At its general board meeting, CB7 members unanimously approved a letter of support to be sent to Councilman Andrew Cohen backing a proposal to rename a street after Sandler. Supporters want the street renaming to happen in the vicinity of 238th Street and Waldo Avenue, the Riverdale streets where Sandler was raised. Community Board 8, the local board which covers the neighborhood Sandler grew

Monte Exhibit Aims to Quell Anxieties Through Flowery Pics

By DIEGO BARCACEL PENA

At the first floor of Montefiore Medical Center’s radiation oncology department, a collection of photos stretch across the hallway featuring everyday people holding flowers. The photos, part of an exhibit, intends to calm the nerves of those whose anxiety kicks up at a center where results can be life-altering. The photos were taken by Linda Stillman as part of an exhibit dubbed “Say it With Flowers,” presented by the hospital’s Fine Art Program and Collection. “You may be going to your physician for a procedure [that] you are nervous or fearful,” said Jodi Moise, curator of the program. “Then you

A Two-Fold Purpose For Tour de Bronx on Oct. 22

By DIEGO BARCACEL PEÑA

Cyclists from around the world are expected to trek around the borough for the annual Tour de Bronx slated for Oct. 22. The tour intends to promote physical activity for an otherwise unhealthy borough while shattering the many stereotypes still linked to the Bronx. “This is not a race,” said the Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr, speaking at Woodlawn Cemetery, one of the sites riders are expected to pass through. “The Tour de France is a race, the Tour de Bronx is a tour and we encourage people who are doing the 40-mile ride to get off their bikes

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

Free Flu Shots Free flu shots will be available on Oct. 16 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Vladeck Hall, 74 Van Cortlandt Pk. So. Participants should bring their insurance card, be at least 18 years of age or older and cannot be allergic to eggs. Residents must contact the office of Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz at (718) 796-5345 to be guaranteed a flu shot. College Fair The 10th annual College Access Fair will be held on Oct. 21 from 11 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. at Fordham University’s Rose Hill Campus, 441 E. Fordham Road with representatives from more than

By ARCY SEGURA, MA, CHES, CDE

Diabetes is so common that most people know at least one family member or friend with this chronic illness. There are roughly 30 million Americans with diabetes (about 1 in 10 people). The Bronx has very high rates with approximately one in seven people, or 15 percent of the population, diagnosed with diabetes and many more who have not yet been diagnosed. In order to help your body store and use the sugar and fat from food, your body produces insulin. Diabetes occurs when the body either produces too little insulin or when the body does not respond appropriately to

Fighting the Scourge of Graffiti, One Wall at at Time

By STEPHANIE LUCIANO

A Kingsbridge Heights couple has had enough with the scrawls of graffiti on property walls. For the last two years they found a way to combat it—taking it down themselves. They methodically remove graffiti from the neighborhood on a continuous basis. Sirio and Heather Guerino have a small office at the corner of West 197th Street and University Avenue, Guerinos Against Graffiti (GAG), named after the family efforts to wipe out graffiti, and which has been operating for almost two years. Born and raised in the Bronx, Sirio, 61, has always had a pet peeve against graffiti, which led to

By DIEGO BARCACEL PENA

When Eva Bornstein, executive director of the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, arrived to the Bronx in 2005, her exposure to the Latin community was limited. Back then, she didn’t know the Spanish translation for “thank you” (it’s “gracias”). Gradually, she took into consideration the borough’s diversity, zeroing in on the Bronx’s large Puerto Rican population, which stands at around 300,000. “The only person I knew was Jose Feliciano because he is a cross-over artist,” said Bornstein, referring to the famed Puerto Rican-born salsero. “So I had to learn from my Puerto Rican community who these artists really are.”