SEE VIDEO: Solar Eclipse a Moment for the Ages in Norwood

By DAVID CRUZ

With a pair of special solar eclipse glasses, Ashley Abril peered up in the shaded sky at Williamsbridge Oval Park, paused for a moment and did something few have thought to do: she made a wish. It was her hope that the rarity of the solar eclipse, the first for the Bronx since 1978, would make her wish come true. “It’s something special,” Abril said after witnessing the celestial event. She didn’t have special eclipse glasses of her own. They were on loan from the Norwood News, which found few Norwood residents ready to look up. Many seized the moment

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

RESIDENTS LIVING WITHIN the 52nd Precinct’s Sector C division are invited to a Safety Summit Meeting organized by Neighborhood Coordination Officers Stephen Urbanowicz and Tara Convery on Aug. 29 at 6 p.m. at Lehman College’s Music Building, 250 Bedford Pk. Blvd. W. Sector C encompasses from West Gun Hill Road to Webster Avenue at Mosholu Parkway and from Goulden Avenue south to Kingsbridge Road and west to east along East 196th Street. For more information, email Stephen.Urbanowicz@nypd.org or Tara.Convery@nypd.org. Residents living within the 52nd Precinct’s Sector B, which encompasses East 196th Street and Fordham Road and Webster avenue and Goulden

WWE Stars Visit Sick Children at Montefiore

By DAVID GREENE

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstars Becky Lynch, “Bayley,” Xavier Woods and the “Big E” joined WWE ambassador Dana Warrior as the group paid a special visit to sick and chronically ill kids at The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in Norwood. The special event was held at the Bainbridge Avenue hospital on Aug. 16, ahead of WWE’s SummerSlam, held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Aug. 20. Passing doctors and nurses snapped cell phone photos of the wrestlers as they spoke with the children, posed for pictures and signed autographs. Jhenlyva Vargas of Westchester County, who would turn 18 the

By DAVID CRUZ

Police need help finding a person caught on video stealing a woman’s credit cards from her wallet and using them to buy cigarettes nearby. The incident happened Aug. 14 just before 10 a.m. inside Montefiore Health System’s Greene Medical Arts Pavilion – Henkind Institute at 3400 Bainbridge Ave. Video surveillance showed the suspected thief allegedly using the victim’s credit card at Tita’s Mini Market at 137 E. Gun Hill Rd., just several blocks away, to buy the cigarettes. The suspect eventually fled and hasn’t been seen since. The suspected thief is described as a black man, around 30 to 35 years

By BRENDA BOATSWAIN, PhD.

According to the U.S. Surgeon General, “cigarette smoking remains the chief preventable killer in America, with more than 40 million Americans caught in a web of tobacco dependence.” Each day, more than 3,200 youth (younger than 18 years of age) smoke their first cigarette and another 2,100 youth and young adults who are occasional smokers progress to become daily smokers. Studies have shown that smokers are more likely than non-smokers to develop heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer. Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States. Pregnant women and those who have a heart

Out & About: Enjoy a Weekend Walk in Norwood

Editor’s Pick: Free Events at Oval Park Williamsbridge Oval presents the following free events: Outdoor Movie, “La La Land,” Aug. 18 at 8 p.m. (held indoors if inclement weather); Back-to-School, Aug. 19 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring school supplies giveaways, library presentations, cooking demo, and fitness demos; and Splash From the Beach, Aug. 23 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., featuring sandboxes, water tables, beach games and more. For more information, call (718) 367-3657. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THE WEEKEND WALKS AT EAST 204TH STREET FEATURED IN THE PRINT VERSION OF OUT & ABOUT HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL SEPT.

MMCC Trip Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC) offers an overnight trip to Washington D.C. and Baltimore, Oct. 5-6, with a visit to the National African-American History & Culture Museum. Stay includes one-night hotel and several meals. For more detailed information and rates, call the MMCC Senior Center at (718) 798-6601. Job Expos Employer pop-up recruitment expos are taking place at the following libraries from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Bronx Library Center, 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd. and Belmont Library, 610 E. 186th St., both on Aug. 30; and Eastchester Library, 1385 E. Gun Hill Rd. on Aug. 24. For more

BCC to Remove Confederate Statue at Bronx Hall of Fame

Following the massive condemnation of demonstrations in Charlottesville, Va, Bronx Community College (BCC) plans on removing the sculpture of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson from its much visited Hall of Fame, school officials announced. The move comes several days after neo-Nazi and white supremacists converged onto Charlottesville over the removal of a statue bearing Lee’s image from public spaces. The violent protests resulted in the death of Heather Hayer, who was killed by a car that appeared to have deliberately run over counter-protesters by alleged driver James Alex Fields, Jr. “For 60 years, Bronx Community College

By Carmen Fariña

Like many New Yorkers, I was the first in my family to go to college. It didn’t even occur to me until midway through high school, when one of my teachers told me I’d need to go to college if I wanted to follow my own dream of becoming a teacher. She made college a reality for me. I know first-hand how important it is to have teachers who make college a reality for their students. More than 50 years after my teachers put me on the path to college and a great career, we’re making College Access for All