Latest Edition of the Norwood News is Out!

By DAVID CRUZ

Hello fellow readers, The newest edition of the Norwood News is out with 20 pages of Bronx community news you can use. We begin with a familiar story: The Kingsbridge Armory. The latest in this poor, ongoing saga is the Kingsbridge National Ice Center’s attempt at wanting to purchase the enormous property from the City of New York. Read about those attempts by the developers attorneys who are using every legal maneuver in the book to grab a hold of the property. Here in Norwood, we feature a story on the District Manager of Community Board 7, Andrew Sandler, facing the possibility

By DAVID CRUZ

Emily Flores’ conviction is so strong she’s willing to take on injustices all on her own. So when she saw that her building management company initially stood ready to jack up her monthly parking bill 84 percent with not much notice or discussion, she mobilized…herself. “I gotta take the bull by the horns because I’m not having it,” Flores said. It took management some convincing to bring the rate down from its original monthly charge of $280, a fee Flores thought was just way too high for Norwood’s working class. It was a good thing then that the management company

The Jerome-Gun Hill Business Improvement District celebrated its 15th Annual Fall Festival, attracting hundreds to the festivities that put a spotlight on some 200 stores open for business at the BID. HealthFirst was a major sponsor. All photos courtesy Jerome-Gun Hill BID [URIS id=21847]

Students Take ‘Commit to Graduate’ Pledge at DeWitt Clinton HS

By JALEESA BAULKMAN

DeWitt Clinton High School held its first annual “Commit to Graduate” event to increase student motivation by emphasizing the value of a high school diploma and the steps needed to complete their secondary studies, all in a major effort to reverse low graduation rates. “Every single day we make decisions,” Principal Santiago Taveras told his students at the pep rally-style announcement. “And when you make decisions, they have consequences.” During the campaign launch on Sept. 23, students spent the majority of their school day learning about graduation requirements, the college application process, and the importance of school attendance. “Commit to

Fire Escape Burglars A laptop and $20 in cash was stolen from a 30-year-old woman’s apartment on Sept. 20 at around 1 a.m. The NYPD is hoping the public helps identify two suspects captured on video and linked to the burglary. The suspects crept through the victim’s unlocked fire escape window by Briggs Avenue and East 196th Street, later fleeing from the same fire escape after lifting her items. Both individuals (pictured below) are male; the first male was last seen wearing a hooded sweatshirt, light colored pants and black sneakers. The second male was last seen wearing a dark

Securing Kingsbridge Ice Center Funding a Waiting Game

By DAVID CRUZ

Vacant Armory purchase price assessed at $17 million, says KNIC In the last year, progress at the Kingsbridge Armory, which was expected to house a large ice skating complex by next year, has stalled with nary a shovel in the ground. A lawsuit by developers of the Kingsbridge National Ice Center (KNIC) against the New York City Economic Development Corporation prompted the stall. Attorneys for KNIC have since regrouped with a new tactic to settle the case: an offer to buy the landmark Armory. In a two-page letter obtained by the Norwood News, KNIC, the developer picked by the city

By DAVID GREENE

A firefighter chief is dead and twelve others were injured following an explosion of a home in Kingsbridge, which is now under suspicion for housing a so-called “grow house.” Battalion Chief Michael Fahy, a 17-year veteran with the FDNY, was struck with debris from the exploding home at 300 W. 234th Street as he directed operations from outside the home. “It’s a terrible loss for the family, for the Fahy family,” FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said at a news conference at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where Fahy was rushed to. “It’s a loss for the Fire Department family. We are a

By DAVID CRUZ

Community Board 7 opened its fall session with a shocker as members held off firing its latest district manager, continuing a pattern of hostility between executive members and DMs that’s ended in the resignations of three DMs in just over three years. With a vote of 26 to 1 at the latest general board meeting, CB7 members voted to extend the probationary period of Andrew Sandler, who was hired by the Board nine months ago after its previous DMs, Dustin Engelken, resigned. On its surface, Engelken left after his wife accepted a job abroad, though members said Engelken left because

A model student at a Bronx catholic high school is being recognized for his scholastic achievements in the nation’s capital. Christian Martinez, a student at Cardinal Hayes High School and an alum of Bronx Youth Heard, the Norwood News’ afterschool journalism program, is being awarded the Seton Award by the National Catholic Educational Association. The award doubles as a $2000 scholarship. “Christian is a perfect example and model student for Catholic education,” Fr. Joseph Tierney, President of Cardinal Hayes High School. “He represents thousands and thousands of young men and women who have these core values that make them great