UPDATE: 85 Bronx Students Complete Digital Skills Program in Efforts to Narrow the “Digital Divide”

By SHANIA DEGROOT & SÍLE MOLONEY

The “digital divide” is defined as the gulf between those who have ready access to computers and the internet, and those who do not. A 2019 report by New York City Comptroller, Scott Stringer, found that roughly a third of New York City residents did not have reliable access to the internet. Not only was this a cause for concern when it came to the completion of the first online census in 2020, but the subsequent, necessary transition to widespread remote learning, amid the pandemic, brought the problem into even sharper focus. In June of this year, as reported,

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New York are preparing for schools to be fully open for in-person learning in the fall with no remote or hybrid learning. On Thursday, Aug. 12, the superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of New York released “Catholic Schools Are Open: We Continue to Soar!”, a guide which lays out the Archdiocese’s plan which representatives say aims to ensure the maximum health, safety, and care for children and staff in September. According to the archdiocese, the updated manual, distributed on Thursday to parents, principals, school staff and faculty, is based on an international

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Police have classified the recent death of a 7-year-old girl in Mott Haven as a homicide. On Tuesday, August 10, at approximately 8.06 a.m., police responded to a 911 call regarding an unconscious female inside an apartment at an Alexander Avenue residential building in Mott Haven, located in the 40th precinct, and also in Police Service Area (PSA) 7 which serves NYCHA housing in the 40th and 42nd precincts. Upon arrival, responding officers encountered EMS personnel providing emergency care to an unconscious 7-year-old girl. EMS subsequently transported the child to NYC Health and Hospitals/Lincoln where she was pronounced

By SÍLE MOLONEY

New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) announced Thursday, Aug. 12, the official launch of the city’s e-scooter pilot program in the East Bronx. Bird, Lime and Veo, the three companies participating in the pilot program, will bring up to 3,000 e-scooters to the East Bronx during Phase 1 which starts Tuesday, Aug. 17, with an increase to as many as 6,000 in the second phase next year. According to DOT officials, both the department and each e-scooter company underwent an extensive community engagement process to locate sites for the e-scooter parking corrals and to educate the public about

By SÍLE MOLONEY

INCLUDEnyc is hosting an online back-to-school panel for Spanish-speaking parents of students with disabilities on Tuesday, Aug. 17. The panel aims to address and ease concerns about the transition to in-person learning, and how to connect to needed supports this fall. INCLUDEnyc will be convening Araina Sepulveda-Moreiras, associate director of special education translations and Daliz Vasquez, director for special education from NYC Department of Education, Dr. Judith Flores, a pediatrician from NYC Health + Hospitals, as well as Cruz Fuksman, community liaison at New York psychotherapy and counseling center. Panelists will discuss school reopening, vaccine eligibility, school translation

By SÍLE MOLONEY

A 20-year-old man died Wednesday, following a shooting which apparently took place inside a residential building in Fordham Heights. Police responded to a call regarding an assault inside an apartment of a residential building on Creston Avenue, located in the 46th precinct, on Wednesday, Aug. 11, at approximately 7.11 p.m. Upon arrival, officers observed the 20-year-old victim with three gunshot wounds, lying unconscious and unresponsive inside the hallway of the location. EMS responded and transported the victim to Saint Barnabas Hospital where he was pronounced deceased. No arrests have been made. The deceased has been identified as

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Congressman Jamaal Bowman (NY-16) and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer announced Thursday that the Senate unanimously passed a resolution designating Aug. 11, 2021 as “Hip Hop Celebration Day,” August 2021 as “Hip Hop Recognition Month,” and designating November 2021 as “Hip Hop History Month.” Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) joined Bowman as an original co-sponsor of the resolution in Congress. According to the congressman’s office, Hip Hop, now a world-wide phenomenon, had humble beginnings in New York City. On Aug. 11, 1973, at a “Back-to-School-Jam,” held in the recreation room of 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Morris Heights section of

By SÍLE MOLONEY

District 11 City Councilman Eric Dinowitz released a statement on Monday, July 26, in support of over 50 professors at the City University of New York who resigned from their union, the Professional Staff Congress of CUNY (PSC-CUNY), in response to a resolution passed by the union on June 10 which condemned Israeli government actions against Palestinians during the latest wave of violence which occurred in Gaza in May and June 2021. Dinowitz said that in the resolution, PSC-CUNY called Israel an “apartheid” state and considered supporting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, a movement which, according

By SÍLE MOLONEY

All New Yorkers aged 14 to 25 are invited to provide their thoughts and concerns about voting and local government at a public hearing streamed live on the “NYC Votes” Facebook page. The third annual “We, the Young People” youth-led Voter Assistance Advisory Committee (VAAC) hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 18, starting at 5.30 p.m. All New Yorkers may RSVP in advance to view the hearing live. Young people who are interested in testifying should contact Olivia Brady, the youth coordinator for NYC Votes, at obrady@nyccfb.info. “Youth voices are often excluded from conversations on civic participation, so