Blog

Local Councilman Votes to Ban Single-Use Plastic Straws

By SÍLE MOLONEY
District 11 Council Member Eric Dinowitz cast his vote to ban single use plastic straws at a recent City Council meeting. The legislation Int. 936-A was brought up through the Council Committee on Consumer Affairs and Business Licensing. The bill would ban food service establishments from providing plastic straws unless an individual specifically asks for one. There are also provisions directing the Department of Sanitation to provide education on the use and concerns of single use plastic straws.   “Single use straws very often wind up not in the trash but scattered around our streets and in our waterways,” said


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Building Permit Application filed for 2069 Bruckner Boulevard in Unionport

By SÍLE MOLONEY
A building permit application has been filed for a nine-story, mixed-use building at 2069 Bruckner Boulevard in Unionport, as reported by YIMBY.   Located between Pugsley Avenue and Olmstead Avenue, the interior lot is near the Parkchester subway station, serviced by the 6 train. Guido Subotovsky, under the Bruckner Affordable Owner LLC, is listed as the owner behind the applications.   The proposed 95-foot tall development will yield 280,731 total square feet, with 262,718 square feet designated for residential space and 18,013 square feet for commercial space. The building will have 265 residences, most likely condos, based on the average


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Norwood News Website Available in Spanish, Bengali, French, Arabic, Chinese & English!

By SÍLE MOLONEY
  Dear Readers, In 2020, in acknowledgement of the diverse composition of the local communities the Norwood News serves, we updated our website, www.norwoodnews.org, to allow users to read our site in Spanish, Bengali, Arabic, Chinese and French, using a Google Translate function.   Readers can translate the site from English into each of these languages by selecting the relevant language from the drop-down menu located in the top, right-hand corner of the home page.   As a nonprofit news organization, with limited resources, we decided to include this translation function on our site to help you, our community of readers, access local


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UPDATE: Student Farmers Dismayed Over Eviction from DeWitt Clinton Campus Garden    

By DAVID GREENE
  A local gardening group, founded by a former DeWitt Clinton High School teacher, has been ordered to vacate a beloved garden created on the school’s campus a decade ago, much to the dismay of some local student farmers and others in the community.   Former English teacher and later DeWitt Clinton sustainability coordinator, Raymond Pultinas, said he taught at the school, located in Jerome Park, for more than 25 years, cultivating the one-acre garden in question and facilitating hands-on work experience for student farmers.   Pultinas said he started the garden, a fenced off section of the school’s campus, located


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Update: Laborers’ Rep Calls Out “Corporate Greed” Amid Elevator Collapse

By DAWN CLANCY & SÍLE MOLONEY
This is an extended version of the story that appears in our latest print edition. A Laborers’ union representative is calling out elected officials to address “corporate greed” amid news of an elevator collapse in the South Bronx last week that left one person dead and another critically injured.     As reported by Norwood News, the FDNY responded to the collapse on Wednesday, May 19, at a site located at 20 Bruckner Boulevard in Port Morris in the vicinity of dense construction, part of a billion dollar waterfront development in the South Bronx. On arrival, they found one person dead and


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Schedule Announced for Bronx BP & City Council Candidates’ Debates on BronxNet TV

By SÍLE MOLONEY
          City Councilman Fernando Cabrera, Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernández, City Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson, retired NYPD Detective Sammy Ravelo, and State Sen. Luis Sepúlveda will participate in a debate on BronxNet airing on Monday, June 14, ahead of the June 22 primary election for Bronx borough president debate.  Photos via Twitter   BronxNet, in partnership with the League of Women Voters, City Limits, Norwood News, Dominicanos USA, Bronx Times and The Riverdale Press is presenting a debate between the candidates for Bronx borough president, as well as another series of debates between the candidates in the 11th, 12th 13th,


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Parents who Missed the “Pre-K for All” April Enrollment Deadline for their Child Can Still Apply

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Parents who missed the April 19 enrollment deadline to enter their child in the “Pre-K for All” program can still apply, according to the New York City Department of Education (DOE).   NYC Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter announced on Friday, May 28, a record ninety-one percent of families received an offer to one of their top three choices for free, full-day, high-quality Pre-K education. Seventy-seven percent of families received an offer to their top choice program, consistent with 2020. There are 57,511 families receiving Pre-K for All offers as of May 29, including all families who applied by the April


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Op-Ed: A Summer of Renewal for our Students

By MEISHA PORTER
This year has demanded that all New York City families and students do so many things differently—they’ve had to think differently, learn differently, and connect differently with teachers, peers, and the whole school community. At the Department of Education, we know we also have to think differently as we look towards the summer. For the first time ever, we are inviting all students to join us for a free, fun-filled, enriching summer program: Summer Rising.   This year, we will serve any student in grades K-12 in July and August who wants to participate, and I am excited to be


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