Residents Get Empowered, Envision Their Take on two Bronx Communities

Paula Caplan sat in the Sister Annunciata Bethell Senior Center in Bedford Park, surrounded by a group of concerned community members as they listed gripes for overdevelopment. She listened and watched as her colleague jotted down a vision residents have carved for their neighborhood. As CEO of the Collective for Community, Culture, and Environment (CCCE) and hired by Community Board 7 at a rate of $25,000 to make a compelling argument for neighborhood preservation, Caplan is tasked to argue for what the residents want. She’s expected to take her findings to the New York City Department of City Planning (DCP)

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

Well, Donald Trump will soon be President of the United States. Thank God our advisors do not talk to our clients about politics; we talk to them about economics. And from a domestic economic perspective, that is tax, spend and trading policies, much of which I can presume is coming in 2017. Individual Taxes “Imagine your paycheck was 40 percent higher than it currently is. What could you do with 40 percent more wealth? How many jobs and opportunities for others could you create?”—President-elect Trump Mr. Trump wants to reshape America’s tax system. His plan has just four tax brackets

By DEBORAH CRUZ

Things got heated at a Community Engagement Forum where the results of a two-month study on Norwood were unveiled. The findings were surprising, but its presentation irked community stakeholders already aware of its problems. The study by the Public Agenda, a civic engagement think tank commissioned by the de Blasio administration, sparked much debate between the study’s investigator, Nicole Hewitt, and guests who found the study pointless. “We don’t need people to come and tell us what the problems are, we know what they are. We need solutions,” said Sheila Sanchez, president of Friends of Williamsbridge Oval. Hewitt reviewed the

By DAVID CRUZ

With nearly half the Bronx population Hispanic or Hispanic-American, the New York City Department of Education is hosting a daylong forum exclusively in Spanish, offering workshops on how to navigate the school system. Carmen Fariña, head of the DOE, is scheduled to make opening remarks. She’s expected to be joined by Yolanda Torres, head of the Division of Family and Community Engagement (FACE). The division has spent the last year attempting to forge stronger ties between parents and schools. There are roughly 741,000 Hispanics or Latinos living in the Bronx, according to U.S. Census data, with residents of Puerto Rico

Call it a step in the right direction. Funds have been earmarked to fix an elongated staircase in Kingsbridge. The $7 million bid to fix the so-called step street at 229th Street between Heath and Summit avenues. Residents have long complained about the treacherous step street, which remained in use despite barricades by the city Department of Transportation. Long Island-based construction firm Padilla Construction Services Inc. won the bid to restore the concrete steps.

Plan for Mosholu Parkway Trees to be Removed Only to be Replanted

It seems money grows on trees for the Parks Department. The city agency looks to spend several hundred thousand dollars to dig up close to 200 trees along Mosholu Parkway and replant them, leaving those want the young arbors exactly where they are scratching their heads. Parks explained in a letter to Elizabeth Quaranta, president of Friends of Mosholu Parkland, a volunteer advocacy group, that the agency “is currently reviewing its plans for the transplanting of these trees,” adding “no work will be done until the plans are reviewed by and confirmed with the community.” Still, the mere decision

By DAVID CRUZ

The NYPD has seized this trove of dirt bikes in the last few days, and are warning riders if they see them on Bronx streets, they will be confiscated. This latest crop of bikes was brought to the 52nd Precinct in Norwood, where over the weekend, a parade of cyclists took over Grand Concourse and Mosholu Parkway. Cops grabbed some of the bikes, though some took off. The Police Department instituted a policy several years ago barring officers from pursuing high speed cyclists, seeing it could have a greater danger on bystanders. The NYPD can make arrests. Flash mob of riders

City To Grant Jerome Park Reservoir Access on May 20 and 21

By DAVID CRUZ

The city is once again reopening Jerome Park Reservoir for one November weekend, throwing a bone to residents who’ve longed for permanent access to the closed-off site. “No restrictions,” said Adaline Walker-Santiago, Community Board 7 chair and member of the Filtration Monitoring Committee (FMC), the group that campaigned for access. “All residents will be able to go inside the gates of the reservoir. We’ll walk around the reservoir.” The city Department of Environmental Protection has kept the public off the reservoir grounds, citing safety concerns to the millions of gallons of drinkable water to the city. This is the second

By DAVID CRUZ

For neighbors living in one section of Fordham/Bedford Park, scouring for an overnight spot means traveling outside the neighborhood to look for one. In an ironic twist, spots are indeed available overnight in the neighborhood; residents just can’t utilize them. The roughly 80 street spots can be found at East 194th Street, between Valentine and Marion avenues. But a near 15-year parking rule restricts cars from parking there between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., a stipulation instituted after crime spiked so much in the neighborhood it warranted the provision. It was intended to last for one year, but has since stretched for