SEE PHOTOS: 14th Annual JGHBID Fall Festival

By DAVID CRUZ

Thousands of Bronxites headed to the Norwood section of the Bronx to hoot, holler and shop at the 14th annual Fall Festival hosted by the Jerome-Gun Hill Business Improvement District. The free event on September 19 showcased the BID’s best of the best, which also featured live singing acts the whole family enjoyed. As a basketball clinic went underway, business vendors and food trucks lined up Jerome Avenue between Gun Hill Road and Mosholu Parkway, showing off some of their wares and food items. A singing event dubbed “Bronx Idol” drew burgeoning singers vying for the $500 grand prize. Major

This week we asked readers their thoughts on a proposal to raise the New York State minimum wage to $15 per hour for all hourly workers by 2021 (in the city, the $15 wage would take effect in 2018). It should be $15 an hour, but they’re talking about raising it to $10 [by Dec. 31 of this year]. People can’t live on that. So they really should get off their butts and try and help us out a little bit more. Chris Gardella Bedford Park I like it; they should do it all at once. It shouldn’t

Bronx Youth Heard The Norwood News is accepting applications for Bronx Youth Heard, a free afterschool program that teaches journalism skills to Bronx high school students ages 14 to 18. Applications are available online at http://bit.ly/BYHFall2015. For more information, contact David Cruz, program director for Bronx Youth Heard and editor-in-chief of Norwood News, at dcruz@norwoodnews.org or at (718) 324-4998. Mosholu Pkwy. Informational Walk Community Board 7’s Transportation Committee Chair, Lowell Green, will host an informational tour of Mosholu Parkway on Oct. 3 at 10 a.m. Residents can meet in front of the Mosholu Parkway #4 subway station on Jerome Avenue.

By HAYDEE CAMACHO

With its 35th season under way, Lehman Center for the Performing Arts continues its tune as a cultural showcase, largely catapulted by Eva Bornstein, its longtime executive director.

St. James Park Enters Next Rehab Phase

Following complaints from residents, a Bronx neighborhood park is entering another round of upgrades. The park is expected to receive top-down renovations of its basketball courts and a remodeling of half its tennis courts.

Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson to Seek Judicial Nomination, Potentially Ending Run as DA

By DAVID CRUZ

Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson is looking to step down after a 26-year stint as the borough’s lead prosecutor, opting instead for a judgeship should the Bronx Democratic Party back him. “It is time for a change in my life,” said Johnson, in a prepared statement. Now, Johnson, has prepared a run for Justice of the New York State Supreme Court asking the Bronx Democratic County Committee (BDCC) for support. “The judicial position will allow me to make a career move that provides the change that I seek without giving up public office,” continued Johnson. For years Johnson served as

Editor’s Pick Jerome-Gun Hill Fall Festival The Jerome-Gun Hill BID is holding its free 14th annual Fall Festival, Sept. 19 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., rain or shine, on Jerome Avenue between Gun Hill Road and Mosholu Parkway. Events include live musical performances, chess tournament and lessons, dominos tournament, and basketball clinics. For more information, call (718) 324-4946. Onstage Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, 250 Bedford Pk. Blvd. W., presents A Tribute to the Big Latin Bands, featuring the Machito Orchestra and the Mambo Legends Orchestra, Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $45 to $60. For more

A touch of color has been added to one bland Kingsbridge Heights neighborhood. A mural depicting two trees, one in a day setting, and the other in an evening setting can be seen emblazoned at a step-street between Kingsbridge Terrace and Armand Place. The mural was the result of a collaboration between the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center (KHCC), the Bon Secours Healthy Communities Initiative, and the New York City Department of Transportation. The mural by Spanish-born artist, Laura Alvarez, was painted by the KHCC summer camp and teen volunteers. The theme of the mural, “KHCC Grows,” is supposed to reflect the role KHCC

By VIVIAN CARTER

Elected officials and community activists from the northwest Bronx came together this week to celebrate the opening of Empire State Ambulatory Surgery Center, a brand-new, 11,000 square- foot facility with four operating rooms, preoperative and recovery areas, and a complimentary underground parking garage. The center, located on Webster Avenue south of Gun Hill Road, will be operated by eleven physician-partners, including Medical Director Dr. Arnold Wilson, a sports medicine specialist who will offer arthroscopic procedures for shoulder and knee injuries. Other procedures to be performed by the center’s doctors from major academic institutions in the metro area, include ophthalmologic and