Commissioner Jonnel Doris Talks Small Businesses as Phase I of Reopening Beckons

By Síle Moloney

On May 19, as reported by Norwood News, The Center for an Urban Future published a study that showed that Norwood was one of the City’s worst-hit areas economically by the pandemic and related shutdown. About a week earlier, on May 11, Jonnel Doris was appointed as the Commissioner for the City’s Small Business Services (SBS) department. Previously, he served as the City’s first Senior Advisor and Director of the Mayor’s Office for Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises (M/WBE). The commissioner gave an interview to Norwood News in which he discussed his agency’s plan to get small businesses

Eleven Bronx elected officials have urged Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson to halt plans to construct a new prison facility in the South Bronx amid a budget crunch caused by the coronavirus, and to reallocate the funds instead to critical programs for vulnerable populations. Congressman José E. Serrano, who is due to retire later this year, Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., and nine other Bronx based state senators and assembly members, wrote to de Blasio and Johnson asking them to reconsider construction plans for a new jail facility in the Bronx’s Mott Haven neighborhood,

Tenants who have been financially impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis may soon no longer have to worry about losing their homes. State Senator Brad Hoylman and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz passed legislation on May 27, 2020 codifying the statewide eviction moratorium and extending it until the end of the COVID-19 emergency for anyone who has experienced financial hardship during this period. The state legislation represents a compromise between the Assembly and State Senate with the ultimate goal of creating a bill that would be signed into law by the Governor. It is viewed as an essential

By Síle Moloney

The New York State Department of Labor released preliminary local area unemployment rates for April 2020 on May 27. The unemployment rate in the Bronx was the highest of all City boroughs at 16.5% in April. This compares with a rate of 10.9% in Manhattan, 14.6% in Brooklyn, 16.4% in Queens, and 14.0% in Staten Island. The current unemployment rates for all 62 counties in New York State can be found by clicking on the following link: County Unemployment Rates. The rates are not yet seasonally adjusted, meaning they do not reflect seasonal influences e.g. holiday and summer

By Síle Moloney

Mayor Bill de Blasio signed seven pieces of legislation into law on May 27 providing relief for tenants, commercial establishments, and restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new laws support struggling small businesses by imposing limits on third-party food delivery services, extending the suspension of sidewalk cafe fee collection, and protecting commercial tenants from harassment and personal liability. Together, the bills offer sweeping protections for New Yorkers in a time of unprecedented financial insecurity. “New Yorkers have been fighting every day to flatten the curve and get through this pandemic together. Now, it’s time for us to

By PROFESSOR ANTHONY RIVIECCIO, MBA PFA

As a money manager since 1992, I can tell you personally that one of the things managers do, way before the U.S. markets open each day at 9:30 a.m, is to first look at the world financial markets. One of the first to be examined is the “Asian” markets and most specifically, Hong Kong, which opens 12 hours prior to the U.S. markets. Hong Kong’s “capitalist” system, which has been going strong for over two decades now, has led many a U.S. market to boom. Although, of course, U.S. news affects U.S. financial markets, many money managers will also

The City will open 12 more miles of streets and an additional nine new miles of temporary protected bike lanes to pedestrians and cyclists starting tomorrow, May 14. The combined 21 new miles brings the City total to 30 miles of Open Streets since the program was announced on Apr. 27.

Data Shows Norwood Among NYC Areas Most Impacted by Pandemic

By Síle Moloney & David Greene

Jason Holloman, 42, has lived in Norwood for the last 15 years. He is a husband, father and recently became a grandfather. He was furloughed in March from his care coordinator role at BHRAGS Home Care Corp., where staff was initially cut by a quarter after the pandemic hit, and later by half. “We help seniors find aides to help them in their home,” he said, explaining that he often works with seniors in low-income neighborhoods, who are on dialysis or who can’t cook, clean or get around at home. Holloman said [prior to the pandemic] he would

The Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement are asking the public to join them today at 10:00 a.m., Thursday, May 21, for a virtual rally and socially distant actions to demand the legislature pass #HALTsolitary, Elder Parole, and Fair and Timely Parole. People can register for the Zoom here, read this pdf flyer and this png flyer, and amplify action using this social media and call-in guide. Activists are asking anyone who can travel safely, to join in person (with masks and gloves, and at least six feet apart) outside the offices of Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie,