Financial Focus: Kingsbridge Armory Is a State 140% Profit

By ANTHONY RIVIECCIO, MBA, PFA

Let me first get my conflict of interest out of the way. As a former U.S. Navy man, I was honored to take part in “reserve duty” in the Kingsbridge Armory in the late 1970s and even more excited, taking part in spending my money at the Armory watching many closed circuit boxing fights in the 1980s back before pay-per-view was in vogue. I also protested for the city to bring “schools to the Armory” after it closed in 1997, after it was re-purposed into a women’s homeless shelter that was so bad it had closed. And 20 years later,

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

Free WiFi for Students The New York Public Library offers free WiFi for eligible students in kindergarten through 12th grade who don’t have WiFi at home. A lending event, where hotspot devices can be checked out for free, takes place Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. at The Bronx Library Center, 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd. A valid library card and pre-registration are required. For more information, call (718) 579-4244 or visit http://hotspot.nypl.org/. Library Fines Waived The New York Public Library has waived all library fines for children 17 and younger. High school students age 18 and over can stop by their

Editor’s Pick Happy Halloween The Jerome-Gun Hill BID invites the public to its Halloween Dance Party and Parade, Oct. 31 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Meet at Mosholu Parkway and Jerome Avenue. There will be free candy, music and pumpkins. For more information, call (718) 324-4646. (See “Holiday Events” below for more.) Onstage The Williamsbridge Oval presents Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. in the Rec Center. For more information and to RSVP, call (718) 543-8672. Events The Williamsbridge Oval offers a variety of free classes for youth ages 6 to 12, after school and Saturdays, including

Latest Edition of the Norwood News Is Out!

Dear Fellow Readers, The latest edition of the Norwood News, covering the northwest portion of the Bronx, is out with plenty of community news you can use. For the sake of consistency, we begin with page one as usual and a story that keeps on giving–the Kingsbridge Armory. This time, in a move aimed at advancing the reconfiguration of the building to a massive ice center, state officials heard from the community on whether to fund give the beleaguered project a $138 million state loan to begin phase one. The findings were near unanimous. Reporter Aaron Mayorga chronicles reaction from

How to Pay for Kingsbridge Ice Center In Focus...Again

By AARON MAYORGA

The beleaguered project to convert the Kingsbridge Armory into the world’s largest ice skating center overcame a major financing hurdle as residents and community leaders backed a multi-million-dollar state loan for developers at a hearing. The state-mandated hearing represents a return to square one for backers of the Kingsbridge National Ice Center (KNIC), an expected to be state-of-the-art ice rink that is estimated to cost $353 million. Since receiving the green light from the New York City Council in December 2013, the project has languished in delays, with construction at the Armory yet to begin. At the Oct. 12 hearing,

By DAVID CRUZ

Repeat Robber Cops need help tracking a mystery man (left picture) wanted for a couple of robberies around the northwest Bronx over the span of three days. Police say the first incident happened on Oct. 10 just before 8 a.m. around Valentine Avenue and East 192nd Street. It’s there the suspect approached a 15 year old boy, flashed a knife and demanded headphones. The victim gave in and the perp took out. A day later, the suspect struck twice–once at the Grand Concourse near East 192nd Street around 7:15 a.m. robbing a 14-year-old boy after threatening to stab him with

Free Flu Shots Free flu shots will be available on Oct. 16 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Vladeck Hall, 74 Van Cortlandt Pk. So. Participants should bring their insurance card, be at least 18 years of age or older and cannot be allergic to eggs. Residents must contact the office of Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz at (718) 796-5345 to be guaranteed a flu shot. College Fair The 10th annual College Access Fair will be held on Oct. 21 from 11 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. at Fordham University’s Rose Hill Campus, 441 E. Fordham Road with representatives from more than

Fighting the Scourge of Graffiti, One Wall at at Time

By STEPHANIE LUCIANO

A Kingsbridge Heights couple has had enough with the scrawls of graffiti on property walls. For the last two years they found a way to combat it—taking it down themselves. They methodically remove graffiti from the neighborhood on a continuous basis. Sirio and Heather Guerino have a small office at the corner of West 197th Street and University Avenue, Guerinos Against Graffiti (GAG), named after the family efforts to wipe out graffiti, and which has been operating for almost two years. Born and raised in the Bronx, Sirio, 61, has always had a pet peeve against graffiti, which led to

Pumpkins, Puppies, and Brew Slated for Oct. 14 JGH-BID Fall Fest

By DAVID CRUZ

Thousands of people are expected to walk up and down Norwood’s largest commercial strip on Oct. 14 as the Jerome-Gun Hill Business Improvement District is set to host its annual Fall Festival. That day, the commercial corridor will be cleared of vehicles for visitors to browse through all the offerings available by the BID’s pool of local merchants and street vendors. As most signature BID events go, the Fall Festival aims to draw a crowd in hopes of familiarizing patrons with the commercial district’s many shopping options. The BID, spanning Jerome Avenue between Mosholu Parkway and East Gun Hill