Overnight Fire in Kingsbridge Supermarket, No One Injured

By DAVID CRUZ

Employees at a Kingsbridge Heights supermarket woke up to find the place they worked was scorched, following a two-alarm fire sparked by a gas explosion. Fire officials say the blaze at Morton’s Supermarket, one of the few supermarkets on the east side of the neighborhood at 19 E. Kingsbridge Rd., was reported just after around 4 a.m., escalating to a two-alarm blaze. According to the FDNY, the fire was brought under control at 5:10 a.m., the department reported that 106 members from 25 units responded to the call. Fire marshals continue to investigate the cause of the explosion and blaze. John

By DAVID CRUZ

Two neighborhoods falling within Community Board 7 will be the subject of an independent rezoning study by the board, in a move that revisits a request community stakeholders made years ago when rezoning efforts were happening in other parts of the district. But the New York City Department of City Planning (DCP), the agency tasked to devise the overall makeup of neighborhoods, will likely reject any plans to down-zone, a request community stakeholders have long sought. The board has now scheduled a brainstorming forum for Nov. 16 to gauge residents on how sections of Kingsbridge Heights and Bedford Park, home

Hello Fellow Readers! The latest edition of the Norwood News, serving Norwood and other Bronx communities, is out with plenty of neighborhood news you can use. We’ve packed the paper with coverage on the historic general election, and our take on what lessons may have been learned. We first begin with a local story on a move by Community Board 7, the all-volunteer civic panel, looking to take the wheel in deciding Bedford Park’s future look. The Board has hired a consulting firm to carry out an independent study on the needs for the neighborhood, home to a hodgepodge of two-story

This presidential election will undoubtedly be pored over in history books for decades, examined by political scientists for its penchant for division over unity. It saw one of the unlikeliest of Republican presidential candidates, now President-elect Donald Trump, square off against Hillary Clinton, an entrenched politician whose road to the White House was indeed bumpy. Their common denominator? They were pretty unpopular outside their base. The race, bombarded into American minds to the point of exhaustion, also led to a civil war among Americans, turning political graciousness into a dysfunctional affair among the pols. It stands to reason that partisanship,

By WENDY JOAN BIDDLECOMBE and DANIELA BEASLEY

Donald Trump defied expectations winning the U.S. presidency in one of the more decidedly nasty election cycles in recent memory, changing the political landscape for the next four years. In the lead-up to the polls closing at 9 p.m. on Election Day, where Bronx residents overwhelmingly voted for Mrs. Clinton, the Norwood News visited several sites in the neighborhood, observing voters casting their vote without much of a wait. Outside PS 86 on Reservoir Avenue and 195th Street in Kingsbridge Heights, a steady stream of voters congregated under the scaffolding after casting their ballot. Arturo Sealy, 53, hadn’t planned to

By DAVID CRUZ

Lehman College, which largely serves a Hispanic student body, is set to receive more than $1 million in federal funding for its science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs, in a move to close the gap between STEM-related jobs and minorities. The funds will be used to sponsor extra classroom help for students attending Bronx Community College and Hostos Community College, two-year colleges, and looking to earn a STEM degree from Lehman College. “This award will accelerate Lehman College’s efforts to advance its role as an engine of upward mobility,” Dr. Harriet Fayne Lehman College’s provost, said in a statement. “Through

By DANIELA BEASLEY

At 5 a.m. each morning, Alfonso Barbedio Puma of Norwood is out to clean some Bronx streets. To do his part. He doesn’t employ the usual broom-and-dustpan method, but uses his hands instead. Every day for the last three years, Puma picks up bottles and cans, or “latas,” an off-the-books living that he and others from Latin America have taken on throughout the borough. It’s the only job available, said Puma, not because of his status—Puma entered the U.S. from his native Ecuador legally—but his age. At 76, Puma feels the effects of ageism with no one looking to hire

The Norwood section of the Bronx was aghast with ghost, goblins and superheroes on Halloween, with separate events taking place in the community and surrounding neighborhoods. Check out these pictures from Miriam Quinones, which showcase events sponsored by the Jerome-Gun Hill Business Improvement District, the New York City Parks Department, Mosholu Preservation Corporation (publishers of the Norwood News, and Montefiore Health System. [URIS id=22069]

Hotel in Norwood Continues Burgeoning Trade in the Bronx

By DAVID CRUZ

In the span of six months, Norwood has seen an uptick in construction along Webster Avenue, a corridor that for years was primed for steady economic growth unseen in the neighborhood. New affordable housing residences complemented by a storefront pepper tiny pockets of the stretch, heavily rezoned to welcome such properties and the working to middle class families developers hope to attract. And while cafés, restaurants, and a bookstore, priority businesses, are still in waiting, other considerations have been met. Among them is a hotel, the second along the corridor. Just what kind of hotel remains to be seen.