Furry Bandits Raid Norwood Store

By DAVID GREENE

For the second time in as many weeks a pair of bandits has broken into a local GNC store and police and passersby were baffled to learn that the intruders were of the 4-legged kind. Police were called to the vitamin supplement shop at 3453 Jerome Ave. along the Jerome-Gun Hill Business Improvement District at 9 a.m. on Sept. 29, for an “animal incident,” involving raccoons. A dispatcher quickly reported it had “one in custody.” The four officers met the employee, who watched as the pair of furry creatures scurried about the store’s counter-tops and shelves in a search for food. Asked

Editor’s Pick Friends of Mosholu Parkland presents its 1st annual fall festival on Oct. 8 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Kossuth Playground, East Mosholu Parkway North between Jerome and Van Cortlandt avenues. Activities include a giant spider web obstacle, games, crafts and prizes, daffodil planting, and guitar by Steve Oates. All are welcome. Onstage The Bronx Library Center, 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd., presents Rafael Hernandez Music Festival, Oct. 9 at 2 p.m., featuring music performed by various Latin artists. For more information, call (718) 579-4244/46/57 or visit www.nypl.org. Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance (BAAD), 2474 Westchester Ave.,

Staffers with Councilman Andrew Cohen, representing Norwood, led a workshop session at the Williamsbridge Oval Recreation Center on Participatory Budgeting, an initiative that empowers residents to offer input on how a portion of capital monies should be spent. The process on choosing a project can take months. Staffers helped civic-minded residents figure out what could work as a potential project. Photos by Miriam Quinones [URIS id=21876]

Latest Edition of the Norwood News is Out!

By DAVID CRUZ

Hello fellow readers, The newest edition of the Norwood News is out with 20 pages of Bronx community news you can use. We begin with a familiar story: The Kingsbridge Armory. The latest in this poor, ongoing saga is the Kingsbridge National Ice Center’s attempt at wanting to purchase the enormous property from the City of New York. Read about those attempts by the developers attorneys who are using every legal maneuver in the book to grab a hold of the property. Here in Norwood, we feature a story on the District Manager of Community Board 7, Andrew Sandler, facing the possibility

By DAVID CRUZ

Emily Flores’ conviction is so strong she’s willing to take on injustices all on her own. So when she saw that her building management company initially stood ready to jack up her monthly parking bill 84 percent with not much notice or discussion, she mobilized…herself. “I gotta take the bull by the horns because I’m not having it,” Flores said. It took management some convincing to bring the rate down from its original monthly charge of $280, a fee Flores thought was just way too high for Norwood’s working class. It was a good thing then that the management company

The Jerome-Gun Hill Business Improvement District celebrated its 15th Annual Fall Festival, attracting hundreds to the festivities that put a spotlight on some 200 stores open for business at the BID. HealthFirst was a major sponsor. All photos courtesy Jerome-Gun Hill BID [URIS id=21847]

Editorial: Participatory Budgeting Could Work If Only It Weren’t So Slow

The premise is deceptively simple: If you were given $1 million of taxpayer money to build a project for the city, what would it be? With Participatory Budgeting, an initiative that’s become cornerstone to many New York City Council legislators, including Norwood Councilman Andrew Cohen, that wish could indeed come true. The initiative is once again under way, and council members want your help. But in the three years since it’s been instituted in the Norwood side of Cohen’s district, what’s really been lacking in PB is participants. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t exactly make

Securing Kingsbridge Ice Center Funding a Waiting Game

By DAVID CRUZ

Vacant Armory purchase price assessed at $17 million, says KNIC In the last year, progress at the Kingsbridge Armory, which was expected to house a large ice skating complex by next year, has stalled with nary a shovel in the ground. A lawsuit by developers of the Kingsbridge National Ice Center (KNIC) against the New York City Economic Development Corporation prompted the stall. Attorneys for KNIC have since regrouped with a new tactic to settle the case: an offer to buy the landmark Armory. In a two-page letter obtained by the Norwood News, KNIC, the developer picked by the city

By DAVID CRUZ

Community Board 7 opened its fall session with a shocker as members held off firing its latest district manager, continuing a pattern of hostility between executive members and DMs that’s ended in the resignations of three DMs in just over three years. With a vote of 26 to 1 at the latest general board meeting, CB7 members voted to extend the probationary period of Andrew Sandler, who was hired by the Board nine months ago after its previous DMs, Dustin Engelken, resigned. On its surface, Engelken left after his wife accepted a job abroad, though members said Engelken left because