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

By ANTHONY RIVIECCIO

How does one achieve their personal financial goals? By spending and living smartly! Before you start thinking the answer to saving is budgeting, my answer is no, I am not talking about that. What you want and what you need is smart spending. So how do you start? Of course, one should discuss this with a financial advisor in more detail, but if you’re looking to start a game plan today, follow these tips: Cut Out Comfort Expenses Create a frugal lifestyle to improve your quality of life. With a current goal of creating a perpetually frugal lifestyle today, you

COMMUNITY BOARD 7 will hold its general board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 6:30 p.m. at Sister Annunciata Bethell Senior Center, 243 E. 204th St. CB7 committee meetings are held on the following dates at the board office, 229 E. 204th St., at 6:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted: Housing, Land Use & Zoning Committee on Sept. 21; and Economic Development Committee on Sept. 27. For more information, call the Board office at (718) 933-5650. THE 52ND PRECINCT COMMUNITY COUNCIL will meet Sept. 22 at 2455 Sedgwick Ave. (across from Fordham Hill Oval Cooperative) from 7 to 9 p.m. For

By DAVID CRUZ

It took almost two years, but a neighborhood pizza shop settled prominently at one corner of Norwood has finally reopened with nary a notice. Over the summer, the owner of Nicky’s Pizza & Ristorante, Peter Deliaj, lifted the shutters to the 30-year-old pizza place once again following a lengthy top-down facelift. “I couldn’t keep the store like it used to be,” Deliaj said, speaking to the Norwood News from the recently re-opened eatery. Its shuttered state became an accepted mark to Norwood’s small business district. It wasn’t hard to miss. After all, it rests at the ever-busy corner of Bainbridge