(Advertorial) Financial Focus: Your Income Tax Rate

By FINANCIAL ADVISERS GROUP

Well, it is now time. If you were not smart enough to do proper tax planning prior to say, now, then it’s time to pay the piper. You’ve got to pay the Taxman at IRS (and your state). Like the Super Bowl champions the Denver Broncos, success comes from preparation. For taxpayers, winning is all about tax preparation. On average, if you are a full-time working New Yorker, making at least $50,000 a year, get ready to give up 37 percent of federal, state and city taxes. That’s 37 cents out of every dollar you earn, baby! Do not think any

A pair of Bronx legislators are once again backing state Sen. Adriano Espaillat for the 13th Congressional District, which covers Norwood. But an endorsement from the Bronx Democratic County Committee appears unlikely. Espaillat, a Democrat, grabbed support from his Democratic colleague, Senator Gustavo Rivera, along with state Assemblyman Victor Pichardo, a Democrat. The endorsement is a familiar move, as both legislators backed Espaillat in both Congressional elections. His first order of business should he win: opening a Congressional office in the Bronx. “I think the people of the Bronx have been lied to,” said Espaillat, sitting alongside Rivera and Pichardo

By DAVID CRUZ

At the tail end of a long-awaited community forum that assessed the dormant status of the Kingsbridge National Ice Center, Vera Navratilova finally got her turn to ask a pointed question left dangling for some time: when is the city going to release KNIC’s lease, and when is the groundbreaking? The question was directed at a dais of city officials and to John Neary, a principal of the highly-anticipated KNIC project, sitting at seven-member panel Feb. 17. The two-prong meeting put a sharp focus on the “unintended consequences” the large project could bring to the neighborhood but also asked where the

With the State of the Borough address recently given, we asked readers what’s needed most in the Bronx. The Bronx needs more police and surveillance video in the area, and take care of all the drug issues going on around here right now. There are a lot of drugs out here and they don’t do anything about it. They rather harass a driver going five miles an hour over the speed limit than do what they’re supposed to be doing. William Rodriguez Bedford Park I think the Bronx needs more activities for children; maybe programs that can help them become

In honor of February’s Black History Month, an event held at Beso Lounge Feb. 18 discussed the African-American experience. “The Soul of a People 2016”, organized by Your Miracle Skin Grow, featured original slam poetry presentations and sample demonstrations held by the skin cream group and 320 Body Art. [URIS id=20323]

Showing Love to Norwood in Tax Season

Scores of local residents endured the biting sub-zero temperatures on Valentine’s Day, trudging to Jerome Avenue for some valuable help from Ridgewood Savings Bank, which partnered with two non-profit groups to host Free Tax Preparation Day. The bank provided their branch offices and Valentine’s Day treats for all: South Bronx non-profit Ariva supplied tax-preparation volunteers, trained with the assistance of New York Cares, another non-profit. In 2014, Ariva’s volunteers guided more than 7,000 low-income New Yorkers through the tax maze, helping them take advantage of available refunds and tax credits so they could repay debts, feed their families and put

Editor’s Pick Have Your Voice Heard The public is invited to the 22nd annual Bronx Parks Speak Up held by the Bronx Coalition of Parks and Green Spaces, Feb. 20 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Lehman College’s faculty dining room in the Music Building, 250 Bedford Pk. Blvd. W. Bronx residents will join elected officials and agency personnel to learn about government and non-government resources and participate in face-to-face discussions with city and local elected and appointed officials. Residents are encouraged for voice their opinions on neighborhood matters. For more information, visit www.bronxspeakup.org. Onstage Lehman College’s Center

By DAVID CRUZ

In a proposal that’s likely several years away from construction, Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. unveiled his vision for more development by plating over existing open air rail yards peppered around the borough. The prospect of plating the yards served as the crux to his 10-page report on the promise three rail yards hold for mixed-use development. And while two yards in the Concourse and Riverdale sections of the Bronx would work as pragmatic sites, Diaz zeroed in on the Concourse Yard, a breathtaking industrial span in Bedford Park, as having “tremendous potential” for development built above the tracks. The

By DAVID CRUZ

In his yearly address highlighting accomplishments while pushing a heavy agenda, Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.’s seventh State of the Borough speech addressed more city matters than in previous addresses, further underscoring his ambition to run for Mayor of New York. In the 44-minute speech, ripe with roughly 59 rounds of applause, Diaz took jabs at the city’s response to last year’s Legionnaire’s outbreak, its approach to its lofty rezoning plan, and made clear his support for charter schools, conflicting with the lukewarm take of Mayor Bill de Blasio. Issues relating to the borough, of course, took center stage in