Mosholu Preservation Corporation Celebrates 40 Years in Norwood

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Representatives of Mosholu Preservation Corporation (MPC) gathered with local community residents, business owners, and elected officials to celebrate its 40th anniversary on Friday, Sept. 17. The event was held outdoors at the historic Keeper’s House, located at 3400 Reservoir Oval East, in Norwood, which is also home to the nonprofit. About 60 community members and former and current elected officials joined past and present MPC staff members for the occasion. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81) presented a proclamation from New York State to MPC executive director, Jennifer Tausig, in recognition of what he described as the organization’s great

By SÍLE MOLONEY

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli recently announced that Bronx residents have $353,393,103.00 in unclaimed funds waiting to be paid. According to the State comptroller’s office, banks, insurance companies, corporations and the courts are among the many organizations required by law to report dormant accounts to the State comptroller. These organizations must attempt to notify residents by mail regarding such dormant accounts, and publish the information in newspapers. According to the City, monies paid to the courts for legal matters, are held in an interest-bearing, NYC Department of Finance common trust account. Deposits and withdrawals of court

By DAVID GREENE

Coffee lovers, get ready! Workers are putting the finishing touches to the remodeling of the once popular, “Twin Donut Plus,” in preparation for the grand opening of a new Starbucks branch in Norwood. The former coffee and donut outlet, located at 3396 Jerome Avenue and East 208th Street, which was part of the Twin Donut franchise founded in Boston in 1959, closed in July 2018, as previously reported by Norwood News. The site has remained vacant ever since. According to a filed “RPTT and RETT” document with the Office of the City Register, the property appears to have

By SÍLE MOLONEY

A number of Bronx and other elected officials were taken on a tour of Rikers Island on Monday, Sept. 13. Their aim was to highlight what they said are illegal and unsafe conditions at the jail. Among the group were State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (S.D. 34), Congressman Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Assembly Member Kenny Burgos (A.D. 85), Assembly Member Amanda Septimo (A.D. 84), as well as public defenders and activists like Min. Dr. Victoria Phillips of the Jails Action Coalition. Ahead of the visit, Bowman said the group intended to call on City and State governments to use every tool

By DAWN CLANCY

When Melania Brown, 33, heard that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had publicly vowed in June 2020 to end solitary confinement, Brown hoped she might finally make good on a promise she, herself, had made to her deceased sister. Brown’s younger sister, Layleen Polanco, 27, a transgender woman, died a preventable death following an epileptic seizure on June 7, 2019, while she was held in segregated confinement on Rikers Island. As reported last year, activists have long alleged that solitary confinement has killed and destroyed the lives of countless Black people and other People of Color, and

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Ridgewood Savings Bank (“Ridgewood”) announced Wednesday, Sept. 1, that its Sedgwick Avenue branch, located at 3899 Sedgwick Avenue in the Van Cortlandt Village section of the Bronx, will finally remain open. In May, the bank had announced the branch was expected to close, as reported, much to the disappointment of residents. “We are very pleased to make this announcement,” said Leonard Stekol, Ridgewood Savings Bank chairman, president and CEO. “It’s truly exciting to remain a part of this great community and to continue to provide the award-winning banking services and community programming to which our customers are accustomed.”

COVID-19 Updates Transmission Rates & Trends As of August 9, all five New York City counties have community transmission considered substantial or high by the CDC. On July 27, the CDC issued an updated recommendation that all people, regardless of vaccination status, should return to wearing masks in indoor, public spaces in areas of high COVID-19 infection rates. To see the risk of transmission in your area, visit covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view. Delta Variant An internal CDC document leaked by The Washington Post revealed that further research proved that the Delta variant causes more severe illness than other variants and is as

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

After an almost two-year wait, a new Chase Bank branch has opened at 7 E. Burnside Avenue, just east of Jerome Avenue on the border of Fordham Heights and Mount Hope, close to the University Heights border. A former Chase branch located at 5 W. Burnside Avenue closed in October 2019, serving a blow to the local community. The impact of that closure was compounded by the subsequent closure of a local Amalgamated Bank branch in September 2020, as reported. Elected officials, including Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15) and Assemblyman Victor Pichardo (A.D. 86) delivered remarks at the grand

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

Last spring The New York Times described Fordham Road as one of the city’s “retail zones [that] have bounced back.” The article included data that described the Bronx as a borough that had lost 40 percent of its businesses, had the highest rate of COVID-19 deaths, and an unemployment rate near 18 percent. Yet, the biggest shopping district in the Bronx, Fordham Road with its 175 storefronts, located between Washington and Jerome Avenues, has retained a 3 percent vacancy rate, the same as before the pandemic hit. The significance of the robust numbers is not lost on city

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Mosholu Preservation Corporation Celebrates 40 Years in Norwood

State Comptroller: Bronx Residents Have $353,393,103.00 in Unclaimed Funds

UPDATE Starbucks To Open at Former “Twin Donut Plus” Site in Norwood

UPDATE: De Blasio Signs “Rikers Relief Plan,” Hochul Announces Release of 191 Inmates & Transfer of 200 to State Facilities

UPDATE: Bronx Legislators, Activists Call Out City Plan to End “Solitary Confinement”

UPDATE: Ridgewood Savings Bank Sedgwick Avenue Branch to Remain Open Finally

Neighborhood Notes on School Reopening, Alternative Vax App, Arts Recovery Funding

Chase Bank Branch on Burnside Avenue Reopens

NYC Urges Bronxites to “Shop Your City,” as Small Business Commissioner Tours Fordham Road