Locals Back Street Renaming for Mary Vallati

Mary Vallati, Bedford Park Stalwart, Dies at Age 102

Mary Vallati was considered a gem in Norwood. She was seen as a fixture in the community and recognized for her devotion to bettering the neighborhood until her passing earlier this year. Now, members of the community are working to have a street renamed in her honor. Barbara Stronczer, president of the Bedford Mosholu Community Association, is urging community members to sign the petition in order to have the street renamed. She looks to take those signatures to present to Community Board 7 (CB7) to begin the process. She says, “We need 100 [signatures] in order for CB7 to give

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

By DAVID GREENE

This week we asked readers exiting voting sites about their general experience on this Election Day. It was good because I came out early today, so I was in and out. They were very helpful. They had me in the back, and I’m all done. I’m not sure about the voter turnout today, and I don’t like the mayor. Jacqueline Alvarez Pelham Bay They were very helpful and had no lines. It was very organized, and the process was equally distributed in terms of workload so it was very efficient. No, I didn’t see any Russians. I don’t know

Getting Into Nitty Gritty of Kingsbridge Ice Project Loan

By AARON MAYORGA

State officials are in the midst of finalizing a $138 million capital loan to the developers of the Kingsbridge National Ice Center (KNIC) after a five-member board approved the measure during their latest meeting. During its Oct. 18 meeting, the Public Authorities Control Board (PACB), which supervises the activities of New York’s numerous public benefit corporations, unanimously approved the general project plan outlined by the state’s Empire State Development (ESD) agency. In addition to the $138 million loan commitment, the ESD plan also includes $26.4 million in historic tax credits and an additional $20.7 million in “other preferred equity.” All

Editorial: Who Will You Hire This Election Year?

Nov. 7 will be the day you exercise your right to vote. In the Bronx there are 11 contests (not counting citywide), most of which have already been won, thanks to the power the September primary has on the Bronx. The general election simply formalizes those victories. The race for Mayor is largely along the same line. In the August 31-September 13 edition of the Norwood News, we wrote that the incumbent, Mayor Bill de Blasio, is likely going to win the general election namely since the two challengers, Republican Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, and Independent Richard “Bo” Dietl, carry very

By DAVID CRUZ

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. got an earful from scores of residents, merchants and even doctors largely opposed to the Jerome Avenue Rezoning plan, a complex and sweeping proposal intended to create more affordable housing across the west and southwest sections of the Bronx. The plan, now in the middle of a public review, is in the hands of Diaz who held a hearing Nov. 2 on the issue. The lofty proposal looks to rezone 92 blocks of Jerome Avenue between 184th and 167th streets. The plan covers a two-mile stretch along its commercial and major transit corridors within

City Steps in to Aid Troubled Kingsbridge Hts. Building

By YARA PALIN

The city has aggressively stepped in to help tenants of a troubled Kingsbridge Heights apartment building who were reportedly forced to share a single bathroom for weeks. The superintendent for 60 E. 196th St., Cristian Rico, says that conditions first reported by the New York Post were exaggerated. He insists that The Morgan Group, which own the building, has only been renovating after the city ordered them to fix faulty. There are still two official stop work orders posted on the front door, however. He also says that the stop work order was given because “tenants were using one bathroom

Fordham Landing Shelter/Affordable Housing Site Here to Stay

By REGGIE FRANCOIS

Despite numerous attempts to rid a homeless shelter/affordable housing site in Fordham, hundreds of residents at a nearby cooperative will have to get used to the site and its occupants, whether they like it or not. Still, residents at Fordham Hill Owners Corporation expressed continued outraged for Fordham Landing, the homeless shelter and affordable housing site slated to open in December. An Oct. 25 town hall meeting took place between the corporation’s community engagement community and representatives from the New York City Department of Homeless Services and Bowery Residents Committee (BRC), with executive director Muzzy Rosenblatt on hand. “We’re here

Savor the Bronx Aims to Satisfy Taste Buds

By DIEGO BARCACEL PENA

A full serving of the borough’s diversity will be dished out by local eateries during Savor the Bronx Restaurant Week, which runs from Nov. 6 to 17. The eleven-day event will give local restaurants the chance to showcase assorted Bronx flavors while continuing its decades long quest to extinguish the “Bronx is burning,” stereotype of the 1970s. The term was coined exactly 40 years ago when the Yankees played the Dodgers in the World Series in the Bronx. “Unfortunately, that was when the world saw the Bronx burning, in fact some of the fires were just around the corner,” said

By ANTHONY RIVIECCIO, MBA, PFA

Let me first get my conflict of interest out of the way. As a former U.S. Navy man, I was honored to take part in “reserve duty” in the Kingsbridge Armory in the late 1970s and even more excited, taking part in spending my money at the Armory watching many closed circuit boxing fights in the 1980s back before pay-per-view was in vogue. I also protested for the city to bring “schools to the Armory” after it closed in 1997, after it was re-purposed into a women’s homeless shelter that was so bad it had closed. And 20 years later,