School for Autistic Children Opens at Old PS 51

By DEBORAH CRUZ

The doors to a once so-called “toxic school” reopened with a well-attended ribbon cutting for Quality Services for the Autism Community school (QSAC). Administrators told the Norwood News the school is no longer a health hazard. “There is a whole new system in place, we have our testers come in quarterly and test our air and our water and we have passed all of our tests,” said Susan Silvestri, director of the QSAC school, at the school’s ribbon cutting on Jan. 26. “We are actually going to graduate to testing twice a year instead of four times a year.” The

By DEBORAH CRUZ

There was a hush as each contestant spelled the words in front of their classmates. But then it followed with a burst of cheers from each classmate sitting in the auditorium of PS 94, which also included many supportive parents witnessing an annual tradition play out at the neighborhood school. One of the parents was Isabel Jimenez who was there cheering on her daughter Diana Leon. “This is a nice experience for the kids. It improves their vocabulary while having the support of the parents,” said Jimenez, whose daughter went all the way to round 14 before the word “caricature”

Editor’s Pick Soup for Polar Bars BronxNet and BronxWorks present The Bronx Polar Bears 2017 Dip Against Homelessness, Feb. 11 at 11 a.m. at Orchard Beach, followed by hot soup for the participants. Registration is requested to help raise money for services provided by BronxWorks for the Bronx homeless. Donations are welcome for winter hats, gloves, socks and scarves. For more information and to register, call (646) 393-4002. Onstage The Bronx Library Center, 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd., presents Songs of Freedom and Inspiration, performed by pop/jazz Cody Childs and The Ladies of Soul, featuring gospel, soul and folk, Feb. 11

By DAVID GREENE and DAVID CRUZ

Customers were caught by surprise on Feb. 2 when they noticed at least three stores in the Norwood section of the Bronx closed following fallout from President Donald Trump’s ban on foreigners from predominantly Muslim countries. The stores, a 99-cent store and a smoke show, are family owned and operated by those originating from the Middle East. Signs were posted on each of the stores with one reading, “My family detained in JFK.” Onlookers stopped to read the signs, talking among themselves as they noticed the show of silent protest against Mr. Trump’s ban. One resident, who went by Ray W.,

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

Repealing the Affordable Care Act. Building a wall. Holding federal funds to New York City hostage. A temporary ban on refugees. All this happened in one week of President Donald Trump’s America. And though his executive orders were theatrical at best (except the ban), they’re just getting warmed up. And so is the media. Since the Inauguration, there’s been a wake-up call among career politicians who believed none of this could happen. The reversal of fortune is tough to stomach for Democrats, who are now banding together to stymie the fallout of the Republican president’s policies, which appear to be

Dear Fellow Readers, Happy Groundhog Day! The Norwood News, covering the Bronx, is out with plenty of community news you can use! In this third edition of 2017 we bring you 16 pages packed with thought-provoking news items. As usual, we begin one page and a story we’ve been wanting to cover for some time: classroom space. With Mayor Bill de Blasio announcing the creation of 38,000, parents would prefer to see a school built. And so does local Bronx Community Board 7, which has made it its top request to the city. Read how many seats are needed and

A few weeks ago I met a man from the South Bronx named Wellington. He was diagnosed with cancer and lost his health insurance. The City of New York fought for him and discovered he was entitled to free health coverage. Within a few days Wellington was in the hospital, getting care. Today he is cancer free. This is a frightening time. People tell me they’re worried about losing affordable health care and don’t know what to do. My answer: Tell everyone you know to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act – or as some people

Amid President Donald Trump’s controversial immigration stances that include erecting a wall between the US-Mexico border and cutting billions of dollars in federal funding to so-called “sanctuary cities”, New York City among them, Bronx Democratic officials from all levels of government blasted the new policies as a show of unity against the Trump administration. “[N]o other borough, no other county in the state of New York will suffer more from these cuts than the borough of the Bronx,” Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said, flanked by a cadre of Hispanic legislators at a news conference at Borough Hall. Diaz noted

By DAVID CRUZ

Online grocery purchases are now a possibility for food stamp recipients, thanks to a pilot program. The program allows recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to buy SNAP-approved food from FreshDirect and Amazon. Lobbying efforts from the Bronx Borough President’s Office and federal legislators convinced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to widen the acceptable food outlets SNAP benefits can take advantage of as a way to improve access to affordable food in areas where food deserts are the norm in the Bronx. It also gives a revenue boost to FreshDirect and Amazon. SNAP benefits come in a reloadable