Out & About: Speak Up About Your Parks

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 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

Dear Loyal Readers, A brand new edition of the Norwood News is out with plenty of local Bronx news you can use. We begin at the sprawling Concourse Yards in Bedford Park, where Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is proposing to build a platform to serve as the foundation for potential development. Find out what one professor of civil engineering has to say about the project and whether it’s even feasible. At Montefiore Medical Center, read the life story of Montefiore Health System’s newest cardiologist, and his circuitous route to the Norwood hospital. It’s a story you won’t want to miss.

By DAVID CRUZ

A new era of healthcare is slowly dawning in New York, and many of its city-run hospitals are spending the next four years preparing to shift gears before its event horizon. For NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx in Norwood, that strategy involves the patient experience and its nurses, often deemed the face of most hospitals. NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx is part of the Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), the city’s financially beleaguered hospital network that was once referred to as North Central Bronx Hospital. Making things tougher is cuts in state and federal subsidies by 2020, which

By JASMINE GOMEZ

Here’s one idea for what you can do with that toaster or flower pot you no longer use– donate it to the Bedford Mosholu Community Association. The Bedford Mosholu Community Association (BMCA) is hosting its annual flea market on March 5 at St. Mary’s Orthodox Church at 360 Bedford Park Blvd. The group is collecting donations of any old or used items such as appliances, glassware, and toys, with the exception of clothes. The flea market helps the BMCA, a group of volunteers committed to sustaining a quality standard of living for Bedford Park residents, cover the expenses that come

By WENDY JOAN BIDDLECOMBE

Recently, Luis Cruz worked inside Woodlawn Cemetery’s workshop at East 233rd Street to re-attach an angel’s head that had fallen off a 19th century monument years earlier. Later, students from Bronx International High School in the South Bronx searched the snow-covered grounds for a missing piece of that angel’s wing after failing to locate it behind the shop’s somewhat creepy pile of broken faces, arms and other stone extremities. The students are part of the Woodlawn Preservation Training Program, which has been working since the summer to restore monuments on the 400-acre landmark cemetery that would otherwise have gone unrepaired.

By DAVID CRUZ

In a proposal that’s likely several years away from construction, Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. unveiled his vision to generate more development by plating over existing open air rail yards dotted around the borough. The concept served as the crux to his ten-page report on the promise three rail yards hold for 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 span in Bedford Park, as having “tremendous potential” in seeing any type of development. The yard houses the B, D and 4

Blood Drive St. Brendan’s Church, 333 E. 206th St. presents the annual “After Super Bowl Blood Drive” on Feb. 14 at 10 a.m., in the rectory. Donors are required to eat a full meal and drink plenty of water before donating. For more information, call (718) 547-6655. BMCA Seeks Flea Market Donations The Bedford Mosholu Community Association is accepting donations for its annual flea market set for March 5. Bring new and used items (except clothes) to 400 E. Mosholu Pkwy. So., apt. B1 (lobby floor) on Wednesdays, Feb. 17 and 24 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., Feb. 27 from

By VIVIAN R. CARTER

Wheeled vehicles powered by humans, not steam engines, may again be able to traverse the Old Putnam Trail in Van Cortlandt Park. But not anytime soon. Two community boards are considering a controversial $2.5 million proposal to redesign the trail by adding a 10-foot wide asphalt surface and 3-foot wide jogging trail. The trail, once the New York Central Railroad line, cuts through the center of Van Cortlandt Park, from its southern border, north to the city line with Yonkers. In 2013, a plan to redo the trail was rejected by Community Board 8 of Riverdale/Kingsbridge. The park is designated