Deli Owner Who Survived Yemen Recalls “Night of Violence” on East Kingsbridge Road

By David Greene

By eyewitness accounts, the bright sun would rise over many of the looters who went on an unexpected, overnight shopping spree on East Fordham Road on Monday, Jun. 1, 2020. As dawn set in, the now-infamous creatures of a night of madness seemed to scurry home like rats running from a kitchen light. In the early hours of Jun. 2, there were repeated sightings of mostly, young men, many carrying what looked like brand new, full backpacks, quickly walking in one direction or another as police vehicles continued to speed back and fourth across East Fordham Road still responding

By Síle Moloney

On May 19, as reported by Norwood News, The Center for an Urban Future published a study that showed that Norwood was one of the City’s worst-hit areas economically by the pandemic and related shutdown. About a week earlier, on May 11, Jonnel Doris was appointed as the Commissioner for the City’s Small Business Services (SBS) department. Previously, he served as the City’s first Senior Advisor and Director of the Mayor’s Office for Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises (M/WBE). The commissioner gave an interview to Norwood News in which he discussed his agency’s plan to get small businesses

Eleven Bronx elected officials have urged Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson to halt plans to construct a new prison facility in the South Bronx amid a budget crunch caused by the coronavirus, and to reallocate the funds instead to critical programs for vulnerable populations. Congressman José E. Serrano, who is due to retire later this year, Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., and nine other Bronx based state senators and assembly members, wrote to de Blasio and Johnson asking them to reconsider construction plans for a new jail facility in the Bronx’s Mott Haven neighborhood,

Tenants who have been financially impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis may soon no longer have to worry about losing their homes. State Senator Brad Hoylman and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz passed legislation on May 27, 2020 codifying the statewide eviction moratorium and extending it until the end of the COVID-19 emergency for anyone who has experienced financial hardship during this period. The state legislation represents a compromise between the Assembly and State Senate with the ultimate goal of creating a bill that would be signed into law by the Governor. It is viewed as an essential

By Síle Moloney

The New York State Department of Labor released preliminary local area unemployment rates for April 2020 on May 27. The unemployment rate in the Bronx was the highest of all City boroughs at 16.5% in April. This compares with a rate of 10.9% in Manhattan, 14.6% in Brooklyn, 16.4% in Queens, and 14.0% in Staten Island. The current unemployment rates for all 62 counties in New York State can be found by clicking on the following link: County Unemployment Rates. The rates are not yet seasonally adjusted, meaning they do not reflect seasonal influences e.g. holiday and summer

By David Greene

For about the last 18 years, volunteers across New York State have been placing American flags at the gravestones of thousands of U.S. military members on Memorial Day. Sadly, this year most graves went “un-flagged” because of prevailing social distancing restrictions. In past years, Lynn Radke and Bruce Campbell of Woodlawn Conservancy in the Bronx would organize hundreds of volunteers from groups like the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Mellon Bank, and the Washington Grey Cadets for the annual ‘Flagging of the Graves’ at Woodlawn Cemetery. Volunteers would usually set out with maps and flags, and scour the

By Síle Moloney

The American Legion of Co-op City, Post 1871 gathered at 2049 Bartow Avenue, at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 24, 2020 for a wreath-laying ceremony and car parade, in place of the annual Memorial Day ceremony. The event went ahead despite the statewide ‘PAUSE’ order which is still in effect in New York City and in other regions of the state, and which precludes non-essential gatherings of individuals of any size for any reason. The PAUSE order dictates that parties, celebrations or other social events are canceled or postponed at this time and that any concentration of individuals

By Síle Moloney

Traditionally, the Muslim festival of Idul-Fitr (Eid Al-Fitr) is a time of joyous celebration, one shared among friends and family to mark the end of Ramadan, a month-long period during which Muslim Americans fast during daylight hours, and offer up additional prayer and reflection. The holiday is also usually an occasion to join together in prayer as part of a congregation. Due to the prevailing statewide PAUSE order, and related social distancing restrictions, celebrations which would normally have taken place on Sunday, May 24, were markedly quieter this year. Ahead of Sunday’s holiday, the Islamic Circle of North

The City will open 12 more miles of streets and an additional nine new miles of temporary protected bike lanes to pedestrians and cyclists starting tomorrow, May 14. The combined 21 new miles brings the City total to 30 miles of Open Streets since the program was announced on Apr. 27.