Public Charge Ruling: What You Should Know

By JONATHAN CUSTODIO

Immigrants can breathe a sigh of relief for now after the city won a case that delays the controversial “public charge” rule championed by the Trump Administration from taking effect. The ruling holds off a policy that could prevent some immigrants, including those seeking to extend or change their temporary visas, from public entitlements or acquiring lawful permanent resident status if they use public benefits or are deemed likely to use them. It was brought to the public discourse after a draft of the legislation was leaked in 2017. The city, along with New York State Attorney General Letitia James,

By DAVID CRUZ

The Jerome Gun Hill Business Improvement District held its annual Fall Festival on Oct. 12, a daylong event loaded with music, food, and vendors selling their wares. Sponsors for the festival were Montefiore Health System, HealthFirst, Agape Transportation, Paradise Pawn Brokers, MetroPlus, Con Edison, Oscar Health Plan, Ridgewood Savings Bank, and Bronx Design Group. Check out these photos by Miriam Quinones

Latest Edition of the Norwood News is Out!

By DAVID CRUZ

Dear Fellow Readers, The year’s twentieth edition of the Norwood News is out with plenty of interesting community news stories to read and share. We have 28 pages packed full of news from this corner of the Bronx, so let’s start with page one! Our top story focuses on an impending sewer rehabilitation project that’s expected to make commuting in Norwood even more problematic. The New York City Department of Design and Construction says the project on Bainbridge Avenue near East Gun Hill Road–an already tough intersection–will last upwards of a year. We ask folks living in Norwood what they thought

By JEROME GUN HILL BID

For the last 28 years, Dawn Param-Knight has been in the business of making people feel beautiful. She opened her salon, Perfect Pose Hair Design at 323 E. Gun Hill Rd. in 1992, shortly after arriving in New York City from Jamaica. Ever since then she has been hard at work, honing her craft to ensure that her customers feel more confident after they leave her chair. Param-Knight first became interested in doing hair when she was just nine years old. “I grew up as an only child. I had no one else to play with but my doll. So

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

Twenty-five years ago, Mohammed Iqbal Hussaine, 71, moved to Norwood from Queens and was surprised by the number of Irish neighbors he met. “They treated me very well,” Hussaine recalls. After spending two years traveling to Parkchester for the closest mosque, Hussaine, his friend Syed Jamin Ali and a few others founded the North Bronx Islamic Center (NBIC) inside the basement of a private house at 3150 Perry Ave. Today, as the neighborhood continues to undergo a cultural transformation, Hussaine, now retired, volunteers as the secretary of the NBIC with a new four-story building serving as the mosque, or Masjid,

By DAVID CRUZ

Kossuth Playground in Norwood was blasted to the Middle Ages as the Friends of Mosholu Parkland (FOMP) hosted the first-ever Renaissance Festival on Oct. 5. Participants were clad in medieval wear for the family-friendly festival that included games, music, and some arts and crafts. FOMP also got some assists from the 52nd Precinct NYPD Explorers, BuildON, Cardinal Spelman High School, and local military veterans through the Mission Continues group. Photos by Miriam Quinones.

Bainbridge Avenue Sewer Project on Hold For Several More Weeks

By DAVID CRUZ

Those living or traveling through Norwood will once again have to brace for another round of patience-challenging congestion and temporary bus route changes as the city will finally resume . completion of a massive sewer replacement project in the neighborhood. It was supposed to start this week, but the city has put it off for another few weeks. The project would’ve been completed a lot sooner, with the city placing the holdup on the state’s largest utility, while also pointing to the contractors’ ongoing talks with the MTA over the temporary bus stops. The epicenter of the project will once

Is It Trespassing? Norwood Neighbors Wage Fight Over Construction Rights

By MICHAEL TURAY

When Michael Acton saw his neighbor digging holes just at the foot of his home, he left his house, and it wasn’t pretty. Police were called to 271 Van Cortlandt Ave. E. and Acton was given a court order for trespassing. And in the space of a month, the feud between Acton and his neighbor, Nazmul Alam had gone from bad to worse after Alam removed the 100-year-old retaining wall that separates the neighbors’ homes. This happened without the approved city Department of Building (DOB) permits, resulting in the agency issuing a full stop work order. For Acton, much of

Major Disruptions Ahead for Norwood in Last Leg of Sewer Project

By DAVID CRUZ

Those living or traveling through Norwood will have to brace for another round of patience-challenging congestion as the city finally resumes completion of a massive sewer replacement project. And the city put the holdup on the state’s largest utility. The epicenter of the project will once again happen on Bainbridge Avenue, a busy arterial roadway that virtually cuts through the neighborhood, serving as a nexus for travelers in and around Norwood. There, between East 211th Street and Jerome Avenue by the Woodlawn No. 4 station (Jerome and Bainbridge avenues intersect at that point), the city will temporarily convert the two-way