diversity & inclusion

Mexican Independence Day Celebrated in The Bronx

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson joined the Consul General of Mexico in New York and community partners to host a celebration outside Bronx Borough Hall on Friday, Sept. 15, in recognition of Mexican independence. On the sunny September day, the mood was cheery, amid music, laughs, and the raising of the Mexican flag.

Gillibrand Calls for Humanitarian Aid to Address Emergency Needs in Gaza

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Democratic U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the U.S. senate armed services committee and of the U.S. senate committee on intelligence, is calling on the Biden administration to contribute to the United Nations’ emergency appeal of $294 million to address the immediate humanitarian needs in the West Bank and Gaza in Palestine, in the wake of an escalation of violence in the region following the Hamas attacks on Israel on Saturday, Oct. 7. Gillibrand is joined by 33 of her colleagues in the push, which is led by U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut.  

Rivera & Colleagues Introduce Bill to Fund Safe Evacuation of New Yorkers from Israel & Palestine

By SÍLE MOLONEY
State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33), Brooklyn-based State Sen. Julia Salazar (S.D. 18), and Brooklyn-based Assembly Member Emily Gallagher (A.D. 50) introduced Bill S7716 on Wednesday, Oct. 18, to allow New York State to financially reimburse New Yorkers who are trying to evacuate from Israel and the Palestinian territories during the ongoing crisis in the Middle East since tensions escalated on Saturday, Oct. 7, following an attack by Hamas on southern Israel, which prompted a bombing of the Gaza Strip by the Israel Defense Authority. 

Mayor to Embark on 4-Day Trip to Central & South America in efforts to Deal with Asylum Seeker Influx

By SÍLE MOLONEY
City Hall officials announced on Monday, Oct. 2, that New York City Mayor Eric Adams will embark on a four-day trip to Central and South America to foster relationships, learn more about the path asylum seekers take to get to the United States, and meet with local and national leaders about the situations on the ground leading to the influx of asylum seekers arriving in the U.S.

Documentary Film “1.5 Million” Deals with Illiteracy in The Bronx

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT
There was outrage in The Bronx when the last general-interest bookstore, Barnes & Noble, shut down permanently in 2017. Many Bronxites saw it as evidence that the borough is not viewed in a positive light and is forgotten when it comes to its intellectual curiosity. For filmmaker Gregory Hernandez, the turmoil gave him an idea to tell a story about illiteracy in the borough. The result is the film “1.5 Million: A Bronx Documentary” which, as preadvised, screened at the Pelham Parkway-Van Nest branch of the New York Public Library (NYPL) on Aug. 28.

Op-Ed: Support Needed for Alzheimer’s and Dementia Efforts

By DALMA RIQUELME
There are presently 426,000 New Yorkers diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and Dementia. That number may be higher as there may be others who have yet to be diagnosed or experiencing early-stage symptoms that may yet to be realized.