Education

Partial Closure at Nine Bronx Schools, Parents Reflect on First School Week

By DAVID GREENE
  A full week after New York City public schools opened for class for the first time in six months, on Tuesday, Sept. 29, “the new normal” included temperature checks before entering a building, smaller classrooms, and teachers rather than students moving from classroom to classroom.   After the first week of her children’s school reopening, Norwood resident and mother, Heather Guerino, said, “Now the schools are taking more precautionary measures within [them], but they should have done that before the coronavirus.” She added, “The coronavirus has forced a lot of people to have a new way of life, a new


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New Yorkers Use Estimated 23 Billion Plastic Bags Annually, Enforcement to Start Oct. 19

By SÍLE MOLONEY
New Yorkers use an estimated 23 billion (not 23 million, 23 billion) plastic bags every year, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. That’s 1,182 bags per person, with each bag being used for about 12 minutes. Approximately 85 percent of this staggering total ends up in landfills, recycling machines, waterways, and streets.   Here’s something else everyone should reflect upon. The Ecology Center (ecologycenter.org) wrote, “Like many other plastics, we can’t guarantee that plastic film is getting recycled, even if it is clean, dry, and disposed of in the “right” place. We also know that all plastic ever


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King of the Bronx Celebrated at Woodlawn, 29th Anniversary of Passing of Miles Davis

By SÍLE MOLONEY
After ten years of honoring powerful women, Kings of the Bronx 2020 marked an inaugural event to celebrate successful men who made an impact on their community. On Sept. 17, 2020, Mitch Rose, president, chief executive officer and trustee of The Woodlawn Cemetery and Conservancy, was honored at the Kings of the Bronx 2020 virtual event, in collaboration with Schneps Media, the Bronx Times and the Bronx Times Reporter. Rose was recognized along with other male honorees for their leadership, vision, community service and contributions to the Bronx.   Receiving his award, Rose said, “It is a great privilege to


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Census Deadline Extended to October 31, Norwood Can Do Better

By SÍLE MOLONEY
On Friday, Sept. 24, U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh ordered the Census Bureau to keep conducting the census count until October 31.   City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who yesterday announced his withdrawal from the mayoral race in New York City, and 2020 Census Task Force Co-Chairs, Carlos Menchaca and Carlina Rivera, issued a statement on the court ruling extending the census period.   “This is a win for New York and gives us another month to get a complete count in the City. We have seen the Trump Administration try and fail, again and again, to exclude immigrants


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Green Bronx Machine

By AURÉOLE RIBES
  As a youngster in the Sixties and Seventies, Stephen Ritz and his friends would drill a hole in a quarter, put a fishing string through it, and play infinite pinball games at Larry’s Luncheonette on the corner of Gun Hill Road and Tryon Avenue in Norwood. They got away with it for a few weeks.   Ritz recalls this little ploy with fondness and has an amalgam of other memories as well. He remembers learning basketball at Mosholu Montefiore Community Center, building little tree houses in Reservoir Oval Park, biking down Gun Hill Road, and meeting the Duncan “YoYo”


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Elections 2021: Oswald Feliz on Education, Climate Action & Housing

By SÍLE MOLONEY
  Bronx native, attorney, and board member of Northwest Bronx Democrats 4 Change, Oswald Feliz, is clear on what his top three issues are in running for City Council in the 15th District. “Number one, I will work to racially and economically desegregate our public-school system,” he said. “We actually have the most racially and economically segregated system in the country, and that has to change.”   Feliz said that in a city which has the largest public-school system in the country, with over 1.1 million students, where 70 percent are from minority communities, it is unjust that only a


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Catholic Schools Reopen Across the Bronx as Debate on Public School In-School Learning Continues

By DAVID GREENE & SÍLE MOLONEY
Catholic school children enrolled in schools in the Archdiocese of New York returned to class on Wednesday, Sept. 9 for the first time since March when the pandemic forced most of the city into lockdown. However, the return to school was quite different, and not just because of mask wearing.   Children of all ages returned to their cathedrals of education at St. Raymond Academy for Girls in Castle Hill, Immaculate Conception in Olinville, St. Philip Neri School in Bedford Park, St. Brendan’s School in Norwood and dozens of others. Students were greeted with warm “hellos” as well as temperature


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Health Check: Keeping Yourself and Others Safe from the Flu

By CARLOS TEJEDA
Flu season is approaching quickly. This year, it is especially important to get the flu vaccine to help you stay healthy and reduce the severity of COVID-19 symptoms should you get sick. This season, it is essential to take extra steps to protect yourself and others by getting the flu shot and practicing good hygiene.   To help your loved ones stay safe in the upcoming months, follow these tips:   Monitor Your Health Daily Both the flu and COVID-19 are contagious respiratory diseases that share similar symptoms. Pay close attention to your health and see a medical professional if


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Fordham Manor: Teachers’ Rally Highlights Dissatisfaction with Health, Safety & Preparedness at Schools

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT
  A group of teachers held a rally on Sept. 18, in front of the Bronx office of the Department of Education (DOE) at 1 Fordham Plaza in the Fordham Manor section of the Bronx, to publicize their concerns about the reopening of schools. They say the schools are not prepared to welcome students or staff back. Holding signs that read, “You Can’t Fix a 100-Year-Old Building in a Week! Duh!” and “Under-Staffed, Under-Funded, Under-Valued!” the teachers and their supporters are worried the DOE has not done enough to clean schools, staff them properly for in-person learning, nor equip students


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