Food Insecurity

Elections 2022: Candidates Face Off at NWBCCC Forum Ahead of June Primary Assembly Elections

By EMILY SAWAKED  
The following is an extended version of the story that appears in our latest print edition.    The Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC) hosted a candidates’ forum at Monroe College on Wednesday, May 26, for candidates running in the 78th and the 81st Assembly Districts in the upcoming June Democratic primaries. Both Assemblyman José Rivera (A.D. 78), who was not present on the night, was re-elected to his seat in 2000, having previously served in the Assembly from 1982 to 1987 and who won in 2020 with over 86 percent of the vote, and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81),


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Bronx Woman & Boyfriend Charged with Murder of 8-Year-Old Son

By SÍLE MOLONEY
  Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced on Wednesday, April 27, that a Bronx woman and her boyfriend were charged with murder and manslaughter in the context of the June 2021 death of the woman’s eight-year-old, autistic son.   According to the investigation, the defendants, Sharay Barney, 30, of East 166th Street in Morrisania, who was the biological mother of the child, and Michael Ransom, 33, of the same address and who was the child’s stepfather, were the sole caretakers of Joseph Barney, 8, a child who was autistic and non-verbal.   On June 1, 2021, Joseph was found


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Norwood: Fire on Decatur Avenue under Control, No Injuries Reported

By SÍLE MOLONEY & DAVID GREENE
The FDNY requested all hands to respond to a residential fire in Norwood on Friday which has since been brought under control.   Bronx All Hands Box 3544, 3224 DECATUR AVE, MULTIPLE DWELLING A, APT 7 — FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) April 22, 2022   The alarm was raised regarding a fire in a multiple dwelling at 3224 Decatur Avenue in the Norwood section of the Bronx on Friday morning, April 22, at around 11.15 a.m.     Multiple fire trucks were later seen at the location, with firefighters using ladders to reach the third-floor (Apt. 7) apartment where the fire broke


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Sanchez Chairs Council Committee on Housing & Buildings, as Women Comprise Council Majority

By SÍLE MOLONEY
On Thursday, Jan. 20, the New York City Council appointed recently elected, Bronx, District 14 City Council Member, Pierina Sanchez, as chair of the council’s powerful housing & buildings committee, which has jurisdiction over New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and the Department of Buildings (DOB), as well as rent regulation policies and practices.   HPD is responsible for promoting the quality and affordability of the city’s housing by developing new, affordable housing, enforcing the housing maintenance code, and engaging neighborhoods in planning. DOB is the primary regulator of the construction and real estate industries in


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COVID Closures Return Across The Bronx with Long Lines for Testing, Boosters & Food

By DAVID GREENE
As the COVID-19 Omicron variant continues to spread across the Bronx, local residents have been seen waiting on increasingly longer lines for vaccination boosters, for COVID-19 testing and for food. Meanwhile many local restaurants have, once again, suspended in-person dining.   On Wednesday, Dec. 19, at the COVID-19 mobile testing bus, parked outside St. James’ Park at Jerome Avenue and East 192nd Street in Fordham Manor, moments after being tested, one woman who declined to be identified was asked if she was feeling sick. She replied, “No, but somebody at work got sick, so I’m just being cautious that I


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Bronx Rabbi Brings Food to the Masses during Hanukkah

By DAVID GREENE
A Bronx rabbi continues to actively support the annual menorah lighting events all across the Bronx, amid the celebration of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah while, together with members of his own Morris Park congregation, the annual festival is marked by feeding senior Jewish residents from all across the borough.   Canceled last year amid the pandemic, a public gathering for Hanukkah returned this year to the Bronx Jewish Center, located at 1969 Haight Avenue in Morris Park, once again. The center has been holding gatherings for the Jewish celebration, annually, since 2013. On Sunday, November 28, the congregation returned


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POTS & Church Volunteers Serve 600 Free Meals as Physical Thanksgiving Gatherings Resume

By DAVID GREENE
For the 25th consecutive year, volunteers with Part of the Solution (POTS), soup kitchen and food pantry, and the Church of the Resurrection in Rye, New York, joined forces to serve an estimated 350 turkey meals on site to community residents at Our Lady of Refuge Church, located at 290 East 196th Street in Fordham Manor on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25.   Another 300 or so residents who had concerns about sitting and eating in a public setting amid the ongoing pandemic, or who were unable to provide proof of vaccination to enter the venue’s cafeteria, were provided with a


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Price Gouging: What Consumers Can Do to Address the Situation

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Price gouging is illegal. In the early days of the pandemic, some Bronxites had complained of the cost of thermometers, hand sanitizer and other hygiene products, but in recent months, with more and more reports of supply chain and delivery issues, price gouging appears to have become more widespread.   On Wednesday, The New York Post reported that inflation was spiking as prices surged 6.2 percent, the most in over 30 years. It was reported that the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index, which measures a basket of goods and services as well as energy and food costs, jumped 6.2 percent


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Kingsbridge: Food & Book Giveaway Held for 100 Families

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Jessica Woolford, founder of community mutual aid group, Kingsbridge Unidos, Latanya DeVaughn, founder of Bronx Bound Books and representatives from State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (S.D. 34) held a food and book giveaway in Kingsbridge on Friday, Oct. 29. The event took place at 4 p.m. at 824 Broadway between 238th and 239th Streets.