Bedford Park Health Fair & Small Business Event Held

A host of local businesses joined several, local non-profits for an event aimed at promoting good health, while also supporting businesses and shops in the 78th Assembly District. The Bedford Park event, which was organized by Assemblyman José Rivera (A.D. 78), District 15 City Councilman Oswald Feliz and others, took place before the launch of National Small Business Week, which kicked off on May 2. Several local businesses on the block participated in the fair, with maCny others invited to set-up tables as well. Sherese Morris, a representative for Rivera, said of the event, which was held on Saturday,

By By DR. MICHELLE COLLINS-OGLE

During the month of June, the LGBTQIA community celebrates across the world with various events, to recognize the many positive ways LGBTQIA people have contributed significantly to every country and every community. June is chosen as Pride month in memory of the Stonewall Riots which happened in 1969. Patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City staged an uprising to resist the police harassment and persecution to which LGBTQ Americans were commonly subjected. This uprising marked the beginning of a movement to outlaw discriminatory laws and practices against LGBTQ Americans. The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore has

By EMILY SAWAKED

Preschool aged children with special needs at the New York Institute for Special Education’s readiness program were busy putting on their helmets ahead of a three-lap ride around their school on Tuesday morning, May 24, and it was all in aid of cancer research. Bikes and tricycles of various sizes and functionalities were lined up along the walls ahead of the event, with aides, physical therapists, and occupational therapists assisting the kids mount their respective “wheels.” A red ribbon held high in the air by Deborah Korn, one of the readiness program’s occupational therapists, signaled the end of

By SÍLE MOLONEY

NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) confirmed on Wednesday, June 1, that two people have now died from Legionnaires’ disease and the number of cases has increased to 24 since May 3. Health officials said four people are currently hospitalized. The latest figures were shared as part of an update into the investigation into a community cluster of the disease identified in the Highbridge and Melrose sections of The Bronx (ZIP codes 10452 and 10456) and bordering communities, as announced by the department and reported on Saturday, May 21, by Norwood News. “The remediation ordered by the

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

Current television commercials touting medications to manage HIV diagnoses are a sign of how far treatments have come since the early days of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. At that time, this reporter remembers seeing throngs of commuters walking through Grand Central Terminal, wearing surgical face masks, as a self-prescribed [yet unfounded] scientific protective measure against contracting the AIDS virus. In fact, then-Mayor Ed Koch even made public announcements, explaining that the virus was not airborne and that masks were unnecessary. However, it took decades of public awareness campaigns to educate the public about AIDS, along with decades

By SÍLE MOLONEY & JULIAN NAZAR

The following is an updated version of the story that appears in our latest print edition. Bronx Week 2022 kicked off informally on Monday, May 2, at the Northeast Bronx YMCA as its sponsors, supporters and organizers gathered to give the media a taste of what was to come, following a two-year hiatus from large-scale physical gatherings, celebrating the annual festival. Hosted by the Bronx Tourism Council, the Office of the Bronx Borough President, and the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, the 10-day festival was packed with several events relevant to every sector of the community, including senior

By SÍLE MOLONEY

New York City Department of Parks & Recreation has allayed fears that a section of Williamsbridge Oval park in Norwood may have been cordoned off to curtail the potential spread of Legionnaires’ disease, following an announcement on Saturday, May 21, by the Bronx Borough President that the City’s health department were investigating a now confirmed cluster of the illness that had been identified in the Highbridge and Melrose sections of the borough. Legionnaires’ disease is a form of pneumonia. “Four people have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease since May 9, 2022, and results for other individuals are pending,” Gibson

By SÍLE MOLONEY

After the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) denied a last-ditch petition to overturn Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz’s 2019 law to prohibit all non-medical exemptions to school vaccine requirements in New York State, the assemblyman who is running for re-election in Assembly District 81, issued the following statement on Monday, May 23: “I am very proud that the Supreme Court has upheld our state law, both respecting our state’s right to govern itself as well as the underlying science which supports the core concept of vaccination. Widespread vaccination is essential in order to help keep people with underlying medical

By SÍLE MOLONEY

The NYPD is seeking the public’s assistance locating a 25-year-old man reported missing in Fordham Manor, in the 52nd precinct. It was reported to police that Isaac Vekez, 25, of 2707 Briggs Avenue in Fordham Manor was last seen inside his home on Sunday, May 22, at around 8.30 a.m. He is described as male, is around 6 feet, 2 inches tall, and weighs around 290 pounds. He was last seen wearing a red, hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and black sneakers. Anyone with information regarding this missing person is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS

Norwood News

Serving Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights

Health

Bedford Park Health Fair & Small Business Event Held

Health Check: Gender-Affirming Care for Pediatric and Adolescent Youth, Pride in Our Kids

New York Institute for Special Education Students Pedal for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

NYC DOH: Legionnaires’ Disease Spreads in The Bronx with 2 Dead amid 24 Cases

National Transgender HIV Testing Day Raises Awareness About Worrisome Trends

Bronx BP Heralds Success of Bronx Week 2022 Despite Turbulent Beginning to Year for the Borough

UPDATE Parks Dept: Cordoned Off Section of Williamsbridge Oval Unrelated to Legionnaires’ Cluster

SCOTUS Upholds Dinowitz Law on Vaccine Mandates in New York State Schools

Fordham Manor: Search for 25-Year-Old Missing Man