Out & About: Bronx Homecoming Concert, Silver Shoes Dance Club, Movies Under the Stars & More!

By SHANIA DEGROOT & SÍLE MOLONEY

Editor’s Pick I’Raise Boys & Girls Intl in conjunction with the City of New York presents a North Bronx Homecoming Concert on Saturday, Aug. 21, from noon to 3 p.m. at Evander Childs Campus, located at 800 East Gun Hill Road, Bronx, NY 10467. Come and enjoy live performances, honor the past, celebrate the present and

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

After an almost two-year wait, a new Chase Bank branch has opened at 7 E. Burnside Avenue, just east of Jerome Avenue on the border of Fordham Heights and Mount Hope, close to the University Heights border. A former Chase branch located at 5 W. Burnside Avenue closed in October 2019, serving a blow to the local community. The impact of that closure was compounded by the subsequent closure of a local Amalgamated Bank branch in September 2020, as reported. Elected officials, including Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15) and Assemblyman Victor Pichardo (A.D. 86) delivered remarks at the grand

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

Last spring The New York Times described Fordham Road as one of the city’s “retail zones [that] have bounced back.” The article included data that described the Bronx as a borough that had lost 40 percent of its businesses, had the highest rate of COVID-19 deaths, and an unemployment rate near 18 percent. Yet, the biggest shopping district in the Bronx, Fordham Road with its 175 storefronts, located between Washington and Jerome Avenues, has retained a 3 percent vacancy rate, the same as before the pandemic hit. The significance of the robust numbers is not lost on city

By DAWN CLANCY

With bullhorns in hand, about 20 parents and teachers from the Bronx rallied outside the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) offices in Manhattan on Monday, July 26, to push for a remote learning option for New York City public school students this fall. The rally, organized by the Bronx Parent Leaders Advocacy Group (BPLAG), follows Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement, on May 24, that all public schools which had closed for on-site instruction in March 2020, in efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus, will fully reopen in September without any option for students to learn remotely.

By ROXANNE DELGADO

Two months after New York State legalized e-bikes and e-scooters, the City Council passed a bill, on June 5, 2020, to create a pilot program for the operation of shared electric scooters to exist for a duration of no less than one year and no more than two years. Earlier this year, NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) announced the East Bronx as the program’s pilot zone and selected three companies, Bird, Lime and Veo, to participate in the pilot project, starting with 3,000 e-scooters. Why NYC DOT chose an area that lacks biking infrastructure is so confusing. NYC DOT proposed 24

By SARAH HUFFMAN and MIRIAM QUIÑONES

The Bronx celebrated its many residents of Dominican heritage on Sunday, July 25, at the annual Dominican Day Parade which kicked off at the Grand Concourse and 172nd Street. The celebration brought together a host of Dominican Americans and Bronxites from all walks of life, many decked out in red, white and blue to honor the colors of the Dominican flag. New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio and various elected officials, political candidates and community leaders led the parade behind a gigantic Dominican flag. Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY13), Bronx District Attorney, the Hon. Darcel Clark, State Sen. Jamaal.

By SARAH HUFFMAN

The election of the various officer positions to Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7) for the upcoming year took place at the last general board meeting of the year on June 23. Most of the incumbent officers were re-elected, apart from one. In addition, four motions were passed on various, different matters. Most had already been reviewed at the board’s June 17 meeting, as reported. Nominating committee chair, Sandra Erickson, gave each candidate a chance to pitch their candidacy to the board members at the beginning of the meeting before voting took place. Most positions ran uncontested, except for second

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Congress has approved nine out of ten funding requests for community projects put forward by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), the congresswoman’s office confirmed on July 30. The various requests for the 2022 fiscal year included additional funding for Jacobi Hospital’s anti gun-violence initiative which Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had highlighted as a priority in early July, as reported at the time by Norwood News. Late Thursday, July 29, the nine approved funding requests for various community projects in New York’s 14th congressional district, which encompasses parts of the Bronx and Queens, passed

By SÍLE MOLONEY

State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (S.D. 34) issued a statement on Tuesday following the publication of the findings of the independent investigation carried out by Attorney General Laetitia James into allegations of sexual harassment by New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo, allegations which the governor has denied. On Tuesday, Aug. 3, Biaggi said the independent investigation concluded that the governor sexually harassed former and current staff, violating federal and state law. “The report confirms what we already knew – the Governor has sexually harassed and intimidated employees while actively silencing the victims of his abuse and fostering a toxic and