Pierina Sanchez, from The Bronx to the White House and Back

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

Next year, residents of New York City’s 14th District will vote on a new representative. Incumbent Councilman Fernando Cabrera has reached the end of his last term. He has represented the district, which extends from just south of the Cross Bronx Expressway to Kingsbridge Heights in the north, since 2010. In June 2020, Pierina Sanchez, 32, announced her candidacy to replace Cabrera with a focus on improving permanent housing and education, among other issues. “With 70 percent of our residents unable to afford their rents, I want to work to improve that number,” Sanchez said. “I want more

By SÍLE MOLONEY

On Wednesday, July 22, the results of a study carried out by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System, on the use of steroid treatments in COVID-19 patients, was released and published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine. It identified the benefits and risks of steroid treatment in COVID-19 patients. The study built upon a larger, earlier British steroid study, called Recovery, involving 6,000 patients. The British study found that the steroid, dexamethasone, reduced deaths from COVID-19 by about one third in patients who were on ventilators, and by about one fifth among patients who needed oxygen

By DAVID GREENE

Having recorded just one homicide during the first six months of 2020, the 52nd precinct has since logged two additional homicides in July, both occurring within a six-day span. This equals the precinct’s homicide record for the same period last year. In the first of the two most recent cases, as initially reported by Norwood News, police were called to 3340 Decatur Avenue between East 209th Street and East Gun Hill Road in the Norwood area of the Bronx at 11.44 p.m. on Monday, July 20. Officials reported that upon arrival, officers discovered a 24-year-old male “unconscious and unresponsive” in

By SÍLE MOLONEY

The Fresh Air Fund, in response to COVID-19, has created Fresh Air Summer Spaces, fun, free and safe play spaces for New York City children, ages five through 13. Fresh Air Summer Spaces provides children the chance to enjoy safe, supervised outdoor summer activities where they can laugh, smile, play and make new friends. Fresh Air staff supervise arts and crafts, interactive games and even dance parties! Summer Spaces would not be possible without the support of the local community. Fresh Air Youth Employment program participants will assist at sites. The Fund is helping to fill the gap

By Síle Moloney

On July 23, the NYPD released body-worn camera footage from two separate police-involved shootings. One incident occurred on May 29, 2020 within the confines of the 40th precinct in the Bronx, serving Port Morris, Mott Haven, and Melrose, and the other incident occurred on May 20, 2020 within the confines of the 26th precinct in Manhattan, serving Columbia University, Riverside Park, Morningside Park, and General Grant National Memorial. Each video includes the evidence available leading up to, as well as during the incidents. The NYPD wrote that the agency was releasing this footage for clear viewing of the totality

By ARIANA CIPRIANI

As New York City’s small businesses transitioned to Phase 3 of the city’s reopening plan earlier this month, restaurants and diners took to the streets and sidewalks for open dining. From now through October, restaurants can offer outdoor seating on the sidewalk and curb lane to customers. With six outdoor dining destinations to choose from in the BID, there are plenty of opportunities to sit back and relax on Jerome Avenue and East Gun Hill Road. Jennifer Tausig is Executive Director of the Jerome Gun Hill BID. “Open dining has provided a much-needed lifeline for our small, locally

By Síle Moloney

On Thursday, July 30, at 2 p.m., an off-duty New York City employee was arrested and charged within the confines of the 23rd precinct in Manhattan, serving East Harlem, or El Barrio, north of East 96th Street. Sofia Ramirez, a 39-year-old female and NYPD School Safety Agent, was charged with possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device. According to Wikipedia, a magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device within or attached to a repeating firearm. Magazines can be removable (detachable) or integral (internal/fixed) to the firearm. The magazine functions by moving the cartridges stored within it

By Síle Moloney

The NYC COVID-19 Response & Impact Fund announced on July 29 that more than $110 million in emergency support has been distributed to 768 New York City-based social services and arts and cultural nonprofits affected by the coronavirus public health crisis. More than $73 million in grant funding was managed by the New York Community Trust and over $37 million was managed by Nonprofit Finance Fund for no-interest loans. Small to mid-sized nonprofits across New York’s five boroughs applied for grants or interest-free loans to ensure the continuity of their daily operations and to help counteract lost revenue that

By Síle Moloney

The New York City Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying an individual wanted for questioning in connection to the below listed homicide that occurred within the confines of the 52nd precinct. Pursuant an ongoing investigation, detectives have submitted two additional videos of an individual who is wanted for questioning in connection to the case. On Sunday, July 26, 2020, at approximately 1:38 a.m., police responded a 911 call regarding an unconscious, aided, transgender woman inside of 2575 Jerome Avenue, on the 3rd floor hallway, within the confines of the 52nd precinct, in the