Latest Edition of the Norwood News is Out!

Dear Fellow Readers, The latest edition of the Norwood News, covering the Norwood and the surrounding Bronx communities, is out with our second to last issue before year’s end (time flies when you’re having fun). With 16 pages of news from end to end, it’s best we get into it. We begin with page one, of course, and the issue of the Jerome Avenue Rezoning plan still in the making. The plan has received the blessing from the Bronx Borough Board, though with stipulations attached. Critics say it does not go far enough. Read what reporter Aaron Mayorga dug up. Inside

Health Check: Avoid Painkillers When Possible

By AMANDA PARSONS

You may be hearing a lot about opioids lately, particularly in the Bronx where more residents die of drug overdoses than in any other borough. Frequently used opioids include illegal drugs like heroin, but also legal drugs like morphine, hydrocodone (such as Vicodin), oxycodone (such as Percocet and OxyContin), and codeine (such as Tylenol #3). These drugs can be highly addictive and share similar effects on the body like relaxation, pain relief, and feeling “high.” But in higher doses, they can also lead to respiratory failure (when your breathing slows or stops) and death. Fentanyl, a known opioid, is particularly dangerous

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

By DAVID CRUZ

A one-year-old child is still being treated at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore after reportedly ingesting heroin from his father’s stash. This happened over the weekend at the child’s Tiebout Avenue home in the Fordham section of the Bronx. Police say that the father, 20-year-old Edgardo Rodriguez, confessed that he had no idea that white powder had landed on his bed. Rodriguez reportedly went to sleep after taking heroin with his two kids in bed with him just after midnight. When Rodriguez woke up at 8 a.m. to find the child struggling to breathe, they took her to the hospital. The

By ALICIA SCHWARTZ, RN at VNSNY CHOICE Health Plans

Two words that the holidays bring to mind for many of us these days are food and stress. With no shortage of sugary, fattening foods and a seemingly never-ending to-do list, it is easy for people with busy lives, particularly family caregivers who often lack time to care for themselves, to resort to unhealthy food habits like stress-eating during the holidays. Does this picture sound familiar: the holiday is right around the corner, you’ve been tending to your elderly parents all day, traveling to appointments, doing housework, and running errands while squeezing in that last minute holiday shopping, decorating, gift wrapping, cooking, and travel plan coordination.

Canned Food Drive Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz holds annual Holiday Canned Food Drive until Dec. 13. Donations, which are given to Bronx non-profits for families in need, can be dropped off at his office, 3107 Kingsbridge Ave. For more information, call (718) 796-5345. Community Grant Community-based groups can learn how to apply for a grant of up to $3,000 by attending an information session on Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. at Eastchester Presbyterian Church, 3154 Fishman Ave. RSVP is required. To RSVP, call (718) 654-6539 or email rileyk@nyassembly.gov. Excelsior Scholarship The Excelsior Scholarship application for students to attend SUNY or CUNY

By TIANA TURNER

Type 2 diabetes, the most common type of diabetes, is caused when your body does not use insulin, a hormone produced by your pancreas, well. There is no cure for Type 2 diabetes, but maintaining a healthy lifestyle will help manage it. Know Your ABCs A1C: A blood test ordered by your doctor that measures your average sugar levels over a three-month period. The goal is to keep your A1C level below seven percent. Blood Pressure: Measures the force of blood flow inside your blood vessels. The goal is to keep your blood pressure as close to 120 systolic over

At Fordham Church, Doors Open For Thanksgiving Meal

By DAVID GREENE

A large group of volunteers spent the night before Thanksgiving cooking hot meals in their homes before feeding hundreds of residents at the Fordham United Methodist Church, on Marion Avenue in the Fordham Manor section. The crowd turned out on Thanksgiving Day as members of the church hosted their 15th annual Thanksgiving dinner. Edward Koku, a parishioner and member of the church’s board of trustees, said that 54 volunteers served 454 meals during the course of the day. “Some of them are parishioners, some are from Fordham University and many volunteers are from a group of Korean parishioners,” said Koku

MMCC and G.O.S.H. Spread Some Thanksgiving Cheer

By DEBORAH CRUZ

A thunderous applause filled the second floor hallway of the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC), which was aligned with decorated tables full of canned good and Thanksgiving goodies. It was on Nov. 18 where the Norwood center’s hallways were filled with a group of volunteers standing there in service to its low-income recipients who came to collect a turkey for a Thanksgiving feat. Volunteers led families through the conveyor belt-like hallway where they would be given a bundle of products to take home. For low income families, one turkey can go a long way for a Thanksgiving dinner. “You know

The Latest Edition of the Norwood News is Out!

The 23rd edition of the Norwood News, covering the Norwood section of the Bronx, is out. We begin with page one and the worst landlords in Norwood. Public Advocate Letitia James released the annual list of 100 worst landlords in New York City and Narsinh Desai came in at number 70, making him the worst landlord in Norwood. This edition also features the Kingsbridge National Ice Center, for which a state loan has been approved, a crime file about a wanted serial robber who has attacked at least eight women in Norwood and surrounding neighborhoods, and a movement by Community