A Secret Garden at Fordham University Springs With Life

By BEN ST. CLAIR

In September, while other Fordham University students finished class or relaxed before a Friday night out, sophomore Olivia Greenspan headed to the garden. Tucked away behind Fordham’s Faculty Memorial Hall and the building housing Fordham University Press, the garden is a far cry from the New York Botanical Garden across the street. But to her and many others who spend time there, this garden — St. Rose’s Garden — is one of the university’s hidden gems. Many students are not aware of the garden’s eight beds and numerous kiddie pools filled with soil. Despite the colorful sign on the fence

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

Tax Preparers Registration The 2017 tax preparer online registration is available on the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance website, www.tax.ny.gov. Prpearers who are paid to prepare at least one tax return in a year must be at least 18 years old, take four hours of annual continuing education and take a 16-hour basic tax course for those who’ve been professionally preparing taxes for less than three years. For more information, log on to www.tax.ny.gov. Free Composting Repurpose food by bringing it to Lehman College’s Food Scrap Drop Off location Monday mornings from 8 to 10 a.m. when

By DAVID CRUZ

The fifteen students from PS 94 huddled around a kitchen eyeing the tray of holiday cookies ready for baking and decorating, its fresh cinnamon scent lingering about. For the kids, it was fun. For Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC) of Norwood, it was a giveback for the kids. “I know that they don’t have a kitchen where they’re at, and maybe they don’t have the opportunity to bake,” Yuisa Santiago, director of MMCC’s culinary arts program, said of the first-ever event. The students are part of the MMCC afterschool program installed at PS 94, with funding through the city’s Comprehensive

Dear Fellow Readers! The year’s last edition of the Norwood News is out, crammed with plenty of Bronx community news you can use. Before we begin our summary of stories, some breaking news: A Bronx judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Kingsbridge National Ice Center, which one again signals significant delays for a project envisioned as a game changer. We wrote a lengthy piece on the story that you can find here. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming: Our Page One story focuses on Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj (pronounced jo-nigh), who’s declared a run for New York City Council.

Special Report: Noise in Norwood and Beyond

By DAVID CRUZ

Beating back the metallic thuds, relentless clacks, rhythmic noise, and bass sounds stands as a daily occurrence in some Bronx neighborhoods, with Norwood and Bedford Park no exception. Unwanted noise, a never-ending nuisance that somehow, despite registering as a top quality of life complaint, remains perpetually prevalent. It is the city that never sleeps, and noise is living up to that adage. And as the holiday season settles in, the uptick in noise complaints usually follows. For the NYPD and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, agencies tasked to respond to aggravating noise issues, the priority to curb

For this edition, the Norwood News embarked on a journey to understand the culture of noise, specifically incessantly loud noise in the neighborhood with a near 3,000-word article that barely scratches the surface on why the city is unable to blunt this pesky quality of life complaint. Noise, whether it’s loud parties, car horns blaring, or that infernal Mr. Softee ice cream truck that spews that annoying jingle, is pervasive. That noise, unlike the rumble of trains or daytime sirens, fly-by-night noise in the grand scheme of things, can go on for hours, seriously damaging quality of life. For residents,

Hello Fellow Readers! The latest edition of the Norwood News, bringing plenty of Bronx community news you can use, is out, hitting local restaurants, offices, schools, and parts of Montefiore Health System in the coming days. As usual, we begin with the front page and two events underscoring fear and resentment toward President-elect Donald Trump, set to take office on Jan. 20. Reporters Deborah Cruz (no relation) and Wendy Joan Biddlecombe hit the pavement to gauge the sentiment of some Bronx residents. Further in the story you can read a special report on the topic of noise and what can

Hello Fellow Readers! Happy belated Thanksgiving Day to all our readers. We hope you took the time to pause and reflect on the good things that have come to your lives in 2016 and beyond. We hope one of the good things is reading the latest edition of the Norwood News, which hit newsstands last week. Here, you can sample the latest edition digitally, from the comfort of your computer or smartphone. We begin with a story we’ve been following for several months: the preservation of Bedford Park. Bronx Community Board 7 has begun holding a series of workshops on

City To Grant Jerome Park Reservoir Access on May 20 and 21

By DAVID CRUZ

The city is once again reopening Jerome Park Reservoir for one November weekend, throwing a bone to residents who’ve longed for permanent access to the closed-off site. “No restrictions,” said Adaline Walker-Santiago, Community Board 7 chair and member of the Filtration Monitoring Committee (FMC), the group that campaigned for access. “All residents will be able to go inside the gates of the reservoir. We’ll walk around the reservoir.” The city Department of Environmental Protection has kept the public off the reservoir grounds, citing safety concerns to the millions of gallons of drinkable water to the city. This is the second