Digital Edition of the Norwood News Is Out!

Dear Readers, Happy belated Thanksgiving Day! If you’re at home or work, you could spend some time to check out some community news you can use with the Norwood News, covering the northwest Bronx. The digital edition, and physical paper are out with news you won’t find anywhere else. Our front page focuses on an issue impacting the 63 percent of rent burdened Bronxites living in the northwest Bronx–two zoning proposals rejected by Bronx officials. Considered the DNA of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing New York Plan, the zoning text amendments were not well-received by Bronx elected officials and community boards.

Vital Stats: 200 – Number of liters of blood a human kidney filters daily. (Source: Kean University) A four-way kidney transplant was performed at Montefiore Medical Center on Nov. 11, Veterans Day, thanks to the generosity of 30-year-old Army veteran Christopher Forthman , who decided to be an altruistic kidney donor. Forthman, a neighbor in Norwood, donated one of his organs to Juan Garcia, sparking a rare pay-it-forward style chain that would lead to three other Bronx patients in need of a donated kidney. Garcia was initially supposed to receive a kidney from his daughter Sagracio, but she was not a match for him.

By JASMINE GOMEZ

A snapshot of Community District 7’s health status has just been released by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, offering glimmers of hope and areas of concern. The agency compiled health profiles for each of the city’s 59 Community Districts, which included statistics ranging from life expectancy rates, leading causes of death, and the effects of housing and air quality on one’s health. Each profile also highlighted comparisons in each district to the Bronx and city overall. The average life expectancy of residents in Community District 7, covering Kingsbridge Heights, Bedford, Fordham, University Heights, and Norwood,

By FRIDA JOHANNES

Most of New York is still riding high on the Halloween sugar rush, but one section of the Bronx took a healthier alternative approach on Halloween day. Local businesses in the Fordham section of the Bronx closed off Decatur Avenue and organized a community block party where kids and adults engaged in healthy eating and living. Nonprofit organizations such as Provident Loan Society of New York, passed out granola bars, fruits and other snacks that didn’t contain unhealthy corn syrup. “It’s really important for us to contribute to our local community. We all have a responsibility to make our neighborhoods

By NOAH CALDWELL

Vital Stats: 62 – Health ranking of Bronx County. (Source: New York State Department of Health) The Bronx’s collective goal of improving public health has earned it the highly competitive “Culture of Health” prize from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). After a yearlong application process spearheaded by hospitals, nonprofits, and the New York State Department of Health, the Bronx has been chosen as one of eight winners from a pool of 340 nationwide communities. For health professionals in a county that consistently ranks as New York’s unhealthiest, the prize is a symbol of positive change. “It marks a turning

To our faithful readers, The latest edition of the Norwood News is out and hitting the stands as we write, with plenty (and we do mean plenty) of community news you can use. We go to the epicenter of Norwood, Williamsbridge Oval Park, where football practice has to be cut short for one club that’s working on its plays without any adequate lights. Requests from club organizers have gone unchecked. Read how no lights is impacting their game. We also delve into a growing trend that’s happening across the Bronx: priced out commercial tenants. For rent signs are popping up

By DAVID CRUZ

The gridiron bustle could only be heard, not seen, at Williamsbridge Oval Park. A gruff voice barks “Get up! Get down!” as a sharp whistle signals an invisible command. Tiny helmeted silhouettes buzz about mid-field in a pre-determined pattern, shifting carefully between the goalposts. It’s dusk at the Oval, with virtually no visibility save for distant, orangey glows illuminating over the multi-purpose field. It’s there where Drake Holliday blindly feeds a plug from a generator to a socket. It’s past 5 p.m. on Nov. 3, pitch black after Daylight Saving Time, and practice for the Bronx Knights, a peewee team

Vital Stats: 2M Number of U.S. citizens age 65 and older suffering from Alzheimer’s disease (Source: Alzheimer’s Foundation) With 15 percent of Bronx residents 65 and older, and a population that’s living longer, Montefiore Health System is preparing for what it’s dubbed a “looming crisis” in the number of impending sufferers of Alzheimer’s disease. “When the first wave of baby boomers reach age 85, which is about 2031, there’s going to be more than 3 million people age 85 and older with Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Jessica Zwerling, associate director of neurology at Montefiore’s Center for the Aging Brain in Yonkers. Alzheimer’s

Poetry Workshop The Mosholu Library, 285 E. 205th St., offers a free six-week poetry workshop Saturdays through Nov. 14, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. For more information or to register, call (718) 882-8239. Gifted & Talented Exams Parents interested in having their kindergarten, first, second or third grade children take the Gifted and Talented exam can submit a request online at https://prod.semsnycdoe.com/parentsite/, in person at their school, or at a Family Welcome Center until Nov. 9. An information session will take place at the Theodore Roosevelt Educational Campus, 500 E. Fordham Rd., on Oct. 21 from 6 to 8 p.m.