Bronx Anti-Smoking Events This Week

A number of local groups and elected officials will host a forum tonight at the Riverdale Y, 5625 Arlington Avenue, from 6 to 8 p.m. “Laying the Foundation for Healthy Living,” is the first in a series of forums organized by the Bronx-Smoke Free Partnership, and will focus on the health benefits of smoke-free housing policies. Panelists include the housing chair for Bronx Community Board 8, a representative from the New York Fire Department Fire Safety Education Department, and a pediatrician from Montefiore Medical Center. RSVP to Deidre Sully at dsully@healthsolutions.org or at (718) 466-8862. In other anti-smoking news, tomorrow,

Firefighters are currently responding to a two-alarm fire at Montefiore Hospital, on Gun Hill Road, near Bainbridge Avenue. Norwood News editor Alex Kratz is on the scene and says the blaze was small and started by a generator above emergency room. The emergency room and two intensive care rooms were evacuated. According to the hospital’s Twitter feed, no one was injured and the fire was contained immediately. We’ll have more information for you as it come in. Update: Employees returning to the building, as of 2:55 p.m.

Budding Marathon Star a Neighborhood Face

Buzunesh Deba, the runner up in the women’s race for the New York City Marathon isn’t just a Bronxite. She may be your neighbor.

Letter to the Editor: Smoking Concerns

As an artist with a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts and Art Therapy I am impressed with the fidelity to cultural practices and design of the fine cigars created by Francisco Rosario (Norwood News, Oct. 20, 2011-Nov. 2, 2011). Mr. Rosario’s dedication to maintaining the skills he adopted in childhood is admirable and no doubt his cigars bring enjoyment and relaxation to his customers. As a child advocate, I am concerned that he was working with toxic materials as a child and most likely subjected to the second hand smoke of the adults around him. As a health professional with a Master’s in Public Health, I have grave concerns about the impact of cigars on the health and well being of Mr. Rosario, his customers, their families, especially children and anyone in the wake of their smoke.

Domestic Violence Art Project Returns to Fordham Plaza

On Oct. 18, Bronx AIDS Services sponsored its annual “Clothesline Project,” in Fordham Plaza. Domestic violence survivors and their supporters decorated white T-shirts with messages of encouragement, and strung the shirts along clotheslines across the square. The event is meant to be an outlet of expression for survivors of abuse, and an opportunity for them to symbolically air their dirty laundry, said organizer SoJourner McCauley.

Bronx’s Marathon ‘Challenge’ Rep Outruns his Addiction

Six years ago, Rob Vassilarakis was coming up from the East 138th 5 train station when he was suddenly hit with a wave of energy that would change his life for good. It turned out to be New York City marathon runners charging through the 20-mile mark.

Sick Records at PS 51, & Other Bronx Links

The Daily News obtained several years of records, via a Freedom of Information Law request, from the nurse logs at PS 51–the Bedford Park school that was moved to a new location this fall after testing found hazardous levels of a chemical toxin called trichloroethylene (TCE) in its former building, an old lighting factory. Longtime exposure to TCE has been linked to kidney and liver problems, damage to the central nervous system, as well as dizziness, headaches, nausea and blurred vision. In our Norwood News cover story few months back, concerned parents discussed what they thought was an excessive number of sick

Today is officially Food Day in New York City–the first annual government-sponsored day to celebrate “real food and healthy eating,” marked by events across the five boroughs with a focus on nutrition. In the Bronx this morning, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., and State Sen. Gustavo Rivera were at Mount St. Ursula Academy in Bedford Park to kick off a new health initiative for local schools. The Family Health Challenge, developed alongside the Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center and the Committee of Interns and Residents, asks students and their families to set small goals for themselves–cut out soda one

Meeting Tonight: How to Fix Gun Hill Road

The Department of Transportation is holding another public input session concerning Gun Hill Road’s congestion and safety problems at Mosholu Montefiore Community Center, 3450 Dekalb Ave., tonight at 6:30 p.m.