Housing

Squatters Busted, Ousted From Norwood Home After Shooting

By MICHAEL TURAY
Scattered Budweiser cans, shabby clothes, and pieces belonging to a worn out cabinet lay strewn about the front lawn of a two-family home at 290 Reservoir Pl. near East Gun Hill Road. For all intents and purposes, the property appears vacant from the outside. Inside, squatters had invaded, creating an unsettling feeling shared by longtime residents. Things reached a tipping point on Dec. 2 when a shootout happened inside the property, sending officers to the home. Near a second-floor window of the house, multiple bullet holes can be spotted from the shots fired following the nighttime dispute that led to


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Gates Place Tenants Hang Anti-MCI Sign, Ratcheting Up Against Landlord

Gates Place Tenants Unveil Anti-MCI Sign, Ratcheting Up Against Landlord
By DAVID CRUZ
The banner sign that hung diagonally above Silvia Estulillo captured her fellow tenants’ story: “Rent Strike; No Mas MCIs,” referring to Major Capital Improvements that took effect shortly after the landlord’s $1.9 million, top-down renovation of the six-story building on Gates Place in Norwood. It wasn’t easy for Estulillo—who’s joined in the MCI strike—to share her story, bursting into tears after speaking openly on the ongoing strife she and a handful of tenants, fueled by gumption, have had to endure. Last year, the tenants decided not to pay for the MCI fees they say are too costly. “We’re working. We’re


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Rents Starting at $1,025 and Capping at $2,388 for New Stagg Building in Norwood

By DAVID CRUZ
The Stagg Group is on the cusp of finishing its newest building in Norwood, and while a quarter of those units are deemed affordable, it appears affordability is in the eye of the beholder. St. George Gardens, a 68-unit, mixed-income building at 186 St. Georges Crescent, a tiny street near Van Cortlandt Avenue East and the Grand Concourse, boasts 18 affordable units with rents that begin at $1,075 for studio apartments dedicated to renters with a maximum income of $52,290. Those renters fall within the 70 percent Area Median Income (AMI) range. For those at the 130 percent AMI, rent


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A Solemn Goodbye to a Community Activist, MTA Reroute Bus Plan, and More: Latest Edition of the Norwood News is Out!

A Solemn Goodbye to a Community Activist, MTA Reroute Bus Plan, and More: Latest Edition of the Norwood News is Out!
By NORWOOD NEWS
Dear Fellow Readers, The year’s twenty-fourth edition of the Norwood News is out with plenty of community stories to read and share. We have 28 pages packed full of news from this corner of the Bronx, so let’s start with page one! Our top story focuses on the death of well-known community activist Heidi Marie Schloegel Hynes. Hynes lost her battle with cancer at 51 years old on Nov. 24. Though she may have passed, her legacy will continue to inspire many activists across the Bronx, according to her supporters. Inside the cover you’ll read a piece on the MTA’s proposed bus route revamp


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Heidi Hynes, A Model for Community Activism, Passes Away at 51

Heidi Hynes, A Model for Community Activism, Passes Away at 51
By JOSÉ A. GIRALT
Heidi Marie Schloegel Hynes, 51, executive director of the Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center [MMC] in Crotona died on Nov. 24 after a battle with cancer. She lived in Bedford Park with her husband Brian and daughter Frieda, leaving behind a legacy of community service that inspired many activists across the Bronx. Heidi was born on Jan. 19, 1968 in Kansas City, MO. She married Brian Hynes in 1995 and lived in Bedford Park since then.  “I think the key to understanding Heidi and her commitment to activism came from the realization that there was nothing wrong with the


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A Special Report on the Vanishing Homeowner, Railing Against Express Bus Service Cuts: Latest Edition of the Norwood News is Out!

A Special Report on the Vanishing Homeowner, Railing Against Express Bus Service Cuts: Latest Edition of the Norwood News is Out!
By DAVID CRUZ
Dear Fellow Readers, The year’s twenty-third edition of the Norwood News is out with 28 pages packed full of news from this corner of the Bronx. Let’s begin with page one! Our top story looks at the problem of homeownership in the Bronx, or the growing lack thereof, with more and more limited liability companies snatching up one- to four-family homes across the borough. The Norwood News spent two months delving into the topic, and we’ve got some interesting findings to share. Inside the cover you’ll read a piece on a Norwood man’s mission to change the way the prison


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Special Report: The Vanishing Bronx Homeowner

Special Report: The Vanishing Bronx Homeowner
By DAVID CRUZ
At the Bedford Mosholu Community Association (BMCA) meeting in October, its president, Barbara Stronczer, announced the news with some resignation: another private home came down in the neighborhood. This time it happened at 208 E. Mosholu Pkwy. S. near East 203rd Street, an aged rooming home owned by Arian Borici up until 2017, according to building records. In a few years, an eight-story apartment building will rise, thanks to the neighborhood’s decades-old zoning laws that allow for taller buildings across the community’s intricately tight streets. The home came down the same time as 3008 Perry Ave., just a few houses


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News Briefs: Deadline for Site Safety Improvements

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service
Site Safety The city Department of Buildings (DOB) is implementing new safety training procedures for construction workers and supervisors working on large construction projects beginning Dec. 1. Workers are now expected to obtain 30 hours and supervisors are expected to obtain 62 hours of site safety training as required by a 2017 law. This comes a few months after a partial building collapse in Norwood that killed 48- year-old Segundo Huerta, a construction worker at the site on 94 E. 208th Street on Aug. 27. Huerta was on site when the building’s third floor collapsed, crushing and killing him. By


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School-wide Project, Cuomo Probe of Stagg Buildings: Latest Edition of the Norwood News is Out!

By DAVID CRUZ
Dear Fellow Readers, The year’s twenty-second edition of the Norwood News is out with plenty of community news stories to read and share. We have 28 pages packed full of news from this corner of the Bronx, so let’s start with page one! Our top story focuses on what’s happening at Bronx Community Charter School on Webster Avenue. There, students took on an ambitious project to understand the neighborhood of Norwood, the players and the issues. Read about one student, Blessing Owusu, who delved deeply into the controversial topic of gentrification. It’s a true story of the power of community


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