Participatory Budgeting Ideas Identified, Now It’s Your Turn

Beginning the last week of March, residents living in the neighborhoods of Norwood, Bedford Park, Woodlawn and Riverdale will be able to vote on what community improvement projects will be added to their Council District’s capital budget through Participatory Budgeting. The process, whereby a member of the New York City Council offers residents the chance to decide how to spend $1 million in capital funding, is approaching the final stretch of its process. The office of Councilman Andrew Cohen, who once again hosted a Participatory Budgeting session, has released a voter guide that details the nature and prices of 12

This week we asked readers their thoughts on Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.’s time in office, and asked them to name some of his successes or failures during his administration so far. Well, so far he’s been Borough President for more than four years. It must be more and he’s done a lot of good things. He cleaned up the Bronx River and he’s got us more housing. He’s interested in that stuff, better living and better jobs for us. I think he’s been a good borough president. I think he wants to accomplish a lot for the Bronx and for

By DAVID CRUZ

BP Reflects on Development, Drawing Professional Workers, and Mayoral Ambivalence His innuendos were obvious, if not passive aggressive. But there he stood, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. spending 45 minutes in his seventh State of the Borough address chastising the de Blasio Administration for a number of perceived missteps. For political observers, it was a diatribe that once again stoked the burning question. Does Mr. Diaz want to be mayor of New York City? Can he really run the city? It’s an elephant in the room nurtured by daily speculation from inquisitive media and its propensity for validation. Though

Hello Faithful Readers! The digital edition of the latest Norwood News, bringing you plenty of Bronx community news you can use, is out and hitting stands as I write. So many stories, it’s hard to know where to begin. We can start at the front page, with a missing persons case that’s rattled Bedford Park, Kingsbridge Heights and the Bangladeshi communities in the Bronx. Mahfuza Rahman, an aspiring nurse and mother, has not been seen since December. Police are now looking to question the husband, who flew back to his native Bangladesh with their 9-year-old daughter. Find out what representatives from

Hello Faithful Readers: The Norwood News brings you the latest edition of the community newspaper, with plenty of Bronx news you can use. With 24 packed pages, it’s tough determining where to begin. Well, we’ll go to page one and a recent spike in crime at the local 52nd Precinct, which is dealing with a spike in burglaries. Thieves hit several stores around the busy Jerome-Gun Hill Business Improvement District, with some taking the news in stride while others deeply concerned. Check out the nifty map detailing where the crimes have occurred. We also bring you some sad news of a

With the State of the Borough address recently given, we asked readers what’s needed most in the Bronx. The Bronx needs more police and surveillance video in the area, and take care of all the drug issues going on around here right now. There are a lot of drugs out here and they don’t do anything about it. They rather harass a driver going five miles an hour over the speed limit than do what they’re supposed to be doing. William Rodriguez Bedford Park I think the Bronx needs more activities for children; maybe programs that can help them become

By DAVID CRUZ

In a proposal that’s likely several years away from construction, Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. unveiled his vision for more development by plating over existing open air rail yards peppered around the borough. The prospect of plating the yards served as the crux to his 10-page report on the promise three rail yards hold for mixed-use development. And while two yards in the Concourse and Riverdale sections of the Bronx would work as pragmatic sites, Diaz zeroed in on the Concourse Yard, a breathtaking industrial span in Bedford Park, as having “tremendous potential” for development built above the tracks. The

By DAVID CRUZ

In his yearly address highlighting accomplishments while pushing a heavy agenda, Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.’s seventh State of the Borough speech addressed more city matters than in previous addresses, further underscoring his ambition to run for Mayor of New York. In the 44-minute speech, ripe with roughly 59 rounds of applause, Diaz took jabs at the city’s response to last year’s Legionnaire’s outbreak, its approach to its lofty rezoning plan, and made clear his support for charter schools, conflicting with the lukewarm take of Mayor Bill de Blasio. Issues relating to the borough, of course, took center stage in

Dear Loyal Readers, A brand new edition of the Norwood News is out with plenty of local Bronx news you can use. We begin at the sprawling Concourse Yards in Bedford Park, where Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is proposing to build a platform to serve as the foundation for potential development. Find out what one professor of civil engineering has to say about the project and whether it’s even feasible. At Montefiore Medical Center, read the life story of Montefiore Health System’s newest cardiologist, and his circuitous route to the Norwood hospital. It’s a story you won’t want to miss.