Bronx Breakdown: A Bronx Christmas Story

We’re going to start this holiday edition of Bronx Breakdown with a heart-warming, feel-good story about Scott Lebron, a sophomore at Discovery High School on the Walton Campus in Kingsbridge Heights who anxiously delivered a thoughtful letter to a well-known public figure during a Christmas event earlier this month.

New Building Home to Tender Care

By Emily Piccone A new nursery school in Norwood will be open by the New Year, and the space is already set up and ready for the children to stream in. Occupying the first floor of a new apartment building on Decatur Avenue just north of East Gun Hill Road, Tender Tots Nursery School is available to children from 6-weeks to 5-years-old. The children are divided into four age groups and in class sizes of 10, with two teachers each. School officials say the ratio for the infant classroom is slightly smaller at 4:1. The colorful new carpets displaying the

The holiday season has Bronxites, elected officials and local organizations looking for ways to give back. If you missed it in last week’s print edition of the Norwood News,an eclectic group of locals, including a Bronx-based biker gang and a Bainbridge Avenue tattoo shop, have teamed up with the Lutheran Church of the Epiphany in Norwood to launch a toy drive. Meanwhile, children in the Ambulatory Care Center at St. Barnabas Hospital, pictured above, got a treat this week when they received holiday gifts from Santa and Frosty the Snowman. Local elected officials are also getting in on the giving

Pedro Espada, Jr., is facing another legal battle this morning. According to a press release sent last night by his Soundview Healthcare Network, a judge today will once again weigh whether or not to allow the former state senator’s health clinics to continue participating in the state’s Medicaid program. According to the statement, Espada and workers from his Soundview Health Care Network planned to rally outside the Bronx County Courthouse early this morning, before a hearing scheduled for 9:45 a.m. that would decide the clinics’ future. Soundview was banned from the state’s Medicaid program this summer, after the Department of

‘Tis getting a little late in the holiday gift buying season, which is why we pounded the trails of the local shopping districts in the Norwood News’ coverage area — from Fordham to Kingsbridge to Gun Hill Road, from Bainbridge to Jerome Avenue and East 204th Street to Southern Boulevard — to find the best deals, merchandise and innovative ideas for presents in 2011.

Livery Cab Bill ‘Victory’ for Bronx and Commuters, Pols Say

Gov. Cuomo and state lawmakers announced yesterday that they’d reached a deal on legislation that will expand taxi services in the outer boroughs and bring more handicapped cabs to the city. The bill, which has been in negotiations since last June, will allow livery cabs–largely the only car service available here in the outer boroughs and upper Manhattan–to legally pick up street hails (yes, it was illegal before). The new law will also permit the Taxi and Limousine Commission to issue 18,000 new livery cab licenses 2,000 new medallions for traditional yellow taxis, reserved for cars that are wheelchair accessible.

Bronx Crime Report: Murder on Marion Ave.

Acting on a 911 call early this morning, just minutes after midnight, police say they found a 51-year-old Hispanic man inside a Fordham-Bedford area apartment with a gunshot wound to his torso.

What Were The Top News Stories of 2011? You Decide

Next week, the Norwood News unveils it’s annual Year in Review issue. But first, we want to hear from you. What, in your mind, were the biggest, most interesting, most impactful stories of this year?

Bronx New School Parents Still Fighting for Meeting As Council Approves Toxins Bill

The City Council voted unanimously to pass two bills yesterday that advocates and supporters say will increase transparency from the Department of Education concerning chemicals found in school building. The legislation comes at a time when the DOE has faced biting criticism from Bronx parents over their handling of the discovery of harmful toxins in schools.