DOE Holds Do-Over Council Elections After Lawsuit

Marred by complaints from parents and the threat of a lawsuit, the Department of Education agreed to hold a second round of voting for its Community Education Councils, the nine-member parent panels that oversee each of the city’s 32 school districts.

Bronx Pols Want Out of Immigration Program

Local elected officials are speaking out against a program that requires law enforcement agencies to share digital fingerprint records of people who are arrested with federal immigration officials, who then check the prints for a person’s green card status.

Editorial: NYPD Hides Neighborhood Crime Stats

The NYPD has been proud to trumpet plummeting crime stats over the last 15 years or so. Citywide and precinct-wide crime stats are easy to come by. But when it comes to information about crime in your neighborhood or on your block, well, not so much.

Living Wage Bill Gets a Hearing; Vacca Remains Unconvinced

The Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act, sponsored by Bronx Council Members Oliver Koppell and Annabel Palma, would require developers of projects receiving taxpayer subsidies of more than $100,000 to pay workers $10 an hour with benefits, or $11.50 without. The bill, which sprang from the living wage fight that derailed a plan to develop the Kingsbridge Armory into a shopping mall, has the support of every Bronx Council member, with the exception of James Vacca, who had said he was waiting for a hearing on the issue before taking a side. “He’s wary of any legislation that might prevent jobs, and I’m not sure he’s convinced,” said Vacca spokesman Bret Nolan Collazzi, in a phone interview after the hearing.

Local Politicians Reach Out Through Town Hall Meetings

In Kingsbridge Heights, they asked about the plan for developing the Kingsbridge Armory and alienating parkland. In Mt. Hope, they asked about the mounting murder count. And in Van Cortlandt Village, they asked about the Indian Hills nuclear power plant, just a few dozen miles up the interstate. This spring, in a departure from recent history, local elected officials are holding town hall meetings throughout the northwest Bronx and asking residents to voice their concerns, questions and conundrums.

Students Benefit From Tech-aided Reading Program

At a school named for a 19th century literary giant, young students are now learning to read through technology made convenient and accessible only in the 21st century. Ivonne Granda says her kindergarten class at PS 46, the Edgar Allan Poe Literacy Development School in North Fordham, has developed a love for reading through the Award Reading Program, which combines the use of interactive computer software with group and individual reading practices.

Green Housing for Seniors Opens in Bedford Park

Tony Carter remembers the New York City apartments of his youth: the cramped spaces, the flights of stairs he had to walk up, the rooms that were always too hot or too cold. Now in his 60s, Carter’s current apartment has its own thermostat and air conditioner. He was the first tenant to move into Serviam Gardens, an affordable housing complex for seniors that officially opened May 3 in Bedford Park, on the campus of the Academy of Mount St. Ursula.

Proposed ‘Tech’ Charter May Open on Webster

Two educators are hoping to open a charter school in the northwest Bronx, possibly on Webster Avenue. Steve Bergen and Adjowah Scott, two former colleagues at an independent, tuition-free K-8 school in Harlem, have applied with the State University of New York’s Charter Schools Institute to establish their own middle school here in the Bronx. The months-long application process should come to a head in June.

With Local Support, Tenants Take on Landlord

Lights. News 12 cameras. Action. It was opening day for these Kingsbridge-area tenants who say they are finally fighting back after enduring more than two decades of neglect and unresponsiveness from their landlord, Martin Hyman. Organizers and other activists who helped orchestrate the rally say 85 Strong residents are not alone. This type of treatment is happening to tenants in buildings throughout the borough.