Search for Missing 24-Year-Old Highbridge Man

By SÍLE MOLONEY

The New York City Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in locating Luis Liberato-Abreu, 24, of 1204 Shakespeare Avenue, Apt 6E in the Highbridge section of the Bronx, who was reported missing in the 42nd precinct. Liberato-Abreu was last seen at Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center, located at 1265 Franklin Avenue in the Morrisania section of the Bronx on Friday, Dec. 18, at 4.30 p.m. He is described as male, Hispanic and was last seen wearing an orange jacket. Anyone with information with regard to this individual is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS

By SÍLE MOLONEY

The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) announced that residential trash and recycling collection has resumed since Friday, Dec. 18. Residents who have placed material curbside for collection should leave that material out, and residents who have held back material should put it out for collection. The department has asked residents to clear any snow from atop or around containers to make it easier for the crews. However, residents should be mindful that once collection resumes, there will be delays as the department works to collect the backlog of material. DSNY normally collects about 12,000 tons of trash

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

When Lehman College President Daniel Lemons received a cryptic email message from a team of advisors to America’s second wealthiest woman, he had no idea what was to follow. A few weeks later, he received a phone call confirming that Lehman College was selected to receive a $30 million donation from MacKenzie Scott. It is the largest single gift in the history of the college which was founded in 1968. The school made the announcement in a press release on Dec. 16. “It was completely out of the blue,” Lemons told the Norwood News. He adds that incredibly, “There

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

When 2020 started, Doris Cordero was thrilled to assume the position of president of the 45-member Riverdale Art Association. She is the first Puerto Rican to hold the position, but then COVID-19 came along, disrupting the monthly, in-person meetings. Later, on a more personal level, a cancer diagnosis in early summer left her facing what she described as an ordeal. “I was in recovery during August, September, and October. I’m now 100 percent,” Cordero told the Norwood News in a phone interview. She is philosophical, and even somewhat upbeat about having slowed down to assist her recovery. “Because of

By SÍLE MOLONEY

On Wednesday Dec. 2, 2020, at around 7.41 p.m., police responded to a 911 call regarding a man who was shot inside 1000 Grand Concourse in the 44th precinct. Upon arrival, officers observed an unconscious and unresponsive 32-year-old man with gunshot wounds to the lower back and torso. EMS responded to the location and transported the victim to NYC Health & Hospitals/Lincoln, where he was pronounced deceased. On Dec. 4, pursuant to the ongoing investigation, the deceased was identified as Joenathan Pabon of 1000 Grand Concourse. On Thursday, Dec. 17, pursuant to the ongoing investigation, police confirmed

By SÍLE MOLONEY

The New York City Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in locating Luna Romero, 14, of 1560 Selwyn Avenue in the Claremont section of the Bronx, who was reported missing in the 44th precinct. It was reported to the police that Luna was last seen Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020 at approximately 9.30 p.m., leaving her home. She is described as being approximately 5 feet tall, of a medium build, has brown eyes and short hair. She was last seen wearing a black leather jacket, red pants and black shoes. Anyone with information in regards to this incident

By DAVID GREENE

Children and their parents received a well deserved “snow day” from both in-person and remote learning this week as a winter nor’easter dumped close to a foot of snow in some parts of the Bronx by Thursday morning, Dec. 17. Residents awoke to blankets of blinding, white snow spread all across the borough’s streets and parklands ushering in, for those receptive to it, an atmospheric, Christmas-like, peaceful silence at the end of what has been a tumultuous 2020. The National Weather Service reported six to ten inches of snow fell across the five boroughs, as bus services from the

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson formally kicked off her campaign launch for the Bronx borough presidency on Thursday, Dec. 17, issuing a press release in both English and Spanish to confirm the news. The councilwoman for Bronx’s 16th City Council district focused her message on the inequities in healthcare and food security prevalent in the Bronx, in her bid to win the hearts and minds of voters, highlighting that the last year has been especially hard for those at the lower end of the income scale, but offering hope by saying together the community would make it through the crisis and emerge

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

A coalition of local community groups made up of many young volunteers joined forces on Dec. 9 during a “Sticker Shock Campaign,” to alert local alcohol retailers of the dangers underage drinking presents to young people. The groups made in-person visits to various stores in Community Boards 5, 7, and 8 with oral presentations, stickers, and posters reminding both store owners and customers that it is illegal and dangerous to provide alcohol to anyone under the age of 21. The campaign was spearheaded by “We Engage in Prevention Awareness,” (WEPA), a community coalition seeking to eliminate substance abuse,