A Year in Review, a Decade in Review: The Latest Edition of the Norwood News is Out!

By DAVID CRUZ

Dear Fellow Readers, The year’s first edition of the Norwood News for the new decade is out with plenty of community stories to read and share. We have packed 28 pages full of news from this corner of the Bronx, so let’s start with page one! Our top story takes a look back at 2019 with our annual Year in Review. We pored over some of the top stories that kept our attention for 2019, including some stories that barely made any news. And with 2019 closing out the decade, we decided to take a look at some impactful stories from 2010

Bronx Connections: Faces of Gun Violence (Part 5 of 5)

By NATALIE MIGLIORE

The Norwood News, in partnership with WFUV radio and BronxNet Television, concludes its five-part series on the impact gun violence has had on Bronx neighborhoods and the people who live in them. How Developing Street Smarts Begins at Bronx Schools David Caba, senior program director of Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence (BRAG), sits at his desk at the organization’s office in Wakefield. It’s the newest office for BRAG, which utilizes a cure violence model adapted from a smaller model first implemented in Chicago. The cure violence concept approaches violence like a disease in need of a cure. Caba built the

By JOSE Á. GIRALT

This week we asked families across the Bronx how they will be spending the holiday season. I’m having family over and I’m doing the cooking for the first time. I’m the big mom hosting. Family from Jamaica is coming, some family from Guyana is coming. And whoever else are nearby. And we’re just going to celebrate that way. Shauna Lee Morris Park Be with my family. Spend time with them and get a bunch of presents for my son. I got a newborn. “Snackz” Norwood I’ll probably be spending time with a few close friends and staying

The 5-2 and Community Members Look Towards a Safer 2020

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

As 2019 draws to a close, Deputy Inspector Thomas Alps, commanding officer of the 52nd Precinct, is hopeful it will end with a downward trend in crime. “We’re having a great 28-day period. We’re down 35 index crimes which is quite a lot in a period,” Alps said at the last 52nd Precinct Community Council meeting of the year. Two crime categories experiencing significant drops, according to Alps, are burglaries and car break-ins. Although these recent drops are promising the command is slightly up for the year in index crimes compared to 2018. Crimes by juveniles has become of special

Diaz Sr. Favors Keeping Rikers Island Open, Will Vote Against Neighborhood Jail Plan

By DAVID CRUZ

In his run for the 15th Congressional District Assemblyman Michael Blake secured an endorsement from the union representing the city’s municipal workforce, immediately turning the support into a fundraising plea. District Council 37 (DC37), a division of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, represents 9,000 employees in the South Bronx district he looks to run. It’s unclear, though, how many of those members are currently registered to vote. Crossing guards, social workers, and accountants, are just some of the jobs that make up DC37. Henry Garrido, executive director of DC37, said Blake’s campaign for “level playing field”

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

By PROF. ANTHONY RIVIECCIO, MBA PFA

Twenty five years ago, we woke up to the phrase rapid refund! And many of the big income tax preparations companies advertised this misleading phrase–and the people ran there–to find out it was not a refund but a loan instead. New York State lawmakers declared in 2002 that so long as customers were made fully aware of what it is and sign disclosures then it was perfectly legal. And now in 2019, the tax loan/refund process has gone in full gear. You would think you’re doing your taxes with the big tax preparation companies, but sometimes I wonder if those

By DAVID CRUZ

Following years of requests from Bronxites, the MTA is now committed to installing three more elevators along the 4 and B/D lines, complementing an already announced project slated for the 4 line’s Mosholu Parkway station in Norwood. The MTA announced that the Kingsbridge Road and Burnside Avenue stations on the 4 line are expected to receive the elevators. The Tremont Avenue station on the B/D line will also get a station. The news builds on the number of stations slated to receive the wheelchair-accessible equipment, which originally had been set to 48. On Dec. 19, MTA New York City Transit

Heating Assistance Applications for the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) for older adults and low- and middle-income New Yorkers will be accepted by local departments of social services. Eligibility is based on income, household size and how the home is heated. Residents can apply online at https://on.ny.gov/2Fn062M and mail it to NYC DSS/HRA/HEAP, P.O. Box 1401, Church Street Station, New York, NY 10008. For more information, call (212) 331-3126. LGBT Scholarship College scholarships totaling $10,000 will be awarded to students who are members or allies of the LGBTQ+ community. Applicants must write two 500-word essays that discuss a challenge they

King Casts Himself the Victim Post-Suspension, Appears to Back Theory of a Larger Plot

By DAVID CRUZ

Three weeks after returning to official duties as a Council Member after an unprecedented suspension for an elected official, Bronx Councilman Andy King painted himself a victim when the Council voted to suspend him after agreeing he abused his office. King also clarified why he had equated the investigation to a “lynching.” “They didn’t go after me or my work, they went after my character, and the character that I had built—and that my dad and my mom had put in me over the years. So that’s why I used the term ‘lynching’ because that’s all that it’s about. It