Editorial: A Smarter Way to Have Your Voice Heard

Participatory Budgeting is once again under way in Councilman Andrew Cohen’s 11th Council District, which includes Norwood and Bedford Park, partially shifting a process that’s usually tasked by elected officials in a representative government and placing it into the hands of the electorate. The question posed to the public is simple: If you had $1 million to put towards physical improvements in your neighborhood, what would they be? For the past six months, a handful of residents have bounced that question around, coming up with a list of projects that can benefit their communities. During the last week of March,

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

By DAVID GREENE

With the recent closing of the CVS Pharmacy in Norwood, this week we asked readers their thoughts on the future of brick and mortar business and the impact the Internet is having on local businesses. I’m a cook professionally; businesses are always going to take losses regardless. Even in the cooking industry when you order food, you have to automatically look at that. Yes, businesses are in danger because people rely on technology too much. So what’s going to happen is people won’t be able to take care of their families, because there’s not going to be any work. We’re

By ANTHONY RIVIECCIO, MBA, PFA

Firstly, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow should go to jail for impersonating as an investigative reporter. She didn’t share any substantive news that I reported a year ago in another newspaper: that President Donald Trump as a businessman used the legal business, real estate and capital losses tax laws to shelter money from taxation. And the law allows him to “carry over” these losses. We knew this a year ago. But more importantly, maybe what we did not know was how much he sheltered, saved, and used the tax laws to his benefit. The Donald sheltered over $100 million. Based on the

By MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO

Too many of our public school students and their families are living in fear. They don’t know how new immigration policies coming from Washington might affect them. They worry about what might happen if Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents visited their school. As your Mayor, I want to send a clear message: No matter where you come from or when you got here,‎ the City of New York stands with you. I stand with you. This is your city. We want every principal and school safety agent to know how to respond if federal immigration officers come knocking. We want

Dear Fellow Readers, The latest edition of the Norwood News, covering the northwest Bronx, with dropoff locations at 300 places, is out with plenty of community news you can use. We begin, of course, with page one, and some mea culpas. The front page story focuses on West Bronx Housing’s attempt to shed light on what they believe is a nagging issue across the Bronx–landlords using deceptive tactics to pump up rents on unsuspecting new tenants. Read why the group’s executive director take on these rent registration forms and the state agency tasked to keep track of them. Before going

By DAVID CRUZ

Gerri Gagliardi, a third grade teacher at St. Ann’s School, didn’t say much to convey the sense of grief over news that the Catholic school she’s taught in for a decade will close. Her hazel-green eyes did most of the talking. The same went for Tracy McGovern, Robbin Vails, and Sylvia Rini, all teachers at the parochial school and stricken with anger as they continued processing the Archdiocese of New York’s decision to close the school. The school is co-located with the Shrine Church of St. Ann, which closed its doors in August 2015 for financial reasons, according to

By DAVID GREENE

This week we asked readers their thoughts on President Donald Trump’s revised Executive Order calling on a temporary ban of citizens from six largely Muslim countries. It’s basically the same thing. He’s still targeting certain countries, even though Iraq is no longer on the ban, but it’s really the same thing. It’s just that this time he’s going through the proper protocols. I support protecting our borders and I believe there are rules, there are ways to come into this country. However, I don’t think it should just target certain countries and not just mainly minority countries. Marie Destin Norwood

By Dr. HERMINIA PALACIO

As a doctor, I learned to be relentless when treating my patients. So, I am proud of the relentless effort the de Blasio administration has put into taking on the homelessness crisis. As a New Yorker, I share the frustration of many that we haven’t made enough progress. We have already stopped the decades-long rise of people coming into shelters with an aggressive set of programs, including rental assistance, street outreach, affordable housing, and expanded legal services for those facing eviction. But we must do more. Now, we will create a more rational and effective shelter system that responds to homelessness borough

This week we asked readers if incidents like the man who died when he came in contact with a rat are being under reported or is this a growing epidemic? I think it’s been under reported. I think a lot of times incidents happen. Even if you’re not bitten, the rats are there and it’s been a problem for New York City, especially here in the Bronx. We need more politicians to bring this issue to Albany for funding. I didn’t know that rat droppings could kill you. I know that people do have allergies and they can get very