Bronx “COVID Ditty” Show Wins International Film Festival Awards

By SARAH HUFFMAN

During the height of the statewide shutdown in 2020, brought on by the need to curtail the spread of the deadly coronavirus, actor, director and writer, Steve Greenstein, like many others, was subjected to long periods of boredom. Lack of work in New York City’s normally thriving entertainment industry prompted him to begin taking walks around the Bronx’s Kingsbridge neighborhood, where he took the time to observe how the pandemic was affecting his community. His thoughts on this prompted Greenstein to begin writing the web show series, “COVID Ditty,” fulfilling a dual need in the actor to stay

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Editor’s Pick The Off-Broadway in the Boros Fest is coming to the Bronx. Enjoy free, outdoor, theater performances at 1 Fordham Plaza, on Saturday, Oct. 2, from 4 to 6 p.m. For more information, go to nyc.gov/OffBwayBoros. Events The Office of Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, The Office of Councilman Eric Dinowitz (C.D. 11) and partners will host Bronx Skate Night in the Williamsbridge Oval Park in Norwood (tennis courts) on Friday, Sept. 24, 2021 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Call (718) 549 7300 for more information on this free event. Lehman College is marking Hispanic Heritage

By DAVID GREENE

This week, we asked readers for their thoughts on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plans to curb misinformation on abortion, as announced on Sept. 13. “You know if women want to have that, they have the right to do that. I don’t agree with certain things, but I can’t comment on that really, you know what I’m saying? They should have the right to do it, but babies need to be born. Republicans always cry they’re pro-life when it comes to abortion, but it never comes up when you’re talking about gun control. Everybody has an opinion, but when babies

Homecoming Concert Celebrates Life, Arts & Culture in “The Boogie-Down”

By JASON GONZALEZ

New York City’s “Homecoming Week” kicked off in the birthplace of Hip Hop, on Monday Aug. 16, when the first of five outdoor concerts was held in Orchard Beach in The Bronx. The music-filled week was launched as a celebration of the City’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, despite health officials warning that more people still need to be vaccinated in order for the City, and country, to advance towards the much coveted state of herd immunity. Citywide, as of Sept. 24, just 62 percent of New Yorkers are fully vaccinated, and in the Bronx, that number is 55

By DAWN CLANCY

Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7) Parks’ committee ushered in their first post-summer hiatus meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 8, with a vote approving the proposed renovations and upgrades to Bedford Park’s Frisch Field. The $5 million project, designed by the City’s Parks’ department, will include the addition of a tee-ball diamond, an enclosed bullpen, an adult exercise station, new water stations with bottle fillers, benches, storage units, as well as upgrades to the field’s existing Little League diamond and the adjacent dugouts. However, the bulk of the funds will be spent underground, on timely repairs in the wake of

By SÍLE MOLONEY

The New York Lottery announced on Friday, Sept. 17, that one top-prize winning ticket was sold in the Sept. 16 TAKE 5 EVENING drawing. The ticket, worth $44,137.50, was purchased at Happy Face Convenience Corp., located at 921 E. 180th Street in the West Farms section of the Bronx. Take 5 players with midday and evening draws on the same ticket must check their numbers at nylottery.ny.gov to determine if they have the winning numbers for the corresponding midday or evening drawing. TAKE 5 numbers are drawn from a field of one through 39. The drawing is televised twice daily at

By DAVID GREENE

Twenty years after 2,753 people were tragically killed when two hijacked jetliners crashed into the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan on 9/11, family members, friends and strangers once again paused to remember them at gatherings held across New York City on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. Those who gathered at the memorial reflecting pool, and around the 16-acre site where the Twin Towers once stood comprised a much smaller crowd this year than the tens of thousands who have come to pay their respect in years past. Joined our first responders at @NYPDTransit Transit District 11 to reflect and

Bronxites Pick up the Pieces & Seek Relief in the Wake of Storm Ida

By DAVID GREENE & SÍLE MOLONEY

The relative and literal “calm before the storm” on the afternoon and early evening of Wednesday, Sept. 1, perhaps lured many Bronxites into a fall sense of security that then-impending Storm Ida would not be as extreme as forecast. The consequences of such nonchalance proved to be devastating. Between noon and 6 p.m., the day was overcast, humidity was at 82 percent, temperatures ranged from 68 to 72 degrees F, southwesterly winds were traveling at 11.8 mph but there was no rain. At 6.18 p.m., the National Weather Service (NWS) tweeted that tornado warnings had been issued for

By DAVID GREENE

Many Bronxites across the borough are patiently waiting for the cold weather to arrive so that those prone to carousing outside, blasting loud music from speakers, while in the parks or in cars, will gradually move indoors, and badly affected neighborhoods will return to the once peaceful communities they used to be. For years, despite hundreds of noise complaints sent to 311 by Bronxites across the borough, meetings with elected officials, and enforcement by NYPD officers, the goal of eliminating unwanted noise, particularly over the summer months, has remained elusive. Now, however, a new law, along with new technology,