Clean-Up In Williamsbridge Oval Park Not Just About Isaias

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

Local residents in the Norwood section of the Bronx got down to business last Monday, Aug. 10, showing up to help clean up Williamsbridge Oval Park in response to a call from elected officials, including Bronx Borough President, Ruben Diaz Jr., City Council Member Andrew Cohen, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and State Sen. Jamaal Bailey. As reported by Norwood News, a trail of devastation, including fallen trees and branches strewn across pathways and sports courts, was left in the park after Storm Isaias struck New York City on Tuesday, Aug 4, leaving 300,000 New Yorkers without electricity, some for more than

By SÍLE MOLONEY & JASON GONZALEZ

As the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic continues, public officials are listening to constituents’ concerns, and walking the talk when it comes to addressing ongoing food insecurity. A number of food drives have been held all across the borough by various elected officials in recent months, and appear set to continue as Bronxites struggle to cope with the ongoing economic crisis. The New York Times reported on July 7 that “the City’s unemployment rate is hovering near 20 percent — a figure not seen since the Great Depression.” In conjunction with the Bronx Parent Housing Network (BPHN), a

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Local residents, Mahfuja Chadani, Madiha Madani and Nusrat Tasnim, took a stroll through Williamsbridge Oval Park on July 31 to celebrate the Muslim holy festival of Eid al Adha, also known as the Feast of Sacrifice. This year, the holiday was observed from sundown on Thursday, July 30, to sundown on Friday, July 31. Chadani said typically the Muslim community have two big celebrations each year. The earlier festival of Idul-Fitr (Eid Al-Fitr) is celebrated among friends and family to mark the end of Ramadan, a month-long period during which Muslims fast during daylight hours, while offering up additional

By SÍLE MOLONEY & ISAIAH MATHEWSON

Friends of Mosholu Parkland and local volunteers braved the early evening summer heat to join Members of the City’s Parks’ department and some elected officials for a clean-up of the parkland on Monday, July 20. A group of about 30 people, young and old, met at Mosholu Parkway subway station where masks, bags, gloves and tools were distributed before the group set to work cleaning up the area on a day when temperatures hit the high nineties. Norwood News asked the participants why it was important for them to come out and volunteer their time. Aesha Valencia is

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Every year, each of the City’s five boroughs hosts an arts festival at the school year’s end to celebrate and highlight student achievement in the arts, from kindergartners to high school seniors. In the Bronx, the celebration is usually held at Lehman College, with a performing arts showcase at Lehman Center, and a visual arts exhibition at the Lehman College Art Gallery. This year, because of the coronavirus pandemic, the exhibition, just like the Lehman College campus that hosts it, went virtual. The City’s department of education officials who produce the festivals, worked with Lehman on this year’s event.

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

Future and current generations of scholars, historians, and anyone else interested in learning how COVID-19 has affected the borough will find a well-researched resource in, “The Bronx COVID 19 Oral History Project“. The work is conducted under the auspices of Fordham University’s Bronx African American History Project. The goal of the online project, which is still ongoing, is to gather a wide variety of testimony from Bronxites, through both video and audio interviews, describing how their lives have been disrupted by the global pandemic. The student-run project is putting a face and adding a voice to the people who

By JASON GONZALEZ

If the age of the coronavirus pandemic could be summed up in one sentence, it would read, “The world has changed – forever”. Who knew that face masks would become a part of regular attire, or that terms such as “sheltering in place”, “essential workers”, and “social distancing” would become part of our everyday vocabulary? Indeed, the universe has transformed in ways human beings never thought possible. For almost six months now, large gatherings in the City have been cancelled, indoor dining is prohibited, and sporting events are being held in empty venues. Of course, no other

By Síle Moloney

Phase 3 of the reconstruction of Grand Concourse in the Bronx is completed, as announced on Aug. 11 by the City’s departments of transportation (DOT), design and construction (DDC) and environmental protection (DEP), along with Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Council Member Vanessa Gibson and advocates. The boulevard is a “Vision Zero” priority corridor as well as one of the four “Great Streets” identified and prioritized by the de Blasio Administration for significant infrastructure and safety improvements. Approximately 3,000 New Yorkers are seriously injured and more than 200 are killed each year in traffic crashes. Being struck

By SÍLE MOLONEY

The New York City Health Department detected mosquitoes with West Nile virus in New York City in mid-July. The infected Culex mosquitoes were collected in the Bronx and on Staten Island. No human cases have been reported to date. Mosquito season in New York City typically spans from April through September. The Health Department is increasing mosquito surveillance in the surrounding area by installing additional mosquito monitoring traps. There are currently over 53 surveillance sites citywide. The Department uses an integrated management approach to control mosquitos which can transmit West Nile virus and will spray pesticide to target mosquitoes