Poe Park Greenmarket Opening June 30th As Part of GrowNYC Initiative

By Síle Moloney

Poe Park Greenmarket is opening for the summer season on Tuesday, June 30th, with Emil Alummootil, the market manager, saying, “It will be a great opportunity for community members to shop for the freshest, locally grown produce in their own neighborhood”. Community members will be able to use their SNAP/EBT benefits at the market, including the new P-EBT program, at the market. For every $5 spent using an EBT card, the person will receive an extra $2 Health Bucks coupon to spend on more fruits and vegetables. Greenmarkets are one of many programs falling under the GrowNYC

By David Greene

A video which was briefly uploaded to social media but later removed, showed an emotionally disturbed man brawling with half a dozen people along a busy East Fordham Road, close to Jerome Avenue on Jun. 1, a few hours before dozens of looters destroyed stores and removed property from the popular shopping district. According to NYPD, the video was shot on the afternoon of Jun. 1 and began with the man, dressed only in a pair of white socks, crossing East Fordham Road. Another man in a red and black jacket walked up behind him and struck him in

By David Greene

Eighteen days after rioters burned and looted dozens of stores in the Fordham Heights and Kingsbridge sections of the Bronx, police say three men have been charged with the daylight burglary of Modell’s Sporting Goods on East Fordham Road, a store that had closed due to bankruptcy on Apr. 15 following a period of poor sales, and the statewide PAUSE order which went into effect in March. According to NYPD spokeswoman, Detective Sophia Mason, the burglary was reported at 9:22 a.m. on Friday, Jun. 19. “Officers responded to a burglary at 270 East Fordham Road in the confines of

By Síle Moloney

Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and RecruitMilitary will host the Washington, D.C./New York Areas Virtual Career Fair for Veterans on Thursday, June 25th from 11am to 3pm EST to facilitate employment efforts for both job seekers and employers. The free, online event is open to all members of the military community, past and present, as well as military spouses and dependents. RecruitMilitary’s virtual events are technologically enhanced to provide personal interaction among job candidates and employers in large groups, small groups and one-to-one formats. According to DAV and RecruitMilitary, national unemployment claims have surpassed historic measures and veteran unemployment

By Síle Moloney

Silver Fern Farms, New Zealand’s largest red meat producer and exporter for 30 years to the Bronx, announced on Jun. 23 that it has donated 1,500 pounds of premium pasture-raised beef to ReThink Food NYC for their Restaurant Response Program, benefiting a number of Bronx-based entities. The Restaurant Response Program provides healthy meals for various communities in the Bronx, including Jacobi hospital, Cedar Tremont House, Macombs public housing, and Bronx Connect, a community and faith-based program that offers alternative-justice, cure violence, and re-entry programs to help communities build from within. The donation will be used to facilitate the

By Síle Moloney

Following a state primary marred by unprecedented confusion among voters seeking to use the state’s vote-by-mail or absentee ballot system, State Senator Leroy Comrie and Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz called on the State legislature to pass legislation that will mandate the future use of ballot tracking technology for absentee ballots, as is already the case in some other states. The bill would require the New York City Board of Elections and the various county boards of elections to provide a user-friendly website for voters who request and submit absentee ballots, to track their ballots through the entire absentee voting

By Síle Moloney & Miriam Quinones

New York State Assembly Speaker Carl. E. Heastie organized a Juneteenth rally and march in Olinville for Bronx Community Board 12 residents on Friday, Jun. 19. He was joined by approximately 100 people who marched from 213th Street to the junction of Gun Hill Road and White Plains Road, along with New York City Public Advocate Jumanne Williams, City Councilman Andy King, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., and Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark. The rally was held in honor of the annual, unofficial Juneteenth holiday, the oldest nationally-celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United

Twin Children Die After Left in Car for Hours, Father Taken Into Custody

By Síle Moloney & David Greene

Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced on Jun. 23 that Juan Rodriguez of Rockland County has been sentenced to a one-year Conditional Discharge after pleading guilty to second-degree Reckless Endangerment charges in the deaths of his one-year-old twins. According to the investigation, on the morning of July 26, 2019, Rodriguez drove to 130 West Kingsbridge Road while his one-year-old twins, Luna Rodriguez and Phoenix Rodriguez, sat in their car seats in the backseat row of his Honda sedan. Rodriguez arrived at his job at the James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center at 8:22 A.M. and

By Síle Moloney

The New York City Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance identifying the male individual shown in the attached photo and video who is wanted for questioning in connection to a grand larceny incident that occurred within the confines of the 52nd precinct. On Wednesday, Jun. 17, 2020 at approximately 11:00 p.m., inside of 80 West Kingsbridge Road (cell phone store), an unidentified man entered the location and removed three Apple watches from a display stand. The male fled the location eastbound towards Aqueduct Avenue. Anyone with information with regard to the identity of the male is asked