15th Congressional District Candidates to Appear at LGBTQ Center Forum

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

By DAVID CRUZ

The Democratic candidates for the 15th Congressional District race will be showing up to a forum tomorrow night to explain their positions. The Bronx’s LGBT Center Destination Tomorrow extended invitations to all the candidates, with Samelys Lopez, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Frangell Basora, Assemblyman Michael Blake, David Philip Franks Jr., Councilman Ritchie Torres, Jonathan Ortiz, and Chivona Newsome, despite not yet filing paperwork to run for the seat, are confirmed. “We hope to focus on…poverty, homelessness, survival sex work, immigration, and police interaction in LGBT communities,” said Redemption L’Ouverture, the forum organizer, who began organizing the discussion back in September. The group,

By DAVID CRUZ

As the 15th Congressional District race gets closer to its midpoint, it’s at this point (or perhaps even sooner) where Democratic candidates have laid out a platform they hope can resonate with voters of the district that covers virtually the entire Bronx. The Norwood News reviewed all the positions of confirmed candidates to that were made available on their websites. Here’s the list, which out of fairness, is an unedited, straight cut-and-paste look at their positions, complete with syntax and grammatical errors: Ydanis Rodriguez: Rodriguez’ campaign website, doesn’t explicitly lay out a policy agenda, though the language used on his site

By MARTIKA ORNELLA and DAVID CRUZ

The Bronx witnessed so much transformative change we’d be remiss not to mention how the borough fared this past decade. The paper pored over the last ten years to recap some of the more high-profile stories that have left a lasting impact on the Bronx. Development Within the last 10 years the Bronx has seen an enumerable population growth, coinciding with a historic development boom with lingering questions on housing security and affordability. Between 2010 and 2017, the Bronx became the fastest growing county in New York State, with over 86,000 new residents, bringing the estimated population to around 1.5

Norwood News Year in Review (Development)

By DAVID CRUZ

What a year in 2019 for the Bronx! In keeping with tradition, the Norwood News paused to look back on 2019 with a highlight of several ongoing stories we’ve followed this past year. Development Large-scale development became the operative word in 2019, with a flood of projects happening simultaneously in Norwood and Bedford Park, prompting a story recapping readers on those projects on the Vol. 32 No. 11 edition and an in-depth piece entitled “The Vanishing Homeowner” in the Vol. 32 No. 23 edition. The common denominator was simple: the Bronx has become such an attractive place for developers that it’s

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”

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

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

By DAVID CRUZ

Dear Fellow Readers, The year’s final edition of the Norwood News is out with plenty of community stories to read and share. We’ve crammed plenty of news into this 28-page paper, so let’s begin with page one! Our top story focuses on improving safety at DeWitt Clinton Campus in the aftermath of a stabbing that happened on Nov. 20. Hear what the commanding officer has to say on the plan to keep students secure. Inside the cover we update you on the 15th Congressional District race, and a much-needed endorsement for candidate Samelys Lopez. Read up on why the New York City

Samelys Lopez Gets Endorsement From NYC Democratic Socialists of America

By DAVID CRUZ

Giving her candidacy a much-needed boost, Samelys Lopez received the backing of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America (NYC-DSA) in the race for the South Bronx’s 15th Congressional District seat. The endorsement, coming roughly six months before voters head to the polls, comes with a heavy volunteer base that’s ready to pound the pavement for Lopez, whose campaign is among those on a shoestring budget. The New York chapter currently boasts a membership of 5,500. “In a country with unsustainable levels of income inequality, worsening health outcomes and profound housing insecurity, and in a world with dangerously rising