Latest Edition of the Norwood News is Out!

Dear Fellow Readers, The eighth edition of the award-winning Norwood News is out with plenty of Bronx community news you can use. We’ve packed 16 pages full of news you can share with your family and friends, so let’s get to it. We’re keeping education on the front lines in our coverage and bring you a story out of Junior High School 80, where a three-judge panel ruled the 95-year school should receive a $3 million grant it was approved and then denied by the state. Hear why JHS 80 is in dire need of these funds, and hear from

By DAVID GREENE

A diverse group of successful women who all grew up or lived in the Bronx gathered for the first annual Women’s Empowerment Summit 2017, extending March’s Women’s History Month into April. The panelists came from high positions in government, with a surprise televised appearance from Merryl Tengesdal, an astronaut who grew up in the northwest Bronx. She was introduced by her cousin, Gwendolyn Thomas-Steed, a member of Community Board 7. The civic panel hosted the event at Lehman College’s Lovinger Theater on April 8. On hand panelists included Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, New York City Public Advocate Leticia James,

Could the curse of the Kingsbridge Armory be lifted? For decades, it seemed any time there’s some headway in turning it into a promising venue, a barrier gets in the way. There was the failed attempt to repurpose the enormous castle into a public school and then a mall by the Related Companies. The latest proposal that’s within reach of reality is the Kingsbridge National Ice Center (KNIC). And even then, that project has hobbled along, facing lawsuits along the way. But Governor Andrew Cuomo appears to have broken the spell. Even as the now-approved Fiscal Year 2018-19 $153 billion

By DAVID CRUZ

A bill that would create greater accountability on city agencies carrying out long term construction projects, or capital projects, has been introduced. Councilman Andrew Cohen, representing Norwood, introduced the measure amid long delays to capital projects he’s funded since his time in office, including a skate park at Williamsbridge Oval Park. The original completion date for the project, which Cohen earmarked $750,000 in 2014, was this year. So far, nothing has been done. The proposal for a skate park has been in the works since 2004. Much of the delay stemmed from a winning contractor dropping out of the project, according

By DAVID CRUZ

As the Trump Administration toughens its enforcement and policy on undocumented immigrants, with federal agents further zeroing in on immigrant communities, know-your-rights forums have dotted the borough’s landscape. For attorneys at the Legal Aid Society, which offers pro-bono services to immigrants sorting through their status, these forums are critical. After all, many are unaware that every immigrant, undocumented or not, have rights. Those tenets include the right to a lawyer, questioning the legitimacy of so-called “notarios,” and the variety of methods used to prevent deportation. Every case is different, they admit, and the best way to mitigate it is consulting

By DAVID CRUZ

The New York State Appeals Court has ruled Junior High School 80 in Norwood receive a $3 million grant that was stripped away by the state last year after officials took the near century-old school off a so-called turnaround list for chronically failing schools. But the grant remains imperiled since the state has one last shot of denying the funds at a hearing in May. JHS 80, resting on a hilltop on Mosholu Parkway North, was part of a class action lawsuit filed last September claiming the state’s budget director illegally froze taxpayer grants intended to improve school performance

Hello Loyal Readers! The latest edition of the Norwood News, covering all things Norwood and its surrounding communities, is out with plenty of news you can use. We begin, of course, with page 1, and a front cover story on issues within the city Education Department’s Gifted and Talented programs. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., and his counterpart in Brooklyn, Eric Adams, have a task force underway that’s examining these inequalities. Read the lengths parents are willing to make to ensure their kids are in a program that’s seen as a ticket to specialized high schools, which help pave a

Just more than $3 billion in residential, commercial and institutional projects have been pumped into the Bronx in 2016, according to a newly released report, signaling a continued trend of a Bronx on the mend. But the report hedges its bets somewhat, throwing in its report the Kingsbridge National Ice Center project, which was mired in delays and near extinction last year. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., which drafted the report and presented it at a forum focusing on development projects in the Bronx, included the $350 million project in the report nonetheless. The KNIC project stalled after developers

By DEBORAH CRUZ

Mixed emotions engulfed a recent Community Board 7 Housing/Land Use and Zoning Committee meeting when the Stagg Group, a housing development firm, sat down to present plans for a 13-story building to be built at the crossroads of Norwood and Bedford Park. Mark Stagg, CEO of the Stagg Group, and the firm’s executive vice president, Adolfo Carrion, laid out the plans for the Mosholu Grand, a 153-unit residence to be built at 150 Van Cortlandt Ave. The building gets its name from its proximity to Mosholu Parkway and the Grand Concourse. “We think this is a tremendous opportunity at the