Doing Business With the City

A REP WITH New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) (left) helps a local merchant become certified to contract with the City at an open house held at Lehman College in Bedford Park, contributing to the City’s goal of having 9,000 minority and woman-owned businesses certified to do business with the City by 2019. The $16 billion in contracts committed to these businesses is backed by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Office of Minority, Woman-owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) and the SBS. Photo by Daniela Beasley

Norwood Assemblyman Declares Run for NYC Council, Potentially Opening Seat

Gjonaj to Receive Bronx Democratic Party Endorsement

By DAVID CRUZ

State Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj, whose 80th Assembly District edges into Norwood, has become the latest candidate to jump into the race for the City Council seat for the East Bronx. Four others have already declared a run in the Democratic Primary for the 13th Council District seat, which covers a portion of Norwood, as well as Throggs Neck, City Island, Morris Park, Country Club, Allerton and Pelham Parkway. The seat is now held by Councilman Jimmy Vacca, who is term-limited. The mudslinging has already begun, with one of Gjonaj’s opponents charging that a Gjonaj win could leave the Assembly District without

Special Report: Noise in Norwood and Beyond

By DAVID CRUZ

Beating back the metallic thuds, relentless clacks, rhythmic noise, and bass sounds stands as a daily occurrence in some Bronx neighborhoods, with Norwood and Bedford Park no exception. Unwanted noise, a never-ending nuisance that somehow, despite registering as a top quality of life complaint, remains perpetually prevalent. It is the city that never sleeps, and noise is living up to that adage. And as the holiday season settles in, the uptick in noise complaints usually follows. For the NYPD and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, agencies tasked to respond to aggravating noise issues, the priority to curb

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

For this edition, the Norwood News embarked on a journey to understand the culture of noise, specifically incessantly loud noise in the neighborhood with a near 3,000-word article that barely scratches the surface on why the city is unable to blunt this pesky quality of life complaint. Noise, whether it’s loud parties, car horns blaring, or that infernal Mr. Softee ice cream truck that spews that annoying jingle, is pervasive. That noise, unlike the rumble of trains or daytime sirens, fly-by-night noise in the grand scheme of things, can go on for hours, seriously damaging quality of life. For residents,

This week we asked readers their thoughts on the outcome of the 2016 presidential race won by Donald Trump. How the heck did they allow him and the Russians steal the (expletive) presidency? It was stolen…And Hillary [Clinton] stole it from Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump stole it from her. So Hillary shouldn’t have even been in the race and Bernie Sanders should be president. Johnny Gibbs Parkchester Actually, the outcome was pretty good. I’m glad for something new, I can say that. I was definitely not for Hillary. It was a crazy campaign. To me, at the end

Hello Fellow Readers! The latest edition of the Norwood News, bringing plenty of Bronx community news you can use, is out, hitting local restaurants, offices, schools, and parts of Montefiore Health System in the coming days. As usual, we begin with the front page and two events underscoring fear and resentment toward President-elect Donald Trump, set to take office on Jan. 20. Reporters Deborah Cruz (no relation) and Wendy Joan Biddlecombe hit the pavement to gauge the sentiment of some Bronx residents. Further in the story you can read a special report on the topic of noise and what can

By DEBORAH CRUZ & WENDY JOAN BIDDLECOMBE

Ahead of a new presidency, where the country’s next commander-in-chief, Donald Trump, a Republican, has vowed to deport millions of undocumented immigrants while triggering anti-immigration sentiment, sections of Norwood hosted events that either denounced his positions or took them seriously. At a community room at Tracey Towers filled to the brim, the foreign-born came in droves for help on filling out their citizenship paperwork. The pop-up immigration service saw immigration attorneys aid visitors in filling out form N-400. The demand was noticeably high—those who stopped by without making an appointment ahead of time were told they had to call

The U.S. Postal Service has cast a wide net on its old mailboxes so it could replace them with new ones following a string of so-called ‘fishing’ incidents across the Bronx. The news could spell relief to Bronx residents victimized by the practice that involves thieves stealing mail by feeding a glue trap attached to a string into a mailbox and “fishing” out mail from the slot. Thieves preferably would look for checks where names were bleached using a special machine. The checks would later be cashed with many residents not knowing they were a victim until their mail

By WENDY JOAN BIDDLECOMBE

On the first weekend of December, a group of 11 volunteers canvassed businesses along Bainbridge Avenue to ask shop owners to display a sign in their front window reading, “Standing Against Islamophobia and Racism.” The idea of the signs, said organizer Pam Sporn, is to show Norwood that their neighbors and shop owners don’t agree with what she says is the hateful rhetoric of President-elect Donald Trump. “It’s easy to feel depressed, disillusioned, and discouraged after the election,” Sporn said. “There is vicious and racist language coming out of politicians’ mouths, and [it’s difficult] to see the kind of appointments