CB7 Presents District Manager Pick at Jan. Mtg.

Community Board 7’s Screening Committee is expected to unveil its recommended district manager candidate for the Board at the next general board meeting. The post was vacated in October by Dustin Engelken, who resigned for personal reasons. He was at the helm for just over a year, making him the third district manager to leave the position in three years. Thomas Lucania, the Bronx Borough President’s Director of Community Boards, had since been filling in the position. District managers are paid city administrators who serve the needs of a community board comprised of volunteer residents. The Screening Committee will present

Greetings Readers! The Norwood News is out with its first edition of 2016! We ring in the new year with 20 pages of community news you can use. We also feature the work from students of the Norwood News‘ Bronx Youth Heard program, a twelve-week course that teaches the fundamentals of journalism to Bronx high school students. But first, we take you to Kingsbridge Heights where some behind-the-scenes dealings at the Kingsbridge Armory could finally jumpstart renovations for the highly anticipated Kingsbridge National Ice Center. Thanks to the state, the public can finally get a chance to see the long awaited project get

In light of the recent conviction of former state Republican Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, we asked readers if they think the outcome sends a clear message to Albany to clean up the way it conducts politics in this state. I congratulate the federal prosecutor on pursuing these cases of corruption by the Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos, and they deserve every bit of the justice system thrown at them that they got. I think Governor Andrew Cuomo has to be honest and truthful and really come out clean and make more corruption inquiries and get

By MICHAEL BROWN JR.

Plans for a skate park expected to be built at Williamsbridge Oval Park have been unveiled, advancing the highly anticipated $750,000 project. According to plans released at Community Board 7’s parks committee, ledges, quarter pipes, ramps, rails, and a bowl corner will be some of the skate park’s features. The park, to be built at a concrete space on the eastern side of the park, will also include two entrances, one already in existence and another to be added during construction. The park will be larger than expected so construction crews can avoid uprooting existing trees surrounding the perimeter of

To our readers, The Norwood News is out with its latest edition, offering you plenty of Bronx community news you can use. We begin in the heart of Norwood, or as some locals call it, the Jewel of Norwood: Williamsbridge Oval Park. It’s there where a series of vandalistic acts and arsons have creeped out neighbors with big pride of their storied park. Learn what police and the New York City Parks Department are doing about it. We also write some sad news of a longtime piano teacher in Norwood, Mabel Gerber, who passed away last month. Learn about her

By DAVID CRUZ

The recent spate of violence and alleged arson incidents within Norwood’s Williamsbridge Oval Park has one local legislator and the neighborhood’s community board asking police to step it up. Councilman Andrew Cohen, representing the 11th District, which covers Norwood, along with Community Board 7 sent a joint letter to the 52nd Precinct and Parks Department to increase patrols around Oval Park. Both agencies share policing duties at the park. In the last two months, a series of suspected arson fires and violent incidents have taken place at the Bronx park, heavily used by families and neighbors getting a workout. “[T]he

Dear Readers, Happy belated Thanksgiving Day! If you’re at home or work, you could spend some time to check out some community news you can use with the Norwood News, covering the northwest Bronx. The digital edition, and physical paper are out with news you won’t find anywhere else. Our front page focuses on an issue impacting the 63 percent of rent burdened Bronxites living in the northwest Bronx–two zoning proposals rejected by Bronx officials. Considered the DNA of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing New York Plan, the zoning text amendments were not well-received by Bronx elected officials and community boards.

By David Cruz

In the 2013 election, turnout on Election Day was historically low, despite a mayoral election and a swell of New York City Council races that year. That sentiment was viewed in the numbers during the mayoral election– roughly 19 percent of the Bronx voting age population came to the polls. More stunning, 8,000 ballots casted by Bronxites were tossed out since their ballot cards were filled out incorrectly, relinquishing the vote. Invalid ballots are one of a litany of election problems that have long troubled good government groups such as the League of Women Voters (LWV). But now, the New

By DAVID CRUZ

The City Planning Commission will meet in December to vote on whether to approve zoning amendments for Mayor Bill de Blasio’s lofty plan to build or preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing by 2025. The move is part of a public review assessing de Blasio’s $41.4 billion Housing New York proposal that, despite a citywide low-rent housing crisis, was unanimously rejected by Bronx officials. With a vote of 0 to 19, the Bronx Borough Board, a 22-member panel comprised of heads of all 12 community boards, the borough president, and nine New York City Council members, rejected two zoning law