Coalition, Occupiers Combine Forces

The old school grassroots organizers with the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition have found an energetic new ally in the growing number of demonstrators with the nascent Occupy the Bronx movement.

MS 80 Program Aims at Opening Elite School Doors

On a recent rainy Saturday morning, seventh-grader Mehrina Tabassum sat quietly at the front of a classroom inside MS 80 on Mosholu Parkway, listening as a tutor instructed the small group of students to tackle a math problem. Through a new tutoring program, she hopes to buck history and gain admittance into one of the city’s elite and selective public high schools.

Sick Records at PS 51, & Other Bronx Links

The Daily News obtained several years of records, via a Freedom of Information Law request, from the nurse logs at PS 51–the Bedford Park school that was moved to a new location this fall after testing found hazardous levels of a chemical toxin called trichloroethylene (TCE) in its former building, an old lighting factory. Longtime exposure to TCE has been linked to kidney and liver problems, damage to the central nervous system, as well as dizziness, headaches, nausea and blurred vision. In our Norwood News cover story few months back, concerned parents discussed what they thought was an excessive number of sick

Comptroller Visits BCC, Highlights Bronx Unemployment Woes

Last week, City Comptroller took a little mini-tour of the Bronx.

Cabrera Pushes for Transparency on Neighborhood Crime Stats

Spurred on by a Norwood News campaign, Councilman Fernando Cabrera introduced legislation this month that would force the New York City Police Department to publish neighborhood crime statistics each month.

Assemblywoman Aims to ‘Fight the Bulge’

Teaming up with professional mixed martial artists, a celebrity fitness trainer and a dietician from Jacobi Medical Center, Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera has set out to tackle childhood obesity in her new “Fight the Bulge” campaign.

Sen. Rivera Teaching Free Civics Classes

Bronx State Sen. Gustavo Rivera is getting back to his roots as educator, teaching a series of free civics classes this month at the Bronx Library Center that cover topics like the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, elections and how different levels of government work.

Living Wage Backers Seek Compromise; Second Hearing Planned for November

Supporters of a living wage bill that’s been lingering in the City Council for over a year now are making another effort to revive the lagging legislation, in a drawn-out battle with the Bloomberg administration and business leaders who say it would ultimately kill jobs. Sponsors of the proposed Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act, which would require developers receiving substantial taxpayer-funded subsidies to pay workers $10 an hour with benefits, or $11.50 without, unveiled revisions to the bill earlier this month in an attempt to compromise with critics. Whether the newly watered-down version of the legislation is enough to

Get Civics Lessons From Your State Senator

Before Gustavo Rivera became a state senator here in the Bronx’s 33rd District, he was an adjunct political science professor at Pace University. In fact, before catching the campaign politics bug soon after moving to New York from his native Puerto Rico for graduate school in 1998, Rivera appeared destined for a career in academia. Although he never completed his masters degree, Rivera continued to teach while serving as a campaign field operative for several politicians, including former Gov. David Paterson, Bronx State Senator Jose M. Serrano and President Obama. Tonight, Rivera slides back into his role as educator at