Politics

Montefiore Residents & Fellows Vote to Re-Unionize after Four Decades

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Resident doctors at Montefiore Medical Center, one of the largest teaching hospitals in New York City, have successfully won union representation with a supermajority of 82 percent, voting in favor of joining the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR/SEIU), the union announced on Feb. 23. The move will re-establish a union presence at Montefiore more than four decades after their original union, one of the first nationwide, was removed, union officials said. The union’s re-establishment is the result of recent organizing efforts by residents and fellows, as reported.   Resident-led organizing efforts began early in the pandemic, when, according to


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The Bronx Celebrates Dominican Heritage Month; Borough Leaders Honored in Santa Domingo

By SÍLE MOLONEY
  Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson held her annual Dominican Heritage Month celebration on Thursday, Feb. 16, at Grand Slam Banquet Hall, 478 East Tremont Avenue in Tremont, with live entertainment by Folkloric Dance Group/Folklorico and DJ Lex, with special greetings by consulate general of the Dominican Republic, Eligio Jaquez.   Gibson honored various community leaders, including president of the New York State Latino Restaurant Bar & Lounge Association and owner of Mon Amour Coffee & Wine, Jeffrey Garcia; winner of the Best Animated Short Film at Bridge Fest and children’s book author, Luz Maria Mack; president of Dominicanos USA, Eddie Cuesta.   The recipient of the youth


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Op-Ed: Bronxites Will Create New Kingsbridge Armory

By ELISABETH ORTEGA-BAILEY
I live on Aqueduct Avenue with my 4-year-old son, Nori, and my husband, Nelson, close to the landmark Kingsbridge Armory that is now 514,000-square-feet of nothingness, thanks most recently to a failed plan to fill it with nine ice hockey rinks.   I’m 34, in my second year at Bronx Community College, and have been organizing around the Kingsbridge Armory with the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC) since I was 16 and attending DeWitt Clinton High School.   Nelson and I often joke that in order to live in New York City, you need both a job and a


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Bronx CB6 Wants Answers on Fordham Plaza Reconstruction as City Assesses Fordham Corridor Needs

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Extremely concerned members of Bronx Community Board 6 (CB6) sent a letter dated Feb. 20 to Keith Kalb, interim commissioner at the Bronx borough office of NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) on “the current state of Fordham Plaza.” In it, they refer to what they describe as DOT’s prior eviction of vendors and businesses previously operating in the Plaza, located in Belmont on the border with Fordham Heights and Fordham Manor, to facilitate reconstruction works at the site. The works were completed in 2016, according to CB6.   At the time, CB6 members said DOT committed to filling the newsstands


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Family of Angellyh Yambo Launch Foundation in her Memory on her 17th Birthday

By DAVID GREENE & SÍLE MOLONEY
Angellyh Yambo was a 16-year-old high school student with dreams of becoming a doctor when she was shot and killed as she walked home from school with friends in Mott Haven on April 8, 2022. On Tuesday, Jan. 24, on what would have been Angellyh’s 17th birthday, her family and friends gathered at her mausoleum in Woodlawn cemetery to mark the official launch of The Angellyh Yambo Foundation.   During the emotional event, different colored balloons were released into the air marking the exact moment of her birth, 17 years earlier. Later, the family confirmed that the foundation’s website was


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Ischia Bravo Sworn in as First Woman and First Latina to Serve as Bronx County Clerk

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT
At a ceremony attended by many local elected officials, judicial dignitaries, and well-wishers, Ischia Bravo, former district manager of Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7), was sworn in as the first woman and first Latina to hold the position of Bronx County clerk and commissioner of jurors on Feb. 9. The ceremony took place at Gould Memorial Library on the campus of Bronx Community College in University Heights, with Bravo sworn in by Rolando T. Acosta, presiding justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department.   Among those in attendance for the occasion were NYS Attorney General


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Inquiring Photographer: Thoughts on the Chinese Spy Balloon & UFOs

By DAVID GREENE
  This week, we asked readers their thoughts on the Chinese spy balloon and the 3 additional “unidentified flying objects” shot down in recent weeks over North American airspace by the U.S. military.   “As an American, I am very concerned about the security of our nation that has decreased over the years. I think the government is not as vigilant with security. I do believe that it was a spy balloon from China that was collecting data, and the other three balloons were also spy balloons. The U.S. government needs to do better in this area. We don’t need to


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Sean Ebony Coleman Leads the Way Serving the Bronx’s LGBTQ Community

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT
  To mark Black History Month, we’re spotlighting the history and contribution of members of the Black community in The Bronx who are positively impacting the lives of others.   In the early 1980s, Sean Ebony Coleman didn’t see much empathy for a community that was being ravaged by AIDS. “A lot of my friends were victims of the HIV-AIDS epidemic, so we were watching a bunch of our friends die [and we were] trying to figure out what we could do better,” Coleman said in an interview with Norwood News. Over time, the epidemic hit very close to home. 


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Yadhira González-Taylor Inducted as Civil Court Judge at Monroe College Ceremony

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Belmont native, The Hon. Yadhira González-Taylor, a lawyer, veteran, educator, retired firefighter, children’s author, and mother of three, was formally inducted as a civil court judge of the City of New York for Bronx County on Sunday, Jan. 29 at Monroe College. It followed her November 2022 general election win when, as reported, she garnered 23.30 percent of the vote, along with fellow Democrats, the Hon. Michele Davila who won 22.82 percent of the vote, the Hon. Sophia Hershman who won 20.11 percent and the Hon. Cynthia Isales who won 19.56 percent.   Among the attendees were Bronx District Attorney Darcel


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