Rebuilt After Fire, Tolentine’s Doors Swing Wide Open

On the corner of Fordham Road and University Avenue this past Sunday, colorful balloons danced in the wind and sunshine. Tethered to railings, the balloons dotted the path up to one of the Bronx’s oldest churches, St. Nicholas of Tolentine, where the doors were wide open for a celebration of the church’s rebuilt vestibule following a 2010 fire.

On State Test Scores, Northwest Bronx Schools Lag Behind

Elementary and middle school students in the Bronx’s District 10, which contains all of the schools in the Norwood News coverage area, scored worse than students across both the city and state on last year’s standardized math and English exams, according to data released last month.

The Making of a Liberal Politician: Part II

It was early spring, 2010, when Gustavo Rivera became a political candidate by default and a dash of desperation. At the time, two other Democrats had declared their intention to run against the incumbent in the 33rd Senate District, Pedro Espada, Jr., who, less than a year earlier, had brought the New York state senate to its knees by offering his party allegiance to the highest bidder.

Bakery Returns to Its Roots on Bainbridge Avenue

The smell of fresh bread is wafting back to Bainbridge Avenue. In 2009, the Bainbridge Bakery in Norwood was gutted, and then completely demolished by a pair of fires in the span of seven months. Nearly two years after the second blaze — which struck just a few days before the business was set to reopen — Ana and Tony Mirdita, the couple that owns the bakery, are preparing to move into a new space on the same block. And neighborhood residents are hungrily waiting. “My wife is more excited, because she likes their bread,” said Mark Goldberg, 71, who

The Bronx continued its annual tradition of remembering the 144 Bronx lives that were taken on Sept. 11, in a ceremony organized by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. and his staff. The feelings of renewing the brotherhood of patriotism were widespread on Thursday, Sept. 15 at Lou Gehrig Plaza, where more than 100 people were gathered.

Multi-Service POTS Expands to Fill Growing Needs

With local hunger and unemployment numbers on the rise, nonprofit multi-service group Part of the Solution is expanding with the opening of a brand new $8 million facility next door to its current Webster Avenue location.

Op-Ed: A Love Letter to Norwood

Dear Norwood, I can’t remember when I didn’t love you. When I was little, Mom and Dad and a half-dozen siblings would come to Perry Avenue, to Nana and PopPop’s house. It was so exciting after East Greenbush. We’d come down on the Thruway and get off at 233rd Street, and go down Jerome Avenue. I was convinced that the end of the No. 4 train at the Woodlawn station was the gateway to New York. You could see the world from Nana’s house — the subway, the Thanksgiving parade, or just feeding the ducks at Woodlawn Cemetery.

Healthy Recipes: Make Your Own Salad Dressing

Salads are great. Salads can — and should — be a part of your diet. They’re a tasty way to up your daily vegetable and fruit intake and a quick, easy meal to take with you to work. But salads can also be deceiving, when done wrong: a well-intentioned plate of greens can very easily go from healthy to high-calorie once you factor in toppings, and especially when doused in a fattening dressing (many restaurant salads are guilty of both). So why not make your own dressing at home?

City Can End Rental Program for Ex-Homeless, Judge Rules

A Manhattan State Supreme Court judge ruled last week that the city was no longer required to provide rental subsidies in a widely-used but controversial affordable housing program, putting thousands at risk of homelessness as soon as next month, some advocates say.