Tracey Tenants Rage at Rent Hike Proposal

Citing poor management that has led to deteriorating conditions, tenants at Tracey Towers argued against a proposal at a public hearing last month that would hike their rent by over 60 percent over the next three years.

Espada’s Health Clinics, Banned from Medicaid Program, Likely to Close

On Aug. 10, the State Department of Health terminated the network of health care clinics run by former Bronx Sen. Pedro Espada, Jr. and his son from the state’s Medicaid program–a move that will essentially mean closure for the five medical centers of the Soundview Network, which operate almost entirely on reimbursement funds from Medicaid patients.

Schools Must Teach Sex Ed, City Says

New York City high school and middle school students will be required to take sex education classes starting this fall, the schools chancellor announced last week, the first time the city has broached such a mandate in over two decades.

Gillibrand Bill Targets Unemployed City Youth

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand met with a number of Bronx clergy leaders and local lawmakers last week to promote legislation she’s sponsoring to reduce the number of unemployed young people in urban areas.

Fire on Gun Hill Affects Families, Businesses

On the first Friday morning of August, Ashley Santiago looked out the window of her apartment on the corner of Gun Hill Road and Rochambeau Avenue and saw fire raining down from the sky.

Bronx Lawmakers Ask Obama to Halt Deportation Program

The federal government continues to implement a controversial deportation program despite intense criticism and the fact that three states, New York included, have already attempted to withdraw from participating in it.

City Plans Overhauls for MS 80 and MS 391

As part of an ongoing effort to turn around poor performing schools, the Department of Education is making changes this fall at 33 middle and high schools across the city, including two nearby: MS 80 on Mosholu Parkway, and MS 391, or the Angelo Patri School, further south on Webster Avenue.

Community Policing

Police and community came together on the evening of Aug. 2 in Williamsbridge Oval Park.

Gay Bronx Couples Waste No Time in Making History

By Jordan Moss The signs of a highly unusual Sunday at the Bronx County Courthouse, where profound new rights were being conferred on a large group of New Yorkers, were hard to miss. Staff of the mayor’s office, sporting orange baseball caps, warmly greeted anyone who came within 50 yards of the courthouse’s Concourse entrance. There was no crammed lineup leading to the metal detectors. Cameras, forbidden from courtrooms and confiscated for the duration of one’s visit if found, were waved on through. History, after all, was waiting for its close-up. Another gantlet of helpers led people to the correct