Picture the Homeless Challenges Perceptions of Marginalized

Adjusting the yellow bow in her thick gray locks of hair, Arvenetta Henry clasped her hands under her chin. “Everyone calls me Miss Henry,” she said with a smile, “because I am a teacher.” Henry spent most of her adult life as a Bronx teacher. She is no longer in the traditional classroom setting, but through a nonprofit homeless advocacy organization operated by the very homeless population it serves, Henry, who became homeless herself 18 months ago, continues to teach.

Gustavo Rivera Moves Senate Back To Neighborhood

Like every New York state senator, when 33rd District representative Gustavo Rivera moved into his local office, he received two flags — the stars and stripes of the United States of America and the goddesses of Liberty and Justice of New York state — as well as a copy machine and a dated set of rectangular office furniture. “They [senate administrative staffers] told me they only had rectangular furniture,” said Rivera’s communications director Conchita Cruz, sitting in the new office on the fifth floor of the Poe Building on the Grand Concourse, across from the Loew’s Paradise Theater. “But they

Ex-Cop Found Guilty in Beating of Suspect

A former NYPD officer in the 52nd Precinct was convicted of assault on April 26, after pleading guilty to the 2010 beating of a handcuffed prisoner during a drug-bust gone awry in University Heights.

At 110, Holy Nativity Tries to Reinvent Itself

That Holy Nativity, an Episcopalian congregation, was reminded of its lengthy local history by a man from Sierra Leone, says a lot about the state of the church. Some long-standing church members, like Kelly, remain. But like many area churches, Holy Nativity’s numbers have shrunk and its congregation has diversified racially and ethnically.

Devastated Milbank Buildings Finally Sold

The now-infamous Bronx Milbank buildings — including 2785 Sedgwick Ave., 2500 University Ave., and 2505 Aqueduct Ave., all in University Heights — were finally sold last month to a new landlord after months of local organizing and city involvement. Tenants, advocates and elected officials had fought to wrest the portfolio of 10 deeply troubled properties from irresponsible bankers and owners to a party who could afford to make them livable again.

Be Healthy: National Health Survey Gives Bronx a Checkup

For the first time in more than 20 years, a national study that measures the health and nutrition status of Americans across the country has set its sights on the Bronx, which is consistently ranked as one of the unhealthiest counties in the nation.

Is Mayor Open to ‘Every Good Idea’ on Armory?

It seemed like the big freeze between the mayor and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. as it relates to the Kingsbridge Armory, was thawing just a tad. “We’re open to every good idea,” the mayor said, exhibiting none of the bitterness some have attributed to him for having his preferred plan for the facility — a mall developed by The Related Companies — killed by Diaz and many of the very same people that were at the press conference to cheer him on for the Bloomberg administration’s efforts to get a portfolio of 10 nightmare apartment buildings into the hands of a new, accountable owner.

Residents of a large apartment building complex on the north side of Mosholu Parkway were confused and upset when their mail stopped being delivered in late January. The mail stoppage, which has since been resolved, is another recent example of the logistical problems that crop up at apartment buildings where transitional and permanent residents mesh. Perry and other permanent residents at 15-19 have endured problems with noise, cleanliness and safety, but the mail problem was probably the most maddening to date.

Editorial: Some Hope Amid Housing Crisis

Over half a million people in the west Bronx live in residential apartment buildings. At least a third of these tenants pay half of their hard-earned wages on rent. Though Bronx residents are paying thousands of dollars a year on shelter, too many of these buildings are in a desperate – sometimes life-threatening — state of disrepair.