2010 Year in Review: Local Senior Center Saved From Closure

In June, seniors who frequent Tolentine Zeiser Senior Center were given some devastating news: The center, and dozens of others around in the city, were to be closed because of budget cuts. Staff took the pictures off the walls and filled several cardboard boxes with Christmas lights and other supplies they’d accumulated over the years. And they readied themselves for June 30, the center’s last day of operation. Then the unexpected happened. Tolentine and about 25 other senior centers in the five boroughs, including R.A.I.N Bailey in Kingsbridge Heights, were handed a last minute reprieve when Mayor Bloomberg and City Council speaker Christine Quinn struck a deal to restore funding.

2010 Year in Review: Gay Bias Attacks Shock the Borough

The Bronx — and much of the country — was left reeling in October, when news broke of a horrific attack on several men and teens in Morris Heights. Police say the perpetrators, members of a gang called the “Latin King Goonies,” chose their victims because they were gay or perceived to be gay. Among those attacked was a 30-year-old known locally as “La Reina” (“the Queen”). He was burned with cigarettes and sodomized with a small baseball bat, the authorities say.

Pedro Espada and Son Indicted on Federal Charges

Controversial State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. was indicted by a Brooklyn grand jury on embezzlement and conspiracy charges, along with his son, Pedro Gautier Espada, according to a statement by the United States Attorney’s Office released on Tuesday. Both men are charged with five counts of embezzlement — to the alleged tune of more than $500,000 — and one count of conspiracy. If convicted, they face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each count of embezzlement and five years for the conspiracy count. It could amount to 55 years behind bars.

The Education of a Councilman: Cabrera Makes Strides in First Year

Councilman Fernando Cabrera’s office on the 17th floor of 250 Broadway, a large municipal building across the street from City Hall in downtown Manhattan, is spartan — the walls a blank canvas, the desk tops free of clutter. There are photos on and behind his desk: of a baby smiling, a close-up of a flower, a beautiful landscape. They are not his photos. They came with the frames. The scene is fitting. As Cabrera enters the final weeks of his first year representing the 14th District, which includes Kingsbridge, University Heights, Morris Heights and Mt. Hope, two things have become

Buy Local: Your Holiday Gift Guide

It’s that time of the year again to search for that perfect gift for your loved ones: brothers, moms, maybe even your 80-year-old grandmother. But what to buy? The decision-making process can be agonizing. Worry no more. The Norwood News is here to help! After vigorously shopping throughout the northwest Bronx, from Gun Hill to Fordham Road, you can find some of the most diverse and special gifts just outside your door.

Fight Against AIDS Gets Personal

In a speech on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. called the fight against HIV/AIDS personal and said battling the disease was one of his administration’s top priorities. “No one is immune,” said Diaz, adding that two of his uncles passed away due to AIDS complications and that his chief of staff, Paul DelDuca, is HIV positive.

$1 Million Restoration Brings Poe Cottage Into Future

When British journalist Mary Grove visited Edgar Allan Poe’s cottage outside the village of Fordham, she described it as cozy and neat, with “floors as white as wheat.” The cottage was situated on a hill, and surrounded by creeks, rivers and farmland. Today the 198-year-old cottage still stands — although it’s now a few hundred yards away from its original location — at the intersection of Kingsbridge Road and the Grand Concourse. What was once Millbrook Creek is now Webster Avenue. A stone’s throw away, children play on playground equipment and residents sit on benches in what is now Poe Park. Ironically, when the Bronx County Historical Society kicked off a million-dollar restoration of the 198-year-old building this year, some local kids literally threw rocks to see if they could shatter the windows.

DREAM Immigration Bill Waits for Senate Vote

A bill that would provide a long-term path to citizenship for young immigrant residents passed in the House of Representatives on Dec. 8, but has since stalled in the Senate, as its supporters try to drum up Republican support for the bill in the slim hopes of passing it before the year’s end.

Bronx Pols Denounce Bloomberg’s Budget Cuts

It’s looking like it’s going to be a tough budget year for New York City, as Mayor Michael Bloomberg released his updated financial plan for this and the next four fiscal years last month—one that calls for cuts to jobs and services from nearly every city agency and sector. On Nov. 18, Bloomberg announced his latest round of budget gap closing actions, including the loss of thousands of city jobs, measures he says will reduce the budget deficit from $3.3 billion to $2.4 billion for the fiscal year 2012. The cuts sparked backlash from advocates across the city and concern from local representatives.