If you walked up Webster Avenue past the Woodlawn Cemetery on a recent Thursday it may have seemed as if you stepped back in time a half century or so.
Two weeks ago, that stretch of Webster, which stretches north along the Bronx River, was full of Chevys, Fords and Pontiacs from the 1950s and 1960s. The cemetery was being used as a film set for a new movie called, "Mr. Tambourine Man."
Bainbridge Businesses Still Picking up the Pieces
It’s been more than four months since a 5-alarm fire ripped through a popular Bainbridge Avenue commercial strip on Halloween.
The lot, on Bainbriudge Avenue near 204th Street, remains a pile of ash and rubble and a boarded-up blight in the middle of a once-thriving commercial strip. But some of the businesses affected are slowly but surely coming back to life – some nearby, others in different zip codes. Others may never make it back.
The lot, on Bainbriudge Avenue near 204th Street, remains a pile of ash and rubble and a boarded-up blight in the middle of a once-thriving commercial strip. But some of the businesses affected are slowly but surely coming back to life – some nearby, others in different zip codes. Others may never make it back.
Megan Charlop — An Appreciation
The Bronx lost a giant last week. Megan Charlop’s shocking, sudden death took from us a mensch without rival.
Meeting Megan Charlop was knowing her. The warmth, the smile, the kibitzing, the energy, the offers of help – all that came as quick as the first handshake. I remember so clearly the first time I met her when, in 1994, she walked into the Mosholu Preservation Corporation office on East 208th Street, probably to talk to Dart Westphal about progress on the renovation of a building that would become the Lead Safe House. If I never spent time with her again, I would remember her always. Her joyous presence was instantly felt.
Going through the Norwood News archives, it was remarkable that we could only put our hands on a few photos of Charlop. This despite the fact that she helped realize the Lead Safe House on Mosholu Parkway and that, more recently, she played a critical role in making sure kids didn’t get hooked on sweetened milk in school cafeterias. She and her husband, Richie Powers, took in foster kids and hosted overseas families in town for surgery at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. She helped to start so many organizations we probably missed some in our cover article.
But it makes sense, too. Megan was a powerhouse of an advocate without the ego. She was all about the work, not the recognition, as so many others have said this past week. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who just last week was lobbied in Albany by Megan and students from DeWitt Clinton High School to restore state aid to school-based health centers, said he had to nudge her into the group picture with him and his colleagues.
Meeting Megan Charlop was knowing her. The warmth, the smile, the kibitzing, the energy, the offers of help – all that came as quick as the first handshake. I remember so clearly the first time I met her when, in 1994, she walked into the Mosholu Preservation Corporation office on East 208th Street, probably to talk to Dart Westphal about progress on the renovation of a building that would become the Lead Safe House. If I never spent time with her again, I would remember her always. Her joyous presence was instantly felt.
Going through the Norwood News archives, it was remarkable that we could only put our hands on a few photos of Charlop. This despite the fact that she helped realize the Lead Safe House on Mosholu Parkway and that, more recently, she played a critical role in making sure kids didn’t get hooked on sweetened milk in school cafeterias. She and her husband, Richie Powers, took in foster kids and hosted overseas families in town for surgery at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. She helped to start so many organizations we probably missed some in our cover article.
But it makes sense, too. Megan was a powerhouse of an advocate without the ego. She was all about the work, not the recognition, as so many others have said this past week. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who just last week was lobbied in Albany by Megan and students from DeWitt Clinton High School to restore state aid to school-based health centers, said he had to nudge her into the group picture with him and his colleagues.
Kudos to Westphal
I was surprised to read that Dart Westphal (article, March 11-24, 2010) had retired so quietly and without fanfare, after all that he has accomplished in this neighborhood. I have lived here for more than 35 years, and I love what Mosholu Preservation Corporation has done to make this such a wonderful place to live. Kudos to Dart for his vision for our little jewel of a neighborhood.
Kingsbridge Road Staple Still Going Strong
Residents Urged to Answer the Census
Community leaders and neighborhood organizations are rallying for New York City residents to participate in this year’s census count. The 10-question surveys were mailed out in the middle of March, and the deadline for returning the forms is April 1.
"The actions of one day-the consequences of that-will live with us for the next 10 years," said New York Secretary of State Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez, who attended a census awareness press conference at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism on March 19.
"The actions of one day-the consequences of that-will live with us for the next 10 years," said New York Secretary of State Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez, who attended a census awareness press conference at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism on March 19.
Pre-K Applications Due April 9
POTS’ Sheehan Honored
For the past 20 years, Maureen Fergus Sheehan has devoted her career to helping the poor, the hungry and the less fortunate.
Sheehan, development director at the multi-service nonprofit Part of the Solution (POTS) on Webster Avenue (between 197th and 198th streets), was honored at the New York City Council’s annual