A man wearing all black and a Yankees cap was found rifling through the fire wreckage of what was once Dunkin’ Donuts. He was cutting up piping and digging for other salvageable materials. The police were called, but couldn’t find the looter.

Palestinian Mahmoud Zaghari is part owner of 205 Grocery, which was destroyed in the Bainbridge Avenue fire. He poured his family’s savings into the grocery store, which he and the other owners were planning on converting into a deli.

The Parks Department has not acted in the public interest in the case of Harris Field.

If Norwood News reporter Megan Taylor hadn’t stopped by Harris in October and talked with construction workers, who told her that heavy metals were found at the site, we probably still wouldn’t know anything about it.

Two weeks ago, Parks did tell the Croton Facilities Monitoring Committee (CFMC) that a consultant is assessing the problem. In the meantime, Parks will only say the contamination is from "urban fill," and their legal department told us it will be at least another month before they answer our Freedom of Information Law Request for documents pertaining to the discovery of the metals.

Maybe this isn’t a big problem and the contamination will be easily remediated.

But that’s not the point.

Harris Field is heavily used, particularly by youth baseball leagues that need to plan their seasons months in advance. Last year, Mosholu Montefiore Community Center, which relies heavily on Harris, fielded its teams there but permits were revoked two weeks later to make way for construction. As a result, hundreds of children were unable to participate in the league.

While I do agree with Sally Dunford ("Don’t Blame Residents for Norwood’s Woes," Oct. 22 issue) that you need to follow the money to get to the root of the problem, ultimately it lies in the individual and family. The reason why Norwood is heading downhill is because of the bad-quality, non-working tenants with issues moving in which forces working middle-class families to flee because it is no longer a nice place to raise a family.

On Saturday morning, under an overcast sky at the Adlai Stevenson High School in the south Bronx, the DeWitt Clinton Governors football team played their last game of the season. The Governors lost to the fifth-seeded Curtis Warriors of Staten Island in the city quarterfinals, 20-8.

Earlier this fall, Williamsbridge Oval Park played host to the third annual "Challengers at Montefiore Sports Day"-a physical activity event for wheelchair bound spinal cord injury and disorder patients.

A listing of arts, entertainment and recreational events for our readers in the Bronx and beyond.

A listing local programs, events, services and announcements for our readers in the Bronx and beyond.

A five-alarm fire gutted at least 10 stores and severely damaged four others in the heart of the Bainbridge Avenue merchant district early Saturday morning.

Officials are still trying to determine the cause of the blaze which took 198 firefighters more than five hours to extinguish. Four sustained minor injuries, including a sprained ankle and smoke inhalation.