Bronx Community College’s 49th graduating class celebrated its commencement ceremony Friday, May 29 in front of 3,000 proud friends and family members.

The Norwood News’ arts, entertainment and community events calendar for our readers in the Bronx and beyond.

A listing of events, services and programs for our readers in the northwest Bronx.

Two years ago, Juan Torres, 50, enjoyed his job as a machine operator at the Stella D’oro cookie factory in Kingsbridge. He could provide his children with simple purchases like new clothes for school and tickets to Great Adventure, and his family with trips to the Dominican Republic, where he was born.

But this year, for the first time, Torres had to tell his children that none of that would be possible.

Community groups and new Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. are combining forces to negotiate an agreement that would provide additional community benefits from the coming redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Amory.

If successful, the collaboration between the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA), Community Board 7 and the borough president’s office, could become a new model for large-scale development projects in New York City.

The city’s Health Department says it is looking into a compromise that might split the vacant old Fordham Library into a multi-use facility, a sign of hope for local politicians and activists who were outraged last fall when the city said it was planning to turn the building into a full-service animal shelter.

Pet advocates, along with local activists and politicians, say the city should change its animal shelter laws, which would open up even more space for humans at the library building.

He’s already been on the job a month, but that didn’t stop a packed Lehman Center for the Performing Arts and the city and state’s top officials from attending the formal swearing-in of Ruben Diaz, Jr., the 13th borough president of the Bronx last Thursday.

City Council members who are gearing up for fall elections candidates are flexing their fund-raising muscles, according to campaign finance reports submitted on May 15.

Radame Perez, president and chief operating officer of Mastermind Development in the Bronx and board member of the New York Community Bank, was hoping to challenge Councilman Joel Rivera in District 15, but then unexpectedly dropped out of the race two weeks ago after raising $156,945.