•    The Community District 10 Education Council Public Hearing will meet on Jan. 7 at P.S. 54, located at 2703 Webster Ave. The hearing will be on the proposed zone line (see above) changing effective September 2009. For more information, call (718) 741-5836. •    The Bedford Mosholu Community Association will meet at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 400 E. Mosholu Pkwy. So. Apt. B1 (Lobby Floor). All are welcome. •    The 52nd Precinct Community Council will meet on Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Station House, 3016 Webster Ave. For more information, call (718) 220-5824.

We’re glad Division of Housing and Community Renewal commissioner Deborah VanAmerongen took the time to respond to our article about her agency’s response to the appeal of an MCI (major capital improvement) rent increase. But we wish she would have addressed specific issues raised in the article, namely why her agency has not yet ruled on an appeal filed by tenants at 2720 Grand Concourse. As Alex Kratz reported, DHCR’s failure to address the issue means that tenants have had to pay a 6 percent rent increase since last January and are due to be hit with another 6 percent hike next month, even though there’s a very good chance that the landlord’s requested rent increase should be overturned or at least reduced.

Alex Kratz’s recent article “Tenants Pressure State Agency on Unfair Rent Increases,” (Dec. 11 – 24) ignores the facts and paints an inaccurate picture of the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) and its role in fairly administering New York State’s rent laws.   In the past 18 months under the new administration, DHCR has taken a proactive role in implementing dozens of initiatives designed to protect tenants’ rights under the Rent Stabilization Code. These are steps that have never, in the history of the agency, been taken, and that have been praised by the housing community and

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Sometimes, when you receive a gift, it changes your life for the better and sometimes it leaves you perplexed as to what was the gift giver thinking at the time. Sometimes these acts of kindness make you wonder if they’re really being kind when they give you a sweater with one sleeve bigger than the other or a scarf with your name written all over it. Or a gift of bath soap and deodorant — are they trying to give you a hint? Last year, I got a gift in the mail which I had to pick up at the

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Last Thursday, young and old gathered at the Kittay House to celebrate various holiday traditions from around the world. It’s something the Kingsbridge area senior living community would like to make into a tradition.

Samira Ahmed, 15, a successful student-athlete at Mount St. Ursula Academy, died tragically on Dec. 15, after collapsing during a basketball game. School officials don’t yet know the cause of death and are awaiting the results of an autopsy, said Cecilia Grande, a school spokesperson.

A plainclothes police officer, responding to reports of a dispute involving a gun at a North Fordham apartment building, fatally shot a 40-year-old man, who police said was wielding a baseball bat.

Family members and other witnesses said the officer used unnecessary force to the stop the man and now a Bronx grand jury is set to investigate the shooting.

On a dark and stormy night two weeks ago, local students, parents and teachers spoke out at PS 118’s rickety old auditorium, telling real-life overcrowding horror stories.

At the Leadership Institute, students try to learn in windowless gymnasium storage closets while kids yell and play just outside the door. At PS 8, teachers present lessons in locker rooms filled with moldy water-bug-infested shower stalls.

With construction projects scaled back, the Department of Education is attempting to address overcrowding at PS 8, PS 56, PS 86 and PS 246, by rezoning three other local schools, PS/IS 20, PS 54, and PS 340.