New York Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca joined Victor Guerrero, 9, to read a poem at the kickoff of the New York Public Library’s annual summer reading program on June 7 at the Bronx Library Center on Kingsbridge Road.

As if running one of the biggest academic medical centers in the country wasn’t enough, Spencer Foreman, Montefiore Medical Center’s president since 1986, added dealing with the scourges of graffiti and dumping on area streets to his to-do list early in his tenure.

New York State has one of the four highest school dropout rates in the country, and that could cost the state billions of dollars, according to a study released by Bronx Assemblyman Peter Rivera in May.

Elevated levels of chlorine vapors in Gate House 5 at the Jerome Park Reservoir on Friday, June 8 triggered an alarm and treatment of at least one city employee, but authorities say the leak was contained and presented no risk to neighbors and the many schools in the area.

With the city’s blessing, plans for the New York Botanical Garden’s new parking garage are now official, although there still may be a few details to work out with the community.

Healthcare executives, union representatives and politicians, including Congressmen Joe Crowley and Jerrold Nadler, came together late last month at Montefiore’s Children’s Hospital to rally for Congress’ reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

A delegation of 3-year-olds and their teachers from the Amalgamated Nursery School paid a visit to the office of Congressman Eliot Engel on May 30, where they presented his chief of staff, Bill Weitz (pictured) with a 12-foot “Peace Tree.” The tree, made by 17 kids and their families, was decorated with messages of peace in multiple languages.

Members of Sistas and Brothas United (SBU), a grassroots local youth group affiliated with the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, have their sights set on the old Fordham Library as a new community center.

There are only a handful of nonprofit community newspapers like this one in the country. Mosholu Preservation Corporation (MPC) created it almost 20 years ago for two reasons: there wasn’t one, and neighborhood residents and businesses had no way to communicate.