Leon Margolin gets a lot done in a week. As a resident in the Outpatient Rehabilitation and Pain Clinic at Montefiore Medical Center, he works the usual crazy hours of a young doctor. But somehow Margolin, 31, finds the time to work on promising medical inventions and other scientific pursuits.

Queens Supreme Court Justice Marguerite Grays ordered the city Tuesday to stop construction work on the filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park until she made a final decision in the matter of whether the filtration plant could go forward.

Though crime was down a modest 2.71 percent overall in the 52nd Precinct last year, police are trumpeting their success in curtailing shooting incidents. There were 23 in 2004 compared with 44 in 2003, for a decrease of 47.7 percent. Murders were also significantly down from 13 in 2003 to eight in 2004.

The key to progress on the Kingsbridge Armory’s redevelopment appears to now reside with the state. While the city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) technically oversees the development, advocates are now pressuring state officials to find a suitable location for the Armory’s two remaining National Guard units.

Developers continue to break ground on new construction projects in the northwest Bronx at a furious pace. As the Norwood News reported last month, University Heights is in the midst of a building boom like it hasn’t seen in years. But the entire area, including Norwood and Bedford Park, are receiving an unusual amount of attention from developers.

It’s that time of year again. Every elected official from the president down to the speaker of the New York City Council steps up to their respective podiums to make a speech about the "state of" whatever jurisdiction they’re in charge of. These types of addresses are an opportunity to set a clear agenda and rally support for it.

The Norwood News editorial in the last issue (January 13-26, 2005) suggests Bronx Environmental Health and Justice (BEHJ) has acted with "misplaced activism." We’d like to defend a sister organization. The mission of BEHJ is to educate, litigate, and mobilize neighbors against environmental threats to the neighborhood. BEHJ has brought a lawsuit that could stop construction of the filtration plant in this neighborhood. The suit, an Article 78 petition charging fraud, seeks a permanent injunction to stop the city’s construction in Van Cortlandt Park. Right now, they have a temporary restraining order (TRO), which means no work can be done by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). They were scheduled to argue their case before the judge on Jan. 25.

Region 1 Superintendent Irma Zardoya is pushing to create yet another small school in Walton High School, potentially furthering the intense overcrowding that has fueled tensions between the schools housed there.

Last January, advocates descended on the Kingsbridge Armory to demand, as they have for several years, that schools be included in its redevelopment. While frustrating hurdles remain, the dream came much closer to fruition in 2004.