Plans Looks to Preserve Small Business Sector in Kingsbridge Heights

By REGGIANIE FRANCOIS

Members from different advocacy groups and small businesses owners took to the steps of City Hall Wednesday morning to speak on the lack of legal protections for commercial tenants and access to affordable spaces within their neighborhoods. This also includes the neighborhood of Kingsbridge Heights, where an impending ice hockey center at the Kingsbridge Armory threatens the existing commercial landscape, according to local shopkeepers. Christian Ramos, a member of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition and vice president of the Kingsbridge Road Merchants Association, is originally from Ecuador and has been living in the Bronx since 2001. He opened

Bronx Man Guilty in Killing of Rival Near Daycare Center

By DEVIN DAE TUCKER

A jury has found a Bronx man guilty in the murder a rival drug dealer in front of daycare center in Crotona Park two years ago. “As a unanimous jury found, Ruben Pizzaro shot and killed David Rivera in broad daylight in front of a daycare center in the Bronx,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said in a statement. Rivera, 24, was gunned down in front of the daycare center near 175th Street and Crotona Avenue on Nov. 24, 2015. Pizzaro, known by associates as “Chullo,” was a member of a street gang that sold cocaine and crack cocaine near

Greener Days in Hopes of Healthy Lifestyles at DeWitt Clinton HS

By DEBORAH CRUZ

The rainy weather could not keep students from DeWitt Clinton High School and volunteers to venture out and plant 35 fruit trees along the high school’s garden as part of a project to broaden healthier lifestyles in Norwood. Raymond Pultinas, the teacher and coordinator of the daylong event, applied for a grant from The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation three years ago. This year they were awarded a grant through Vitafusion to begin the massive planting. The initiative is part of a broader effort to encourage healthier lifestyles in a borough that’s still struggling in reversing the unhealthy trend. Pultinas, who’s

Ground Finally Breaks for Whalen Park Renovations

By DEVIN DAE TUCKER, DAVID CRUZ, and REGGIANIE FRANCOIS

Whalen Park in Norwood will finally undergo a near $1.7 million transformation it was promised years ago. The improvements are likely intended to revitalize the ‘dilapidated’ Bronx park. Officials and community organizers gathered Tuesday morning to officially break ground. “We want to make sure it’s multi-generational,” said Mitchell Silver, commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks, on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony. The renovated park, which is located on Perry Avenue between 205th and 208th streets is expected to include game tables, a playhouse, climbing rocks, a bicycle rack, new seating areas, a spray shower and a water fountain, according

Prepping for Mayoral Debate, Media Seeks Out Bronx Residents

By DAVID CRUZ

Media outlets from print, radio and television visited Lehman College on June 12 to hear what a handful of Bronx residents want to ask candidates in the New York City race for mayor. The questions will be used for several upcoming debates heading into the election season. Questions on homelessness, street policing, and double parking were on the minds of residents, with WCBS-TV’s Marcia Kramer, WCBS-AM’s Peter Haskell, and Daily News City Hall Bureau Chief Jillian Jorgensen hearing them out. The event was part of the citywide Debate Program organized by the New York City Campaign Finance Board (NYCCFB). Amy

Bronx Photographers Put on the Spotlight

A group of Bronx photographers are turning the cameras on themselves, with an extensive art show titled “Capturing the Bronx.” Among the photographers whose work is on display is Miriam Quinones, a freelance photographer for the Norwood News. The exhibit served as a kind of chronicle of the Bronx, with neighborhoods explored and recorded. An exhibit program noted that the reality of neighborhoods could change in the next few years. “[W]e also know that what is true today will be different, perhaps radically different for us and for the Bronx in a few years or even a few months,” read

By DAVID CRUZ

An underused play area in Norwood is finally getting its $2 million makeover it was promised seven years ago. Officials from the New York City Parks Department and Bronx Borough President’s Office will break ground for the revamping of Whalen Park tomorrow. The park found off Perry Avenue between 205th and 206th streets and abutting the Mosholu Public Library, houses nothing but public benches surrounded by a perimeter fence. At the moment, the park seems neglected, with mounds of unpicked trash spotted pile high on its trash cans. By next year, residents can expect a playhouse, spray shower and a

Farmer’s Market Opens at Fordham Plaza for Trial Run

By DAVID CRUZ

Freshly grown vegetables and baked goods from as far away as Goshen, New York are up for sale at Fordham Plaza, part of the newly opened farmer’s market along the Fordham Road Business Improvement District (BID). And if the 29-week trial run works out, the greenmarket will be managed by BID managers. It’s a model similar to the robust greenmarket established in Manhattan’s Union Square. “We like the Union Square concept. That’s what we like to build here,” Wilma Alonso, the BID’s co-executive director, said. For now, the BID will co-manage the 1.7-acre mall with the New York City Department

Family Fitness Festival The public is invited to the 4th annual Family Fitness Festival Healthy Alternative Eating, June 17 from noon to 3 p.m. at Williamsbridge Oval. Activities include zumba, kickboxing, yoga, face painting, relay races, music, healthy cooking demonstrations, raffle prizes, gifts and giveaways. For more information, call (718) 324-4461. Onstage The Bronx Library Center, 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd., presents Let’s Do It, featuring songs by Cole Porter, June 10; and The Music of Stevie Wonder, performed by Cody Childs & The Ladies of Soul, June 17; both at 2:30 p.m. For more information, call (718) 579-4244/46/57 or visit