Public & Community Meetings

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

COMMUNITY BOARD 7 committee meetings are held on the following dates at the board office, 229 E. 204th St., at 6:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted: Executive Committee meets on April 4; Public Safety & Quality of Life Committee meets on April 6; Environment & Sanitation Committee meets on April 11; Health & Hospitals Committee meets on April 11 at 7:30 p.m.; Senior Services Committee meets on April 12; and Parks & Recreation meets on April 12 at 7:15 p.m. For more information, call (718) 933-5650. COMPTROLLER SCOTT STRINGER hosts a meet and greet at Tracey Towers, 40 W. Mosholu Parkway

By DYLAN CROLL

Buses in New York will now have Wifi and USB charging ports. On March 21, the first of 83 new buses with these features arrived in the Bronx. Three to five MTA buses will be delivered per week after the initial delivery of four buses for a total of 83 buses by the end of the year. They will be based at the MTA’s West Farms depot station and on Bx10, Bx30, and Bx38. Select Bus Service, a bus service that resembles train service with off-board technology that allows passengers to pre-pay their fare with less time per stop, SBS

Task force hears strengths and weaknesses of gifted and talented programs A task force is learning the city Department of Education’s gifted and talented program (G&T) is in high demand, short supply, poorly publicized, and poses logistical nightmares for the hundreds of parents whose children enroll in the program. They’ve also found persisting racial inequities in a city where minorities dominate. The task force, jointly led by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and his Brooklyn counterpart, Eric Adams, held its first session on March 20 at the Bronx High School of Science, a specialized high school where entry becomes

By ANTHONY RIVIECCIO, MBA, PFA

Firstly, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow should go to jail for impersonating as an investigative reporter. She didn’t share any substantive news that I reported a year ago in another newspaper: that President Donald Trump as a businessman used the legal business, real estate and capital losses tax laws to shelter money from taxation. And the law allows him to “carry over” these losses. We knew this a year ago. But more importantly, maybe what we did not know was how much he sheltered, saved, and used the tax laws to his benefit. The Donald sheltered over $100 million. Based on the

Police are investigating a shootout that left two people injured following an all-night party at an event hall in Bedford Park. Police say a suspect shot at four people inside a Jeep around 7 a.m. in front of M.B. Restaurant at the corner of Webster Avenue East 198th Street, hitting two people, a 31- and 19-year-old. The restaurant is directly across Sanctuary Grand Hall at 2773 Webster Ave. for an all-night party. The suspect followed the group out. The car fled before any more victims were hit, but crashed at East 193rd Street and Webster Avenue. Paramedics rushed the two victims where they

With 23,800 residents relying on healthcare through the Affordable Care Act within his 13th Congressional district, Congressman Adriano Espaillat blasted the so-called “Empire State Kickback” provision, the Republican-led provision that cuts off billions of dollars of Medicaid to New York State. Attached to the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the stipulation could see low-income residents thinking twice about seeing the doctor. “This provision is a shameful political ploy dressed as an attempt to lower local property taxes,” Espaillat, whose comments came on the heels of Congress voting on the AHCA, said in a statement. For weeks, the Republican-led Congress has attempted

By MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO

Too many of our public school students and their families are living in fear. They don’t know how new immigration policies coming from Washington might affect them. They worry about what might happen if Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents visited their school. As your Mayor, I want to send a clear message: No matter where you come from or when you got here,‎ the City of New York stands with you. I stand with you. This is your city. We want every principal and school safety agent to know how to respond if federal immigration officers come knocking. We want

(L-R) HONOREES CHANTEL BROWN, Antonio Landron, Brittany Martinez, Robert Aboaqye, and George Nunoo are this year’s recipients of the New York Yankee Scholarship Award. The group was honored by Community Board 7 on March 21 for devoting several hours to community service, a requirement of the prize. The honor comes with a $750 scholarship and participation in an award presentation at Yankee Stadium on April 17. Congratulations to the group for hitting it out of the ballpark. Photo by Miriam Quinones

“No More. Finito.” CVS Store in Norwood Closes

By DAVID CRUZ

The doors to the CVS Pharmacy on East Gun Hill Road and Perry Avenue did not slide open anymore as the chain store closed one of its Norwood stores on March 18. “No more. Finito,” a garbage man can be heard as would-be customers unaware of the news tried entering the store. A manager quickly peered out a day after the store closed, telling a handful of customers the store has indeed closed its doors. The store, located in a large one-story building at 310 E. Gun Hill Rd. had served the community for nearly two decades, serving as an anchor