Ischia Bravo

Stop the Hate Rally Held in Fordham Manor

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Hate crimes across New York City rose by 366 percent during the week ending May 30, compared to the same period last year, according to NYPD data. In the Bronx, year-to-date hate crimes have risen by 200 percent, compared to 2020. Attacks against the Asian American community, fueled by ignorance regarding the spread of the coronavirus have been widely reported by various news outlets, while Norwood News has previously reported on hate crimes carried out against the LGBTQ+ community and the Jewish community in recent months.   In an effort to address this, a Stop the Hate rally was held


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Latchmi Gopal Suspends Campaign for District 15 City Council Primary

By DAVID GREENE & SÍLE MOLONEY
Having qualified to be on the ballot in the upcoming June 22 primary election, Latchmi Gopal, a community organizer, former staffer for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, and candidate in the District 15 City Council race, suspended her campaign, announcing her decision via an Instagram live post, last month.   Gopal thanked her supporters and said running for City Council in the recent March 23 special election in District 15, in the heart of the Bronx, her home, had been one of the greatest honors of her life. “I couldn’t have done it without you all, everything from door knocking, food


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Big Guns Turn out for Swearing in Ceremony for Oswald Feliz as New District 15 City Councilman

By DAVID GREENE & SÍLE MOLONEY
A host of local elected officials joined former tenant lawyer and Hostos Community College adjunct professor, Oswald Feliz, as he was sworn in as city councilman of the 15th Council District, following his win in the March 23rd special election. Feliz assumes the seat left vacant for a few months following the resignation of the former councilman, now Congressman Ritchie Torres, after the latter won the 15th congressional race in November 2020.   The swearing in ceremony for Feliz was held on Sunday, May 2, at the Serviam Gardens, located at 2848 Bainbridge Avenue in Bedford Park. Officials in attendance included


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Update: District 15 City Council June Primary Race: Elisa Crespo Drops Out

By SÍLE MOLONEY
With the results of the March 23, District 15 (and District 11) City Council special election still not yet known, and as candidates gear up for the June City Council primaries, District 15 candidate, Elisa Crespo, announced on Tuesday, April 6, that she will not be running in June. Crespo issued a statement on Twitter announcing her decision but did not give any specific reason for not running again.   As reported by Norwood News, Crespo, an education liaison to the Bronx borough president whose candidacy we previously profiled, won 15.08 percent of the vote in the special election, based


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D15 City Council Race: “Justice for Junior” Mom, Leandra Feliz, Endorses Ischia Bravo

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Leandra Guzman-Feliz, anti-violence activist and mother of the late Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz, who at 15 was brutally murdered in the Bronx in June 2018, at the hands of gang members, announced her support for Ischia Bravo at a ‘Campaign Day of Action’ on March 9. Bravo is a candidate for New York City Council in The Bronx’s 15th District, and is also district manager of Bronx Community Board 7.   The tragedy galvanized the city, shook the Bronx to action and spawned the “Justice for Junior” campaign, as reported by the Norwood News. Speaking at the event, Bravo said when


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District 15 City Council Race: Gopal, Agosto Join Forces, Saying The Bronx is Not for Sale

By DAVID GREENE & SÍLE MOLONEY
  Latchmi Gopal and Kenny Agosto, two candidates running in the District 15 City Council special election race, which takes place on March 23, have joined forces and called on fellow candidates to refuse, or return money donated to their campaigns from special interest groups. As reported previously by the Norwood News, a number of “independent spenders” have been spending heavily on ad campaigns in both the District 15 and the District 11 races in support of their candidates, including in the final days of both campaigns, as reported by the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB).   As reported, the


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District 15 City Council Race: Ariel Rivera-Diaz on People Power, Education & Food Insecurity

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Ariel Rivera-Diaz is one of ten candidates running in the District 15 City Council race for which a special election is being held on March 23. He is a former finance clerk with the City’s Board of Elections, former official at the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, and currently works at the Board of Education in the Bronx.   Norwood News reached out to Rivera-Diaz to interview him for a profile piece but we were unable to reach him. Here, we present a brief overview of his campaign platform based on his website, social media posts and other quotes in the


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District 15 City Council Race: José Padilla on Fighting Corruption, District Stress Points & Pragmatic Solutions

By MICHAEL HOROWITZ
José Padilla Jr., one of nine candidates seeking office in the District 15 City Council special election race, said he is someone who offers pragmatic solutions to problems, rather than ones that stress ideological approaches to issues. The special election takes place on Tuesday, March 23.   Speaking with the Norwood News by phone, Padilla said the district desperately needs someone who will focus on the community’s needs, rather than special interests. The candidate said that the district has been victimized by corrupt, elected officials in the past, citing as examples, former Assemblyman Eric Stevenson Jr., former Assemblywoman Gloria Davis,


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