Michelle Avila

OCM Steps Up Pressure on Unlicensed Cannabis Shops

By SÍLE MOLONEY, MIA HOLLIE & PERRY GREGORY
The New York State Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) published a second update on Monday, Dec. 4, on enforcement actions taken against unlicensed cannabis shops across the State.

A Bronx Voice Booms Beyond the Borough

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT
  A new musical voice is emerging from The Bronx but this time it’s not related to doo wop, salsa, or hip-hop, three musical genres often associated with the “Boogie Down.”  This new talent is breaking ground from her home base in Hunts Point and into the world of opera – yes, opera!   Linda Collazo has been developing her musical talents her entire life. Now, as a 27-year-old mezzo-soprano, she will make her Carnegie Hall debut on March 25, and a month later, she makes her Lincoln Center debut at Alice Tully Hall.   Although her success is the


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NCB Staff Get NYBG Parking Due to Safety Concerns  

By ARIEL PACHECO
  During the health and human services committee meeting for Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7) in February, a representative from NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx (NCB) provided updates to over a dozen participants in attendance on several topics, including a citywide behavioral health project, new-look ambulances, and Botanical Garden parking for NCB staff.   According to Alfredo Jones, a representative from NCB, NYC Health+Hospitals, the City’s public hospital system, received a memo from Gov. Kathy Hochul requesting the provision of 253 additional behavioral health beds across City hospitals to address the behavioral and mental health needs of New Yorkers.


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New Committee Elected to Bronx CB7 for Upcoming Year

By SARAH HUFFMAN
The election of the various officer positions to Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7) for the upcoming year took place at the last general board meeting of the year on June 23. Most of the incumbent officers were re-elected, apart from one. In addition, four motions were passed on various, different matters. Most had already been reviewed at the board’s June 17 meeting, as reported.   Nominating committee chair, Sandra Erickson, gave each candidate a chance to pitch their candidacy to the board members at the beginning of the meeting before voting took place. Most positions ran uncontested, except for second


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UPDATE: COVID-19 Delta Variant Spotlights Vaccine Hesitancy in the Bronx Once Again

  The following is an extended version of the story that recently appeared in our print edition.   Like many New Yorkers, Dilletta Pina, a 70-year-old retiree from Norwood, worries about the highly infectious COVID-19 Delta variant. To stay safe, Pina never leaves her house without a mask, diligently washes her hands, and practices social distancing. But, like some of her fellow Bronxites, there is one step she’s not yet ready to take, and that’s getting the COVID-19 vaccine.   According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, compared to other boroughs, as reported, the Bronx


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Bronx CB7 Addresses Rezoning Changes, Parks Projects & Traffic Concerns

  Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7) held one of its last meetings before the summer break on Thursday, June 17, to discuss neighborhood updates and various motions that were due to be tabled at the Board’s executive meeting held on June 23.   It was an eventful meeting that touched upon a variety of topics and saw four motions passed. Two were presented by the housing, land use and economic development committee, one by the parks’ committee and one arose during the new business section of the meeting.   The first motion which was passed by the Board pertained to


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Bronx CB7 Step Up Efforts to Increase COVID-19 Vaccination Rates

By DAWN CLANCY
  In March 2020, New York City was designated the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, accounting for nearly 5 percent of the world’s COVID-19 cases. Meanwhile, the Bronx was ranked 62 [out of 62] by the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, as New York State’s unhealthiest county, and has consistently remained one of the region’s hardest hit counties by the coronavirus.   At Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7)’s Health and Human Services Committee meeting, held on March 16, Michelle Avila, committee chair, shared recent COVID-19 infection rate data from the City’s health department to


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Bronx CB7 Tackles Vaccine Concerns

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT
  On the pandemic front, the good news is that COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death rates are all decreasing statewide. In addition, the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson has been approved by the FDA, which now provides a third immunization option beyond Pfizer and Moderna, and one which requires just one vaccination dose rather than two.   The bad news, however, is that throughout the country and especially within the boundaries of Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7), vaccination rates are alarmingly low.   At the latest meeting of CB7’s Health & Human Services Committee on Feb.22, committee members looked


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Montefiore Rolls out First Vaccinations, as City & State Plan Education & Equitable Distribution of Vaccine

By SÍLE MOLONEY
  Montefiore Medical Center vaccinated its first Montefiore employee with the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, Dec. 15. Gina Benvenuto, RN, a 36-year-old patient care coordinator at the neuro-intensive care unit who has been with the hospital for 14 years, was the first employee to receive the vaccine. The vaccination process continued thereafter among other Montefiore employees.   At the Bronx Community Board 7 Health committee meeting later that evening, there were plenty of questions about the vaccine roll-out, many on the testing process, with residents looking for reassurances about the robustness of that testing. One resident suggested having representatives from


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