Editor’s Note: The following is an extended version of the story that appears in our print edition dated July 9-July 22, 2026.

Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7) held a special community awards ceremony at the New York Botanical Garden in Bedford Park on Thursday, June 25, to honor various members of the community ahead of the board’s annual summer hiatus.

 

The event comprised a buffet meal, some prepared remarks by Councilmembers Oswald Feliz (C.D. 15), Eric Dinowitz (C.D. 11) and others, followed by the awards presentation.

Bronx CB7 is one of 59 voluntary, community boards across New York City, which convene regularly, usually several times per month, with the aim of addressing various community concerns, in partnership with government agencies and other interested parties.

 

CB7’s current board chair is Leurys Acosta, also a volunteer, and the board’s various committees cover specific areas like public safety, veterans’ services, transportation, sanitation, housing and more.

In addition to the volunteer board members, Karla Cabrera-Carrera is the Bronx CB7 district manager, a full-time paid position, assisted by Genesis Reyes, deputy district manager, and Cristiana Robles, district coordinator, also paid positions.

 

During his opening remarks, Aaron Bouska of the community affairs team at NYBG, welcomed everyone and commended CB7 for the “incredible” work he said they do. He said even though they might not always agree as a collective, their work represented democracy in action.

“They came to us a couple months ago, and we came up with this idea; we need to honor our Community Board 7 members and other members of the community that just bring so much,” he said. “I got to say this is one of the hardest jobs. I work with government all the time. Being a community board member, being a strategist, is very hard work. The small D democracy that you do, and we don’t always agree, but you know what? Here we are together in the spirit of community and support of The Bronx, and our neighborhood.”

 

He continued, “And at the end of the day, we get stuff done, and people love to live, work, and do business because of the work that you do, and so, I just want to thank you on behalf of New York Botanical Garden, and especially to some of you who have been serving for especially long periods of time on the community board. It’s just astounding. Thank you. This is where experience and long-term commitment to a community really stands out and makes an incredible difference.”

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He added, “People like Barbara, people like Adelaine, people like all of you…I’m blanking on names…. that have been here for so long. It’s just really incredible the work that you do, and this institution is stronger and more supportive of the community, and more reflective of the community than we ever have before, and that’s in large part due to Community Board 7, Karla and Leurys’s leadership. So thank you,

 

Greeted with cheers of approval, Cabrera-Carrera later said, “It brings me joy to see all of you today here.” She added, “You can look around the room and everyone here plays a key role in community, whether that is by submitting 311 complaints, escalating those complaints within your city agencies, providing housing linkages between community and other services, I thank you all for showing up.” Some laughs followed the remark about the 311 complaints. Cabrera-Carrera also thanked Reyes and Robles for all their work in bringing the event together.

 

Asked how the honorees were selected, Cabrera-Carrera said, “So, we selected people that we work with most frequently. So these are individuals that are city liaisons, are people that we interact with on a daily basis. In the case of Sanitation, it’s like almost multiple times per day, and they’re very responsive, and so, we wanted to honor that.”

 

The district manager continued, “And then, the community, we wanted to honor people that show up for the community board and we collaborate with very closely to make things happen on a monthly basis, almost weekly, you know, with meeting spaces, events that they host in the parks, things of that nature.”

 

Cabrera Carrera concluded, “And then our board members, we wanted to highlight them because they give a lot of time to the community board, and they show up to a lot of meetings, almost ten meetings per month, and we wanted to take the opportunity. We had a little bit of funding, and said, like, this is is now or never, and so we just went for it.”

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Before presenting the first awards, Robles highlighted the work of local Business Improvement Districts (BIDSs) in terms of advocating for small businesses, health & safety, supplementary sanitation, beautification and more.

 

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The community honorees were Wilma Alonso of Fordham Road BID, Daniela Beasley of the Jerome Gun Hill Road BID, Joshua Stevenson, West Bronx Housing, Eric Urquiza, West Bronx Housing, Elizabeth Quaranta, Future of Mosholu Parkland (FOMP), Molly Mattimore, Housing & Services, Inc., Jackie Ruegger, Monroe University, Jean Hill of the Tracey Towers Tenants Organization (also a Bronx CB7 member) and Brenda Caldwell-Paris of the 52^nd Precinct Community Council.

 

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Not all honorees spoke upon receiving their awards. Alonso kept her remarks short and sweet with a simple, “Go Fordham!” Beasley was unable to make it to the event.

 

Later, Reyes said that over the year, Bronx CB7 hosts 60 to 70 public meetings and thanked the board’s community partners who she said provide meeting spaces and “open their doors not only to us but to the community at large” to facilitate those same meetings. Accepting her award, Hill said, “Thank you one and all. You’re all beautiful people!”

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Later, addressing those gathered amid cheers, Feliz said in part, “Good Evening to the best community board in the Bronx, CB7!” The councilman went on to say that on a serious note, the board served a community that faced a lot of challenges of all kinds and he thanked those who he said worked tirelessly to make life for the community better.

 

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For his part, Dinowitz echoed the sentiment, later joking that Feliz was a brave man for naming his favorite community board. He then congratulated all the honorees and commended them on their work.

 

Some members of the military services were also present, with many attending alongside their family members.

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The agency liaison honorees were Rene Luciano, NYC Department of Transportation (DOT), Jason Jones, NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY), Stephen Echevarria, NYPD 52nd Precinct Community Affairs, Asif Iqbal, NYPD 52nd Precinct commanding officer, Joe Magneri, NYC Department of Parks & Recreation (Parks), and Ryan Arecco, NYC Department of Consumer & Worker Protection (DCWP). Echevarria, Iqbal, and Ardizzone were not present but sent their thanks for the recognition.

 

Introducing the transportation honoree, Board member, Stephen Bogart-Lebow said, “I am the vice chair of the Municipal Services Committee. Please join me in celebrating Rene Luciano. He is the borough planner of the Department of Transportation, and he escalates and he works on all quality-of-life matters related to New York City’s Department of Transportation. He’s a repository, a vessel of knowledge for our matters and others as well, and he advocates internally on all potholes, street lights, street signs, and all other Department of Transportation-related complaints. So, if you have any complaints, he’s the one who’s working on it. So, I want to welcome him. Congratulations!”

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Betty Arce, Bronx CB7 secretary, honored Jones saying his dual commitment to operational excellence and deep neighborhood engagement behind every clean block, safe snow removal, and successful local clean-up made him a leader who she said works tirelessly to ensure the neighborhood remains clean and beautiful. “On behalf of the entire community, we thank you for your early mornings and exceptional service in the district, Jason.”

 

The Bronx CB7 board members who were honored for having served 11 to 15 years on the board were Bogart-Lebow, Craig Rijkaard, Deahna Penn, Yini Rodriguez, Kimberly Troncoso, Muhamed Bayo, Kiani Oro, Khadija Kolya, Marcus McLarty, Esme Sattaur-Low, Robin Rollan, Mamodou Sawaneh, Kimali Corley, Jesús López-Jensen, Tayna Peña, and Tobie Buford.

 

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Finally, board members who served from 20 to 50 years included Helene Hartman-Kutnowsky (20 years), Lowell Green (25 years), Sandra Erikson (25 years), Andrew Laoisa (35 years) and Barbara Stronczer (50 years).

 

Norwood News asked Acosta later what prompted the event. “I think it’s been in the works for a long time,” the Bronx CB7 chair said. “People have asked for it. I remember people would ask the previous chair. Can we do a recognition event? And then Karla…. Shout out to Karla.. and the Garden for hosting us. We spoke about it earlier this year. Karla put the whole thing together. I can’t take any credit for this. We thought about community people we wanted to recognize and board members, themselves.”

 

Asked about the process for selecting the honorees, Acosta said, “Everybody that got nominated or awarded, they have like strong presence on the board. So, you know, every committee has engaged with them to some extent.” He concluded, “This was really nice, better than I expected: really, really well put together, and people were in good spirits, so I’m happy about that.”

 

For her part, honoree and board member, Hartman-Kutnowsky, said, “I just like to remind the community that we have to think big and think small. Always advocate for The Bronx because we need extra love, but also on the community level, you know, coming to the board and whatnot is very important, but also just helping our neighbors, you know; having the tenants’ meetings, getting the rent lowered if it needs to be lowered, just helping out.”

 

Later, Norwood News asked Stronczer after the ceremony if she could recall any highlights of her time on the board over her 50 years. She said, “Well, I would say that I worked with seven or eight district managers over the years.” She added that the revival and restoration of the Bronx Victory Memorial on Mosholu Parkway in Bedford Park and the recent annual ceremonies held around it were some of the highlights.

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We put the same question to Green who said, “Small things like this fire hydrant on Gun Hill Road and it kept running, and it took me two years but it finally got fixed, and Woodlawn Cemetery used to have on 211th Street an entrance, and it was no parking anytime, and they finally needed the space, so they closed the road but it was one space no parking.”

 

She continued, “And I finally got it taken away so one car could park there. I’d also like to say, as an older member, there are a lot of people out there, young and old, who don’t feel comfortable raising their voice but if they see me, they say, ‘Ok I can talk to her,’ and I will keep your name quiet and bring up your concerns and I can’t promise anything, but I’ll see that they get heard.”

 

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Asked if it was a good/rewarding thing to be a board member, Chad Royer, former Veterans Affairs committee chair, who has also been open about his recent cancer journey and road to recovery, told Norwood News on the night, “It allows you to connect with the community.” He added, “You get to see the things that most other people do not see. It helps you understand how different levels of government work, and it gives you the opportunity and the insight on how to solve problems, big and small.”

 

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Meanwhile, Buford later summed up the role of board member, saying, “I think it’s important to give back to the community in a way that helps enhance, so I’m happy to be a board member and I really appreciate the fact that I’ve been reappointed.”

 

Asked if she had any highlights she wanted to share during her time as board chair, former Bronx CB7 chairperson, Yajaira Arias, said,
“For me, every moment has been something important in CB7. There has never been anything that’s not. I’ve learned so much from these people, and I want to continue to learn and express the love that we have for our community, and we just want to keep it going. That’s all.”

 

For some related community board reporting, click here, here, here, here, and here.