The following is an updated version of the story that appears in our latest print edition.

 

Bronx Week 2022 kicked off informally on Monday, May 2, at the Northeast Bronx YMCA as its sponsors, supporters and organizers gathered to give the media a taste of what was to come, following a two-year hiatus from large-scale physical gatherings, celebrating the annual festival.

 

Hosted by the Bronx Tourism Council, the Office of the Bronx Borough President, and the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, the 10-day festival was packed with several events relevant to every sector of the community, including senior activities, small business networking, family, health, finance, sport, and entertainment.

 

The festival also overlapped with National Small Business Week 2022, with a five-borough, five-day tour organized by City officials, culminating in Little Yemen on Friday, May 6, and a visit to the neighborhood by Mayor Eric Adams, Small Business Commissioner Kevin D. Kim and others.

 

During her opening remarks at the YMCA on May 2, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson paid tribute to all who had helped bring the event together which she said had been quite an accomplishment given they only started planning for it in January, at a time when the borough was already reeling from dealing with various tragedies. Thanking all who had made it possible, including her staff, elected officials, sponsors, colleagues and partners, especially Olga Luz Tirado, executive director of Bronx Tourism Council, Gibson said, “We wanted to make sure that Bronx Week could happen but this year, because after two years of a hiatus, we said we have to come back stronger than ever!”

 

Saying she was excited to announce the arrival of the first Bronx Week celebration as The Bronx’s new borough president, she added, “This is truly a time to celebrate and to highlight, to promote, and amplify the voices of our Bronxites, of our cultural institutions, of our educational centers, community partners, our restaurants, businesses, everyone that truly counts to make the beautiful mosaic of The Bronx.”

 

Tirado said she wasn’t going to belabor the point about the damage that had been done to the borough during the previous two years of the pandemic, preferring instead to talk about the future, and highlighting both the official Bronx Week events that were planned and also the informal community organized events taking place.

 

“Bronx Week is back!” she proclaimed joyfully, before thanking the event’s sponsors, Humana, Waste Management, Altice, Bronxcare, Con Edison, Empire BlueCross & Blue Shield, Montefiore Einstein, PepsiCo, Lincoln Hospital, Visiting Nurse Services of New York, Bronx Community College, Hostos Community College, and United Healthcare. “We’re really excited, very excited that it’s back and that we’re making it happen,” she said, adding that the Bronx borough president’s office had pulled out all the stops to make sure that everyone came together and celebrated again. “It’s been a while, right, we haven’t celebrated? And now we’re celebrating and that’s a wonderful thing.”

 

Gibson later addressed the pandemic, saying, “COVID-19 has had such an impact on this country, on the State, on the City, and certainly on The Bronx – one of the highest death rates to COVID, so many people that are dealing with health disparities, unfortunately, that was further exacerbated by COVID-19. So, we’ve been through so much, and I truly know that COVID was a setback for us in The Bronx, but if you know, like I know, every setback is preparation for a turnback, and Bronx Week 2022 is the borough’s official comeback like never before!”

 

The borough president also used the occasion to acknowledge the acting president of the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, Rafael Roger, and also thanked the festivals partners and sponsors for their support. “Thank you so much for not just lending your name, but certainly your commitment to making Bronx Week 2022 a great success,” she said.

 

Both Tirado and Gibson singled out Essen Healthcare, with Gibson saying the provider had been amazing. “It is such a blessing to work with you during this pandemic. We’ve given out so much PPP, vaccine booster shots, we’ve had resource fairs, health fairs..” she said. “You have been great and we’re just looking forward to even more work together to provide primary care, access to our wraparound services and making sure that we take care of all of our children and families in The Bronx.”

 

For her part, addressing those gathered, Silvia Posada of Essen Healthcare, said, “We’re nothing but happy to be sponsoring and partnering with Bronx Week, with Vanessa, for such a huge cause. Before I go on, I want to say happy EID to all of those who celebrate: many, many, many blessings!

 

Posada then went on share a quote: “A career is what you’re paid to do. A calling is what you’re made to do,” adding that ifanyone had been following Gibson’s career, the borough presidency was exactly what she was made to do in leading The Bronx “to make it become even better.”

 

Posada continued, “If you have been following all of her work, you will know that she’s a strong advocate for her community, and you know that she’s working tirelessly for a stronger and a healthier Bronx. Bronx Week is yet another historical moment for you, Vanessa. This is transformational action. This is history in the making – a strong year that African American women lead the charge in creating diversity and creating much more access to healthcare, which is what we want.”

 

She said Essen was delighted to be part of the journey. “We are nothing but humbled to be your partner in all of this, so we look forward to working with you for many, many, many Bronx Weeks to come,” Posada said. “We’re excited to be a part of your legacy, and we’re excited to have been in The Bronx for over 20 years, and we’re strongly confident that we’re going to be here for another 20 years to come. So, happy, happy Bronx Week from the bottom of Essen’s heart. Thank you for having us here and allowing us this opportunity.”

 

Later, Meishay Gattis, executive director of the Northeast Bronx YMCA, also delivered a short speech. The state-of-the-art YMCA, located at 1250 E 229th Street in the Edenwald section of the borough is not long opened, and was the venue chosen for the recent visit to The Bronx by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in October 2021. Gattis said he was happy and honored to be a part of the Bronx Week festivities. Referring to the center itself, he said, “It’s been 30 years in the making for another facility like this, and I just want to say that the YMCA is here to bring, you know, services to all our friends. We’ll be opening another facility in June, so for us, it’s really about empowering, strengthening health, and bringing communities together.”

 

Later, referencing the addition of the silent disco event at Woodlawn Cemetery to the Bronx Week line-up, an event which went ahead despite the rain, Gibson said, amid some laughter, “I was a little nervous about having a silent disco in Woodlawn Cemetery, and then I got over it, and I say, it’ll be great, and all of that will bring some vibrancy to Woodlawn Cemetery!”

 

The borough president went on to say that it was important to celebrate the best of the borough, referencing in particular “our veterans, our seniors, our entrepreneurs, our educators, our first responders, essential workers, frontline staff, volunteers, all of our professionals, elected officials, so many that have helped to make the borough a great place to live, work and raise your family as we move The Bronx forward.”

 

Despite the joy of returning to in-person events, Gibson also spoke of some of the various tragedies that had beset the borough during her first few months in office. “It has been a challenging two years. As I mentioned, COVID and the impact, the plague of gun violence, and so many things we’ve experienced here in The Bronx and in the City,” she said.

 

“Many times, people have tried to knock us down and we get back up again,” she said. “We show strength in the times of challenge, and I often say, we’ve been through a lot of pain, but somehow we have found purpose through pain. We’ve been through many storms but yet, somehow, we find strength in the storm.”

 

She continued, “As many of you know, my first week in office in January, we had one of the most horrific residential fires that the City of New York has seen in 30 years at Twin Parks Northwest, and 17 neighbors perished as a result of this fire, but the entire building was devastated, was traumatized, and many will never be the same again.”

 

Gibson said her office, countless volunteers and organizations, and community partners had joined together to help the impacted families during what she said was their greatest time of need. As previously reported, some residents had complained that relief for the victims and survivors of Twin Parks was not delivered quickly enough, and despite an immediate outpouring of large-scale donations. Gibson addressed the point at the time, explaining that it had taken some time to work through the bureaucratic aspects of processing certain types of housing vouchers for the impacted families with the federal housing authority. As previously reported, a class action lawsuit by a number of Twin Parks residents is underway.

 

She went on to say that people might have thought that the Twin Parks fire was the only fire during this time and that although it had indeed been the most tragic, and one that had claimed the lives of many neighbors, she added that since then, there had been many other fires, both residential and commercial.

 

The theme of Bronx Week 2022 was “History in the Making” and was particularly relevant given the historic significance of Gibson’s own election as the first woman and African American to serve in the role of Bronx borough president, but that was not all. The borough also saw the historic election of deputy Bronx borough president, Janet Peguero, as reported, the first Dominican immigrant to be appointed to the office. Together, the two women made further history by becoming the first ever female team to lead the borough.

Thank you @bronxbp @Vanessalgibson for working 24 hrs a day to help affected families every way possible. You’ve been an incredible partner every step of the way. https://t.co/vICUsjJIVe

— Oswald Feliz (@OswaldFeliz) May 24, 2022

 

For her part, Peguero, who was also present for the Bronx Week kick-off event, welcomed everyone in Spanish and gave an overview of the festival highlights, including the Hall of Fame inductees.

 

A tradition for more than 40 years, Bronx Week is an annual celebration of the culture, beauty, and institutions of the borough, and as usual, culminated with a black-tie gala, held this year at The Peninsula, located at 1215 Spofford Avenue in the South Bronx, and organized for the first time by Bronx-based, events management company, E218 Events Management, on Saturday, May 14, when three more Bronx Walk of Fame inductees were honored.

 

Since 1997, the Bronx Walk of Fame has served as the premier honor in the boogie down borough and can be bestowed upon any Bronx native deemed worthy of the honor. Past luminaries include Prince Royce, Chazz Palmintieri, Fat Joe, and Swizz Beats. This year’s honorees were actor, Luis Antonio Ramos, entertainer, poet, artist and writer, Remy Ma, and cinematographer, producer and artist, Eif Rivera, as reported.

 

According to the borough president’s office, Rivera was raised in the South Bronx and is of Puerto Rican descent. He began illustrating comic book characters at a young age using different mediums to bring his work to life. His obsession for art and music led him to the passionate and thriving world of Hip-Hop culture.

 

He attended the NYC High School for Art and Design and made music industry connections which led him to create logos, album covers and campaigns for the Hip-Hop community like the iconic “Big Pun” logo and the wildly successful logo for Young Jeezy’s Snowman.

 

Rivera is now a TV episodic director with his first directorial debut on the Starz / Lionsgate network. His portfolio of work includes directing “Raising Kanan,” “Black Mafia Family,” and “The Bobby Brown Story,” to name a few. He won the “Video of the Year” award at the 2020 CBS/BET network awards show, “Video of the Year” at the 2019 Latin American Music Awards, along with Dj Khaled’s Grammy win for  “Higher,” featuring John Legend. He has amassed over 2 billion YouTube views for just two videos alone: Cardi B’s “I Like It” and Justin Biebers’ “I’m the One”.

 

Ramos, the second inductee, was, according to Gibson’s office, born in San Germán, Puerto Rico, and raised in The Bronx. He is known for his role in the American drama series “Power,” for his work in Spike Lee’s film, “Do the Right Thing,” and for the sitcom, “Martin.” He had recurring roles in several television shows such as on “In the House” and “Ink,” and had guest-starring roles on “NYPD Blue,” “Just Shoot Me,” “The Drew Carey Show,” “The Jamie Foxx Show,” “New York Undercover,” “Mad About You,” “Law & Order” and “Miami Vice.”

 

He starred in the film, “Miracle In Spanish Harlem,” in which he played a single father of two young girls, and on USA Network’s “The Huntress.” His TV movie career includes, “The Other Side of Dark,” “Mothershed or Berndt,” “The Anissa Ayala Story,” and “Nails.”

 

Ramos is the recipient of the “Helen Hayes Award” for Best Actor for his performance in the play “Stand Up Tragedy.” His additional theater work includes “Dancing on Her Knees,” “Cloud Tectonics,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Tears Will Tell It All,” “Widows,” “Richard II,” “Henry the IV,” “Pendragon,” “The Sound of Music,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and “Latins from Manhattan.”

 

The third inductee, Ma was, according to the borough president’s office, also born in The Bronx and grew up in the Castle Hill Projects. She started writing poetry at a young age and her work caught the eye of rapper, Big Pun. She began her career singing on Big Pun’s album “Yeeeah Baby.”

 

🎉Our Bronx Ball was INCREDIBLE. It was so wonderful to celebrate the culmination of our first Bronx Week with The Bronx Ball 2022!

🎉Once again, thank you everyone who joined us last night. pic.twitter.com/nTv8GtyIKn

— Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson (@bronxbp) May 16, 2022

After the rapper’s untimely death, rapper, Fat Joe, signed her to his imprint label under SRC and Universal where she became a member of his hip-hop group, “Terror Squad.” Ma appeared on their second album, “True Story,” and their single, “Lean Back”, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and earned her a Grammy nomination.

 

In 2006, she released her debut album, “There’s Something About Remy: Based on a True Story,” which was supported by the singles “Whuteva”, “Conceited” and “Feels So Good”. She continued to work with Fat Joe and recorded, “All the Way Up”, receiving platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America, and two Grammy Award nominations. Last year, Ma starred in the film “6:45,” a horror film directed by Craig Singer.

 

Of this year’s inductees, Gibson said the three incredible individuals had used their talents and their skills to showcase The Bronx in a positive light, and truly changed the narrative that others had created for the borough. “As people that live and work and raise your families and are invested in this world, we know that we are a world of hard work of resilience, of strength,” she said.

 

Concluding her remarks, which she echoed on many occasions throughout the festival’s duration, Gibson said, “I’m just so grateful because Bronx Week, to me, is not just our commitment to this borough but in five months, when many felt it was impossible to do, we made it possible so, I am proud to lead this great borough!”