civil rights

UPDATE Elections 2023: Bradshaw Takes Challenge of District 14 Seat to the Streets

By DAVID GREENE & SÍLE MOLONEY
State committeewoman for Assembly District 78, Rachel Bradshaw, Fordham Hill Co-op board secretary, and candidate in the upcoming Democratic City Council primary election for District 14, joined a group of supporters on Saturday, May 27, as she took her campaign to unseat the incumbent, Council Member Pierina Sanchez who has held the seat since 2022, to the streets of Fordham Manor.   District 14 broadly encompasses some or all of the neighborhoods of Kingsbridge Heights, Fordham Manor, Fordham Heights, Bedford Park, University Heights, Mt. Hope and Morris Heights. It is bordered to the south by the Cross Bronx Expressway.  


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Manhattan College Student Honored at Pride Ceremony

By SARA MARTINEZ
As Bronx residents and elected officials gathered at Bronx Borough Hall on Thursday, June 1, for the annual Pride ceremony to mark the beginning of Pride Month, one northwest Bronx student was among those being honored this year. The annual tradition of honoring selected members of the Bronx LGBTQIA+ community was also an occasion to witness the raising of the Pride flag, which will fly alongside the American flag and the veterans’ Prisoner of War (POW) / Missing in Action (MIA) flag throughout Pride Month (June).   On the day, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson reiterated New York’s commitment to


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Op-Ed: Bring Paid Family Leave after Stillbirth to a Vote Now

By YUVELCA REYES
Stillbirth is still birth. “A woman who has a stillborn child still goes through the trauma of labor and birth, and this is compounded by the loss of a child,” wrote Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson in her April 2023 Black Maternal Health Week letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.   But right now, our Bronx representative and speaker of the New York State Assembly, Carl Heastie, seems to think it’s okay for New York to revoke a mother’s right to previously-approved paid leave and tell her to “get back to work” only days after birthing and then burying a


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UPDATE “Early Vote by Mail Act” to Enable New Yorkers to Use Mail-In Ballots for Early Voting

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Bronx Assembly Member Karines Reyes, R.N. (A.D. 87) and Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris (S.D. 12) announced on Friday, June 9, that the State Assembly passed their new legislation (S.7394/A.7632) to expand early voting options to include an early vote by mail choice for all New Yorkers. The legislation passed the State Senate earlier this week and now heads to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk for approval.   “We have seen how important it is to have access to mail-in voting,” said Reyes, who broadly represents the Bronx neighborhoods of Castle Hill, Unionport, Parkchester, West Farms and Little Yemen. “This critical


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UPDATE EXCLUSIVE: Construction Workers Burned in Bronx Work-Place Accident Sue Stagg Group & Others

By SÍLE MOLONEY & SARA MARTINEZ
Three migrant construction workers in their twenties, one from Ecuador and one with a young family, who were seriously burned following a work place accident / flash fire in the Williamsbridge section of The Bronx have filed a negligence lawsuit against BE Bronx Builders, LLC, Stagg Group, and Mark Stagg. The accident occurred at 739 East Gun Hill Road, a new building under construction, on Monday, May 15, as reported.   The suit alleges that the named entities are liable for failing to protect their employees from danger while using flammable waterproofing materials, and causing severe burn injuries to them,


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Bedford Park: Boogie Down Celebrates 50 Years of Hip Hop at Lehman

By SÍLE MOLONEY
The following is an extended version of the story that appears in our latest print edition.   Lehman Center for the Performing Arts was the chosen Bronx venue for the 50th anniversary celebration of the birth of Hip Hop on Saturday, May 6, when the Hip Hop Fever 2023 concert kicked off in conjunction with Sal Abbatiello of Fever Records.   In the early 1970s, Hip Hop was born in the South Bronx and the concert celebrated the early pioneers of the now world-famous music genre. The show featured performances by Grandmaster Melle & Scorpio, KRS-One, Kurtis Blow, the Sugar


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Fordham Manor: Law Day at Monroe College Centers on Cornerstones of Democracy

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Law Day 2023 was commemorated at Monroe College School of Criminal and Social Justice on May 10.   New York Supreme Court Judges Leslie Stroth and Kathy King and New York City Criminal Court Judge Yadhira González-Taylor were part of the planning committee who worked with the college’s academic leadership team to attract over 120 high school students to attend. They said students interacted and networked with a distinguished panel of professionals during the event. The panelists comprised Justice Eddie McShan of the appellate division, chief attorney of citywide operations at The Legal Aid Society, Tina Luongo, bureau chief at the


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UPDATE Bronx CB7 Honors Veterans at Bronx Victory Memorial as Pride Flag Debate Continues

By MIRIAM QUIÑONES & SÍLE MOLONEY
  Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7) held their 2nd Annual Veterans’ Memorial Flagging event at the Bronx Victory Memorial, located on Mosholu Parkway in Bedford Park, on Saturday, May 13, 2023, ahead of Memorial Day weekend.   A flagging event is an occasion when residents visit the grave sites or other memorial sites dedicated to veterans and place American flags there in memory and honor of those who served and died for their country. Sometimes, the names of veterans are read aloud and poems or songs are recited/sung.   Those in attendance on the day included Karla Cabrera Carrera, recently


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Ritchie Torres and Mike Lawler Introduce Bill Establishing Special Envoy for the Abraham Accords

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15) recently announced he is partnering with U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler (NY-17), a Republican, to introduce bipartisan legislation establishing a new special envoy position within the U.S. Department of State dedicated to advancing the Abraham Accords – the landmark 2020 U.S.-brokered normalization agreements between Israel and Arab countries in the Middle East.