Community

Smiles All Around at National Puerto Rican Day Parade’s Annual 152nd Street Cultural Festival

By MIRIAM QUIÑONES
The National Puerto Rican Day Parade’s Annual 152nd Street Cultural Festival was held on Saturday, May 27, under glorious sunshine in the South Bronx and drew a host of City and borough elected officials along with around one thousand festival goers to celebrate the occasion.   The festival is a free, family-friendly event that celebrates Puerto Rican culture and heritage, held on 152nd Street between Jackson and Tinton Avenues, with food, music, games, live entertainment and lots of Boricua pride! Soundboy Ariel Cartagena, a Latin Hip Hop artist, had everyone on their feet during his lively performance. The festival is


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Kingsbridge Heights Community Center Holds 10th Annual Neighborhood Festival

By MIRIAM QUIÑONES
Kingsbridge Heights Community Center (KHCC) hosted its 10th Annual Neighborhood Festival on Friday, June 16, celebrating both Pride and Juneteenth. The event was held at the center located at 3101 Kingsbridge Terrace.   KHCC is a settlement house founded in 1974 by community activists Janet Athanasidy, Patricia Burns, and Mary McLoughlin, serving the Kingsbridge Heights neighborhood and the Bronx. KHCC offers programs and services in multiple sites for more than 4,500 people annually from English language classes to childcare to early head start programs, a food pantry, gardening, a day summer camp and more. A planned barbecue was brought inside on the day due to a thunderstorm, but the


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Bronx Town Hall Touts Public Banking Benefits to Locals

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT
  At a public meeting billed as a “Boroughwide Town Hall on Public Banking,” representatives from ten Bronx-based groups joined various elected officials to push for State and City legislators to build upon efforts to promote worker-owned businesses, increase community land trusts, and facilitate access to more local credit unions as an alternative to big commercial banks.   On May 11, inside the auditorium of the Bronx Library Center, located in Fordham Manor, attendees viewed video and slide presentations describing how these actions could improve economic conditions in the borough.   Listed as expected attendees on the press release announcing


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Diocese of New York Launches NY Episcopal Federal Credit Union on Ascension Day

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Just days before the consecration of Bishop Coadjutor-elect Matthew Heyd on Ascension Day, Thursday, May 18, the New York Episcopal Federal Credit Union (NYEFCU) was officially launched at the campus of St. James Church in Fordham Manor. A coadjutor is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop and is also often designated as the bishop’s successor. The Rt. Rev. Andrew ML Dietsche, the 16th Bishop of New York, and Heyd were present on the day to launch the credit union and ceremonially open the first accounts. They said it marked a major milestone in enhancing financial inclusivity for those


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Inquiring Photographer: Thoughts on Double Parking

By DAVID GREENE
This week, we asked readers their thoughts on the age-old problem of double parking, the problems it can cause, as well as possible solutions.   “I see a lot of cops stop people from double parking because every time there’s double parking, it always causes a lot of traffic and people can’t get through. If people keep on double parking, they’re just going to get tickets. If they don’t want to get a ticket, you must move the car because the cops always come around and tell you no double parking. There should be even more enforcement.” Allan Peisel, Norwood “It


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UPDATE ELECTIONS 2023: Unofficial Results of Bronx Primary Races on Election Night & Ranked Choice

By SÍLE MOLONEY, MIRIAM QUIÑONES & DAVID GREENE
After the polls closed on Tuesday, June 27, NYC Board of Elections released the initial, unofficial results of the primary elections which took place that day, based on a percentage of returned poll site scanners.   The initial results cover both early votes and election day votes. Absentee and overseas ballots still have to be counted, as do the remaining scanners. Below is a summary of the unofficial results for The Bronx. The latest updated results as of June 28 are also now included below.   Democratic incumbent, Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark led with 72.72 percent of votes


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Fordham Manor: Police Appeal for Help Locating Missing 15-Year-Old Girl

By SÍLE MOLONEY
The NYPD is asking for the public’s help locating a 15-year-old girl reporting missing from Fordham Manor. Police said that Khaidley Rodriguez of 2687 Heath Avenue was last seen on June 17, at around 11 p.m., leaving her home. They said she is described as female, is around 5 feet, 5 inches in height, is Black Hispanic, weighs around 120 pounds, and has brown eyes and long brown hair. They said she was last seen wearing a black sweater, black shorts and black/white sneakers. Anyone with information regarding this missing person is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline


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Art Exhibit Celebrates “Friendship & Activism” of Puerto Rican and Irish LGBTQ+ Activists

By SÍLE MOLONEY
In honor of LGBTQ+ Pride 2023, Fordham University Lincoln Center’s Quinn Library and NYPL Belmont Branch, in partnership with the Bronx County Historical Society, opened Have a Heart, an exhibit that celebrates Bronx-born Puerto Rican activist Jesús Lebrón and his central role in struggles for LGBTQ+ rights, including marriage equality.   Twenty years ago, in 2003, Jesús, with fellow activist and close friend, Brendan Fay, co-founded The Civil Marriage Trail Project, an organization that helped bring same-sex couples across borders for legal marriage. Among the couples were Edie Windsor (1929–2017) and Thea Spyer (1931–2009) who married in Toronto on May


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Elected Officials Join BronxNet for Formal Opening of New Studio in the South Bronx

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT
  BronxNet, the public TV network which serves the borough, has expanded its operations to include a new location in the South Bronx at 441 Westchester Avenue. Officially named the BronxNet Media + Technology Studios at La Central, it is a short walk from the Hub, the commercial heart of the South Bronx at Third Avenue and East 149th Street.   Elected officials joined network executives and personalities for the ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 11. Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson joined other elected officials including State Senators José M. Serrano (S.D. 29), and Luis Sepúlveda (S.D. 32), Assembly Members


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