Community

UPDATE MTA, DOT Outline Bx12 Planned Service Improvements on Fordham Road & on Other Routes

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT
Regular riders of the Bx12 bus who complain that most days the buses are crowded, and that there are not enough of them can look to the latest findings from both the Metropolitan Transportation Administration (MTA) and NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) for confirmation. Officials from both agencies updated residents and Bronx Community Board 7’s Traffic & Transportation committee at the last committee meeting before the summer break on Thursday, June 1.   Reading from a slide show presentation, one official said, “The Bx12 is the busiest bus route in The Bronx, and second busiest in NYC after the M15.”


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2023 Lehman College Commencement Celebrates Diverse Paths to Higher Education  

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT
More than 3,450 graduates gathered on the athletic fields of Lehman College in Bedford Park on June 1 to participate in the college’s 55th Commencement ceremony. With sunny, blue skies above them, and surrounded by family and friends who filled the outer banks of the fields, and took up more than half the playing field, graduates received some inspirational advice from academic leaders, honorary degree recipients, and fellow graduate, Alesha Alli.   “What you want to be is not the same as what you want to do,” Alli said during her address. “In the real world, who we choose to


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UPDATE Dr. Stevie…..the Wonder

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Music legend Stevie Wonder received an honorary doctorate of humane letters at Fordham University’s 178th Commencement on May 20 at the college’s Rose Hill campus in Fordham Manor. Despite the dismal, intermittent rainfall, Wonder offered the Class of 2023 some words of heartfelt gratitude to be counted among its members.

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 Morris Heights: NYPD Launch Homicide Investigation after Man 42 is Fatally Shot

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Police have launched a murder inquiry following the death of a 42-year-old man in Morris Heights in the early hours of Saturday morning.   Police said that officers from the 46th Precinct responded to a 911 call on Saturday, June 10, at around 4.46 a.m. regarding a man who had been shot in front of 1538 University Avenue.   “Upon arrival, officers observed a 42-year-old male with gunshot wounds to the right arm and torso,” a police spokesperson said. “EMS responded to the location and transported the victim to NYC Health & Hospitals/Lincoln, where he was pronounced deceased. There are


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Wakefield: Police Investigate Discovery of Semi-Decomposed Body of Woman Found in Wooded Area

By SÍLE MOLONEY
The discovery of the semi-decomposed body of a woman at the end of a quiet residential block in the Wakefield section of The Bronx has alarmed local residents and launched a police inquiry.   An NYPD spokesperson said that on Friday, June 9, at around 12.16 p.m., police from the 47th Precinct responded to a 911 call of “an aided” [person] at the rear of 4438 Edson Avenue.   “Upon arrival, officers observed an unconscious and unresponsive female, semi-decomposed inside a plastic bin,” the spokesperson said. “EMS responded and pronounced the female deceased at the scene. The City’s medical examiner


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UPDATE Guerinos Against Graffitti* Share Results of Local Clean-Up of East 204th Street

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Local graffiti removal group, Guerinos against Graffitti* have been thanked by their neighbors following the group’s confirmation that most of the graffiti on 204th Street between Mosholu Parkway and Valentine Avenue in Bedford Park has been recently removed. Sirio Guerino, cofounder of the group, said the work was done in honor of the May 52nd Precinct Community Council Meeting.   Local community members were grateful for the group’s efforts. “YAY Serio and the SAG group! On behalf of all long-time, Norwood residents ….THANK YOU!!!!,” said Marilyn Reyes.   Meanwhile, Friends of Mosholu Parkland said, “Thank you so much !!!”   Guerino


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UPDATE Norwood & Bedford Park Community Mourns Death of Tracey Towers Longtime, Beloved Resident Sallie Caldwell

By SÍLE MOLONEY
  Longtime, beloved Tracey Towers resident, Sallie Caldwell, an active member of the Norwood and Bedford Park communities, a board member of the Jerome Gun Hill BID, and honorary member of the 52nd Precinct Community Council, has died at the age of 84.   The news was confirmed by Caldwell’s daughter, Brenda Caldwell-Paris, president of the 52nd Precinct Community Council, as well as by president of the Tracey Towers Tenants Organization, Jean Hill, on Wednesday morning, June 7.   Tributes were already starting to pour in on Wednesday by residents of Norwood, Bedford Park, and from other longtime colleagues upon


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Bronx Community Board 7 Members Attend Flagging Event at Woodlawn Cemetery

By DAVID GREENE
  Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7) members joined residents for the annual “flagging of the graves” event on Wednesday, May 24, ahead of Memorial Day weekend, Volunteers at Woodlawn Cemetery on Webster Avenue on the Norwood-Woodlawn border also participated by locating the gravesites of U.S. veterans and placing an American flag at each grave.   As CB7 members arrived, with invited guests, Bonnie Morales, army veteran and support coordinator at NY Outreach Services, and Ronald Downs, suicide prevention community engagement & partnerships coordinator for the local VA hospital in Fordham Manor, they were greeted by Meg Ventrudo, executive director of Woodlawn Conservancy.


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