Morris Heights: HPD Launches Housing Lottery for Units at St. Francis Commons

By SÍLE MOLONEY

NYC Department of Housing, Preservation & Development (HPD) has launched an affordable housing lottery for units at St. Francis Commons, a 7-story, mixed-use building at 1544 Shakespeare Avenue in the Morris Heights section of The Bronx, as reported by YIMBY. St. Francis Commons is an affordable housing project located in Bronx Community District 5 in the neighborhood of Morris Heights. The building consists of 85 newly constructed units; 45 one-bedroom units, 34 two-bedroom units, and 6 three-bedroom units distributed throughout the seven-story building. St. Francis Commons is closely located to the 4 and D subway stations, as well as

By MIRIAM QUIÑONES

New York Public Library (NYPL) hosted the annual Bronx Anti-Prom event this year at Grand Concourse Library on Friday, June 9. Each year, NYPL organizes an Anti-Prom event in each City borough at different locations as an alternative to the traditional local high school proms for students celebrating the end of high school, to celebrate Pride and who may feel more comfortable in a different setting. NYPL had encouraged members throughout Pride Month to explore its world-renowned collections. The Library has one of the largest collections of LGBTQ+ history and activism, including hundreds of thousands of letters, manuscripts, photographs, posters,

By SÍLE MOLONEY

New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced on June 30 that the agency will launch LockerNYC, a pilot program this summer to cut down on package theft and reduce delivery truck trips. The LockerNYC pilot program, which will run for one year, will allow New Yorkers to conveniently receive and send packages using secure lockers on public sidewalks, DOT officials said. The pilot will include 15 locations and offer customers free 24/7 access, according to DOT officials. They said the program will be available to anyone who is interested and, unlike other delivery lockers, the LockerNYC program

By VINCENT MARCHELLO

Building healthier communities requires deliberate action every day to improve individuals’ lives. Every time a person goes to a doctor for a check-up or gets important immunizations, health outcomes improve, and communities grow stronger. Ensuring people have access to quality, affordable health coverage is one of the most important ways to help accomplish this goal. During the COVID-19 pandemic, enrollment in Medicaid and Child Health Plus increased 23.4% to about 9 million people in New York State, according to the State Department of Health. Those 9 million people will need to act soon to keep their health

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

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

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Editor’s Note: Check back for more updates as we add more events. Bronx CB7 Community Coordinator Bronx Community Board 7 is hiring a community coordinator. For details, visit www.nyc.gov/jobs and search for job ID number 587540. Hot Meal Giveaway District 13 City Council Member Marjorie Velázquez is partnering with GrubHub, and Pelham Parkway Houses Tenant Association president, Oscar Grant, for the first “Serving the City” in Council District 13, on Monday, June 26, at 12:15 p.m. where hot meals will be distributed to families in Pelham Parkway Houses, in collaboration with Pelham Parkway Houses Tenant Association, at 780

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officials reminds the public that comments on proposed changes to fares and tolls can be submitted online. In addition, they said a series of four hybrid public fare hearings will be held between Thursday, June 22, and Monday, June 26. All hearings will take place in person at MTA Headquarters located at 2 Broadway, New York, on the 20th Floor in the William J. Ronan Board Room and will be streamed live via Zoom and YouTube. Members of the public who wish to speak can provide comments either in person or via Zoom, according

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.