Out & About: Make Time for Tree Lightings

Editor’s Pick Bronx Tree Lightings The public is invited to attend local tree lighting events: Dec. 7 at 5:30 p.m. at the plaza on Jerome Avenue and Mosholu Parkway North, sponsored by the Jerome-Gun Hill BID, and includes Christmas carols with Santa, hot chocolate, cookies, and gifts (718) 324-4946; on Dec. 8 at 6 p.m., at the Mosholu Parkway Lawn at the intersection of Mosholu Parkway and Bainbridge Avenue, sponsored by Bronx Community Board #7 (718) 933-5650; and on Dec. 2 from 5 to 8 p.m. at Bryan Park (East Fordham Road and Kingsbridge Road), featuring Santa Claus, free presents

With fears a Trump presidency can erode protections for undocumented immigrants in the Bronx, home to some 250,000 undocumented immigrants, city officials and legal experts are utilizing every stipulation to stave off any removal of rights. They’ve also underscored that the process of deportation is easier said than done. The panel of experts, convening at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, told reporters of the ethnic and community press that immigrants with undocumented status should begin preparing for the worst case scenario: deportation. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to deport 3 million undocumented immigrants, stirring anxieties and apprehension toward a

By DAVID CRUZ

The troubled DeWitt Clinton High School, considered one of the worst-performing schools in the New York City public school system, is now left without its principal amid accusations he fixed grades, according to reports. Santiago Taveras was removed as principal of the once-famed school early this week. The New York Times reported Taveras was removed after an internal investigation by the New York City Department of Education found he changed grades on student transcripts while threatening to remove an assistant principal in keeping it quiet by giving the principal a poor rating. Accusations Taveras altered grades was first reported by

Hello Fellow Readers! Happy belated Thanksgiving Day to all our readers. We hope you took the time to pause and reflect on the good things that have come to your lives in 2016 and beyond. We hope one of the good things is reading the latest edition of the Norwood News, which hit newsstands last week. Here, you can sample the latest edition digitally, from the comfort of your computer or smartphone. We begin with a story we’ve been following for several months: the preservation of Bedford Park. Bronx Community Board 7 has begun holding a series of workshops on

Paula Caplan sat in the Sister Annunciata Bethell Senior Center in Bedford Park, surrounded by a group of concerned community members as they listed gripes for overdevelopment. She listened and watched as her colleague jotted down a vision residents have carved for their neighborhood. As CEO of the Collective for Community, Culture, and Environment (CCCE) and hired by Community Board 7 at a rate of $25,000 to make a compelling argument for neighborhood preservation, Caplan is tasked to argue for what the residents want. She’s expected to take her findings to the New York City Department of City Planning (DCP)

By DEBORAH CRUZ

Things got heated at a Community Engagement Forum where the results of a two-month study on Norwood were unveiled. The findings were surprising, but its presentation irked community stakeholders already aware of its problems. The study by the Public Agenda, a civic engagement think tank commissioned by the de Blasio administration, sparked much debate between the study’s investigator, Nicole Hewitt, and guests who found the study pointless. “We don’t need people to come and tell us what the problems are, we know what they are. We need solutions,” said Sheila Sanchez, president of Friends of Williamsbridge Oval. Hewitt reviewed the

Call it a step in the right direction. Funds have been earmarked to fix an elongated staircase in Kingsbridge. The $7 million bid to fix the so-called step street at 229th Street between Heath and Summit avenues. Residents have long complained about the treacherous step street, which remained in use despite barricades by the city Department of Transportation. Long Island-based construction firm Padilla Construction Services Inc. won the bid to restore the concrete steps.

Plan for Mosholu Parkway Trees to be Removed Only to be Replanted

It seems money grows on trees for the Parks Department. The city agency looks to spend several hundred thousand dollars to dig up close to 200 trees along Mosholu Parkway and replant them, leaving those want the young arbors exactly where they are scratching their heads. Parks explained in a letter to Elizabeth Quaranta, president of Friends of Mosholu Parkland, a volunteer advocacy group, that the agency “is currently reviewing its plans for the transplanting of these trees,” adding “no work will be done until the plans are reviewed by and confirmed with the community.” Still, the mere decision

City To Grant Jerome Park Reservoir Access on May 20 and 21

By DAVID CRUZ

The city is once again reopening Jerome Park Reservoir for one November weekend, throwing a bone to residents who’ve longed for permanent access to the closed-off site. “No restrictions,” said Adaline Walker-Santiago, Community Board 7 chair and member of the Filtration Monitoring Committee (FMC), the group that campaigned for access. “All residents will be able to go inside the gates of the reservoir. We’ll walk around the reservoir.” The city Department of Environmental Protection has kept the public off the reservoir grounds, citing safety concerns to the millions of gallons of drinkable water to the city. This is the second