Labor Unions to KNIC: Don’t Forget About Us

By TATYANA TURNER

While plans for the Kingsbridge National Ice Center (KNIC) are on a holding pattern pending lawsuits, Bronx residents affiliated with labor unions are making sure that jobs for the $350 million project go to them. Union representatives, community advocates, and residents marched around the Kingsbridge Armory, the expected home of KNIC, chanting “Let’s Keep the Fight” in response to the pending decision of whether or not union jobs will be used to help repurpose the 750,000-square-foot space. The Clean Slate, Rebuilding America, and Laborers International Union of North America were some of the unions represented at the protest on June

By TATYANA TURNER and ADRIANNA LOMBARDO

Family members and residents of St. Patrick’s Home Rehabilitation and Health Care Center at 66 Van Cortlandt Pk., So., gathered to celebrate nine residents who can now call themselves centenarians. Centenarians, those who are or over the age of 100, were honored at the Van Cortlandt Village home, with honorees all being women. Two of the honorees were aged 103. So what’s the secret to a long life? One centenarian, who only went by Catherine M., told the Norwood News, “My secret to living so long was having faith.” St. Patrick’s Home has been celebrating centennial birthdays for a decade.

Negotiations between city officials and the developers of the Kingsbridge National Ice Center (KNIC) were not only left at a standstill after a hearing last Thursday, but without its presiding judge. “This appears to be going nowhere, so let me just share something,” said Bronx Supreme Court Judge Ruben Franco, half hour into the proceeding, “this may be it for me on this case.” The two sides had returned to court after Franco recommended the lease to the Kingsbridge Armory, which would be home to the ice center, be temporarily released to KNIC so it can pursue construction-funding options. Franco

Bronxites head to the polls today to do something that hasn’t happened in nearly 50 years: putting someone else other than Congressman Charles Rangel in the 13th Congressional District seat. Nine candidates are vying for the seat, in a race that’s become quite ugly within the last few days. Rangel, who announced his retirement over a year ago, was considered a political giant in Washington D.C., bringing concerns of Harlem to Capitol Hill. The 13th Congressional District was reconfigured a few years ago to include the Bronx, including the Norwood section of the borough. Learn about the candidates in this

This week we asked readers if they think domestic terrorism is on the rise and if stricter federal gun control laws would solve the problem. Most certainly domestic terrorism is definitely on the rise as shown in Orlando, Fla. I believe what [President] Barack Obama was saying at a town hall meeting, and he made a great analogy with driving and guns. People were dying in accidents at a phenomenal rate until they did a study and they were able to determine that seat belts save lives. The gun lobbyists won’t let us do any kind of research at all,

By DAVID CRUZ

In the last three decades, employees from Montefiore Health System made it a point to join hundreds of people in marching at the Gay Pride Parade in Manhattan. Teams of hospital employees, decked out in rainbow-colored shirts, would amble along Fifth Avenue in solidarity with members of the LGBTQ community, in which many call Montefiore their go-to hospital or their employer. This year, and perhaps in perpetuity, a first-ever float bearing the hospital logo will roll out at the festal parade, joining a cavalcade of other floats that send its message of support to the gay community. It also serves

Editor’s Pick Fireworks for the Fourth The public is invited to an American Fireworks Extravaganza at Orchard Beach on June 30 after 9 p.m. in an early celebration of Independence Day. The event is sponsored by the Office of the Bronx Borough President. All music will feature Bronx artists. For more information, visit www.ilovethebronx.com. Events The artwork of Suzanne Axelbank will be featured Sunday, June 26, from 12 to 4 p.m. at Tilila, 3648 Bailey Ave, as part of its Bronx Artist Brunch. The brunch will also feature performances by the Paul Carlon Jazz Trio. For more information, call (929)

Dear Fellow Readers, It’s that time again! The latest edition of Norwood News is out, featuring plenty of community news you can use! We begin, of course, with the front page story on a new program rolled out by the 52nd Precinct dubbed the Neighborhood Coordination Officer program. Find out how this program, in the works for nearly a year, can do with improve the fraught relationship between the community and police. On page 2 you’ll find our take on what can make the program a true success. More inside-the-cover stories include the latest in several key political races in the

The 52nd Precinct rolled out its Neighborhood Coordination Officer (NCO) program, falling under its Neighborhood Policing Plan, a commendable patrol program in which a handful of cops will permanently stay within a segment of a precinct to derail crime (see the front page story on the introduction of the program). The new role officers have adopted is nearly akin to a small-town sheriff—they know everyone and everyone knows them. For the pair of officers immersing themselves in the respective neighborhoods of Norwood, Bedford Park, University Heights, Fordham and Kingsbridge Heights, interfacing with the public can be awkward, maybe uncomfortable for