EDITORIAL: A Neighborhood’s Longstanding Plea for a Park Paid Lip Service

There’s a photo buried in the Norwood News archives taken over a decade ago, but completely relevant today. It’s that of an abandoned hatchback vehicle, its windows shattered and bodywork charred, found blocking the entrance to a rundown city-owned lot on Decatur Avenue and Oliver Place. By the looks of it, the vehicle plowed into the space, and was left to rot.

Out & About

Editor’s Pick Free Concerts at the Oval Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and the Bronx Council on the Arts present free: Orquesta SCC, featuring salsa music, Aug. 5; and New York Skyscrapers and Friends, performing contemporary pop, jazz, funk, R&B, soul and rock, Aug. 11; both from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Williamsbridge Oval (rain location: recreation center’s 2nd floor multi-purpose room). For more information, call (718) 543-8672 or (718) 515-2495.

Bringing Healthy Food to Norwood

By HAYDEE CAMACHO Every Thursday during the summer and fall, a truck journeys from Norwich Meadows Farm north of Binghamton to the Bainbridge Community Garden at 2980 Bainbridge Ave. There, members of the Norwood/Bedford Food Cooperative Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) begin unloading the cargo of produce picked just that morning. Bins fill to the brim with zucchini, red and green lettuces, cauliflower, peas, fennel, onions, garlic and black radishes.

Solemnity and Rapture in Last Sunday Service at St. Ann’s Church

By DAVID CRUZ The final night of Novena of St. Ann’s marked the last day of service at the Shrine Church of St. Ann’s on Bainbridge Avenue in Norwood, with a resounding call for unity between St. Ann’s parishioners and those from St. Brendan’s, a neighboring catholic church. Last year the Archdiocese of New York decided to merge the two.

Latest Digital Download of Norwood News Is Available!

By DAVID CRUZ The latest, community-packed edition of the Norwood News is out with plenty of community news you can use. This is our month-long edition where we hope to keep you in the know with some community happenings taking place near you. We first, however, go to Kingsbridge where tenants at a newly plush apartment building are getting soaked with a proposed rent increase as high as $500. Read what tenants and the building landlords have to say, and how elected are stepping in to get a handle on this. Check out another related story of a Creston Avenue landlord

By VIVIAN CARTER The Bardekova Ensemble, founded in the Bronx more than 30 years ago, continues its melodious quest to bring free concerts to Bronx residents, regardless of age or socio-economic status, with two programs at landmark Bronx venues this week. On Sunday July 12, the group’s quintet, composed entirely of wind instrument performers, filled the majestic Woolworth Chapel at Woodlawn Cemetery with the classical sounds of groundbreaking European composers Mozart and Rossini. Guests also enjoyed the musical strains of George M. Cohan and Irving Berlin, two famed American composers whose final resting places are on the Woodlawn grounds. Breezes

Neighborhood Notes

Free Curb Dog Signs Free “curb your dog” signs are available to homeowners and building superintendents at Community Board 7’s office, 229A E. 204th St., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call (718) 933-5650 to schedule a pickup. School Lunch Program The summer school lunch program is now available to children ages 18 and under and disabled young adults over 18 who are enrolled in school programs. To find a site in your community, call (800) 522-5006 or visit www.summermealsny.org. Food Assistance Programs The New York Coalition Against Hunger offers information on several food assistance programs including the federal SNAP/food

Out & About

Editor’s Pick Adults are invited to sign up for a free Adult Summer Reading 2015 at the Bronx Library Center, 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd. and submit reviews at www.summerreading.org or in the library by 5 p.m. on Aug. 28. Prizes will be awarded to the four individuals who read the most books and post/submit reviews. Winners will be announced on Aug. 29 at 2:30 p.m. This program is open only to those who select the Bronx Library Center as their local library. For more information, call (718) 579-4244/46/57 or visit www.nypl.org.

Changes, Unexpected and Impending, Seen at Norwood’s Churches

By DAVID CRUZ Norwood’s catholic churches are undergoing a dual shift in its religious staffing, as one church is expected to close while another has seen the reassignment of its pastor. For the last few months, the community has been bracing for the closure the Shrine Church of St. Ann’s on Bainbridge Avenue, a historic parish that includes a catholic school. But lack of finances had put the church on a closure list by the Archdiocese of New York. It’s last day will be July 31 when parishioners are expected to take part in the church’s last Feast of St.