In the Bronx, State of the Borough Speech Offers Personal Retrospective

By DAVID CRUZ

Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. threw away the oft-formulaic State of the Borough speech he’s delivered over the last decade for a retrospective of sorts while honoring a who’s who of civic activists, educators, and captains of industry. His penultimate speech at Borough Hall comes a few weeks after announcing he won’t be running for New York City mayor after all. Diaz, 47, told reporters he’s “at peace” with his decision, mentioning that the Bronx certainly has a crop of elected officials ready to pick up the baton. He mentioned by name Assembly Members Marcos Crespo, Michael Blake, Victor Pichardo,

By HENRY MCEACHERN

Prepare yourselves, Bronxites, the state-wide Bag Waste Reduction Law starts March 1, barring grocery and retail stores from providing plastic bags to customers in an effort to reduce waste. “City residents use billions of single-use carryout bags every year, and they are frequently used for only a few minutes at a time,” said Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia in a press release. “Plastic bags are particularly troublesome as contaminants in our recycling, as they often clog machinery, and we’ve all seen plastic bags stuck in city trees around the city. This is not sustainable.” To prepare, the city Sanitation Department is

Out & About: Black History Month Celebration

Editor’s Pick Black History Month Celebration The public is invited to North Central Bronx Hospital, 3424 Kossuth Ave. to celebrate Black History Month, Feb. 21 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. on the 17th floor. The keynote speaker is Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, the first African American Assembly Speaker in NYC history. Info: NCBPublicAffairs@nychhc.org. Events Tracey Towers, 20 W. Mosholu Pkwy. So., Community Room A, holds Election 2020 Town Hall, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. Event includes discussion on early voting, voter registration, poll worker job opportunities, and the upcoming presidential election. Info: John Zaccaro, Jr. at John.ZaccaroJr@gmail.com. Church of

Inquiring Photographer: State of the Bronx

With Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. set to deliver his State of the Borough address on Feb. 20, we asked readers to offer their take on the state of the Bronx. Right now, the main thing I’m concerned about is police actions. Other than that, the Bronx is a good place to live. Yeah, they’re still doing stop and frisk. They stop people for anything: weed, guns. I don’t mind them getting the guns off the street, but stopping everyone is harassment … I do worry about gentrification and that’s scary because it pushes the poor people right out of

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

In an effort to authorize an additional story and nine feet to its construction project at 2856 Webster Ave., New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) appeared before the Community Board 7 Housing/Land Use and Economic Development Committee monthly meeting on Tuesday. They requested a letter from CB7 certifying support for the height increase. Before presenting a slide show in conjunction with Douglaston Development, Aaron Bouska, NYBG’s vice president for community and government relations, publicly notified CB7 of its development plans. “Tonight, I’m here to announce the partnership between NYBG, Cherry Valley Supermarket, Douglaston Development, and Fordham Bedford Housing to construct and

More Questions for MTA’s Bus Route Redesign Plan

By DAVID GREENE

More than five dozen Bronxites attended a town hall meeting hosted by Community Board 7 and state Sen. Gustavo Rivera where Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) officials once again presented their Bronx Bus Network Redesign plan that would update most bus routes across the borough in the name of savings and efficiency for the cash-strapped agency. Joining Rivera at the Feb. 1 meeting at Mercy College was MTA representative Rashid Dolor who had appeared at a CB7 general board meeting a few months before to discuss the plan. His last presentation a few months back was rolled into the general board

By DAVID CRUZ

Dear Fellow Readers, The year’s fourth edition of the Norwood News for 2020 is out with plenty of community stories to read and share. We’ve loaded up 24 pages full of news from this corner of the Bronx, so let’s start with page one! Our top story focuses on a long-awaited project announced by the New York Botanical Garden, which is now entering the residential housing market. The affordable housing residences, with one set aside exclusively to seniors, will soon pop up along Webster Avenue. The area had been rezoned in ten years, clearing the path for projects such as this.

By DAVID CRUZ

Orchard Beach may be off season now, but it didn’t stop some brave Bronxites to take a dip into the freezing waters for the annual Bronx Polar Bear Swim at Orchard Beach. Co-hosted by BronxNet Television and BronxWorks, the annual Dip Against Homelessness on Feb. 9 doubled as a donation drive for the homeless during the coldest time of the year. Check out photos by Miriam Quinones in the Norwood News Facebook link below.

Jules Ira Rubenstein, the Original Inquiring Photographer, Dies at 74

By DAVID GREENE

Life-long Van Cortlandt Park resident Jules Ira Rubenstein, the original “Inquiring Photographer” who produced that popular feature for the Norwood News for 14 years until his retirement more than a decade ago, died from complications of pneumonia. He was 74. A source at Montefiore Hospital, where Rubenstein had been hospitalized since October, stated he had died on Feb. 4, confirming that at around 4:30 a.m., he was found unresponsive. “They tried to resuscitate him [but] he expired,” the source added. Rubenstein was the Norwood News’ first “roving reporter” who covered local breaking news events such as police and fire department activity. He was first hired by