News Briefs

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

By EMILY SUZANNE LEVER

Toll-Free Henry Hudson for Bronxites Starting in a year, the Henry Hudson Bridge will be free through the form of a rebate for cars registered in the Bronx and equipped with an EZ pass, following an agreement secured by State Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, the Riverdale Press reports. It is currently $2.80 with an EZ pass and $7 without. The toll leads to “bridge shopping,” which causes traffic jams and exhaust fumes in Kingsbridge and Marble Hill, Dinowitz said. Dinowitz, who supports congestion pricing for lower Manhattan, said his backing the toll rebate didn’t mean he doesn’t still support public transit.

By DAVID CRUZ

Dear Fellow Readers, The year’s ninth edition of the Norwood News is out with plenty of community news you can use. There’s 20 pages full of great stories impacting the Bronx. And as usual, we’ll start with page one! Our front-page story has Mosholu Preservation Corporation (publisher of the Norwood News), asking a question: what are Norwood’s consumer needs? Norwood residents and stakeholders offered their take at a workshop that happened April16. But read about the needs from those who didn’t attend the workshop. We’ve picked up patterns. Inside the cover you’ll find a piece on Norwood Councilman Andrew Cohen

How Residents and Merchants Are Defining Norwood's Consumer Needs

By DAVID CRUZ

By many accounts, Norwood’s commercial corridors represent a vibrant mix of mom and pop shops that largely comprise the makeup of the northwest Bronx neighborhood. And its commercial ranges are wide. There’s Hillside Meat Market, a staple in Norwood for more than 30 years, abutting La Mexicana Grocery, which caters to Norwood’s Hispanic population. But it doesn’t mean the corridor cannot do without add-ons or more stores. The question of what’s Norwood’s next big idea stood as the key question posed to residents by Mosholu Preservation Corporation (MPC), the 38-year nonprofit support corporation of Montefiore Health System (and publisher of

By DAVID GREENE

This week we asked readers their thoughts on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s possible bid to run for President of the United States. I wouldn’t let him walk my dog, and I don’t even own a dog. He shouldn’t even be running the city of New York because he’s a complete imbecile. Edward Burroughs Norwood Maybe, I think he’s trying to do a good job, but it would be better for him to be in the White House, so he could do the right thing for people. But he has to deliver for the city first and then he

Norwood News Wins Honors at Deadline Club and Society of the Silurians

By NORWOOD NEWS

The Norwood News will be among those honored next month at two journalism awards contests, adding to the growing number of honors the Bronx paper has received over the last few weeks. Nice news for me: Happy to be a finalist for the @deadlineclub annual awards for my series dubbed “Housing Matters”. Beyond happy standing in the company of talented journalists, particularly @TomZambito and @AsburyParkPress. Congrats everyone! pic.twitter.com/etNZbzcELz — David Cruz (@CWEBCRUZER) April 8, 2019 Editor-in-Chief David Cruz is being honored by both the Deadline Club and the Society of the Silurians for his work on a three-part series dubbed “Housing

By DAVID GREENE

This week we asked readers where the money collected through Congestion Pricing tolls should go to improve the buses and subways. Well, they need to accommodate women with carriages on buses; so I think they need to install more wheelchair snaps in so we would be able to snap in baby strollers in the same blue chair accessible spots. Right now, we’re not allowed to do that so they need to put some money into that, because their excuse is they are unable to accommodate so many mothers. Money should also be spent so that there’s elevators at every train station and create

By EMILY SUZANNE LEVER

Only five percent of Norwood residents commute by car into Manhattan below 60th Street and so would be affected by an impending congestion pricing toll, according to an analysis of census data by the Tri-State Transportation Commission (TSTC), a nonprofit focused on public transit. In other parts of the northwest Bronx, that number is closer to three percent, the report said. But some residents told the Norwood News they were against the measure even if it would not affect them personally, saying it amounted to squeezing poor people. “It’s an abuse. They need to stop raising the prices on everything,”

Norwood Okays Projects With a Stroke of a Pen Thanks to PB

By DAVID CRUZ

Inside tower one at Tracey Towers, volunteers man a small table inside the lobby. It’s the day before Participatory Budgeting—an initiative that allows residents within a Council District to decide how $1 million in capital funds should be used—and some tenants stop to make their voices heard on paper. It’s the afternoon of April 4, and Delores Edwards and Evelyn McDonald, lure some familiar faces to complete ballots featuring the list of Participatory Budget projects residents spent months hammering out. The projects would impact the neighborhood, part of the 11th Council District that’s represented by Councilman Andrew Cohen. For the

Free Bird Walk Tours Free bird walks are offered every Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. from April 27 through July 20 at the Van Cortlandt Nature Center. Bird watchers can look for various species of residents and migrants and discuss a wide range of avian topics. For more information, email Joseph McManus at mcmnaus638@aol.com. No registration necessary. No limit. Free thanks to grant by Councilman Andrew Cohen. Summer Youth Police Academy Young people between the ages of 10 and 15 can sign up to train with police officers at the Summer Youth Police Academy. The program is free, runs five