Health Check: Why Good Relationships Are Good for Your Health

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

By BRENDA BOATSWAIN, Ph.D., CGP

Research shows that having positive close relationships throughout your life has a positive effect on your physical health, mental health, and lifespan. In infants, warm and nurturing parents help them grow into adults that can successfully manage their lives. For young children and adolescents, close positive family relationships can serve as a buffer against stress. Reducing stress lowers the chance of developing chronic conditions such as heart disease. In adults, being socially connected and having access to social support is related to better health and self-care. For aging adults, social ties reduce risk for mental and physical decline and early

By DAVID GREENE

This week we asked readers their thoughts on the city Department of Transportation (DOT) plans for a “road diet” which calls for converting two-way Morris Park Avenue from a double lane to a single lane each way roadway. Somewhere along the line our elected officials at City Hall forgot that they serve the people. They got into office by saying that this was a tale of two cities and now it’s a tale of one city, run by a king: [Bill] de Blasio. Start listening to what the people have to say, they’re the ones that pay your salary. It’s

Dog, Left By a Hydrant in the Cold, Seeks Owner

By DAVID CRUZ

Police at the 52nd Precinct are trying to locate the owner of a dog left tied to a hydrant in Norwood. The precinct posted a picture of the pooch on Twitter pleading for anyone to find the dog. It was found at the corner of Tryon Avenue and East 211th Street just near Williamsbridge Oval Park. It was found with a fitted coat over its back and found sometime during the day. Temperature highs on Christmas Eve were in the mid-40s. Anyone with information is asked the call the 52nd Precinct at (718) 220-5811.

Neighborhood Notes: Free Safe Oven Covers, and Crime Victims Support

Free Oven Safe Knob Covers The Office of Councilman Ritchie Torres is giving away free safe oven knob covers to prevent accidental fires in apartments. Free knob covers can be picked up at 2546 Hoffman St., Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. while supplies last. For more information, call the office at (718) 842-8100. Nonprofit Grants Now Available Resident-led groups in low-income communities and Title I public schools can apply for a Neighborhood Grant of up to $3,000. A workshop in how to fill out the application correctly takes place on Jan. 8 at 6 p.m. at

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to expand the Discovery program as a way of increasing enrollment of black and Latino students in the city’s elite specialized high schools has drawn the ire of Pacific Legal Foundation. The group is now suing the city in federal court, relying on an argument similar to an affirmative action case it has against Harvard University: Discovery essentially discriminates against Asian students who overwhelmingly represent the specialized high school student population. Expanding the Discovery program—essentially offering rigorous summer classes for students who missed the cutoff in passing the specialized high school test—takes effect in 2020,

By DAVID CRUZ

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., enlisting a cadre of legislators, wants Amtrak to get on board with the long-awaited plan to bring Metro-North service to the East Bronx, which was supposed to have begun in April. In a joint news conference with Westchester County Executive George Latimer, given the mutually beneficial interest in ushering more Metro-North service to the East Bronx, Diaz labeled Amtrak a Scrooge for the holdup. “This is not a new idea,” said Diaz of the project. “This is an idea that’s been kicked around for the better half of the last three decades. We have

By JOSEPH KONIG

Ahead of the one-year anniversary of the city’s deadliest fire in decades, Bronx Councilman Ritchie Torres called for a new law to help residents displaced by a fire find new homes in the same neighborhood. “Even in the worst of a fire, the loss of one’s home should never mean the loss of your community,” Torres said at a news conference in front of the boarded-up Belmont building that went up in flames last year. “It should be the public policy priority of the city of New York to keep people firmly rooted in their neighborhoods and their local support

By DAVID CRUZ

Dear Fellow Readers! The Norwood News is out with its latest edition covering the Bronx. In our last edition of the year, we bring you the latest! The front page story looks at Community Board 7 demanding concessions on a major project coming to Bedford Park. Ischia Bravo, CB7’s District Manager, is offering an interesting take on the building boom happening in the neighborhood. She has a fix she hopes the Bronx Council Delegation would consider. David Greene reports on the tragic death of a 17-year-old who died after allegedly being pushed onto oncoming traffic. Police now say the suspects are

By JOSEPH KONIG, DAVID CRUZ, and CHRISTY RAE AMMONS

A non-profit housing developer is open to reducing the size of planned projects on long-contested lots on East 202nd and East 203rd streets after pushback from Community Board 7, according to a revised proposal draft obtained by the Norwood News. The new proposal would shorten the building on East 202nd Street from 11 stories to 9 stories, shrinking the number of units from 164 to 139. In the original proposal, the East 203rd Street building was planned to be 8 stories with 164 units. It is unclear if the revised proposal will reduce the size of the 8-story building, but