diversity & inclusion

Cricket: On the Van Cortlandt Park Cricket Stadium Proposal, the Bats are Out

By SÍLE MOLONEY
News of a planned, 34,000-seat, temporary cricket stadium in Van Cortlandt Park ahead of the Cricket Men’s World Cup in June 2024 shook the Kingsbridge community to its core when The City media outlet published details on July 15 of the as-yet, tentative plan for the venue. However, with New York City Mayor Eric Adams struggling to cope with the ever-increasing costs of handling the influx of migrants to the city, private funding from entities such as the International Cricket Council (ICC) for such an event would, no doubt, be considered a welcome investment in New York City’s local economy.

Kingsbridge Heights Community Center Holds 10th Annual Neighborhood Festival

By MIRIAM QUIÑONES
Kingsbridge Heights Community Center (KHCC) hosted its 10th Annual Neighborhood Festival on Friday, June 16, celebrating both Pride and Juneteenth. The event was held at the center located at 3101 Kingsbridge Terrace.   KHCC is a settlement house founded in 1974 by community activists Janet Athanasidy, Patricia Burns, and Mary McLoughlin, serving the Kingsbridge Heights neighborhood and the Bronx. KHCC offers programs and services in multiple sites for more than 4,500 people annually from English language classes to childcare to early head start programs, a food pantry, gardening, a day summer camp and more. A planned barbecue was brought inside on the day due to a thunderstorm, but the


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Art Exhibit Celebrates “Friendship & Activism” of Puerto Rican and Irish LGBTQ+ Activists

By SÍLE MOLONEY
In honor of LGBTQ+ Pride 2023, Fordham University Lincoln Center’s Quinn Library and NYPL Belmont Branch, in partnership with the Bronx County Historical Society, opened Have a Heart, an exhibit that celebrates Bronx-born Puerto Rican activist Jesús Lebrón and his central role in struggles for LGBTQ+ rights, including marriage equality.   Twenty years ago, in 2003, Jesús, with fellow activist and close friend, Brendan Fay, co-founded The Civil Marriage Trail Project, an organization that helped bring same-sex couples across borders for legal marriage. Among the couples were Edie Windsor (1929–2017) and Thea Spyer (1931–2009) who married in Toronto on May


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Manhattan College Student Honored at Pride Ceremony

By SARA MARTINEZ
As Bronx residents and elected officials gathered at Bronx Borough Hall on Thursday, June 1, for the annual Pride ceremony to mark the beginning of Pride Month, one northwest Bronx student was among those being honored this year. The annual tradition of honoring selected members of the Bronx LGBTQIA+ community was also an occasion to witness the raising of the Pride flag, which will fly alongside the American flag and the veterans’ Prisoner of War (POW) / Missing in Action (MIA) flag throughout Pride Month (June).   On the day, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson reiterated New York’s commitment to


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UPDATE “Early Vote by Mail Act” to Enable New Yorkers to Use Mail-In Ballots for Early Voting

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Bronx Assembly Member Karines Reyes, R.N. (A.D. 87) and Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris (S.D. 12) announced on Friday, June 9, that the State Assembly passed their new legislation (S.7394/A.7632) to expand early voting options to include an early vote by mail choice for all New Yorkers. The legislation passed the State Senate earlier this week and now heads to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk for approval.   “We have seen how important it is to have access to mail-in voting,” said Reyes, who broadly represents the Bronx neighborhoods of Castle Hill, Unionport, Parkchester, West Farms and Little Yemen. “This critical


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UPDATE Bronx CB7 Honors Veterans at Bronx Victory Memorial as Pride Flag Debate Continues

By MIRIAM QUIÑONES & SÍLE MOLONEY
  Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7) held their 2nd Annual Veterans’ Memorial Flagging event at the Bronx Victory Memorial, located on Mosholu Parkway in Bedford Park, on Saturday, May 13, 2023, ahead of Memorial Day weekend.   A flagging event is an occasion when residents visit the grave sites or other memorial sites dedicated to veterans and place American flags there in memory and honor of those who served and died for their country. Sometimes, the names of veterans are read aloud and poems or songs are recited/sung.   Those in attendance on the day included Karla Cabrera Carrera, recently


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Bronx Bound Books Bolsters Literacy in The Bronx

By SARAH HUFFMAN
Latanya DeVaughn loves books. Her love of books can be traced back to her childhood, from watching her grandmother read to neighbors who couldn’t, and from scouring yard sales for used books with her aunt. Years later, that love manifested in the mobile bookstore, Bronx Bound Books.