Inquiring Photographer: Thoughts on this Year’s Rise in Complaints Over Illegal Fireworks

By DAVID GREENE

In our latest print edition, we asked readers for their thoughts on this year’s rise in complaints over illegal fireworks in the neighborhood and across the City. I still hear some every now and then. I still hear a few going off mainly at night but sometimes you don’t know if it’s a gunshot. It’s a crazy neighborhood out here – just got to be safe, but I like fireworks, but it’s over now. I think it was because of the COVID, because if this didn’t happen, the police would have been on it more. Last year it wasn’t

By Nickolaus Hayes

What Happens when Substance Use Treatment Programs Can No Longer Stay Afloat? Emergency funding could be needed to keep substance use treatment programs in operation as some governments continue to shut down their communities. The Trump administration has repeatedly cited the possible rise of overdoses and suicides when calling for states and businesses to re-open. However, only a hundredth of one percent of the nearly $2.5 trillion was dedicated to mental health and substance use treatment. Many treatment centers, drug courts, and recovery programs have been forced to close, or they had to scale back during the shutdown. Many

By DAVID GREENE

In our July 2 edition, after four months of being cooped up at home, we asked readers how they coped through the shutdown, and how they were adapting to the “new normal” as the City entered Phase III of the reopening plan. Actually, the new normal has been great for me. I’m the owner of a boutique in Harlem and a liquor brand owner, so for me I haven’t had problems, except for having to close my doors and not have my regular clients come through. But because liquor is essential, we all love to drink. It’s been

By PROFESSOR ANTHONY RIVIECCIO, MBA PFA

Can you get a higher tax refund this year if you haven’t filed yet? Yes and No! The options now are very limited. Why? Simply because tax planning is NOT the same thing as tax preparation, and tax preparation is NOT tax planning. Tax planning is learning and applying the tax rules to your lifestyle. After keeping all those receipts, you apply them to your tax filing the following year. Thus, the absolute best way to maximize your 2020 tax refund next year is to start learning, and applying the rules from January 2020 now, and yes, six

By Síle Moloney

Dear Readers, I hope you’re all well! I don’t say that lightly. Thank you for your patience, and for sticking with us during what we know, you know, has been a pretty crazy, and unprecedented time for everyone. After two and half months on hiatus due to circumstances related to the pandemic, this year’s seventh edition of the Norwood News is out now. Indeed, that is a story in itself (but for another day). We’re happy to be back, and to share plenty of interesting community news with you, so let’s get to it! After months of lockdown

By PROFESSOR ANTHONY RIVIECCIO, MBA PFA

Before coronavirus, the number of people working from home or self employed made up 13 percent of America’s economy. We now believe that by choice of both employees and employers this number will grow to close to 20 percent by the end of the year. Is working from home a new and important topic for at least 35 percent of America’s now home-working employees therefore? Absolutely! Notwithstanding tax implications, your work-from-home savings and costs should be examined and written up as part of your household budget. For example, commuter related expenses are no more, right? That includes travel, clothing

By JASON GONZALEZ

Renowned author and Pulitzer Prize winner, William Faulkner, once said, “Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world…would do this, it would change the earth.” The murder on Memorial Day in Minneapolis, Minnesota of George Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed Black man, has given rise to worldwide outcry. The uproar has manifested into protests that have spanned the globe, and has civilians from all races, religions, and sexual orientations calling for police reform and the termination of systemic racism. As unrest permeates

By PROFESSOR ANTHONY RIVIECCIO, MBA PFA

If you heard the jobs report and the stock market news last Friday, you would have thought we were just about all the way back! President Donald Trump held a press conference shortly after the report was released and said it was “stupendous”. In May, we actually ADDED 2.5 million jobs, and unemployment tracked in at under 14 percent. The doom and gloom experts thought it was going to be 20 percent. After all, in April, it was reported by the government that we lost 20 million jobs. So, how was the government wrong? Were the numbers tampered with?

By Síle Moloney & David Greene

On Tuesday, June 2, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. was joined by a number of other Bronx elected officials, community groups and clergy who gathered in the cold light of day at East Fordham Road and Grand Concourse to witness first-hand the trail of destruction left in the wake of Monday night’s looting and riots. It was reported by NYPD that the riots and looting were orchestrated by organized gangs, and not by protestors who have been rallying for police reform in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man, at the hands