It’s Time For The Bronx To Make It Count!

By NYC Census 2020

As of May 10, only 47.8 percent of Bronx households have responded to the 2020 Census. If the trend holds, the Bronx stands to lose millions of dollars in funding for our essential services, just at the moment when we’re all relying on them the most. If we don’t fight forces that prevent a full count, our funding for schooling, housing, and hospitals is at risk. The census shapes the funding we get for our public services, and the more of us are counted, the more funding we get. That’s critical money for our hospitals, health care, emergency

By Síle Moloney

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a Small Business Emergency Grant Program for small businesses who have been impacted by looting and experienced damage to their storefronts, with Bronx businesses receiving priority. The City will begin providing grants to small businesses of up to $10,000 per business, thanks to $500,000 in initial funds received from SOMOS Community Care. The grants will help with recovery, including repairs, security systems, locks, and more. The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City will work with Small Business Services to assess the level of need throughout the city, with the intent

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

When Frank Pirraglia, 21, saw the devastation caused by looters on Fordham Road last Monday night, he realized it was also a call to action. “After seeing all the violence and destruction, I realized I needed to get out there and do my part to try and help clean up,” he said. On Tuesday morning, it was clear Pirraglia would be part of a larger contingent of volunteers taking swift action to remove the debris left by looters. Such actions were reminiscent of those taken by Bronxites in the 1970s to rebuild their community in the wake of

By David Greene

By eyewitness accounts, the bright sun would rise over many of the looters who went on an unexpected, overnight shopping spree on East Fordham Road on Monday, Jun. 1, 2020. As dawn set in, the now-infamous creatures of a night of madness seemed to scurry home like rats running from a kitchen light. In the early hours of Jun. 2, there were repeated sightings of mostly, young men, many carrying what looked like brand new, full backpacks, quickly walking in one direction or another as police vehicles continued to speed back and fourth across East Fordham Road still responding

By PROFESSOR ANTHONY RIVIECCIO, MBA PFA

Well, pretty soon, I’ll be making a choice on Social Security. Yes, I’m getting “old”. I will be 60 soon. I’m ok with it. I have an adopted sibling that calls me “Uncle Tony”. Sometimes, I walk around elementary school, since I’m also a teacher, and I’ll hear whisperings of “Grandpa”. Yes, I have many good memories – the things, the people my age group can remember. Our fondest memories, I am sure, are the 80s and 90s, the latter parts of the 20th century. Hertz, you might remember, like brands such as Dollar, Thrifty and Firefly, was

By Síle Moloney

On May 19, as reported by Norwood News, The Center for an Urban Future published a study that showed that Norwood was one of the City’s worst-hit areas economically by the pandemic and related shutdown. About a week earlier, on May 11, Jonnel Doris was appointed as the Commissioner for the City’s Small Business Services (SBS) department. Previously, he served as the City’s first Senior Advisor and Director of the Mayor’s Office for Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises (M/WBE). The commissioner gave an interview to Norwood News in which he discussed his agency’s plan to get small businesses

Eleven Bronx elected officials have urged Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson to halt plans to construct a new prison facility in the South Bronx amid a budget crunch caused by the coronavirus, and to reallocate the funds instead to critical programs for vulnerable populations. Congressman José E. Serrano, who is due to retire later this year, Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., and nine other Bronx based state senators and assembly members, wrote to de Blasio and Johnson asking them to reconsider construction plans for a new jail facility in the Bronx’s Mott Haven neighborhood,

Tenants who have been financially impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis may soon no longer have to worry about losing their homes. State Senator Brad Hoylman and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz passed legislation on May 27, 2020 codifying the statewide eviction moratorium and extending it until the end of the COVID-19 emergency for anyone who has experienced financial hardship during this period. The state legislation represents a compromise between the Assembly and State Senate with the ultimate goal of creating a bill that would be signed into law by the Governor. It is viewed as an essential

By Síle Moloney

The New York State Department of Labor released preliminary local area unemployment rates for April 2020 on May 27. The unemployment rate in the Bronx was the highest of all City boroughs at 16.5% in April. This compares with a rate of 10.9% in Manhattan, 14.6% in Brooklyn, 16.4% in Queens, and 14.0% in Staten Island. The current unemployment rates for all 62 counties in New York State can be found by clicking on the following link: County Unemployment Rates. The rates are not yet seasonally adjusted, meaning they do not reflect seasonal influences e.g. holiday and summer