New Grants for Community Groups Offering Free, Outdoor Arts & Culture Performances this Summer

By SÍLE MOLONEY

New micro-grants are available for the City’s most under-resourced communities to provide free arts and culture performances in neighborhood parks, plazas and community gardens this summer and fall. City Parks Foundation is a nonprofit whose mission is to make parks vibrant centers of community through sports, arts, community-building and environmental education programs. It organizes the citywide “SummerStage” program each year in conjunction with Capital One. Last summer, the program was made virtual. Together with a newly formed “Culture in Parks and Plazas Coalition,” City Parks Foundation announced on Thursday, May 6, the creation of the “Green Arts Live NYC

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Join the Urban Park Rangers and be inspired by Mother Nature to build a nature-themed craft during a ‘Mother’s Day Hike and Craft” event. Date & Time Sunday, May 9, 2021, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Location Pelham Bay Park Nature Center in Pelham Bay Park Bruckner Boulevard and Wilkinson Avenue, The Bronx Directions to this location Cost Free Event Organizer Urban Park Rangers, Contact Number (718) 319-7258 NYC Parks & Recreation is offering outdoor programs with limited attendance so that you can have a safe and enjoyable time in parks. Based on New York State guidance for sports and recreation

By SÍLE MOLONEY

A Norwood resident may have woken up $14,000 richer today. The New York Lottery announced on Saturday, May 8, that there were multiple, top-prize winning tickets sold for the May 7 TAKE 5 drawing. The tickets were sold in the Norwood section of the The Bronx, in Levittown, in Manhattan, in Richmond Hill and in Watertown, at the following locations. 3161 Norwood Deli Corp located at 3161 Bainbridge Avenue in The Bronx, which sold one prize-winning ticket worth $14,254.50 Desai Newsstand located at 100 W57th Street in Manhattan, which sold one prize-winning ticket worth $13,872.00 Family Grocery & Deli located

By DAVID GREENE, SÍLE MOLONEY & JOSÉ A. GIRALT

The following story is an updated version of the one that appears in our latest print edition. As officials from the Bronx office of the New York City Board of Elections were busy tallying votes at their Grand Concourse headquarters to determine the outcome of the District 11 and District 15 City Council special elections a few weeks ago, the president of the Bronx NAACP, said voter education is key to the future of a free and fair society. It may also be key to a more dynamic primary election season. Biarni Burke, president of the Bronx chapter

By SÍLE MOLONEY

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner, Basil Seggos, announced on Sunday, May 2, that “New York State Compost Awareness Week” is taking place from May 2-8. Compost Awareness Week raises awareness statewide of the environmental benefits of composting, and the declaration was formalized in a recent proclamation signed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. Recycling food scraps, grass, leaves, yard clippings, and other organic materials through composting reduces New York’s dependence on landfills and combustors and helps to lower climate-altering emissions while producing valuable, nutrient-rich compost that improves soil health and water quality. Seggos said New

By DAVID GREENE

This week, we asked readers their thoughts on the verdict in the George Floyd murder trial, and if they feel the verdict could be a turning point in police/community relations. “I don’t think it’s right. The government has to be more careful now, because what they did to George [Floyd] was not right, because there was discrimination. I think we’re all equal, everyone, White and Black and Spanish, all around the country, so I think the police officers have to care a little bit more about what’s going on, and do what they’re supposed to do. The verdict will help,

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Woodlawn Cemetery held an “Earth Day Celebration” on Saturday, April 24, 2021, following the official Earth Day on Thursday, April 22. The event took place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and well over 200 people attended. Both adults and children enjoyed trolley rides, tree carving, (small grey fox) tree planting workshops, tree identification walks, arts & crafts, yoga on the lawn, and a free hot dog lunch, complete with a bag of chips and bottled water. Kids did not go empty-handed either and received a goodie bag filled with the Woodlawn Arboretum coloring book and

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Cultured Kids Cuisine is a New York City-based, international, non-profit organization striving to foster cultural awareness through food. The group is currently recruiting high school and college students from the Bronx and other parts of the city for a fully funded internship opportunity. The group offers a variety of free services to children, such as virtual cooking workshops, food anthropology courses, educational podcasts, food blogs, eCookbooks, and more. While no previous experience is necessary, the organization asks that applicants be passionate about building a future of love and tolerance through food. During the internship students will be paired with

By SÍLE MOLONEY

The New York Lottery announced one top-prize winning ticket was sold for the April 28 TAKE 5 drawing. The ticket, worth $60,435.50, was purchased at Jannatul Ferdous, located at 49 West Fordham Rd., in the Fordham Manor section of The Bronx. The five winning numbers for the TAKE 5 game are drawn from a field of one to 39. The TAKE 5 drawing is televised every day at 10:30 p.m. A Lottery draw game prize of any amount may be claimed up to one year from the date of the drawing. The New York Lottery continues to be North America’s largest and most profitable