Thousands of Bronxites Mourn 15 of Twin Parks Fire Victims at Funeral Service

By DAVID GREENE

Hundreds of Muslim worshipers packed the Islamic Cultural Center, located on Clay Avenue in the Morrisania section of the Bronx, on Sunday, Jan. 16, and thousands more stood shoulder to shoulder, wearing traditional Muslim clothing and face masks, to pay their respects to 15 of the 17 victims killed in the horrific Twin Parks North West fire tragedy on Jan. 9, as reported. As mourners jammed into several blocks along East 166th Street, the funeral and prayer service was attended by many high-ranking, City and State elected officials, including Mayor Eric Adams. As briefly reported, despite the frigid temperatures

By MONICA RICHARDSON & SÍLE MOLONEY

It has been almost three weeks since the deadly Twin Parks fire tragedy occurred in the Fordham Heights section of the Bronx, tragically taking the lives of 17 people, including 8 children, mostly of Gambian descent. Since then, Bronxites have mobilized to mourn and honor the victims, support the survivors, all while facing more tragedy in the form of gun violence across the borough. The NYPD confirmed 63 people were injured in the Twin Parks North West blaze, which, according to a report by The New York Times, was the deadliest since the Bronx’s Happy Land Social Club tragedy, which resulted

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Democrats, District 11 City Council Member Eric Dinowitz, District 13 City Council Member Marjorie Velázquez, both representing parts of the Bronx, and Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, representing parts of Queens, announced on Thursday, Jan. 27, Holocaust Remembrance Day, that a New York City Council resolution in support of Rozic’s bill A472A will be introduced in the City Council. The bill directs the commissioner of State education to audit Holocaust education in New York. In the context of the announcement, Velázquez said the increase in antisemitic attacks across the globe, and specifically in New York City was a reminder that the

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced on Monday, Jan. 24, that former Salesian High School teacher, Mariela Barajas, was arraigned for allegedly disseminating indecent material to a 15-year-old. Barajas, 22, of Mount Vernon, was charged on Jan. 24, in Mount Vernon City Court with disseminating indecent material to minors in the first degree, a felony. The Westchester County District Attorney’s Office made the arrest following an investigation, with assistance from the Mount Vernon Police Department and New Rochelle Police Department. While employed at the New Rochelle school, in December 2021 and January 2022, Barajas allegedly engaged

By SÍLE MOLONEY &. DAVID GREENE

Norwood News has received eye witness reports that around 3 people required medical assistance, possibly due to frostbite or heat or stress-related illness, during the funeral and prayer service held on Sunday morning, Jan. 16, for the 17 victims, including 8 children, of last Sunday’s tragic fire in Fordham Heights, as reported. Eye-witnesses told Norwood News during the service, which began at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning, at the Islamic Cultural Center, located at 371 East 166th Street in the Morrisania section of the Bronx, that around 3 people attended to by EMTs and reportedly treated in an ambulance,

By SÍLE MOLONEY

In the spirit of holiday giving, St. Brendan School, a Catholic, elementary school, located in the Norwood section of the Bronx, in the Archdiocese of New York, recently held its annual toy drive for Catholic Guardian Services (CGS). CGS cares for over 1,000 children in need ranging in age from infancy to 21. This year, according to school representatives and thanks to the generosity of the school’s students and their families, St. Brendan’s was able to collect 23 bags of toy donations for children to enjoy in time for Christmas.

Van Cortlandt Jewish Center Honors Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz

By DAVID GREENE

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81) was honored by Van Cortlandt Jewish Center on Sunday, Dec. 19, as part of a “Celebration of Appreciation” event held at the center in the Van Cortlandt Village section of the Bronx. The assemblyman, who is Jewish, was elected to the New York State Assembly to represent the 81st Assembly District on February 15, 1994, and has been the elected assemblyman since then. The district broadly covers the Northwest Bronx section of the borough and includes Van Cortlandt Village where the the Van Cortlandt Jewish Center (VCJC) is located. The gesture of appreciation

By DAVID GREENE

A Bronx rabbi continues to actively support the annual menorah lighting events all across the Bronx, amid the celebration of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah while, together with members of his own Morris Park congregation, the annual festival is marked by feeding senior Jewish residents from all across the borough. Canceled last year amid the pandemic, a public gathering for Hanukkah returned this year to the Bronx Jewish Center, located at 1969 Haight Avenue in Morris Park, once again. The center has been holding gatherings for the Jewish celebration, annually, since 2013. On Sunday, November 28, the congregation returned

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Bronx Jewish Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81) has formally responded to the organization of a second rally in a month, the latest held outside his Riverdale home on Sunday, Dec. 12, during which anti-Semitic imagery was, once again, on display. As reported by Norwood News, about 50 protestors showed up for the rally to oppose the assemblyman’s proposed bill A8378, according to one witness who works for the assemblyman. The bill, if passed, and which is still at the committee level stage of the legislative process, would authorize an immunization program against COVID-19 for schools funded with State aid,