The genesis of this edition’s cover story came about after editor David Cruz and reporter Alondra Vasquez drove around Norwood and Bedford Park, taking stock of the myriad of hard hats, construction equipment, and the oft rerouted traffic patterns that comprise typical ordinary construction. Yep, Norwood and Bedford Park have entered another wave of construction, the first happening after 2012, a year after the city authorized a massive rezoning effort along Webster Avenue.

This new wave of construction was evident in the intricate grid in Norwood, where crews clad in orange vests were spotted in front of the Capital Bank on East 204th Street and Bainbridge Avenue. A single bulldozer sitting atop a desolate hill on Webster Avenue between Pondfield Place and East 205th Street was found moving dirt around for a nascent project, while traffic drums cordon off East 204th Street and Webster Avenue. Even St. Brendan’s & St. Ann’s Church is getting a touchup, with gas lines being replaced, according to building records.

Then there’s Bedford Park, a neighborhood that, despite being built as a hamlet, is now seeing a slew of new residences slated for construction. Off Mosholu Parkway South, between East 202nd and East 203rd streets, for instance, a Brooklyn-based operator is at odds with Community Board 7 over a project on a piece of tract where a quad of two-story homes once stood. Its height stands about as high as the impending 13-story Mosholu Grand, another project midway through construction on Van Cortlandt Avenue between Mosholu Parkway and the Grand Concourse.

Smaller public works projects have been sprinkled about the two neighborhoods, notably the ongoing sewer upgrade project that’s knocked out parking along Bainbridge Avenue by the Major Deegan Expressway for well over a year, creating enormous strife for drivers hunting for a coveted public parking spot.

The blistering sounds of jackhammers have become a familiar aspect in this chapter in Norwood and Bedford Park’s history, once described as sleepy sections of the Bronx. With warmer temperatures, the rise in construction activity has become noticeable, fitting in with the larger story of the Bronx, a borough once in the throes of arson and blight only to see billions of dollars in investments.

And in this chapter of ongoing construction, where is the urgency to meet the population demand? There hasn’t been talk of the creation of another school or added troops at the ever-busy 52nd Precinct. There’s talk of expanding the stationhouse, with Councilman Andrew Cohen having recently presented the prospect to NYPD brass. It’s commendable, and a wise move given the number of officers and personnel at the precinct, which stands somewhere around 280 officers. But if the city’s history with construction projects is any indication, it will be years before an annex will be seen. Meantime, the construction boom continues. And there are no answers on how the city is meeting the demand.

It had this paper thinking of Mayor Bill de Blasio and his announcement to run for President, a decision that’s earned him great derision by fellow lawmakers and a skeptical media that paradoxically wants him to stick around serving as mayor while beating him up for holding this position. How much attention is the mayor paying to a neighborhood bursting at the seams with virtually no amenities to boot?

De Blasio should be aware that armchair managing thousands of miles from the city isn’t the same as actually being in New York City. After all, nuance is lost when one is reviewing an issue from a screen or getting it secondhand. Those nuances can also be lost during the final budget dance between de Blasio and the New York City Council. At present, the Council has proposed a .04 percent increase of uniformed police officers, with zero to be stationed at police precincts.

It stands to reason the construction boom blanketing the Bronx may be too far removed for de Blasio. And it’s time elected officials such as Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., who wants to succeed de Blasio, prioritize holistic building on his agenda, particularly for a borough that’s under construction. There is no sense in putting the cart before the horse.