The Norwood News will be tracking countless stories over the coming days, weeks and months in 2013. Here are some of the outcomes and headlines we’ll be rooting for.

“City Chooses Developer for Kingsbridge Armory.” Seriously, people, let’s get this done. We’re told the city is in the final stages of negotiations with developers on the Armory project, but we’re concerned that it’s taking so long. At one point, a September announcement seemed like a good bet with the end of 2012 being a distant deadline. Now we’re more than a week into 2013 and counting. Makes it seem like there are underlying problems that are holding things up. At this point, we believe both the Kingsbridge National Ice Center and the Mercado Mirabo, mixed-use market and recreation center, are viable uses for this empty Bronx jewel. Pick one and let’s move on.

“Armory Developer Signs Community Benefits Agreement.” Of course, once a developer is chosen, we strongly believe the developer must sign an enforceable and binding community benefits agreement that will include local hiring benchmarks, job training programs, affordable community space, the de-mapping of West 195th Street (to pave the way for a new school), access to recreational programs for area youth and environmental and traffic mitigation programs. The developer is getting the Armory for a song. They need to give back.

“Sector Stats Bill Signed Into Law.” The Norwood News has been banging the drum on this legislation for years. Bronx Councilman Fernando Cabrera introduced a simple, reasonable bill two years ago and Councilman Peter Vallone, the head of the public safety committee, continues to let it rot. Quite simply, the NYPD needs to publish the crime stats for every sector in every precinct in New York City. Sectors are actual neighborhoods. Precincts are vast collections of several neighborhoods. Having more localized data will give elected officials and community groups information they need to better target resources. And it will help residents better understand and take precautions against crime trends in their neighborhoods.

“DEP Completes Work on Filtration Plant.” The community didn’t want the Croton Water Filtration Plant built inside Van Cortlandt Park in the first place. The least the Department of Environmental Protection can do is finish it when they said it would be finished — by the end of 2013. Its completion, along with connected work at the Jerome Park Reservoir, would also allow the city to once again fill the reservoir with water, which is much prettier than having a big empty concrete bathtub.
“Oval Rec Center Re-Opens.” This was supposed to open in the summer … of 2011! Then they said summer 2012, then fall 2012. It’s now winter 2013. The Oval needs its Rec Center.

“Lower Class Sizes Lead to Better Grades at Local Schools.” Overcrowding problems continue to plague our schools. Case in point: At PS 340, located just across the street from the Kingsbridge Armory, administrators wanted to transfer out 20 kindergarten students mid-year just because of crowding problems. It never happened because of opposition by parents, but the crowding problems remain.

“Political Candidates Sit Down with Norwood News.” 2013 means city races — for the office of mayor and local City Council seats. In the northwest Bronx, we’re already looking at a very competitive race to replace term-limited Councilman Oliver Koppell’s 11th District seat. In the 15th District, Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera is also on his way out, opening the door to potential candidates. Our hope is that those candidates, from the mayor’s race on down, take the time to talk to the Norwood News so we can ask them about issues that matter to you, our readers. (You can always send those questions to us at norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org.)

“Norwood News Celebrates 25th Birthday!” Born in the fall of 1988, New York’s only and finest nonprofit community newspaper will be celebrating our 25th year of publishing in 2013. We’ll be doing a variety of events and activities to commemorate this milestone, which we’ll let you know about along the way. In the meantime, we’ll continue to provide the in-depth hyper-local coverage you’ve come to expect from us over the past quarter century.

Here’s to all of our readers fulfilling their individual goals in 2013!

Editor’s note: This editorial originally appeared in the Jan. 10-23 print edition of the Norwood News.