Earlier this month, the Norwood News and the Mount Hope Monitor (the News' sister paper, both are part of the Bronx News Network) took home three awards at the New York Community Media Alliance's 8th annual Ippies awards dinner.

An explosion of street violence upended three Bronx communities in recent days, taking the lives of two teenagers and severely injuring a girl, all of whom appear to be ordinary kids guilty only of crossing paths with errant gunshots. (On Thanksgiving, three people were shot on the Grand Concourse, near Fordham Road.)

Crime is indeed down, but that doesn't change the realities of these tragically truncated lives or the neighborhoods that have not benefited equally from otherwise welcome statistical trends.

There is no single answer to solving this problem, but there are many things that can help and we should try them all and more.

Here are just a few:

• Whatever your opinion of Mayor Bloomberg, he is a national leader on the gun control issue. We should support his efforts any way we can.

• As stated above, there are neighborhoods where the city's statistical drop in crime has not been felt on the street. When the inevitable budget cuts are proposed to cope with the economic downturn, cuts to youth programs and police should be a last resort, especially in neighborhoods where crime has gone the opposite way of the citywide trend. In fact, we need to find a way to increase funding for youth programs, whether that comes from the city, state or federal government.

An explosion of street violence upended three Bronx communities in recent days, taking the lives of two teenagers and severely injuring a girl, all of whom appear to be ordinary kids guilty only of crossing paths with errant gunshots. (On Thanksgiving, three people were shot on the Grand Concourse, near Fordham Road.)

Crime is indeed down, but that doesn't change the realities of these tragically truncated lives or the neighborhoods that have not benefited equally from otherwise welcome statistical trends.

There is no single answer to solving this problem, but there are many things that can help and we should try them all and more.

Here are just a few:

• Whatever your opinion of Mayor Bloomberg, he is a national leader on the gun control issue. We should support his efforts any way we can.

• As stated above, there are neighborhoods where the city's statistical drop in crime has not been felt on the street. When the inevitable budget cuts are proposed to cope with the economic downturn, cuts to youth programs and police should be a last resort, especially in neighborhoods where crime has gone the opposite way of the citywide trend. In fact, we need to find a way to increase funding for youth programs, whether that comes from the city, state or federal government.

I experienced several firsts today: It was my first time speaking directly to an elected official (rather than e-mailing, sending a letter, or speaking with an assistant) about an issue of concern to me; it was my first time being yelled at by an elected official; it was my first time telling an elected official to stop yelling at me.

I experienced several firsts today: It was my first time speaking directly to an elected official (rather than e-mailing, sending a letter, or speaking with an assistant) about an issue of concern to me; it was my first time being yelled at by an elected official; it was my first time telling an elected official to stop yelling at me.

The New York City Planning Commission approved the Related Companies' proposal to develop the Armory into a giant shopping mall on Monday. But in an 8 to 4 vote, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. secured key support in opposing the project from two other borough presidents and the public advocate. Each borough president has an appointee to the commission.

The Bronx News Network, in conjunction with BronxTalk, the cable television talk show hosted by Gary Axelbank on BRONXNET on Aug. 31, held a debate between Fernando Cabrera and Yudelka Tapia, candidates in the 14th District City Council race.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz refused to sign off on The Related Companies' proposal to transform the borough's largest indoor public space into a shopping mall.

He did the right thing.

The Bloomberg administration and its chosen developers expect communities to give carte blanche to projects even when they include massive chunks of prime public real estate and hand over considerable taxpayer subsidies to private companies. And they expect officials like Diaz to sign on the dotted line before negotiating Community Benefits agreements.

Adolfo Carrion, Diaz's predecessor, went along, but with this action Diaz has set a different tone early in his new administration, as we urged him to do in a July editorial.

The borough president's vote is advisory and the City Planning Commission, the majority of whom are mayoral appointees, is virtually certain to ignore it. But Related's proposal will then head to the City Council.

While the Council rarely bucks the mayor on development issues, Diaz's move puts pressure on the borough's Council delegation, especially Council Members Maria Baez, whose district the facility is in, and Oliver Koppell, who has taken a keen interest in the Armory even though it's just outside his district.

If the Bronx delegation votes "no," then Council members from other boroughs will almost certainly defer to its decision.

The Norwood News' 2009 primary voter's guide. Take a look at the candidates in the area's two competitive City Council races: the 11th and 14th Districts. Find out how and where to vote. And see who's running in the citywide races.