The head of the city’s homeless services agency has launched a full investigation into the death of a newborn baby inside a pop-up shelter in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.

Steven Banks, commissioner for the New York City Social Services Department, appearing at a forum with the CUNY Journalism School’s Center for Community and Ethnic Media, said the probe into the four-month-old’s death, is underway. The baby’s death is unclear, Banks told a room full of reporters that “we should await an outcome from the Medical Examiner’s report.”

The body of Duane Pollard Jr. was found unconscious at the Van Cortlandt Motel, a notorious motel on Broadway near 256th Street in Riverdale. The boy was rushed to Montefiore Medical Center and died.

The news adds another layer of trouble for the motel, pegged as a sleazy inn where rooms are rented by the hour. Homeless men were quietly moved into the motel rooms earlier this year. Residents caught wind of the news and demanded they be removed. The New York City Department of Homeless Services, which Banks oversees, replaced them with homeless families. Banks noted that “during the summer we see a seasonal increase in family homelessness,” which warranted the continued practice of housing the homeless at the motel, complying with a city standard in effect for the last 40 years. Banks admitted the motel stays are a “short run.”

But Banks has no regrets putting homeless in hotels or motels, complying with a federal order that mandates the city house the homeless in any which way.

Community Board 8, representing the neighborhood where the shelter falls in, passed a resolution demanding Banks resign and that the city Buildings and Health Departments review the motel’s layout to determine whether its suitable for a pop-up shelter.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.