Ahead of a new presidency, where the country’s next commander-in-chief, Donald Trump, a Republican, has vowed to deport millions of undocumented immigrants while triggering anti-immigration sentiment, sections of Norwood hosted events that either denounced his positions or took them seriously.

At a community room at Tracey Towers filled to the brim, the foreign-born came in droves for help on filling out their citizenship paperwork. The pop-up immigration service saw immigration attorneys aid visitors in filling out form N-400. The demand was noticeably high—those who stopped by without making an appointment ahead of time were told they had to call for a separate appointment.

“It is definitely filled to its capacity. We sold out last time and we sold out this time,” said Councilman Andrew Cohen, a Democrat who organized the event with CUNY Citizenship Now, said. “I would say that the climate has only heightened with insecurity about the kind of Draconian immigration policies our new president might find appropriate.”

The CUNY Citizenship Now, which has offered free immigration services since 1996, is strictly for legal U.S. residents with a current Green Card. The program provides counseling with attorneys, and flashcards to prepare people for the citizenship test, and fact sheets on how to acquire U.S. citizenship. There is also the opportunity for the application fee, which is a whopping $680, to be waived for the people who qualify.

“If you cannot get processed today that is okay, we have 30 different sites all over the city where we can follow up with you,” said Eboni Mason, events manager for Citizenship Now, “even the people who did not have an appointment.”

Road to Citizenship
Gladys Irias, 52, a native from Tegucigalpa, Honduras went to the workshop that day in hopes of acquiring her citizenship. “This is the first time I’m doing this, but I have lived here for almost 12 years,” Irias has a son and daughter who are currently studying medicine and teaching, respectively. “My husband sent for his mother and for me to go to the US, he was already here,” said Irias, who works as a supervisor in a money transfer office. She was one of the many who was disappointed with the recent election. Irias, a Norwood resident, came to Tracey Towers in hopes of applying for citizenship.

Margarita Falcon, 44, a native from Oaxaca, Mexico has lived in the United States for 20 years, “I am definitely more nervous now that Donald Trump has been elected,” she said. “His ideas are really out there.” Falcon said she was very disappointed in the election, but there is nothing one could do but accept it. Falcon, who works in maintenance in Manhattan, was one of the people who qualified for a waived application fee. “It’s a very high fee and supposedly it’s going to rise even higher,” she said. The new fee will increase to $725 by Dec. 25.

As of 2014, a third of Bronx residents were born in another country, according to U.S. Census data. Many of these people either hold a Green Card and reside as a permanent resident or have yet to acquire their papers.

Promoting Inclusivity
Elsewhere in Norwood on the same day, a group of 11 volunteers canvassed businesses along Bainbridge Avenue to ask shop owners to display a sign in their front window reading, “Standing Against Islamophobia and Racism.”

The idea of the signs, said organizer Pam Sporn, is to show Norwood that their neighbors and shop owners don’t agree with what she says is the hateful rhetoric of President-elect Donald Trump.

“It’s easy to feel depressed, disillusioned, and discouraged after the election,” Sporn said. “There is vicious and racist language coming out of politicians’ mouths, and [it’s difficult] to see the kind of appointments that Trump is making. But doing this with my neighbors and friends gives me a lot of strength. The government may try to deport people or set up a [Muslim] registry, but we’re not a passive mass to be abused. Our neighborhood is so diverse and this can really bring the community together.”

Canvassing Norwood
For over two hours, the group split into pairs, talking to business owners in English and Spanish and taping 50 signs onto storefronts. The materials were printed by the Network Against Islamophobia, a project by Jewish Voice for Peace.

“Put [the sign] anywhere, the best place you can put it,” said Muhammad M. Ali, perhaps the most enthusiastic shop owner to greet the canvassers, allowing them to hang the posters in the window and door of Ador Fashion, which sells traditional Bangladeshi clothing.

“Anything, anything against religion, and hated, I don’t like it. Any religions. We are human beings, and in the Constitution there is freedom of religion, freedom of choice. Somebody calls ‘God,’ somebody calls ‘Allah,’ but the creator is one,” Ali said on why he agreed to put the posters up.

Some shop owners politely declined, saying they didn’t want to get involved in politics. Others invited the volunteers to put the posters outside their store.

One owner, who is not being identified, said that he has been concerned about his safety since the election and has started closing his store earlier in the evening. He said he didn’t want a sign in the window that might indicate his religion.

“[People have] come in to buy something and they don’t want to pay,” the owner said. “They say ‘this is my country.”

Deli owner Mohamad Alsidi, however, said that he hasn’t had any issues in the neighborhood, and agreed to hang the sign because he is against “any kind of racism.”

Yamilet Galan, who was in a nail salon when the canvassers came in, took a sign to put in her apartment window on Perry Avenue. “It’s not only Muslims, it’s Spanish [speakers] too,” Galan said. “I don’t know. I don’t understand the people [who voted for Trump].”

The group of volunteers started canvassing the previous weekend by knocking on apartment doors at 3400 Wayne Ave. and 3341 Reservoir Oval W.

“I’m a neighborhood supporter, and I have to revive my activism—I thought I was in retirement,” said canvasser John Losasso. “This election has reactivated and reanimated us as well. It makes me feel like I’m doing something necessary—we have to do something, and it feels empowering.”

“I’m a therapist, I work with a lot of people from Central America and there’s a lot of anxiety that has come up in our sessions,” said Jose Alfaro, a former Norwood resident who now lives on the other side of Van Cortlandt Park and who helped canvass the businesses. “I think we, in neighborhoods, need to organize and bring people together.”

Editor’s Note: A canvass of businesses along the West 231st Street and Broadway is planned for 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10. The group will meet on the northwest corner of Broadway and 231st Street by Chase Bank.

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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.