Editorial: A Brief Trip Back Through 2017

This year could once again be characterized as transitional for Norwood, full of business closures and nascent construction projects. The neighborhood crossed off another year with more bulldozers dotted around the once sleepy community. On a stretch of Webster Avenue between Gun Hill Road and East Mosholu Parkway, four construction projects are well under way. The assumption is clear: more construction means more people are moving into to a neighborhood that is waking up to the realities of overdevelopment. Greater interest in Norwood is a good thing, though a population boom in the next few years should signal greater concern

Dear Fellow Readers, The latest edition of the Norwood News, covering the Norwood section of the Bronx and its surrounding neighborhoods, is out with its last edition of 2017! It’s certainly been a ride. To refresh your memory of some of this year’s happenings, we encourage you to take a look at our editorial. It’s worth a read. But let’s get back to the beginning and page one! On Dec. 19, Bronx Community Board 7 finally found another district manager. This time it’s Ischia Bravo, who becomes the first female district manager since the late Rita Kessler. Her hiring was met

Community Board 7 Finds New District Manager...Again

By DAVID CRUZ

Ischia Bravo, the former executive director of the Bronx Democratic County Committee (BDCC), was hired as the new district manager for Community Board 7, becoming the fifth district manager for the board in the last five years. Her hiring was met with some questions over whether she was truly fit for the job. Bravo, who’s hiring was approved by the board 16 to 3 with nine abstentions, succeeds the late Andrew Sandler, who resigned from the job three weeks before passing away from cancer in August. “Helping my neighbors on behalf of the community board is deeply personal for me,” Bravo,

COMMUNITY BOARD 7, covering Norwood, Bedford Park, Kingsbridge, Fordham and University Heights sections of the Bronx will hold its monthly board meeting on Dec. 19 at Kittay House, 2550 Webb Avenue, at 6:30 p.m. CB7 committee meetings are held on the following dates at the board office, 229 E. 204th St., at 6:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted: Housing, Land Use & Zoning Committee meets on Dec. 12; and Executive Committee meets on Dec. 14. There will be no Parks Committee meeting as it’s happening on Dec. 7, the same time as the CB7 Annual Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony. For more information,

Latest Edition of the Norwood News is Out!

Dear Fellow Readers, The latest edition of the Norwood News, covering the Norwood and the surrounding Bronx communities, is out with our second to last issue before year’s end (time flies when you’re having fun). With 16 pages of news from end to end, it’s best we get into it. We begin with page one, of course, and the issue of the Jerome Avenue Rezoning plan still in the making. The plan has received the blessing from the Bronx Borough Board, though with stipulations attached. Critics say it does not go far enough. Read what reporter Aaron Mayorga dug up. Inside

By DAVID CRUZ

The latest delay on securing a Community Board 7 district manager has to do with an untidy office. At the last CB7 general board meeting on Nov. 21, the holdup was blamed on finding a vendor to properly sanitize the office. “The process has to be delayed to allow time for the board office to undergo a thorough, professional, hygienic cleaning in order to safeguard the health and well-being of the staff, the income new district manager and visitors,” read Andrew Laiosa, chair of the Search Committee conducting interviews of prospective district managers. The board’s previous district manager, Andrew Sandler,

Fordham Landing Shelter/Affordable Housing Site Here to Stay

By REGGIE FRANCOIS

Despite numerous attempts to rid a homeless shelter/affordable housing site in Fordham, hundreds of residents at a nearby cooperative will have to get used to the site and its occupants, whether they like it or not. Still, residents at Fordham Hill Owners Corporation expressed continued outraged for Fordham Landing, the homeless shelter and affordable housing site slated to open in December. An Oct. 25 town hall meeting took place between the corporation’s community engagement community and representatives from the New York City Department of Homeless Services and Bowery Residents Committee (BRC), with executive director Muzzy Rosenblatt on hand. “We’re here

By DAVID CRUZ

Community Board 7 is now among the groups supporting a move to rename a street after the late Andrew Sandler, who died in August after serving a year and a half as the board’s district manager. At its general board meeting, CB7 members unanimously approved a letter of support to be sent to Councilman Andrew Cohen backing a proposal to rename a street after Sandler. Supporters want the street renaming to happen in the vicinity of 238th Street and Waldo Avenue, the Riverdale streets where Sandler was raised. Community Board 8, the local board which covers the neighborhood Sandler grew

Hello fellow readers, The latest edition of the Norwood News, covering the Norwood section of the Bronx and its surrounding communities, is out with its 19th edition of the year. We’ve crammed a variety of news in this 16-page paper so strap in! We begin with page one and continued pressure from local Community Board 7 to have a proposed homeless shelter (just a proposal) relocated to a different part of Norwood. Hear what parents of a school that rest diagonally across the proposed homeless shelter have to say about that. We then turn to inside-the-cover news and a proposal