MTA Denies Friends of Mosholu Parkland Permit to Paint Mural

By SÍLE MOLONEY

When Elizabeth Quaranta began fundraising two years ago with Friends of Mosholu Parkland (FOMP) for a community mural in Azalea Garden, she had no idea that fundraising would turn out to be the easier part of the project. The volunteer community association’s plan was to paint a mural on the park-facing side of the wall behind Azalea garden, adjacent to Mosholu Parkway subway station, located at Mosholu Parkway and Jerome Avenue. Their objective was to beautify a leafy corner of Mosholu Parkland, loved and frequented by the elderly, the homeless, veterans, and local residents, some of whom live

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Most Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) services will operate on Sunday schedules for the Labor Day holiday, Monday, Sept. 7, with subway and bus options for customers traveling to NYC-area beaches. Metro-North Railroad will operate on a regular weekday schedule. Front door-boarding and fare collection has resumed on MTA buses. Customers are reminded to wear masks and social distance when possible while using the system. Wearing a face covering on public transportation is required by law under executive order 202.18 issued by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo effective April 17. The MTA launched its “Mask Force” on July 20 as part

By Síle Moloney

An extensive, industrial-style, subway clean-up is underway at Norwood’s 205th Street subway station, and will continue throughout the coming days. A professional team of about ten cleaners, suited in protective equipment and masks, began a major clean-up at the station on Jun. 29. The workers were seen getting into all the nooks and crannies in the ceiling and along the walls and stairs using a power spray, and various chemical agents. Initially, because of hoses seen on the subway floor, some people thought that the station had been flooded by the heavy rain which fell late on the

A Tribute for the Bronx's 'Unsung Heroes' and a Vital Bus Stop That Could Be Cut: Latest Edition of the Norwood News is Out!

By DAVID CRUZ

Dear Fellow Readers, The year’s fifth edition of the Norwood News is out with plenty of interesting community news stories to read and share. We have 28 pages packed full of news from this corner of the Bronx, so let’s start with page one! Our top story focuses on a unique State of the Borough address delivered by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. The speech, Diaz’s penultimate before he heads into retirement in 2021, put the focus on the borough’s men and women who “put in the work” to better the borough. The story focuses on one Fordham local who certainly

By DAVID CRUZ

Following years of requests from Bronxites, the MTA is now committed to installing three more elevators along the 4 and B/D lines, complementing an already announced project slated for the 4 line’s Mosholu Parkway station in Norwood. The MTA announced that the Kingsbridge Road and Burnside Avenue stations on the 4 line are expected to receive the elevators. The Tremont Avenue station on the B/D line will also get a station. The news builds on the number of stations slated to receive the wheelchair-accessible equipment, which originally had been set to 48. On Dec. 19, MTA New York City Transit

Questions, Some Answered, on MTA’s Proposed Bus Revamp in NW Bronx

By DAVID CRUZ

There were more jeers than cheers from northwest Bronx residents over the MTA’s proposed bus network redesign plan, calling out modifications they say can hurt not help their commuting experiencing at a town hall-style meeting. Those feelings were backed by Community Board 7, which approved a motion calling on the MTA to modify its overhaul plan. At the latest Community Board 7 general board meeting that doubled as a seemingly rushed town hall-style meeting on the proposed changes, where some service changes to buses that run through the northwest Bronx were glossed over (another meeting is scheduled for Dec. 5),

Bronx Residents Air Out Grievances on Proposed Express Bus Cuts

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

Hundreds of residents in the Bronx turned out at a town hall meeting in Riverdale to let MTA representatives, led by Craig Cipriano, acting president for the MTA Bus Company, know that service cuts to express bus service to Manhattan is unacceptable. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz moderated the Nov. 18 meeting with Councilman Andrew Cohen, both of whom represent Norwood, to discuss prospective cuts to Express bus service that include the BxM4 that goes to Manhattan. In the MTA’s final bus network redesign report, the BxM4, among four other lines, is included on the list of “least financially efficient,” and is

New Bus Routes, and Some Discontinued, Under MTA Bronx Bus Redesign Plan

By JOSE A. GIRALT

Senior leadership from the MTA and Bronx elected officials announced that final plans have been approved for a redesign of bus routes in the Bronx. Officially known as the Bronx Bus Network Plan, it is the most significant change in bus transportation in decades. Although the 323-page report, titled “The Bronx Bus Network Redesign” includes the words “Final Plan” on the cover, transit officials are encouraging continued feedback from community boards, elected officials, and commuters. The MTA estimates that 490,000 Bronxites ride the 57 bus routes in the borough every day and every route will be affected in some way.

By JONATHAN CUSTODIO

After over a year of petitioning, commuters who rely on the No. 4 train at Mosholu Parkway can finally expect an elevator to be installed. But just how long the process or even when that installation will take place is up in the air. Under the persistent roar of uptown and downtown service, elected officials gathered under the train station on Sept. 25 to announce the plan, which is to be funded by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) $51.5 billion capital budget for 2020-2024. A total of 70 stations in the city are expected to receive accessibility improvements. Though plans