The following is an extended version of the story that appears in our latest print edition.

Several thousand children received gifts, and in some cases, enjoyed one last encounter with Santa Claus before the end of the holiday season, as several local organizations hosted traditional “Three Kings Day” events across The Bronx. The annual holiday, traditionally celebrated on Jan. 6 each year, recognizes the journey detailed in The Bible of the three kings, also known as the “three wise men” who traveled to Jerusalem to bring gifts to Baby Jesus on the occasion of his birth.

 

One “Three Kings Day” event was held on Wednesday, Jan. 4, at the Latino Pastoral Action Center on West 170th Street in Mt. Eden. Hosted by the Office of the Bronx Borough President, both the borough president, Vanessa Gibson, herself, and Deputy Bronx Borough President Janet Peguero were in attendance on the day.

 

According to Bishop Raymond Rivera, the Latino Pastoral Action Center has been hosting Three Kings Day events for the last 30 years, but this was the first event sponsored by the borough president’s office. The center currently hosts an after-school program, is home to five local basketball teams, and distributed 1,000 gifts to local children at the Three Kings Day event.

 

Afterward, Gibson told Norwood News, “We are grateful to the Latino Pastoral Action Center for donating space to host my inaugural ‘Three Kings Day Celebration’ in their school auditorium that featured a performance by the nation’s only dual-language, children’s theater, Teatro Seas.” She added, “While we celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Three Kings Day is also recognized by several of our residents and families across the borough.”

Another notable Three Kings Day event was held on Friday, Jan. 6, on Broadway in the Marble Hill section of the borough. Hosted by Kingsbridge Unidos, a local volunteer group founded by former Democratic candidate for Assembly District 81, Jessica Altagracia Woolford, nearly a dozen volunteers joined forces to repair around 30 second-hand bicycles.

 

Volunteers included Cash Cow NYC, D’Arrrigo New York, Art for AID, State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33), Kevin Daloia of Transportation Alternatives Bronx (TABx) / Uptown committee and other Bronx cycling groups. The groups later distributed the repaired bikes as well as helmets to local children, along with free fresh food produce to local families.

 

Bronx Bike advocate, Daloia, said of the event, “It was not just amazing to see the excitement of the raffle winners’ faces when presented with a choice of bikes, but we were also able to give away over 400 cases of mangos, asparagus, onions, Swiss chard, avocados and coconut water, donated by many to hundreds of local community members.”

Daloia said many volunteers were involved from the beginning after they got a phone call saying there were 300 bikes available for the taking. “We contributed to the overall, final distribution of the refurbished bikes,” he said and added that TABx also reached out to NYC-Department of Transportation (DOT), NYC Department of Education (DOE) outreach teams and were able to secure free bike helmets which were given to each bike recipient.

 

Daloia, TABx, and other Bronx bike advocates had participated in the Annual Bronx Holiday Lights Bike Ride around the borough on Dec. 10, 2022. Dressed in holiday festive wear with colorful, light-adorned bikes, this year the group started at Grand Concourse and 192nd Street and cycled through various neighborhoods, making stops at the Williamsbridge Oval in Norwood, in Little Italy, on Fordham Plaza, in Parkchester and at the New York Botanical Garden, spreading some holiday cheer to those they met along the way. Check out the photos from the 2021 festive bike ride here.

The group also delivered some toys to local children as part of the annual Secret Sandy Claus Project. Daloia later thanked all the donors and volunteers who made the annual event possible, writing on Facebook, “One very special pair of donors are a father and son who have allowed us to store toys and use their space as a North Pole the past 2 years. They have graciously allowed us to use their property and without them, we are not sure we would have been able to operate during these difficult years.”

 

Later, on Saturday, Jan. 7, Gonzalo Duran, CEO of Devil Dog USA, Inc., teamed up with MusArt Music Management to also host another “Three Kings Day” event at the SAGE Center on East 188th Street in Fordham Heights. According to the group’s website and as previously reported, SAGE is the world’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTQ+ seniors.

 

“SAGE is dedicated to helping the LGBTQ’s elderly population, but we also want to help the community across the board,” Duran said. “Today’s event was meant to give their clients, other groups of the LGBTQ community and the community as a whole, a safe place to learn and come together.”

 

The first ever “Three Kings Day” event at SAGE was also open to the surrounding community and featured a traditional Spanish meal of “Sancocho” as well as musical artists organized by MusArt. A group of actors reenacted the ‘nativity scene’ which was followed by a final visit of the holiday season by Santa Claus.

 

Duran slipped on his Santa suit, and as he has done for the last 15 years at various events, distributed, along with his helpers, 300 toys and games as well as new clothing to youngsters from the local community.

 

He shared with Norwood News his memories of first playing Santa at home, then later during his service as a U.S. marine. When he founded Devil Dogs, he once again played Santa and began visiting local homeless shelters and churches. With a big smile, Duran said, “This year, we gave [out] thousands of toys and I’m super excited!”

Asked what he gets out of the event, Duran replied, “For me, growing up in an underprivileged family, my mom was only able to give me one toy a year, so coming back here, and to do it for the community that I live in, seeing a kid with three or four toys takes the burden off the patents.”

 

He added that he always tries to include the military and local community in all his events. Several U.S. marines from the East Bronx recruiting station assisted Santa in passing out gifts at the SAGE event.

 

According to Daniel Guzman, founder and CEO of MusArt, the organizers also invited different, local community groups to the event to educate guests and provide free services in a friendly environment. There was live music, a DJ, face-painting for the children, and free hygiene products for men and women. The event highlight was the arrival of the Three Kings and the gift-giving.

 

Having hosted a Three Kings Day event last year, members of The Albanian American Open Hand Association, Inc. (AAOHA), located on Barnes Avenue in the vicinity of Indian Village/Little Yemen, held a traditional Christmas event at their pantry this year. Once again, Santa visited those gathered and distributed 300 toys and games, as well as winter hats and gloves to neighborhood children.

Also on Jan. 7, in the Soundview section of the borough, the female members of nonprofit, B.A.B.E.S. which stands for Berry Awesome Blossom Empowered Sisters, including president, Maribel Mercado, vice president, Regina Padilla, Emily Toro, Betsy Torres, Regina Padilla and Miriam Quiñones (Norwood News freelance photographer) were joined by the group’s only male member, James Rodriguez, for the occasion. The nonprofit hosted its first “Three Kings Day” event at the James Monroe Community Center, located at 1780 Story Avenue.

 

Having organized a Christmas-themed event a year earlier at the same center, Mercado explained, “Because everybody is always giving (gifts) for Christmas but not for Three Kings Day, for those that believe in the Three Kings, that’s why we did it.” She added, “We started fundraising in the beginning of (last) November.” Quiñones added, “We collected over 300 gifts.”

Formed in 2022, Mercado said of the founding of B.A.B.E.S., “We just put our heads together one day because we always seemed to be doing some volunteer work for the community or we’d come up with ideas, and we said, ‘Why don’t we form our own group?’”

 

Rodriguez, a Pelham Bay-based artist, assists the group with the artistic side of promoting their various events. Asked how it feels when a child is given a toy, Rodriguez replied, “Oh, it’s wonderful of course! I do that on my own with other causes, but just to see them grab something without expectations of anything… and they’re not even expecting it to be free, and they’re looking around like they can actually have it. It’s great!”

 

 *Síle Moloney contributed to this story.