In the last three years, Steven Bussell’s journey out of the Bronx has been piecemeal.

Now a Florida transplant, Bussell had dragged out his departure after finding it hard to let go of the Bronx. But for each trip he took to the Sunshine State, more personal effects followed.

On July 1, he made it official. His exit from the borough also signaled his retirement from local volunteerism, saying goodbye to the local 52nd Precinct, West Bronx Housing, and Montefiore Health Systems’ Community Advisory Board (CAB). It also capped four decades living in a neighborhood he says has undergone sweeping changes.

“I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly,” said Bussell, 71, a bespectacled Bronxite with military-grade haircut and bushy eyebrows. “A lot has turned around.”

Wearing a button T-shirt with the 52nd Precinct logo stitched to it, Bussell spoke to the Norwood News over lunch at Webster Café, two hours before he was to help at the precinct’s Open House. The meet and greet event aimed at forging stronger bonds between community and police.

Bussell served 19 years on the 52nd Precinct Community Council, a civilian panel where residents hear directly from the precinct’s commanding officer on crime trends while also airing any quality-of-life grievances. Bussell’s role wasn’t relegated to just sitting at the dais. As vice president, Bussell worked the phones to cobble funds for the council’s yearly events such as National Night Out Against Crime. Procuring funds is a challenge, he notes, hoping his successor will take it on successfully.

“What’s so great about Steve was the outstanding knowledge he had of the surrounding communities within the 52nd Precinct and of their issues past and present,” said Brenda Caldwell, Community Council president. “Steve brought this forth at our meetings which helped break the ice between the person(s) attending the meetings and the commanding officer.”

Bussell couldn’t quite pinpoint why volunteering, which can make one feel invisible, appealed to him. “I’m very civic-minded, even in high school,” said Bussell, whose first volunteer job was at the American Red Cross, working at the now closed Morrissania Hospital. “Ultimately, someone has to do it.”

Back then, he lived in Mt. Eden. Bussell moved up to Bedford Park some four decades ago after his mother was mugged.

Relationship building appears to be Bussell’s specialty. It came in handy at his job in the garment industry, where he traveled the world on his company’s behalf. With globetrotting on his résumé, Bussell switched gears, becoming a travel agent.

He also squeezed in more volunteer work as president of West Bronx Housing, a tenant advocacy group and offshoot of the Bronx Jewish Community Council. The group sponsored Project H.O.P.E., a social services program where Bussell helped donate food packages to poor Jewish residents. Once a month, Bussell sat at Montefiore’s CAB, airing concerns from the neighborhood. Sally Dunford, who worked closely with Bussell at the Jewish Council and CAB, said Bussell’s exit is a “major loss to the community.”

Volunteering won’t end for Bussell. In Florida, he already sits on his condo board, shaming bad neighbors who violated the complex’s rules. The Bronx, he says, won’t quite leave him. “I’m only an email away.”

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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.