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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1210&story=new-friends-leader-stakes-out-vision-for-vc-park/" rel="bookmark">New &#8216;Friends&#8217; Leader Stakes Out Vision for VC Park</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 19, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By Kathryn Molinaro</strong></p>
		<p><strong><font size="5" color="#ff0000">S</font></strong>ince  	joining the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park in 2000, Christina Taylor has seen  	a lot of changes. Involvement in the Friends&rsquo; environmental internships has  	increased, areas of the park are being reforested and, of course, in 2004,  	the city chose Van Cortlandt Park as the site for a controversial new water  	filtration plant.</p>
<p>
Now, as the new executive director of the non-profit organization, Taylor is  	ready to preside over more changes to improve the park, the city&rsquo;s third  	largest, and those who use it.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I have a vision for the Friends,&rdquo; Taylor said.</p>
<p>
Taylor, 30, previously served as the education coordinator for the Friends.  	She became interim executive director in November, when Paul Sawyer stepped  	down from the position, and she became the official director at the Friends&rsquo;  	March 8 meeting.</p>
<p>
A Rochester native, Taylor is most excited about the Croton extension trail.  	The Friends have re-created the path, which runs along the Croton Aqueduct  	from the corner of West Gun Hill Road and Mosholu Parkway to the Allen  	Shandler Recreation Area within the southeastern section of the park. The  	Friends are also working on improving the condition of the trees and plants  	in that part of the park, which experts called the unhealthiest part of the  	Van Cortlandt Park forest.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really dedicated to changing that,&rdquo; Taylor said of the forest&rsquo;s  	diagnosis. &ldquo;This project is very dear to me.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Her vision also includes securing capital money to make restoring trails and  	plant life easier. In the past, interns and volunteers have worked on  	improvements, but Taylor wants professional help for some of the bigger  	tasks of reforestation.</p>
<p>
Taylor, the only full-time staffer of the Friends, also wants to hire a new  	education coordinator and a development person to focus on fund-raising, a  	constant challenge for the group.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I know if I want to raise capital funding it will take up a huge chunk of  	my time,&rdquo; Taylor said.</p>
<p>
She is looking forward to the opening of the Sachkerah Woods playground at  	the corner of West Gun Hill Road and Jerome Avenue, especially because so  	many children live near that part of the park, even though it came as the  	result of a political deal brokered to site the filtration plant, a project  	the Friends fought in court.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just excited there&rsquo;s going to be a new space for them,&rdquo; Taylor said.</p>
<p>A graduate of SUNY School of Environmental Science and Forestry, Taylor  	originally wanted to be a field biologist. She had several jobs after  	college before coming to the Friends, a position she heard about from a  	co-worker when she was an urban forest ranger.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I knew I would always work outdoors,&rdquo; Taylor said.</p>
<p>
But many outdoor jobs are temporary and require a lot of moving, which makes  	her new stable gig that much more appealing.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I like being settled and having a home,&rdquo; Taylor said.</p>
<p>
In that home in Dobbs Ferry, Taylor lives with her husband of one and a half  	years, Stan, their cat Molly, and a turtle named Murph.</p>
<p>
Stan works for the Department of Environmental Protection, the organization  	the Friends sued in 2004 in an effort to keep the water filtration plant out  	of the park. But Taylor said there was no tension in the relationship during  	that period because Stan works out of White Plains.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not at the level that makes decisions about that,&rdquo; she said.</p>
<p>
As Taylor and the Friends prepare for a busy spring full of programs and  	fund-raising, Taylor has a spot chosen in the park where she can get away  	from it all. With the exception of a few golf carts, Taylor likes the  	seclusion and quiet of the bridge on the John Kieran Nature Trail.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;You actually forget that you&rsquo;re in the city,&rdquo; she said.</p>
<p>
<strong>Ed. note:</strong> <em>For more information on the Friends of Van Cortlandt  	Park, or to volunteer, call (718) 601-1460 or visit 	<a href="http://www.vancortlandt.org/" target="_blank">www.vancortlandt.org</a></em></p>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1209&story=veteran-coach-sees-life-lessons-on-softball-diamond/" rel="bookmark">Veteran Coach Sees Life Lessons on Softball Diamond</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 19, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By Cassandra Lizaire</strong></p>
		<p><strong><font size="5" color="#ff0000">L</font></strong>ifelong  	baseball fan and girls little league softball coach, John O&rsquo;Neil can  	honestly say that his favorite team is the Mets &ndash; as in the group of 16  	young ladies he trains every spring. No offense to the New York Mets, but  	the choice between the hardened major league team and his budding talents is  	a virtual no-brainer.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When you&rsquo;ve spent as many weekday afternoons and  	Saturday mornings calling plays and building team spirit as Coach O&rsquo;Neil,  	there is no question where your loyalties lie. A head coach in Mosholu  	Montefiore Community Center&rsquo;s (MMCC) girls&rsquo; softball division, O&rsquo;Neil, 62,  	has happily reported for duty for the past 15 years.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;I prefer to coach the girls softball division,&rdquo; admits  	O&rsquo;Neil, who first trained his son&rsquo;s baseball team before making the gender  	switch 14 years ago at his daughter&rsquo;s insistence. He&rsquo;s been a softball  	mainstay ever since.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With his adult children long-since graduated from the  	MMCC league, O&rsquo;Neil stays on, driven by his passion for baseball and a  	genuine commitment to girls&rsquo; softball.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;Sometimes [girls] don&rsquo;t start playing as early as the  	boys do, but they catch up,&rdquo; says O&rsquo;Neil, who takes pride in the softball  	prodigies he has coached over the years &ndash; many of whom go on to play for  	junior high and high school teams.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A recycling office employee in the city&rsquo;s Department of  	Sanitation, O&rsquo;Neil lives in the northwest Bronx&rsquo;s Amalgamated Houses with  	his wife of 34 years, Janitzia.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Though he could not think of one downside to coaching,  	at times, the coach said, it was difficult to practice after work. He looks  	forward to retirement next year when he will have more time for baseball.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;I think this is a great way to get people to become  	fans of baseball, especially those who have never played before,&rdquo; says  	O&rsquo;Neil, who values MMCC&rsquo;s emphasis on team participation over cutthroat  	competition.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In this baseball league, unlike other more competitive  	ones like the national Little League program, &ldquo;everybody has to play and  	everybody has to bat,&rdquo; the coach says. This nurturing and supportive  	environment makes O&rsquo;Neil&rsquo;s role in teaching players the fundamentals even  	more satisfying.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Typically the three girls&rsquo; softball teams &ndash; the Mets,  	the Yankees, and the A&rsquo;s (short for the Athletics) &ndash; have afternoon  	practices at least once a week for two hours. Over the ten-game, two playoff  	season, girls between the ages of 9 and 15 learn to work and play together  	as a team.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Beyond field technique, O&rsquo;Neil teaches a culture of  	respect, good sportsmanship and self-assuredness.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;If they have confidence in baseball, which they&rsquo;ve  	never played before, then they&rsquo;ll have confidence in their school and home  	lives,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Neil says.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Saturday, April 7, he marched with the Mets at the  	head of MMCC&rsquo;s annual baseball league parade down Jerome Avenue to Harris  	Field. O&rsquo;Neil said he enjoyed the day, taking in the festivities and  	excitement of young players in pristine uniforms yet unsoiled by dust and  	slides into home plate.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good coach and runs the Mets perfectly,&rdquo; said  	Maritza Martinez during the parade. Her daughter, Sepulveda, 11, will be  	starting her third season on the Mets.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The fanfare also heightened the Mets&rsquo; morale going into  	their first game this season after winning the championship a year ago. They  	defeated the A&rsquo;s, 10-5, at Shandler field last weekend.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For Coach O&rsquo;Neil, baseball has been one of life&rsquo;s  	constants, and a great vehicle for youth development. Plus, he says, to  	aspiring coaches out there, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a lot of fun. If you&rsquo;re a baseball  	fan, you can give it a try.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em>David Greene contributed to this article.</em><br />
<strong>Ed. note:</strong> <em>MMCC Coach John O&rsquo;Neil encourages more families to  	consider enrolling more students for the next season&rsquo;s girls softball teams.  	For more information, call Chris Pinto at (718) 882-4000.</em></p>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1208&story=german-view-of-the-bronx/" rel="bookmark">German View of the Bronx</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 19, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By Alex Kratz</strong></p>
		<p>Thanks to YouTube, the Bronx and the world were made aware this weekend  		of a German military training exercise where soldiers were told to  		imagine African-Americans in the Bronx exiting a van before firing off  		their machine guns.</p>
<p>
But anyone who has a Google News Alert set for Bronx will learn  		relatively quickly that our borough is frequently used for target  		practice by clueless people trying to make a point in violent contexts.  		In fact, the Norwood News ran an editorial about exactly this last July.  		Here are a couple of excerpts:</p>
<p>
Michael Hart, the Liberal Party candidate for state parliament in  		Burleigh, Australia, &ldquo;has rejected suggestions that Burleigh is becoming  		the &lsquo;Bronx&rsquo; of the city,&rdquo; according to a local paper there.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;We are certainly having some trouble with out-of-control youth  		gatherings, but I don&rsquo;t think we have reached that stage yet,&rdquo; he told  		the paper&hellip;</p>
<p>
A year ago, a Swiss paper ran an article about training sessions for  		people concerned about rising crime in Swiss cities. The headline was,  		&ldquo;Safety lessons in a virtual Bronx.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
By the way, we posted an entry about this on our blog &mdash;  		westbronxnews.blogspot.com &mdash; and it has sparked an interesting exchange.  		Said one reader: &ldquo;The image of the Bronx in non-US countries is indeed  		one of decay, lawlessness, violence, and&hellip;gangs. And you know why?  		Because it was portrayed exactly like this by American pop culture for  		decades. And since ordinary Europeans derive alot of their &lsquo;knowledge&rsquo;  		about America from American TV series, movies, etc., which are flooding  		European households, this picture is ingrained into the population. So,  		if you want to assign blame, start at home and chide Hollywood for the  		horrible PR job it is giving the Bronx.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
And in response: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m from Germany living in New Jersey for a couple of  		years and even though I spend almost every weekend in New York City, I  		never went to the Bronx. I don&rsquo;t know this area and I&rsquo;m too afraid  		ending up in a dangerous situation. That might sound funny to some  		people, but as Tobias [prior writer] said, that&rsquo;s the image the media  		made out of it.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Feel free to add to the conversation. Just go to this particular blog  		entry (it was posted on April 15) and click on the comment button at the  		end.</p>
<p>
<strong><font size="4">What Political Clubs Mean</font></strong></p>
<p>Next year, if there&rsquo;s any particular political or community issue that&rsquo;s  		been nagging at you and you want to buttonhole some of the city&rsquo;s most  		powerful Democratic officials all in one place, you might consider  		plunking down $75 to attend the annual dinner of the Benjamin Franklin  		Reform Democratic Club.</p>
<p>
If you went last week, you wouldn&rsquo;t have even entered the ground floor  		ballroom before you tripped over State Senators Jeffrey Klein, Eric  		Schneiderman and Efrain Gonzalez, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, and  		Councilmembers Eric Gioia and Oliver Koppell, all in full handshaking  		mode. Inside the ballroom were over 200 more local movers and shakers.</p>
<p>
It&rsquo;s the kind of local political show of force that Norwood&rsquo;s Decatur  		Democratic Club probably last exhibited in the 1980s.</p>
<p>
It may seem like inside baseball to many, but this type of healthy  		political activity means a lot to a community. Citywide candidates  		campaign in Riverdale, where they seek the club&rsquo;s endorsement and make  		promises on issues important to them. Active community residents see  		their officials on a regular basis. The more of them that are involved,  		the more the officials feel like they need to produce.</p>
<p>
Norwood is still part of the Ben Franklin Club&rsquo;s constituency (it  		considers its boundaries the 81st Assembly District). Maybe the Ben  		Franklin Club might consider expanding its membership meeting by having  		a few meetings in Norwood, or maybe even its annual dinner! Certainly,  		other leaders would become aware of the club and maybe even participate  		at a greater level.</p>
<p>
The same goes for the rival North Bronx Democratic Alliance, which  		launched as an alternative to Ben Franklin. When it started, NBDA talked  		about reaching out to less politically involved parts of the district.  		We&rsquo;re still waiting.</p>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1207&story=planning-a-rivers-renaissance/" rel="bookmark">Planning a River&#8217;s Renaissance</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 19, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By James Fergusson</strong></p>
		<p><strong><font size="5" color="#ff0000">F</font></strong>or  	decades, community leaders and environmentalists have dreamed of cleaning up  	the Harlem River, and renovating its underutilized eastern shoreline. It&rsquo;s  	quite a dream.</p>
<p>The eight-mile waterway is polluted; its shoreline, on which factories and  	power plants once stood, is presumed to be one large brownfield (land whose  	redevelopment is complicated by environmental hazards).</p>
<p>But in recent years there have been pockets of progress along the water&rsquo;s  	edge. River Plaza Shopping Center, with its Target and Starbucks, opened on  	a former industrial site in Marble Hill in 2004. In Morris Heights, Roberto  	Clemente State Park is on the cusp of a $20 million rehab.</p>
<p>And then there&rsquo;s the work being done by the Bronx Council for Environmental  	Quality (BCEQ), and partners, who are looking at the possibility of  	renovating 162 acres of brownfield land between the river and the Major  	Deegan Expressway. </p>
<p>Earlier this year, BCEQ submitted a lengthy description of the area to their  	backers &ndash; the State&rsquo;s Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) Program. Now, the  	BOA Program says they&rsquo;ll fund a further study which will investigate the  	exact condition of the land and the feasibility of reclaiming it for public  	and private use.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the BOA Program aims to provide expertise, help attract  	investors, and build community consensus over what to, and how to develop,  	particular sites.</p>
<p>Hilary Kitasei, the Harlem River BOA&rsquo;s project manager, says they&rsquo;ve &ldquo;yet to  	receive a dime&rdquo; from the BOA Program. Still, the project is slowly moving  	forward, she says, as they build on &ldquo;three generations worth of planning.&rdquo;</p>
<p>BCEQ, with input from the community and various community groups, would like  	to see waterfront parks and an accessible shoreline so local residents and  	tourists can enjoy boating, fishing, and even swimming. This fits in nicely  	with the Parks Department&rsquo;s hopes for a Harlem River Greenway, a continuous  	sliver of green along the river&rsquo;s edge. &ldquo;Our hope is this [BCEQ&rsquo;s studies]  	helps them carry out the Greenway plan,&rdquo; said Kitasei.</p>
<p>To some extent, these visions have been taken from the past. For in the late  	19th century, the Harlem River was a hive of activity, a waterway teeming  	with yachts and sculls. </p>
<p>The river would have been thick with life &ndash; bass, oysters, and clams. In the  	1890s, a man by the name of John Burns ran &ldquo;Cedar Jack&rsquo;s Last Stand Clam  	Bar,&rdquo; on a site close to Yankee Stadium, according to Lloyd Ultan, the Bronx  	borough historian. It sounds like City Island. (&ldquo;Try and find a fish now!&rdquo;  	said Ultan.)</p>
<p>Meanwhile, beautiful parks lined the shorelines and cliff tops on both sides  	of the river. Tourists and local residents alike would stroll across the  	pedestrian only High Bridge, the city oldest bridge, to take in the  	magnificent views.</p>
<p>When industry arrived, and the borough&rsquo;s population swelled, this picture  	postcard scenery began to fade. Access to the waterfront from upland  	neighborhoods was becoming more difficult, too. Already, local residents had  	to negotiate steep cliffs and the railroad (today run by Metro North). From  	1956 onwards, they faced another barrier in the newly built Deegan.</p>
<p>The cliffs, highway, and rail companies, continue to present problems. So  	does landownership: over 50 percent of the total acreage is owned by the  	rail companies. How willing these railroads are to give up their yards and  	maintenance facilities, could affect what redevelopment is possible.  	Moreover, said Kitasei, waterfront access is all well and good, but if the  	water&rsquo;s filthy, no one will go near, let alone take a dip.</p>
<p>Stopping sewage from entering the waterway is thus vital. (The city&rsquo;s sewer  	system is old and inadequate and overflows with every heavy storm, pouring  	some 27 billion gallons a year of mixed sewage and storm water into city  	waterways. Organizations such as S.W.I.M (Storm Water Infrastructure  	Matters), hope to change this by capturing rain water on rooftops and  	sidewalk gardens.)</p>
<p>Overall, Kitasei remains hopeful. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t look at this river and not be  	moved by its potential,&rdquo; she said.</p>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1206&story=hearing-airs-details-of-boroughs-digital-divide/" rel="bookmark">Hearing Airs Details of Borough&#8217;s Digital Divide</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 19, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By Alex Kratz</strong></p>
		<p><font size="5" color="#ff0000"><strong>A</strong></font>ffordable,  	and sometimes free, high-speed Internet access is coming to the Bronx &ndash; one  	restaurant, building and neighborhood at a time.</p>
<p>
The virtual reality is that there&rsquo;s a digital divide between those who have  	high-speed Internet access and those who don&rsquo;t. That gap is widest in  	working-class, low-income communities like much of the Bronx.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Go down to St. Ann&rsquo;s Avenue and you might as well be in Mogadishu,&rdquo; said  	John McMullen, a technology professor at Monroe College, &ldquo;but up in  	Riverdale, it&rsquo;s terrific. The wealthy neighborhoods find ways.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
In 2006, only 21 percent of households with an annual income of $30,000 or  	less had a broadband, or high-speed, Internet connection at home, according  	to a report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. At the same time,  	68 percent of households earning more than $75,000 had broadband.</p>
<p>
Starting with a hearing at Bronx Community College on March 30, the city  	jump-started a public discussion on how to bridge the divide.</p>
<p>
Interest in the subject is strong, judging by the hundreds of attendees and  	hours of testimony at the hearing, which was the first of five (one in each  	borough) that the City Council&rsquo;s Broadband Advisory Committee will host.</p>
<p>
Already a handful of groups are working to bring affordable (or free)  	Internet access to some neighborhoods, but the committee is looking to  	create a comprehensive plan that will benefit all New Yorkers from every  	economic strata.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re dovetailing with the mayor and the EDC (Economic Development  	Corporation) to find out what people really want,&rdquo; said Council Member Gale  	Brewer, the Upper West Sider who heads the Council&rsquo;s Technology Committee  	and created the advisory committee two years ago.</p>
<p>
After all the hearings, an EDC-hired consultant will advise the mayor on how  	the city should move forward.</p>
<p>
<strong>Students and seniors</strong></p>
<p>From the testimony, Brewer said it became apparent that both students and  	seniors, particularly those who are low income, are underserved.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;The Internet can be a veritable lifeline for homebound elderly,&rdquo; said Tom  	Kamber of Older Adults Technology Services, at the hearing. &ldquo;Not only can  	seniors access invaluable health and medical information, but they can  	communicate with family members and friends.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
For students, consistent Internet access is increasingly about being  	competitive academically.</p>
<p>
While some students have high-speed access at home, most are at the mercy of  	school and public library computers, where access is free, but limited. Even  	among public schools, there are glaring disparities between schools. Some  	kids said they accessed the Internet three hours a day, while others said  	they were lucky to be on-line, three hours a week.</p>
<p>
Andrew Gallagher, a teacher at The Bronx Writing Academy, a school where 80  	percent of the students are eligible for free and reduced lunch, testified  	that his school has enjoyed success trying to integrate technology tools  	into most subject areas, but inconsistent Internet connectivity is impeding  	that effort.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Why should these kids be less educated and effectively relegated to second  	class citizens?&rdquo; said Dana Spiegel, the executive director of New York City  	Wireless, a non-profit that has helped set up dozens of wireless &ldquo;hotspots&rdquo;  	throughout the city, including at parks and apartment buildings.</p>
<p>
Spiegel&rsquo;s group has teamed up with Monroe, through McMullen&rsquo;s Wireless  	Technology class, to set up access in public places, including a Subway  	restaurant on Fordham Road, The City Line Diner in Woodlawn and three city  	parks.</p>
<p>
<strong>Progress in Mt. Hope</strong></p>
<p>There are other encouraging signs of Internet life in the Bronx. Shaun Belle  	is the president and CEO of Mt. Hope Housing Company, which has wired 1,200  	of its affordable housing units for high-speed access. The group partnered  	with Verizon to do the installation and negotiated a deal allowing them to  	offer broadband access to all of its residents for $12 a month, a fraction  	of the normal cost.</p>
<p>
Belle&rsquo;s company also partnered with Per Scholas, a Bronx non-profit offering  	low-cost technology to underserved communities, to provide Mt. Hope with 200  	used computers. Also, the housing company provides its tenants with free  	computer training so they can maximize their usage.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;The key is not just to provide the skeleton of the hardware and the  	Internet, but to train families on how to use it to their advantage,&rdquo; Belle  	said.</p>
<p>
As a member of the Broadband Advisory Committee, Belle recently took a tour  	of Japan, China and Taiwan to get a sense of how those countries are setting  	up Internet access.</p>
<p>
Belle found that Asia is far ahead of the United States in terms of  	providing access, but how they are accomplishing it is not much different  	than how he does it in the Bronx: by cutting deals with private providers.  	The difference is Asian governments are taking a more active role by  	negotiating with providers on a larger scale &ndash; one city at a time.</p>
<p>
Unlike Mayor Bloomberg&rsquo;s business-first approach to the Internet, Belle says  	the city should start with underserved communities, where a lot of bright  	young minds and talent is being wasted.</p>
<p>
Groups like Belle&rsquo;s are at the forefront, but they can&rsquo;t cover the map on  	their own. &ldquo;The government has to step up to the plate,&rdquo; he says.</p>
<p>
The &lsquo;wave of the future&rsquo;</p>
<p>
Still, no one knows exactly how the city should solve the digital divide,  	hence the hearings. Other U.S. cities are trying different combinations of  	public and private efforts, but no one has a magic potion, Spiegel said.</p>
<p>
For now, Spiegel said, it&rsquo;s up to smaller groups to wire the city, one  	public space at a time.</p>
<p>
Roberto Garcia, the director of the Jerome-Gun Hill Business Improvement  	District (BID), is working with both Spiegel and Monroe to bring wireless  	technology to Norwood.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the wave of the future,&rdquo; Garcia said. Ultimately, Garcia wants all the  	stores and apartment buildings in his BID to have high-speed wireless  	Internet access, as well as Williamsbridge Oval Park, the neighborhood&rsquo;s  	recreational hub.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;This will help bridge the digital divide,&rdquo; Garcia said. &ldquo;The kids are  	already getting into it at school, but they can&rsquo;t do anything once they get  	home if their parents don&rsquo;t have access. This will allow families to be more  	informed and make better decisions.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
The biggest problem is the monthly fee, which can run up to $60 a month.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;The monthly cost could be the difference between a MetroCard for work or a  	pair of sneakers for your kids,&rdquo; said Garcia, who also works for Mosholu  	Preservation Corporation, a partner in the BID&rsquo;s efforts.</p>
<p>
In the future, Garcia imagines local residents shopping digitally and  	parents looking on-line for better jobs while watching their kids play  	soccer in the park.</p>
<p>
He&rsquo;s starting by installing wireless technology from Verizon at the VIP  	Caf&eacute;, one of the most successful restaurants in the BID and a popular haunt  	for Montefiore Medical Center staffers.</p>
<p>
There&rsquo;s a lot at stake in all these local efforts, and for the city&rsquo;s  	as-yet-undetermined role.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;In order for us to be competitive with rest of the world, we need to be  	connected,&rdquo; Belle says.</p>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1205&story=muslim-community-wants-schools-to-recognize-holidays/" rel="bookmark">Muslim Community Wants Schools to Recognize Holidays</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 19, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By James Fergusson</strong></p>
		<p><strong><font size="5" color="#ff0000">O</font></strong>n  	Christmas Day, public schools across the city shut down. They close on  	several Jewish holidays, too. But Muslim holidays aren&rsquo;t recognized in the  	same way by New York City&rsquo;s Department of Education (DOE), leaving some  	parents with a dilemma: keep the kids at home so the family can celebrate  	together, or whisk them off to school so they don&rsquo;t miss their classes.</p>
<p>
The issue came to a head in January 2006 when a statewide test was scheduled  	on Eid-Ul-Adha, one of the holiest days in the Muslim calendar. Many Muslims  	were furious, and on the coattails of this uproar, a new law was passed to  	prevent mandatory state testing from occurring on all future religious  	holidays.</p>
<p>
Now, the Coalition for Muslim School Holidays, an amalgamation of 50-plus  	mosques and community groups, is trying to take things a step further by  	asking the DOE to close schools on both Eid-Ul-Adha (which celebrates the  	end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca) and Eid-Ul-Fitr (the day that marks  	the end of the Ramadan, the holy month of fasting).</p>
<p>
&ldquo;As a parent I would like my children to have the same rights as children  	from other religions,&rdquo; said Bakary Camara, of the Bronx-based Gambian  	Society, one of the organizations behind the Coalition.</p>
<p>
While students of any faith are able to take days off on their religious  	holidays (providing the school receives a prior letter from a parent),  	Camara is worried that those absent on the &ldquo;Eids&rdquo; are falling behind their  	peers and blemishing their attendance records. A poor attendance, says  	Camara, can hurt a student&rsquo;s chances of getting a &ldquo;scholarship to a better  	performing school.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
The Coalition&rsquo;s campaign is gathering steam. In mid-March, they published a  	report titled &ldquo;Acceptance, Not Exclusion: A Case for Muslim Holidays in New  	York City Public Schools.&rdquo; Then, on March 31, they held a forum in the south  	Bronx to educate the community and drum up support. Organizers say 400  	people showed up.</p>
<p>
So far, the DOE isn&rsquo;t playing ball. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re very respectful of different  	populations [and] religions,&rdquo; said Dina Paul, a spokesperson. &ldquo;But we  	haven&rsquo;t added any new holidays to the calendar in half a century&hellip; and we  	won&rsquo;t be adding any now.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
The matter could soon be out of the DOE&rsquo;s hands. John Sabini, a Queens state  	senator, and Assemblyman Ruben Diaz, Jr. (D-Bronx) have recently introduced  	bills in the Senate and Assembly respectively, which, if passed, would  	smother the city&rsquo;s opposition, and force schools to close on both days, as  	they already do in several New Jersey cities.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m optimistic [this will become law],&rdquo; Diaz said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s about time we  	recognized this growing population.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
And growing it is. Just look at the number of mosques. Before 1970, there  	were fewer than 10 citywide, according to a 2001 study by the Muslim  	Communities in New York City Project. Today, says Camara, there are close to  	30 in the Bronx alone. (In the west Bronx, they&rsquo;re particularly prevalent in  	Mount Hope, Morris Heights and Highbridge, neighborhoods with blossoming  	Ghanaian, Gambian, and Malian communities.)</p>
<p>
Exactly how many Muslims call the city home, however, isn&rsquo;t known &#8211; details  	of religious affiliation aren&rsquo;t collected in the Census. But the Coalition  	says there are 100,000 Muslim students in the public school system (that&rsquo;s  	12 percent of the student body) and they&rsquo;re working on collecting the  	signatures of 100,000 supporters in recognition of this figure.</p>
<p>
Assemblyman Michael Benjamin (D-Bronx) is supporting Diaz&rsquo;s bill. Making the  	&ldquo;Eids&rdquo; official school holidays would create &ldquo;mutual respect,&rdquo; said  	Benjamin, because non-Muslim students would be curious to learn why there  	was no school on a certain day.</p>
<p>
Sadiq Abdul Malik, who worships at the Masjid-Hefaz mosque in Bedford Park,  	agrees. &ldquo;It would help build bridges of understanding,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Ignorance  	makes us come to the wrong conclusions about people.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;[Incorporating these holidays] would go a long way to show Muslims that we  	believe they&rsquo;re also a part of our big New York family,&rdquo; Diaz added. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a  	small step, but I think it&rsquo;s a significant one.&rdquo;</p>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1204&story=no-takers/" rel="bookmark">No Takers</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 19, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By Alex Kratz</strong></p>
		<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="5" color="#ff0000"><strong>M</strong></font>ajor  	construction on the controversial water filtration plant being built in Van  	Cortlandt Park, already two months behind schedule, ran into another major  	obstacle when the contractor for the project withdrew its $1.127 billion  	bid.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This means the $2 billion Croton Water Filtration Plant  	will definitely cost another $200 million, and maybe more, depending on how  	much longer this new twist delays the project.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The original contractor, a consortium of three large  	contracting firms, Pirini, Tutor-Siliba and O &amp; G, dropped its bid last  	week, saying it couldn&rsquo;t build the plant at the price it initially offered,  	which was the lowest of two bids.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In turn, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)  	offered the job to another consortium trio, Slattery-Skanska,  	Gottlieb-Skanska and Tully, which originally bid $1.3277 billion for the  	filtration plant project.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The second consortium is now deciding whether it can  	build the plant at the cost it initially bid for it, said DEP spokesman Ian  	Michaels. He added that the DEP has not set a deadline for the consortium to  	make a decision.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If the consortium decides it can&rsquo;t build the plant for  	$1.3277 billion, then the DEP will be forced to re-open the bidding process,  	Michaels said. Since the process has already been done once, he said, the  	agency should be able to &ldquo;expedite&rdquo; the process this time around.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In general, Michaels said, construction prices have  	been on the rise for the past couple of years, which means that if the  	project is re-bid, the cost of the project will most likely go up.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 2003, the DEP estimated the total cost of the plant  	would be $992 million. Then, last November, the Norwood News reported, and  	the DEP acknowledged, that the cost of the project had doubled to around $2  	billion due to skyrocketing construction costs and design modifications,  	which caused the completion date to be moved back another year, to 2011. The  	$1.3277 billion bid for major construction doesn&rsquo;t include the cost of site  	preparation, design work, construction management or the $243 million that  	the DEP is earmarking for Bronx park projects (to offset the loss of park  	space in Van Cortlandt).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now, the 2011 completion date appears in jeopardy,  	though Michaels said the DEP doesn&rsquo;t anticipate moving the date back any  	further.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;What it obviously means is more delays and more  	money,&rdquo; said Anne Marie Garti, a local activist who has watched in dismay as  	the plant&rsquo;s pricetag continues to rise. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s just a huge number of  	questions. Nobody seems to be looking at [the practical elements of the  	project], they just seem to be stumbling along. Who&rsquo;s idea was it to build  	this filtration plant in a giant rock hole anyway?&rdquo;</p>
<table width="85%" border="0" bgcolor="#cccccc" id="table1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Tahoma Black"> 				Water Rate Hearing</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p class="MsoNormal">One of the unfortunate by-products of the  				rise in the DEP&rsquo;s capital costs, such as the building of the  				Croton Water Filtration Plant, is its affect on city water  				rates, which is significant.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This year, the New York City Water Board is  				considering a proposal to raise rates for water by 11.5 percent  				starting on July 1, 2007. The increase is the largest increase  				in 15 years and follows an increase of 9.4 percent last year.  				The Board is projecting annual increases of more than 11 percent  				for each of the next three years.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The rate hike will directly affect  				homeowners and building owners, and will likely affect renters  				as well, as increases in operating costs get passed down to  				tenants in the form of larger annual rent hikes approved by the  				Rent Guidelines Board.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Over the next few weeks, the Water Board  				will hold public hearings in each of the boroughs to decide  				whether to approve the proposed rate hike.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Bronx hearing will be on Wednesday,  				April 25 at 9:30 a.m. at Lehman College (Carmen Hall, b-34).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Call Kevin Kunkle at (718) 595-3601 to  				register for the hearing.</p>
</td>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1223&story=an-irish-recipe-binds-diverse-congregation/" rel="bookmark">An Irish Recipe Binds Diverse Congregation</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 5, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By Annie Shreffler</strong></p>
		<p><font size="5" color="#ff0000"><strong>R</strong></font>everend  	Francis P. Scanlon, the relatively new pastor of the Shrine Church of St.  	Ann on Bainbridge Avenue, surprised his congregation recently by announcing  	the church&rsquo;s very first Irish soda bread baking contest.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Almost 90 percent of St. Ann&rsquo;s congregation is of  	Hispanic descent and most had never even heard of the staple Irish bread  	leavened with baking soda. The competition began Sunday afternoon, March 11.  	The three judges &ndash; Father Scanlon, William Curran of McKeon Funeral Home,  	and parishioner Myra Smith &ndash; are Irish.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to go back to my neighborhood and ask for a  	rice and beans contest and see how they do,&rdquo; he said. Smith said three or  	four entries were authentic, but all were delicious. First place winner for  	Best Taste, Devina Torro, of Santo Domingo, cooks a little of everything,  	but this was her first soda bread attempt.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hector Martinez, of Filipino descent, church organist  	and music teacher, enjoys cooking and makes &ldquo;a mean Calabasa soup,&rdquo; but had  	also never made soda bread. He took away third place for Best Taste.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ashley Caraballo, 12, an altar server and sixth grader  	in St. Ann&rsquo;s school, didn&rsquo;t know what soda bread was, but won first place  	for Most Unique.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;I gave [the recipe] a twist. I added cinnamon,&rdquo; she  	said, holding up her prize, a ceramic figurine of the Lady of Knock.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sister Gladys organized the event and explained that it  	was part of a new effort at St. Ann&rsquo;s to build community. Father Scanlon  	agreed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a way to be together, eat together, celebrate  	together,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At the end of the contest, the priest&rsquo;s voice boomed  	over the din of children&rsquo;s voices as he thanked all the participants twice:  	in English and Spanish. He invited guests to come try the entries. And of  	course, butter was provided.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Ed. note:</strong> <em>The winners of the contest in first  	to third place order in each category were Best Taste: Devina Torro, Phyllis  	Meegan and Hector Martinez; Best Appearance: Adele Campos, Sister Gladys and  	Maria Cabrera; Most Unique: Ashley Caraballo and Cecelia MacDonald.</em></p>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1222&story=missing-florence-bock/" rel="bookmark">Missing Florence Bock</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 5, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By Alex Kratz</strong></p>
		<p>No one seemed to know Florence Bock very well.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But that doesn&rsquo;t mean that no one cared about her.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Neighbors would bring her groceries. When the mail  		started piling up at her house on Perry Avenue in 2005, her  		mailman&mdash;whose route includes our offices &mdash; came to us and told us about  		it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At least two other neighbors called the police.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, the story here is not how a woman apparently  		died in her own home and lay there for two years without being noticed.  		Many did notice, were worried and took action.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The story is how, despite that concern and the  		involvement of several city agencies, that Ms. Bock could have been dead  		for two years in her own home without any of the authorities discovering  		her.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ms. Bock&rsquo;s pension checks were cut and mailed with  		regularity for two years after her presumed death and returned to the  		city by the Post Office. By several accounts, the police entered the  		home twice and came out having found nothing. The public administrator  		for Bronx County also sent an investigator to the house to no avail.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After our story in 2005, the Buildings Department  		sent out an inspector who saw nothing remarkable when everyone else in  		the neighborhood saw signs that something was wrong &#8212; a door ajar,  		broken windows, piled up mail. &ldquo;No action necessary based upon physical  		observation,&rdquo; was the report the inspector filed, according to the  		city&rsquo;s on-line buildings database.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Maybe Ms. Bock&rsquo;s body was hidden by the papers and  		other refuse that many have reported was in the home. But couldn&rsquo;t some  		city official have taken responsibility for removing some of it to do a  		more thorough search?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The mailman and the residents of Perry Avenue  		continued to wonder about the situation, but having exhausted every  		option open to them, what else could they do?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If there is any silver lining to this tragedy, it  		is that people who barely knew Florence Bock cared about her just  		because she was their neighbor.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But the multiple representatives of the city whose  		duties intersected with the mystery of 3280 Perry Ave. need to figure  		out what went wrong and how they can do a better job if, God forbid,  		something like this ever happens again.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><font size="4">Irish Go, Spirit Stays<br />
</font></strong>In the early 1990s there were 18 Irish bars on Bainbridge  		Avenue and East 204th Street.&nbsp; There was also an Irish gift shop and  		bakery and newsstands that sold county newspapers like the Anglo Celt  		and the Connacht Tribune alongside the Post and the Daily News. There  		still are a few Irish pubs in Norwood and Bedford Park, and a few Irish  		papers scattered around, but the area&rsquo;s days as an Irish stomping ground  		are clearly behind us. The commercial landscape is now populated by  		businesses representing a panoply of ethnicities &ndash; there&rsquo;s an Albanian  		bakery and specialty food store, several Mexican restaurants, a Mexican  		record store and a Bangladeshi grocery store. Local houses of worship  		reflect the influences of new groups &ndash; the packed Spanish Masses at  		local Catholic churches, a new Mass for Filipino parishioners of St.  		Ann&rsquo;s, mosques well attended by Bangladeshis.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Meanwhile, Irish culture thrives just to our north  		in Woodlawn and, as Alex Kratz reports in this issue, people still flock  		back to some of the remaining pubs to reunite with old friends and  		family on St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The story of Norwood and the waves of  		Irish-Americans who once made it home is the story of many of the city&rsquo;s  		neighborhoods. People come from far away in search of opportunity and a  		better life, and then, often, they go, for a variety of reasons.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But, like a layered sedimentary stone, all those  		who have stayed for a while leave their mark on a community&rsquo;s identity.  		The never-ending story of Norwood, Bedford Park and the rest of the  		northwest Bronx continues to be written.</p>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1221&story=fordham-place-construction-begins-at-sears-building/" rel="bookmark">Fordham Place Construction Begins at Sears Building</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 5, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By Cassandra Lizaire</strong></p>
		<p><font size="5" color="#ff0000"><strong>B</strong></font>eneath  	its dark netting and scaffold-covered exterior, the historic Sears building  	at 400 E. Fordham Rd. is undergoing drastic restructuring. The shopping  	center will re-emerge in the next 16 to 18 months as Fordham Place, the  	Bronx&rsquo;s first mixed-use development in more than 15 years.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Last Thursday, real estate developers Acadia Realty  	Trust and P/A Associates joined with Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carri&oacute;n,  	Jr. and City Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera for the Fordham Place  	groundbreaking ceremony.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the barren, cement-floored lobby, an array of black  	curtains concealed evidence of what P/A Associates co-founder Aaron Malinsky  	assured guests was &ldquo;the middle of a construction demolition site.&rdquo; Malinsky  	then introduced his partner and CEO of Acadia Realty, Kenneth F. Bernstein,  	who beamed, saying, &ldquo;This has been several years of hard work and we&rsquo;re very  	excited to get to this point.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Since announcing renovation plans at the Bronx Chamber  	of Commerce&rsquo;s business banquet last November, Fordham Place developers say  	they have set the bar for future Bronx investors by stimulating an influx of  	commerce and jobs. In appreciation of their progress and vision for Fordham  	Road, Chamber CEO Lenny Caro presented the developers with a ceremonial  	plaque and vowed to encourage local businesses to relocate to the new  	facility.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Lured by the modern architecture, high-tech amenities,  	and sprawling office spaces of the new 14-story building, tenants have  	already signed on for leases. The nearly 285,000- square-foot Fordham Road  	anchor will also afford tenants &ldquo;design and cost-effective floor layouts  	with an unsurpassed location in terms of its incredible accessibility, high  	levels of foot traffic and excellent work force,&rdquo; Bernstein said.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Potential occupants represent &ldquo;the healthcare,  	non-profit and education sectors,&rdquo; said Harry Blair, senior managing  	director of exclusive leasing agent GVA Williams. Rivera, a fervent project  	supporter, said he would have liked to move his office to the building were  	it not for its 2008 completion date. &ldquo;To my successor: have fun in this  	building,&rdquo; Rivera joked, alluding to term limits, which will force him from  	office in 2009.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Developers worked closely with local Bronx politicians,  	including Rivera and Carri&oacute;n, as well as with the Fordham Road BID and the  	community board, Malinsky said. These partnerships have facilitated the  	&ldquo;first brand new office building of a Class A standard to be built in the  	heart of the Bronx&rdquo; with access to spectacular views from the intersection  	of Webster and Fordham Road,&rdquo; the third largest retail corridor in New York  	City, he added.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the past five years, the borough president said, the  	Bronx has seen upward trends in employment and private sector job creation.  	So, &ldquo;Fordham Place makes sense as an investment&hellip; and allows for future  	development down 3rd Avenue,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The new mixed-use building will add 150,000 square feet  	to the old Sears building, with plans for three full stories of retail space  	and a full-floor health club. Once completed, Fordham Place will welcome  	back Sears in the basement level, and will include Walgreen&rsquo;s and other  	national retail chains.</p>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1220&story=new-jerome-park-reservoir-path-in-works/" rel="bookmark">New Jerome Park Reservoir Path in Works</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 5, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By Kathryn Molinaro</strong></p>
		<p><font size="5" color="#ff0000"><strong>A</strong></font>s a  	meeting scheduled for later this week about a new recreational path around  	the Jerome Park Reservoir approaches, the city and some community members  	are clearly not on the same track.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The reservoir, which is bordered by Goulden, Sedgwick  	and Reservoir avenues, is receiving $5 million worth of improvements. The  	money, earmarked for a path of some kind around the reservoir is part of the  	parcel of $200 million in park projects that Bronx politicians received in  	return for supporting the construction of the filtration plant in Van  	Cortlandt Park.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Residents, who have begun to mobilize on the issue,  	want decorative landscaping, benches and more lighting around the Jerome  	Park Reservoir.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those will likely end up being in the final plan, but  	other ideas are hitting choppier waters. Anne Marie Garti, president of the  	Jerome Park Conservancy and a leader of the successful fight in the 1990s to  	keep the filtration plant out of the reservoir, wants a jogging and walking  	path along the water&rsquo;s edge.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The city&rsquo;s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP),  	however, says that&rsquo;s a non-starter.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Public access so close to a source of drinking water  	poses a security threat, the DEP says, and the path should be built outside  	of the 8-foot security fence that separates the reservoir area from the city  	sidewalk. There is a second fence that runs along the edge of the water.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;The recreational path belongs along the water and  	that&rsquo;s what the community decided with lots of time and meetings,&rdquo; Garti  	said.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">She added that the DEP&rsquo;s plan does not take into  	consideration the Lehman College parking lot on the east side of the  	reservoir or how, in some places, the grass outside of the security fence is  	only a few feet wide.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;Instead of gaining access to the reservoir, we&rsquo;re  	being asked to give up our sidewalks,&rdquo; Garti said.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&quot;Residents, Garti says, are willing to make sacrifices  	in order to have a path close to the water. People could have access only  	during certain hours of the day, for example, and at only one entry point  	with passes given out by security guards and a no-bag policy.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;We&rsquo;re bending over backwards,&rdquo; Garti said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll let  	ourselves be searched even.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Garti also thinks the city is breaking its promise to  	residents after Chris Ward, former DEP commissioner, told an audience at  	Bronx High School of Science in April 2004 that a track would be installed  	at the reservoir.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ian Michaels, spokesman for the Department of  	Environmental Protection, has heard this accusation before.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no one here at the agency that knows anything  	about a promise to put the running track inside the fence,&rdquo; Michaels said.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sonya Lappin, a member of the Jerome Park Conservancy,  	said the DEP&rsquo;s decision to keep the path outside of the park is a double  	standard.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;They&rsquo;re not giving us the consideration that they  	would give Central Park people,&rdquo; Lappin said.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But Michaels said that Central Park has not been used  	for drinking water since 1993 and therefore does not require the same level  	of security.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Garti points to upstate reservoir areas like the  	Kensico located 15 miles north of New York City, where area residents are  	allowed to boat and fish.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;We&rsquo;re just trying to get what everybody else has,&rdquo;  	Garti said. &ldquo;People can get to those reservoirs with vehicles. We&rsquo;re talking  	about people running around it or walking around it.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Michaels said the upstate reservoirs were built on the  	condition that they would have recreation access. Officers protect upstate  	reservoirs and the water in all in-use reservoirs is tested daily.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;We&rsquo;re concerned about security everywhere,&rdquo; Michaels  	said.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The distance the water must travel from the upstate  	reservoirs to those who use the water is also a method of protection, as is  	the size of the reservoirs upstate. Jerome Park Reservoir holds less than  	800 million gallons, whereas the Pepacton Reservoir in the Hudson Valley  	holds 140 billion gallons.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;Having more water is definitely a defense,&rdquo; Michaels  	said.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He also added that the filtration plant, being built in  	Van Cortlandt Park, is not a guaranteed protection from all contaminants put  	into the Jerome Park Reservoir.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Lappin, who is on the board of directors at Scott Tower  	in Bedford Park, said she worries that the disagreement over the path will  	mean nothing gets done.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;If [the path] is the sole issue that keeps them from  	doing any work, let&rsquo;s have some alternatives,&rdquo; Lappin said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want  	them to have an excuse to do nothing.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">According to Cristina Deluca, a Parks Department  	spokesperson, design work on the path, wherever it ends up, will begin in  	May and last until March 2008. Construction will begin in December 2008 and  	end a year later.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Ed. note:</strong> <em>A Parks Department scoping meeting  	to discuss design ideas for the path around the reservoir is scheduled for  	this Friday, March 23 at 1 p.m. People will meet at the corner of Goulden  	Avenue and East 205th Street. </em></p>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1219&story=remembering-when-the-irish-painted-the-town-green/" rel="bookmark">Remembering When the Irish Painted the Town Green</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 5, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By Alex Kratz</strong></p>
		<p><strong><font size="5" color="#ff0000">I</font></strong>n the  	1980s, 204th Street and Bainbridge Avenue &ndash; two Norwood streets that form a  	slightly bent elbow of a commercial district &ndash; was a hotbed of New York City  	Irish culture known as either &ldquo;Bainbridge&rdquo; or &ldquo;Little Belfast.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">During its apex, a thirsty resident or visitor could  	walk down that crooked corridor and pick and choose from any one of the 18  	different Irish pubs (one from each Irish county, people used to joke).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Along with the saturation of watering holes, there was  	an immigration support office, a handful of Irish delis and a Celtic gift  	shop that sold county newspapers from back home.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While &ldquo;Bainbridge&rdquo; was the commercial district, Irish  	immigrants and Irish-Americans populated a majority of Bedford Park as well.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Richard Smith, a retired Irish-American banker who has  	lived in the area for 27 years with his wife Carmen, estimates that the  	neighborhood was &ldquo;90 percent Irish.&rdquo; He moved to Norwood from the Grand  	Concourse because of that fact. &ldquo;I felt like I was back in the homeland,&rdquo; he  	says.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Today, only remnants from that era remain. The Irish  	have been replaced by Mexicans, Salvadorans, Dominicans, Albanians and  	Bangladeshis. A couple of newsstands and bodegas, mostly operated by men of  	Middle Eastern descent, carry some of the Irish weeklies. A sprinkling of  	gritty Irish pubs refuse to close their doors. And some of the old-timers,  	like Smith and his wife, still call the area home and eat breakfast at the  	McDonald&rsquo;s on 204th Street.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Irish in America<br />
</strong>The Irish have been living in the Bronx since colonial  	times, says Lloyd Ultan, the Bronx borough historian. The first Irish to  	migrate were mostly Protestants with means. &ldquo;They could afford to make the  	swim across the Atlantic,&rdquo; Ultan says.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Irish signed the Declaration of Independence and fought  	in the Revolutionary War. American war hero Richard Montgomery (who has  	several counties, towns and cities named after him) was an Irishman who  	lived in the Bronx.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It wasn&rsquo;t until the Great Famine in Ireland that the  	native Irish, the Catholic Irish, began moving to the States in droves.  	Thomas Ihde, a professor at Lehman College&rsquo;s Institute for Irish American  	Studies, says during that bleak period (about 1845-1849), a million Irish  	died and a million immigrated, many to the United States.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the land of opportunity, the Irish, who worked hard  	and cheap, found employment in New York City&rsquo;s thriving construction  	industry. As the subway lines moved into the Bronx, so did the Irish. Many  	of them settled in Bedford Park and Norwood because they were working on  	projects at the New York Botanical Garden, Ultan says. By the 1970s, living  	among pockets of the area&rsquo;s waning Jewish population (which had dominated  	the community for decades), the Irish were well established in the northwest  	Bronx.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Irish Hotbed<br />
<img width="299" height="342" border="0" align="left" src="http://www.bronxmall.com/norwoodnews/past/032207/news/yirish%20mickey%20burke.jpg" alt="" /></strong>Mickey Burke, who grew up in Williamsbridge, just east of Norwood, began  	exploring his Celtic roots at Hunter College in Manhattan, where he created  	a pan-Celtic club (the first in the country, he says). In 1977, he fulfilled  	a lifelong dream by opening up Keltic Connections, a Celtic gift shop that  	not only carried all the Irish newspapers and a host of gifts and crafts,  	but also what he says was the largest selection of St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day cards  	on the planet. Burke carried five full racks and many of his cards were  	written in Irish (otherwise known as Gaelic).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">During the 1970s and into the &lsquo;80s, illegal Irish  	immigrants began flooding into Norwood and Bedford Park to either find work  	in the Bronx&rsquo;s booming construction industry or to escape the political  	violence in Northern Ireland, commonly known as &ldquo;the Troubles.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;The Irish would come straight from the airports and  	onto the subways,&rdquo; Burke says. &ldquo;They would take the D line all the way to  	the end,&rdquo; where they would stop in Norwood.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sometimes tension arose between the new Irish, the  	&ldquo;Greenhorns,&rdquo; and the old Irish, the &ldquo;Narrow Backs,&rdquo; Burke says, but mostly  	everyone got along.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;You felt so proud to be Irish then,&rdquo; especially on St.  	Patrick&rsquo;s Day, Smith remembers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was during the late &lsquo;80s and into the early to  	mid-&lsquo;90s that Little Belfast received its nickname as a breeding ground for  	Irish politics and socializing. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams (1995) and  	former Irish President Mary Robinson (1993) visited the strip&rsquo;s Tir Na Nog  	Young Irish Center. Politically raucous Irish rock band Black 47 (the name  	is an ode to the worst year of the Irish famine, 1847) played various  	&ldquo;Bainbridge&rdquo; pubs and refers to the area in a couple of its songs. Thomas  	Maguire, the owner of The Phoenix, a bar on 204th Street and Decatur Avenue,  	was charged with smuggling bomb detonators from the United States to Ireland  	in 1994 (a jury found him not guilty).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By then, most of the Irish were either on their way  	back to Ireland to take advantage of the resurgent Irish economy, known as  	the &ldquo;Celtic Tiger,&rdquo; or had moved just north to Woodlawn or Yonkers. Many of  	the illegal Irish found it increasingly difficult to make a living without  	proper documents, Ihde reasoned. Others moved to find cheaper rent and more  	space in the suburbs, Burke says.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Irish exodus from the area began in 1990, Burke  	says, and within a few short years their presence had all but disappeared.  	&ldquo;It dropped off radically,&rdquo; he says. Burke finally closed his shop in 1995.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;There&rsquo;s so few [Irish] left,&rdquo; Burke says. &ldquo;The Irish  	population is almost gone.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day<br />
</strong>Last Saturday, on the great Irish holiday, St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day, a black  	man wearing a green plastic necklace with a four-leaf clover around his  	neck, smokes a cigarette outside of Madden&rsquo;s Irish pub on Bedford Park  	Boulevard. Neil Young blares from the speakers. (Up until a few years ago,  	out in front of the Madden&rsquo;s, the Bedford Park Shamrock Club would paint a  	giant shamrock in the middle of Bedford Park Boulevard.) Inside, 80-year-old  	Irish-American Patricia Dugard, wearing a long green T-shirt, cleans up  	around steaming pans of corned beef, cabbage and Irish shepherd&rsquo;s pie &ndash; a  	gift from the bar&rsquo;s owner.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dugard, a Bedford Park resident for the past 24 years,  	points to a wall of pictures that look semi-recent. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re all gone,&rdquo; she  	says, her eyes drifting to the other dozen or so folks in the bar. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t  	know any of these people,&rdquo; she says. But her daughter, Kathy Maloney is  	there, along with bar regular Trisha Karney and her own daughter Bernadette  	Lynch, who just returned from the St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day parade downtown. &ldquo;We all  	get along here,&rdquo; says Karney. The rest of the bar clientele is made up of  	Latinos, black transit workers and an old Finnish American guy named Donald  	Anderson.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Around the corner on Jerome Avenue, at Shea&rsquo;s, which  	has been owned by the O&rsquo;Shea family since 1954, the scene is livelier. The  	place is packed. Irish visiting from the home country and Irish-Americans  	mingle in the crowded, skinny bar. Kids wearing floppy Irish hats scurried  	beneath armpits and through legs. The owner, Tim O&rsquo;Shea, grew up here,  	literally, in the apartment upstairs. Like most of his customers that day,  	O&rsquo;Shea has since moved to Yonkers. Former neighborhood residents, some still  	loyal customers, have returned to bask in nostalgia and catch up with old  	friends. On the stereo, traditional Irish music mixes with pop and country  	hits from the &lsquo;80s.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a nice family place,&rdquo; says Mike Utke, who made  	the trip here from Queens. &ldquo;Everybody knows everybody.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">An Irishman who moved to Bedford Park 15 years ago, but  	now lives in Yonkers, is at the bar with his wife (an Irish woman he met at  	Shea&rsquo;s) and a small army of red-headed children. With a smile, he declines  	to give his name. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m on the run,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The whole lot of us.&rdquo;</p>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1218&story=finding-florence-bock-2/" rel="bookmark">Finding Florence Bock</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 5, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By Jordan Moss</strong></p>
		<p><strong><font size="5" color="#ff0000">I</font></strong>n August  	2005, Wakefield attorney and insurance agent Maxwell Pfeifer didn&rsquo;t receive  	an annual home insurance premium check from Florence Bock. So, he decided to  	send a man from his office to check on her house at 3280 Perry Ave. There  	was no answer when he knocked on the door and her neighbors didn&rsquo;t know  	where she was.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Because Ms. Bock and her late sister, Frieda, had been  	good clients and timely payers for over 20 years, Pfeifer knew something was  	wrong. So, he decided to refer the matter to the Bronx&rsquo;s public  	administrator, a city agency responsible for protecting the assets of  	deceased or missing individuals with no apparent heirs.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Pfeifer wasn&rsquo;t the only one curious and worried about  	Bock&rsquo;s whereabouts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img width="266" height="398" border="0" align="left" src="http://www.bronxmall.com/norwoodnews/past/032207/news/yinside%20perry%20ave%20house.jpg" alt="" />Several months earlier, in May 2005, mailman Brian  	McDonough told the <em>Norwood News</em>, whose offices are also on his route,  	that he thought something must have happened to Ms. Bock. Her mail had been  	piling up since Christmas and the front door was ajar. In a conversation  	last week, McDonough clearly recalled several policemen entering the house  	on two separate occasions after being called by neighbors, but they left  	having found nothing.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Michael Lippman, an attorney and 37-year veteran of the  	public administrator&rsquo;s office, said his agency had difficulty getting the  	police to open a missing person&rsquo;s case.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;Our office took the bull by the horns,&rdquo; Lippman said.  	&ldquo;Our job is to preserve assets, not to find missing people. We do everything  	we can to try to light a fire under the police.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;Nevertheless, the public administrator&rsquo;s office sent  	out its own investigator who also entered the house and found no sign of Ms.  	Bock.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Because the insurance policy on the house expired, the  	public administrator acted to &ldquo;preserve the asset,&rdquo; Lippman said. The agency  	successfully sought permission in Bronx Surrogate Court to auction the home.  	Churchill Homes LLC bought the single-family house for $410,000 in 2006.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Just two weeks ago, police were called to the home when  	workers clearing out the house uncovered human bones, presumably Ms. Bock&rsquo;s,  	although the city medical examiner&rsquo;s office has not yet identified the body  	or determined the cause of death. Lippman said he heard the bones were found  	lying &ldquo;deep under debris&rdquo; next to a cane.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He described the house as a &ldquo;Collyer house,&rdquo; referring  	to the famous brothers who were both discovered dead among the 100 tons of  	their obsessively collected belongings in 1947 in upper Manhattan. McDonough  	also said he noticed stacks of papers and magazines when he peered in the  	windows.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In addition to the insurance agent, the public  	administrator and the police, others also visited the house.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Just after the <em>Norwood News</em> published a story on  	the house in September 2005, the Buildings Department sent out an inspector.  	Despite the unlocked, open door, he reported: &ldquo;No action necessary based  	upon physical observation.&rdquo; Buildings Department spokeswoman Kate Lindquist  	said, &ldquo;The complaint was unsubstantiated as the building&rsquo;s windows and doors  	were intact.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">McDonough also says Ms. Bock was getting city pension  	checks as recently as a couple of weeks ago. For two years, he&rsquo;s been  	sending them back to the city coffers, as procedure requires.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Eventually, the public administrator&rsquo;s office  	discovered Ms. Bock had a will. Lippman said the lawyer felt it was just as  	well that the house had been sold, so that the asset could be preserved. If  	there were a fire, for example, in the uninsured home, the equity would have  	vanished.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(The attorney for Ms. Bock&rsquo;s estate, Sandy Glatzer, did  	not return a call by press time.)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the two weeks since the discovery of Ms. Bock&rsquo;s  	apparent remains was reported in newspapers all over the country, the <em> 	Norwood News</em> has been able to add many more details. In addition to  	learning of the plethora of people and city agencies that came into contact  	with the house without knowing she had been inside all along, there are  	these facts:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ms. Bock had been a city schoolteacher. She lived with  	her sister, Frieda, who died before her. And she was born in 1922 and would  	have turned 85 this year.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But there are still many more questions left to be  	answered.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On March 13, the day after the bones were discovered,  	someone paid all $6,340 of her back property taxes. Who paid them? And how  	did the city sell the house in 2006 without that lien being settled?&nbsp;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Did Ms. Bock die of natural causes? If she did, why was  	she covered in debris in her own home? (The 52nd Precinct&rsquo;s detective bureau  	is investigating the matter, but the <em>Norwood News</em> couldn&rsquo;t reach the  	bureau&rsquo;s commander by press time.)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Did she have any relatives? Did they try to contact her  	during the two years she was missing?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Stay tuned.</p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal"><font size="4" color="#0000ff"><strong> 	</strong></font></p>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1217&story=students-find-home-at-discovery-high-school/" rel="bookmark">Students Find Home at Discovery High School</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 5, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By Alex Kratz</strong></p>
		<p><strong><font size="5" color="#ff0000">D</font></strong>espite  			all of his best efforts, Discovery High School Principal Scott  			Goldner can&rsquo;t stop his students from calling him by his first name. 			</p>
<p>&ldquo;He tried,&rdquo; says Ashley Cameron, a senior who lives just a couple of  			blocks away from the small school located inside the Walton HS  			campus near Kingsbridge Road. &ldquo;But it just didn&rsquo;t work. He&rsquo;s Scott.&rdquo;</p>
<p>That may be the only thing not working for Goldner as his burgeoning  			institution heads toward the end of its fourth year, which will  			culminate in June with Discovery&rsquo;s first graduation ceremony. </p>
<p>Judging by the results of its first-ever School Quality Review (the  			SQR, as it&rsquo;s referred to, is an all-encompassing review that the  			city&rsquo;s new Empowerment schools must undergo each year) in late  			February and a recent visit to the school a few weeks ago, Goldner&rsquo;s  			Discovery is not simply working, it&rsquo;s thriving. </p>
<p>&ldquo;The SQR was a great affirmation of our growth, our success and our  			goal of continuous improvement,&rdquo; Goldner said in an e-mail last  			week.</p>
<p>Even the principal&rsquo;s failure to make his students address him  			formally speaks to the familial and community atmosphere that  			Goldner&rsquo;s administration and faculty have fostered at Discovery. </p>
<p>&ldquo;Everybody knows everybody,&rdquo; says Nigel Shoulders, a charismatic  			senior who, like many Discovery students, doesn&rsquo;t so much speak  			about the school but gushes about it. &ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s got everybody&rsquo;s  			back,&rdquo; he says. </p>
<p>And it&rsquo;s not just the students doing all the gushing. The man who  			conducted the SQR, an independent reviewer hired by the Department  			of Education (DOE), had nothing but good things to say about  			Discovery based on a Power Point presentation he created after his  			review, which included a two-day visit.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The school provides a warm, pleasant and safe environment which is  			highly conducive to learning,&rdquo; the reviewer wrote in his  			presentation. &ldquo;Teachers know, understand and respond extremely  			positively to being accountable for the effectiveness of students&rsquo;  			learning.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The high praise led Joel T. DiBartolomeo, Discovery&rsquo;s Network  			Leader, to rank the school in the DOE&rsquo;s top 20 percent. &ldquo;Such a  			statement is easily verifiable, particularly when one reads the  			entire Discovery report and could arguably be much higher when one  			is on the ground making direct judgments as I do,&rdquo; DiBartolomeo said  			in a letter to Goldner after the review. </p>
<p>Goldner first &ldquo;proposed&rdquo; Discovery &ndash; &ldquo;Teaching and Learning Through  			Creative Discovery&rdquo; is the school&rsquo;s tagline and mantra &ndash; to the DOE  			in 2001. It was approved in 2002 and opened on the Walton campus in  			2003. </p>
<p>Even before it officially opened its doors to students, Discovery  			was on the road to success. </p>
<p>Cameron remembers meeting Goldner at a high school fair when she was  			an eighth grader. The next time she saw him, Goldner not only  			remembered her first and last name, but also her mother&rsquo;s first and  			last name, which is different than Cameron&rsquo;s.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I already felt comfortable at a school that didn&rsquo;t even exist,&rdquo;  			Cameron says now, four years later.</p>
<p>Discovery has since grown from a transient handful of classrooms  			inside Walton to a full-fledged high school with a permanent home  			that now encompasses the building&rsquo;s entire second floor.</p>
<p>Senior Erick Melo attended the brand new school during his (and the  			school&rsquo;s) freshman year. He then moved to Georgia for his sophomore  			and junior years before returning to the Bronx and Discovery this  			year. </p>
<p>Not only were there more students and teachers as well as improved  			classrooms and facilities, but &ldquo;everybody was coordinating  			together,&rdquo; Melo says. &ldquo;It was more like an actual school.&rdquo;</p>
<p>And not just any actual school. As a small Empowerment school,  			Goldner and new Assistant Principal Rolando Rivera (&ldquo;Rivera&rdquo; to all  			the kids) say they have the autonomy and flexibility to tailor  			programs and curriculum to the needs of their students. A  			&ldquo;voracious&rdquo; reader, Rivera has a small library full of education  			material in his office. He conducts all of the faculty&rsquo;s  			professional development training by himself so he can make sure the  			administration and teachers are all on the same page when it comes  			to assessing student performance and progress and then implementing  			changes.</p>
<p>Another key component to Discovery&rsquo;s success is the school&rsquo;s various  			partnerships with outside organizations, such as MMC Theatre in  			Manhattan and the Lehman College Art Gallery, which allows students  			to get invaluable experience outside of the classroom. </p>
<p>David Laster, a 20-year-old senior who will be graduating in four  			years, called his Lehman Art Gallery internship, pure &ldquo;awesomeness.&rdquo; 			</p>
<p>Goldner and Rivera are already passing out save-the-date cards for  			Discovery&rsquo;s graduation ceremony in June.</p>
<p>For many of the seniors, the day will be bittersweet. Many of them  			are going on to college reluctantly. Senior Cynia Barwell, a  			16-year-old Bronx beauty queen will be going to Colby College on a  			full scholarship. Shoulders is heading to Bennington College to  			study Japanese and culinary arts. Laster will be attending Monroe  			College at its New Rochelle campus. And Cameron is going on to  			Albright College in Pennsylvania. </p>
<p>&ldquo;As seniors, we&rsquo;ve gone from the ground to the sky and the sky&rsquo;s the  			limit,&rdquo; Cameron says.</p>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1216&story=reservoir-as-flashpoint/" rel="bookmark">Reservoir as Flashpoint</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 5, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By None </strong></p>
		<p>When community activists successfully defeated the city&rsquo;s  		plan to build the filtration plant in the Jerome Park Reservoir in the  		mid-1990s, some also took the time to imagine how the reservoir could be  		reintegrated with the community.</p>
<p>
The streetscape surrounding the reservoir, particularly in Van Cortlandt  		Village, was designed by Frederic Law Olmstead, the famous landscape  		architect who designed Central Park.</p>
<p>
The reservoir itself is now sequestered from the public by two fences.  		But Olmstead intended for the area&rsquo;s winding streets to complement the  		bends of the reservoir, according to historian Robert Kornfeld, who  		issued a study of Olmstead&rsquo;s influence on the area in 1998. Olmstead saw  		them as a unit, not for one to be barricaded from the other.</p>
<p>
With this information informing their work, the Jerome Park Conservancy  		drafted a plan to establish a park surrounding the reservoir.</p>
<p>
Now that the reservoir is safe from construction, and the city has $5  		million from the filtration plant agreement to spend on creating a path  		around it, plans for improving the area around the reservoir have  		resurfaced.</p>
<p>
The main feature of the Conservancy Plan, a pathway inside the reservoir  		fence next to the water, appears to raise the city&rsquo;s blood pressure to  		unsafe levels. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re only at this scoping meeting to say you want  		the track inside the fence then we can end this right now,&rdquo; said  		Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) legal counsel Richard  		Friedman. Some community activists distinctly remember former DEP chief  		Chris Ward promising the community a path, but the DEP denies that.</p>
<p>
Regardless of who said what when about the path, this disagreement  		points to residents&rsquo; profound distrust of the DEP, which has misled the  		community on more than one occasion.</p>
<p>
They promised that many Bronx residents would be employed at the Van  		Cortlandt Park site, where the plant is under construction. They now  		concede they are having difficulty hiring Bronxites for skilled jobs at  		the site.</p>
<p>
The city vowed on more than one occasion to build an Urban Ecology Lab  		at the reservoir, promises that were documented in this newspaper, The  		Riverdale Press, and The New York Times. The city hasn&rsquo;t even demolished  		the demonstration filtration plant to make way for the lab, even though  		it said many times over the last several years that it would.</p>
<p>
So, it was no wonder that advocates who met with the DEP and the Parks  		Department recently to discuss proposals for improving reservoir  		landscapes and pathways were exasperated. Not only were they rebuffed on  		the Ecology Lab and silenced on the inside-the-fence proposal, but the  		agencies didn&rsquo;t seem to take the previous proposals of the Conservancy  		and others seriously. &ldquo;Send it to us again,&rdquo; they essentially said.</p>
<p>
Residents at the meeting suggested that the land around the reservoir be  		ceded to the Parks Department, since that agency is more suited to  		cleaning and maintaining recreational space.</p>
<p>
A Parks Department representative responded that it didn&rsquo;t matter which  		agency owned the land because they were both city agencies. Every  		resident in the room who just last month trudged through unplowed snow  		on the sidewalks along the reservoir knew that wasn&rsquo;t true.</p>
<p>
Leaders in the battle over the reservoir dedicated years of their lives  		to saving their neighborhood. They&rsquo;ve accumulated a great deal of  		knowledge in the process, including lessons these agencies can learn  		from. The community deserves respect, attention, hard work and just  		plain honesty from their city government in return.</p>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1215&story=news-scores-top-prize/" rel="bookmark">News Scores Top Prize</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 5, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By Norwood News </strong></p>
		<p><strong><font size="5" color="#ff0000">T</font></strong>he 	<em>Norwood News</em> took home a first place award for Heather Haddon&rsquo;s  	investigation of the Pinnacle Group at the New York Press Association&rsquo;s  	annual convention in upstate Saratoga last weekend.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Haddon, who was a reporter for this paper from 2002 to  	2006, first learned about the large landlord when a tenant called to suggest  	that the paper take a picture of her building&rsquo;s new flowerbeds.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When Haddon returned to the office, she looked the  	property up on the city&rsquo;s on-line housing database. She discovered that the  	new landlord had recently purchased hundreds of properties in the Bronx and  	throughout the city. She kept digging, talking to tenants, building staff  	and former Pinnacle employees, and poring through court records at Bronx  	Housing Court.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Over the ensuing weeks and months, Haddon documented  	Pinnacle&rsquo;s efforts to force out tenants through fabricated major capital  	improvement increases and by taking hundreds of them to court. Following  	Haddon&rsquo;s first article on Pinnacle in October 2005, no other media followed  	suit until May 2006, when the Daily News ran a story on the Housing Court  	actions, and called it an &ldquo;exclusive.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Haddon now works for the Herald News, a daily in  	Paterson, New Jersey.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The NYPA, the state&rsquo;s association of weekly newspapers,  	gives out annual awards in its Better Newspaper contest. This year, 227  	newspapers competed in a wide variety of categories. The News&rsquo; first place  	award was in the &ldquo;in-depth reporting&rdquo; category.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The judges, who were from the Oklahoma and New Jersey  	Press associations this year, said of Haddon&rsquo;s work:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;This is NOT in-depth reporting &mdash; this is investigative  	journalism at its finest. Powerfully written, Haddon never has to add chrome  	to this &mdash; the plain facts catch the eye, the mind and the heart. Clearly the  	best in a field of excellent competitors.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Haddon&rsquo;s work was judged in a division with the state&rsquo;s  	highest circulation community newspapers. (Despite its small staff, the <em> 	Norwood News</em>&rsquo; circulation of 15,000 is similar to newspapers that employ  	many more reporters.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;We are extremely proud of Heather and this award,&rdquo;  	said <em>Norwood News</em> editor Jordan Moss. &ldquo;We already knew she had done  	an incredible job researching and reporting this important story. But we  	couldn&rsquo;t be more honored by this vote of confidence from our journalistic  	peers.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Ed. note:</strong> <em>Links to some of Heather Haddon&rsquo;s  	articles on the Pinnacle Group can be found on the West Bronx News Network&rsquo;s  	blog at <a href="http://westbronxnews.blogspot.com/"> 	http://westbronxnews.blogspot.com/</a></em></p>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1214&story=city-to-help-with-cb7-zoning-study/" rel="bookmark">City To Help With CB7 Zoning Study</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 5, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By Annie Shreffler</strong></p>
		<p><strong><font size="5" color="#ff0000"> 	I</font></strong>n an ongoing effort to improve living conditions in this growing  	part of the northwest Bronx, Community Board 7 decided at its February  	meeting to authorize the city&rsquo;s Department of Planning to work with them on  	the rezoning process referred to as 197C in the city&rsquo;s Charter.</p>
<p>
Now, members of the Long Term Planning and Land Use committees are looking  	at problem spots in the district and are considering new development  	proposals.</p>
<p>
With the help of City Planning, individual areas can be addressed with  	rezoning, usually within a year. The 197C process eliminates the daunting  	costs of development consultants and the delays caused by long reviews of  	the entire district, according to Rita Kessler, CB7&rsquo;s district manager.</p>
<p>
One of the areas to examine will be the district&rsquo;s eastern riverfront. The  	Long Term Planning Committee reported at the March community board meeting  	that it hopes to work cooperatively with Community Boards 4 and 5, as well  	as a Harlem River task force, to develop the waterfront. Members of the  	community are already involved in a river cleanup effort and would like to  	see the area rezoned for more public access and green space.</p>
<p>
Board member Paul Foster said another area under review is a residential  	section near Montefiore Medical Center. Because the large institution has  	converted so many private homes to office space, residents feel the  	neighborhood is left vulnerable and unoccupied after business hours,  	creating a kind of dead zone.</p>
<p>
As a creative way to prevent dead zones or unwanted commercial changes from  	occurring on Mosholu Parkway, the community board is also considering one  	resident&rsquo;s suggestion to apply for the parkway&rsquo;s designation as a Community  	Preservation Area. This change would protect current building facades,  	beautify the parkway and help some older buildings obtain landmark status.</p>
<p>
With the ability to make zoning changes using the 197C process, the  	community board can also prevent unwanted development. Rezoning may be able  	to stop the construction of larger buildings, curbing the rise in population  	density and strains on already busy transportation and sanitation systems.</p>
<p>
One new development under consideration is an application for a variance by  	the Doe Fund to build two eight-story, single-room occupancy buildings on  	Webster Avenue. The Land Use Committee debated the pros and cons of  	supporting the application at their last meeting.</p>
<p>
While no one relished the idea of building 84 units to house men just  	released from prison, committee members recognized the importance of the  	reintegration process run by the reputable Doe Fund. The committee decided  	to invite Doe Fund representatives back (only their attorney came to the  	initial meeting), and ask them to compromise by creating two-bedroom housing  	units as well, which would allow people rebuilding their lives to establish  	roots, raise families and truly live in the community.</p>
<p>
CB7 Chairperson Gregory Faulkner feels positive about working with City  	Planning, saying this partnership in the 197C process will accomplish many  	of the same changes as a larger redevelopment plan would, but sooner.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;The planning office gives tremendous support, doing a lot of the legwork  	[on re-zoning initiatives] and walking us through the technical aspects of  	each project,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not restricted to one area, but Webster  	Avenue is a priority.&rdquo;</p>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1213&story=bronxs-jenny-back-on-the-block/" rel="bookmark">Bronx&#8217;s Jenny Back on the Block</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 5, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By Alex Kratz</strong></p>
		<p><strong><font size="5" color="#ff0000">N</font></strong>ever underestimate the power of J-Lo.</p>
<p>
Need evidence? Take the hundreds of screaming, starry-eyed fans who lined up  	last week for a chance to meet the multi-talented Bronx-bred performer,  	otherwise known as Jennifer Lopez, at an autograph session inside F.Y.E.  	music store on Jerome Avenue near Gun hill Road.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>That&rsquo;s right, if you missed it, Jenny was definitely back on the block. Not  	exactly her block (that would be in the east Bronx), but a block in the  	Bronx with a heavy Hispanic population nonetheless.</p>
<p>
Lopez was there with husband Marc Anthony promoting her new album, Como Ama  	Una Mujer, the Bronxite&rsquo;s first all-Spanish language effort. Anthony, a  	veteran singer with several Spanish language albums on his resume, produced  	the record, which critics are calling a big risk.</p>
<p>
When Anthony and Lopez emerged from a black SUV, the crowd went nuts, wildly  	waving marketing posters and homemade collages as Lopez smiled and waved  	back.</p>
<p>
<img width="309" height="363" border="0" align="right" src="http://www.bronxmall.com/norwoodnews/past/040507/news/zjlocrowdshot.jpg" alt="" />Outside the store, there was a bullpen for all the television cameras. All  	the major New York networks and news stations were there, as well as several  	radio stations, MTV and Univision. Small local print outlets were told they  	would have to be snuck in because the place was overrun with big-name media  	brands.</p>
<p>
Surrounded by a hefty group of handlers and police officers, J-Lo went  	inside and took a seat behind a long table, a large sultry picture of  	herself forming a background. Television cameramen and photographers  	jockeyed for position on a platform facing the mega-star. Anthony drifted  	off to a corner and tried to be inconspicuous, while Lopez signed copies of  	her new CD for giddy fans who filed in one by one.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I told her she&rsquo;s beautiful and that I love her,&rdquo; said Evelyn Gonzalez, a  	University Heights resident who showed up at F.Y.E. at 7 a.m. the previous  	morning, two hours before the store opened, to buy a copy of the album and  	get a wrist band (the first 300 people to buy Lopez&rsquo;s new CD received a  	yellow wristband that granted them autograph access).</p>
<p>
Others were equally gushing with praise for J-Lo. &ldquo;Oh my God! She&rsquo;s so  	beautiful and she&rsquo;s from the Bronx&rdquo; was a popular refrain from people in the  	crowd, which ran the gamut from first grade girls and teenage boys to  	grandmothers and aspiring rappers.</p>
<p>
Crystal Rosa, 13, who lives just a couple of blocks away on Knox Place, was  	on her cell phone trying to find a way to see J-Lo even without a wristband.  	Her mother was sick, so she had to visit her in the hospital rather than buy  	Lopez&rsquo;s new CD.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I love the way she sings,&rdquo; Crystal said. &ldquo;I want to be just like her.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Crystal frowned when she turned and saw a friend waving her wristband around  	like it was a magic wand.</p>
<p>
Others were there to catch a glimpse of the hyphenated one. &ldquo;I just came to  	see if she was pregnant,&rdquo; said one fan, who remarked on Lopez&rsquo;s baggy,  	belly-hiding shirt.</p>
<p>
Standing on the fringes of the crowd, sporting a mustache and a look that  	can only be described as glowing, was a middle-aged white man from Long  	Island named Greg Packer. He found out about J-Lo&rsquo;s Bronx appearance from  	the F.Y.E. Myspace page (who knew?) and made the trek to the northwest Bronx  	the day before to buy the album and get a wristband. He returned the next  	morning at 7 a.m. and proudly became the first person to receive Lopez&rsquo;s  	autograph.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a big J-Lo fan,&rdquo; Packer said. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s from the city and she knows how to  	represent and put out a sweet, beautiful album.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;Case closed.</p>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1212&story=residents-press-city/" rel="bookmark">Residents Press City</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 5, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By Kathryn Molinaro</strong></p>
		<p><strong><font size="5" color="#ff0000"> 	M</font></strong>ore than 30 people gathered in the rain two weeks ago to tell  	the Parks Department and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)  	how they think $4.5 million the city has set aside for Jerome Park Reservoir  	can best be used.</p>
<p>
The money, originally allocated for a path of some kind around the  	reservoir, is part of the parcel of $200 million in park projects that Bronx  	politicians received in return for supporting the construction of the  	filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park.</p>
<p>
The debate over whether the city would build the recreational path along the  	water&rsquo;s edge or outside the security fence has gone on for years, but  	Richard Friedman, DEP special counsel, did his best to put an end to the  	argument.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re only at this scoping meeting to say you want the track inside the  	fence, then we can end this right now,&rdquo; Friedman said.</p>
<p>
But some of the reservoir&rsquo;s neighbors aren&rsquo;t giving up on the recreational  	path they have planned and designed since 1994. Still, Anne Marie Garti,  	president of the Jerome Park Conservancy, knows she will have to be patient.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t focus so much on the running track until it can go where it belongs,&rdquo;  	Garti said after the meeting on March 23. &ldquo;The path is going to go inside  	the fence, it&rsquo;s just a matter of when.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Discussion shifted to ways the $4.5 million could make the area outside of  	the 8-foot security fence more park-like without the addition of a  	recreational path. A new path would not circle the entire reservoir fence  	because of the Lehman College parking lot on Goulden Avenue and because the  	already existing sidewalk along Reservoir Avenue leaves no room between the  	street, the historic pin oaks and the fence to create another path.</p>
<p>
Many people at the meeting wanted flowers and other decorative landscaping,  	new lighting, more benches and someone to maintain the new additions.</p>
<p>
The meeting also doubled as a grievance session. Neighbors took turns  	complaining of the DEP&rsquo;s neglect of the land around the reservoir.  	Complaints included snow-covered sidewalks during the winter, graffiti on  	the low stone wall along Reservoir and Sedgwick avenues, and trash,  	including a pig&rsquo;s head in a bag a few weeks ago.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Nobody is taking care of things,&rdquo; Karen Argenti, a longtime reservoir  	advocate, said.</p>
<p>
Margaret Groarke (disclosure: Groarke is married to Norwood News editor  	Jordan Moss) compared the maintenance of Fort Independence Park, which is  	cared for by the Parks Department, with the upkeep of the land in the DEP&rsquo;s  	jurisdiction.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;You want to plan something that&rsquo;s sustainable,&rdquo; Groarke said. &ldquo;The DEP is  	not in the business of maintaining parkland.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
When Groarke and others suggested the Parks Department acquire the reservoir  	land at least for cleaning responsibilities, Hector Aponte, the Parks  	Department&rsquo;s Bronx commissioner, laughed and said that would require more  	funding for his agency.</p>
<p>
Residents are particularly exasperated with the DEP&rsquo;s failure to make good  	on its promise to demolish a filtration demonstration plant in order to  	build an urban ecology lab at the reservoir, a project championed by the  	Conservancy.</p>
<p>
According to an April 29, 2004 article in The Riverdale Press, the DEP  	commissioner at the time, Christopher Ward, said the demonstration plant,  	built more than 20 years ago, would be demolished within 12 to 18 months to  	make room for an urban ecology lab, a project championed by the Jerome Park  	Conservancy.</p>
<p>
Almost 36 months later, the demonstration plant still stands, and plans for  	the ecology lab have reached a standstill. Friedman told the group at the  	scoping meeting that the DEP would begin demolition on the demonstration  	water treatment plant on Goulden Avenue this summer, completing the task in  	the first half of 2008.</p>
<p>
A 1997 New York Times article said the Parks Department and the DEP expected  	to finish planning the ecology lab, which would be used by area schools, in  	the next month.</p>
<p>
In May 2000, the Norwood News reported that the Jerome Park Conservancy&rsquo;s  	plans for the ecology lab were approved and the lab would be completed in  	the spring of 2001.</p>
<p>
A 2004 Riverdale Press article reported that Ward &ldquo;promised&rdquo; an urban  	ecology lab would be built on the site of the demonstration plant.</p>
<p>
Resident Leonard Stoller isn&rsquo;t expecting swift action from the DEP.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve made a lot of promises,&rdquo; Stoller said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t trust them.&rdquo;</p>
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		<h1><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=1211&story=norwood-soldier-and-new-family-man-returns-to-iraq-for-2nd-tour/" rel="bookmark">Norwood Soldier and New Family Man Returns To Iraq for 2nd Tour</a></h1>

		

		<div class="date">

			<p>April 5, 2007</p>

		</div>

		        <p><strong>By David Greene</strong></p>
		<p><strong><font size="5" color="#ff0000">L</font></strong>eaving his new family behind and putting his life in potential  	danger, Staff Sergeant Christopher Perkins of Norwood is on his way back to  	Iraq for a second tour of duty.</p>
<p>
Perkins spent his first 15-month tour in southern Iraq with his fellow  	soldiers from the 245th Maintenance Company of the National Guard, a unit  	based in the Kingsbridge Armory.</p>
<p>
Upon his return, Perkins wasted no time readjusting to civilian life. He not  	only returned to his job at the Institute for Literacy Studies at Lehman  	College, but also met and fell in love with a woman named Sonia. The couple  	recently celebrated the birth of their first baby, Christopher Anthony, Jr.,  	born Nov. 21.</p>
<p>
Perkins spent the rest of his time back catching up with family and friends,  	making new friends at the local AMVETS Post and visiting his favorite comic  	book store on Bainbridge Avenue.</p>
<p>
Taking into consideration his new family and the worsening situation in  	Iraq, Perkins is pragmatic about his decision to head back into a war zone.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure I could have fought harder to get out of it, but I know they need  	medics,&rdquo; Perkins said, adding, &ldquo;I&#8217;d rather get this out of the way while the  	baby&#8217;s young.&rdquo; 	Asked where he will be deployed for the next 10 months, Perkins replied with  	a laugh, &ldquo;I have an idea, but I&#8217;m not supposed to talk about it.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;The orders were cut for 310 days,&rdquo; he said, referring to the amount of time  	stipulated in his tour of duty orders.</p>
<p>
While he doesn&rsquo;t know where he will be, he does know he will have a new job  	when he gets there. &ldquo;When I joined the military, I was an optician [an eye  	care specialist]; that was my first job. But then they retrained me to  	become a combat medic.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
For this tour, Perkins will be joining the 466th Medical Company based out  	of Glenn Falls, NY.</p>
<p>
The former air conditioner and automobile repairman said of his upcoming  	duty, &ldquo;This time I&#8217;ll be working in the air conditioning instead of on the  	air conditioning.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
There is one thing Perkins appreciated most upon his return and will miss  	during his upcoming tour. &ldquo;The showers,&rdquo; he said with a laugh. &ldquo;The showers  	over there just didn&#8217;t seem to get you clean. I guess it was the treated  	water.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
After a week in Texas, Perkins boarded a plane on Friday, March 2 and after  	an 18-hour flight, arrived in Kuwait. By now, Perkins is most likely already  	in Iraq.</p>
<p>
<strong>Ed. note:</strong> <em>The </em>Norwood News<em> covered Sgt. Perkins&rsquo; emotional  	return visit to his colleagues at the Lehman College Literacy Institute in  	October 2005.</em></p>
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<h3><center>Latest from Breaking Bronx</center></h3>

<ul>
	<li><strong><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=6163&story=bronx-youth-journalism-initiative-apply-now-before-tomorrows-deadline/">Bronx Youth Journalism Initiative &#8212; Apply Now Before Tomorrow&#8217;s Deadline!</a></strong> Tue, Feb 14 at 6:15pm</li>
	<li><strong><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=6165&story=bronx-nabe-note-human-rights-activist-speaks-at-lehman-college/">Bronx Nabe Note: Human Rights Activist Speaks at Lehman College</a></strong> Tue, Feb 14 at 5:58pm</li>
	<li><strong><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=6159&story=judge-tells-city-to-delay-ban-on-churches-using-schools/">Judge Tells City to Delay Ban on Churches Using Schools</a></strong> Tue, Feb 14 at 4:46pm</li>
	<li><strong><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=6152&story=court-to-hear-appeal-on-worship-in-schools-ban/">Court to Hear Appeal on Worship in Schools Ban</a></strong> Tue, Feb 14 at 10:25am</li>
	<li><strong><a href="http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=6148&story=slideshow-the-bronx-celebrates-dominican-heritage-month/">Slideshow: The Bronx Celebrates Dominican Heritage Month</a></strong> Tue, Feb 14 at 5:09am</li>
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