The Week in Rewind spotlights some of the editorial work of the Bronx Times for the week of Dec. 15 to Dec. 22.
Yankees, NYPD’s 44th Precinct, Food Bank for New York City provide holiday groceries and toys to Bronx families
The New York Yankees, the NYPD’s 44th Precinct and the Food Bank For New York City held a pop-up food and toy distribution event for 500 families at the 44th Precinct in the Bronx, less than a mile away from Yankee Stadium. The three entities partnered on an identical distribution last December.
Yankees Manager Aaron Boone took part in the event, held at the 44th Precinct stationhouse on East 169th Street, and greeted residents of the community.
Participants also received a $25 voucher to local C-Town or Bravo supermarkets courtesy of Krasdale Foods, along with holiday toys to provide to members of the family.
Pop-up food distributions have been a monthly staple at Yankee Stadium since May 2021. The events provide 500 families per month with access to shelf stable food items and fresh produce. The pop-up food distribution program was born from the Yankees’ with the Food Bank For New York City and is being implemented within the scope of the New York Yankees Diversity and Inclusion Committee, which identifies, engages and addresses issues related to equality, racial justice and inclusivity.
Kingsbridge Heights man on a mission to make neighborhood a kinder place
On a recent cold and windy day in Kingsbridge Heights, children and senior adults alike were keeping their bodies and their hearts warm at the New Jewish Home, Kittay Senior Apartments.
The third grade class of P.S. 340 visited the senior apartments — located at at 2550 Webb Ave. — on Dec. 19, as part of their holiday festivities. Together, they played bingo, sang Christmas carols, learned about different holidays — ranging from Hanukkah to Three Kings Day — and ate chocolate coins to spread cheer and teach kindness.
“Tom reached out to our school as part of the Kindness Club,” said Colleen Orth, the teacher of the smiling third grade students in attendance. “This time of year, we wanted to make a connection with the children and bring joy to them.”
Although the Kindness Club has been around for years and has a global network of 138 schools and more than 90,000 members, Porton was unaware of its existence. When he created the Kindness Club at the Kittay apartments, it came purely from the kindness of his heart. And while the official Kindness Club is designed around students and operates in schools, Porton’s club is composed of senior citizens.
“I noticed there was a lot of anger and unhappiness among a number of seniors,” he said of the residents there. “Myself included.”
Porton moved into the Kittay apartments — an independent living senior facility — in March 2023, where he receives three meals a day, cleaning services and a health aide, but prior to that, Porton lived at the Wayne Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in the Bronx, where he had to spend more than $100,000 of his own money to pay for his two-year stay following a traumatic surgery.
In 2021, his doctor diagnosed him with having 10% heart function. He underwent open heart surgery, but his recovery was complicated and the issue was not corrected. Following the surgery, Porton was in a coma for a month, awoke to find he had a paralyzed left foot and was put on a ventilator. According to Porton, the surgery failed to correct his heart problem and while he did not require breathing assistance prior to the surgery, he now has a permanent tracheostomy tube in his neck to help him breathe.
“And trust me, it’s no joy,” said Porton.
A few weeks after settling into his new apartment at Kittay, Porton created the Kindness Club. Every Wednesday, about 15 residents of the more than hundreds that reside at the 290-apartment building get together and watch motivational movies, eat snacks and share their stories and feelings.
Feds announce $150 million for new bus, pedestrian and cyclist lanes on the Cross Bronx
New dedicated bus lanes and both pedestrian and cyclist pathways are on the horizon for the Cross Bronx Expressway thanks to a $150 million allocation from the federal Department of Transportation (DOT) — the latest step in the reimagining of the freeway to improve both transportation and health outcomes in the borough.
Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, along with U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, announced a community connector roadway project for the Cross Bronx project on Dec. 18 which includes the new bus lanes and pathways. It’s also a “critical component” of the state DOT’s project to rehabilitate and replace five Cross Bronx bridges, according to Schumer’s office. The project is estimated to cost a total of $258 million.
“When you look at the Cross Bronx Expressway, you see the massive lanes, the cars, the pollution and the disconnect,” Schumer said. “That’s why, under the Biden Administration, we finally had the chance to right some of the infrastructure wrongs of the past, both in terms of pollution and traffic flow in the Bronx.”
As far as infrastructure in the borough goes, the Cross Bronx has been toward the top of the docket for many local politicians.
The Cross Bronx Expressway was started by the famed urban planner Robert Moses in 1948, and has long been criticized as a project rooted in environmental racism. The highway divides the borough in half and originally displaced entire neighborhoods — many of which were predominantly Black, brown, Jewish and immigrant communities — in the process. Its impact is seen in the daily lives of residents to this day. The Cross Bronx has left communities of color in the South Bronx especially with disproportionately high asthma rates.
New York Cares coat drive, gift distribution brings smiles to students at PS/MS 31 in Melrose
The holiday season is always a time of giving and one South Bronx school was very much in the spirit on Tuesday morning, with Christmas less than a week away.
On Dec. 19, nonprofit organization New York Cares hosted its 35th annual coat drive and 34th annual gift distribution event at PS/MS 31 The William Lloyd Garrison School, located at 250 E. 156th St. in Melrose .The event supported and served students of families who live in School District 7, which included the neighborhoods of Melrose, Port Morris, Mott Haven, Highbridge, Longwood, Morrisania and Concourse Village.
The day of giving began with elementary school students, along with a classroom of kindergarten students, receiving special holiday gifts from Santa Claus, who showed up to take pictures with the children and hand out presents to each of them. Vince Guaraldi Trio’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas” soundtrack was playing in the background as Santa presented the students with their gifts.
Many of the students’ gifts included board games and Beanie Babies, among other fun items. Following the gift distribution, middle school students picked out and tried on winter coats in front of mirrors to determine what jackets best fit them.For this year’s coat drive, volunteers donated 300 warm winter coats, while 300 pre-requested gifts were distributed to students in need during the gift distribution event.
“For me, the best part of this entire experience is knowing that we are providing each student here with gifts, coats, along with a positive message,” said New York Cares executive director Sapreet Saluja. “That positive message is that each of these students matter and that it’s important to be giving — even a little bit can go a long way.”
Bronx population dropped 6.3% in wake of pandemic, more than any other borough: report
The population of New York City has dropped significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Bronx seeing a decline greater than every other borough, according to a reportreleased by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli on Monday.At the beginning of 2020, New York City boasted a population of 8,804,190, marking a decade-long trend of a 7.7% increase in residents from 2010 when the population stood at 8,175,133. However, the pandemic had a profound impact, according to the report, causing a 5.3% reduction in the city’s total population, with the number of residents dropping to 8,335,897 by 2022.
The Bronx, however, saw more residents head for the exits than any other borough. The borough saw a 6.3% drop in population, with the number of residents falling from 1,472,654 in 2020 to 1,379,946 in 2022.
The study attributes most of this population loss to residents relocating to other parts of New York State or New Jersey, citing the lower cost of living in these areas as the primary driver of migration. Other contributing factors include the increased ability of employees to work remotely and the desire for more living space during extended periods of quarantine.
DiNapoli emphasized the importance of understanding these population shifts, stating, “Ongoing changes to the city’s makeup have important implications for the budget and policy decisions we are making today. We need the city to remain competitive on the world stage and a place where people want to move, put down roots and thrive.”
While every borough saw its population decline, not all boroughs were impacted equally.
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