Bronxites push back against proposed education budget cuts at Morris Heights town hall

Community organizations and activists rallied with local pols in the Bronx on Tuesday night to denounce proposed budget cuts for Department of Education (DOE) schools.

The March 5 town hall at the Davidson Community Center in Morris Heights drew a crowd of around 100 people representing various school districts and educational organizations. The call to action: imploring the New York City Council to save educational programs and resources on the chopping block.

“What we are dealing with are lower income Black and brown families who are busy just trying to survive every day,” said Tom Sheppard, the Bronx Community Education Council (CEC) president who was elected to the citywide Panel for Educational Policy (PEP). “And when you have people who are just trying to survive every day get really excited about what education looks like for their children, they’re going to show up.”

The urgency comes after Mayor Eric Adams proposed a new citywide budget last November, which THE CITY reported would cut more than $570 million from the DOEover multiple years, as well as up to $18 million from community schools this year and next. The proposed budget, which Adams said was prompted by the financial burden posed by the influx of migrants coming to New York City, was also set to cut other citywide services — including funding for sanitation, libraries and the NYPD.

Bronx electeds support legislation that aims to help New York buildings meet energy efficiency goals

The City Council has launched a concerted effort with two letters in an attempt to convince Albany lawmakers to pass the Growing Resilient & Energy-Efficient NY (GREEN) Buildings Act that would assist buildings in New York City as well as New York state to meet the requirements of the law for Local Law 97 for residences in the Bronx as well as the five boroughs and throughout the state.

The first letter, written by Brooklyn Council Member Justin Brannan, was sent to Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Carl Heastie on Feb. 21 and expresses the importance of addressing climate change and meeting New York State emission reduction targets.

The letter, which includes 26 signatures as of Thursday, March 7, explains that the GREEN Building Act — also referred to as A.5050/S.943-A — will address the challenge of building owners bearing the costs of higher maintenance fees and fines by providing a property tax abatement and exemption for eligible New York City property owners.

“This legislation will deliver clear wins for our environment, our economy and our constituents,” the letter reads. “We hope you will consider passing it as quickly as possible so together we can achieve New York City and state climate goals.”

The second letter, sent to the office of Governor Kathy Hochul on March 1, expressed the importance of helping fellow New Yorker building owners in meeting emission reduction goals, as opposed to punishing them with fines if they are economically unable to comply.

The Common Sense Letter, along with the A.5050/S.943-A letter, explains that data from New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) suggests that approximately 15,000 property owners would be forced to invest more than $15 billion by 2030 in order to comply with the new emission standards imposed by Local Law 97.

Photography exhibit at Hostos depicts worldwide Jewish experience

Work by New York-based photographer Zion Ozeri depicting the worldwide Jewish diaspora is now on display at Hostos Community College.

The opening reception, held March 5, celebrated the exhibit as part of CUNY’s Anti-Hate Initiative, a multi-year program that aims to foster mutual understanding and creative collaboration on campuses. In a time where the war between Israel and Gaza is tearing many communities apart, the exhibit seems all the more timely.

Ozeri’s black and white photos span the past few decades and depict the lives of Jews not only in Israel but in Argentina, India, Mexico, Uzbekistan and other countries around the world. The photos are arranged by themes common to all cultures such as Generations, Life Cycles and Sacred Space.

Through his work, Ozeri told the audience that he wanted to depict the diversity of Jews while also “affirming the unity of the Jewish people.”

Brandon Hendricks Scholarship applications now open for Bronx-based high school seniors

The Bronx-based nonprofit Oyate Group has reopened applications for the recently restructured Brandon Hendricks Scholarship for rising first-year college students. The scholarship was built in memory of Brandon Hendricks, a local high school senior who lost his life to a bullet just after his high school graduation and just before he was to go off to study at St. John’s University on a Division I basketball scholarship.

Thomas Ramos, the CEO, founder and president of the organization, previously spent time as the director of a local community center, where he met Brandon Hendricks, who would frequently spend time there. It was from there that they would get to know each other personally.

That summer was when Ramos would start the Brandon Hendricks Scholarship.

“At that time, I was thinking: how can we continue his legacy?” Ramos said. “What can we do to empower young people when they’re heading into college and to lessen the financial burden?”

It is with this objective in mind that the scholarship was recently restructured. Originally, the scholarship was granted to five recipients total who would receive a $5,000 one-time financial contribution to their tuition costs. However, now the scholarship is granted to two recipients who receive $5,000 each semester that they attend college across four years – a total $20,000 contribution to their education costs.

‘A shining example’: Tremont Library designated as fifth historical library landmark in the Bronx

For 119 years, Tremont Library has stood stalwart on the corner of Washington Avenue and East 176th Street in the Bronx. On Tuesday, March 5, Tremont Library was designated as an individual historical landmark by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC).

This makes it the fifth library in the Bronx — and the fifth and final Carnegie-funded, NYPL-operated library in the borough — to be designated as such, following the Morrisania Library, Woodstock Library, Hunts Point Library and the Mott Haven Library.

The brick library was built in Classical Revival style at the turn of the century in 1905, funded by the famed industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, and is one of 14 prominent libraries built by Carrère and Hastings — the same firm that designed the New York Public Library’s historic main branch in Manhattan.

Tremont Library’s designation as a historical landmark means that the LPC must approve of any new alterations, demolitions or constructions to the library and protects the location from “demolition by neglect”.

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