Bronx News Weekend Roundup, May 16

Weather: It's a foggy, blustery morning in the Bronx today, with temperatures in the 60s and scattered thunderstorms predicted for this afternoon. We'll pay for last week's near-perfect spring weather with rain storms for the rest of this week.

Story of the Day: Diaz Family on Opposite Sides of Gay Marriage Fight
The Times describes the scene at Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr.'s anti-gay marriage rally, which he held yesterday at the Bronx Borough Courthouse on the Grand Concourse to protest the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York (You can read an editorial about Diaz's rally, from the most recent issue of the Tremont Tribune, here.)

Among the attendees there in opposition to Rev. Diaz's stance was his own granddaughter, Erica Diaz, an openly gay 22-year-old who was discharged from the Navy last year after she told her superiors she was a lesbian. The younger Diaz told the paper it was important for her grandfather to know her stance on his politics. "It is in my blood to stand up for what I believe in — regardless of who I am up against," she said.

Quick Hits:
Lots of drama at Yankee Stadium this weekend: the Atlantic argues that hitter Jorge Posada's "hissy fit"--he backed out of Saturday night's game against the Red Sox after being demoted on the team's batting lineup--is just one example of rampant bad behavior by sports stars.

A psychiatric patient being transferred from a Long Island hospital took off in an off-duty police officer's car, leading authorities on a wild chase that ended in the Bronx yesterday afternoon.

A retired New York City firefighter is accused of owning several Bronx apartment buildings that are illegally divided--a practice experts say is a dangerous fire hazard, and which played a role in a tragic blaze that killed three people in Belmont last month.

City budget cuts could close City Island's only firehouse, Ladder Company 53. 

The state will decide the fate of the Kingsbridge Innovative Design Charter School this week. The school was put on the chopping block this spring for financial mismanagement.

A 22-year-old Bronx mother was arrested this weekend for leaving her two young children at the Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan. 

A passersby who jumped into an argument between two other men on a Mott Haven street Friday night opened fire on them, killing 46-year-old Jay Brialey.

The city's Department of Transportation launched a new ad campaign to remind drivers that, yes, we do have a speed limit here (it's 30 mph. Check out the video below). The DOT is also lowering that limit by 10 mph in certain trouble traffic spots, starting with a neighborhood in Claremont.

Bronx Crime Watch: Three Murders in Last 24 Hours (Updated)

In the last 24 hours, the Bronx has seen three people, in two separate incidents, fall victim to gunshot wounds to the head. Both incidents occurred near Bronx housing projects.

On Sunday afternoon, police found William Robles, 27, in front of Union Consolidated Houses in Morrisania with a gunshot wound to the head. Robles was transported to Lincoln Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Then, early this morning at around 5 a.m., at the Soundview Houses, police discovered two yet-to-be-unidentified victims also with gunshot wounds to their heads. Emergency responders pronounced them dead at the scene. Police said one of the victims was a 30-year-old black man whose family had yet to be notified. The other victim was described as a black man in his 20s.

No arrests have been made in either case.

[Update: State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. issued a press release this afternoon condemning the shootings at the Soundview Houses this morning. He also said he was "concerned for the reporter, who according to the National Press Photographers Association, was struck in the face and hospitalized at the homicide scene today."

The Times reports that seven people, including the three in the Bronx, have been killed since Saturday night. Through Sunday, murders are up 15 percent citywide compared to this time period from last year (459 vs. 399 last year). Through October, which doesn't include these latest murders, homicides are up 19.8 percent in the Bronx, from 91 last year during through October to 109 this year.]

(Note: Check our Bronx Crime page for all the latest crime news and statistics.)

Vigil for Shooting Victim in St. James Park (Plus Video)

Murder victim Jelani Ciria's girlfriend, daughter and brother (center), flanked by Councilman Fernando Cabrera (far left), Bishop Fernando Rodriguez (second from right), and State Senator Pedro Espada, called for justice in St. James Park yesterday.

The brutal murder of a 20-year-old Bronx man on Sunday evening in St. James Park led local political and religious leaders and members of the community -- including the victim's victim's girlfriend, 11-month-old daughter and brother -- to hold a prayer vigil in the park and call for justice as well as an end to violence that is increasing throughout the borough.

Police said Jelani Ciria was shot multiple times (the family and Councilman Fernando Cabrera say it was 16 times) on Sunday at about 6:10 p.m. as he exited St. James Park. Family members say the murder was a gang related hit and added that "We know who did it." Cabrera called for witnesses to come forward in the name of justice.

At the prayer vigil, Ciria's family was accompanied by other Bronx families who had recently lost loved ones to gun violence in the same neighborhood.

Before the vigil began,Cabrera, along with State Senator Pedro Espada Jr., who both count St. James as part of their district, consoled the Ciria family and listened to their painful pleas for justice and action in finding the murderer.

Espada offered a $5,000 reward to anyone offering information leading to the arrest of Ciria's murderer and said he would work with law enforcement to install a surveillance system in the park.


St. James Park Prayer Vigil from Alex Kratz on Vimeo.

Cabrera (see video above) called the recent increase in murders -- up 22% from this time last year, though shootings are slightly down, according to NYPD stats -- throughout the Bronx a case of "urban terrorism." He called for community action from citizens to report illegal guns and activity to the police and urged citizens to call police hotlines with any information that could prevent future violence.

One of the vigil's chief organizers, Bishop Fernando Rodriguez, president of the Latin and African American Chaplain's Association (LACA), said his group and others were working towards planning future rallies and marches to bring attention to the increased violence.

The Mysterious Death of Norwood 'Fixture' Billy (Peanut) Murphy

Born premature on Aug. 25, 1962, Billy Murphy was a tiny baby who looked like a little "peanut," one of his older brothers said at the time. The name stuck. Even as a grown-up, everyone knew him as "Peanut."

Last Wednesday night, a gimpy-legged "Peanut" Murphy walked out of Whalen Park, on the corner of 205th Street and Perry Avenue in Norwood, where he drank Cobra malt liquor -- on most nights and days for the past two decades -- to pick up some more beer. Probably from the Family Grocery, near Rochambeau Avenue, where we worked for a time (and was paid in beer and cigarettes, according to a friend).

The next day, Murphy lay brain dead at St. Barnabas Hospital, his face and head swollen to the point that he was nearly unrecognizable. Vicar Bob Rainis of Epiphany Lutheran, where Murphy often slept and received the sacrament, said Murphy was so badly beaten and bruised, he mostly identified him by the shamrock tattoo on his forearm.

Rainis read Murphy his last rites on Saturday and he died early Sunday morning, at the age of 47, just 10 days before his birthday.

While most believe Murphy fatally hit his head as the result of bad fall, many believe that even if he did fall (which he was prone to as a heavy drinker with bad legs, the result of a scaffolding accident that left him permanently hobbled.), he was savagely beaten beforehand. In other words, Murphy was murdered.

Police could not be immediately reached for comment, but we'll keep trying.

McKeon Funeral Home, located just a block from Whalen, is taking care of all the funeral arrangements. There will be a wake starting at 5 p.m. tomorrow at Epiphany Lutheran on E. 206th Street, just down the street from Bainbridge Avenue.The funeral service will begin at 7 p.m.

By all accounts, Murphy was a nice guy who struggled mightily with alcohol and stubbornly refused any public assistance aside from the kindness of friends and the congregation at Epiphany Lutheran.

"He's the sweetest man I ever met," said Jeanie Brady, one of Murphy's friends, who lives near Rochambeau and 206th Street. "He used to help everyone but himself."  

Brady called Murphy a "piece of fixture in the neighborhood."

"Believe it or not," Rainis said, "Billy was one of our greatest ambassadors. He would talk to people walking by the church and say, 'You coming to church on Sunday? You should. You're going to love this place.'"

Rainis, a former cop, said he's not sure if police have classified Murphy's case as a homicide, but he and many of his friends at Whalen Park believe it was just that.

"I believe he was killed," said Savcho Sanev in a thick Bulgarian accent. Earlier today Sanev, who calls Murphy his "brother," and four of Murphy's other friends, sat on a bench at Whalen Park, drinking Cobras and mourning their loss.

Some speculated that Murphy's beating may have come at the hands of opportunistic teenagers who saw the small drunk homeless man as an easy target. Others said it could have been a gang initiation. Others said maybe he fell really really hard this time.

But Murphy's Whalen Park friends say police told them they were treating the case as homicide and that they told them that Murphy sustained 10 broken ribs, not something likely to happen from a simple fall, however intoxicated he may have been.

"I'm so (expletive) sad," Sanev said. 

Murder in Oval Park

A local man was shot dead on Thursday evening inside of Williamsbridge Oval Park, apparently after a dispute involving an iPhone.

Police identified the victim as Diego Sinchi, a 28-year-old, Hispanic male, of 345 East 209th Street, which is just two blocks from the park. At about 10:30 p.m. last night, Sinchi was found shot multiple times in the torso. He was later pronounced dead on arrival at Montefiore Medical Center.

Blood from the shooting was still visible on Friday morning as family members lit candles at a makeshift vigil just inside the north entrance to the park, where the murder occurred.

Sinchi was allegedly involved in a dispute over an iPhone with an unidentified male just after dark last night. The apparent dispute, which became physical, ended in gunfire, according to Resso Santiago, a local resident who spoke to NYPD detectives that were investigating the murder earlier Friday morning.

"My son has an iPhone," said Santiago. "I don't want him to get killed over his phone. I can not feel safe with my family around here any longer."

As park crews began covering the bloody cobblestones with mulch in Oval Park Friday morning, family members had already began gathering around a vigil of candles and prayer cards.

As of Friday morning there have been no arrests made and a police investigation is ongoing.

[Update: According to Norwood News archives, Thursday night's murder was the first in Williamsbridge Oval Park since 2002, when a NYC bus driver was bludgeoned to death with a tree branch.]

Bronx News Roundup, June 18

Bronx teens Rashawn Birthwright, 17, and Javon Maldonado, 17, were stabbed to death yesterday in two unrelated incidents. Maldonado died on the doorstep of the NYPD's 41st Precinct station house in Hunts Point hours after Birthwright was stabbed on Gunther Avenue and died at Jacobi Medical Center. The Daily News has the story.

12-year-old Bronx twins Jason and Corey Grant have started a Facebook-page campaign to persuade LeBron James to play for the New York Knicks. In four days, the site has tracked one million votes in support of LeBron's switch.

After giving birth three times with the help of Bronx midwives, New York state assemblywoman Amy Paulin is seeking to pass a bill that will afford other women a similar, though safer, experience. The bill would repeal the requirement that midwives have a “written practice agreement” with a doctor or hospital, thus allowing them to travel and still have access to doctors and medical facilities.

"Reflections of a Heart," a play about black soldiers who fought in World War II, depicts Isaac Woodard Jr.'s experience in the post-war Bronx. Read the full review here.

The Parks Department and the Bronx River Alliance is inviting New Yorkers to paddle down the Bronx River with their dads this Sunday during the Father's Day Paddle. Participants will canoe through Bronx River Forest, the Botanical Garden, and the Bronx Zoo. Find out more here. [The event appears to be sold out, but you can sign up for the waiting list.]

Former boxing champ Juan La Porte will bring fighters from his Bronx gym to an amateur boxing card hosted by Billy Costello. Now battling lung cancer, Costello continues to spotlight NYC fighters and host matches on NYC turf.

Obama has chosen Rev. Susan Johnson Cook, the senior pastor of Bronx Christian Fellowship Baptist Church in New York and executive director of the Multi-Ethnic Center Inc., for the position of ambassador for international religious freedom. The Catholic Review has the full story.

Bronx resident Edda Lopez-Lennards was featured in the Daily News this morning for her housing struggle involving the Bank of America. Read Norwood News' coverage here.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the premiere episode of Comedy Central's 'Portable Lounge,' a roaming online talk show featuring rising comedians, will take place in the Bronx. Here's more on this show.

Story of the Day

For the story of the day, I thought I'd bring some attention to our story on the murder of life-long Norwood resident Michael Lorge, who was shot in the head multiple times while on his way to work on Valentine's Day 2009. Click here for the whole story. (You may want to print this one out. It's lengthy.)

[Above, the photo shows pallbearers taking Lorge's body out of St. Brendan's Church at this decidedly local affair. Funeral arrangements were handled by Norwood's own McKeon's Funeral Home.]

Murder on DeKalb Ave. (Updated)

A man identified as Victor Anderson, 26, of Brooklyn, was murdered early last Saturday morning on Dekalb Avenue, just north of Gun Hill Road in the Norwood section of the Bronx.

Police say they responded to reports of a man shot in front of 3535 DeKalb Ave. at 12:55 a.m. They found Anderson with a gun shot wound to the head. He was transported to North Central Bronx Hospital just two blocks away, but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Neighbors say police were knocking on doors at near-by apartment buildings until at least 2:30 a.m., but police say they have no suspects at this time and that the investigation is ongoing.

For years, the stretch of DeKalb Avenue, north of Gun Hill Road, has been a hotbed for the drug trade. Two years ago, federal authorities took down an extensive network of drug traffickers and associated gang members several blocks north of where the shooting took place.

It was the first murder in the 52nd Precinct in months, but the second shooting incident in the last two weeks.

We first published this on the Norwood News' Facebook page, which you can access by going to facebook.com and searching for "Norwood News."

Update: Deputy Inspector John D'Adamo, the commanding officer of the 52nd Precinct, says his investigators are actively pursuing the case and tracking down some promising leads. He also said that despite the area's reputation for drug activity, the murder "is possibly not narcotics related." It is the first murder in the precinct since D'Adamo took over command of the precinct on Oct. 27. Trying now, to track down when exactly the last murder was.

Bronx News Roundup, Nov. 24

A NYPD outdoor firing range in City Island will move to a new 40-acre indoor police academy in Queens. Although City Island residents are celebrating the removal of the firing range, they are still upset that the range will still be used for bomb disposal, which creates a significant amount of unpleasant noise.

The Bronx fire department suspects that Sunday's four-alarm fire in Claremont was started by a crack pipe. Multiple crack pipes were found in a room rented by former New York Knicks player Dean Meminger. However, it is not official that the crack pipes belonged to Meminger, who is in critical condition at the burn unit in Jacobi Hospital.

A New York judge plans to dismiss the case of a Bronx man, William McCaffrey, after he spent four years in prison as an innocent man accused of raping a woman. The woman recently confessed that she lied about the rape. McCaffrey was previously released on bail in September of this year.

Lawyers representing the four of the five men charged with the shooting incidents that included the shooting of 15 year-old Vada Vasquez asked for protective custody for their clients in jail.

The Bronx man, Vincent Martinez, who pulled the emergency brake on the D subway on Saturday night after witnessing a murder tells his story to the Daily News. Although some sources criticized Martinez's decision to pull the brake, which stopped the subway, Mayor Bloomberg defended his choice.

The New York Times profiled a 99 year-old lifelong Bronx resident, Sarah Gellert, who lives alone in her apartment. The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund supports The Jewish Association for Services of the Aged, which helped Gellert obtain a much-needed hearing aid.

Bronx News Roundup, November 4

Just in case you have not heard, Michael Bloomberg won yesterday's mayoral election and secured his third term in office. The Associated Press reports that districts with large Hispanic populations in the Bronx voted primarily for Bloomberg's Democratic challenger, Bill Thompson. Bloomberg defeated Thompson by a margin of 51% to 46%.

Septeto Nacional Ignacio Pineiro, a tradional Cuban music enemble will perform at the Hostos Center for Arts and Culture on Saturday. The ensemble, which has been in existence for 83 years, last performed in the United States in 1933.

A South Bronx-based Puerto Rican theater company, Teatro Pregones, will present their most recent musical, "Aloha Boricua," tomorrow in celebration of their 30-year anniversary. The musical, performed in English and Spanish, tells the story of Puerto Ricans who traveled to Hawaii in 1900 to work on sugarcane farms.

Tonight is Game 6 of the 27th World Series. Yankees pitcher Andy Petite will face off against Phillies pitcher Pedro Martinez at Yankee Stadium.

Despite the Yankees' baseball success this year, Yankee merchandise stores surrounding the new Yankee Stadium are not faring well in the bad economy. Merchants believe that fans prefer to buy their Yankee merchandise at the Stadium itself.

Riverdale is home to a large number of Ugandan Jews. Read more here.

Yesterday, police arrested a 40-year old Bronx man and charged him with the murder of his 22 year-old live-in female companion, Margarita Feliciano.

Police found human bones in Seton Falls Park on Monday.

Bronx News Roudup, August 3

A Bronx woman, Angela Murray, has been arrested for the murder and robbery of Guido Felix Brinkmann, a Holocaust survivor, Manhattan resident and owner of a popular nightclub in the 1970s. Police are still searching for Murray's male companion in the crime.

Monroe College graduate, Trina Thompson, is suing her college for her inability to find an appropriate job after receiving her degree in information technology. Thompson is demanding that Monroe repay her $70,000 spent on tuition because the college did not provide adequate career services. I wonder, does Thompson think she is the only college graduate struggling to find employment today?

On Saturday, a crowd of more than 150 South Bronx community members gathered to honor the late Hilton White, an inspirational community leader and basketball coach. During the celebrations, the playground where White once coached basketball was renamed Hilton White Playground and the adjacent street was renamed Hilton White Way. Many of White's protegees, including professional basketball players, doctors and lawyers, gathered at the event to reflect on White's positive influence on the neighborhood.

The New York Daily News declares Judge Sonia Sotomayor the Bronx's latest cultural icon. Her inspirational story is compared with those of other Bronxities Colin Powell and Jennifer Lopez.

Early Saturday morning police shot and killed a man on Southern Boulevard in the Bronx. The man, later identified as Oswaldo Sevilla, fired multiple shots at police before he was shot.

New from the Norwood News

The latest edition of the Norwood News is hot off the presses and on streets and online now. Here's a quick preview of some of the stories you'll find.

Some in-depth Kingsbridge Armory development project coverage, including a look at Community Board 7's approval (with conditions) of the Armory plan.

The day after the vote, the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) held a rally to push the issue of living wage jobs ($10 an hour, plus benefits) at the Armory once the mall is completed. Union leaders and mayoral candidate Bill Thompson showed up to voice their support.

We try to make sense of all the zany twists going on in the 14th District Council race.

On Monday night, a young man was found murdered on the Grand Concourse.

A host of initiatives are bringing more fresh produce to the northwest Bronx.

Our Inquiring Photographer asks residents what they think about the impending confirmation of Bronxite Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

Plus, find out everything that's going on in the local arts and entertainment world in our Out & About section. And check out all the local programs, services and opportunities in our Neighborhood Notes section.

Bronx News Roundup, June 19

We'll start with Pedro Espada, Jr., who is fast becoming one of the most high-profile and controversial Bronx legislators in history.

Yesterday, during a closed-door meeting among leaders in both parties, Espada, a former boxer, nearly came to blows with fellow Bronx State Senator Jeff Klein (who was/is the deputy majority leader). Espada told the Daily News, "I was going to kick his ass." Later Klein responded. "I can take it. He lives in Mamaroneck. I live in the Bronx." (Oooo. Snap. Why do I feel like I'm back in 5th grade?)

Apparently, Espada is upset that the Dems are sending out robocalls to people in GOP districts telling them that Republicans should drop Espada as Senate president.

Ok, on to other stuff:

Mayor Bloomberg was in the Bronx yesterday, at Truman High School on Baychester Avenue, to publicize and take credit for the 9% drop in crime at city schools.

A front page story in Times reports that, over the last five years, the Bronx has had the most murders per capita of any of the five boroughs. The Times also has a cool interative map that shows all the murders in the city since 2003 and allows you to search several categories associated with the murders.

Now, some more Kingsbridge Armory news:

The Village Voice's Runnin' Scared blog has a story on how Moroton Williams, the Bronx-born supermarket chain, is digging in for a battle against the Related Companies' plan to put a new60,000-square-foot supermarket in the Kingsbridge Armory. Morton Williams owns the Associated supermarket directly across the street from the Armory, on Jerome Avenue.

[On a long side note:The story says Related put the supermarket into its plans because the local Community Board (7) wanted it. It's true, several board members and local residents have expressed a desire for a better supermarket for the area, but CB7 Chairman Greg Faulkner said recently that the larger point is that the area needs more healthy eating options, not necessarily another competing supermarket. I'm sure we'll hear more about this at the hearing next Wednesday, June 24 at Lehman College at 6:30 p.m. If you want your voice heard, don't forget to sign up to speak beforehand by calling, (718) 933-5650.]

In a related story, the Neighborhood Retail Alliance, which Morton Williams enlisted for the Armory fight (and also was heavily critical of the city's deal with Related at the Bronx's Gateway Mall), writes on its blog that Council member Maria Baez is against a competing supermarket in the Armory, according to Crain's.

Recap of Bedford Park Shooting

Here's some photos of the makeshift street memorial for Juan Jerez, a 15-year-old Bedford Park resident gunned down last Friday night on the corner of Minerva Place and Creston Avenue.

Yesterday more than 20 of Jerez's friends gathered around the memorial, which they placed at the site of his death. They all said that the shooting was accidental and that Jerez was an innocent victim. He was shot while playing basketball, they said.

An unidentified 15-year-old companion of Jerez was also shot once in the right leg, but will survive.

The police arrested Daikwan Giles, 17, a suspect, in connection with the shootings. According to police, Giles also lived in the neighborhood.

New from the Norwood News

It's here! A brand spanking new edition of the Norwood News hit the streets yesterday. Here's a look at what's inside:

An interview with presumptive BP Ruben Diaz, Jr., along with a look at his only challenger, Republican (and "Sopranos" alum) Anthony Ribustello.

A look at what local pols are doing (or not) to stave off the MTA's "doomsday" cuts.

A student-run newsroom has blossomed in the basement of the Mosholu-Montefiore Community Center: a profile of the the kids behind Teen to Teen News.

Some good news for local activists: a state budget which will tax wealthier New Yorkers to avoid deep cuts in human services.

An editorial on local activism around human trafficking.

A report on a man stabbed to death in the same Marion Ave. apartment building which was the scene of a still-unsolved murder in January.

News that Norwood might get a new school building (more on this below).

Plus a guide to local summer camps, our inquiring photographer, and more news and opinions, all of them online now.

Bronx News Roundup Feb. 25

A security guard in the Bronx wins 1 million dollars from a scratch off ticket.

More details are being released about the Parkchester grandmother, Angela Barksdale, who killed her four-year-old grandson. The boy and his 18-month old sister lived with Barksdale on Metropolitan Avenue. Police have confirmed that Barksdale had a criminal record and was a convicted felon. The Administration for Children's Services was not responsible for placing the children in Barksdale's home and have removed the sister. Details can be found here and here.

There are going to be more MTA service changes and subway delays. The MTA is attributing the changes to repairs that need to be made.

While a study finds that New York City is the most congested city in the country, the Cross Bronx Expressway at the interchange of Bronx River Parkway was named the worst bottleneck in the nation.

Majora Carter, community activist and the founder of Sustaintable South Bronx, appeared in a commercial during the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday. The commercial was sponsored by the company True North.

New in the Norwood News

Ladies and gentleman, the latest issue of the Norwood News is out on Bronx streets and online now. Here's a quick preview, with links to our stories:

Two murders rocked the 52nd Precinct two weekends ago, tripling the total homicides for the year.

Fordham Road's express bus service gets an upgrade.

Anna Rogovin, the 91-year-old Norwood resident hit by a semi a couple of weeks ago, is alert, talkative and upbeat despite having both of her legs severed in the accident. Don't miss this heart-warming personal essay.

Advocates of Williamsbridge Oval Park came out in force last week, demanding safety improvements at the local hub from city agencies.

The Bronx council delegation (almost) unanimously supports the mayor's Congestion Pricing initiative.

Plus, an op-ed about immigration reform...volunteers clean the blighted Aqueduct Walk...an extended online version of Neighborhood Notes...and our local entertainment guide.

Enjoy and give us your feedback! Join the conversation!

Life in Prison for Murderer of Beloved Kingsbridge Doctor

Samuel Saunders, the man responsible for killing beloved Kingsbridge-area pediatrician, Leandro Lozada, was sentenced to 25 years to life yesterday by Westchester County judge.

In early January of 2007, Saunders and an accomplice (who has yet to be tried), kidnapped Lozada, tied him up and then forced him to write a $57,000 check before shooting him twice in the head, execution style.

By all accounts, Dr. Lozada was a great father and boss. He was a pillar in the community who believed in providing health care to the under-privileged families in the northwest Bronx. He could have started his clinic, Hispanic Pediatrics, anywhere, but he chose to put it in a storefront on Kingsbridge Road in a low-income Hispanic community. His unofficial policy was to treat anyone, regardless of their ability to pay.

Despite his murderer's sentencing today, nothing will make up for the loss of Dr. Lozada.

Read our original story about the murder here.

And here's a more recent story about the aftermath of his death.

Norwood Murder Suspect Arrested.

Unfortunately, the first post of the week is not a happy one.

Last night, just after midnight, two men were shot inside a Norwood sports bar and restaurant on Jerome Avenue called the Oasis Cafe. One of the men, Manuel Saico, 25, died after being shot in the chest. The other victim was shot in the torso and is considered to be in "serious" condition.

This afternoon, according to reports, police arrested a suspect, Luis Paulino, a Bronxite, and charged him with murder.

Police say the shooting happened after an argument, but that the two victims were not involved in that argument.

After a relatively slow start to the year, violent crime in the northwest Bronx appears to be on the rise in recent weeks.

Latest Norwood News, out on Bronx streets, online, now

Check out the latest edition of the Norwood News, which is online and on the streets now.

Here's a quick preview:

Editor-in-Chief Jordan Moss celebrates 20 years of the Norwood News and reflects on the paper's impact on the community.

A year after North Fordham-area pediatrician Dr. Leandro Lozada was brutally murdered in his Scarsdale home, the clinic he founded and ran is slowly recovering.

After 18 years, Community Board 7 now has a new district manager. His name is Fernando Tirado and he's setting his sights high.

Lehman College women's hoop star Sally Nnamani is tearing up city competition and hoping to lead the Lady Lightning to another conference championship.

The Beacon after-school program at PS 8 delivers invaluable services to youth and adults.

Crime remained remarkably flat in the 52nd Precinct in 2007. Check out how crime statistics in 2007 broke down by neighborhood in our first-ever crime-by-sector maps.

Also, find out where to go to cast your primary vote on Super Tuesday, Feb. 5.