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A June 3rd court decision will ban churches, including Bronx Household of Faith (shown here in the PS/MS 15 auditorium) from worshipping inside city public schools. (Photo by Alex Kratz/Norwood News)

Many churches have long used New York City's public schools as an affordable space to hold their Sunday services. But a ruling by a New York court of appeals has upheld the Department of Education's decision to ban "worship services" from their schools, an issue which could find its way to the Supreme Court.

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Through a series of town hall meetings and other public activities, advocates and organizers are working to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender tolerance in the Bronx, a borough that gained a bad reputation for its intolerance last fall. more>

Arvenetta Henry, who wouldn't give her exact age, but admits she is over 50, spent most of her adult life as a Bronx teacher. She is no longer in the traditional classroom setting, but through a nonprofit homeless advocacy organization operated by the very homeless population it serves, Henry continues to teach.  more>

Over half a million people in the west Bronx live in residential apartment buildings. At least a third of these tenants pay half of their hard-earned wages on rent. Though Bronx residents are paying thousands of dollars a year on shelter, too many of these buildings are in a desperate – sometimes life-threatening – state of disrepair. more>

"Most of the people who are in the city got their first job through Summer Youth," says Bob Altman, the assistant executive director for the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center Altman.  "It provides life skills to kids on how to get a job, how to keep a job, and gives them money to buy books and things for school." more>

The closure of the Sgt. Joseph A. Muller Army Reserve Center in Wakefield frees the buildings up to become schools, which activists have long advocated for and overcrowded School District 10 badly needs. However, the Muller Local Redevelopment Authority, a group tasked with finding a new use for the buildings, has another idea. more>

Last week, Bronx Councilman Oliver Koppell and several other Council members blasted the EDC at a press conference in front of City Hall, saying the group they commissioned to produce the study, the Boston-based Charles River Associates, has demonstrated a history of opposing living wage. more>

"We shouldn't have to live like this," said Sergio Cuevas, whose apartment at 2785 Sedgwick Ave. is plagued by leaks, mold and rotting floors. "I don't invite anyone over to my home." more>

For Fatima Daffeh, a senior at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, every day is a battle. She and her fellow students fight over seats in their classrooms and for space in the school's crowded hallways. It's not uncommon, she says, for a teacher to run out of books. more>

"He knows it's a phony bill; it's never going to go anywhere," said Michael McKee, head of the Real Rent Reform Campaign, referring to Espada's bill that's supposed to freeze rent for 600,000 low-income tenants for five years, calling it really just a pro-landlord bill in disguise. more>

VIDEO :: NY1's Jon Mancini reports that transit advocates have launched a "riders' rebellion" campaign. more>

Two Bronx politicians -- Oliver Koppell and Annabel Palma -- introduced the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act on May 25. This bill would require most development projects receiving city subsidies to pay workers eventually employed there a living wage.

VIDEO :: The Living Wage NYC campaign was launched on May 25th by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., other elected officials and  community groups. more>

With the help of her Bronx community, Edda Lopez struggles to keep her home. Fighting foreclosure and financial-institution-red-tape, her threat of loss is one of many. Since the start of the housing crisis in 2008, over 3000 Bronx homes have gone into foreclosure, and protesters are frustrated that although the taxpayers bailed out the banks, the banks aren't helping struggling homeowners. more>

The only gateway to success is education. Go to school. Learn. Be somebody. How can the youth of New York City become successful when their only ride to education has been taken away? more>

VIDEO :: Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, together with the Chung Wha-Hong, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition, Immigration Chair, Council Member Daniel Dromm, Council Members Melissa Mark-Viverito, Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez and a number of immigration and civil rights advocates, gathered on May 4th to denounce Arizona's Law SB1070 more>

At a recent press conference in the lobby of Montefiore Medical Center's Children Hospital, Dr. Philip Ozuah held up a big bottle of soda. "Everyday in my practice, children come into my office holding one of these" he said. Doctors estimate that drinking one of those bottles each day adds 25 to 30 pounds to an average 9- or 10-year-old per year. more>

"People in the Bronx and New York City need to have a way to pay their bills, and to be able to make a future for their children," said Alba Vazquez, whose life changed when she got a union job and could stop juggling three low-paying jobs to support her family. more>

With high unemployment and a bad economy, many teens are having to work part-time to help their families pay the bills. These teens carry the weight of school, homework, after-school errands and work. Some teens are pushed to steal, or even sell drugs. more>

Even though crime rates have gone down in New York, some communities are just as ravaged by violence as they have ever been, especially considering a recent explosion of street violence in three Bronx communities. While there is no single answer to solving this problem, several ideas are proposed that would help curtail violence.

VIDEO :: From Storm 300 TV, an appeal to stop gun violence in the Bronx in the wake of recent killing of Issy Ariel Dominguez and other young people in that borough. more>

Resident Stephen Hawkins said a man fixing his toilet once asked him for a quarter, which he then wrapped around a pipe with plumbing tape and pronounced the job done. "That's how [the landlord] does things," he said, "if they get around to it." more>

Although hazardous or toxic substances have been found in the park that sits between Lehman College and the Bronx High School of Science, the DEC had not been alerted to the contamination. more>

Since 1994, Gary Axelbank and his top-notch cable TV show, BronxTalk, have elevated the borough's civic dialogue. It has helped bring the mainland borough the attention it deserves. more>

"It's very hard when you go home and your wife asks every day, 'what happened?'" Torres said. "This company knows what they are doing. In the end, they make the community more poor. They are destroying lives. They are destroying families."

VIDEO :: Striking Stella D'Oro workers face the bakeries owners at the National Labor Relations Board on May 13, 2009. more>

In 2008, the food pantry and soup kitchen served a total of 300,000 meals, an increase from the 200,000 meals POTS served in 2005, said Maureen Sheehan, POTS development director.

VIDEO :: Last June, City Council President Christine Quinn spoke at POTS about the situation with food stamps. more>

Parents say a plan to eliminate more than 3,000 kindergarten slots at city day cares is turning out to be a disaster. more>

In response to the economic recession, Manhattan non-profit reaches north. more>

In October, Amanda Texeira, a young single mother wanted her kids to know why they hadn’t seen much of her in the past 10 months and why the fridge was barren, so she took them to the Bronx offices of the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal on Fordham Road. more>

The new plan, which the DOE says was contracted due to budget restrictions, does not include any high schools for the Bronx. more>

With 3,443 households per bank branch, the Bronx is the most under-banked borough in New York City. Manhattan, by contrast, counts 1,159 households per branch. Long lines are not the only consequence. more>

The billions of dollars proposed by Henry Paulson to rescue the troubled financial institutions should be used to improve community infrastructures, opines the author. more>

State Senator Efrain Gonzalez’s indictment for fraud has opened the doors for the Bronx’s most heated and contentious political race, which is being fought on multiple fronts — the blogosphere, across two counties, at local meetings, in various court rooms and on YouTube. more>

With limited vending permits and pressure to make a living, many street venders risk running business illegally and being the easy target to law enforcement units. more>

Believe it or not, a recession, slowdown, downturn, or whatever you want to call our sluggish economy, can be a blessing in disguise for a well-managed small business. more>