For better or worse, the South Bronx is slowly being gentrified. Residents and activists react differently to change that brought to the neighborhood The Blue Ox Bar, a trendy little bistro with exposed red brick, local artists’ work on the walls and poetry readings, giving an East Village feeling to the Boogie Down. more>

Heritage School is distinguished by a combination of excellent teaching, parents who become involved in the school and in the education of their children, and a curriculum which places the arts on the same level as other subjects. Almost all the students come from poor African-American or Hispanic families. more>

Latinos don’t speak of child sexual abuse because of cultural taboos and stereotypes – not airing the family’s dirty laundry, keeping things to yourself. Getting help is seen as a sign of weakness. But child sexual abuse remains a danger to the community. more>

The MTA’s decision to construct the Second Avenue subway line exclusively between 96th and 63rd Streets has elicited a wave of protest from elected officials and community leaders. The community wants to see the economic development that this project will undoubtedly bring along with it. more>

Wanting to do volunteer work while they traveled, Jaime and his wife planted the seed for what would become “Por un mejor HOY,” a nonprofit organization which promotes “engaged” travel: travel with volunteerism. more>

One of the biggest problems facing immigrant families is that there is very little understanding on the part of social services agencies of who they are dealing with. The language barrier is just the most obvious one. Little is known of how the families feel about disciplining their kids, how they go about parenting, what they feel is important, who makes the decisions in the household, what experience they had back in their own country with the government intervening in their families’ lives. more>

It is more than ironic the city opens a bus depot in El Barrio while closing a similar one on Hudson Street in the West Village to build a park. more>

Carmen, a native of Tehuacan, Puebla in Mexico, traveled more than an hour from her home in the Bronx to stand at this corner in Williamsburg, hoping one of the many Hassidic Jewish men or women who seek domestic workers will give her work. "Generally, the white women are hired first. After they are gone, then we get jobs," she explained. more>

The reason the New York State Finance Agency, Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) were created was to promote and supply housing for low and moderate income families. It now seems their function is to get us accustomed to the beliefs of capitalism. more>

According to Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, immigrant labor “presents the greatest potential to boost the growth of gross domestic product.” Immigrants’ contribution to the U.S. economy is immense, yet undocumented immigrants rarely, if ever, reap the benefits of their labor. Many immigrants in need of work use fabricated Social Security numbers, contributing millions to Social Security without ever claiming it. more>

These days the police arrive dressed in civilian clothes, driving taxis or unmarked cars, to fine the more than 100 women vendors for working illegally. The great majority of the vendors, who are undocumented immigrants, lack the necessary permits to do commerce on the sidewalks of New York. more>

The academic challenges facing the undocumented student. more>

Since the mid-90s, community activists, private citizens and students have cleared garbage and waste from the Bronx River. These eco-activists believe that it’s their responsibility as citizens to correct the damage done by polluters, industry and sewage plants. more>

Poverty, discrimination, abuse and exploitation are just some of the problems Indigenous Mexicans encounter in New York. Like nomads they leave their communities and set off to conquer the city. more>

The winds of renovation are in the air in East Harlem. The work environment is characteristic of our neighborhood—people paint, clean, and repair to the sounds of salsa and meringue. Those not moved by the wave of renovations fear that property values will go up and low-income Latino families will be forced to find new homes in other areas. more>

When the Aguilar Language Learning Center opened its doors six years ago, its students were almost exclusively Spanish speakers; in fact, 90 percent were Mexican. Since then, however, the center, as well as El Barrio, grew to include large numbers of African, Turkish, Pakistani, Nepalese, and Angolan visitors. more>

New York State Assembly District 28, currently represented by State Sen. Olga Mendez, will consist of only El Barrio (Spanish Harlem), Roosevelt Island and part of the South Bronx, leaving part of Washington Heights as another, newly established, predominately Hispanic district. more>

The movie disrespects Latinos by celebrating Piñero as an icon of Nuyorican creativity and poetic art while ignoring the rampant rumors of pedophilia and even his sociopathic qualities. more>