{"id":83573,"date":"2025-12-29T15:47:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T15:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/83573\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T15:47:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T15:47:10","slug":"the-bronx-times-top-10-most-read-stories-of-2025-bronx-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/83573\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bronx Times\u2019 top 10 most-read stories of 2025 \u2013 Bronx Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year, the Bronx saw major headlines. From the building collapse at the Mitchell Houses<\/a> to Bally\u2019s<\/a> winning a 15-year license to build a casino-hotel complex in Ferry Point Park, our borough saw it all.<\/p>\n

Aside from our biggest stories, here are our most read stories of 2025:\n<\/p>\n

\"paraprofessional\"A report recently released by the New York City Special Commissioner of Investigation (SCI) found four paraprofessionals with the Department of Education (DOE) falsified their timesheets while assisting in the transportation of three separate special needs students. Photo via Google Maps.<\/p>\n

A report released by the New York City Special Commissioner of Investigation (SCI) found that four paraprofessionals with the Department of Education (DOE) falsified their timesheets <\/a>while transporting three special needs students to and from their school.<\/p>\n

Robert Brown, Michel Desgrottes, Alex Gonzalez, and Carla Alvarez were all found by the SCI, back in 2022, to have forged their timesheets while performing their duties for three teenage students at P176x, located in Co-op City<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Randi Levine, the policy director for Advocates for Children,<\/a> which gives free advocacy and legal services for low-income families and children with disabilities. Levine told the Bronx Times that cases like these are part of a wider issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, last year, more than 300 students with disabilities were waiting for the DOE to assign the required paraprofessional they needed to ride the bus, in violation of their legal rights,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City must take steps to ensure it can recruit and retain the paraprofessionals needed for students with disabilities to ride the bus safely and ensure that students can get to school on time every day,\u201d Levine added.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00c7ka Ka Q\u00ebllu, an Albanian restaurant that made the New York Times\u2019 best 100 dining experiences in New York City. Photo by Emily Swanson.<\/p>\n

The Bronx\u2019s dynamic food scene caught attention from New York Times journalists Priya Krishna and Melissa Clark and got a seat in the 2025 list of the 100 best dining experiences in New York City.<\/p>\n

Among the local honorees were:\n<\/p>\n

188 Bakery Cuchifritos<\/a>: a Fordham Heights institution that has been serving Puerto Rican and Dominican classics for decades. The Times praised the restaurant\u2019s unapologetic approach and signature dishes that capture the soul of Bronx street cuisine.
\n\u00a0\u00c7ka Ka Q\u00ebllu<\/a>: a cozy Albanian restaurant tucked into Belmont\u2019s Little Italy. The Times noted its authenticity and welcoming atmosphere as key ingredients in its success.
\nBirria-Landia<\/a>: the viral Mexican food truck chain that helped spark a citywide obsession with Tijuana-style birria tacos. The Times commended its consistency and the electric flavor that continues to draw lines from borough to borough.<\/p>\n

\"shelter\"Migrants wait in line for shelter assistance in the East Village in January 2024. Photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n

In January, officials announced a new migrant shelter would open up \u2013as the city moved forward with closing 13 additional shelters\u2013 in the South Bronx by February.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new facility was planned to temporarily house up to 2,200 single adults, many of whom were transferred from the tent shelter at Randall\u2019s Island, a spokesperson from the mayor\u2019s office told the Bronx Times. Migrants at the new site would be subject to the city\u2019s 60-day policy, which requires individuals to exit the shelter or reapply for placement after that period.<\/p>\n

At the time, city officials did not disclose the shelter\u2019s address, citing security concerns, but council members confirmed it is located in a large, vacant building on Bruckner Boulevard.\n<\/p>\n

While the city emphasizes the need for each district to contribute equally, Council Member Rafael Salamanca Jr. argued, \u201cThe South Bronx is carrying the burden of the city on its back. Where is the investment in our communities other than affordable housing units?\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about the immediate impact the new shelter could bring to the neighborhood, Salamanca Jr. was skeptical. \u201cTwo thousand men moving into a community with no jobs, you know, looking for a way to make a living? They\u2019re gonna get some services, but they don\u2019t want to be there,\u201d he said, adding that city resources could go to existing shelters or food pantries instead.<\/p>\n

\"PolicyPolicy Council and Staff Attorney for the Bronx Public Defenders, Conrad Blackburn spoke in front of protestors Friday, demanding that the state leave discovery reform laws passed in 2019 untouched, amid calls for a roll back from district attorneys and victims. Photo by Sadie Brown<\/p>\n

In March, dozens rallied outside the Bronx County Criminal Court, urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to stop her efforts to amend a law requiring the state to promptly and automatically disclose evidence against criminal defendants in New York.<\/p>\n

In her 2026 Executive Budget, Hochul proposed easing certain provisions of the 2019 discovery reform law, known as \u201cKalief\u2019s Law.\u201d The law is named after Kalief Browder, a Black teenager from the Bronx who spent years on Rikers Island awaiting trial without access to the evidence against him for a low-level theft charge.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aGov. Hochul\u2019s proposals besmirched Kalief\u2019s memory,\u201d said Conrad Blackburn, policy counsel and staff attorney for the Bronx Public Defenders. \u201cThey would take us back to when we were forced to defend cases without seeing any discovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aThose are not \u2018tweaks,\u2019\u201d Blackburn said, referencing the governor\u2019s description of the rollbacks. \u201cIt\u2019s a full repeal of the law. These changes would take us back to a time where prosecutors can hide crucial discovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"parks\"Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson.<\/p>\n

Also in March, Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson issued a sharp rebuke of the Trump administration\u2019s recent decision to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and said it would disproportionately impact communities of color and immigrant neighborhoods throughout the Bronx.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Trump Administration\u2019s decision to revoke the temporary legal status of over half a million migrants is a nefarious attempt to distract from policy failures and further undermine communities of color,\u201d Gibson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTargeting our most vulnerable groups is shameful and un-American. This destabilizing move will make our communities less safe, not more. Our neighbors who hail from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela deserve far better than this, and The Bronx stands united with them and all other immigrant groups that have been targeted by this administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AfterAfter hearing their school would permanently close at the end of the year, Preston High School students, alumnae, families and staff organized a campaign to save the school. In April the State Attorney General confirmed they were successful and Preston would remain open. Photo by\u00a0Sadie Brown<\/p>\n

2024-2025 marked the last-ever school year for three longstanding Bronx Catholic institutions: All Hallows High School, established in 1909, Sacred Heart School in Highbridge, since 1926, and Immaculate Conception School in Melrose, since 1854.<\/p>\n

The closures were in keeping with a trend of religious schools and churches declining, closing and consolidating throughout the country.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Today, two schools within the Brilla Public Charter Schools network occupy the former sites of Sacred Heart (1248 Nelson Ave.) and Immaculate Conception (378 East 151st St.).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite these closures, you may have heard about one Bronx Catholic school that actually survived a brush with death this year.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Preston High School in Throggs Neck was slated to close<\/a> in June 2025 after the property owners, the Sisters of the Divine Compassion, wanted to sell but were unable to reach a deal<\/a> that would allow the school to become self-sustaining.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Preston was ultimately saved by an unexpected entity: Bally\u2019s Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the gaming company Bally\u2019s Corporation, which was just awarded a state license<\/a> to build a hotel-casino-entertainment complex in Ferry Point Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Sisters initially rejected Bally\u2019s purchase offer, the Bronx Times exclusively reported<\/a>. But after intervention<\/a> from Attorney General Letitia James, whose office oversees nonprofit real estate deals, Bally\u2019s Foundation successfully purchased<\/a> Preston High School in April for $8.5 million. <\/p>\n

The Foundation leased it back to the school for $1 per year in perpetuity, saving it from permanent closure.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\"\"Disabled Army veteran Luke Graziani, pictured here in Seoul, South Korea in 2014, was abruptly fired by the Trump administration on Feb. 13, 2025. Photo courtesy Luke Graziani<\/p>\n

This story of a Bronx VA employee fired by the Trump administration made nationwide headlines and sparked outrage<\/a> about the federal government\u2019s overreaching efforts to root out waste, fraud and abuse.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In February, Luke Graziani of Queens, an Army vet who served four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, was abruptly fired from his communications job at the Bronx VA under the Trump administration\u2019s drastic cuts to the federal workforce.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led at the time by Elon Musk, slashed thousands of workers from federal offices across the country. Graziani was among many who received the dreaded email saying that he had \u201cnot demonstrated that [his] employment at the Agency would be in the public interest.\u201d Overall, more than 1,000 VA employees with less than two years of service were dismissed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Graziani, who is permanently disabled from his Army service, was reinstated<\/a> to his position in early April, and he returned to work. However, he said he felt a lingering uncertainty.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of things are kind of coming together and making me feel like maybe my situation is not as stable as I thought,\u201d he told the Bronx Times on April 9.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"harvard\"Christina Adja (left, and with friends at graduation) headed to Harvard University this fall, after turning down Yale and several other prestigious schools.Left photo by Emily Swanson\/right photo courtesy Christina Adja.<\/p>\n

The story of Christina Adja, a graduate of Central Park East High School in East Harlem, was inspiring to many Bronx Times readers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Adja was headed to Harvard that fall \u2014 after turning down Yale, UPenn, Georgetown University and Smith College. She was the first student in her school ever to be accepted to multiple Ivy League universities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The honor was quite unexpected for Adja, the daughter of Togolese immigrants with just an associate\u2019s degree between them. But Adja\u2019s own accomplishments \u2014 including a strong academic record, a podcast that aired on WNYC and a trip to Botswana with a Black maternal health organization \u2014 helped secure her admission to some of the country\u2019s most prestigious universities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, with one semester under her belt, Adja shared an update in text messages to the Bronx Times.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

She said her first few months at Harvard were \u201cinteresting and intense.\u201d It took some time to adjust to a completely different environment and expectations, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, \u201cAs time went on, I started to feel more comfortable asking for help and less ashamed when taking advantage of campus resources like the writing center,\u201d Adja said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Harvard\u2019s admissions data<\/a>, 20% of the 2,000-student freshman class from all over the United States and the world are first-generation college students like Adja.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is extremely different from what I grew up around, but it has been fun and eye-opening interacting with people from a variety of backgrounds,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel like the hardest part of my journey is done, and the only thing to do is persevere from this point forward.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Men arrive at the shelter on Feb. 28, 2025.Photo by Emily Swanson.<\/p>\n

Residents of the South Bronx came out in full force, sometimes multiple times per week, against the migrant shelter that opened in February at East 141st Street and Bruckner Blvd.<\/p>\n

As Mayor Eric Adams touted<\/a> the closure of many of the city\u2019s largest and most controversial migrant shelters, citing a decrease in new arrivals, the South Bronx site came as a surprise even to local elected officials, who said they were unaware of the plan until after contracts were signed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Residents were furious about what they viewed as adding to an over saturation of shelters in the neighborhood. They also protested the lack of community input about the plan, which was already a done deal when city officials confirmed it at a heated Community Board 1 subcommittee meeting<\/a> on Jan. 27.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite residents\u2019 objections, the shelter opened<\/a> on Feb. 22, to no announcement or media attention \u2014 except from the Bronx Times, which received a tip from a neighbor and went there to witness staff at work and residents bringing belongings into the building.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today, the shelter is home for 1,912 adult men as of Dec. 19, according to Zachary Nosanchuk, deputy press secretary for the mayor\u2019s office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But for the press and neighbors living in the community, the site has become something of an informational black hole.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Community Board 1 has received no updates since the shelter opened, despite promises of open communication, said CB1 District Manager Anthony Jordan on Dec. 19.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The city has called the shelter a temporary site, but, nearly a year after opening, has provided no timeline for how long it will be needed.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cOngoing reductions in the number of asylum seekers under our care enable the city to effectively manage population sizes and consolidate groups within newly established locations,\u201d Nosanchuk said in a statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs we have moved past the emergency phase, activating Bruckner is just one of the tools in our toolbox to manage sites broadly throughout all the boroughs.\u201d<\/p>\n

While visiting the location, shelter employees have consistently stated they are not allowed to speak with reporters, and despite multiple attempts, the Bronx Times has never been granted access inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Before-and-after photo of The Hub from Adams\u2019 office.<\/p>\n

This year, the mayor\u2019s office took decisive action in the busy commercial corridor near Third Avenue and East 149th Street, which has long been plagued by open drug activity and overdoses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After an escalating pressure campaign<\/a> by Rep. Ritchie Torres, Borough President Vanessa Gibson, the Third Avenue Business Improvement District and others, Adams\u2019 office temporarily shut down<\/a> Roberto Clemente Plaza in July.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Department of Sanitation<\/a> and NYPD put up barriers around the seating area at Third and Willis Avenues, escorted people using drugs out of the public area, cleared out trash and drug paraphernalia and set up a mobile command center to address residents\u2019 needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, not all Bronxites approved<\/a> of the efforts \u2014 especially the compulsory treatment component that Adams maintained was sometimes necessary in The Hub and elsewhere in the city. \u201cWe must help those struggling finally get treatment, whether they recognize the need for it or not,\u201d he said at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, Renee Jones, who identified herself to the Bronx Times as a drug user, said in August that forcing people into treatment was likely to backfire.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of people will resist it, and that it will do more harm than good,\u201d Jones said. \u201cBecause once again, people are out here telling us what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, the area has seen \u201cconsiderable improvement,\u201d and crime tallies are down in that area compared to last year, according to Pedro Suarez, executive director of the Third Avenue BID.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This year, the Bronx saw major headlines. From the building collapse at the Mitchell Houses to Bally\u2019s winning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[5475,40894,40895,4337,40896,40897,40898,9,11,10,40899,20772,526,40900,40901],"class_list":["post-83573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-ballys","tag-bronx-2025-stories","tag-bronx-bp-vanessa-gibson","tag-department-of-education","tag-discovery-reform-law","tag-migrant-shelter","tag-mitchell-houses","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-times-100-best-list","tag-paraprofessionals","tag-preston-high-school","tag-roberto-clemente-plaza","tag-the-bronxu2019s-top-10-most-read-stories-of-2025"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}