Under an autumn sky — heavily clouded and gray — a group gathered for a centuries-old tradition. Tashlich, the Jewish ritual of atonement held during the High Holy Days, is a time to reflect on the previous year’s transgressions. One is to meditate on their sins over small objects like rice or pebbles, toss them into a body of water, and to start anew. more

Trees are not particularly fascinating on their own. They are a dull green half the year, noteworthy for around two months in fall, and then barren, gothic protrusions throughout the winter months. Despite their less-than-stellar visages, trees remain major providers of, among other things, oxygen. The tree is simply a vital, yet background, character in the scenery of the world. more

Money laundering is so 2018. The newest thing is mail fishing and check washing. Anyone who has followed crime news lately has likely heard about people — even here in the northwest Bronx — falling victim to check fraud. The check they dropped into the mail finds its way into the hands of a hooligan, and then money begins disappearing out of that unlucky victim’s bank account. more

Zelda Fassler isn’t going quietly into that good night. She’s living out her golden years on her own terms. Some of that includes keeping her mind sharp and joints limber as an active member of the Hebrew Home at Riverdale. It also includes partaking in a ground-breaking treatment using an unorthodox substance she’d never let her kids try when they were younger. more

A nice lady just wanted to eat in peace on the morning of Sept. 29 at Land & Sea restaurant. Instead, the 29-year-old stepped away from her table at the 5535 Broadway restaurant to speak to someone. more

The mood was tense at the quarterly meeting of the Croton Facility Monitoring Committee, and Anne Marie Garti had not even brought up Jerome Park Reservoir quite yet. In fact, several attendees to that Oct. 7 meeting were there for that very purpose, especially after many had heard last summer the city’s environmental protection department would keep the reservoir’s north basin dry just in case there was ever a need for more water capacity at the Croton facility under Van Cortlandt Park. more

Anyone tuned into city council news has likely heard Speaker Corey Johnson talk about “car culture” this past summer. more

Antoine Larosiliere has been bullied. And he’s been the bully. more

P.S. 7 Milton Fein School is taking charge of its health. Well, at least the students and teachers are. more

It’s been nearly a week since the city’s planning department officially withdrew its proposal to dramatically transform Riverdale’s Special Natural Area District into what it was calling a Special Natural Resources District. What was meant to be a much-needed overhaul of decades-old environmental rules protecting greenbelts in both the Bronx and Staten Island instead became a controversy that pitted some of New York City’s biggest movers and shakers in planning against each other. more