Luna, a 2-month-old kitten, crouches on the shoulder of Ismael Diaz, owner of Ismael’s Gourmet Deli on West 238th Street. Luna is the bodega’s inaugural cat who became a tragic sensation when she was allegedly stolen by a catnapper in a Cookie Monster hoodie Feb. 23. She was returned safe Feb. 28.
JULIUS CONSTANTINE MOTAL / File
Ethical Culture Fieldston School students lock arms outside the campus in March as a sign of solidarity following a news conference about the progress students made in their demand for reforms from the administration.
JULIUS CONSTANTINE MOTAL / File
State senators Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Alessanda Biaggi cheer after Biaggi is officially sworn as a member of the senate Jan. 6.
EIAN KANTOR / File
Isaac Moore puffs on a cigar as he leads members of The Great and Glorious Grand Army of the Bronx to West 225th Street where they ceremonially annex Marble Hill into the Bronx from Manhattan in May.
EIAN KANTOR / File
Nivardo Lopez, Bronx borough commissioner for the city’s transportation department, gets into a shouting match with Paul Thaler, a resident who lives near the intersection of Kappock Street and Palisade Avenue, during a meeting about the ongoing changes there Nov. 9. Residents have been at loggerheads with DOT over the changes.
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN / File
St. Margaret of Cortona School principal Hugh Keenan stands triumphantly after having his head shaved at the start of an assembly Feb. 1. Keenan’s then-newly bald pate came after his students read more than 20,000 minutes worth of books, and raised some $10,000 in the process.
JULIUS CONSTANTINE MOTAL / File
American Studies’ Casey Press was a dual threat for the Senators in the school’s March 28 victory over IN-Tech, driving in three runs.
JULIUS CONSTANTINE MOTAL / FIle
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor listens as she is introduced on stage during the commencement ceremony for Manhattan College’s graduating Class of 2019 in May. Sotomayor received an honorary doctorate before delivering the keynote.
JULIUS CONSTANTINE MOTAL / File
In addition to the street sign named for his deli, Fredy Loeser received a proclamation declaring Sept. 28 ‘Loeser’s Deli Day’ from Bronx borough president Ruben Diaz Jr.
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN / File
Bronx borough president Ruben Diaz Jr., alongside the New York Public Library's mascot Patience, does his best lion impersonation inside the new location for the Van Cortlandt branch in July.
FRIDA STERENBERG
New York City Transit Authority president Andy Byford looks over a commuter survey during the third annual Riders Respond Transit Tour in August, a whirlwind two-day tour of the city’s beleaguered transit system.
JULIUS CONSTANTINE MOTAL
A young capoeirista trains in ABADÁ-Capoeira Bronx near the West 242nd Street subway station in April. Practitioners of capoeira traditionally wear white.
It has been a year of things that were lost and things that were found, of righteous indignation and petty feuds, of new starts and milestones.
This year has seen the ascension of state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi from insurgent candidate in 2018 to the halls of the state senate in January. Students at Ethical Culture Fieldston School rose up in protest to demand change after a video riddled with racial epithets went viral. A Bronx-born U.S. Supreme Court Justice returned home to share words of wisdom with new college graduates.
These are but a few inflection points in a year with its fair share of surprises. Here is a look back at some of the moments defined 2019 in the northwest Bronx.
— Julius Constantine Motal
Keywords
2019,
Year in pictures,
Eian Kantor,
Hiram Alejandro Durán,
Julius Constantine Motal