4 Bronx CommuniTea Podcast

4 Bronx CommuniTea Podcast

by Laura Levine-Pinedo

Season 1

Episode 14 - CommuniTea Chat with Laura Levine-Pinedo

Join us as we meet the founder and director of the 4 Bronx Project, Laura Levine-Pinedo; with guest host Gary Axelbank from BronxTalk. Laura was raised on W. 238th and Review Place, right across from the Bronx Alehouse. She has her degree in International Business, and has worked in the food service and hospitality industry for over 18 years. In 2022, Laura founded the 4Bronx Project, helping the people of Bronx gain access to basic necessities and so much more. Her goal is to help those in her community live their best life. Her community outreach has exploded over the last 2 years, helping domestic violence shelters, and organizing community events. Most recently, she started this podcast: The 4Bronx CommuniTEA Podcast. She strives to showcase the people and businesses of our neighborhood. "It's time to have our voices to be heard and for us to be seen." Her passions include: traveling, singing, and enjoying life; she is also fluent in Spanish.

Episode 13 - CommuniTea Chat with Dr. Nick Figueroa

Join us as we meet Dr. Nick Figueroa, a Riverdale resident and a professor of Spanish. He received his Ph.D. in Spanish Linguistics from SUNY Albany and has taught at numerous universities and academic institutions, such Princeton, and Columbia University. He is a linguist who specializes in phonology and for the past decade has coordinated various Spanish languages courses for diverse learners at different competency levels. Dr. Nick is the founder and moderator of the Latinos Urbanos Book Club, which reads, reviews, and recommends novels and literary works of art by recent Latino authors. What started during the pandemic as a book club reading amazing novels and meeting with inspiring authors, has developed into an organization that promotes literacy/literature, the exchanging of ideas, and the giving back/supporting of our NYC communities. Dr. Nick was chosen as one of the winners of the Deja Tu Huella (Leave Your Marks) campaign in which musical artist Bad Bunny recognized Dr. Nick and his book club’s community initiatives and donated $25,000. He is excited to find more grand and impactful ways to give back to his community!

Episode 12 - CommuniTea Chat with Dr. Susan Burns

Join us as we meet Dr. Susan R. Burns. She currently serves as the sixth president of the College of Mount Saint Vincent. Embodying a deep-seated commitment to the liberal arts and its inherent promise to provide access to an authentic, high-quality education to talented students of every background, Dr. Burns has dedicated herself to the common good, Vincentian service, and the Catholic intellectual tradition. An extraordinarily effective and collaborative leader, Dr. Burns came to the College of Mount Saint Vincent from Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa, where she served as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty. Prior to this position, Dr. Burns served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Morningside College. At Morningside, she also taught psychology and statistics, holding the rank of full professor with tenure.

Episode 11 - CommuniTea Chat with Yvette Valente

Join us as we meet Yvette Valente. Yvette is a stylist at Le Chic salon. Yvette knew that she wanted to do hair, since she was a little girl going to the salon with her grandma every Saturday and loved it. Later in life, Yvette went to cosmetology school. She won first place against all other cosmetology schools in Westchester. She then went on to advance her training with Vidal Sassoon for six months in Canada. Then, Yvette went to Holland for two years for her training throughout Europe. When she came back to New York and worked with Bumble and Bumble, Aveda, Tony and Vidal Sassoon, all of the top pioneers in this business. She prides herself in keeping up with the latest trends. She is happy to be blessed with having a core group of clients and have been with her for so many years and it makes her job absolutely amazing.

Episode 10 - CommuniTea Chat with Beth SK Morris

Join us as we meet Beth SK Morris, Riverdale resident and author of three poetry books: In Florida (2010), Nowhere to be Found (2014) and In the Aftermath- 9/11 Through a Volunteer’s Eyes commemorating the 20th anniversary in 2021; a Pinnacle and Firebird Book Award winner and Eric Hoffer finalist, now included in the Poetry of 9/11 archive at the Library of Congress. Her poems have appeared in Artemis, Avocet, Broadkill Review, Crosswinds, High Shelf, Oprelle, and PANK, among others. Beth holds Masters degrees in Speech Science, English Language & Literature, and a Ph.D in Speech, Language, & Hearing Science. She is a member of Hudson Valley Writers Center, Poets House in New York and the Academy of American Poets. She has also won book excellence award. Currently, Beth is working on a hybrid/collaborative poetry manuscript based on her late father’s last notebook.

Episode 9 - CommuniTea Chat with Tracy McCabe Shelton

Join us as we meet with Tracy McCabe Shelton. In April 2010, Tracy took over as KRVC’s Executive Director with extensive experience in the public interest and strong community ties and involvement. In her tenure at KRVC, she has developed an ambitious and extensive program of activities, initiatives and events for the organization and our community. Prior to becoming Executive Director of KRVC, Tracy worked for the New York Public Interest Research Group/NYPIRG as a Consumer Attorney. Tracy moved to Riverdale in 2002 with her family and served as co-President of the Parents Association of PS 24 for six years (2005-2009 & 2013-2015) and as the Auction co-Chair for the Bronx High School of Science for three years (2012-2014). In 2022, Tracy wrote a short film, “Wake Up Call,” established KRVC Productions, as a new project of KRVC.

Episode 8 - CommuniTea Chat with Pete Maddocks

Join us as we meet Pete Maddocks. Pete was born and raised in Riverdale and attended St. Margaret’s grammar school and Fordham Prep High School, where he played basketball in one of the most competitive eras in New York City. The only time Pete left NYC, was to attend Boston College. After college, Pete started a career in finance joining Merrill Lynch as a broker on Wall Street. After 7 years of being a successful Financial Advisor, Pete was elevated to the firm’s Branch office management team. Pete worked as a branch manager in Merrill’s Stamford, CT, White Plains, NY, and World Financial Center, NYC offices. In 2008, unfortunately Pete’s parents suffered from an illness, so Pete took a leave from Wall Street to tend to them. It was at that time where a family friend who worked at a successful PR firm, approached him & offered him an invitation into the entertainment industry. Pete first started out booking modeling projects for print ADs and appearing in TV commercials. From there Pete started acting in tv shows where he had a long stretch appearing as lead characters on various episodes of shows on the newly popular crime/drama channel —Investigation Discovery. Most recently, Pete has 2 upcoming film projects which are in post-production and should be airing by end of summer/early Fall. —“Wake up Call” , a short film / Tv pilot—“The Burden of Nine Lives” , a feature film.

Episode 7 - CommuniTea Chat with Denis Haxhija

Join us as we meet with Denis Haxhija. He is currently a real estate agent at Brown Harris Stevens, specializing in the Manhattan and Riverdale markets. A recent graduate of Manhattan College, Denis is already a heavily-involved alum who also represented the student body on the Board of Trustees. Denis lives in Riverdale, which he refers to as the "hidden gem" of New York, and where he currently serves on the Board of the Riverdale Main Streets Alliance.

Episode 6 - CommuniTea Chat with Stephanie Coggins

Join us as we meet Stephanie Coggins. Stephanie has become an “accidental activist”. She was involved in the fight against construction abuse at the former historic building, the Villa Rosa Bonheur. This experience inspired her interest in local historical preservation, and her successful campaign to co-name the intersection of Palisade Avenue, Independence Avenue and Bradley terrace safter Villa Rosa Bonheur and her creator John J. McKelvey, Sr. She is the Administrator of Riverdale/Spuyten Duyvil/Kingsbridge Views, a private Facebook Group of almost 1600 members, dedicated to the promotion of community and culture in the Northwest Bronx and Northern Manhattan. She is also the co-Administrator of the Bronx City Council District 11 Voters Forum, a public forum that encourages dialogue concerning voters’ issues in the NW Bronx and NY City. She currently resides in Spuyten Duyvil.

Episode 5 - CommuniTea Chat with Gary Axelbank

Join us as we meet with Gary Axelbank, a NYC journalist, disc jockey, and TV personality, based in The Bronx. He is the host of 'Bronx Buzz' and 'Bronx Talk' on BronxNet. Gary has also moderated local political debates for decades. He resides in Van Cortlandt Village and is a very active member of our community.

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