PRESS POINTS

Homelessness still a problem in New York City

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Homelessness in New York City is up nearly 3 percent over last year as more than 78,600 people are without homes.

That accounts for a vast majority of the state’s nearly 92,000 homeless people, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which counts the number of homeless people on the streets in a single night. But while homelessness overall is on the rise, it is falling among specific groups, including veterans, which dropped 1.6 percent.

More than 600 of the homeless counted in the city were veterans, according to the report, up from 535 last year.

Homelessness in the city has exploded by nearly 57 percent in the last decade, when just 50,000 were without a permanent place to live. That’s compared to just a 4 percent rise in Los Angeles, which originally had a homeless problem as large as New York’s, but now appears to be under better control there.

 

And the library’s most popular book is …

If you visited the Riverdale library looking of Dan Brown’s new book “Origin: A Novel,” and left disappointed, there’s a reason for that — it was the Mosholu Avenue branch’s most popular checkout this year.

The New York Public Library released its annual list of the top checkouts in the Bronx, and “Origin” not only was tops in Riverdale, but borough-wide as well, beating out an academic exam prep book released by Kaplan.

“Origin” was the most popular book in two other local branches as well — Kingsbridge and Spuyten Duvyil. The top book at the Van Cortlandt library, however, was “The Official SAT Study Guide: 2018.”

“Origin,” released in 2017, is the fifth book in Brown’s DaVinci Code series, continuing the adventures of Robert Langdon.

Other books making the list were “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood, and four books by Manhattan College alum James Patterson, beginning with “The People vs. Alex Cross.” Patterson had a fifth book on the list, “Count to Ten” he wrote with Ashwin Sanghi, while Michael Wolff’s expose “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” rounded out the top 10.

 

Want to join the community board?

It’s that time of year, and Bronx borough president Ruben Diaz Jr., is encouraging residents to become part of their local community board.

Diaz’s office is now accepting applications for all 12 boards, including Community Board 8, through Feb. 8.

Applications are available at BronxBoroPres.NYC.gov, or by calling (718) 590-3913.

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