54th annual Bronx Week abruptly canceled by borough president, leaving locals outraged

That’s weak.Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson is getting a Bronx cheer for abruptly canceling the 54th annual “Bronx Week,” citing budget woes.In a press release Wednesday, Gibson said her office was shifting its focus away from the long-running annual festival “in response to a significant budget deficit and the broader fiscal challenges facing New York City.”“This is not the end of Bronx Week; it is a pause,” Gibson insisted, as she apparently referenced the multi-billion-dollar deficit that Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said the city is facing.But outraged Bronxites slammed Gibson for scraping the festivities — which run through the month of May and promote the borough’s institutions and residents.Events usually include neighborhood walks, jazz and gospel concerts, food festivals, block parties, health and job fairs, and breakfasts and lunches honoring military veterans and other residents, as well as the Bronx Ball honoring borough hall of fame inductees.“She canceled Bronx Week? This shows poor leadership,” said the Rev.Ruben Diaz, a former Bronx state senator and city councilman, who heads the Bronx-based Hispanic Clergy Organization.“This is catastrophic.” Bronx Week is the big activity in the borough,” he said.Diaz’s son, former Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., promoted Bronx Week when he was in office.The anticipated event is so popular that the Bronx Tourism Council has a “Countdown to Bronx Week” ticker on its website, ilovethebronx.comLast year, dozens of sponsors — including Chick-fil-A, Chase, Bally’s, AT&T, Optimum, and DoorDash—participated.“The sudden and unexpected suspension of Bronx Week hurts deeply for me personally, and it reverberates from block to block throughout our borough for the generations of families who have grown up celebrating this tradition together each year,” local City Council Member Justin Sanchez said in a statement.One Bronx source familiar with the planning and history...