Winner of Vol. 71, No. 48
What’s inside?
the Pulitzer Prize
Thursday, January 7, 2021
$1.00
And they’re off ... kinda Petitioning during COVID forces two out of race
Going to D.C. After being sworn into Congress, Jamaal Bowman has some big plans as he gets ready to represent. Page A3
n That leaves city council race to five as March 23 special election nears By ETHAN STARK-MILLER estarkmiller@riverdalepress.com
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
City council candidates Eric Dinowitz and Dan Padernacht took to Johnson Avenue and West 235th Street seeking petition signatures within hours of Mayor Bill de Blasio setting March 23 as the special election date to replace Bronx Supreme Court judge Andrew Cohen on the city council.
After more than 40 years running a shop on Riverdale Avenue, Edith Weinheim is calling it quits. Page A5
What’s in a name David Moore might be a successful businessman, but his heart is always in trying to give back. Page A6
n Candidates say ‘no thank you’ to petitioning, but they have no choice, ultimately By ETHAN STARK-MILLER estarkmiller@riverdalepress.com
Collecting hundreds of signatures is probably one of the last things anyone wants to do during a global pandemic. Yet that’s exactly what the five remaining candidates seeking to replace Andrew Cohen on the city council must do now that Mayor Bill de Blasio has set March 23 for their special election. Monday, both Dan Padernacht and Eric Dinowitz were spotted around Johnson Avenue seeking the John Hancocks of 450 registered voters within Cohen’s old council district so they can have their names on that ballot. Padernacht, a real estate lawyer and former Community Board 8 chair from Kingsbridge Heights, have said such petitioning is dangerous while the coronavirus continues to rage in this part of the city. He joined
some of his fellow candidates — absent Dinowitz — last week calling for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to suspend petitioning requirements like he did for elections last year. Otherwise, Padernacht said, Cuomo and even de Blasio are potentially putting the lives of thousands of volunteers and registered voters at risk. This new petition drive comes as public health officials say one out of every 200 people in the city has tested positive for SARSCoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Those same experts are predicting January will be the worst month of the pandemic yet, even with a vaccine slowly making its way around the city. Abigail Martin, Marcos Sierra and Carlton Berkley joined Padernacht in his plea during a news conference last week. They wanted the petition requirement suspended once again, but it seems the governor wants no part of it. Instead, Padernacht and others have to collect not just 450 signatures, but actually two or three times that many to help their petition survive some of the expected legal challenges filed by other campaigns, and the Democratic party machine itself for its non-favored candidates.
Dentists, hygienists want turn at vaccine n Despite being high-risk for COVID, many dental workers are being left out By ROSE BRENNAN rbrennan@riverdalepress.com
For the better part of a year, coronavirus safety measures have become a daily mantra: Wear a mask. Stay six feet apart. Only gather with members of your own household. But what happens when your job makes it impossible for you to follow those first two directives? That’s the dilemma facing many dental workers during the coronavirus pandemic. Obviously, the nature of their work involves the mouth — meaning their patients can’t wear a mask while they’re treated. And dental workers need to get up close and personal to clean and treat their patients’ teeth, making it all but impossible to physically distance. Dental workers wear full personal protective equipment while on the job, but they don’t know where their patients have been, leading to some anxiety about contracting the coronavirus. And even with symptom questionnaires and temperature checks in place in efforts to weed out potentially contagious patients — such measures
wouldn’t stop someone who is asymptomatic and still capable of spreading a disease that already has killed hundreds of thousands of people in the United States. That’s why dentist Pearl Sussman thinks she and her colleagues at Pearl Dental Spa on Riverdale Avenue deserve a spot high on the list for receiving the coronavirus vaccine. And while vaccination efforts are proceeding more slowly than anticipated across the country, she has yet to see dental workers like herself anywhere on the priority list. The first phase of the state’s vaccine distribution targets front line health care workers, along with nursing home staff and residents. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests the next phase should target people older than 75 along with other front line essential workers like emergency responders, teachers and grocery store workers, according to The New York Times. Some dental workers were included in those vaccination lists, Sussman said. Not because of the nature of their work, but instead because of where they work. “Dentists that work based in a hospital … have received the vaccine or are in the process of receiving the vaccine,” Sussman said. “I think if you VACCINE, page A4
SOLD & CLOSED 4705 Henry Hudson Pkwy, Apt. 11M ALISON BARTLETT Alison.Bartlett@sothebyshomes.com
There are people who are like, ‘I’ll volunteer, but I just had COVID.’ I mean, I literally called a couple and they said, ‘We always would petition for folks. But we just had COVID. We’re done.’
— Jessica Haller
Martin — who on Tuesday dropped out of the special election race with Marcos Sierra — said that between this race and the one to replace new U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres in the Fordham Heights area — thousands of unnecessary physical contacts will have to be made, which would be any virus’s preferred scenario. “We know that with some of these vaccines, it takes time in order for people to be fully vaccinated and safe,” Martin said. “We have 12 candidates between District 11 SIGNATURES, page A4
Dark too early
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN / Photos
A time to retire
Cuomo won’t suspend signature gathering
The field for the special election to replace Andrew Cohen on the city council narrowed Tuesday as Abigail Martin and Marcos Sierra both dropped out of the race. But it doesn’t mean they don’t still have hopes of becoming a member of the city council. Both said they’re going to wait to run in the June primary for the seat, and leave the March 23 special election to fill Cohen’s last year of his term to someone else. ABIGAIL Mayor Bill de BlaMARTIN sio set the special election date Monday, telling the candidates to “get out there and get petitioning” to get on the ballot, before returning to his calls for people to stay away from others as coronavirus cases continue to spiral out of control. Although several MARCOS candidates joined SIERRA forces last week asking Gov. Andrew Cuomo to suspend petitioning for special elections — like he did for elections last year — many of those same candidates were out on the street Monday starting to collect the 450 signatures needed to get their name on the March 23 ballot. But not everyone was ready to start petitioning. Martin, a former social worker and current Columbia University adjunct professor, said she wants DROPPING OUT, page A4
No, you’re not imagining things. It gets dark really early these days — sometimes before you even think about what you’re going to have for dinner. The sun’s early departure may mean far less sunlight, but it does give parts of the city — Marble Hill included — a chance to put its own illumination on display.