Winner of Vol. 72, No. 8
What’s inside?
the Pulitzer Prize Thursday, April 1, 2021
$1.00
Lora has special election hopes, but they’re thin n Dinowitz leads election night, but ranked-choice has yet to come into play
City council race enters primary season Page A10
By ETHAN STARK-MILLER estarkmiller@riverdalepress.com
Grand ol’ flagpole Nearly 70 years after neighbors came together to erect it, the Monument’s lone flagpole may finally get some of the TLC it deserves. Page A8
Voters — at least the fewer than 10 percent who came out — have made their voices heard, but the special election to replace Andrew Cohen on the city council is far from over. And non-profit executive director Mino Lora remains optimistic about her chances of upsetting former schoolteacher Eric Dinowitz, who has a 17-point lead from early and live votes. “It’s going to get tighter than it is now,” Lora said. “The race is going to shift. It’s not over. But I don’t want to predict. I’m just very thrilled that here in District 11, we’ll be able to see (ranked-choice voting) in action in a couple of weeks. And I’ll be there, refreshing the (election results) page.” Because Dinowitz didn’t capture more than 50 percent of the overall votes, he’s
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN / File
Mino Lora wasn’t happy turnout in the special city council election to replace Andrew Cohen was low, but she also wasn’t surprised. Through the ranked-choice counting and elimination process, Lora still has a slight chance to overtake Eric Dinowitz, who led early returns. not the winner just yet. Still, Lora knows there’s a steep uphill climb from here if she hopes to overtake the son of Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz in the additional rounds of counting that comes with ranked-choice
voting. Dinowitz led the pack with 42 percent of the vote while Lora earned 25 percent. A final decision, however, depends on how people who selected one of the other
four candidates in the special election as their top choice voted later on the ballot. Not including absentee ballots, there are 2,200 ballots still available among Jessica Haller, Dan Padernacht, Kevin Pazmino and Carlton Berkley. Yet, for Lora to have a chance, she would need to be ranked above Dinowitz on 1,700 of those ballots, assuming absentee votes followed the same trends as the live election. That means Lora would have to be chosen above Dinowitz on three out of every four of those remaining ballots. It’s a tall order for Lora to close the gap, but it’s not impossible. Mathematically, at least. The ranked-choice counting and elimination process is expected to take place around April 15, once the city receives all the district’s absentee and overseas military ballots. The lowest vote-getter in the first round — Berkley — will be eliminated, and his votes will be redistributed based on who those voters ranked second. SPECIAL ELECTION, page A4
Back to school? Or not yet?
Closing the COVID-19 distance — in schools at least
Coffee’s brewing Months after neighborhood loses Buunni Coffee, a new social gathering place is planned to bring together good people with a good cup of joe.
n CDC says three feet apart is enough, but only at elementary schools By ROSE BRENNAN rbrennan@riverdalepress.com
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
Simon Cane has spent the majority of fourth grade learning from home. But he’ll soon return to P.S. 81 Robert J. Christen’s Riverdale Avenue campus as one of many students citywide making the switch from remote learning to hybrid learning — taking classes not just at home, but physically at school as well.
Page A3
PLUS:
We all want the world to be a greener place, but what you are holding in your hands is greener than you may think. Page A12
Classroom return: 25,000 and counting n Parents have until April 7 to switch their public school kids from remote learning
children from fully remote learning to hybrid — giving them the benefits of not just learning from home, but also in physical classrooms. In hindsight, it didn’t quite matter much, because two days after the optin window ended, the entire public school system shut down physical campuses due to rising coronavirus cases throughout the city. In-person learning remains many people’s preferred model for learning, but enrollment numbers haven’t exactly reflected that in the midst of a public health crisis. The majority of the city’s public school students — about 75 percent of them — were doing all their learning from home.
By ROSE BRENNAN rbrennan@riverdalepress.com
If the past year has taught society anything, it’s that a lot can change even over the course of a few weeks. And even more can change over four months. After all, it was four months ago when the city’s public school system last offered an opt-in window for parents to switch their
Still, in the country’s largest public school system, that means some 280,000 students are going to campuses at least part of the time. Now, however, more students will have the opportunity to join them. Mayor Bill de Blasio has opened another opt-in window giving parents a chance to get their kids out of the house more and back to school buildings, at least part of the time. That window is open until April 7, although there is no news about when these hybrid classes would actually begin. Since campuses first started letting some students back in the wake of the coronaviCLASSROOM RETURN, page A4
Few education landscapes have been subject to changes over the course of the coronavirus pandemic as much as the city’s public elementary schools. First, their first day of school was pushed twice from Sept. 10 to Sept. 21, and then again to Sept. 29. Then, along with all of the other public schools in the city, their buildings shuttered again just two months later. But they also were on the receiving end of some of the city’s more positive changes. Their school buildings were among the first to reopen for in-person learning in December, along with preschools and specialized District 75 schools. They also were allowed to offer a select number of students onto five days a week — a program Mayor Bill de Blasio hopes will be in effect for all schools by next fall. More might be able to come back sooner — not just because of the new hybrid learning opt-in window opening up, but because the experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have loosened one major restriction among elementary school students: how far apart they need to be. The CDC moved away from the six feet of physical distance rule last month as part of its coronavirus proCOVID DISTANCE, page A4
Fostering community by bartering some sourdough n Arnie Adler trades goods with his neighbors, sharing some tasty homemade treats By ETHAN STARK-MILLER estarkmiller@riverdalepress.com
There was a time when many longed to stay home and chill. Then the coronavirus pandemic came with its months-long lockdowns, and those wishes came true. Except it wasn’t as relaxing as many might have imagined, instead quickly finding new ways to pass the time at home.
Some binged all the television shows they’d ever wanted to watch, while others read every book collecting dust on their shelves. But social media had its own offerings, from the very earliest days of the pandemic: baking homemade bread. Specifically, sourdough bread. As an avid home chef, Arnie Adler was enthusiastic to jump on this new trend. “It turns out, I make a really good loaf of bread,” the local photographer said. “And I like the process of making it.” But there’s only so much bread one can eat. So, Adler took things a step further — he turned his tasty sourdough into a differSOURDOUGH, page A4
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
Arnie Adler says he discovered he makes a really good loaf of sourdough bread.
WITH WARM WISHES FOR BEAUTIFUL HOLIDAYS FROM ALL OF US AT SOTHEBY’S Anne Shahmoon, Ellen Feld, Alison Bartlett, & Julie Gillis 212.431.2440
HAPPY PASSOVER
HAPPY EASTER