Winner of Vol. 72, No. 28
What’s inside?
the Pulitzer Prize
Thursday, August 19, 2021
$1.00
NEIGHBORHOOD RISING
Bowman no fan of Biden infrastructure bill package n U.S. Rep worries public transit, fighting climate crisis will suffer
Rental resource
By ETHAN STARK-MILLER
Lawmakers in Albany want to protect renters struggling with COVID, but there are a few obstacles. Page A3
estarkmiller@riverdalepress.com
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
Although they hadn’t originally intended to develop the former 5278 Post Road site, local construction mavens Ryan Stagg, left, Mark Stagg and Jay Martino were able to step in after a former developer failed to get plans moving for a nine-story project on the site. Stagg purchased the property last year for $7.9 million.
Building a better Bronx? No cash accepted Can the MTA make coins and dollar bills go obsolete? Not if some advocates and elected officials have anything to say about it all. Page A7
n Getting two projects going within a block of each other came from hard work, and a little bit of luck, of course By JOSEPH DE LA CRUZ jdelacruz@riverdalepress.com
M
ark Stagg wants to be part of the solution. On his way to building properties throughout the Bronx — including his two latest projects along the North Riverdale portion of Broadway — the White Plains native aims to make inclusion a part of his life’s work in real estate.
“I want to help and rebuild all types of housing from the high-end market rate apartments to Section 8, non-profits, and transitional homes as well,” Stagg said. “There’s a demand for all different kinds of populations.” The son of an electrician, Stagg built his first development — a two-family home — in 1995. Since then, he has gone on to develop a number of multi-unit buildings through his real estate firm, including five structures along the Broadway strip near Van Cortlandt Park, with three currently in operation and plans to erect two more in the near future. Rising up now are new apartment buildings at 6375 Broadway — next to The W Assisted Living facility — and the other at 6327 Broadway, formerly known as 5278 BRONX BUILDING, page A4
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation over nearly a dozen sexual harassment allegations dominated the news cycle in New York last week. So, it may have been easy to miss the other big story that broke the same day — the U.S. Senate finally passing an infrastructure bill, bringing it yet another step closer to landing on President Joe Biden’s desk. The $1 trillion package — called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — was passed by a bipartisan coalition of senators in a 69-30 vote. This deal, if signed into law, would fulfill a key piece of Biden’s legislative agenda — an infrastructure plan that had been repeatedly promised by his predecessor, Donald Trump, but never fulfilled. The sweeping package includes funding to repair roads and bridges throughout the country, as well JAMAAL as expanding and updating public BOWMAN transportation, building an electric vehicle charging network, and even expanding broadband internet access — especially to lowerincome and rural areas. The package also provides money for climate change resiliency and modernizing the electric grid by establishing the Grid Deployment Authority, which would oversee the financing and development of high-voltage power lines. Yet, not everyone in Congress — even inside BOWMAN v. BIDEN, page A4
Treasure hidden behind Seton Park tennis courts n Sisters of Charity hope to restore last remnant of old Seton tuberculosis hospital
‘If you’re going to leave the structure there, why not say what the structure was and make it look good for the neighborhood?’
By MAYA MITRASINOVIC Special to The Riverdale Press
Impeach or don’t Assembly says it won’t pursue a case against Cuomo. And despite outcry, their hands might be tied. Page A9
Tucked just behind the tennis courts at Seton Park, a small cave sits vandalized and covered in litter. But this little rock structure is more than just a cave — it’s a grotto. And it’s been there longer than the Spuyten Duyvil park itself. It spiritually guarded Seton Hospital on the site from the time it was built in the late 19th century up until its demolition in 1956. When the city stepped in to turn the site into what is now a park in the 1970s, the grotto was allowed to remain. But it’s been a long time since the grotto has made room for the Virgin Mary, or even look presentable. Today, it’s an afterthought. Neglected. A situation one neighbor with a keen sense of history would very much like to change. “I found the fact that the parks department had unintentionally hidden (the grotto) behind the tennis courts to be really unfortunate,” said Stephanie Coggins, a community activist likely better known for her failed battle to save the century-old Villa Rosa Bonheur apartments nearby.
SISTER DONNA DODGE president, Sisters of Charity
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
The grotto in Spuyten Duyvil’s Seton Park is tucked behind the tennis courts and slowly deteriorating. The Sisters of Charity, based on the campus of the College of Mount Saint Vincent, are taking steps to ensure that doesn’t happen with hopes of restoring what was once part of the hospital on the site the city closed in 1955. In its heyday, both the grotto and the hospital were run by the Sisters of Charity of New York, a Roman Catholic organization now based on the College of Mount Saint Vincent campus. The hospital — and
later the park — were named for Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, America’s first such figure, who originally founded the Sisters of Charity. The city has owned the land for more
than seven decades, keeping it primarily under parks department control. Yet, the sisters still feel a particular connection to not just the site, but the grotto as well. While it once contained a statue of the Virgin Mary, this particular grotto was erected in memory of Mother Seton. “The sisters have contributed so much to New York, and it’s fitting that a park dedicated to Mother Seton should be tended to with care,” the religious group’s spokeswoman, Elena Miranda, said. “Particularly the grotto.” Yet, it would be near impossible to restore the grotto to its old religious glory — SETON TREASURE, page A4
Making summer for youngsters just a little brighter n Kingsbridge Unidos plans nature and science field trips for kids living at Broadway Family Plaza By ETHAN STARK-MILLER estarkmiller@riverdalepress.com
Summer is the season for kids to have fun. At least that’s something everyone could probably agree on in a world where finding common ground isn’t that easy. And this year, Jessica Woolford looks to bring some of that fun to kids living in the Broadway Family Plaza transitional facility. “This was a super-hard year for everyone,” Woolford said. “Especially imagine being a kid, doing remote learning, experiencing homelessness, and just trying to get through life. Summer is supposed to be that time when you’re a kid, you roll around and get dirty, and you go to the park and you have fun. And there’s this joyfulness that we just wanted to bring
back into these kids’ lives. So, we thought, ‘What would be fun to do this summer?’” The answer, Woolford said, is to host a series of events for the youngsters at 5731 Broadway these next few weeks through Kingsbridge Unidos. Woolford originally started this mutual aid group with the goal of delivering fresh produce to neighbors in her grandmother’s Kingsbridge building at the height of the coronavirus pandemic last year. Since then, the organization has led eight produce drives, delivering more than 18,000 pounds of fresh JESSICA WOOLFORD fruits and vegetables donated by the Hunts Point Produce Market. For the past few food drives, Woolford also partnered with the Broadway facility to deliver something to eat for the families living there. Broadway Family Plaza provides homes for more than 80 families transitioning back to living indepenBRIGHT SUMMER, page A4
BRIGHT SU
CHRISTINA SANTUCCI / File
Over the past year, Kingsbridge Unidos — a mutual aid group started by Jessica Woolford — has donated fresh produce in the area more than a half-dozen times. This summer, the group builds on this work with a series of activities for children living in the Broadway Family Plaza transitional facility.