Winner of Vol. 72, No. 34
What’s inside?
Thursday, September 30, 2021
n Flip ballot to find reform measures for absentee voting & voter registration methods estarkmiller@riverdalepress.com
Feds pay out more than $21M to keep venues, theatre groups going in the Bronx. Page A3
$1.00
Advocates call it vote to make voting easier By ETHAN STARK-MILLER
Cash for COVID-19
the Pulitzer Prize
It’s no secret that in New York City, political contests are usually decided in primaries. General elections? More often than not, they are nothing more than a formality. That’s thanks to the city’s solidly blue political makeup. And it’s why many already see it as a foregone conclusion that Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams will be the city’s next mayor, even though he has yet to beat his Republican rival, Curtis Sliwa. The same also is true for a majority of the other upcoming November contests for positions that include city council, comptroller and public advocate. So, why should anyone care about the November general elections this year?
BALLOT
SESSION
Occasional series featuring candidates, proposals found on November’s general election ballot.
The answer can be found on the backside of the ballot, where voters will have the opportunity to vote on five proposals that, if passed, would amend various parts of the state constitution. Each of these proposals started out as a bill in front of both the Assembly and senate, which were required to pass both chambers in two consecutive legislative sessions. The proposals address several areas that include making alterations to the redistricting process, giving state residents a right to environmental protections, and increasing the amount of money people can sue for in New York City civil courts. But it’s the third and fourth provisions — intended to make voting easier — that
would most clearly accomplish the longtime goals of good government groups like Common Cause New York and the Let NY Vote coalition. “They are long-standing priorities of ours,” said Common Cause’s executive director Susan Lerner. “The two amendments help bring our elections up to a 21st century standard.” The third ballot proposal would lift the state constitutional requirement that voters must register at least 10 days SUE before an election. And DODELL currently that’s even more restrictive, Lerner added, because state law stipulates voters must register at least 25 days before an election. Because the registration deadlines aren’t intuitive, they often make it harder for people to vote, Lerner said. This is especially true for people who just moved to New York from another state, recently
turned 18, or just attained U.S. citizenship. “Our registration process is often confusing,” Lerner said. “The deadlines are not well publicized. And so people are often disenfranchised inadvertently from their point of view. Where they find out, ‘Oh my God, it had never occurred to me that the deadline would be that far away from the election. I didn’t know, otherwise I would have registered.’” While the amendment would eliminate the 10-day registration requirement, Lerner said, it wouldn’t immediately implement a new deadline. So, the state legislature will still have to pass a bill setting a new timeline for would-be voters to register. Lerner’s organization supports the idea of same-day registration, she said, which would allow people to sign up to vote on election day itself. “So the purpose here is to remove a barrier,” Lerner said. “To simplify the process. And to allow for registration to take place when the vast majority are paying attention to elections, which is much closer to the EASY VOTING, page A4
DISTURBING THE PEACE
Books on the go Why should you have to travel to the bookstore when the bookstore can travel to you? That’s a dream of one special Bronx woman. Page A5
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
Public parks are made for gathering, and those who live around them understand there will be some noise. However, a few people living near Van Cortlandt Park say noise is out of control with late-night partying and loud music.
Noisy park-goers create many sleepless nights
General n Partying, vehicle noise, is now in loud music becomes problem Bob Abrams has served in almost every political office, but how much have politics changed since those days? Page A6
around Vannie, Seton parks By JOSEPH DE LA CRUZ
jdelacruz@riverdalepress.com
Samantha Charlip enjoys her peace — if she can find it. Living across from Seton Park, peace has proven to be a difficult state to achieve. Especially the day the trumpeter arrived. “It’s sort of one of those quirks of New
York that you hear people and think it’s bizarre — and also kind of charming,” she said. But such charm has a very small shelf life. The mysterious trumpet player would spend a good part of the weekend blasting his horn in the park. Then, as the weather improved, so did his frequency, moving to several days during the week. The worst part, Charlip said, is he’s no Louis Armstrong. In fact, when it comes to trumpet playing, it’s not even a Neil Armstrong. “It’s definitely a nuisance, and a lot of people in the community have been discussing it,” she said. “So that’s sort of how
I felt about it initially.” Charlip moved to the neighborhood three years ago from Brooklyn expecting to enjoy a more quaint and quiet life Riverdale is often known for. But that changed dramatically when the trumpet player showed up at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Some nearby residents at the park say the noise was often distracting for their children who attended school nearby where the would-be musician would play. Much of the time, his tones would be very off-key, Charlip said, while repeating what she believes to be the same three notes. And the odd behavior didn’t stop there.
“A lot of times it seems like he’ll stop and clean out the trumpet like something is wrong with it, like kind of stare at it and then continues to play,” she said. “And this more or less continues throughout the day.” People have said they’ve actually tried to confront the stranger, often finding he would respond somewhat aggressively manner, Charlip said. “There have been some 311 complaints, as well as calls to Councilman (Eric) Dinowitz’s office,” she said. “But nothing has really gone anywhere. And so I think everyone just wants to get to SLEEPLESS NIGHTS, page A4
A very familiar face tops Netflix streaming charts n Spuyten Duyvil’s Becca Lish is one of the ensemble stars of mystery limited series ‘Clickbait’ By ETHAN STARK-MILLER estarkmiller@riverdalepress.com
B
ecca Lish never could have predicted how popular her latest project would become. She’s part of an ensemble cast starring in “Clickbait,” a mystery limited television series that didn’t necessarily get a lot of fanfare before dropping on Netflix late last month, but since has become one of the streaming service’s most wellwatched shows this year. “I’m glad that it’s so popular,” Lish said. “It kind of took me by surprise. It seems to me unusual,
and I certainly didn’t expect it. But it’s great.” Lish has spent the past 30 years living in Spuyten Duyvil with her husband, pediatrician Andrew Mutnick, where they raised their two children. Closer to home, she’s more known for her political activism as one of the founders of the IDC Action Group, which played a major role in Alessandra Biaggi’s 2018 state senate victory. But right now, Netflix subscribers can find Lish as Dawn Gleed — an administrative manager many turn to for help — “Clickbait,” a series the Neilsen television audience measurement company says is the most-watched streaming show over the past month. “Clickbait” focuses on seemingly normal family man Nick Brewer — played by “Entourage” star Adrian Grenier — who mysteriously disappears one morning. He resurfaces a short time later, BECCA LISH, page A4
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
Becca Lish has lived in this corner of the Bronx since 1991, currently calling the neighborhood around Ewen Park home — when she’s there. Lish’s acting career has kept her busy recently, including her latest role as Dawn Gleed in the Netflix limited series ‘Clickbait,’ one of the streaming service’s most popular shows over the past month.