Winner of Vol. 71, No. 37
What’s inside?
the Pulitzer Prize
Thursday, October 22, 2020
$1.00
Kingsbridge on brink of recovery? Not so sure n Study by city’s planning department says biz district better than rest of NYC By KIRSTYN BRENDLEN & MICHAEL HINMAN of The Riverdale Press
Lowerinsured Having health insurance, many times it’s just not enough, as one family learns. Page A6
Veteran salute Irving was just passing through the Hebrew Home when he noticed something missing. Page A3
It’s been a long, hard year for businesses. But you don’t need to hear that from us. With seemingly never-ending closures, fewer customers, and a coronavirus pandemic-induced recession on top of that, keeping the lights on and employees paid has been a struggle for many. Vacant signs have cropped up all over the city as businesses shutter, and it could be quite some time before new tenants move in. But how bad is it? That was the question the city’s planning department hoped to answer — and it already had a head start. Planners had partnered with mapping company Live XYZ to study retail activity across 24 New York City business corridors back in 2018. Revisiting those corridors this past July could, if nothing else, give city officials a snapshot had how hard the virus has hammered business. The result? Pretty hard. Where a little more than 13 percent of businesses in these corridors were either closed or vacant in 2018, that number jumped to 32 percent last summer as New York City entered the fourth phase of its economic reopening. Bad news for everywhere — except Kingsbridge. The stretch of Broadway near West 231st Street was one of three Bronx corridors studied by city planning, and the only one in this part of the borough. Of the more than 250 businesses surveyed in Kingsbridge, 210 were opened. That accounted for 83 percent of businesses in the corridor — a change of just 7 percent over 2018 — which was far better than every other area except Brooklyn’s Fulton Mall. Pandemic impacts ranged from as little as 10 percent change in the Upper West Side, to more than 36 percent closing since 2018 in Manhattan’s Flatiron
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
Staying open is important, but it’s not quite everything. A study by the city’s planning department found 83 percent of Kingsbridge’s businesses managed to stay open through the coronavirus pandemic compared to 2018. John Kambouris, the owner of Broadway Pizza and Pasta, says he and other local business owners are struggling — and they’ll need help to make it through the winter. and Union Square neighborhoods. “We were cautiously, sort of optimistic about the proportion of businesses that had reopened,” said Dylan Sandler, a senior planner who was one of five people administering the survey. “What this doesn’t tell us, however, is more information about sort of the health of the businesses that are open. So there’s a lot more about how much revenue businesses are bringing in, and sort of how
they’re faring. That may impact how this number changes over time.”
That’s not how it feels on the ground
The report paints a rosy picture for Kingsbridge — one that surprised John Kambouris, owner of Broadway Pizza and Pasta. His family has owned the West 231st Street restaurant for 20 years, but the pan-
Chase Bank says it’s closing, community fights back n Older neighbors, small businesses say they depend on branch By KIRSTYN BRENDLEN kbrendlen@riverdalepress.com
Write stuff One of the world’s newest writing contests came from the mind of a high school senior. And it’s already a success. Page A5
demic has not been kind. “We’re still struggling,” Kambouris said. “Things really didn’t get that much better. My business depended on my catering orders and all the schools in the area.” In fact, catering accounts for half of Kambouris’ business, serving meals for events, schools and local hospitals. With large events non-existent — and city schools fluctuating whether students can KINGSBRIDGE, page A4
A simple trip to the bank might not seem like much — a quick withdrawl from the ATM or cashing a check is a day-to-dayoccurrence, and many customers do a lot of that without ever seeing a bank teller. But visiting the bank in-person can be a rite of passage for a young person opening their first checking account or dumping their jar of pennies into the coincounter. It is even more important for those without access to online banking, especially people who are older and not so technologically savvy. Customers at the Knolls Crescent Chase Bank received an unpleasant notice last week. The location — not only the only Chase Bank in the neighborhood, but the only bank, period — would
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
What impact can one branch of a national bank have on a neighborhood? Quite a big one, apparently. After Chase Bank customers in Knolls Crescent received notice that location would close later this year, politicians and neighbors have banded together, asking them to stay open. close at the end of the year. The Knolls Crescent Cooperative — described as a naturally occurring retirement community with a large number of residents older than 60 — is just a few min-
utes’ walk from the bank. Some say making that short trek to the branch is an easy way for those who might not be quite comfortable with online banking to do it the way they’ve always done: with
a live human being. “I’m just concerned for them,” said Stephanie Coggins, a local activist who most recently fought against the demolition of nearby Villa Rosa Bonheur. “I mean, everybody makes it sound like it’s so easy (to go online) until there’s a problem and you have to fix it. And then you’re an old lady with failing eyes, with limited understanding of computers, you’re getting robo-messages that are telling you to do this. “People get confused. It’s not so easy if you do it online, or if you do it on the phone. Sometimes people just need to go into the bank.” While Coggins herself isn’t a Chase customer, she says she knows how important easy-toaccess services are. During the height of the pandemic, most of her grocery shopping was done at Ben’s Market, just a few doors down from the bank. The shop had the basic necessities she needed, and was a short walk from her apartment. Public transportation, or a lack of it, provides another obstacle for
senior citizens in need of banking services. While there are other Chase locations just outside the immediate neighborhood, they’re not within easy walking distance, especially given the neighborhood’s myriad hills. Small businesses like Ben’s have become all the more important during the pandemic, and they might also face trouble if the branch closes down — especially if they depend on making nightly cash deposits. “We are in the midst of one of the greatest innovations that I’ve ever seen, because a lot of these businesses are adjusting all these nuances to survive,” said Nick Fazio, chair of Community Board 8’s economic development committee. “This impact would create another curveball, another obstacle for them to overcome. And the timing of this couldn’t be any worse for these businesses.” Some businesses can manage finances online, Fazio said, but many — like dry cleaners, barber shops and nail salons — are cashfocused businesses. And cash, CHASE BANK, page A4
Speed bumps no more than a bump in the road n CB8, NYPD consider new options as drag racing continues in Spuyten Duyvil By ROSE BRENNAN rbrennan@riverdalepress.com
Like how birds’ return to the American northeast each spring spells the end of winter, it wasn’t a stretch to believe the return of speed bumps to Independence Avenue would herald the end of drag racing in the surrounding neighborhood. But apparently that wasn’t the case. The city’s transportation department completed the work after the first major complaints of reckless driving in Spuyten Duyvil — especially on the largely straight,
obstacle-free Independence Avenue. But the drag racers, apparently, remained. And it looks like Community Board 8’s traffic and transportation committee will have to work with city officials and local law enforcement to resolve the issue once and for all. Committee chair Dan Padernacht introduced a few of his ideas during his committee’s meeting last week. Chief among them is a new working group focused specifically on drag racing. Headed by committee vice chair Deb Travis, the subcommittee includes some neighborhood residents living in the problem areas. The new group’s goal is to explore what can physically change on problem streets like Independence and Riverdale avenues to curb drag racing. Padernacht asked for SPEED BUMPS, page A4
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HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
Speed bumps returned to Independence Avenue following Community Board 8’s traffic and transportation committee meeting last month. In spite of their return, drag racing continues to be a problem in the neighborhood.