Winner of Vol. 71, No. 37
What’s inside?
the Pulitzer Prize
Thursday, October 22, 2020
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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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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.
A2 - THE RIVERDALE PRESS - Thursday, October 22, 2020
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HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
Woman stabbed in robbery gone wrong A woman refusing to give up her property to a would-be thief found herself rushed to the hospital. She was walking along the 3200 block of Kingsbridge Avenue in the early morning hours of Oct. 11, police said, when she heard someone walk up behind her, demanding she give him everything she had in her pockets. The woman resisted and the two fought. The thief reportedly pulled a knife and stabbed her twice — once in the lower back and once in the side, toward her ribs, before running away. Luckily, someone called 911, and the woman was rushed to a nearby hospital, police said. There were no cameras on the scene, but police are looking for a man described as white or Hispanic, about 5-foot-7 and 140 pounds, with brown hair tied into a bun.
Making sure rent check gets there
When one woman dropped a check in the mailbox across from 555 Kappock St., she had every reason to think it would get to its intended destination. But it didn’t. At some point after dropping her check in the mailbox Sept. 21, someone pulled and altered it, police said, changing the amount from $49 to a whopping $9,200. Even worse, by the time she checked her account, the check had been cashed into a stranger’s bank account.
Planning a theft
One moment it was there, the next it was gone. Or at least that’s what it seemed like for
one man who went looking for his bike one early morning. His wheels had been in the storage room of his Johnson Avenue home, but when he was ready for a ride Oct. 2, police say it vanished. The scorned cyclist checked his security cameras and saw a man walk around the house with tools in hand at around 2 a.m., use them to open the locked door to the storage room, and take stock of what was inside. He left without taking anything, police said, but returned a few hours later, hauled out a Raleigh men’s bicycle, worth about $600. While the camera captured the entire theft, police say it wasn’t much help in identifying the thief — they could only make out a yellow sweater and multicolored sneakers in the footage.
alternate-side stealing
Have a favorite parking spot? Many do, and with car ownership in this part of the Bronx higher than other neighborhoods in the city — and garage spaces not getting any more plentiful — that spot may very well be on the street. That was the case for one woman used to parking her 2020 Honda CR-V on the 3700 block of Hudson Manor Terrace every night. But in the wee hours of Oct. 2, she returned to her parking spot to find the car gone, with no signs of who had taken it. The woman told police she didn’t know who might have taken the car, and a canvass of the area didn’t turn up any clues. Still, the detective squad continues to investigate.
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THE RIVERDALE PRESS - Thursday, October 22, 2020 - A3
Just passing through, but making sure we never forget n Come Veterans Day, a POW/MIA flag will fly thanks to Irving Liebowitz
‘When people think of war, they think of the infantry men on the front lines. But for every infantry man, there are 17 supporting soldiers that are needed to do other jobs.’
By MICHAEL HINMAN mhinman@riverdalepress.com
I
rving Liebowitz isn’t exactly fond of change. In fact, the few times he’s endured it was only because life gave him little other choice. He’s lived the last 58 years in the Long Island hamlet of Merrick, raising his three children, and creating what he hoped was the perfect home for his wife, Claire. But kids grow up, friends and family grow older, and sometimes life deals the most difficult moments, like Claire’s passing more than a decade ago from breast cancer. Irving has found a way to persevere. Yet, like for many, 2020 has presented its own challenges. First, the 90-year-old Irving found himself taking up temporary residence inside the Hebrew Home of Riverdale’s RiverWalk community while recovering from a broken hip. And then the coronavirus invaded, cutting off residents from their regular routines, and preventing them from spending time with family members and friends. “For three months, we were like prisoners,” Irving said. “We had everything we needed in our apartments, but we couldn’t leave. There were all these precautions beginning in March because no one was quite sure what to do. So the safest thing we could do was stay inside.” But as the world learned how to better battle COVID-19, and the air outside warmed, it became safer for Irving and other residents to at least venture outside. Yet it wasn’t majestic views of the Hudson River or the Palisades that had Irving’s attention. Instead, it was the flagpole where America’s stars and stripes proudly waved high in the sky over the Hebrew Home. Having served his country during the Korean War in the early 1950s, this was a sight he certainly needed after months of being cooped up inside. Only there was something missing. And Irving felt it was his mission to ensure that by the time he returned to Merrick, the Hebrew Home would be flying a POW/MIA flag. “I’m pretty active with the Jewish War Veterans post on Long Island, and I think of veterans — and the respect that all of us Americans have had for veterans,” Irving said. “If someone in a family served, and never came home, there should be something to honor
— Irving Liebowitz
Courtesy of the Hebrew Home at Riverdale
Irving Liebowitz is ready to return to Merrick after recuperating at Hebrew Home at Riverdale. But he isn’t leaving without first raising a POW/MIA flag at the Palisade Avenue campus just in time for Veterans Day. them.” The POW/MIA flag was designed in the early 1970s by the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia. While the idea to create the flag was a result of the Vietnam War, which was raging at the time, it’s a flag that virtually covers all conflicts — including the Korean War, where more than 7,800 American soldiers still remain unaccounted for, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. “We, as Americans, don’t have the patriotic feelings that we used to have years ago,” Irving said. “I was not in the second world war, but I remember what it was like. We loved our country, and that’s just not a feeling that many seem to have anymore. But this flag represents the veterans that didn’t make it back. They should be remem-
bered, and this is a way to remember them.” Irving was raised near the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn, and after graduating from high school in 1948, worked with his father selling floor coverings like linoleum and tile — “but not carpet,” he said. By 1951, he was already engaged to Claire when a letter arrived in the mail. Irving Liebowitz had been drafted into the U.S. Army. “I wasn’t surprised,” he said. “The mail was sent to me, it came, and I went. Uncle Sam is calling you, and you have to answer that call.” Irving was sent to Fort Dix near Trenton, New Jersey, in the middle of summer. “I was never in hell,” he said, “But Fort Dix is probably a very close number two.”
But Irving never got to ship out with his unit. His commanding officer noticed the young soldier had developed a serious rash, and fearing it might be contagious, sent him to the medical unit. By the time he was cleared to return to duty, Irving’s unit had left him behind for Korea, and he was reassigned. Not to Asia, but instead to Europe. “I ended up going overseas to France to serve in a supporting unit for NATO countries,” Irving said. “When people think of war, they think of the infantry men on the front lines. But for every infantry man, there are 17 supporting soldiers that are needed to do other jobs, to make sure that infantry man has everything that he needs.” Irving was responsible for distributing weapons through a quartermaster base, and fortunately didn’t see battle
himself. “I know I should thank God because I don’t think I would have survived at that particular time,” Irving said. “We were sending our troops overseas, and a lot of them never got home.” Every day, he and Claire would exchange letters. And after two years of service, Irving returned home. They stayed in Brooklyn for a few years as they started their family, but eventually relocated to Merrick, hoping to raise their children in the best environment they could. Irving worked a series of jobs to support his family while attending school at night, eventually earning a degree in mechanical engineering. This helped him work at many of the defense manufacturers that dominated Long Island in those days. When those manufacturers left the island, Irving decided to go into business himself, selling Snap-on tools to car repair shops and gas stations. Through all of that, he stayed active in veterans causes, primarily with the Jewish War Veterans post in Merrick. In fact, when Irving needed a POW/ MIA flag for the Hebrew Home, the post was the first call he made. They shipped a flag over right away, and Irving plans to raise it above the Hebrew Home for the first time on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. Then hopefully, not long after, Irving can get home himself. Being at the Hebrew Home has allowed him to be close to one of his daughters, who lives in New Rochelle. His oldest daughter lives in Jerusalem, while his son and his wife retired to Arizona. They have expanded the family with grandchildren, and just two months ago, Irving welcomed his first great-grandson, Cole. “I’m ready to go home,” Irving said. “It’s not that I’m not happy to be here. It’s a beautiful place. But there’s nowhere like home.”
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A4 - THE RIVERDALE PRESS - Thursday, October 22, 2020
Stopping drag racers is going to require Plan B SPEED BUMPS from page A1 the working group to compile a report of these potential solutions, which will likely be presented at next month’s committee meeting. One of the sub-committee’s members, Samantha Charlip, lives along Independence and has been vocal about the issue on social media, In her opinion, the speed bump reinstallation championed by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz last month, did next to nothing to quell racing in her area. “They created almost like an activity area for them,” Charlip said. “It’s really an obstacle course now.” What neighbors are demanding is a larger police presence in the problem areas. Capt. Emilio Melendez, commander of the New York Police Department’s 50th Precinct, says his officers issued five summonses for drag racing along Independence and Riverdale avenues as well as the Henry Hudson Parkway in the past month. They’ve also apprehended one alleged racer. Melendez briefly touched upon a few traffic accidents that occurred in the area, including one on Riverdale Avenue in the early morning hours of Oct 11, where a Mercedes-Benz flipped and crashed into a bus stop in front of P.S. 81. “We can’t say that it was speeding,” Melendez told the committee. “But I can tell you right now, the driver and one of the passengers didn’t stick around to tell us what happened. They left the car there. In the car were four other people that were injured. Not one of them cooperated with us (or) told us what was going on.” Melendez also noted two particular repeat alleged offender vehicles: a Chevrolet Tahoe and a white Toyota.
Here’s how you can help There isn’t much the average person can do about drag racing or other reckless driving in their neighborhood — except report it. At last month’s Community Board 8 traffic and transportation committee meeting, committee chair Dan Padernacht encouraged people to forego calling 311, and instead contact CB8 about drag racing incidents. He also requested any photographs or videos someone may have shot. That’s not the case anymore, however. The 50th Precinct’s Capt. Emilio Melendez encourages flooding 311 with complaint as it could help his officers both better document the incidents and take action. Especially since his department is restricted when it comes to dangerous high-speed chases in dense residential neighborhoods. “I want to stress to everybody this: Use the 311, especially if you see them parking (at) hydrants or blocking driveways,” Melendez said at the October committee meeting. “That gives my officers the nexus to stop them on the spot without having to pursue. And that gives us the opportunity to issue summonses.” — Rose Brennan HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
Although 50th Precinct commander Emilio Melendez couldn’t confirm if it was the result of reckless driving, the wreckage of a car accident that occurred in the wee morning hours of Oct. 11 serves as a grim reminder of what could happen if drag racing in the neighborhood doesn’t stop soon. However, only the owner of the Toyota actually lives in the area, which Melendez noted was a pattern. He said many of the offending cars are advertised on social media outside the neighborhood ¬— and sometimes even New York — as cash rentals with “paper plates,” which makes tracing the drivers and vehicles more difficult. That was the case for the MercedesBenz involved in the Oct. 11 accident, whose plate was traced back to a leasing company in Pennsylvania. “The scam is that the vehicle is rented out to an individual, (and) that vehicle goes back to someone else,” Melendez said. “The paper plate is legit, it goes
back to a … shell corporation that these individuals use, and then they rent out these high-end vehicles for a large profit. And when the vehicle gets crashed or gets towed, well guess what? The company just gets it back. Or reports it stolen.” With the combined influence of the NYPD and the new working group, Padernacht hopes a holistic approach to addressing drag racing will end the scourge once and for all. But one of the people running against him for Andrew Cohen’s city council seat isn’t waiting any longer. Jessica Haller posted an online petition directed at Nivardo Lopez — the Bronx’s transportation department
commissioner — calling for a study of neighborhood streets regularly used for drag racing. As of Tuesday afternoon, the petition had nearly 525 signatories. Haller said she first reached out to Lopez’s office asking if there were any street redesigns in the works for drag racing hotspots in the community. On the call, she learned no redesign requests had been submitted. Although the speed bumps on Independence Avenue were reinstalled, Haller thinks more long-term solutions need to be implemented — and DOT needs to be involved in developing those solutions. “Until we redesign the streets — until we actually turn Independence Avenue into a pedestrian, child, older adult … and bike-friendly lane — it’s going to be a runway,” Haller said. “Writing a letter to the DOT and demanding the reinstallment of speed bumps is not a street redesign.”
Haller’s actions might come from a good place, Padernacht said, but she’s addressing the issue out of order, especially where city-level red tape is concerned. “Any request for structural changes … is normally directed back to the community board for review prior to the DOT taking action,” Padernacht said. “For those familiar with how this agency works, this is done — among other reasons — for stakeholder input prior to the agency taking action.” For now, it seems ending drag racing in the neighborhood will need to be a holistic effort, with combined contributions from the community board and the traffic and transportation committee’s new working group, law enforcement and the city’s transportation department. “We’re being deliberate in this review to consider all needs of the community,” Padernacht said, and to “create a plan that works.”
Biz owners says Kingsbridge recovery debatable KINGSBRIDGE from page A1 actually return to campus — outdoor dining allowed in later economic phases was a step up from takeout and delivery only, but it still wasn’t enough to keep business open. On top of that, their outdoor dining area presented its own challenges. People would stop by with food from other restaurants, Kambouris said, and sit down to eat at his tables. It was a constant struggle to keep the space clear for his own paying customers. “I don’t know how people could say they’ve recovered well when there’s a lot of places that can really barely pay their rent,” Kambouris said. “So, if you call that recovering, at least 40 percent of the businesses that I know around here are literally shut for good.” While city planning found Kingsbridge was mostly stable as far as keeping business open, a study by the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development was less optimistic. According to its report, Kingsbridge had only received 430 small business loans in 2017, compared to a citywide average of 1,623 loans per business corridor that year. In a borough where nearly 60 percent of households pay more than a third of their income on rent, businesses aren’t exempt from struggles with landlords. The association’s survey found 89 percent of business owners felt “overburdened” by their rent. A lot of normalcy has returned in Kingsbridge, but with some coronavirus cases rising across the country — and in closer hotspots like Brooklyn and Queens — Kambouris has yet another fear: dropping temperatures. He could buy heaters for the outside area, he said, but it might not be worth it. And the 25 percent indoor capacity currently allowed only gives him a chance to fill a few tables — not enough to turn a profit. “They want us to be working on 25
What’s open Based on survey conducted by the city planning and Live XYZ. Businesses were considered inactive if they were noted as closed, vacant, or unknown.
Kingsbridge
83%
Jackson Heights
74%
Hamilton Heights
73%
Astoria Morris Park Cobble Hill HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
A report from the city’s planning department has found good things for Kingsbridge’s small businesses, which have stayed resilient through the coronavirus pandemic. John Kambouris, owner of Broadway Pizza and Pasta, says while his business has stayed open, it hasn’t been easy — and hard days are still ahead. percent capacity, maybe they should do our sales taxes 25 percent, our real estate taxes 25 percent,” Kambouris said. “Because if you’re not having revenue, how are you expecting us to pay for it?”
Depending on community rather than commuters
City planning’s survey literally sent nearly 40 people out on the street canvassing businesses, pulling in help
from borough offices, the city’s urban design division, and transportation. Jackson Height’s Roosevelt Avenue in Queens was 74 percent active with 338 business open, and 82 either closed or vacant, while Manhattan’s Hamilton Heights along Broadway was 73 percent active — 209 open businesses, with 58 closed or vacant. Those numbers don’t include a handful of businesses surveyors were unsure how to classify. These corridors have something in
common, Sandler said: they don’t depend on commuters to survive. “They’re not commuter hubs, and they’re not relying on a lot of office workers who just aren’t coming in at the moment,” he said. “We saw this trend a lot. Midtown and Lower Manhattan seemed to have fewer businesses that were open in July, then a place like Kingsbridge, that really is serving a residential population in the vicinity.” That might look like good news from a macro perspective. But much
Fulton Mall
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closer to home, that optimism isn’t shared. Not even at Broadway Pizza, which is literally just steps from the 1 train’s West 231st Street stop. “I’ve been here a little over 25 years, and we’ve never seen this,” Kambouris said. “This is just depressing. You come to work to barely make ends meet, and then put yourself in the hole. How much of a hole can you put yourself into before you say, you know, enough’s enough?”
Can a community stop a bank from moving out? CHASE BANK from page A1 especially in large amounts, can’t be handled online. “They don’t have that option,” he said. Fazio, together with Eric Dinowitz — a city council candidate and chair of CB8’s aging committee — penned a letter to the corporate heads of JPMorgan Chase detailing the impact closing the branch could have on the community. Chase spokeswoman Carolyn Evert told The Riverdale Press that branches can be closed if there is another branch nearby or foot traffic is low, especially as online banking becomes more popular. She would not say if these were factors considered in the decision to close the Knolls Crescent branch. Seniors and small businesses may be the largest focus of attention in a bank closing, but a lack of access to banks also can cause a drop in financial literacy among young people in the neighborhood, said Poonam Arora, a professor of management and marketing at Manhattan College. “The difference between a child raised in a home where they have access to banks, and their first account is opened when they’re 13 or whatever age when they’re teenagers, they start at a young age thinking about money,
Digging into the numbers
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
Closing one branch of a national bank chain may not seem like such a big deal, but it could take away an important resource. and managing it, and understanding it,” she said. “Versus when you have children raised in social structures where there isn’t that conversation about finances, or financial understanding. And this is for the very, very, very affluent and the very, very, very lacking.” Days after customers learned of the impending closure, elected officials hosted a rally outside the bank, calling for Chase to reverse its plans and keep the branch open. Like his son, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said he sent a letter to Chase officials, asking them to reconsider their decision. Another city council candidate, Abigail Martin, said she reached out to
Demetris Giannoulias, chief executive of Bronx-based Spring Bank, asking if he would consider opening a branch in Chase’s place. Giannoulias, she said, agreed to explore the possibility. A small business owner himself, Fazio said Spring Bank — with locations in the South Bronx and Harlem — has done well working with small businesses in those neighborhoods. “If Chase decides to leave, eventually, which we hope that they don’t, then we have to pursue Spring Bank, and Bank of America, and any organization that would be able to provide services for our residents there,” Fazio said. “Because we need a financial institution in that neighborhood. Period.”
If there is indeed genuine outcry over the potential closing of the Chase Bank branch on Knolls Crescent, politics might soon take it over — if it hasn’t already. City council candidate Eric Dinowitz introduced a resolution last week during a meeting of the Community Board 8 aging committee he chairs demanding Chase keep its branch open. He cited the need for a physical bricks and mortar location for the remaining surrounding businesses in that part of Spuyten Duyvil, but even more importantly for older residents living nearby. Challenging some aspects of the resolution, however, was another aging committee member — and another city council candidate — Dan Padernacht, questioning some of the facts and figures Dinowitz included in the resolution, and what impact such a resolution would even have in saving the branch. “I don’t mind making a statement to Chase Bank saying that we would like to see you stay,” Padernacht said, “but it’s another thing to have anecdotes (in a resolution) that we don’t have stats for.” In the resolution, Dinowitz wrote that Chase Bank had garnered $33.8 billion in revenue and $4.7 billion in profit during
a single quarter. But those were numbers reported by the bank’s parent company, JPMorgan Chase. “They would not tell the council member (Andrew Cohen) why they are closing, simply that the lease is up,” Dinowitz said. “I believe they have a role in the community, and a responsibility to adhere to. The information we do have is that what (Chase) is doing is going to hurt older adults, and that’s the statement we should say.” Revenue and profit numbers prove Chase is not losing money at the location, Dinowitz said. However, according to reports filed with the SEC, JPMorgan Chase lost $176 million in the most recent quarter from community and consumer banking — compared to a $4.2 billion profit the year before. The company’s commercial banking unit lost $691 million, compared to the $1 billion profit reported in the spring of 2019. Both represent a negative financial swing of more than $6 billion — nearly 18 percent of JPMorgan Chase’s total revenue, and far more than the company’s overall profit. — Michael Hinman
THE RIVERDALE PRESS - Thursday, October 22, 2020 - A5
Riverdale Country School senior shares power of words n Teenagers around the world are writing the pain of the coronavirus away By ROSE BRENNAN rbrennan@riverdalepress.com
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
In the first year of the Scribe Writing Contest that Vishnu Bharathram created, more than 900 students representing 17 countries submitted either a short story or poem for consideration. hours to finish their entry. This limited time window was inspired by an exercise Bharathram undertook several times at a young writers workshop run by The Kenyon Review, the literary magazine of Ohio’s Kenyon College. He would have between five and 15 minutes to read a prompt and respond to it with a poem or a short story. And although Scribe Writing Contest participants had a bit longer to write their entries, the methodology is the same, and it’s one Bharathram personally describes as “liberating.” “I thought it was very provoking and productive: Being able to just speak freely and write freely without worrying necessarily about editing
every sentence or every word to perfection,” he said. “My hope was to just sort of recreate some of that magic that I experienced at Kenyon.” The response to the Scribe Writing Contest’s maiden voyage was quite unexpected. More than 900 submissions filtered in, representing 17 countries across six continents. Each category had three winners each. In the poetry category, Isabelle Lu of Rockville Centre took home the top prize. In the fiction category, Frances McKittrick of Brooklyn won first place. A distraction from the pandemic and an opportunity to flex some writing muscles might be reason enough
to enter the Scribe Writing Contest. But it also received some help from six non-profit publishing companies, which sponsored cash prizes for the winners. But while Bharathram might be a seasoned writer himself, he wasn’t the one who selected the winners. Instead, he reached out to English professors across the country to judge the entries — something he did as a leap of faith with an unexpected payoff. “I was just a random high schooler with some random idea reaching out to some very eminent and important people,” Bharathram said. “They didn’t have any reason necessarily to do this. I’m sure they all had much better things to do with their time. But I
SCHOOL DESK ‘No child left behind’? Think again That’s the findings recently announced by city council Speaker Corey Johnson and his education chair, Councilman Mark Treyger, after a study of remote class attendance since the start of the academic year. The data was the result of a subpoena the council filed against the city’s education department. And, according to a release, many racial inequities reported in 2019 have continued into the pandemic.
Schools where at least half the student bodies identify as Black or Hispanic/Latino were nearly eight times more likely to report low attendance rates compared to those with lower Black or Hispanic/Latino student populations. Also, schools where at least a quarter of students identified as Black were four times as likely to report low attendance rates than schools with a smaller Black student population. Finally, schools where at least a quarter of the student body identified as white showed higher rates of student
By ROSE BRENNAN emails and participation in remote check-ins. But this is just the tip of the iceberg, Johnson said. “The school system’s policy is to say a student attended even if all they did was send a text or email,” Johnson said, in a release. “The de Blasio administration needs to provide us with more clarity and understanding of remote learning during COVID-19 so we can properly address the disparities and provide the support New York City’s students need.” Treyger was concerned the city’s most at-risk and under-
resourced communities weren’t getting the support they needed. As a result, he asked for the attendance data for some 1,200 schools in order to get an idea of what type of help was needed — and where. “I asked for school-by-school attendance data because, as a former teacher, I understand how attendance is a major indicator of student progress and school climate,” Treyger said, in a release. “We need this information to know how to target and fight for additional support for kids who need it the most.”
New learning center opens on Mosholu Hybrid and remote learning present myriad challenges for parents, not the least of which is child care for younger students. A new center in the area looks to help. The Brilliant Minds Learning Center recently opened its doors at 5625 Mosholu Ave. Its owner, Caterina DiTillio, says her center is equipped to guide students through remote learning and provide other activities for them when the school day is over. DiTillio earned her educa-
tion doctorate from Fordham University. The center’s opening comes at a tumultuous time for academic support across the country. With the city’s shift to hybrid and remote learning for its students, tutoring and supplemental help might be needed now more than ever as students adjust to their new normal — or at least normal for now. At Brilliant Minds, parents have a choice of full-day services, extended days to 5:30 p.m., after school and tutoring. To learn more, visit BrilliantMindsLC.org.
Hours: Mon-Sat 8 to 8, Sun 8 to 5
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Five minutes. No more, no less. Read the prompt, then write down anything and everything that comes to mind. Don’t worry about grammar, punctuation or crafting a complex plot arc. Just write. This is a writing exercise Riverdale Country School senior Vishnu Bharathram knows well. And it’s an exercise which inspired the methodology behind his “what I did during the COVID-19 pandemic” project: A writing contest for teenagers around the world stuck at home during a public health crisis. Back in March, Bharathram already was having thoughts of organizing such a contest. And the coronavirus pandemic all but pushed those thoughts into action, as he thought students across the world needed their minds to be on something other than their new reality of stay-at-home orders and social isolation. “It was a moment where that power, that creative writing represents that power to imagine something new and to imagine something different, and to really engage with all the possibilities of that power,” Bharathram said. “That power — I thought — would be extraordinarily useful in a moment like this.” Thus, the Scribe Writing Contest was born. Participants could choose to submit either a short story or a poem for the contest, but there was a catch: Once they began, they only had two
think their generosity (and) their commitment to fostering creative talent … was enough motivation for them.” Ultimately, seven English professors — two of them from Kenyon College, whose program inspired the contest — signed on to judge the entries. While the first Scribe Writing Contest might be over, Bharathram is just getting started. Soon after the contest ended, he founded The Scribe Review, a non-profit journal composed entirely of essays written by high school students. Its first issue was published online last August. In addition to creative writing, Bharathram also is passionate about analyzing literature. And while it’s difficult to get a creative writing piece published, it’s even more so for literary analysis — especially when academic journals mainly cater to college students and professors. “I thought that was a tremendous wasted opportunity,” Bharathram said. “I thought that if people had the faith to publish their writing in English, they might feel compelled (or) motivated to engage more deeply with that subject, to think more critically about literature and how to analyze it, because they might have the possibility to share that work with others.” Bharathram hopes to continue the Scribe Writing Contest next May. Ultimately, he believes there’s a power in creative writing, and that power isn’t restricted to being useful as a distraction during a public health crisis. “The skills and capacities of writing and the humanities build — the capacity to think critically, to imagine new things into being — I think those are extraordinarily useful things,” Bharathram said. “The more spaces we have for students to do that, I say the better.”
A6 - THE RIVERDALE PRESS - Thursday, October 22, 2020
Even insurance doesn’t make health care accessible n Doctors warn too many people aren’t getting the medical attention they need
‘Some of the statistics that are really interesting and heartbreaking in the city is how many people died at home. The rate is much higher than it would have been. We can’t say those were COVID or not related deaths, but we know that many more people died at home than usual.’
By KIRSTYN BRENDLEN kbrendlen@riverdalepress.com
In an ideal world, an individual probably has a handful of doctors. One for her eyes, her teeth. A gynecologist. And maybe a specialist or two depending on disabilities or chronic illnesses. But connected to all those doctors is a primary care physician, the first point of contact for any sickness or illness. Someone who can prescribe medicines, therapies, and more doctor visits, if they’re necessary. In the real world, that’s not quite the case. Especially without health insurance, or with restrictive insurance. Adding just one primary care doctor to a community of 10,000 people reduces death rates by more than 5 percent, according to Dr. Sarah Nosal, the chief medical information officer at the Institute for Family Health. “We do know that when individuals and states and regions utilize regular primary care providers, there are less hospitalizations, less ER utilization, (and) cost of care goes down,” she said. There are several reasons for that. Particularly in communities of color, people are at the mercy of “social determinants of health,” Nosal said, like access to resources, healthy food, financial security and even air quality. That often increases the rates of chronic illnesses,
— Dr. Sarah Nosal
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
Martha Ketro Fisher is grateful for her health insurance, but she worries about unexpected costs — like the $1,400 bill she and her husband had to pay after their son, Sam, visited the emergency room to treat what they thought was appendicitis. which without treatment, can degrade an individual’s overall health over time. Nosal, who works at the Urban Horizons Family Health Center on East 168th Street, sees patients who have gone years without a regular physician visit. Some are diagnosed with advanced cancers that may have been caught earlier with regular screenings. Some, without an established relationship with a doctor, went years without vaccines for measles, even as the disease swept through the city in the time before the coronavirus pandemic. The Institute for Family Health provides medical care for people with or without insurance and those who may not be able to pay for medical care
with other providers. “All of us see people who are uninsured,” said Maxine Golub, a senior vice president at the institute. “It does require us to put people on a sliding fee scale and send them a bill, but … we don’t send people to collections. We continue to see you even if you haven’t paid your bill in forever.” But while insurance is always helpful, it isn’t everything. Martha Ketro Fisher found that out the hard way one night when her teen son needed a doctor. He had been feeling sick all day, she said, and then felt severe pain in his stomach. Sam Fisher is usually pretty stoic, according to his mother, so seeing him in pain was par-
PRESS POINTS
ticularly scary. Martha thought he might have appendicitis, meaning he needed to go to the hospital immediately. But before they could set off, she had to figure out what would be covered by their family insurance plan. “Weirdly enough, I was afraid of going and having it not be appendicitis,” she said. “So then us being charged for the whole ER visit. Because, again, it feels like roulette, like you’re not sure of the rules ever — will you be approved or will you not.” Martha called the hospital’s after-hours line, and a nurse confirmed they’d have to come in to diagnose appendicitis. Her insurance card had a number to call for coverage concerns, but
By MIChael hInMan
Moller Mansion is heading for demolition As one of the oldest remaining homes in Kingsbridge, many consider the Moller Mansion on Godwin Terrace as historic. But now it’s about to become history. Galaxy General Contracting, the nearby Albany Crescent developer that bought the home from the Archdiocese of New York for $1.5 million in August, has filed the necessary permits with the city’s buildings department to turn the 1870-built home into rubble. Actual demolition likely won’t begin until early next year, since the permitting process for such work can take up to six months, according to a Galaxy spokesman. Some work already is underway to disconnect it from water and gas, but the rest will have to wait until its cleared by city officials. The mansion — which faces P.S. 207 and served as a residential building for Catholic priests for decades — was built by sugar magnate George Moller nearly 150 years ago. At the time, the area was still part of Yonkers, and the house was later moved several hundred feet to make room for a neighboring church expansion. Nick Dembowski, president of the Kingsbridge Historical Society, told The Riverdale Press last month he would be sad to see the home get demolished, but knew of no path that could be used to save it. Instead, he had hoped the new owners — known for their apartment structures, and for building St. Peter the Apostle Greek Orthodox Church on Kingsbridge Avenue — would allow some of his members to tour the inside of the house, and document anything of value before the home was destroyed. Dembowski reached out to the developer at the end of September, of-
no one answered — it was an endless cycle of being redirected with no human conversation. “At this point my son was literally writhing in pain, and saying, ‘Can’t we go, can’t we go?” Martha said. “And I’m like, ‘Sam, we’re going to go as soon as we can. We’re going to go, we just have to make sure it’s covered.’ And I was so upset, as a mom, how much he was in pain and I was still trying to make sure this wasn’t going to bankrupt us.” Eventually, they piled into the car and drove from their Riverdale home to Mount Sinai West, the same hospital where Sam was born. After a series of tests, they were sent home with a $3,000 bill. Insurance paid for half of it, but the Fishers were still left with $1,400 — more than their monthly premium. “What the hospital was willing to do, and I’m glad they were, was we could pay it off $100 a month,” she said. “So, the hospital did let us do that.” People without insurance sometimes wait until their situation is dire to seek help — going to the emergency room or urgent care only once they’re very sick because they can’t afford care. But even with insurance, the threat of costly
The Mount names Burns new president STAFF REPORT
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN / File
The historic Moller Mansion, located at 3029 Godwin Terrace, is officially coming down after its new owner, Galaxy General Contracting, filed full demolition permits with the city’s buildings department last week. fering an honorary membership into the historical society in exchange for a chance to document the house, but said he never heard back. “I understand that developers are going to develop property,” Dembowski said. “What I don’t understand is why not let interested folks document history before it’s lost?” The house just isn’t in great shape, and is not very safe at the moment for anyone to visit inside, the Galaxy spokesman said. The house has been in disrepair for a number of years, and outside of some moulding in a few rooms, there didn’t appear to be anything of historical significance. One of the key features of the house — a set of stained glass windows on one side — were removed by the church before closing the sale, with plans to preserve them. The land is zoned for higher-density residential, similar to the other apartment buildings that surround it. Galaxy says it plans to build an apartment building on the site. “I would be very sad to see it go,” Dembowski said last month. “It was a gem when it was built, and it is even rarer now.”
Late-night A train getting detoured There hasn’t been a lot of subway disruption since the entire system started shutting down overnight for deep cleaning and disinfecting last May. But that extra time isn’t enough to detour some late-night A and C trains in coming weeks. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says it will re-route A, C and E trains on weeknights beginning Monday, Nov. 2, for the next three weeks — with the exception of Nov. 16. Beginning at 9:30 each evening, A trains will run local between 207th Street and Queens, moving to the D line between 59th Street and 34th Street-Herald Square, and the F line from there to Jay Street-MetroTech in Brooklyn. Because of that, C trains will end at 9:30, while D trains rill run local in both directions between 59th and 125th streets. Manhattan alternatives include using 1, 2 and 3 trains along Seventh Avenue; D and F stations on Sixth Avenue; or N, Q and R trains along Broadway.
medical bills can keep people at home, something that was particularly apparent to Nosal during the worst of the pandemic. “Some of the statistics that are really interesting and heartbreaking in the city is how many people died at home,” the doctor said. “The rate is much higher than it would have been. We can’t say those were COVID or not related deaths, but we know that many more people died at home than usual.” Doctors at the institute regularly checked in with their COVID-19 patients via telemedicine, checking in on their symptoms and letting them know when they needed to come for in-person medical care. The Fisher family all have what are typically considered pre-existing medical conditions, and before the Affordable Care Act, wouldn’t have been able to purchase the private insurance that covers them now. Martha said she wishes New York would pass its own universal health care bill to cover her family and people like them no matter what happens to the federal bill. “That said, I’m glad that we can even have insurance,” Martha said. “Which is a pathetic thing to be grateful for.”
There is new leadership at the College of Mount Saint Vincent as Susan Burns is set to become the school’s sixth president at the beginning of the year. Burns, currently vice president for academic affairs and the faculty dean at Clarke University in Iowa, will succeed Charles Flynn Jr., who announced his retirement last year. “I am delighted to join a commuSUSAN nity committed to bURNS providing transformational student-center learning opportunities in and beyond the classroom,” Burns said, in a release. She joined Clarke at its Dubuque campus in 2014 as chief academic officer, reorganizing the Catholic university’s 19 academic departments and expanding its portfolio of undergraduate and graduate offerings, according to the school. She also helped restructure the university’s budget, reclaiming nearly $250,000 that could be reinvested in other academic programs. Burns became interim president of Clarke in 2019, leading the school through a presidential transition that led to the appointment of Thom Chesney later that year. Clarke boasts an enrollment of 1,200 students, and its computer
science department was developed by Mary Kenneth Keller, the first woman in the United States to earn a doctorate in computer science. The Mount’s board of directors chair Steven Hayes said it was Burns’ dexterity as a leader that got his attention. “At this key moment in the college’s history, Dr. Burns embodies a deep-seated commitment to the liberal arts and its inherent promise to provide access to an authentic, high-quality education to talented students of every background,” Hayes said, in a release. Burns received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in experimental psychology from Emporia State University in Kansas, and her Ph.D., in social/personality psychology with an emphasis on child development from Kansas State University. Before moving to Clarke, Burns was associate dean for academic affairs at Morningside College, a Methodist school near Sioux City, Iowa. Flynn will depart after spending 20 years as The Mount’s president, calling the North Riverdale school “an impressive place.” “Our academic programs compare favorably with every other institution I know,” Flynn said, in a release. “Our faculty and staff are exceptional, accomplished, hardworking and dedicated. Our students are over-the-top fantastic. They give life to the American dream.”
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THE RIVERDALE PRESS - Thursday, October 22, 2020 - A7
Mino Lora ready to take on broken systems — old and new n The nonprofit director enters crowded field to replace Andrew Cohen By KIRSTYN BRENDLEN kbrendlen@riverdalepress.com
Ask almost anyone who has decided to make the jump to politics these last few months, and one might notice a common theme. As the coronavirus pandemic swept the city, shuttering businesses, sending the unemployment rate skyrocketing, and forcing hospitals to set up tents in their parking lots or leave stretchers in hallways, the inequalities that seem to have always existed simply got worse. Neighborhoods with already limited access to public transportation became more remote. People struggling to pay rent were without a lifeline. And parents already shelling out for child care found themselves home with their children, trying to work and take care of remote schooling. Broken systems just got more broken, and some — like Mino Lora — just want to fix them. And she hopes to do that as the community’s next representative on the city council. “I myself have been living here for 20 years now,” Lora said. “And slowly since then, I have continued to build my home and kind of create these spaces for myself and others like me.” Lora grew up in Santo Domingo, the capital city of the Dominican Republic, and found herself in New York thanks to a college scholarship at Manhattan-
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
The founder of Manhattan nonprofit the People’s Theatre Project, Mino Lora is ready to take her skills from building the organization and educating students — young and old — to local government. ville College in Purchase. She would continue to commute into the city, however. And in 2009, she founded the People’s Theatre Project in what was then her Upper Manhattan neighborhood. It was a place for recent immigrants to the city to find themselves in a safe place, centered on their own stories and experiences. “The power of stories has been very important in my life,” Lora said. “The importance of representation in leadership — whether it’s on the stage, or in a nonprofit space, or in the classroom. And now, in an elected office.” At Manhattanville, Lora looked for
her own niche, connecting mostly with international students as she started out. But as she went on, Lora started forming connections with employees — maintenance and cafeteria workers who had been engineers or teachers before they came to the United States, but had taken lower-paying jobs at the college because it’s all they could get. Lora had attended a bilingual school in the Dominican Republic and spoke fluent Spanish and English — so, naturally, she worked with her fellow students to build a program to teach the school’s Spanish-speaking employees English.
vacancy tax on landlords keeping spaces empty, is a start, she said. So is passing universal child care and elder care. And, as an educator, addressing the issues schools were having even before the pandemic is critical. “Our schools are overcrowded and they’re underfunded, and these are fixable things,” Lora said. “This is not an impossible task to tackle. The (city council) budget is a statement of values. Realigning of divesting from the NYPD, investing in arts, in education, in social services, is key. The money is there. Acting out of fear is not something I will do.” So far in the district, Lora said, immigrants — which account for 30 percent of its population — haven’t been much attended to. “We create so much of the economy of our city,” she said. “I do think that immigrant justice is not being uplifted as much as it should be in District 11. It’s just not great.” Lora joins a race that already includes educator and Assemblyman son Eric Dinowitz, environmentalist Jessica Haller, college professor Abigail Martin, real estate attorney Dan Padernacht, and RAIN program coordinator Marcos Sierra. Lora would like to see city government take a stronger stance — New York is a sanctuary city, she said, but needs to walk the walk and speak out against mistreatment of immigrants across the country. “It’s extremely important to me that we humanize all of us who are human, and amplify and uplift the experiences of our immigrant community.”
“I realized there the power of bringing different kinds of people together,” Lora said. “And maybe the place where I belonged was kind of in the intersection of home, and new home. Of bringing different people who probably wouldn’t have been in the same room, building friendships.” Lora moved to the Bronx six years ago, but had been already working in the Bronx for years prior, riding the Bx12 from Manhattan to teach theatre in schools, and working with English language learners. “And then, you know,” she said, “I moved here six years ago and have continued every day to just build relationships here in the community, getting to know my neighborhood Spuyten Duyvil, getting to experience what it is to be a resident, a parent, an educator.” When the pandemic took hold, Lora organized fundraising and direct aid for families in need, all while moving People’s Theatre Project activities online. After a while, Lora realized she had always been looking for where she was needed for help — and with the entire city struggling, elected office seemed like the next place her skills were needed. “I think the conversation has to start with, ‘We are still in the middle of a pandemic, we are not done,’” Lora said. “So I think the first thing for me is the support. How do we alleviate the burden we are feeling right now in the district and in the city?” Canceling rent and expanding rent relief to small business owners and landlords, as well as implementing a
POLITICAL ARENA
By Michael hinMan
Encouragement from a new pen pal Miriam Levine Helbok wrote her first letter convincing a total stranger to get out and vote on Sept. 21, 2019. A year later, she’s followed that up with nearly 5,000 more. Levine Helbok sent out more than 2,700 of the letters last week encouraging voters from all over the country to visit their polling place Nov. 3, part of a project from the political grassroots group Vote Forward. “I take pleasure in writing as neatly as I can, so that the recipient of each Vote Forward letter can see — assuming he or she notices — that I have taken pains, especially when I write his or her name in the salutation,” Levine Helbok recently told The Riverdale Press in yet another letter. “After the printed ‘sincerely,’ I write, ‘With best wishes and hope for our future,’ and I sign my name with a flourish.” At the bottom of each letter, Levine Helbok shares words
Courtesy of Miriam Levine Helbok
Miriam Levine Helbok, right, joins Kathy Solomon to show the 2,705 letters she wrote to voters in a half-dozen states that were mailed last week, urging them to vote Nov. 3. Solomon introduced Helbok to this particular get-out-the-vote project, launched last year by political group Vote Forward. from author and environmentalist Edward Abbey, saying that
“the best cure for the ills of democracy is more democracy.”
On the flap of each envelope, Levine Helbok adds “We the people of the United States,” to remind those receiving these letters the opening words of the U.S. Constitution. Levine Helbok took on the task thanks to Kathryn Solomon, a physician who is part of another political group, Swing Left. She printed out the initial form letters, which included space for individual authors like Levine Helbok to handwrite why voting was so important to them. “The reason, I explain, is that ‘in nearly every (election), if all the people who did not vote had actually voted, the results might have been very different,’” Levine Helbok said. “’That is why every person’s vote truly counts. Your vote represents your voice, which deserves to be heard.’ “I get pleasure in knowing that none of these strangers have the faintest idea about who I am. Who among them would imagine a 76-year-old white-haired woman sitting, often buck naked, in a high-rise
ter future for everyone, everywhere.”
in the northwest Bronx, with a view from her window all the way to the two bridges that connect my borough with the borough of Queens? They can’t know that my little cat, Annie, sometimes sits on the loveseat net to me, or on my chair nestled against my back, hoping for a massage of her belly, or a scratch on her back near her tail.” She wrote the letters, sometimes accompanied by the voices of newscasters like Judy Woodruff, Amy Goodman and Jake Tapper, or historians like Ron Chernow or Doris Kearns. Levine Helbok also will listen to music, many times Antonín Dvorák’s Symphony No. 9, usually played by the Gimnazija Kranj Symphony Orchestra of Slovenia during a Christmas 2018 performance. “The audience’s standing ovation when it ended, which continued for many minutes, somehow echoes my fierce hope that voters will cast their ballots in the 2020 presidential election in record numbers,” she said, “and usher in a bet-
Eating outside will continue for a while If restaurants can find a way to keep diners warm as winter comes, they’ll be allowed to continue outdoor dining — at least through next September. The city council recently passed Intro 2127-A — a bill that awaits Mayor Bill de Blasio’s signature — that would keep outdoor dining in place the way it is until a more permanent program can be implemented. If passed, restaurants also would be allowed to use portable propane heaters to keep everyone warm, as long as they follow fire department regulations. “New York City’s outdoor dining program has been a remarkable success,” said Councilman Antonio Reynoso from Brooklyn’s Williamsburg area, in a release. “This is a huge win for the restaurant industry and its workers, diners, and the morale of residents.”
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A8 - THE RIVERDALE PRESS - Thursday, October 22, 2020
WHAT’S IN / WHAT’S ON The annual Veterans Day service at Van Cortlandt Park’s Memorial Grove takes place Sunday, Nov. 8 at noon at the grove’s entrance, located on Broadway and West 246th Street. All attendees are required to wear a mask, and maintain social distancing. This is the 14th year Herb Barret has hosted Veterans Day service at the grove, which was established in 1949 to honor veterans from World War I and World War II. It later added the Korean War, and later the Vietnam War. There are now more than 30 plaques honoring war veterans as well as Gold Star mothers.
Fall workshops begin on ‘braided essays’
Free online fall workshops through the Bronx Council on the Arts begin Thursday, Oct. 22, with a four-part memoir writing series, “Writing the Braided Essay,” beginning at 5 p.m. Led by Amy Gottlieb, the braided essay invites writers to break open the traditional essay form and weave together several narrative strands to explore lyrical possibilities. For more information, visit BronxArts.org.
Mausoleums light up at Woodlawn
Woodlawn Cemetery, 4199 Webster Ave., is set to light the weekend skies between Friday, Oct. 23 and Sunday, Oct. 25 with its annual illuminated mausoleums walking night tours. The Woodlawn Conservancy Trolley will take visitors to the midpoint of the cemetery, and have them walk back by flashlight — your own flashlight. It likely goes without saying that those participating should dress for outdoor weather, and be wearing appropriate walking shoes. Because of the coronavirus, the trolley has been retrofitted with tempered glass shields between each row. Participants are still asked to wear a mask, and maintain social distance. Costs range from $20 to $25 depending on membership.
To reserve a space, visit WoodlawnTours.org.
Toastmasters set to meet
The Bronx Toastmasters Club of Riverdale will meet Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m., via the Zoom online videoconferencing app. RSVP to bronxtoastmastersclub@gmail.com. For more information, visit BronxToastmastersClub.org.
Create that multimedia portrait
The Lehman Art Gallery offers a free online class on creating a multimedia portrait Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 3:30 p.m. Those participating will need their own recycled mail, magazines or newspaper, as well as a pencil. Also helpful would be glue, crayons, markers, colored pencils and glitter. To register in advance, visit tinyurl.com/LehmanGlitter.
Neighborhood House comes to your door
The Riverdale Neighborhood House is now providing remote programs and classes to keep what has become a quarantined community engaged and prepared. Classes include: • An after-school program for families with children 10 and younger • Remote support for families transitioning to online courses and activities The neighborhood house also is offering academic support to high school students with an emphasis on math (like algebra and geometry). This includes 1-on-1 tutoring with Manhattan College students and test prep support. This service is available Tuesday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m., virtually. For more information on tutoring, call (718) 549-8100, Ext. 159, or email oacevado@riverdaleonline.org. For more information on other programs, visit RiverdaleOnline.org.
NYC parks reveal new opportunities
The Urban Park Rangers
have joined with various New York City parks to provide a series of virtual tours, meditation, fitness and art classes, and children’s activities. Classes and activities include: • Mondays: Motivational fitness • Tuesdays: Live tour with the rangers • Wednesdays: Live walks in a park • Thursdays: Public arts and culture programs • Fridays: Meditation For more information, visit NYC.gov/parks.
CB8 gets together throughout October
Community Board 8 continues to meet via the Zoom online videoconferencing app. For links or how to access those meetings, visit NYC.org/CB8. Upcoming meetings include: • The economic development committee meets Thursday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. • The housing committee meets Monday, Oct. 26 at 7:30 p.m. • The education, libraries and cultural affairs committee meets Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m. • The parks and recreation committee meets Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m.
Museum celebrates Hispanic Heritage
The Hispanic Museum & Library, 613 W. 155th St., Washington Heights, continues its celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of Hispanic Americans whose ancestors come from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. • The outdoor exhibition “Treasures on the Terrace: Highlights from the Hispanic Society Museum & Library” continues through Dec. 6 on the Audubon Terrace. For more details on how to participate, visit HispanicSociety.org.
Corp., continues its “Open Street” festivities on Johnson Avenue through October. Upcoming events include Oct. 25 and Oct. 31, from noon to 8 p.m., with attractions from 2 to 6 p.m. The “Open Street” festival takes place on Johnson between West 235th and West 236th streets. For more information, visit KRVCDC.org.
Designers provide weeks of lectures
The Lehman College Art Gallery has joined forces with
the school’s art department to launch a visiting lecture series online featuring some of the design industry’s more significant and diverse voices. The seven-part program — known as the Sara Little Turnbull Visiting Designer Speaker Series — runs through Nov. 17, with each hour-long discussion highlighting how a designer entered a daunting field to ultimately shape the contours of society. It’s funded through a $50,000 gift from Turnbull’s estate in an effort to support historically under-represented youth. Upcoming presentations:
• ClayVon Lowe, co-chair of the International Design Society of America, talks about race and ethnicity in contemporary design on Tuesday, Oct. 27. • Kayla Coleman, deputy director of the Percent for Art Program with the city’s cultural affairs department, will talk about the public voice in public design Thursday, Nov. 5. • Sara Jensen Carr, assistant professor of architecture, urbanism and landscape at Northeastern University, will talk about designing for disaster on Tuesday, Nov. 10. To register, visit tinyurl. com/TurnbullSeries.
JOIN THE RIVERDALE PRESS TEAM Are you bright, ambitious and prepared to put your marketing skills to good use? If so, Riverdale needs you. The Riverdale Press, the community medium of the northwest Bronx, is looking for inside and outside account executives to help local businesses — from mom ’n’ pop stores to national chains — shape their marketing and advertising plans, in print and online. The Pulitzer-prize winning Riverdale Press is the jewel in the crown of one of America’s most respected media companies — Richner Communications, Inc. Outside executives must have a car and a valid driver’s license.
E-mail resumé & cover letter to: Advertising@RiverdalePress.com No phone calls or walk-ins, please.
Open Streets continues on Johnson
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Christopher L. Esposito, esq. Accidents, Bankruptcy, Divorce, Foreclosure, Immigration, Criminal, Real Estate, Family Court & Medical Malpractice. Se Habla Español 269 West 231st Street, Bronx, NY 10463 Tel: 718.796.6454 Fax: 718.796.4412 3-14 29th Street, Fair Lawn, NJ 07410 Tel: 201.797.0100 Espositolaw@verizon.net
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THE RIVERDALE PRESS - Thursday, October 22, 2020 - A9
A little on the run
hiram aleJanDrO DUrÁn
a jogger goes left at the foot of Seton Park on West 232nd Street.
OBITUARIES
Michael Regan, doorman to the stars who never forgot Ireland, 94
At times, one would hear him casually regale his family with his stories of his brushes with celebrities throughout his long career. His intense curiosity and love of music was a constant in his life. One could always find him either sitting in We’ve latest news news and andinforming informingyou youabout aboutaa We’vebeen beenhard hardat atwork work reporting reporting the the latest his chair with a cup of tea in hand reading The pandemic that’s disrupted everyone’s lives. We’re proud of our brand of trusted journalism. New York Times from cover to cover, or pulling pandemic that’s disrupted everyone’s lives. We’re proud of our brand of trusted journalism. out his harmonica from his pocket and singing Now, as our nation looks to Let’s reopen, andhad resurge, our advertising representatives face rebound it. No one has it easy during this pandemic. “Danny Boy” or “Down by the Sally Gardens.” are here to help your business. Hire us to help get your customers back and your Now, as our nation looks to reopen, rebound and resurge, our advertising representatives His love of travel back to his beautiful home in Your newspaper is reporting from the front lines the local stories of employees ready. Nobody cares more about your success than us. Ireland — which he continued to do until he was COVID-19 and its painful shutdown. We thank our talented journalists. are here to help your business. Hire us to help get your customers back and your 90 — was something that never left him throughBut we’ve losthas business, too. Likeaudience us, you’re probably saying is enough. No one an engaged like ours. Ourenough growth online, employees ready. Nobody cares more about your success than us. out his years in America. There was many a time combined with print, is impressive as more readers turn to us for local news. Let’s work together as businesses reopen. We’ve got the engaged audience where one could hear him singing the lyrics from share your advertising messages. Our ad staff stands ready to help. the “Isle of Innisfree” that so reflected his love of Notoone has an engaged audience like ours. Our growth online, his homeland: Newspapers are your investment. arebest your best combined with print, isNewspapers impressive as more readers turninvestment to us for local news. I’ve met some folks who say that I’m a dreamer because we care most And I’ve no doubt there’s truth in what they say We care about local. about local. But sure a body’s bound to be a dreamer When all the things he loves are far away. And precious things are dreams onto an exile They take him o’er the land across the sea Especially when it happens he’s an exile From that deal lovely Isle of Innisfree. He was blessed with a loving family. Once he retired, he and Elizabeth moved out to East Hampton, where they shared their warm loving Print, advertisers. Print, Digital Digital&&Social SocialSolutions Solutionsfor foryour your business home with their children and grandchildren. Many a summer was spent on the beautiful beaches of East Hampton, which reminded him Print, Digital & Social Solutions for your advertisers. of the beauty and peace of County Cork. Design by Metro Creative Graphics, Inc. He is survived by his four children: Mary Regan, Kathleen Regan (Michael), Finbar Regan Design Metroas Creative (Denise), and Eileen Regan (Jon), asbywell his Graphics, Inc. eight grandchildren: Christopher, Alyssa, Katrina, Taylor, Shane, Aidan, Keira and Maeve. Memorial donations may be made in Michael 543-6065 • www.riverdalepress.com Regan’s honor to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New Print, Digital & Social Solutions for your advertisers. York City.
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Michael Regan, 94, of East Hampton, passed away peacefully on Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, surrounded by his children. He was the son of Kate and Michael Regan of Dromore, County Cork, Ireland. His Catholic faith was a centerpiece of his life, and gave him comfort and purpose throughout his days. He was the youngest of five children. Growing up in Dromore, he always was the inquisitive one, making sure he always got to school on time. He always would talk about riding his bike 12 miles each way to St. Faulkner’s School in Skibbereen — in rain or snow. His thirst for adventure and life outside his beautiful family farm in Dromore led him to Liverpool, England, where he michael worked in the police force. In regan 1953, the faraway lands of America called his name. Making the voyage from Southampton, England, he set sail on the maiden voyage of the USS United States across the Atlantic to America, where he met his soulmate Elizabeth, and set down his roots and raised his family in Riverdale. Together, they were part of St. Margaret of Cortona parish for more than 30 years. His career spanned 43 years in the hotel industry, working as a doorman in many upscale hotels in New York City, starting with The Manhattan, The Americana, and finishing his career in the luxurious Helmsley Palace. (The proximity of Helmsley to St. Patrick’s Cathedral was always a plus — he made it a point to stop over at lunchtime every day before going back to work in the hopes of catching Mass with Archbishop John O’Connor.)
ALL ALL TOGETHER TOGETHER ALL NOW. NOW. TOGETHER
Physicians Ser vices Director y Design by Metro Creative Graphics, Inc.
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david i. Sahar, md
For appointments, please call: 718.601.3700 3050 Corlear Avenue, Suite 204 Bronx, NY 10463 Affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital
EaR, nOSE and thROat adult & PEdiatRiC ColumbiaDoctors Justin golub, md
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Susannah hills, md
• Adult and Pediatric Otolaryngology
Carolina Mora, np
• Adult and Pediatric Otolaryngology
Flora holderbaum, Aud
• Audiology (hearing aids, hearing testing, evaluation and rehabilitation) • Adult and Pediatric 3050 Corlear Avenue, Suite 202 Bronx, NY 10463 For appointments, please call: 212.305.8555 Affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center
gERiatRiC MEdiCinE ColumbiaDoctors Bindhu thomas, md xiaoshuang yin, md nana Makalatia, md deborah Smyth, gnp NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital 5141 Broadway @ 220th Street Suite 3-159 New York, NY 10034 For appointments, please call: 212.932.6036 or 212.932.4080
The deadline for any additions, changes or cancellations for the nana Makalatia, md November Directory is Wednesday, Now also at a convenient Riverdale Location The Century, 2600 Netherland Avenue, Suite 125 October 28th at 2pm. Bronx, NY 10463
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For appointments, please call: 718.543.3031 Now accepting new patients. All clinical staff are Board Certified in Geriatric Medicine Medicare and most major insurance plans accepted. Affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital
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Affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital. The Century, 2600 Netherland Ave., Suite 120 By App’t, 718.796.3580
The Century, 2600 Netherland Avenue, Suite 125 Bronx, NY 10463 For appointments, please call: 718.601.7505
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Sherry R. Kohn, np NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital 5141 Broadway @ 220th Street Suite 3-152 New York, NY 10034 For appointments, please call: 212.932.5190 Affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital
aaron Manson, md The Century, 2600 Netherland Avenue, Suite 125 Bronx, NY 10463 For appointments, please call: 212.305.3804 Affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital
OBStEtRiCS & gynECOlOgy
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OPhthalMOlOgiStS Jonathan d. Boniuk, md, pc Comprehensive Ophthalmology, Eye MD •Catering to all ages & eye problems including eye surgery, routine and preventive eye care. • Board Certified • El Medico Habla Español The Riverstone, 3220 Arlington Avenue, Suite 7 Call 718.432.2299 Fax 718.432.2069 Office Hours: Monday - Friday, including eves.
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A10 - THE RIVERDALE PRESS - Thursday, October 22, 2020
Opinion
The Riverdale Press maintains an open submission policy. Opinions expressed in this section do not necessarily represent those of this publication. Submissions can be made to letters@riverdalepress.com.
Editorial
Leaving out the little guy
B
anking is as old as civilization itself. It’s said that ancient couriers taking goods from one settlement to the next would receive loans in the form of grain. In fact, the basic definition of this industry involves extending credit, and earning money through charged interest on that credit. That’s changed significantly over the centuries, as banks have become a primary tool in handling nearly all of our financial needs — from providing a safe place to store money (and maybe earn interest of our own) to simply providing a pathway to pay for purchases and services through bank cards, and even smartphones and wearable technology like the Apple Watch. Since the ATM was popularized in the early 1980s, the need to physically visit banks and wait for an available teller has gradually diminished. Today, nearly half of all Americans bank online, and they range in age from teenagers to those well beyond retirement years. Yet, there’s still something special about visiting a bank. Maybe it’s the smell of money. Or the bowl of candy. Or enough plexiglass-like shielding to make anyone feel safe in even the worst global pandemic. And it’s probably that very reason why there are so many physical bank branches despite the fact that threequarters of all American adults don’t need those branches anymore. There are nearly 150 bank branches within a five-mile radius from the center of Riverdale — and that’s not even including banks across the Hudson River. More than a third of those branches are operated by Chase Bank, according to BankBranchLocator.com, with Citibank a distant second. All the attention, however, is on just
one branch in Knolls Crescent that Chase decided to close. It’s not alone — banks are shuttering branches across the country. In the last decade alone, the number of branches in this country shrunk by nearly 13 percent, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Even when there were more branches, there are many neighborhoods that don’t have a bank within walking distance. Yes, it’s inconvenient. Yes, it creates more obstacles for those who are not as mobile, and for businesses needing to make regular cash deposits. But it’s not the end of everything. A recent rally seemed more about someone’s political ambition than actually saving the bank — since it’s doubtful all the petition signatures in the world are going to get a multibillion-dollar company to reconsider closing one of its nearly 5,000 branches nationwide. Many who did attend that rally, however, want that bank to stay. We’d like the bank to stay, too. It’s been a good neighbor to Knolls Crescent, it seems, and we don’t need yet another empty storefront in that business district. However, can’t we also share that passion for others? Like many of the mom-and-pop businesses we are losing? Where was the rally for Riverdale Nursery School? Where was the outrage over the closing of Land & Sea Restaurant? Where were those dollars when it came time to help the Kingsbridge Donut Shop? These businesses are just a short walk from the offices of at least two elected officials, but they didn’t even qualify for meaningless lip service. It’s hard to empathize with the loss of a massive bank when we are losing good small businesses. And while we should fight for those banks, we should fight just as hard for the little guy, too.
Point of view
Plan to vote early — if you can
By PERRY GROSSMAN
N
ew Yorkers are used to voting in-person on Election Day because, until last year, it was the only way most of us ever
voted. Until 2019, some 38 other states offered early voting — but not New York. New York also usually makes it hard to get an absentee ballot, which is why, until a few months ago, only about 5 percent of votes were cast by absentee ballot in each election. This year is New Yorkers’ first opportunity to vote early in a major election, and just in the nick of time. When voting rights advocates went up to Albany to demand early voting, we didn’t have the coronavirus pandemic in mind. We thought about making voting accessible to people whose work and child care obligations should entitle them to an absentee ballot, but don’t. We thought about voting centers that could be convenient to New Yorkers’ commutes and public transportation. We thought about “Souls to the Polls,” the famed phenomenon where members of Black churches increase turnout by voting together on the Sunday before Election Day. But now we also think about how our democracy and public health have been under assault. The president has been making baseless attacks on voting by mail in a desperate attempt to undermine confidence in elections. Footage of long lines at polling places this spring in Georgia and Wisconsin raises concerns about voter suppression. Avoiding crowded indoor spaces is now a critical public health practice. New Yorkers have three ways to vote this year, and they’re all good options. But starting Oct. 24, voting early in-person will be the best option for Bronxites to vote safely, securely and conveniently. Vote by absentee ballot if you must, but plan to request and return your ballot as early as possible. Unlike other years, the pandemic provides a basis for every New Yorker to receive an absentee ballot. New Yorkers should have confidence in absentee voting, but it does carry a greater risk of a ballot being lost or delayed in transit. Absentee ballot rejection rates in New York are among the highest in the nation in every
election. The legislature and the governor recently put safeguards in place to ensure more ballots get counted — including a procedure to correct your absentee ballot if you make a mistake, and the opportunity to count some ballots that don’t receive postmarks. But the risk of rejection is still greater than voting in-person. Unlike in-person votes, which are counted on election night, absentee ballots aren’t counted until later, and they’re more work to count than in-person votes. More absentee ballots mean a longer wait for election results. Election Day polling places are just a short walk from home for most Bronxites, and New York offers voters the longest Election Day polling hours in the nation. But longer lines can form at polling sites at peak times — in the morning on the way to work, or in the evening on the way home. And unexpected conflicts can make getting to the polls harder. If you plan to vote on Election Day, go at an off-peak time in the middle of the day, if you can. New York law allows you to receive up to two hours paid time off to vote if you notify your employer at least two working days in advance. Early voting in-person offers the best of all worlds. It’s like voting in-person on Election Day, except that you’ve got a nine-day window (Oct. 24 through Nov. 1) to cast your ballot. On the weekends, early voting sites are open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. On the weekdays, for different eight-hour periods each day. Your early voting site is probably different from your Election Day poll site, but it’s probably also more spacious. Poll workers outfitted with masks and gloves are ready and have time to answer your questions. Hand sanitizer and plexiglass abound. By voting early in-person, you’ll help make polling places safe and more efficient on Election Day. You’ll make the tabulation of votes go faster, and you’ll make it more likely that your ballot gets counted. In this critical election year, make sure your voice is heard. Make a plan to vote, and vote early in-person, if you can. The author is a voting rights lawyer, and a member of the Voter Power Committee of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition.
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Letters to the editor
Don’t cut corners with COVID To the editor: I recently learned about a smallpox scare that occurred in New York City in March 1947. Immediately after fewer than a handful of people were diagnosed with smallpox, the city’s health department — in a joint effort with the U.S. Public Health Service — obtained enough smallpox vaccine to inoculate every inhabitant of the city. And by the last week in April of that same year, more than 6 million people had turned up at designated sites and received injections of the vaccine. Can anyone imagine anything remotely like that happening today? Seemingly endless mixed messages coming from federal health officials associated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, among others, emanating from the White House itself. And growing numbers of reports of political pressure on health officials to satisfy whims of the president — none based on scientific evidence — have led a majority of Americans (as extrapolated from polls) to express skepticism about whatever coronavirus vaccine may be offered — not only one offered seemingly prematurely in November or December, but ever. This skepticism may lead to the possibility that even when a provenly safe vaccine becomes available, a large portion of the population will
refuse to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. The possibility of ending the pandemic would then become correspondingly remote. In this atmosphere of fear and doubt, the voices of anti-vaxxers who warn against vaccinations of any kind become louder. The possibility of the resulting outbreaks of measles and even polio that might ensue if enough people refuse to have their children vaccinated against those scourges is terrifying. When I read and hear about the “warp speed” that the president demanded for production of the coronavirus vaccine — and the disturbing thought that despite the reassurance of folks at the National Institutes of Health or pharmaceutical executives, the creation and testing has included dangerous shortcuts — I am reminded of a joke I heard many years ago. A newly hired bank clerk was given a stack of $10 bills and told to count them to make sure there were exactly 100. In seemingly no time, he returned them to his supervisor and reported that the number was correct. “Did you really count each one?” his superior asked. “No,” he responded. “I counted up to 60 and figured that if it was correct up to that point, the total must be correct, too.” MiriaM Levine HeLbok
Stop, breathe and please listen To the editor: In a number of recent letters to this paper from people like Isaac Geld, Ron Wegsman and Charles Moerdler, a tone is expressed — sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly — concerning anti-Israel statements. That tone is to the effect of: If you express displeasure with Israel’s behavior as a nation — if you dare criticize Israel — you are either anti-Semitic, or a hater of America, or Israel, or all of the above. Let’s make some key points clear here. The right to express an opinion — any opinion — is as American as apple pie. The right to disagree in this expression is inherent. Without it, we’d still be speaking the King’s English as a colony of England. The worst Jew-haters, it im-
plies, are Jews who disagree with Israel. I am a member in good standing — of more than 15 years — of Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale, and an active member of the shul’s minyan. My bona fides as a Jew are unquestionable. Yet, I find Israel’s public behavior repulsive. It directly ignores the rights of others, similar to the manner in which Jews had their rights taken away at varying times in history in a variety of nations. Conflating anti-Israel feeling with anti-Semitism is a dichotomy of the worst order. “Every Jew is …” and “Every American is …” is serving only to engrain ignorant stereotypes. This type of thinking has gotten us as a nation, here in America, to the point where
we are today — unable to see life from any viewpoint but our own. “Tragic” does not begin to describe it. I emphatically reject the conflating stereotypes prevalent in the writing I see in the Opinion pages of this newspaper, while defending the writer’s right to state their opinion. If we are to move forward in this world, it is high time to step off our high horses, stop and listen to those whose opinion we disagree with. We must recognize that broad sweeping generalizations are not only unhelpful, but extremely toxic to a democratic state. The current occupant of the White House should have at least taught us all this lesson. Now, stop. Breathe. And for heaven’s sake, listen. aDaM SToLer
The Bronx is a broken borough To the editor: My husband and I co-authored a public health brief that will be published by Springer International Publishing in November called “COVID-19 in New York City: An Ecology of Race and Class Oppression.” We found that the Bronx ZIP code areas had the highest average and median cumulative percent positive swab tests, cumulative case rates, and cumulative death rates of the four central boroughs in the early post-crest time period (end of May). We also found that the Bronx COVID-19 death rates were the epicenter of the death rates of the entire New York City metropolitan region of 24 counties. New York was identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the national epicenter of the first U.S. pandemic wave. Unlike the other three central boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens), the Bronx ZIP code COVID-19 death rates had no association with socioeconomic measures such as median income, educational attainment, housing violations per 1,000 units, rent stress and unemployment rate. Unlike the other three central boroughs, the Bronx ZIP code COVID-19 death rates had no association with other public health markers such as diabetes mortality, cancer mortality, or premature all-cause mortality rates. In other words, there was no lever arm either through socio-economic factors or through general rise in public health to improve the COVID-19 death situation. The Bronx is a broken borough with respect to COVID-19. We found this in spite of the fact that the city and state have stinted testing in the Bronx, in comparison to other boroughs. A typical exam-
ple: On Oct. 7, just 0.45 percent of the Bronx population received swab tests in the five boroughs, compared to 0.84 percent in Staten Island, 0.79 percent in Manhattan, 0.71 percent in Queens and 0.67 percent in Brooklyn. If you go to the city health department’s website pages on COVID-19, you also will find that the Bronx has had the lowest cumulative number of antibody tests per 100,000 population of all five boroughs. Two papers by other epidemiologists have found that the intensity of testing in New York City is discriminatory by race/ethnicity and income. Thus, the populations most at risk for infection, serious illness and death are being shortchanged. A cynic would say, “Well, what do you expect?” However, when an entire borough with 1.4 million people is short-changed, the public health of the region and the nation can be at risk, as the first U.S. wave proved. None of the 24 ZIP code areas in the Bronx with more than 10,000 population had even moderate cumulative case rates on May 31, July 14, July 28 or Aug. 17 — dates that I recently analyzed for case rate geography. Manhattan, on the other hand, had many areas with low cumulative case rates, even as late as Aug. 17. Which of our elected officials is looking at this scandalous and dangerous public health situation? DeboraH WaLLace The author has a Ph.D., in ecology, and focuses much of her work on health inequalities and epidemiology studies. She and husband Rodrick Wallace first rose to prominence studying the Bronx fires of the 1970s, and the impact they had on health and public order.
THE RIVERDALE PRESS - Thursday, October 22, 2020 - A11
Riverdale 5.375 X 5.25
Op-Ed Point of view
The discontents of prejudice
Letters to the editor
The GOP ain’t getting my vote To the editor:
(re: “Congress must protect Israel,” Oct. 1)
Mr. Patrick McManus wrote recently that Congress must protect Israel. I agree with that statement, recognizing that bipartisan support for Israel has been an integral part of our foreign policy since Israel’s rebirth as a nation in 1948. It is likely that no matter what Mr. Jamaal Bowman’s reservations, that policy will continue. I think that McManus’ screed was intended as an appeal to Americans of the Jewish faith in our congressional district to vote for him on the basis of their connection with — and their love for — Israel. He failed to convince me, an American Jew. Please note that America comes first, and is foremost in my thinking. I do not want to give any Republican my vote at this time because their positions on matters that affect every American — and me directly — are too critical. The Republicans are in court as we speak to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. They want to privatize Medicare and Social Security. They want to dismantle every regulation that protects
our climate, air, public lands and water supply. Their ticket is headed by a man who, just recently, showed unbelievable disregard for the health and safety of anyone around him. He put the lives of his Secret Service detail at risk just so he could have a joyride — this after more than 200,000 Americans have died because of his refusal to follow the science and encourage people to simply wear masks. More than 7 million Americans have gotten the virus. His lies to the people about the pandemic — and everything else — are legion and verified. He thrives on chaos, and is actively trying to disrupt our coming election. The Israelis have proven that with their strong military, innovative programs in scientific advancement, and energetic citizenry, they can take care of themselves. I’m not certain our democracy can survive the current Republican onslaught on our norms and treasured traditions. We don’t need more of that same ilk. I will thankfully vote for Joe Biden, and even the hopefully teachable Jamaal Bowman. RhoDa albEn-aRonson
Let parents decide about schools To the editor:
(re: “People agree with me on schools,” Oct. 8)
I was going to let Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz’s nonsensical, non-sequitur rebuttal highlighting how he once again is not listening to the voices of his constituency go without any further back-and-forth. But the irony of his reply being printed in the same edition as two stories that further support my position proved too much a case of poetic justice to allow the opportunity to slip by. All one had to do was turn the page from Dinowitz’s half-hearted attempt to twist my words to see a story written by Rose Brennan (re: “For-
get COVID-19, youngsters need five days in classroom,” Oct. 8). Perhaps Dinowitz finds it easy to refute
my one letter to the editor imploring him to give parents more of a choice in their children’s education — he should find it a lot harder to continue his charade now that we see a groundswell among parents passing around online petitions demanding exactly what my original letter suggested. The story mentions Gemma James and Virginia Avetisian as two P.S. 24 mothers of the nearly 50 parents so far who have signed the petition — and that’s just at one school — because they consider the potential risk of sending their kids onsite to be vastly outweighed by the certain educational and economic devastation that will occur by requiring remote learning for everyone. And if Dinowitz digs into his bag of politician double-speak and lambasts these mothers as he did me — who are only asking for the right to decide what is best for their children — is he then
going to be so audacious as to dismiss the hard data? That 74 percent of New York City families chose to participate in the blended learning plan where their kids attend school on select days? Who is not facing the facts now, Assemblyman? The second relevant — and cover — story in that week’s edition of The Riverdale Press (re:
“Escaping the shadows of larger-than-life leaders,” Oct. 8) was about the Dinowitz and Biaggi dynasties.
While that story mostly discussed the next generation of those dynasties, when you look at the disturbing trends in Assemblyman Dinowitz’s words and deeds over the past few years, you see a picture of someone who has been in office too long. Who takes his election wins as pre-ordained facts instead of staying close to his constituents’ needs. And who prefers to misuse obvious truisms to further ram his “my way or the highway” approach to governing down our throats. Yes, Assemblyman, we all agree that the virus is a risk to both children and adults, but that doesn’t address the point that I and 74 percent of New York City parents are making. No one is debating that this virus is real and can risk a person’s health, regardless of age. But we all need the right to navigate those risks in a way that works for our individual situations while respecting the rights of others. And if our current Assemblyman prefers to legislate away those rights and rule by decree, then we need a new Assemblyman. DaviD EpsTEin
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T
he Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “prejudice” as a “preconceived judgment or opinion; an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge; an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics.” Tens of thousands of men in New York and New Jersey root for the New York Jets football team. Does that mean all men are stupid? Actually, that’s a bad example. Forget that. There was a doctor on Fox News named Marc Siegel who recently claimed, without any evidence whatsoever, that Joe Biden is taking Adderall, which helps hyperactive kids improve their concentration and focus. Does that mean people named “Marc” make up lies, as does this particular Marc? It is a sad fact about humanity that many of us are prejudiced. Donald Trump “has maintained that Black Americans have mainly themselves to blame in their struggles for equality, hindered more by lack of initiative than societal impediments, according to current and former U.S. officials,” as stated in a Sept. 23 story from The Washington Post. Trump also has said that Mexicans are rapists and criminals who bring drugs to the United States. He has disparaged Haiti and African countries in the most vulgar terms possible. He has called Black celebrities and journalists unintelligent, including LeBron James and CNN’s Don Lemon. Meanwhile, Trump has threatened legal action against schools he attended to hide his own grades, because in them we may have real evidence about how uneducated he is. He claimed for several years that Barack Obama was not born in this country, a wildly successful effort to discredit President Obama as somehow alien. I describe his actions as “successful” because his tweets about Obama helped bring Trump hundreds of thousands of followers — and from that, ultimately, the presidency, which is still hard to believe. This brief story helps demonstrate that prejudice is like a virus. It spreads easily and it’s hard to contain. Science is an antidote for prejudice because it helps us learn that observation and testing can answer many of the questions we have. Applying the scientific method to prejudice helps us demolish that prejudice. We should always ask the biased person who makes prejudicial claims, “Where is your evidence? What is your evidence?” Anecdotes about a particular person are not credible evidence that you should apply to an
entire class of people. The second great thing about science is objectivity. Consider the source of your data collection and information. Are you getting your data from reliable measurements? If your measurement and reporting tools are impaired in any way, that is going to distort the results you get. Science challenges us to use our brains in a systematic way, and challenge our worst instincts in evaluating how we see and experience other people. Unfortunately, today we have a president who spreads hate as easily as he breathes. There is no hope in his hate. These days, with the president we have, it’s far too easy to lose hope. But without hope, we lost our motivation to work for the future. Humanity is a continuous work in progress, to say the least. But hope gives us the possibility to make a better world. Hate, on the other hand, gives us nothing but death. Consider the slaughter in Rwanda in 1994. In just 100 days, Hutu extremists killed 800,000 Tutsis, another tribe in the country. The Serbs killed 8,000 Muslims in Bosnia in the 1990s. Today, the Chinese have put 1 million Muslims in concentration camps, out of a population of 11 million. The rest are under surveillance. Muslim women there are sterilized. As an elementary school teacher in the Bronx and Queens for nearly 20 years, I have taught children from all over the world — Kenya, Ivory Coast, Mexico, Ecuador, Bangladesh, Yemen, China, Pakistan, and good old New York City. One of my favorite lessons to teach each year concerned Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It’s helpful to recount his words here: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men are created equal. “I have a dream that one day … the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” We need these words more than ever today. America was a beacon of freedom and hope for my family from Russia, from which they escaped more than 100 years ago because of discrimination and persecution. Jews in Russia had no rights. They were subject to intermittent mass slaughter in their villages by the Russian authorities whenever they felt like it. America gave my family freedom and hope. While the country’s professed values have been frequently — and still are — tarnished by prejudice, America can be a beacon that still stands for hope. If we let it.
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Skilled and experienced home care provider. References on request. Licensed driver with vehicle. Excellent cook. Riverdale resident. 917-847-5548 anniekate527@gmail.com
JOB OPPORTUNITY $18.50 P/H NYC $16 P/H LI $13.50 P/H UPSTATE NY CDPAP Caregiver Hourly Pay Rate! Under NYS CDPAP Medicaid program you can hire your family or friends for your care. Phone: 347-713-3553
Relief Porter/Doorperson Luxury Riverdale Coop Exp. Helpful Not Required Email Resume gstaudt@alliedpartners.com Equal Opportunity Employer
COMPUTER & IT TRAINING PROGRAM! Train ONLINE to get the skills to become a Computer & Help Desk Professional now! Now offering a $10,000 scholarship for qualified applicants. Call CTI for details! (844) 947-0192 (M-F 8am-6pm ET)
TRAIN AT HOME TO DO MEDICAL BILLING! Become a Medical Office Professional online at CTI! Get Trained, Certified & ready to work in months! Call 855-543-6440. (M-F 8am-6pm ET)
Licensed massage therapist with over 15 years of experience available for home visits in Riverdale, Yonkers, and lower Westchester. Please call Jason for a FREE consultation at (646) 496-5526. COVID precautions in place for your safety and mine.
BROWN'S JEWELERS
Miscellaneous Jewelers Quality jewelry, watch batteries and bands. Expert repairs. 5690 Riverdale Avenue 718-549-2730
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The Riverdale Press, LLC, a subsidiary of Richner Communications, Inc. reserves the right to reclassify, revise or reject any classified advertisement. Please check your advertisement each time it appears and if you find an error, report it to the classified advertising department immediately by calling 718-543-6200 or e-mailing classified@ riverdalepress.com. The Riverdale Press, LLC shall not be liable for errors or omissions in any advertisement, for which it may be responsible, beyond cost of actual space occupied or to have been occupied by item in which error or omission occurred. The Riverdale Press, LLC shall not be liable for failure, for any cause, to insert an advertisement. All claims for errors, omissions, etc. in advertising must be made within seven days of publication and claims for such will be allowed only for the first insertion. All changes and cancellations made before Monday at noon will become effective with the following publication.
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Legal Notice IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE UNIFORM COMERCIAL CODE, There being due and unpaid charges for which the undersigned, DUN-RITE SPECIALIZED CARRIERS, LLC is entitled to a lien as warehouseman, on the goods hereinafter described and stored at 1561 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10460. And due notice having been given, the owners of said property and all parties, known to claim an interest therein, and the time specified in such notices for payment of such having Expired, there will be sold at public auction, DUN-RITE SPECIALIZED CARRIERS, LLC, 1561 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY on Saturday November 7, 2020, beginning at 10 O’clock in the forenoon of that day the following property, Sculptures deposited by: NATASHA McGILL C/O OLGA BRODSY AND BARBARA PECK. All items, being stored with the said company in its warehouse located at 1561 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY all to be more specifically announced and described at the time of said sale. Goods will be in Exhibition and may be seen at the place of Sale, DUN-RITE SPECIALIZED CARRIERS, LLC, 1561 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY on Friday, November 6, 2020. Should it be impossible to dispose of all these goods on Saturday, November 7, 2020 the sale will be continued on such succeeding sale days thereafter as may be necessary to complete sale.
3351 Legal Notice Notice is hereby given that an Order entered by the Civil Court, Bronx County on Oct 08, 2020, bearing Index Number NC-00024120/BX, a copy of which may be examined at the Office of the Clerk, located at 851 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10451, grants me the right to assume the name of (First) Jose (Last) Fuentes. My present name is (First) Jose (Last) Fuertes AKA Jose Vasquez, AKA Jose Fuentas, AKA Jose Fuontes, AKA Jose M Ortiz. The city and state of my present address are Bronx, NY. My place of birth is Bronx, NY. The month and year of my birth are March 1970. 3352 Legal Notice Notice is hereby given that an Order entered by the Civil Court, Bronx County on Sept. 24, 2020, bearing Index Number NC-00022820/BX, a copy of which may be examined at the Office of the Clerk, located at 851 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10451, grants me the right to assume the name of (First) Stephen (Last) Dwamena Jnr. My present name is (First) Arthur-Baffour (Last) Dwamena (infant). The city and state of my present address are Bronx, NY. My place of birth is Bronx, NY. The month and year of my birth are May 2019. 3353 Legal Notice
Notice is hereby given that an Order entered by the Civil Court, Bronx County on 10/15/20, bearing Index Number NC-000246-20/ BX, a copy of which may be examined at the Office of the Clerk, located at 851 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10451, grants me the right to assume the name of (First) Ludisia (Middle) Carmen (Last) Smith. My present name is (First) Ludisia (Middle) Carmen (Last) Goodman AKA Ludisia C Goodman, AKA Ludisia Carmen Smith, AKA Ludisia C Smith. The city and state of my present address are Bronx, NY. My place of birth is Manhattan, New York. The month and year of my birth are January 1970. 3354 Legal Notice Notice is hereby given that an Order entered by the Civil Court, Bronx County on 10/15/20, bearing Index Number NC-000248-20/ BX, a copy of which may be examined at the Office of the Clerk, located at 851 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10451, grants me the right to assume the name of (First) Orlando (Middle) De Jesus (Last) Adames. My present name is (First) Yolando (Middle) De Jesus (Last) Adames AKA Orlando Adames, AKA Orlando D Adames. The city and state of my present address are Bronx, NY. My place of birth is Manhattan, NY. The month and year of my birth are December 1980. 3355
Legal Notice Notice is hereby given that an Order entered by the Civil Court, Bronx County on July 1, 2020, bearing Index Number NC-000162-20/ BX, a copy of which may be examined at the Office of the Clerk, located at 851 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10451, grants me the right to assume the name of (First) Winnonah (Last) Foster. My present name is (First) Winona (Middle) Irene (Last) Foster AKA Winnonah Foster. The city and state of my present address are Bronx, NY. My place of birth is Bronx, NY. The month and year of my birth are February 1954. 3356 Legal Notice Notice is hereby given that an Order entered by the Civil Court, Bronx County on 10/1/2020, bearing Index Number NC-000236-20/ BX, a copy of which may be examined at the Office of the Clerk, located at 851 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10451, grants me the right to assume the name of (First) Adam (Last) Waseem Roque. My present name is (First) Adam (Last) Muhammad Roque (infant). The city and state of my present address are Bronx, NY. My place of birth is Bronx, NY. The month and year of my birth are October 2017. 3357
A14 - THE RIVERDALE PRESS - Thursday, October 22, 2020
Note: Each week’s featured home is chosen at random from among houses and apartments offered by Riverdale Press advertisers. The opinions expressed are those of the advertiser and not The Riaverdale Press news department. For further information, write to advertising@ riverdalepress. com.
Home of the Week Julie Reyes of Douglas Elliman Real Estate
A storybook home becoming a reality
H
ow would you like to live, work and play in a home that has it all? Then welcome to your new home at Skyview-on-the-Hudson. Revel in the hidden Riverdale treasure of tranquility in a suburban-like setting on expansive 23-acre manicured grounds. Enjoy the full-service amenities such as 24hour doormen, concierge, private 24-hour security, seasonal Olympic and children’s pool, health club, tennis courts, playground, basketball courts, private dog park, and more. As you enter your new home at 5700 Arlington Ave., you are welcomed into a spacious living room, which beckons you to unwind. Get swept away to the southeast-facing balcony where you are grounded by the calmness and access to nature. Explore and create your own private
outdoor space. The oversized living room allows for work-life balance where you can utilize the space to function as dual office and leisure while enjoying the views and mother nature. Endless natural sunlight in the home brings the outdoors indoors. A separate dining room area and windowed galley kitchen comes equipped with a new refrigerator, back splash and granite counter tops. It’s an area perfect for entertaining. End your day and escape to the tranquil bedroom filled with ample closets. Awake to nature’s sunlight and view the beautiful calming scenery and treetops before the onset of your day, or enjoy a leisurely bath in the newly renovated tub. This is a home in incredibly good condition, and it’s waiting for you to move in for just $299,999.
FOXWORTH REALTY 1524 Amsterdam Avenue, NYC 10031 Eugenia C. Foxworth
NYS Licensed Realtor, CIPS, NYRS, MWBE Certified
212.368.4902
Open Houses Sunday, October 25 (By appointment only 212-368-4902) Riverdale:
11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. - Modern midrise bldg, elev, intercom, dogs welcome 3614 Johnson Avenue, 2B 1BDRM/1BTH renovated condo with hardwood floors, island kitchen, washer/dryer, sunny, SW, open street view. .....................................................................For rent $2150/mo
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. - Hayden-on-Hudson
Full service bldg with doorman, cameras, new gym, seasonal pool, laundry, nonsmoking bldg, dogs welcome - located on cul-de-sac 4455 Douglas Avenue, 11B 3BDRM/2.5BTH condo with direct SW Hudson River views, 24-ft terrace, red brick wall in living room, wood burning fireplace ........................................................ .............Asking $1,069,000
Open House Sunday - October 18 12pm-3:30pm 3015 Riverdale Avenue – 2A This lovely 1 bdrm Co-op is located in a bucolic setting next to Ewen Park and within walking distance to the Subway, Express Bus to Manhattan as well as Hudson Rail Link Bus to Metro-North’s Spuyten Duyvil Station, with less than 30 minute commute to mid-town Manhattan. This beautiful family-friendly building includes updated elevators & lobby, laundry room, security cameras and courtyard. This quiet unit has beautiful wood floors, large living room and bedroom, and is within walking distance to good schools, gym, library, parks and restaurants. Street Parking or nearby private garage parking is available. $247,500 To schedule an appointment call Joe Pavone 914-316-7657 495 Odell Ave, Yonkers, NY 10703
1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. - 3015-17 Co-op
1940’s set back prewar bldg, art deco lobby, Italian laid brick entry with flora, trees and Zen fountain, intercom, elev, laundry, storage and live-in super 3017 Riverdale Avenue, 5F Large, renovated and upated 1BDRM/1BTH convertible 2BDRM, prewar details, windows in each room, set back shelve and arches. ........................................................................Asking $325,000
Harlem:
1920’s brownstone, brick bldg, wrought iron entry door and intercom 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. - Brownstone Co-op 137 West 142nd Street, 2B 2BDRM/1BTH co-op, original pre-war details. Arches, high ceilings, Dogs welcome, no maximum income. .............................................................................Asking $395,000
Elmsford, NY:
Ranch style home, .69 acres located on cul-de-sac adjacent to Knollwood Golf course 12:45 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. - Ranch style home 1 Mayfair Road Total renovation 2275 sq ft on first floor, marble basement is 2275 sq ft, central air throughout, fireplace, sundeck, 5BDRM/3BTH, panaoramic views, laundry, 2-car garage, sundeck. .............................................................................Asking $950,000
www.foxworthrealtyonline.com
THE RIVERDALE PRESS - Thursday, October 22, 2020 - A15
Ready to sell? looking to buy?
i t ’ s
t i m e
3104 Netherlnd avenue | $2,600,000 | 6-BR, 5-Ba | Web# 4432135 Zoita Zonea C: 917.684.8061
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6038 fieldston Road| Open House By appointment only 10/25 1:30pm-3pm | $930,000 | 4-BR, 2.5-Ba | Web# 4447839 Mary Kavanagh C:718.877.2666
3800 Blackston avenue, PHS | $785,000 | 2-BR, 2-Ba | Web# 4456518
3411 cannon Place | Open House 10/24 & 10/25 12pm-2pm
Terhi Edwards C: 646.541.8072
$739,000 | 3-BR, 2.5-Ba | Web# 4509679 William Beltran C: 646.238.6261
6130 Spencer avenue | $695,000 | 3-BR, 1.5-Ba | Web# 4345985 Charles Brophy C: 646.295.6296
2550 independence avenue, 6G | Open House 10/24 12pm-3pm $600,000 | 3-BR, 2-Ba | Web# 4493327 Charles Brophy C: 646.295.6296
555 Kappock Street, 6S | $425,000 | 2-BR, 2-Ba | Web# 4493307
5700 arlington avenue, 10d | Open House By appointment only
Maria Capotorto C: 917.566.7731
10/24 and 10/25 2pm-3pm | $299,999 | 1-BR, 1-Ba | Web# 24449749 Julie Reyes C: 646.732.2369
555 Kappock Street, 12P | $289,900 | 1-BR, 1-Ba | Web# 4401031 Glenn Encababian C: 718.207.6195
34410 cayuga avenue, 2a | $210,000 | 1-BR, 1-Ba | Web# 4345414 Rafael Silva C: 917.577.2702
RiveRdale Office 3544 Johnson avenue Riverdale, New York 10463 O: 718.884.5815
elliman.com/newyorkcity NEW YORK CITY | LONG ISLAND | THE HAMPTONS | WESTCHESTER | CONNECTICUT | NEW JERSEY | FLORIDA | CALIFORNIA | COLORADO | INTERNATIONAL 575 MADISON AVENUE, NY, NY 10022. 212.891.7000 © 2018 DOUGLAS ELLIMAN REAL ESTATE. ALL MATERIAL PRESENTED HEREIN IS INTENDED FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY. WHILE, THIS INFORMATION IS BELIEVED TO BE CORRECT, IT IS REPRESENTED SUBJECT TO ERRORS, OMISSIONS, CHANGES OR WITHDRAWAL WITHOUT NOTICE. ALL PROPERTY INFORMATION, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO SQUARE FOOTAGE, ROOM COUNT, NUMBER OF BEDROOMS AND THE SCHOOL DISTRICT IN PROPERTY LISTINGS SHOULD BE VERIFIED BY YOUR OWN ATTORNEY, ARCHITECT OR ZONING EXPERT. EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY.
A16 - THE RIVERDALE PRESS - Thursday, October 22, 2020
TrebachRealty.com
718.543.7174
Family Owned & Operated Since 1972
NeW exclusive
NeW exclusive
NeW exclusive
West oF parKWay Web #895 Sylish and light filled 4-bdrm, 4.5-bath brick and stone house with impressive grounds & private association pool on leafy cul-de-sac. Marble center hall, elegant living room, formal dining room, large kitchen and stone gas fireplace om family rm. $2,775,000
West oF parKWay Web #893 Prime renovation opportunity: Completely gutted, sprawling 7,000-Sq. Ft. 5-bdrm, 6-bath stucco and stone house with pool, multi-level patios and spacious yard on double lot. Great room w/ 21-ft high ceilings, fireplace and oversized windows. $3,800,000
FieldstoN Web #885 Stately, secluded georgian revival stone 6-bdrm, 6-full, 2-half bath residence situated on nearly three quarters of an acre. Completely renovated with wide front terrace, large living room with WBFP and french doors to four-season sunroom. $4,900,000
sold
exclusive
co-exclusive
NeW exclusive
FieldstoN Web #839 Bright 4-bdrm, 3-bath solar modern home with patio & garden. Living rm with WBFP & eat-in kitchen. $1,750,000
West oF parKWay Web #891 Lavish newly built 8-bdrm, 7.5-bath on 0.29-acres features 2-story center hall with curved staircase, double height great room with gas fireplace, glass doors to wraparound porch, den with wet bar, formal dining room and center island kitchen. $4,495,000
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North riverdale Web #892 Two-family, semi-attached brick house with wide entry terrace & backyard with a deck & patio on Cul-de-Sac. $945,000
exclusive
exclusive
exclusive
West oF parKWay Web #883 Renovated 4-bdrm, 3-bath with patio. Entry hall, living rm, formal dining room w/ WBFP & eat-in kitchen. $1,950,000
West oF parKWay Web #880 Grand bucolic beauty and open space classic 6-bdrm, 5.5-bath mansion with wraparound porch on over one acre with grassy lawns. Large center hall, living room with WBF, formal dining room with fireplace and eat-in kitchen. $4,325,000
NeW exclusive
NeW exclusive
south riverdale Web #884 Renov 6-bdrm, 2-full and 2-half bath brick house. Tiled entry foyer, formal dining rm & renov kitchen. $1,395,000
West oF parKWay Web #755 3-bdrm, 2.5-bath center hall colonial. WBFP in living rm, open plan kitchen & dining & finished basement. $1,420,000
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ceNtral riverdale Web #859 4-bdrm, 3-bath detached brick house with high ceilings, living room with brick WBFP & formal dining room. $890,000
NeW exclusive
NeW exclusive
FieldstoN Web #894 Pristine, modern and light filled 6-bdrm, 5.5-bath stucco house with patios and grassy yard. Huge room with white-oak flooring, 2 waterfall-edged islands in kitchen, living room with windows overlooking the backyard and family room. $2,890,000
West oF parKWay Web #882 Vacant site of approx 0.37 acres is a rare opportunity to build a home with commanding views of river. $1,495,000
exclusive North riverdale Web #888 Sunny and spacious 3-bdrm, 3.5-bath with sunken living room, dining room with bay windows and deck. $995,000
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West oF the parKWay Web #856 Classic 3-bdrm, 2.5-bath house features a center hall, living rm with WBF, formal dining rm and eat-in kitchen. $995,000
exclusive south riverdale Web #872 Three vacant lots with R2 Zoning and Single-family 4-bdrm, 2.5-bath, stucco, Tudor-style house. $3,000,000
ct
exclusive
exclusive
exclusive
exclusive
FieldstoN Web #844 Classic 4-bdrm, 3.5-bath with front terrace, WBFP in living rm, formal dining room and eat-in kitchen. $1,895,000
estate area Web #855 7-bdrm, 5.5-bath newly built house with open-plan living rm, dining rm, centerisland kitchen and patios. $2,295,000
West oF parKWay Web #846 Spacious 3-bdrm, 2.5-bath house features a living room with bay windows and marble WBF, dining room with sliding glass doors to large level backyard, eat-in kitchen, MBR suite & den with a wet bar. 2-car garage plus plenty of off street parking. $1,549,000
exclusive
exclusive North riverdale Web #889 Renovated 3-bdrm, 2-bath house with side and back yards, patio and garden. Living room with fireplace. $1,095,000
FieldstoN Web #881 Spacious 6-bdrm, 3-full, 2-half bath w/ sunroom, patio & garden. WBFP in living room and formal dining rm. $2,175,000
co-ops, condos and REntals
NeW coNdo exclusive
NeW exclusive
NeW exclusive
NeW exclusive
3800 blacKstoNe ave Web #cc630 Contemporary 2-bdrm, 2-bath duplex penthouse with private roof terraces, laundry & indoor parking. $675,000
3935 blacKstoNe ave Web #cc652 Spacious and Bright 3-bdrm, 2-bath with sunset balcony, majestic river views and 24-hr doorman. $850,000
3935 blacKstoNe aveNue Web #cc648 Spacious, light-filled, low floor 3-bdrm with balcony and 24-hr doorman. Features include an extra large central foyer, living room, dining area with custom built-ins and glass door to 14-ft long balcony, eat-in kitchen and master bdrm suite. $695,000
3001 heNry hudsoN parKWay Web #cc653 Spacious and light filled 3-bdrm, 2-bath in prewar building with part time doorman. Features include an entry hall, large central foyer, sunken living room, windowed dining room and kitchen. Hallway bath with whirlpool tub. $625,000
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No board approval West oF parKWay - 3-bdrm, 2-bath, w/ balcony, L-shaped LR/DR area, DM, fitness room, private playground and childrens recreation room. Dogs OK. Indoor parking available. $515K West oF parKWay - 2-bdrm, 1.5-bath, w/ balcony, L-shaped LR/DR area, DM, fitness room, private playground and childrens recreation room. Dogs OK. Indoor parking available. $420K NeW coNdo excl sold - North riverdale - Renov Jr-4 with entry foyer 3800 blacKstoNe cc651 living rm, dining rm and windowed eat-in kitchen. $299K 2-bdrm, 2-bath condo with sold - ceNtral riverdale - Newly renov studio with modern kitchen, laundry in unit & indr parking. $695K hrdwd flrs, seperate kitchen and sleeping area. $185K
NeW exclusive
exclusive
house For reNt
601 KappocK st cc647 Bright, low flr Junior 4 (converted to 2), 1.5-bath Co-op with drmn and pool. $320K
3616 hh parKWay cc642 Spacious & Bright 2-bdrm, 2-bath, balcony, music room & doorman. Near all. $399K
FieldstoN vic. rr880 Spacious 6-bdrm, 4.5-bth center-hall Colonial w/ patio & yard on cul-de-sac. $8,800
house For reNt
FieldstoN vic. rr871 Picturesque 1920s 3-bdrm, 2-full & 2-half baths with WBFP & grassy yards. $6,500/mo
house For reNt
FieldstoN vic. rr642 6-bdrm, 3.5-bath, 7,500 sq. ft. house w/ Expansive wraparound porch & pool. $19,500/mo
No Fee reNtals West oF parKWay - 4-bdrm, 2-bath corner apartment with balcony. 2 months free rent for new tenants $4,895/mo West oF parKWay - Large and bright 2-bdrm, 2-bath with
exclusive
NeW exclusive
290 West 232Nd st cc626 2-bdrm with entry foyer, living room, kitchen, dining area and balcony. $305K
3935 blacKstoNe cc646 Spacious 2-bdrm, 2-bath w/ balcony & DM. Entry foyer & updated kitchen. $449K
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NeW exclusive 3850 hudsoN m.t. cc644 Low floor 3-bdrm, 2-bath w/ picture window in LR, updated kitch & DM. $449K
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exclusive 3601 JohNsoN ave. cc587 Walk-in level doctor’s office with seperate entrance and reception area. $295K
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NeW exclusive 601 KappocK st cc649 Mint condition, beautifully renovated 2-bdrm with doorman and pool. $289K
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4555 hh parKWay cc650 Bright & renov Jr-4 convt pet-FrieNdly reNtals to 2 with open sunset views ceNtral riverdale - Contemporary 2-bdrm, 2-bath condo and 24-hr doorman. $339K with balcony, laundry in unit and indoor parking. $3,950/mo GreystoNe aveNue - 3-bdrm, 1.5-bath with dining area and yard in multi-family house. $2,800/mo West oF parKWay - Spacious 2-bdrm, 2-bath, balcony, partial river views, doorman and fitness room. Dogs ok. $2,525/mo West oF parKWay - Rent stabilized 1-bdrm, parquet floors,
in
balcony. 2 months free rent for new tenants $3,195/mo West oF parKWay - Luxury 2-bdrm, 2-bath, 24-hr doorman, pool & tennis courts. 1 month free rent $2,795/mo
$1,850/mo
proFessioNal & oFFice space
exclusive
5715 mosholu ave cc635 3755 hh pKWay - the imperial - Walk-in level doctor’s Bright L-shaped 2-bdrm office with reception area and 2 exam rooms. $360K postwar co-op. Hrdwd flrs, North riverdale - Office Space Available. $1,500/mo South & West expos. $208K
exclusive
coNdo excl
coNdo exclusive
3875 Waldo ave cc640 Charming & updated Jr4 with large dining foyer and sunken living room. $209K
3816 Waldo ave cc643 Contemporary Condo with balcony, modern kitch, lndry in unit, DM & prkg. $640K
445 West 240th st cc637 Postwar 2-bdrm condo with large entry foyer, living rm & windowed kitchen. $375K
exclusive
3515 hh parKWay cc638 Spacious & bright 3-bdrm, 2-bath corner unit. Entry foyer, living rm & renov kitch. $618K
Trebach Realty, Inc. • 3801 Greystone Avenue, Riverdale Open 7 Days • www.TrebachRealty.com
exclusive
611 West 239th st cc645 Spacious split-design, 2-bdrm, 2-bath co-op w/ indoor parking, balcony and doorman. $425K