Winner of Vol. 71, No. 44
the Pulitzer Prize
Thursday, December 10, 2020
$1.00
What’s inside?
Photo perfect Joshua Abraham prefers not to eat during lunchtime, but instead to capture the beauty around him on film. Page A3
COVID-19’s long shadow HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
Swab fright? But what about kids who aren’t too keen about facing COVID tests on a weekly basis instead of a monthly one? Page A5
While city officials now seem to advocate keeping younger students in classes on physical campuses five days a week instead of just two or three, some schools aren’t in a position to do so. P.S. 24 Spuyten Duyvil and AmPark Neighborhood School — both of which reopened Monday — will not offer this option in the near future.
School doors reopen, for some all week n Some campuses saying good-bye to hybrid learning, hello to five days in-person By ROSE BRENNAN rbrennan@riverdalepress.com
After a little over two weeks of schools offering nothing but remote learning after a spike in coronavirus cases, Mayor Bill de Blasio remains committed to finding a way for some schools to reopen physical campuses. Even encouraging schools that can to let students travel to school five days a week, instead of the two or three found in the existing hybrid learning models. Campuses have reopened under de Blasio’s “phased-in” approach — a plan that as of right now seems somewhat incomplete.
‘For any school that does have the space and the ability to move to five-day-a-week in-person instruction, that will now be the preferred model.’
— Mayor Bill de Blasio
Only students in preschools and elementary schools returned to their physical classrooms on Monday. Students in specialized District 75 schools are set to return Thursday. But there’s not really a plan on deck for the city’s middle and high school students, although de Blasio hinted they might not see the inside of a classroom until the new year.
Campus return comes with conditions The plan to return to campuses has ushered in some new policies and procedures for the city’s public schools, especially as positive coronavirus cases in the city — and across the country — continue to rise. First, the 3 percent threshold for the city’s weekly positive coronavirus test rate that
Holiday cheers
shuttered the public schools last month is going out the window — as preschool and elementary school students returned Monday with the weekly positive test rate hovering around 5 percent. Second, the city called for more extensive coronavirus testing in public schools. While they’re still working some logistics out in terms of how that will happen, two components of the plan are set in stone. First, random coronavirus testing will happen weekly as opposed to monthly. And second, only students whose parents consent to such testing will even be allowed back on campus. Those not willing to be tested will continue to attend classes, just remotely. But it’s de Blasio’s encouragement of school administrators to let students return all week instead of just part of the SCHOOL REOPEN, page A4
Dem club leaders ... forever and ever?
Still looking for that great gift for under the tree? Have all eight nights covered but one? This will help you out. Pages A6-7
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
It’s not clear if the facility simply has been a victim of bad luck, or if there are larger issues at play. But some neighbors and observers are concerned that the Henry Ittleson Center on Iselin Avenue has had four girls disappear from the facility in less than a month.
Another Ittleson Center girl goes missing n Although not verified by cops, some fear human traffickers could be involved By MICHAEL HINMAN & ROSE BRENNAN of The Riverdale Press
Police are still looking for an 11-yearold girl who left a Fieldston-area youth treatment center over the weekend. At the same time, some neighbors are concerned there could be bigger issues inside the Henry Ittleson Center. Deynea Fludd, 11, reportedly left the
Iselin Avenue residential facility just after 9 a.m., on Saturday, according to the New York Police Department. She’s described as Black, 5-foot-5, 120 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. She was last seen wearing a DEyNEA black-and-white jacket, fLUDD blue jeans, red sneakers, and a green durag. Fludd lived at the Ittleson Center, a 32-bed facility run by The Jewish Board that caters to emotionally traumatized
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children between 5 and 13 referred to them by the state’s mental health office, according to its website. While having an occasional resident run away might be expected of such a center, Ittleson is now facing the disappearance of a fourth resident in almost as many weeks. Three other girls had disappeared from the facility Nov. 18, but were found a short time later, police said, although no other details were offered. Hawk Newsome, who describes himself as co-founder of Black Lives Matter New York, stood outside the 50th Precinct on Kingsbridge Avenue the day MISSING GIRL, page A4
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n Bylaw change canceling elections, blamed on COVID-19, just ‘temporary’ By MICHAEL HINMAN mhinman@riverdalepress.com
It didn’t take Michael Heller long to come up with plans not only to ensure the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club could vote on new leadership in January, but endorse someone for Andrew Cohen’s soon-to-be-open city council seat as well. The plan? Borrow heavily from how state officials conduct mail-in voting every election cycle, and award winners simply on who gets the most votes. The problem? The majority of Ben Franklin Club members who showed up to last week’s meeting online were all for backing a city council candidate. They just had no interest in voting on club officers like president, vice president, and the FOREVER LEADERS, page A4
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