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Volume XVIII • Number 51 • December 15 - 21, 2011 •
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Outrage grows over ‘temporary’ rink plan By BRENDAN McHUGH As the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation continues to negotiate with the Ice Rink Events company to bring the borough’s only public skating rink to Van Cortlandt Park, their efforts to appease the community may have only enraged them more. A number of Community Board 8 members have expressed outrage over a new plan for a smaller—”mini”— 29-day rink that skips public scrutiny. “There are a lot of disturbed people,” said one member of the board, who wanted to remain anonymous until the general board meeting Tuesday night, December 13. The meeting at the Riverdale YM/YWHA, which is after press time, is the community board’s best chance to collect public input on the skating rink. The board scheduled—and subsequently cancelled—five meetings over the past few months as they
attempted to hold a public forum to discuss the larger, 15-year rink. However, with very few details, they did not want to hold a meeting. Community Board 8 has a resolution they plan to vote on during Tuesday night’s meeting that, if passed, would say the board “deplores DPR’s decision to circumvent the public-review process.” Another board member speculated that a different resolution could be submitted that would go further, possibly calling for the “mini-rink” project to be abandoned altogether. Instead of the 15-year seasonal rink, which the city wants to install eventually, this proposal is for 29 days only, scheduled through a city permit. Because it would be a one-time event, the city wouldn’t need any approval from the public. Questions have been raised as to where the money for the truncated program is coming from,
with some suggesting that it is the Bloomberg Foundation that is footing the bill so the mayor won’t lose face. Some of the information that has come out pertaining to this smaller rink has been about costs. Skate rental would be $5, and admission would range between $5 and $8. Operating hours on Sunday through Thursday would be10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. For comparison, the Murray Memorial Skating Rink in Yonkers has $4 skate rental and $7 admission, while their hours vary greatly day to day. The biggest difference between the two facilities, besides the size of the rinks, is that Murray’s is semi-indoors while the Bronx rink would be outdoors, next to the elevated No. 1 train. There is free parking at Murray’s, while the Bronx facility would depend on scarce street parking, enforced by Continued on Page 3
RKA full of pride at first ever pep rally
Students were beaming with Tiger pride last week at the Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy’s first ever pep rally. Hundreds of students packed the auditorium and gymnasium to celebrate their athletic teams’ upcoming seasons. Pictured here are (left to right): Lindsey Crowe, Courtney Segal, Karla Rehren Marincov, and Sergio Prado.
By BRENDAN McHUGH Tiger pride roared in Riverdale last week. The Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy held its first-ever pep rally on Friday, and the students showed up with all the school spirit they had. Hundreds of students packed the school’s auditorium, chanting for their school so loudly it was nearly deafening. And despite the loss to Mott Haven, 80-72, in boys’ basketball later that day, the entire event proved to be an RKA victory. “I’m just so glad I was able to celebrate with the kids,” beamed Principal Lori O’Mara after the rally, calling it a “fantastic time.” The students seemed to have a fantastic time as well. Many of them had body paint, with a trio of girls painting the letters RKA on their stomachs. Those who chose to keep it more conservative had on temporary tattoos of blue tigers or simply some blue and gold face paint. Students and teachers walked around with shiny blue and gold capes, and others simply walked around waving pom-poms. “It was epic,” said RKA student Maggie Burke. “The pep rally just showed how much Tiger pride we have,” chimed in fellow student Melissa Wright. During the event, the wrestling team, the cheerleaders and both basketball teams paraded on stage and were each introduced to the crowd. The wrestling team guaranteed both city and state championships. RKA wrestling had a 9-0 record in the regular season last year but eventually lost in the playoffs to a Staten Island Continued on Page 2