Riverdale’s ONLY Locally Owned Newspaper!
Volume XXI • Number 9 • February 27-March 5, 2014 •
FREE!
‘Dinky Rink’ closes for season: perhaps forever By RIVERDALE REVIEW STAFF The Van Cortlandt Park Skating Rink, open for little more than a year after considerable controversy, is ending its season over five weeks early this year, cutting back yet another week after the season had already been cut back by a full month. Although a Parks Department spokesperson insisted that the early closing resulted from what they termed was the ice rink concessionaire informing them “that due to the warmer temperatures, they are having difficulties keeping the ice frozen and in anticipation of the much warmer temperatures (last) weekend, they are closing the rink as of today (Friday,February 21st), one week early. We look forward to another rink season beginning this November. According to the initial agreement, the rink was to remain open through the end of March. The Riverdale Review has
learned, however, that the decision to shut the rink down may have resulted more from a lack of business, and not from unusually high temperatures. “This is simply a case of the vendor cutting his losses. The rink has been losing money from day one, and the severe winter, mostly the snow and extreme cold we have seen over the past few weeks has predictably depressed business,” said a person knowledgeable about the project. “The question is whether the current vendor will return, or someone new chosen, or the Parks Department will be forced to run the facility themselves.” Looming in the background is concern by the vendor of the long-term viability of what some have termed the “Dinky Rink.” The construction of the Kingsbridge National Ice Center in the old Kingsbridge Armory will result in a facility far more professional and comfortable that the Van Cortlandt Rink,
Dinowitz hits ‘predatory’ ticketing for angle parking
Bronx residents who have been blasted hard by a winter that won’t quit now have to deal with another onslaught, this time by the city’s traffic agents. Motorists desperate to find parking amid snow mounds have resorted to parallel parking any way they can, sometimes on an angle, as they wait for the Department of Sanitation (DOS) to reinstitute alternate side parking and clear away some of the snow. The
increase in angled parking has resulted in a rash of parking tickets doled out by city traffic enforcement, regardless of the danger posed by the parked car to other drivers, which has drawn the ire of local Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz. “It is an absolute disgrace that some predatory traffic agents with a vulture mentality issued summonses indiscriminately Continued on Page 2
Recent snows have left drivers with few legal options when they park their cars on inadequately plowed streets.
with professional quality indoor facilities and parking. “When KNIC opens, any clear-headed business person can come to just one conclusion, the Van Cortlandt rink has no future.” When the Van Cortandt scheme was hatched, no one could anticipate that KNIC would be approved two years later. “Maybe I’m missing something,” suggested Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz, who was a critic of the process that led to the “secret” approval of the rink
project by the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy during the Bloomberg administration. “But the weather this year certainly hasn’t been excessively warm, but rather reflects the uncertain nature of New York winters. No one should be surprised by anything we have seen thus far,” said Dinowitz. The surprise announcement of the rink two years ago by Mayor Michael Bloomberg was conceived of and promoted by the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy, led by defeated City
Council hopeful Anthony Perez Cassino. Imposed without the usual extensive public review that characterizes such projects in Riverdale, the rink quickly drew skeptical critics. “I always supported the idea of a local rink for our kids,” said Assemblyman Dinowitz. “But a public project on public land should be discussed and debated. That’s how you evolve something that works and has community support. Secret projects become suspect. Ultimately that’s why this project seems to have failed.”
Male nurse charged in nursing home rape By DAVID GREENE Police have arrested a male nurse for the sexual assault of a 64-year old woman who’s unable to speak-- that took place inside a nursing home in Kingsbridge. Officers were called to the Manhattanville Health Care Center, located at 311 W. 231 Street at 1:20 a.m., on Tuesday, February 18. Police sources state that a nurses assistant witnessed the attack and called police. Police immediately took the male nurse, Nanic Aidasani, 42, of Yonkers, NY., into custody. Aidasani was questioned for most of the day at the Special Victims Unit on Simpson Street. The victim was transported by EMS to the New York Presbyterian Hospital’s Allen Pavilion and was reported to be in stable condition. Police say Aidasani has no criminal history and was later charged with second degree attempted rape and sex abuse. Aidasani looked straight ahead as he refused to answer any questions from journalists as detectives placed him in the back seat for his ride to central booking. At his arraignment Aidasani pled not guilty and bail was set at $20,000. One published report stated that Aidasani has worked at the Manhattanville Health Care Center for the last eight months. According to the criminal complaint, the victim was left speechless since a 2005 stroke and also suffers from dementia. In a prepared statement, Manhattanville Health Care Center stated, “We have zero tolerance for abuse of any kind,” and vowed to help police in their investigation.
Meanwhile, police announced the arrest of a second nurse, identified as Rosemarie Brooks, who was charged with abusing
a disabled patient last month at the Bronx Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center on Carpenter Avenue.
Police take suspect Nanic Aidasani into custody for a reported sex assault of a senior at a Kingsbridge nursing home.--Photo by David Greene