Winner of Vol. 71, No. 29
the Pulitzer Prize
Thursday, August 27, 2020
$1.00
Not mailing it in
Biaggi fights Trump’s post office changes By KIRSTYN BRENDLEN BACk TO
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CoVID-19 In the age of SECTION B 27, 2020 Thursday, August
COVID Schools There hasn’t been an upcoming academic year like the one we’re about to see in more than a century. But how will schools reopen in a COVID-19 world? We have all the answers here. Section B
kbrendlen@riverdalepress.com
When postal delivery grinded to a halt during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, many customers with empty mailboxes were quick to forgive, since the virus was keeping many workers home. Still, it was tough to manage. Post offices closed at odd hours, and for those waiting at home or at their business, mail arrived days late, if at all. When post offices were open, they often were short staffed, subject to long lines and limited service. Mail has slowed down almost to a stop once again, and this time the country might not be able to blame COVID-19. Instead many — especially those leaning to the Democratic side of the aisle — believe service problems boil down to one person:
Louis DeJoy, the new postmaster general. A longtime ally of President Trump, DeJoy took over in mid-June what was supposed to be a self-funding federal service, but instead was one already struggling with funding and slow delivery. DeJoy quickly an- AleSSAnDrA BIAggI nounced service changes and cutbacks, saying that they were necessary to bring the post office back into the black. Cutting funding to what is often the cheapest and most relied-upon mail services in the country was troubling enough, but concerns grew even more so as the country prepares for the November elec-
tion — an election that will rely heavily on mail-in ballots in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Fighting back against the changes, at least 20 states and the District of Columbia have filed suit against USPS and DeJoy. Another lawsuit, filed jointly by 16 plaintiffs — including state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi — was filed against DeJoy and Trump on Aug. 17. The suit alleges Trump and DeJoy have “set about to ensure USPS cannot reliably deliver election mail,” and says states can’t — and should not — ignore the problem. Days earlier, USPS told many states it was not equipped to handle the crush of last-minute absentee ballots expected to filter through its network, urging voters to request and return their ballots early to al-
low for longer delivery times. Some Democrats have accused Trump of using the DeJoy appointment to deliberately undermine the postal service, making it more difficult for voters to cast their ballots by mail. Trump has called mail-in voting prone to fraud, although he has not provided any evidence to support the claim. Instead, Democrats believe a larger voter turnout will play in their favor in an important election year — and say Trump’s efforts to throttle the USPS shows he believes the same thing. “We’re months away from a general election, a general presidential election, during a pandemic,” Biaggi said. “And so, sitting idly by while the president and the postmaster general are undermining the post office was not something I could do. POSTAL, page A4
A march on Broadway
Sports trivia
By KIRSTYN BRENDLEN
So, um, when can we expect to go and watch our kids play on a team once again? Page A9
kbrendlen@riverdalepress.com
nOAH BenUS
More than 200 law enforcement supporters march up Broadway from the 50th Precinct offices in Kingsbridge to Van Cortlandt Park last Friday in response to the Black lives Movement. The march and rally was organized by former nYPD officer and former congressional candidate Sammy ravelo.
Blue Lives rally takes hard turn red Testing 1,2,3 If there’s no SAT and no ACT, then how will colleges know who to invite to enroll in classes? Page A11
Should Cohen have stayed on the council?
By MICHAEL HINMAN mhinman@riverdalepress.com
Nearly three months to the day George Floyd died during an arrest by Minneapolis police officers, protesters took to the streets again in the Midwest, this time in defense of Jacob Blake, a Black man witnesses say was shot multiple times in the back by a Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officer at point blank range. As of Tuesday, Blake remained in stable condition — although there are concerns he could be permanently paralyzed — and the two officers involved in the shooting are on leave. Just days before, however, there was a much different protest a lot closer to home.
‘These guys took an oath to serve and protect. And Mayor de Blasio is putting walking targets on their backs.’
— Mary Muldoon
Led by former congressional primary candidate Sammy Ravelo, they chanted as they marched from the 50th Precinct headquarters on Kingsbridge Avenue, up Broadway and into Van Cortlandt Park, demanding attention be paid not to people like Floyd, Blake and even Breonna Taylor who died or were seriously injured at the hands of police
in recent months, but to protecting the police officers themselves. Ravelo, himself a former member of the New York Police Department, feels the role of law enforcement is often skewed in the media and by detractors, and that his Blue Lives Matter march — referencing the common color associated with police officers — was a perfect response to recent Black Lives Matter protests, including a recent one at the 50th Precinct. “Obviously, the rise in violence that we’re seeing in the Bronx, and the lack of respect that has been shown to our officials and law enforcement officials — coupled with the fact that the silent majority are personally, what I see being a son of the Bronx — have BLUE LIVES, page A4
For people like Dan Padernacht and Eric Dinowitz, after two years of running campaigns that seemed to have no end in sight, watching the man you want to succeed finally step aside must be a welcome relief. But for Jessica Haller, she’s actually unhappy — even though votjeSSICA ers will decide HAller sooner than expected on who will succeed Andrew Cohen on the city council. “You are the Democratic Party,” Haller said of the county organization that nominated Cohen to become a judge on the Bronx supreme court. “This isn’t about Andy. You know that this district is represented by someone, who — to use Eliot Engel’s language — has a contract with us. He has a contract with us until the end of next year. So why are you taking him out of his role?” Cohen’s move to the bench was likely one of the Bronx’s worst-kept secrets. In fact, many had anticipated Cohen would COHEN, page A4
ConEd’s Isaias response won’t win them any awards By KIRSTYN BRENDLEN kbrendlen@riverdalepress.com
It was about mid-day on Aug. 4 when lights started to flicker out across New York City. Tropical Storm Isaias, the ninth named storm of the 2020 hurricane season, flooded streets and sidewalks, and downed trees and power lines with winds upward of 50 mph. That created some dark parts of the city, especially in the Bronx, where Con Edison estimates some 23,000 households, buildings and businesses in the borough lost power. One day without power is inconvenient, but not the end of the world. But as customers started reaching out for help, they
heard expected to wait times upward of eight days for power to be restored. Temperatures on some days were in the 90s, and with many people still working from home, there weren’t many other places to go. Elected officials, all the way up to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, criticized ConEd immediately. While crews seemingly were out in abundance, working to restore broken poles and wires, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz thought ConEd was just too far behind. “I can appreciate that there may have been a lot of damage, but much of this destruction could have been prevented had Con Edison buried their aboveground power lines years ago,” Dinowitz said, in a reISAIAS RESPONSE, page A4
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Tropical Storm Isaias downed hundreds of trees as it swept the northeast, including one near Sedgwick Avenue, which took down power lines and crushed a parked car. More than 20,000 Bronx customers lost power, according to Con edison, leaving families without lights, air conditioning, or refrigeration for days.