Winner of Vol. 76, No.5
What’s inside?
the Pulitzer Prize
Thursday, January 15, 2026
$1.00
Is crime falling a fast as they say? Taking to the streets... again
Nurses’ strike
By MICHELLE MULLEN mmullen@riverdalepress.com
They came from Riverdale and across the city to man picket lines at hospitals like Montefiore. Page A5
Going to the dogs Residents are organizing to demand improvements at the decrepit Seton Park dog run. Page A5
Photo credit
Residents held handmade signs demanding justice for 37-year-old Renee Good on Jan. 11, just days after she was killed by an ICE Agent.
Yet another alleged ICE atrocity mobilizes activists to respond
By MICHELLE MULLEN mmullen@riverdalepress.com
A special teacher After four decades mentoring budding journalists, he’s stepping down. Page 6
Citywide, major crime is down, way down, but the picture is a bit different in the Fiftieth Precinct
Riverdale residents showed up in droves to a vigil honoring Renee Nicole Good, the U.S. citizen fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. On Jan. 11, roughly 250 activists crowded onto sidewalks near Seton Park in a communal call for resistance. Some dressed in black to signal their mourning, others shared outrage with anti-ICE pins tacked to thick winter jackets. The gathering, organized by Northwest Bronx Indivisible, or NWBI, followed years of rallies put on by the group in a fervent push against the Trump Administration. “Rallies like this should happen anyway, but the fact that a woman, an American citizen, was killed, I think just underscored the need for people to
Letters to the editor and commentary on page A10 speak out on what’s going on and the way they’re expanding ICE,” Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said, standing amongst the sea of neighbors. Bystander video of the 37-year-old’s final moments, verified by outlets like Reuters, spread rapidly online shortly after her death, triggering waves of national outcry and days of coast-to-coast protests. “We’re seeing an increase in violence perpetuated by ICE,” Abigail Martin, district leader for Assembly District 81, said at the vigil. “After seeing her
death, neighbors are looking for community and being able to have opposition against what’s happening.” The footage shows Good’s SUV stopped perpendicular on a residential roadway with room for several cars to pass. Two agents are seen exiting a nearby vehicle and advancing toward hers, demanding she “get out of the car.” A third agent joins them. Videos with varying angles of the event analyzed by The New York Times show Good briefly reverse and then pull forward — her wheels turned away from all three agents. One agent, later identified as Jonathan Ross — a long-time federal law enforcement veteran — fired multiple rounds toward the moving vehicle, striking Good. Ross fled the scene shortly after, as Continued on page A5
The NYPD opened the new year with sweeping claims of public safety success, announcing that 2025 marked the safest year ever recorded for gun violence, with the fewest shooting incidents and shooting victims in the city’s history. Officials largely credited precision policing, targeted patrols and expanded gun seizures for the milestone, pointing to sharp drops in robberies and retail theft citywide. But a closer look at crime data from the 50th Precinct, which covers Riverdale, Kingsbridge, Marble Hill, Spuyten Duyvil, Van Cortlandt Village and parts of Kingsbridge Heights, suggests a more layered reality. While the precinct broadly mirrors the citywide decline in major crime, several categories offer a stark contrast. According to precinct data, robbery fell 25 percent from 2024 to 2025, dropping from 138 incidents to 103. Compared with 2023, robberies are down by more than 35 percent, underscoring a sustained decline over multiple years. Burglary declined 20 percent year over year and is down more than 11 percent since 2023, while grand larceny fell 25 percent from 2024 and remains roughly 23 percent lower than two years ago. Auto theft dropped 22 percent, marking one of the most consistent multi-year declines in the precinct. Continue One suspect, seven burglaries to 10 in 2 increase. Those reductions were visible in en-climbed f forcement actions throughout the year. Inpercent r April, the 5-0 reported the arrest of a sus-2023, ho pect linked to seven area burglaries and ar-still remai rested a building superintendent on grand One su larceny charges for illegally renting outon Jan. 2 apartments. NYPD, w The precinct also made vehicle theft aexchange sustained focus. By March it had formedBroadway a dedicated conditions team to addressHouses. thefts of vehicle parts and stolen cars,and one a working overnight with both marked andon attemp unmarked patrols after identifying multipleAnother theft crews operating locally, according toduring a minutes from Community Board 8, or CB8,robbery. public safety meetings. Among Officers conducted vehicle stops, fol-trasts to lowed up on surveillance footage and in-sexual v creased visible enforcement in hot-spotsharply a corridors. In June, officers distributed50th. Rep steering-wheel locks to Honda owners fol-the prec lowing repeated theft complaints . increasing Still, while overall crime declined, sev-in 2024 t eral high-impact offenses rose locally, com-percent ju plicating the citywide narrative. 2023, rape substantia More gun violence nearly 238 That Gun violence, though rare compared toSept. 16 citywide shootings, increased within the& Shop su precinct. Shooting victims rose from sixway, wher Continued on page A4was raped 5:45 a.m. Nicholas him with sault and
Years of complaints force closure of troubled tavern By MICHELLE MULLEN mmullen@riverdalepress.com
For nearly two decades, Fenwick’s Bar, at 432 West 238th St., drew repeated 911 calls and waves of resident complaints over underage drinking and late-night violence in a familiar cycle of promises of change. But after months of escalating disturbances last year, the establishment has finally had its doors shut. Fenwick’s storied history came to a close at the end of December in an NYPD raid following months of escalating disturbances. Even on weeknights, neighbors were often kept awake by the sounds of repeated street fights and drunken shouts — overnight disruptions that often extended into the morning commute. Throughout 2025, multiple neighbors voiced their desperation at Community Board 8’s Parks and Recreation committee meetings, describing patrons routinely leaving the bar between roughly 3 and 10 a.m., visibly intoxicated, holding red plastic cups and getting into cars. Others re-
ported loud music rattling windows, cars double-parked along Waldo Avenue and West 238th Street, and fights spilling onto nearby blocks. Some noted Fenwick’s sits directly across from a family shelter, saying intoxicated patrons were often still congregating outside as children walked to school. “This was happening consistently for months,” one resident said in December at a CB8 public safety meeting. “Every morning during those hours, drunken patrons leave the bar and spill out onto the street. It’s loud, chaotic and unsafe.” In a joint statement, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Councilmember Eric Dinowitz and Bronx Community Board 8, or CB8, said the bar continued to operate even after giving up its license, fueling persistent quality-of-life and safety concerns. “Our offices continued to receive complaints for numerous issues including noise, disorderly conduct and illegal parking,” the statement said. “With the confirmation that the business was operating Continued on page A4
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