Vol. 76, No. 7
Thursday, January 29, 2026
$1.00
Ben Franklin Club endorses Dinowitz and Torres
What’s inside?
By Olivia Young oyoung@riverdalepress.com
Con Edison hikes
Officials condemn utility price spikes Page A3
Michelle Mullen
Devon Valentin-Dixon’s debut solo exhibit is displayed throughout An Beal Bocht Café, including both sketches and finished products.
one man’s trash is an artist’s treasure By Michelle Mullen mmullen@riverdalepress.com
snow laughing matter Winter storm blankets Riverdale Page A6
Violence prevention Activist aims to uplift Kingsbridge Page A3
For years, Devon ValentínDixon held onto the early versions of her work that most artists discard — rough sketches, color tests, post-it notes and preliminary drafts. Those materials are now on display in her debut solo exhibition, “Honoring the Scraps,” on view at An Beal Bocht Café through Feb. 1. The Bronx-born artist presents finished paintings alongside their earliest iterations, inviting viewers to consider the imperfections and in-between stages that are typically hidden from public view. “I really love the process, and I love saving the beginnings of things,” Valentín-Dixon said. “Sometimes I overwork things, or I overthink things, and it’s nice to know where you started. It’s nice to see where you were before something became what it is.” The exhibition includes large canvases paired with small studies mounted in gold frames, some no larger than a post-it note. Several works are displayed alongside the sketches or photo references they were based on, emphasizing the shift from observation to paint and the decisions that shape a final image. Among the largest works in the show is “You Were Made for Me,” a painting that grew out of an unconventional,
unusually shaped canvas Valentín-Dixon found outdoors. “I didn’t know what to do with it,” she said. “I was holding it upside down for a while, like a teardrop.” The finished piece depicts a chrome-colored arm holding a bouquet of flowers, an interpretation of a photograph the artist took of her husband holding the arrangement. “I was like, ‘You were made for me — you were manufactured for me,’” she said, explaining the contrast between the organic flowers and the metallic hand. Early sketches and color tests for the piece are displayed nearby, revealing how the image shifted through multiple iterations. Another work, “Unmoved by a Miracle,” is based on a photograph Valentín-Dixon took while traveling in Japan. The painting depicts a man seated by a train window, absorbed in his phone as a spectacular sight looms just outside the frame. “He paid for the window seat, and you could see Mount Fuji, and he didn’t look up once,” she said. “It drove me nuts, which is something we all do. We’re jaded.” Several smaller works in the exhibition originate from figure-drawing studies Valentín-Dixon completed while sketching in museums. Pieces titled “Venus” and “Martinique trEAsurE, page A4
Olivia Young
Arnie Adler’s “A Baker’s Dozen” exhibition will be on display through March 6.
riverdale photographer turned breadmaker returns to his roots By Olivia Young oyoung@riverdalepress.com Arnie Adler, a 69 year old man with a deep background in photography, has been largely consumed by bread making since the COVID-19 pandemic. But in a gallery space on West 236th Street, he hosted an opening for his exhibition “A Bakers Dozen,” showcasing 13 images from a lifetime behind the camera. Adler’s close friends and family members drifted through Gallery 505 on Jan. 22, a part of the Kingsbridge Riverdale Van Cortlandt Development Corporation, enjoying wine, artwork and homemade sourdough with a rosemary and olive crust. Soft chatter and laughter filled the room, as some guests lingered in front of six portraits hung near the door frame. The close-up, vibrant photographs of children’s faces are a few of the hundreds that make up Adler’s “1000 Faces of Riverdale” project. Around 2011, Adler approached the Riverdale Y with the idea to capture those involved with the organization. The director at the time, Marti Michael,
suggested the project could be more expansive, so Adler started attending street fairs, inviting neighbors of all ages to be photographed. Adler told The Press when it came to his portraits, he always prioritized a connection with the subject. “People used to talk about photographers stealing a soul, but I always felt that a good portrait had a little bit of both the subject and the photographer’s soul in it,” he said. For 1,000 Faces of Riverdale, Adler drew on what he felt were four distinct communities in Riverdale — “the geriatrics, the very affluent, the working class, the college kids” — saying though there was no animosity between these circles, they barely knew the other one existed. The project aimed to create something that put these community members into “one giant pot.” Some photos included in the exhibition were still life, such as a detailed black-andwhite image of an orchid’s roots. Others, like one of an elderly woman smiling into the camera, her arm resting on a piece of furniture, were commissioned by families. rEturns, page A4
The Ben Franklin Reform Democratic Club, a political organization embedded in the community since 1960, endorsed several candidates for reelection ahead of June’s Democratic primaries. The group announced it was backing Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz, Rep. Ritchie Torres, Rep. Adriano Espaillat and state Sen. Jamaal Bailey on Jan. 23 — standing with incumbents as opposed to some of their more progressive challengers. Petitioning for signatures needed to get candidates on the ballot will begin on Feb. 24, a process that the club said traditionally results in the greatest number of signees for Bronx candidates. A week and a half before endorsements were announced, the club held a private Zoom meeting in which candidates were given five minutes each to make their case and answer questions from members. Dinowitz, who is being challenged by educator and activist Morgan Evers, emerged with the greatest number of votes. According to the club, 97 percent of members leaned in his favor. The assemblymember has held the seat since 1994, and recounted how Vietnam War protests and picketlines urging the passage of the Civil Rights Act shaped his political views. “For all of the years since then, what I’ve done is I’ve worked in our neighborhoods,” he said. “I never had the ambition to run for mayor or Congress, I wanted to stay in my community.” Dinowitz said despite the amount of time he’s ser ved, he feels more “energized than ever,” later adding “the club has always been my strongest base of support.” The next most popular candidate was Torres, with 96 percent of the votes. The congressman has been in office since 2021, and represented Riverdale since 2023 after redistricting. EndorsEmEnt, page A4
GARY JEAN-JUSTE
Rep. Ritchie Torres has served as a congressman since 2021, and represented Riverdale since 2023 after redistricting.
Protestors condemn Citizens Bank over private prison investments By Michelle Mullen mmullen@riverdalepress.com Dedicated activists rallied outside a Citizens Bank branch on West 235th Street, urging the financial institution to divest from for-profit prison operators that run dozens of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, detention centers. Citizens Financial Group continues to finance two private correctional firms, including the GEO Group, which operates the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania. The facility, one of the largest ICE detention centers in the nation, is where John F. Kennedy Campus student Dylan Lopez Contreras has been detained for more than six months. Contreras was arrested in May of last year after appearing for a mandatory immigration hearing at 26 Federal Plaza. In September, a New Jersey immigration judge denied his asylum claim and ordered his deportation. His attorneys have since filed an appeal, and he remains in ICE custody as his case proceeds. “People know the story of Dylan Con-
treras, four hours away from his family,” said Lois Harr, who led the protest. “Then we came to find out how the GEO Group — and also another group called CoreCivic — they have contracts with ICE, but they also need additional funding because they operate for-profit prisons.” Contreras fled Venezuela and entered the United States in April 2024 using the CBP One app, a Biden-era humanitarian program intended to provide a lawful pathway for migrants from unstable countries. Subsequent shifts in federal policy complicated his asylum case, including a move by President Trump to revoke legal status for individuals who entered the country using the program. Riverdale residents pushing for divestment say the system holding Contreras is part of a much larger detention framework, with the vast majority of people in ICE custody held in facilities run by for-profit companies. ICE contracts with private corporations to operate detention centers, build new facilities and transport people in custody. BAnkprotEst, page A4
Michelle Mullen
Despite the frigid weather, residents gathered outside Citizen Bank to spread the word about the financial institution’s private prison funding.