Winner of Vol. 71, No. 7
What’s inside?
Corona active? Is it still possible to be an activist if it’s impossible to bring people together? Some groups are finding that out. Page A3
Is it all over? It wasn’t supposed to end this way for many sports teams, but the coronavirus has claimed key memories. Page A11
the Pulitzer Prize
Thursday, March 26, 2020
$1.00
... AND THE WORLD PAUSES COVID-19 hits hard, restaurants ask for help By KIRSTYN BRENDLEN kbrendlen@riverdalepress.com
In a period of just over two weeks, New York City businesses have had to think fast as Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio moved to enforce social distancing in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 in the city. Restaurants were among the first to face restrictions with dining rooms maxed out at half-capacity before closing altogether for takeout and delivery only. Days later, businesses deemed as “non-essential” were closed. Yet finding enough demand to keep kitchens going has been difficult for restaurants not just around the city, but in the northwest Bronx as well. Many of these eateries, struggling with the new restrictions, decided to simply close entirely until life begins to return to some semblance of normalcy. Kingsbridge Social Club, Bronx Ale House and Moss Café are among those on the hopefully temporarily closed lists. Emily Weisberg posted a message on Moss Café’s website saying she hoped that by closing on March 18, she would be “a few hours ahead” of a statewide decision ordering non-essential businesses to shut down. On the café’s last day open, custom-
JULIUS CONSTANTINE MOTAL
A pedestrian walks to Starbucks on Johnson Avenue to find it has closed, a corporate victim of the coronavirus pandemic. ers were welcome to come in not only to purchase coffee and pastries, but also to take free eggs, dairy and prepared foods the café no longer needed. Frida Tacos has only been open on Mosholu Avenue since mid-February. On March 22, owner Seydi Farciert posted on Facebook the restaurant would close temporarily to ensure the safety of employees and customers alike. Like many of its peers, Frida Tacos had
hoped to survive on takeout and delivery, but the new business took a hit immediately, said owner Jason Farciert. On a normal weekend, the restaurant had three employees on the floor and four in the kitchen, Farciert said, but he didn’t need that many simply by filling takeout and delivery orders. Ultimately, after about a week, the Farcierts decided to close. “We just didn’t want to take the risk any
more of a customer not knowing they have it, bringing it in, and then me spreading it to the staff and the staff spreading it to their families,” Farciert said of the SARSCoV-2 virus, which can cause COVID-19. “For the well-being of the staff and the community, I just had to close.” Doing so, however, has been “very stressful and sad,” Farciert added. Another local Riverdale Avenue hangRESTAURANTS, page A4
School’s back in session Hero almost didn’t live to tell story
Primary helping
By KIRSTYN BRENDLEN kbrendlen@riverdalepress.com
W
Some state lawmakers have a plan to help get ballots cast ... eventually. Page A10 JULIUS CONSTANTINE MOTAL
Hanadi Awwad, a kindergarten teacher at P.S. 207, center, talks with Gregory Stevens as she prepares a supply bag for a student. The school has worked to provide not just meals but a wealth of learning materials, including iPads students can use to get remote access to classrooms following the closure of schools citywide in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Teachers support each other, students By KIRSTYN BRENDLEN kbrendlen@riverdalepress.com
It took days of back-and-forth. But on Sunday, March 15, the announcement was made: Public schools in New York City were closing until at least the end of April. And hopefully, by then, the pandemic involving the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could be a part of classrooms’ history lessons. But first, it was a new reality for principals, teachers and students. Beginning on St. Patrick’s Day, many teachers reported to their closed schools for three days of training in how to instruct their students remotely. Then, on March 23, it all had to go into practice, as the nation’s largest school system went from an in-person classroom envi-
ronment, to one streamed over the internet. Training was a crash course for teachers in more ways than one. While both the city’s education department and the United Federation of Teachers union worked to provide everything the teachers needed — even with only a day’s notice — teachers and administrators found themselves picking up the gauntlet of providing instruction to their colleagues. “There really wasn’t much training, to be honest with you,” said one area teacher who asked not to be named. “There wasn’t much training because the information that was being put out by the DOE and the UFT, they were coordinating the information, somehow just didn’t translate to the school. I don’t know what happened.” Teachers who were more familiar with
technologies like Google Classroom, or math applications, or videos, tried to share that knowledge with their coworkers. “Everyone is extremely overwhelmed and stressed,” the teacher said. “We all are not only dealing with our own personal anxiety, but also worrying about our own children and their families. Are they going to eat, if they’re going to have what they need to get through this.” Eating was one of the reasons officials hesitated to close schools for so long. All students attending public schools in the city are eligible for free breakfast and lunch, and hundreds of thousands of students rely on school for at least one meal. To fill the gap during the week of training, students were able to pick up “grab-andTEACHERS, page A4
eeks before life turned upside-down for everyone, life changed dramatically for the residents of 215 W. 242nd St. A one-alarm fire broke out on the morning of March 6, bringing everyone out of their apartments — some out of a home entirely. Even amid the turmoil and confusion of the fire, those who had gathered on the street in front of the building had one person to thank: Josh. Josh Pizarro, that is. The 30-year-old became a resident JOSH hero for these PIzArrO neighbors after running back into the building to ensure everyone in harm’s way of the flames and mostly smoke were able to get out. “He started going up the building instead of going down,” said Ammar Ammari, a building resident, told The Riverdale Press at the time. “When they took him out the building, he wasn’t breathing.” Once Pizarro had escaped his first-floor apartment, he realized his neighbors didn’t know a fire had broken out below them, so he ran back into the building. “I woke up and I stepped out HERO, page A4
4601 HENRY HUDSON PKWY, APT. A15 4 Beds // 4.5 Baths // $915,000 Alison Bartlett // 917.379.2025
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