Winner of Vol. 71, No. 25
What’s inside?
the Pulitzer Prize
Thursday, July 30, 2020
$1.00
Union workers want jobs back at Key Food New owner won’t show herself as old employees demand justice from her By KIRSTYN BRENDLEN kbrendlen@riverdalepress.com
Prison slop? Manhattan College has signed on a new food distributor that has some students upset. Page A5
For years, the Key Food grocery store at the Skyview Shopping Center in North Riverdale has been subject to criticism. Customers have found an outlet on social media to complain about old food, wet floors and crumbling ceiling tiles on what almost seems like a daily basis. And at least a few times a year, rumors begin to circulate the Key Food is getting ready to close forever. The super market did just that on July 6. Customers showed up that Monday morning to find the doors locked and its inventory cleared out. Franchise owners Kevin and Jamie Luna would later share how rent had simply become too much. But it wasn’t forever. Braun Management, Skyview’s landlord, promised a new super market would open within two
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
Luca Negrino, a retail store union representative, hands out flyers in front of Key Food in North Riverdale last week while shouting ‘Key Food unjustly fired over 20 employees’ to shoppers and passers-by. weeks. That led to a lot of community speculation as to what would go in there. Could Garden Gourmet expand its popular Broadway location? Could Trader Joe’s finally set up shop? It didn’t take two weeks for the store to reopen — just a few days. And customers
were welcome back into a grocery store that, seemingly overnight, transformed from a Key Food to … a Key Food. But this Key Food was different. It has a new owner — one who refuses to share her name with The Riverdale Press, and refused to comment for this story. And it no longer
Hunger can’t wait
Great outdoors still ‘great’ for our classrooms? By ROSE BRENNAN
Too early to vote?
rbrennan@riverdalepress.com
It worked great as an outdoor shelter for The Riverdale Y’s Sunday Market, but could the “arcade” at Riverdale/ Kingsbridge Academy be enough to help get more students back into the classroom this fall? Stacy Sewell doesn’t think so. She has a child entering sixth grade at the West 235th Street school this year, yet while the arcade might not be good for teaching, it could have other uses. “This is a tremendous space that so many schools don’t have,” Sewell said. “The lunchroom is right inside from this arcade. Could you not bring the tables out so the kids can have lunch outside?” Preparing for the upcoming academic year looks quite different this year JEFFREy compared to the past, the threat of the DINOWItz ongoing coronavirus pandemic forcing administrators to search for more space to accommodate students in all aspects of school life that marries both social distancing and education. The task is proving a bit more difficult than expected, especially when perfectly adequate spaces for these alternate sites exist, but can’t be used for one reason or another. One such space is RKA’s “arcade,” an outdoor but sheltered area. It’s also quite large, which could allow for physical distancing. But there’s a problem with using the arcade space — and it’s not because it’s outside. Since April, the area has been covered in scaffolding as part of ongoing renovations GREAT OUTDOORS, page A4
We might be thinking about presidents, but there’s another election that’s finally starting to gain steam. Page A3
Flan rising Roadblocks may have slowed the opening of Claudy’s Kitchen, but it won’t stop it. Page A8
employed 21 people who just happened to also be members of Local 338 of the Retail, Wholesale, Department Store Union. Those employees may not be welcomed inside the store anymore, but that hasn’t stopped some of them from making regular visits to the parking lot, protesting what they say was an unlawful — yet successful — attempt at union busting. Francisco Montes has worked at Key Food for 28 years, starting back when it was known as A&P. Throughout that time, he was known as the man behind the vegetables, grown all over the world. “My job there was a produce manager,” Montes said. “Ever since I came here, I came as a produce manager. I have worked with all three different companies, and so many managers have come into the store.” He and other long-term employees had always moved between owners and managers without a problem, he said. And while he had felt less enthusiastic about some owners and managers, he had formed connections with the community. “I try to give all the customers the best of what they deserve,” Montes said. “It’s KEY FOOD, page A4
Courtesy of Este Gardner
Lucy Mercado is the head of the food bank at the Episcopal Church of the Mediator on West 231st St., where — despite the coronavirus pandemic —meals continue to be served as well as bagged groceries for those in need.
Mediator members just keep on giving, even through pandemics By MAYA KATZ Intern
T
he coronavirus pandemic has a way of making people feel disconnected from others. But the Episcopal Church of the Mediator has actively worked to turn that around, led by new pastor, the Rev. Este Gardner. Gardner joined the congregation after leading churches in California just before the pandemic hit New York, and immediately started dividing members into prayer groups of four or five people with the idea each group could call each other and pray over the phone. Gardner also does her best to call as many people as she can. Every Sunday, the West 231st Street church hosts two services on the online video conferencing app Zoom — one in Spanish, the other in English. After services, the Zoom call is open for a coffee hour, giving everyone a chance to talk to each other. The virtual Bible study on Wednesday evenings joins overall community activities designed to keep
congregants involved. But what about getting food out to the needy? Mediator has operated a food bank for as long as many people could remember, staffed by a group of volunteers who tended to be older. But those same volunteers became vulnerable in a new pandemic “normal,” threatening to discontinue this service, at least temporarily. Luckily, however, younger congregants have come to Gardner’s aid, led by Lucy Mercado. “We had these young and very caring congregants who came to me and said, ‘We have to feed the people,’” Gardner said. “And I said, ‘If we can do it safely, then I am all for it.’” So the volunteers opened the gate to the street, placing a few tables in between the servers — who wore masks — and the public to help maintain proper social distancing. That allowed volunteers to fill grocery bags and put meals on the tables. This has continued each Friday when food bank volunteers collect donations between 5 and 7 p.m. Donations are accepted as long as they’re not canned MEDIATOR, page A4
3220 Arlington Avenue
JUST LISTED ALISON BARTLETT // 917.379.2045
Bowman looks to get into some ‘good trouble’ By ROSE BRENNAN rbrennan@riverdalepress.com
When John Lewis was beaten by the police during what had started as a peaceful protest in Alabama on March 7, 1965 — a day later known as “Bloody Sunday” — he was essentially a second-class citizen in his own country. And he probably didn’t think that same country would one day fly its flags at half-mast in his honor. But that’s exactly what happened. Leading the Selma-to-Montgomery marches wasn’t the only thing Lewis was known for. He was the youngest speaker at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 — the same gathering in front of the Lincoln Memorial that included Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. He once chaired the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and was one of the 13 original JAMAAL Freedom Riders — a group which protestbOWMAN ed segregation in the Jim Crow-era South. But those who don’t remember John Lewis as the takeno-prisoners civil rights advocate certainly know him as a congressman — a decades-long career that ended July 17 after succumbing to pancreatic cancer. He was 80. Lewis served 17 terms as the representative from Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District — nearly 35 years. His legacy of civil rights was no mystery to his congresGOOD TROUBLE, page A4
4705 Henry Hudson Pkwy
4601 Henry Hudson Pkwy