Winner of Vol. 71, No. 27
What’s inside?
the Pulitzer Prize
Thursday, August 13, 2020
$1.00
Cohen heads to bench, council race heats up Special election to pick new council member could come next March
Meet Abigail Martin, the latest to join race. Page A9
By MICHAEL HINMAN & KIRSTYN BRENDLEN of The Riverdale Press
Grab a book Kingsbridge’s library is once again open, but checking something out is a lot different than you might remember. Page A3
Open for business Johnson Ave. is using the great weather and low traffic to create a new summer experience. Page A6
Doctor is waiting COVID-19 has made people squeamish about seeing the doctor. But that could be a bad thing. Page A8
If it feels like Joe Biden has been campaigning to replace Donald Trump for a long time, he has. The former vice president officially announced his presidential campaign April 25, 2019, and now with just 80 days or so to go before the election, Biden is in the home stretch. Yet, when Biden was just getting started, two men had already been on the campaign trail for nearly a year. Dan Padernacht and Eric Dinowitz launched their campaigns in Summer 2018, seeking not the White House, but a place in city hall. The councilman they want to replace, Andrew Cohen, wasn’t due to finish his last term until 2021. But that didn’t stop the lawyer and educator, both of whom expected Cohen to step down early, triggering a special election. And Cohen would have done just that
JULIUS CONSTANTINE MOTAL / File
Councilman Andrew Cohen has now found himself on the November ballot — not in a return to his city council seat, but instead as one of the Bronx County’s newest supreme court judges. Cohen’s move to the bench could open the door for a special election to replace him downtown as early as November, but more likely next spring. if he had been nominated for the Bronx supreme court bench. Except it didn’t happen in 2018. Nor 2019. Dinowitz and Padernacht continued on, however, picking up some additional challengers along the way
like Dionel Then, Jessica Haller and now Abigail Martin. Patience has paid off. On Monday, the Bronx Democratic County Committee nominated Cohen and two civil court
judges to supreme court seats. All three are expected to win the general election in November, since Democrats have what seems like an almost absolute majority in the Bronx. But it also means all five candidates who, so far, seek to replace Cohen can now officially get under way. “You know, I’m coming toward the end of my city council term,” Cohen told The Riverdale Press after the Bronx Democrats made his nomination to the bench official. “This has been an aspiration since I went to law school. I’m really very, very excited. I’m a little overwhelmed. It’s going to be an awesome responsibility.” Knowing that the bench is all but guaranteed, Cohen could step down from his council seat right now, triggering a special election maybe even around the same time voters cast ballots to have Cohen fitted for a black robe. That could be good news for Eric Dinowitz, son of Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who has been a longtime ally of Cohen, back when Cohen worked as a Dinowitz COHEN BENCH, page A4
Six months later, SAR ready for reopening? By ROSE BRENNAN rbrennan@riverdalepress.com
Rabbi Tully Harcsztark probably didn’t think much of the 6 a.m. phone call he received last March. Little did he know it would herald the beginning of an unprecedented public health crisis that would ultimately close down the state. On the other end of the phone was a parent with bad news: One of his students at Salanter Akiba Riverdale High School tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. And as its principal, he made a decision he never thought he would have to make: Harcsztark closed the school down. Now, more than six months later, that same school — and schools across the city — are itching to reopen for the fall. But are they ready? Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave the OK for New York schools to reopen for the upcoming academic year, provided those SAR REOPEN, page A4
JULIUS CONSTANTINE MOTAL / File
SAR Academy and SAR High School were among the first schools in New York to close due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, both are looking to reopen — although not without some major modifications to both the buildings and how classrooms are conducted.
These goats could be Vannie’s GOAT Programs are here, B money not By MAYA KATZ
Intern
erries are nice and tasty, but burdock and porcelain berries are not what you want as part of a park’s ecosystem. Yet, those invasive plant species have long plagued the eastern side of the Van Cortlandt House Museum grounds. And while poison ivy may not affect this particular part ‘The goats are of Van Cortlandt Park, those something allergic reactionpositive and causing plants have prevented happy — walkers from moving freely on these which we grounds. could all use Luckily for Vannie, however, right now.’ there is a secret — Christina Taylor weapon. A few of them, in fact, going by names like Iris, Manny and Lulu. They’re not summer high school interns — although many of them have spent time picking out weeds from the area. No, this is help coming in a bit of a different form: goats. No, not GOAT — “greatest of all time,” although these goats could be GOATs. But actual plant chomping, bleating goats. Setting goats loose on the invaders was something Riverside Park tried last summer, and it seemed to work. So much that this year, Christina Taylor decided it was time to give it a try at Vannie. Taylor, the programs and operations director for the Van Cortlandt Park Alli-
By KIRSTYN BRENDLEN kbrendlen@riverdalepress.com
Courtesy of Christina Taylor
As of July 24, Iris, left, and Manny have been eating the invasive species on the eastern side of the Van Cortlandt House Museum grounds. The goats have been more effective than humans when it comes to getting rid of invasive species. ance, found some help from Green Goats — a collective of retired dairy goats and family pets who typically make their home in the Dutchess County community of Rhinebeck. A pair of goats have been eating away at the invasive species on the eastern side of the Van Cortlandt House Museum since the end of June. These plants might be tasty for goats, but they’ve hindered the growth of grass
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and trees in this particular area. “The farmers from Green Goats told us that for two growing seasons in a row, the goats will not only eat all of the invasive species, but they will eat roots and get rid of the seed source,” Taylor said. “And our problem will be solved.” That means in two years with the goats filling their bellies between July and late September, Van Cortlandt will once again GOATS, page A4
It hasn’t been an easy summer financially for anyone — businesses, restaurants and families all have struggled as unemployment rates skyrocketed, and a slow economic reopening leaves some scraping for the revenue that now seems like a distant memory before the coronavirus pandemic. The struggle isn’t just at businesses, however. While the nonprofit industry might not be known as one generally flush with cash, some — like the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center on Kingsbridge Terrace — are struggling more than ever as payments from city and state coffers have slowed to a crawl. “You know, we always sort of battle with the city on various issues,” said Margaret Della, KHCC’s executive director. “All things considered, they’ve been paying us relatively on time.” But not anymore. For example, one five-year state contract funds KHCC’s after-school program, hosted at P.S. 207 on Godwin Terrace, KHCC, page A4