Winner of Vol. 71, No. 34
the Pulitzer Prize
Thursday, October 1, 2020
What’s inside?
$1.00
One-room schoolhouse
Just walk this way How much of an impact are you having on the environment? A shoe strike helps find out. Page A3
CB8 chair stands
Doing school work in the dining room each night is a family affair for the Lynches since the start of remote learning, including, from left, mom Joelle, along with Bailee, 13; Nicolas Jr., 14; Carter, 8; and Nolan-Louis, 9.
Laura Spalter is adjusting fine to her new job leading the community board in a new and trying era. Page A8
By ROSE BRENNAN
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN
Class struggle stresses parents, teachers rbrennan@riverdalepress.com
Remote learning at Joelle Lynch’s home is nothing short of a logistical nightmare. Her five children — all public school students — sit around a table at the family home, each in their respective “classes,” but nevertheless just inches from their siblings trying to learn their own material. The usual distractions present themselves daily. The family dog sometimes makes guest appearances during remote sessions, drawing the attention of the younger children. The internet stream can
This unorthodox and frustrating start to the academic year was due to Mayor Bill de Blasio once again delaying inperson classes just a few days before they were set to start. buckle under the pressure of five people using it at once, inevitably causing it to stop working for one or more of them. And sometimes the online videoconferencing app is down completely, making it all but impossible to get to class. This unorthodox and frustrating start to the academic year was due to Mayor Bill
de Blasio once again delaying in-person classes just a few days before they were set to start. The city instead opted for a “phased-in” reopening, and only students in pre-kindergarten and specialized District 75 schools returned to in-person classes as planned Sept. 21. Meanwhile, elementary and K-8 schools
began in-person classes Sept. 29 — even as coronavirus cases start to spike again in the city — while middle and high schools were expected to begin theirs Oct. 1. While it may be exhausting for public school parents, students, teachers and administrators, this isn’t their first rodeo when it comes to school reopening delays. Public schools were originally slated to reopen for at least some in-person classes Sept. 10, but that date was pushed back after de Blasio finalized a new agreement with the United Federation of Teachers — the city’s public school teachers’ union. cLASS STRuggLE, page A4
COVID gauntlet greets guest novelist
Making changes Methodist Home hasn’t been doing nothing this pandemic. In fact, it’s building toward a new future. Page A5
By ROSE BRENNAN rbrennan@riverdalepress.com
Courtesy of Steve Greenstein
After months of being home and unemployed, Steve Greenstein, center, became his own online television producer. He recruited actors to work on ‘COVID Ditty,’ based on his real-life experiences living in Kingsbridge through the coronavirus pandemic.
With theaters dark, actor creates own show By KIRSTYN BRENDLEN kbrendlen@riverdalepress.com
J
ust weeks into the pandemic, unemployment ticked up. Workers were laid off or furloughed, and even those who still had jobs faced slashed hours and pay. Steve Greenstein found himself among those sitting at home without a job. Even during those first weeks of March, the 40year actor rode the 1 train to auditions, trying to find his next job. But abruptly, even those opportunities dried up as theaters closed, and film and television productions
shut down. Without work, Greenstein was stressed like most everyone else — and bored. “It’s a very scary time for actors, it’s a very scary time when this is something you’ve done your whole life,” he said. “I’ve never been unemployed this long, ever, as an adult.” Greenstein was used to doing eightshow weeks in local theatre, or long hours on television sets of show like Netflix’s “Iron Fist” and FX’s “Pose,” and now he found himself with plenty of time and energy — but no project. Still, Greenstein needed a way to
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process what he was experiencing as he wandered around his Kingsbridge home. “It started really just by walking the neighborhood, just to go shopping, and, you know, seeing the juxtapositions of everything,” Greenstein said. “Here we were in lockdown, but McDonald’s was open. Holy smokes, you can get drunk till you drop, the giant liquor store was open at 238th.” He also participated in an online course from the Screen Actors Guild about using technology as an actor, especially helpful as the coronavirus pandemic forced cOVID DITTY, page A4
Ana Mota and Rachel PegueroJorge were just finishing their first year at the College of Mount Saint Vincent when the coronavirus pandemic shut down the city — and ultimately their campus — with a fury. Classes moved online, and neither were sure of what was to come in the fall. They did return to North Riverdale last month, but not without restrictions, as The Mount established a “no strangers on campus policy.” Now any visitors need to have prior clearance from someone on campus, and need to complete a COVID-19 related questionnaire just to step onto the grounds. But last week, The Mount saw its first in-person public visitor since the college went remote in March. Novelist Darin Strauss braved the coronavirus questionnaire and — armed with a mask, face shield and gloves — hosted a public reading NOVELIST, page A4