Winner of Vol. 71, No. 9
What’s inside?
the Pulitzer Prize Thursday, April 9, 2020
COVID-19 field hospital coming to Vannie Feds expect temp facility to open by the end of April By KIRSTYN BRENDLEN kbrendlen@riverdalepress.com
Helping hands Not everyone is finding the help they need during the pandemic. But these neighbors are making it all right. Page A3
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Van Cortlandt Park is one of the largest parks in New York City, a center for sports and recreation in the Bronx. But now, in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, the park is about to become something entirely new: A field hospital. Councilman Andrew Cohen broke the news Sunday afternoon, announcing the field hospital would house 200 beds across 12 acres in the park, a joint operation between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Army Corps and FEMA began work on the field
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A park-goer jogs along the perimeter of a fenced-off portion of the Van Cortlandt Park Parade Grounds, which will be the site of a 200-bed COVID-19 field hospital. hospital Saturday, and Cohen expects it will open within the next three weeks. Unlike original plans at some of the other field hospitals opened by the two federal agencies in the
city over the past week, a FEMA representative confirmed to The Riverdale Press this field hospital will indeed accept patients who have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19.
The Vannie field hospital will join the Javits Center in Hell’s Kitchen, a temporary 2,500-bed hospital initially meant only for non-COVID patients, but is now only accepting those who have tested positive for the SARSCoV-2 virus. Also expected to accept COVID-19 patients is the USNS Comfort, the military ship docked at Pier 90, offering 1,000 beds. Mount Sinai Hospital partnered with controversial Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse to open a 68-bed field hospital in Central Park to treat overflow patients, but is not expected to treat coronavirus patients. Stephanie Ehrlich, executive director for the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance, said the organization and the park were “happy to do our part” to alleviate the coronavirus pandemic in the area. Cohen told The Press he was not aware of any hospitals working with FEMA and the Army
A very lonely stroll
Writer’s block Need a little inspiration to make the words flow? These writing groups might have just what you need. Page A6
Courtesy of Frida Sterenberg
Are you talking to me? Hebrew Home gets virtual visits from people like Billy Crystal and Robert De Niro. Page A11
Grant program offers $500K to local business STAFF REPORT
A woman stands near the bus stop at West 231st Street and Kingsbridge Avenue, captured by photographer Frida Sterenberg, who has been documenting her neighborhood in the midst of the state’s shutdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Smiling celebs
Corps on the Van Cortlandt field hospital. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, however, speculated on social media the hospital was being opened in conjunction with Montefiore Medical Center in Norwood. Montefiore officials did not return a request for comment. “I think it’s a sign of how serious and widespread this is going to be,” Cohen said, “and how difficult the upcoming weeks are going to be. Van Cortlandt Park is a tremendous resource to this community, and if it can be a resource in helping to turn the tide on this, that’s an admirable use.” Dinowitz agreed the park was an invaluable resource in the crisis. “We are facing the worst crisis in our lifetimes, and we need more hospital beds,” the Assemblyman said. “Van Cortlandt Park is ideally suited because it’s a wide-open space. And as a person HOSPITAL, page A4
City may be closed, but hearts are open By JULIUS CONSTANTINE MOTAL jmotal@riverdalepress.com
T
he northwest Bronx was never supposed to be this quiet. With barren thoroughfares and shuttered storefronts, this neck of the woods is not its usual self. It’s a sobering reality reflected citywide as a result of cityand state-level decisions in response to the coronavirus pandemic. “The mood is strange,” said Frida Sterenberg, a photographer and Riverdale
resident for the last two years. On the occasions she has gone outside — whether to get supplies or a much-needed breath of fresh air — Sterenberg has seen a significant shift in the fabric of life around her, and to that end, she’s taken her camera with her. A graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and a former photo intern for The Riverdale Press, Sterenberg has focused her eye on her immediate surroundings. “I’m trying to pay attention to take this
opportunity to do my own documentary of our experience,” she said. Despite everything, Sterenberg feels beauty can still be found both in the lush natural landscapes and the socially distanced interactions between people. “There is some wave of willingness to be kind,” Sterenberg said, “even if it’s just saying hi or waving at a distance.” The city’s shutdown has also created a looser sense of time. The days blur together. Sterenberg remembers going out HEARTS, page A4
Richner Communications Inc., publisher of The Riverdale Press and Herald Community Newspapers, announces this week a $500,000 grant program designed to support local businesses. The Riverdale Press Small Business Grant Program makes every business in our general circulation area eligible to receive up to $15,000 of matching grant funds, which can be used toward marketing services to promote products and services. Through the end of April — as long as grant funds are available — businesses can apply for grants at RiverdalePress.com/ grant. “Small businesses are the lifeblood of our communities,” said Stuart Richner, president of RCI and publisher of The Riverdale Press. “With New York quickly becoming the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis, we knew that we had to do whatever possible to support our small business community. “We are a small business ourselves, so we understand the pain that small business owners are going through right now. But all GRANT, page A4
Where has all the mail gone? Blame it on the coronavirus By KIRSTYN BRENDLEN kbrendlen@riverdalepress.com
When Gov. Andrew Cuomo shut down New York last month to essential businesses only, he didn’t close off U.S. Postal Service deliveries. Nor could he, likely, since it’s a federal agency. Yet, in recent days, many living within both the 10463 and 10471 ZIP codes — among others — haven’t been getting mail, or having outgoing parcels picked up. The culprit is probably no surprise: the coronavirus. Some people waiting for delivery of bills, letters and medications were left in limbo for days
in late March and early April, some discovering they couldn’t even drop off or pick up their mail right at the source, since some of the satellite post offices — 444 W. 238th St., for example — were closed without notice. Marcia Yerman headed to West 238th’s on March 30, only to find the doors locked. She snapped a photo of the door — locked and gated. Signs warned customers coming in it was only accepting payment by card — no cash — but had nothing about the fact the location was closed. Many of those missing their mail have taken to social media to share their concerns, as
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well as what they say is a lack of response from the post office. Most of the mail delivery problems include buildings within the Spuyten Duyvil and Kingsbridge neighborhoods, as well as parts of Fieldston. A March 31 email from property managers to tenants at Century at 2600 Netherland Ave., said the building had not received mail since the previous Saturday. According to the email, management from the Century had been in touch with the post office, and told they “do not have the personnel to deliver at this time.” “It didn’t say, ‘We’ll be back,’” MISSING MAIL, page A4
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The post office on West 238th Street was closed for several days last week, but was back in business on Monday.