Riverdale Y gets $125k grant

Days after one local official announced a $150,000 state grant for The Riverdale Y to make repairs, another politician said he is sending an equal sum The Y’s way.

Northwest Bronx Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz allocated the funds for The Y to build a barrier-free playground designed to provide free-roaming fun for children irrespective of physical handicaps.

The grant, which followed a promise of $125,000 from state Sen. Jeff Klein to replace aging glass bricks at The Y, made Chief Executive Officer Deann Forman’s heart sing. 

“It ‘s really going to be a great thing,” she said. “It’s a playground for the community; it’s not going to be just for The Y.”

She said she hopes groundbreaking takes place this spring, with the facility ready for children and their parents by the start of the next school year.

Mr. Dinowitz said he expects faster progress on the playground than other projects.

“One thing I’m certain of is it’s going to be a lot quicker than some of the Parks Department projects, which are notoriously slow,” he remarked.

Ms. Forman said she hopes the playground, which she believed to be the first of its kind in the Bronx, will be the first of several initiatives for children with special needs. She said future projects could include an indoor play space with soft equipment and special swim lessons.

Mr. Dinowitz said later this year, he will announce several other projects using his discretionary spending. When asked how much discretionary funding he had access to in the current fiscal year, he said he had more than $1 million last year, suggesting this year’s sum will be on a similar level. State budget documents do not delineate how much member item funding legislators receive. 

Pols help P.S. 24 raise funds 

Elected officials who represent the northwest Bronx helped the Spuyten Duyvil School (P.S. 24) raise more than $30,000 at an auction on Saturday, according to an organizer.

Along with student-made crafts and vacation packages, auction items included visits with Councilman Andrew Cohen, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Rep. Eliot Engel and state Sen. Jeff Klein.