Ceil Stein, 'Press' co-founder, dies

2003

Parks in the news

On Jan. 11, Ceil Stein, co-founder of The Riverdale Press and wife of David A. Stein, and mother of the co-publishers at the time, Bernard and Richard Stein, died. She had helped to guide the paper from the beginning and was known throughout the area for her cooking column "Ceil Selects."

A little later in the year, after many legal and political challenges, the New York City Council voted overwhelmingly to build the Croton water treatment facility in Van Cortlandt Park on part of the Mosholu Golf Course. Gov. George Pataki also approved it, and construction was set to start.

It was also decided that Van Cortlandt Park would be the site of the World Archery Championship with thousands streaming into the park to watch.

Another park also had cause for a celebration, if more modest. Paul Cymerman, a holocaust survivor who had taken charge of the Spuyten Duyvil Playground, providing toys, clean sand and monitoring behavior for many years, was honored by the city Parks Department. The playground was officially named what everyone had always called it: Paul's Park.

Open space was also at the forefront in many other parts of the neighborhood, with the community board actively working to set limits on development. The Fieldston Property Owners Association voted on the neighborhood's landmarking proposal, and the preservationists won a narrow 53 to 47 percent victory, leaving much ill will in its wake.

World events, large and small, also had an impact on the Riverdale/Kingsbridge area in 2003, with local soldiers shipping off to fight in the second Iraq war. But there were also the fruits of more peaceful efforts to be celebrated. In the Cambodian town of Boeung Krasar, where Riverdalians had financed a land mine cleanup effort, there was enough money left over to build a school. Press co-publisher Richard L. Stein and his wife, Hilary Baum, attended the school opening ceremony.

The crime situation continued to improve within the bounds of the 50th Precinct. Car theft, which had peaked with 2,931 vehicles stolen in 1992, was held below 300 for the year.