Schools work out kinks, bring in metal detectors

2001

A new century begins

Dr. Eric Kandel receives Nobel Prize for medicine

With the expansion of the David A. Stein School, MS 141 to include a high school and the creation of MS 368 approved, concerns over space and location became paramount.

At the newly minted David A. Stein Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy, MS/HS 141, plans were drawn up for the school to be expanded with new classrooms and science labs.

The problem for MS 368 was the chosen location for the building, right next to John F. Kennedy High School. Parents and others worried about the potential contamination on the site, which had formerly housed trains.

2000 was also the year JFK, considered one of the most dangerous schools in the city, got its first metal detectors.

Development, always a hot-button issue in the area, came under fire because of a comprehensive plan to limit construction taking shape in Community Board 8.

The Press ran a series looking at all the neighborhoods that make up the Riverdale/Kingsbridge/Kingsbridge Heights and Marble Hill area, examining what zoning changes and current development plans would mean for each.

Other notable events of the year? Singer Pete Seeger was named Principal for the Day at PS 7, a bear was sighted in Van Cortlandt Park, Riverdalian Dr. Eric Kandel became the second area resident to win the Nobel Prize for Medicine, after Rosalyn Yalow, a Kingsbridge resident, in 1977.

The Press also celebrated its 50th birthday that year.