The Press' commitment to you

The last couple of weeks have been eventful at the Riverdale Press. The paper gained a new editor and lost a reporter, resulting in some growing pains. In this editorial, we would like to take the time to acknowledge any recent errors and to thank you for your feedback. We appreciate your loyalty as well as your being an extension of our eyes and ears.

Miriam Levine Helbok was featured in our Nov. 7 issue, “Riverdale writer sends 10,000 postcards to voters in swing states.” The story discussed her work with Vote Forward – a nonprofit which sends personal, hand-written letters and postcards to constituents, encouraging them to vote, they have mailed more than 33 million to date. In addition to her postcards, Helbok wrote 5,000 of those letters, not 2,700, as the story stated. Additionally, the photos in the article were incorrectly credited and should be attributed to Nancy Simmons Christie. We regret these errors.

Lou deHolczer called The Press when he and his wife looked out their apartment window in Spuyten Duyvil and witnessed the raging fire at Inwood Hill Park on Wednesday, Nov. 13. With several brush fires occurring across the city and in New Jersey, the mayor’s office escalated our recent drought watch to a drought warning, which we covered when Van Cortlandt Park was on fire in recent weeks. Thank you, Lou, for the tip.

Joel Tankel wrote to The Press last week and asked us why we weren’t covering more local sports in the area. He specifically referenced the Riverdale Soccer Club, which has more than 500 local children and teenagers playing on their teams, including seven travel teams in Westchester. Feedback like Joel's is important. It helps inform what we cover, and we are now looking into how we can have more robust local sports content in The Press.

In our Nov. 14 edition, The Press reported on information received from the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. According to DCPI, on Sunday, Nov. 3, a 50-year-old male was found unconscious and pronounced dead on the scene in Van Cortlandt Park, near 251st Street and Broadway. However, on Nov. 12, Rosa Nazar posted a GoFundMe to help with funeral arrangements for her son, Saul Nuñez, 27. In her heartfelt post, Nazar wrote that her son was found hung in the same soccer field on that same date -- Sunday, Nov. 3. This prompted The Press to follow up and ask DCPI if there were two bodies found in the same place on the same day, given the age discrepancies. After looking over their information, DCPI revised its original report to a 27-year-old male, and not the 50-year-old male DCPI originally reported. It is with somber humility that we convey this correction.

In The Press' first editorial of ET Rodriguez's tenure as editor of the paper, “Puerto Ricans are tired of Trump dumping on them,” we wrote about comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s comment of Puerto Rico being a “floating island of garbage,” which he told as a joke at a recent Trump rally in Madison Square Garden. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of including Cardi B in a long list of well-known Puerto Ricans; however, Cardi B’s father is Dominican and her mother is Trinidadian. An honest mistake, but one that should not have happened.

As mentioned in her introductory letter, Rodriguez is passionate about the neighborhoods serving the coverage area of The Press. She cares, not only as a member of the community, but as a journalist who has vowed to deliver the truth and the news people care about. 

“The information I disseminate to the people matters to me a great deal. When I get something wrong, it’s beyond embarrassing and lives with me forever, and I want to do everything I can to make it right,” she said.

With this editorial, we hope to keep the trust of those who follow our paper and depend on its accuracy. We also hope to regain the trust of the few we've lost, like Richard Warren, who lives in Van Cortlandt Park South, and took the time to write us. Please know that we are committed to the Riverdale community

We count on you -- our readers -- to be our guiding light. We know you love your community, and we strive everyday to live up to the standards you deserve. Please keep the feedback and tips coming. Rodriguez's email address is erodriguez@riverdalepress.com.

We thank you for your trust and support.