The Riverdale Press turns 75

Seventy-five years ago, a group of neighbors who lived at 3900 Greystone Ave. gathered around a card table in the living room of David and Celia Stein’s apartment to help the founders of this newspaper paste mailing labels on the first issue of The Riverdale Press. Although we plan to mark this milestone anniversary year with a commemorative section, we couldn’t let the paper’s actual birthday pass without comment.

In the paper's first editorial, David Stein introduced the infant newspaper to the three or four thousand households that found The Press in the mail on April 20, 1950. He wrote:

Traditionally, Riverdale welcomes newcomers with a warm heart and a friendly handshake. The reception given to The Riverdale Press when it was first proposed some weeks ago was typical. Civic leaders, who have long felt the need for a community newspaper, have done everything possible to assure its birth and its continuance. 

Without the help of the Riverdale Neighborhood House, for example, these words would never have been printed. From the beginning, the trustees of the Neighborhood House have been extremely helpful. Through their efforts, arrangements have been made for the mailing of the Riverdale Press to the homes of every member.

Riverdale merchants have been equally sincere in their greetings to this new enterprise. Some, especially those who have been long-established in the community, have encouraged the publication of a weekly newspaper chiefly because they felt it would be good for Riverdale. Others, aware of the rapid growth and change in population, have welcomed an advertising medium through which they could reach the public.

You have a right to know what you may expect of your community newspaper. Here, in brief outline, is our policy.

Politically, the Riverdale Press will be completely independent. We believe every voter should know all they can learn about the issues and the candidates for public office. This newspaper will endeavor, through objective reporting, to present this information.

If you seek sensational crime news you will have to look elsewhere. We believe in the theory that a community newspaper should print nothing that you would not want your 12-year-old son or daughter to read.

 Riverdale’s progress will be the chief concern of this newspaper. It will serve as a form for well-considered opinion on matters of civic interest.

With the help of church, social and civic organizations, every effort will be made to cover all of the news of community activities. News and features will reflect life and progress in Riverdale. We hope to keep in close touch with every facet of community life and to hear from you regularly.

 If we have omitted some items from this first issue which you deem newsworthy, please let us know. It is our earnest desire to serve all of Riverdale.   

World War II was just five years in the past when The Press was born. Americans were dying on the battlefields of Korea, the Cold War with the Soviet Union was growing tenser and the new international order that lasted until this year was still under construction.

At home, early adopters were just beginning to acquire the new technology that would revolutionize communications. About one in 10 New Yorkers owned a television set, on which they could watch a half dozen channels that broadcast eight hours a day. Most residents had never traveled on an airplane, car ownership was sparse and interstate highways were still far in the future.

Although the construction of the Henry Hudson Parkway signaled change was on the way, war had postponed development. Riverdale remained semi-rural, awaiting the explosive growth and profound demographic change to come. Irish Americans and White Protestants were the predominant ethnic groups. Jews had just begun to move to Riverdale. Landlords and real estate agents actively resisted any effort of Black families to rent or acquire property. Puerto Ricans and other Latinos were virtually unknown.

How different life is here 75 years later, in a diverse community of more than 110,000. Yet its newspaper endures, its credo unchanged. It remains “our earnest desire to serve all of Riverdale.”