The area covering Marble Hill, Spuyten Duyvil, Kingsbridge, Van Cortlandt and Riverdale is a mere 3.4 square miles with a population of a little more than 111,000 people. People outside the area perhaps don’t have a clue of the rash of car parts thefts plaguing the neighborhood or of the wonderful performances put on by the youth theater groups of Riverdale, but it matters to the people here.
Newspaper clippings saved by individuals are often from hyperlocal publications, featuring a photo of a little leaguer or someone quoted on an important issue or recognition of a local business or an organization making great strides in the community.
While papers like The Riverdale Press may not be providing minute-to-minute coverage on national conflicts or have an eye on the broader political issues, it does keep an eye on what matters to the small swath of land in the northwest Bronx.
In summer 2024, a former Manhattan University dorm building on Waldo Avenue was transformed into a migrant shelter. Overlook Manor, familiarly known as Waldo Sanctuary, welcomed migrant families with donations and essentials. But their property owner, Westhab was dragging their feet with installing city-mandated window guards in the building. Not even local politicians could motivate the landlord to meet Department of Buildings requirements. But when The Press’ reporter Steven Goodstein wrote a story about the missing window guards, published on Nov. 27, 2024, they were quietly installed less than a week later.
In September, ConEdison shut off gas to four businesses on Mosholu Avenue, citing faulty pipes. Two establishments had to close as a result – a Chinese takeout and a laundromat. On Dec. 4, Press’ reporter Izania Gonzalez wrote a story about it. Less than a week later, the local television network ABC picked it up. And while the giant media company helicopters in and out of the neighborhood, we are following the story.
Abandoned RVs, campers and illegally parked cars along the Henry Hudson Parkway service road have been plaguing the neighborhood for years, according to locals and Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz. On Jan. 2, Goodstein wrote a story on it and requested the Department of Sanitation inspect the area. Since then, the vehicles have been removed, although others have taken their place in what seems to be a never-ending cycle of law-breaking.
In that same issue Jan. 2 issue, Michelle Mullen wrote a tragic story of Saul Nuñez, a young man who hanged himself in Van Cortlandt Park in November 2024. Nuñez suffered from schizophrenia and spent 29 months without trial in Rikers Island for assaulting a 91-year-old man because Nuñez thought the elderly man was the devil. Mullen tells the story of Rosa Nazar, a grieving mother seeking to reform the mental health care system in New York City. After the story ran, Shut Rikers -- a grassroots advocacy group – reached out to her and agreed to help her in her journey.
Last week, The Press ran an editorial about a couple of teenagers, Marc Fisher and Charlie Varon, who used to sent The Riverdale Press fake letters to the editor. The two were budding journalists writing for the Horace Mann Record where they attended high school. Fisher is now an associate editor of the Washington Post who got his first byline (despite the fake name) in our paper.
Every month, we receive emails about a light out on the street or a broken sidewalk or a rash of package thefts, which we also covered during the holiday season. We take to social media to gauge the opinion of locals on issues like congestion pricing and recently afforded residents of our coverage area the ability to ask questions of Mayor Eric Adams.
We like to hit the streets and talk to people face-to-face. We knock on doors to get to know local business owners and residents and ask them about their concerns or issues that need to be addressed. We hope the community will continue to depend on us to bring about solutions to their problems while also shining a light on the beauty and kindness being shared across these three-square-miles of land.