Winners and losers in the battle for public space

2005

Construction begins

Work began on the Croton Water Filtration Plant in Van Cortlandt Park in January, but after only a week a restraining order brought construction to a halt. The cause of action in the case was the claim that by putting the construction in a poor, minority neighborhood, the government was guilty of environmental racism.

While the case went back and forth in the courts during the year, costs for the plant began to rise sharply, stirring an outcry. Still, construction started to seem inevitable to many who had opposed it, and the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park gave up the cause in May.

Other construction projects were also at the forefront of the issues facing the community, including plans to build Kingsbridge Crossing, a mall in what had long been a parking lot used by those who wanted to visit the mom and pop shops near West 231st Street and Broadway. The project called for building a large shopping space with 16 floors of apartments above.

Construction and parking were also linked to trouble in other parts of the local area, with new apartment buildings bringing many new cars into the area along with the homeowners.

Not all was lost in the battle for public space, though. After years of delays, Riverdale Park, near the Riverdale Metro-North Station, opened in 2005.

Also that year, Bernard L. "Buddy" Stein retired as editor of The Riverdale Press that year, passing the job to his brother Richard, the longtime design chief and general manager.