Dispatches from the DNC

If you haven't been reading our special Democratic National Convention blog, Dispatches from the DNC, we'd like to invite you to check it out.

We invited several members of Riverdale's delegation to the DNC — superdelegate Rep. Eliot Engel; Hillary Clinton delegate Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz; Barack Obama delegate Eileen Thomas; and City Council candidate Helen Morik, who is attending as a guest — to send back their thoughts and observations from the convention for a blog we are moderating.

Mr. Dinowitz and Ms. Morik accepted our invitation, and have volunteered daily updates on what they've seen and where they've been during this historic event. It's an especially bittersweet time for Mr. Dinowitz, who was a devoted supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton's now officially ended presidential bid.

We're pleased with how this experiment has gone so far, and we'd like you to be a part of it by posting your comments and questions to their posts.

A Riverdale Reader

We didn’t skim the headlines today or yesterday, so here’s a few from the past couple of days we thought you’d like to know about:

Changes at the city Department of Buildings could keep coming — now there’s talk of scrapping the city’s professional self-certification program, which allows architects to file plans without city review. New York Daily News

Ticked off about Con Ed’s massive project underway in Riverdale, Marble Hill and Kingsbridge? Could be worse — they could be tearing down a power plant in your backyard, as in Williamsburg. New York Sun

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told legislators they won’t lose their member-item funding in the state’s ongoing budget cuts. New York Daily News

State Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith called Sen. Jeff Klein his “enforcer,” who he uses to squeeze campaign cash from lobbyists. He also said the lobbyists should get in on the Senate Democrats during their IPO, while they were “cheap.” Then he said it was all a joke. Politics on the Hudson

Lack of outdoor space leads to obesity among kids in the Bronx, according to Borough President Adolfo Carrión Jr. New York Daily News

An NYPD “bait car” helped cops nab three people breaking into cars on Southern Boulevard near Fordham University’s campus and the New York Botanical Garden, according to police and the Bronx district attorney. The 50th Precinct also uses a bait car to catch car thieves, but so far the campaign hasn't been as successful. New York Sun

Here’s another take on the end of the strike at the Kingsbridge Heights Rehabilitation and Care Center. New York Daily News

A Riverdale Reader

Hey neighbors — here are some things in today’s news we thought you’d want to catch:

The referee in the Pedro Espada Jr.’s petition-challenge case found that Mr. Espada does, in fact, live in the Bronx. It’s now up to Judge Robert Seewald to issue a ruling. New York Daily News

Former Riverdale resident Robert Morgenthau, New York County’s Methuselan district attorney, has said he plans to give his staffers the chance to use the catchy “90 in ’09” campaign slogan they made for him. But just in case he pulls out, one of his big-name protégés is waiting in the wings — with a fat wallet of campaign cash. The New York Times

One of the city’s dailies pays attention to Riverdale's ElderServ program. New York Daily News

Transportation Alternatives wants to do away with a zoning regulation that requires new developments to have a certain number of parking spots per residential unit. Kathryn Wylde, and, presumably, other city development leaders, are not happy. The New York Sun

Freddie Mac says a new state law makes New York a bad market in which to buy subprime loans. The Journal News

Mayor Mike’s keeping the pressure on his staff as he reaches his last 500 days in office. The New York Times

The ivory tower must be expensive to polish; the highest-paid state employees are largely professors and academics. The Journal News

Who's in charge?

Community Board 8 land use committee chairman Charles Moerdler had a hand in crafting the legislation, passed yesterday, referenced in The New York Times we linked to earlier this morning.
That legislation removes the requirement for the head of the city Department of Buildings to be a certified architect or engineer.
In a conversation earlier today, Mr. Moerdler, who was buildings commissioner under Mayor John Lindsay — and is a lawyer, not an architect or engineer — said he worked with the city’s corporation counsel to draft the legislation, which was introduced before the City Council at the mayor’s request.
“For some time I had been urging that this change occur on the theory that you can’t have the fox guarding the chicken coop,” Mr. Moerdler said.
One DOB practice that needs guarding is “self-certification,” in which professionals stake their integrity on the information included in their permit applications and they largely go unreviewed.
If an architect or engineer knowingly or negligently includes false information in those applications, the DOB will no longer take them at their word, and the permit is reviewed internally. But the practice exists in part because there are far more permit applications than there are people to audit them.
Mr. Moerdler also cited a potential conflict of interest.
“Most of the people who are architects or engineers themselves, upon leaving that office, go back to an architect’s office, or an engineer’s office, or a construction company,” he said.
Between our conversation and the completion of this post, it was announced that acting buildings commish Robert LiMandri — who has an engineering degree but is not licensed, The Times reports — was promoted to commissioner.

Fighting cuts

The College of Mount Saint Vincent is calling for the campus community to speak out against proposed cuts in advance of a Tuesday, Aug. 19 special emergency economic session of the New York state Legislature.
Gov. David Paterson has proposed cutting local assistance by six percent, or $250 million, which the college says would affect students who receive TAP, HEOP, C-STEP and other state-funded financial aid.
According to the College of Mount Saint Vincent, more than 95 percent of its students receive some form of financial aid, with 85 percent of graduating seniors hailing from New York, and almost 40 percent from Yonkers and the Bronx.
The school is asking students, parents, alumni and faculty to go to the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities' Web site, where they can e-mail elected officials and voice their concerns over the cut.

A Riverdale Reader

Good morning Riverdale, Kingsbridge, Spuyten Duyvil and Marble Hill! Did you catch this in the news today?

A federal judge issued a ruling yesterday that may send striking workers at Kingsbridge Heights Rehabilitation and Care Center back to work. Read our paper Wednesday for detailed follow-up coverage. New York Times

Four parks renovated with Croton mitigation money — given to the Bronx to replace parkland occupied by the project underway in Van Cortlandt Park — were opened on Wednesday. New York Times

Oliver Koppell and Maria Baez were among the City Council members who made the most of the money they had to dole out in their districts. New York Daily News

As Gov. David Paterson pushes cuts to Medicaid, city hospitals — including Montefiore Medical Center — are pushing back. New York Sun

The city’s Independent Budget Office says New York City and the state haven’t increased funding to the MTA since 1990, despite the authority’s burgeoning fiscal problems. New York Sun

The city’s Department of Buildings commissioner will no longer need to be a trained engineer or architect to qualify for the post, thanks to legislation passed by the City Council on Thursday. Fieldston resident Charles Moerdler was buildings commish before those rules went into effect. New York Times

Con Ed update

Con Edison sent out its weekly e-mail blast about construction in the area yesterday.
What to expect from Sunday, Aug. 17 to Saturday, Aug. 23:

Work schedule:
Monday to Friday, from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• West 225th Street and Kingsbridge Plaza Ramp intersection. (Restoration)
• Riverdale Avenue and West 230th Street intersection. (Restoration)

In the next two weeks, the utility company said it expects to work in the following areas:
1. On the Henry Hudson Parkway service road between Manhattan College Parkway and West 246th Street. (Restoration)
2. On Riverdale Avenue, between West 252nd and West 256th streets. (Excavation, pipe installation and restoration)
3. On Riverdale Avenue, between West 230th Street and the Henry Hudson Parkway. (Milling and paving)
4. On the Henry Hudson Parkway, between West 246th and West 252nd streets. (Excavation and pipe installation)

All schedules, the utility company notes, are subject to change.
For more information, questions and concerns, call 800-799-1083 or e-mail M29project@coned.com.

A Riverdale Reader

Around the Web this morning, here are some things we thought you’d like to know about:

Sewell Chan profiles the Kingsbridge resident responsible for some of the most acclaimed public art in the city — stained glass windows in stations along the Nos. 2 and 5 subway lines. He’s responsible for another installation at the West 231st Street station, too. New York Times

New York City’s increasingly stringent campaign finance laws will restrict some of the city’s biggest names from making campaign contributions. New York Sun

At least one teachers’ union has decided to withhold endorsements from state senators who supported the property tax cap on non-city school funding. Politics on the Hudson

Think your water bill is too high? You’re not alone — water rate hikes are draining our neighbors to the north, too. The Journal News

The City Council should introduce legislation today making it easier to track the actions of cops in schools — like at John F. Kennedy High School. New York Post

If you missed it, City Room began its Q & A session with the director of the city’s Greenmarkets program yesterday. He’s answering questions on farmers markets and community-supported agriculture. The New York Times

Pastrami wars

So far, Bob Kappstatter’s research has proven what Riverdale residents already know: the neighborhood has the best kosher nosh in the Bronx.
For his last two weekly columns, the Daily News’ Bronx chief has included a running tally on the best pastrami in the borough. Perhaps not surprisingly, Loeser’s in Kingsbridge took the first nod from Paul Eisland, husband of former City Councilwoman June, and Kappstatter himself figured the only real spot to get a decent pastrami was Liebman’s Deli, just off Johnson Avenue. This week it was Skyview Deli, at 5665 Riverdale Ave., thanks to the recommendations of Co-Op City resident Artie Taub and photographer Bob Kalfus.
Also worth noting in his column is Jose Rivera’s plug for City Councilman Oliver Koppell at a City Hall press conference last week. He suggested Mr. Koppell should run for Borough President — even though his son, Joel, is already a likely contender.

Riverdale soldier in the news

UPDATED

Maj. Vincent Heintz, a Riverdale resident and husband of Kathryn Heintz, the director of development at Wave Hill, was featured in two major newspapers this week: The Washington Post and the Daily News.
The Post article also features a video of the local soldier, talking about his mission to train Afghan police officers.