Dinowitz still considering ousting Espada

By Kate Pastor
kpastor@riverdalepress.com

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, chair of the Bronx Democratic County Committee, is not making any moves to oust state Senator Pedro Espada Jr. from the Democratic Party just yet, despite urging from state leaders.
After the New York Daily News reported that Mr. Dinowitz would not remove Mr. Espada Jr. before the September 14 primary, Mr. Dinowitz seemed to back away from that position.
“What I said was that while I don’t feel any pressing need to do anything right now, I might or might not,” he said.
He said he had not ruled out the possibility of stripping the Democratic title from Mr. Espada Jr. before September 14, but said “my general tendency is to leave it up to the voters.”
In defending his still tenuous position, Mr. Dinowitz described removing Mr. Espada as a slippery slope that could apply to other Democrats running for office. For example, he mentioned Bronx Councilman Larry Seabrook, who has been indicted on federal corruption, bribery and extortion charges — the likes of which Mr. Espada Jr. has, so far, managed to avoid.
“He’s under indictment for god sake,” Mr. Dinowitz said of Mr. Seabrook.
While leaving room for the possibility of kicking Mr. Espada out before the primary, Mr. Dinowitz maintained that he was leaning the other way.
“Right now my thinking is it probably doesn’t make sense to do this right now,” he said, but added, “The primary is 41 days away and there’s plenty of time.”

Dinowitz won't oust Espada

The New York Daily News is reporting that Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, chair of the Bronx Democratic County Committee, will not oust State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. from the Democratic Party before the September 14 primary.

'Press' photographer Karsten Moran's photos from the storm

Photos taken by Riverdale residents

5447 Palisade Avenue



Photo by Jennifer Klein

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Near 5400 Fieldston Road



Photo by Andrea Mistri

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Netherland Gardens



Photo by Adam Karen

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Netherland Gardens



Francis Greer stands in front of the roots of an uprooted tree.

Photo by Lynn Greer

Power largely restored in Riverdale, trees still down in Kingsbridge

Fewer than 100 customers are currently without power in Riverdale, down from more than 1,300 who were initially knocked off the grid, Con Ed is reporting.

Residents and other eyewitnesses are also reporting that many of the trees that had fallen had been removed by 9 a.m. today. At least in Riverdale.

On Orloff Avenue this morning, at least one large tree, which had crushed three cars, was taped off by authorities, but had not been removed.

Video of the storm

This video was taken with a cell phone by Eileen Antonison, who was looking out on her balcony at 5355 Henry Hudson Parkway at a few minutes before 3 p.m.

The video was shot vertically, rather than horizontally, so up is actually out the window.

WARNING: some of the language in the video is explicit.



Courtesy of Eileen Antonison.

Seen and heard after the storm

Reported by Riverdale Press photographer Karsten Moran:

One woman was reportedly struck by a tree branch and taken to the hospital.

Trees are down everywhere people look, and many of them seem to have fallen on parked cars.

Lawn furniture of all kinds has been tossed all around.

Riverdale Y shuts down

The Riverdale Y sent out an email blast warning members to stay away from the building on West 256th Street and Arlington Avenue because of trees downed in the storm.

Storm takes down trees, powerlines in Riverdale

The Henry Hudson Parkway north is largely flooded between West 246th and 250th streets, and trees are down on many streets.

Iselin and West 250th, in particular, looks to have sustained damage from the brief but violent storm, with many different lines down.

Crystal Reyes, RKA student who drowned, is buried

Crystal Reyes, an eighth graders at Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy, who drowned last weekend in the Bronx River, was buried on Thursday in Brooklyn.

You can read more about the service here.

Espada cancels Kingsbridge meeting over fears of 'outsiders'

In a strange turn of events, a town hall meeting state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. scheduled for 6 p.m. today at the Church of the Mediator in Kingsbridge was called off at the last minute.

The senator and the church's pastor, Rev. Diego Delgado-Miller, released a joint statement saying that they had reason to believe that 'outsiders' would be brought to the church to cause trouble.

Local press were not told about the event ahead of time, and the statement said that, while the meeting was open to the public, organizers needed to know who was coming ahead of time because of space considerations.

Read the full statement here.

Town hall meeting for Espada tonight, were you invited?

Pedro Espada Jr. is holding a town hall meeting at 6:30 tonight at the Church of the Mediator, located at 260 W. 231st St.

City Hall News is reporting that an e-mail went out this morning from Antonietta Bertucci of the Real Rent Reform Campaign, saying she was told that only those personally invited would be allowed in.

Koppell rakes it in, Espada's not-quite-food for petition signatures

Members of the City Council are part-time employees, believe it or not, and they take home $112,500 for their work. Not a bad job if you can get it (and if term limits come back, you just might be able to). Riverdale's own Oliver Koppell, though, was able to more than double his income through outside work, the Gotham Gazette is reporting. Mr. Koppell's day job is as an attorney.

And in other news ...

More questions are popping up about those 10,000 signatures state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. flourished in front of the Board of Elections last week. The Bronx News Network is reporting political ops urged people to sign for Pedro after events celebrating seniors in Eastchester.

Ice-T on a hot day

Law & Order: SVU gave North Riverdale a cameo this afternoon, with actors Ice-T and Richard Belzer playing their roles as detectives Odafin "Fin" Tutuola and John Munch respectively, on Post Road and Mosholu Avenue.

Photo by Karsten Moran

deer update

The deer have been loaded into the trailer and are being taken to animal care and control in Manhattan.

deer update

A police officer has fired two tranquilizer darts into the deer. Now waiting for free to fall asleep.

deer update

The NYPD horse trailer has arrived

deer update

Everyone is waiting for a horse trailer, which is on the way, and the deer may be taken to the Bronx Zoo, according to a police officer at the scene.

Some of the men in uniform on scene are from the Emergency Services Unit, which, the officer said, is trained to deal with animals.

deer update

The 50th's captain, Brandon del Pixo has arrived at the scene.

Deer appear in Target loading area

Two deer found their way into the loading area of the River Plaza Target this morning, attracting police and news crews.