Riverdale, Bronx
Location of Riverdale in New York City
Riverdale (population: 47,850, according to the 2000 U.S. Census) is an affluent residential neighborhood in the northwest portion of the Bronx in New York City. Riverdale contains the northernmost point in New York City.
History
Riverdale was a 19th-century estate district where many of Manhattan's moguls built their country estates. At the turn of the century, the new popularity of rail commuting meant that wealthy businessmen made Riverdale their year-round residence. The Fieldston neighborhood, because it is owned by a private association, is a particularly intact example of a turn-of-the century upper class suburb. The Hudson Hill neighborhood retains many of its historic mansions. Riverdale's elite private schools and historic churches also reflect this past.
As the 20th century progressed, upscale apartment buildings and smaller houses were added to the neighborhood. To this day, Riverdale continues to maintain its character as an affluent enclave in the city of New York. The rich history of Riverdale has led to the creation of the Riverdale Historic District.
Leland Weintraub, the commissioner who moved for the district's creation, noted that "most of the features commonly associated with the American romantic suburb of the mid-19th century," including "a picturesque site, landscaping and architecture; connection to the city by accessible transportation and a layout adapted to the topography" are present in the area.[1]
In May 2009, the FBI ran a sting operation to prevent a bombing plot in which two Riverdale synagogues were the suggested targets.[2] This followed the 1989 firebombing of the Riverdale Press.[3]
On July 26, 2010, the National Weather Service confirmed that an EF1 tornado hit Riverdale the day before. There were no fatalities, but 7 people were injured.[4]
Geography
Riverdale covers about three square miles in area. Riverdale has one of the highest elevations in New York City, affording it spectacular views of the Empire State Building, George Washington Bridge, Hudson River and New Jersey Palisades. It is also remarkable for the numerous parks and expanses of lush greenery and original forest that overwhelm its hilly, serene landscape. It is bordered on the north by the city of Yonkers; to the east by Van Cortlandt Park, the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx and the Marble Hill section of Manhattan; to the west by the Hudson River; and to the south by the Harlem River, which creates a small geographic barrier between Riverdale and upper Manhattan.
The subsections of Riverdale are:
- Spuyten Duyvil / South Riverdale (Riverdale below West 232nd Street)
- Central Riverdale (The "downtown" of Riverdale – from Manhattan College Parkway to West 232nd Street and from the Henry Hudson Parkway to Riverdale Avenue and Waldo Avenue)
- Fieldston (Riverdale south and east of the Henry Hudson Parkway, north of Manhattan College Parkway and west of Tibbett Avenue)
- North Riverdale (Riverdale above West 254th Street)
The leafy, scenic enclave of Fieldston, a private community, was designated as an historic district by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2006.
Demographics
As of the 2000 census, there were 47,850 people residing in Riverdale. The population density was 19,997 per square mile (7,724/km²). The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 78.74% White (71.89% White Non-Hispanic), 5.36% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 7.66% Black, 0.16% Native American, 4.85% from other races, and 3.18% from two or more races. Of those, 13.38% of the population were Hispanic of any race. Fully 24.15% of the population was foreign born; of this, 51.76% came from Europe, 22.92% from Latin America, 21.71% from Asia and 3.61% from other parts of the world. Riverdale is well-known for its large Jewish, Irish and Russian populations.
With a median residence value of $1,921,122, Riverdale is the most expensive Bronx neighborhood and is considered one of the most sought-after residential neighborhoods in New York City. [5]Riverdale is known for its relative lack of crime, having the lowest crime rate in the Bronx. [6]
Cityscape
Riverdale's ZIP codes are 10463 and 10471. While 10471 is entirely in Riverdale, 10463 also covers the adjacent neighborhoods of Kingsbridge and Marble Hill. Housing in Riverdale ranges from multi-story apartment buildings dating from the 1950s and 1960s, such as The Century Building, 3333 Henry Hudson Parkway, and 555 Kappock Street to large, architecturally distinguished mansions built in the early 20th century, mostly in Georgian- and Tudor-revival styles, which recall scenes of "rural Connecticut" rather than the city.[7] A large percentage of Riverdale apartment buildings are luxury buildings with doormen on staff.
Riverdale is also home to the modernist landmark Saul Victor house, designed by Ferdinand Gottlieb in 1967.[8] Other famous mansions in the Hudson Hill neighborhood include: Greyston (1864), Alderbrook (1880), Stonehurst (1861) and Oaklawn (1863).[9] Since 2005, Central Riverdale has experienced a building boom with the addition of many mid- and high-rise condominium buildings.
In August 2008, Columbia University purchased an almost-completed apartment building by Henry Hudson Parkway for use as faculty housing. In 1974, a large, fortress-like residential compound and school was established in North Riverdale by the Permanent Mission of the USSR to the United Nations (now the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the UN) to house diplomats and their families. The 20-story building was constructed from the top down, with the upper floors built first.[10]
Administratively, Riverdale is part of Community Board 8.[11] Wave Hill, a combination botanical garden and outdoor art gallery, is located in the so-called Estate Area overlooking the Hudson River.
Two weekly newspapers, the Riverdale Press and the Riverdale Review, focus on news of interest to residents of the neighborhood.
Gaelic Park, the headquarters of the New York GAA, is where Gaelic football and hurling are played in the New York metropolitan area. It is located at West 240th Street.
Education
The public schools are a part of the New York City Department of Education. The public elementary schools are the Spuyten Duyvil School (P.S. 24)[12] and the Robert J. Christen School (P.S. 81).[13] The public middle school and high school is M.S./H.S 141, the Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy.[14] Nearby high schools that also serve the community include the Bronx High School of Science and John F. Kennedy High School.
Riverdale is home to three top-tier private schools (Horace Mann, Riverdale Country, and Fieldston, all members of the Ivy Preparatory School League) and two Roman Catholic colleges (The College of Mount Saint Vincent and Manhattan College). The Academy for Jewish Religion is one of two similarly named transdenominational rabbinical schools, the other located in Los Angeles, California.
Two important institutions of higher education are located in Riverdale. Manhattan College, a co-educational Catholic College with education in the Lasalian tradition and the College of Mount Saint Vincent's in North Riverdale.
The late twentieth century increase in the Jewish population of the neighborhood has meant that Riverdale is now home to top-ranked Jewish day schools, the SAR Academy, a elementary school, and the SAR High School, as well as the Yeshiva of Telshe Alumni and Yeshiva Ohavei Torah of Riverdale. Kinneret Day School[15] is a private Jewish day school in Spuyten Duyvil, serving grades K through 8 in addition to pre-school. Catholic elementary schools in the area are St. Gabriel's School and St. Margaret of Cortona School, where President John F. Kennedy received his First Holy Communion.
Also in the area are several pre-schools including the Riverdale Temple Nursery School, Spuyten Duyvil Preschool,[16] Kinneret Day School,[15] SAR Academy (Early Learning Center) Riverdale Nursery School and Family Center,[17] and the Riverdale Presbyterian Church Nursery School.[18]
In popular culture
Riverdale has oft been cited in literature, film and television. Exteriors of many of Riverdale's locations have been used in both television and movie production
- In On the Road, Riverdale-educated Jack Kerouac writes about getting off at a subway stop in Riverdale: "Filled with dreams of what I'd do in Chicago, in Denver, and then finally in San Fran, I took the Seventh Avenue Subway to the end of the line at 242nd Street, and there took a trolley into Yonkers; in downtown Yonkers I transferred to an outgoing trolley and went to the city limits on the east bank of the Hudson River." [19]
- Elia Kazan's 1961 classic Splendor in the Grass starring Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty included several high school scenes shot at the elite Horace Mann School, such as a post-party scene outside Horace Mann's Prettyman Gymnasium.
- In 1938's Bringing Up Baby, Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant's characters visit a Riverdale estate owned by the fictional "Peabody" family
- A place called "Riverdale" is the setting for the Archie Comics. Its exact geographical location is not specified, however the name is likely inspired by the Riverdale, Bronx since one of the comic book founders, John L. Goldwater attended Riverdale's Horace Mann School[20]
- Much of Woody Allen's film Husbands and Wives takes place at the Riverdale residence of characters Jack and Sally [21]
- Law & Order was regularly shot and set in Riverdale
- In Spike Lee's 2002 film 25th Hour, Rosario Dawson's character Naturelle snaps at Edward Norton's character Monty, "What, I can't be from Riverdale?"
- In Martin Scorsese's 1973 drama Mean Streets, mobsters swindle a group of Riverdale teens trying to buy fireworks
- In the 2005 biopic Good Night, and Good Luck, George Clooney's character Fred W. Friendly states that he and his family are relocating to a "nice house in Riverdale" [22]
- On television's Mad Men, Joan Holloway reveals that she and her husband are considering relocating to Riverdale, explaining, "It's close to Columbia Presbyterian. Plus, Greg wants a yard" [23]
- In the 2004 film Secret Window Mort Rainey's ex-wife lives in Riverdale, New York; several camera shots show the Henry Hudson Parkway and glimpses of Riverdale
- Tom Wolfe's New York City-based bestseller The Bonfire of the Vanities includes many references to Riverdale
- In the 2010 romantic drama Blue Valentine, Michelle Williams's character is encouraged to work in Riverdale
- In the bestselling novel The Devil Wears Prada, Miranda Priestly's twin daughters attend the Horace Mann School in Riverdale
Notable natives and residents
- Anahid Ajemian (born 1924) Concert violinist, co-founder of The Composers String Quartet
- Robert Alfano (born 1941) physicist, inventor, discovered supercontinuum
- Sean Altman (born 1961) musician, songwriter and founder of Rockapella.[24]
- William Henry Appleton (1814–1899), publisher, lived at Wave Hill.[25]
- George Avakian (born 1919) noted Jazz producer and innovator
- Hannelore Baron (1926–1987), collage and assemblage artist.
- Ray Barretto, bandleader and conga player, the "godfather of Latin jazz," lived at 2390 Palisades Ave.
- Béla Bartók (1881–1945), composer and pianist, lived at 3242 Cambridge Avenue.
- Rudolf Bing (1902–1997), former General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera. lived at the Hebrew Home for the Aged from 1989 until his death.[26]
- Ruby Braff (1927-2003), jazz trumpeter and cornetist, lived on Hudson Manor Terrace.
- Jordan Bratman, music producer and ex-husband of Christina Aguilera grew up in the Fieldston section of Riverdale
- Jonathan Brewster Bingham (1914–1986), member of the House of Representatives for Riverdale and other sections of the Bronx from 1965 to 1983, for whom a segment of Independence Avenue north of 5000 Independence Avenue, his home with June Rossbach Bingham (later June Bingham Birge,) has been named.
- Brian Curtin Patterson, (born 1977) entrepreneur and founder of Java Ads, lives at Fieldston Plaza
- June Bingham Birge (1919–2007), author and playwright.[27]
- Ron Blomberg (born 1948), first Designated Hitter in baseball history, former NY Yankee, lived at the Whitehall (3333 Henry Hudson Parkway).[28]
- Ted Brown (1924–2005), charismatic radio personality, worked at several stations in New York City including WMGM, WNEW and WNBC.[29]
- Chris Chambliss (born 1948), former Yankee first baseman and hitting coach.[30]
- Ronni Chasen, Hollywood publicist, murder victim
- Kevin Collins, actor
- Yvonne De Carlo (1922–2007), movie and television actress, lived at the Whitehall.
- Joey Donovan, (1967–, birth name Joey Reynolds), founder and president of Ad Astra Radio; nationally broadcast radio talk show host, lived at 2800–2810 Bailey Avenue from 1967–75.
- Bill Evans, jazz pianist, played with Miles Davis and led a famous trio with Scott LaFaro (bass) and Paul Motian (drums).
- Seth Farber, rabbi and historian.[31]
- Fernando Ferrer (born 1950), former Bronx Borough President.[32]
- Ella Fitzgerald (1917–1996), jazz singer, lived at the Colored Orphan Asylum in Riverdale.[33]
- Justin Fornal a.k.a "Baron Ambrosia", film director
- Julio Franco (born 1958), former New York Mets first basemen, lived in the Century.
- Sidney Frey (1920–1968), Audio Fidelity Records, producer of the first stereo record, lived at Highpoint.[34]
- Fred W. Friendly (1915–1998), former president of CBS News, lived at 4614 Fieldston Road.[35]
- Lou Gehrig (1903–1941), New York Yankees baseball star, lived and died at 5204 Delafield Avenue.[36]
- Jordan Gelber, actor who inaugurated the role of "Brian" in the Broadway production of Avenue Q.[37]
- Blu Greenberg (born 1936), writer specializing in Modern Orthodox Judaism and women's issues.[38]
- Irving Greenberg (born 1933), Modern Orthodox rabbi Jewish-American scholar and author.[38]
- Desmond Harrington (born 1976), actor.
- Nat Holman (1896–1995), Hall of Fame basketball player and CCNY coach; lived at the Hebrew Home for the Aged.
- Charles Evans Hughes, III(1915–1985), architect.[39]
- H. Stuart Hughes (1916–1999), professor and activist.[40]
- Richard Joel (born 1950), President of Yeshiva University.[41]
- Laura Kam (born 1958), Israel advocate, Senior Adviser at the Israel Project.
- Eric Kandel (born 1929), Columbia University neuroscientist, winner of the Nobel Prize for his work on learning and memory.[42]
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver (1921-2009), member of the Kennedy Family, founder of the Special Olympics
- Joan Bennett Kennedy (born 1936), spouse of Senator Ted Kennedy.[43]
- John F. Kennedy (1917–1963), U.S. President, lived at 5040 Independence Avenue as a child [44]
- Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. (1888-1969), patriarch of the Kennedy Family, US Ambassador to the UK, SEC Chairman
- Kathleen Kennedy Cavendish (1920-1948), Marchionness of Hartington, member of the Kennedy Family
- Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968), U.S. Senator, Attorney General and Presidential Candidate
- Bernard Kerik (born 1955), former New York City Police Commissioner.[45]
- Theodore Kheel, labor lawyer.[46]
- G. Oliver Koppell (born 1940), former New York State Attorney General and current member of the New York City Council.[46]
- Fiorello H. La Guardia (1882–1947), Mayor of New York City during the 1930s and 1940s. He lived at 5020 Goodridge Avenue.[46]
- John L. Lahey (born 1946), president of Quinnipiac University.[47]
- Christopher Lehmann-Haupt (born 1934), journalist, critic and novelist.[48]
- Timothy "Speed" Levitch (born 1970), tour guide and voice actor.[49]
- Jacob "Jack" J. Lew, (born 1955) former Director of the U.S. OMB, and now [designate for] U.S. Deputy Secretary of State
- Sal Maglie (1917–1992), pitcher who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, and New York Yankees during his career.[50]
- Willie Mays (born 1931), baseball star, lives at The Whitehall.[28]
- Sean Murray Tyndall legend and former street soldier loyal to the infamous Don Cuddles (El Padrino) Currently treasurer for the Riverdale chapter of Red Neck Golf USA
- Tim Morehouse, Olympic fencer.[51]
- Tracy Morgan (born 1968), starred on Saturday Night Live and appears in 30 Rock, lived at the Century.[52]
- Elie Nadelman (1882–1946), Polish/American sculptor lived at the Alderbrook Estate on Independence Avenue near Wave Hill.[53]
- Philip Nadelman (born 1955), accomplished songwriter and artist lives on Johnson Avenue, he is the grandson of Elie Nadelman the artist.
- George Walbridge Perkins (1862–1920), first president of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission.[25]
- Jennifer Raab, president of Hunter College.[46]
- Ed Rendell (born 1944), Governor of Pennsylvania.
- Sugar Ray Robinson (1921–1989), said to be "pound for pound the best" [54] boxer in history.[44]
- Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. (1831–1878), banker and father of the U.S. President.[25]
- Jonathan Rosenblatt, Rabbi of the Riverdale Jewish Center
- David Shapiro (born 1947), poet and literary critic.[55]
- Carly Simon (born 1945), singer/songwriter, lived in Fieldston.[56]
- Joanna Simon (born 1940), Mezzo-soprano.[46]
- Lucy Simon (born 1943), composer.[46]
- Richard L. Simon (1899–1960), co-founder of Simon & Schuster.[46]
- Regina Spektor (born 1980), singer/songwriter grew up in Riverdale and graduated from SAR Academy
- Eliot Spitzer (born 1959), former Governor and Attorney General of New York, was born in Riverdale and graduated from the Horace Mann School.[57]
- Ed Sullivan (1901–1974), television personality, lived at the Whitehall.
- Billy Taylor (1921–2010), American jazz giant
- U Thant (1909–1974), former United Nations Secretary-General.[58]
- Kool Keith Thornton (born 1964), prolific hip-hop artist and founding member of the Ultramagnetic MCs.
- Richard Tofel, president and CEO of the International Freedom Center.[59]
- Arturo Toscanini (1867–1957), Conductor, lived at Wave Hill.[60]
- Mark Twain (1835–1910), author, lived at Wave Hill from 1901 to 1903.[25]
- Steven Tyler (born 1948), American musician and songwriter (Aerosmith), lived in Netherland Gardens.
- Abe Vigoda (born 1921), movie and television actor.
- Rebecca Walker (born 1969), writer and daughter of "The Color Purple" author Alice Walker, spent much of her youth in Riverdale, attending the Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy [61]
- Alexander S. Webb (1835–1911), Union Army general who was awarded the Medal of Honor.[62]
- Joseph H. H. Weiler (born 1951), Joseph Straus Professor of Law and European Union Jean Monnet Chair at New York University School of Law.
- Avi Weiss (born 1944), activist Modern Orthodox Rabbi.[63]
- Rosalyn Sussman Yalow (born 1921), Nobel Laureate.[64]
Museums
- The Derfner Judaica Museum is a museum of Jewish art.
- Wave Hill, former residence of Mark Twain amongst others, is a botanical garden featuring two preserved historic mansions. It has exhibit spaces with a rotating series of art exhibitions, and performance spaces with a noted series of concerts.
Transportation
The Van Cortlandt Park – 242nd Street terminal station of the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line (1 train) of the New York City Subway is located at the intersection of 242nd Street and Broadway. The tracks and stations of the line are elevated along Broadway in Kingsbridge. Riverdale is accessible from Kingsbridge and from Inwood by city bus lines that run throughout the Riverdale area. Metro-North commuter railroad service is available at the Spuyten Duyvil station on the Hudson Line, located underneath the Henry Hudson Parkway and alongside the shore of the Harlem River at Edsall Avenue. Hudson Line service is also available at the Riverdale station, located between West 254th Street and West 255th Street. Metro-North commuting time from the Spuyten Duyvil station to Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan is around 22 minutes.
Manhattan can also be reached by MTA Bus Company's (formerly Liberty Lines) express routes. By car, Riverdale is commonly reached by the Henry Hudson Parkway (Route 9A), which bisects much of the neighborhood. This major thoroughfare connects it to Manhattan over the Henry Hudson Bridge to the south. One can also drive between Manhattan and Riverdale via the Broadway Bridge, which is on Broadway, by the Harlem River.
Fire department
The Riverdale section of the Bronx is protected by the FDNY Fire Station # 52 or Engine 52/Ladder 52, located at 4550 Henry Hudson Parkway East in Central Riverdale. Engine 52/Ladder 52 is the only firehouse in the Riverdale Section and the most northern fire station in the FDNY. Also, the companies of Engine and Ladder 52 are the second of two fire companies where the engine company and the ladder company each have the same number, the other being Engine and Ladder 10 on Liberty Street in Lower Manhattan. Engine Company 52 currently operates a 2003 Seagrave Commander II Custom 1000/500 Pumper Engine and Ladder Company 52 currently operates a 2006 Seagrave Commander II Custom 100' Rear-Mount Aerial Ladder Truck.
Churches and synagogues
Due to its large and diverse Jewish population, synagogues slightly outnumber churches in Riverdale. Houses of worship include:
2009 bombing plot
- Main Article 2009 New York terrorism plot
In May 2009, the FBI thwarted a terrorist plot to car bomb two local synagogues by clandestinely supplying the would-be terrorists with blanks instead of real bombs.
- Bronx Community Board 8. A group of community members working under the mandate of the City Charter to monitor the delivery of city services, establish budget priorities, and influence land-use decisions.
- Riverdale Hatzalah Volunteer Ambulance Corp.[66] A local volunteer EMS Corp., supported by community donations, that offers fast, reliable medical treatment and transport free of charge.
- Riverdale YM-YWHA. A community center for youth, adult and senior activities.
Arts and culture
- Derfner Museum : The Derfner Judaica Museum maintains a collection of approximately 1,400 objects used in traditional Jewish ceremonies and rituals, as well as Jewish Art.
- Elisa Contemporary Art: Art consulting services. Representing world-class artists from emerging through late career.
Kids' after-school activities
- Music classes for babies/toddlers/preschoolers
- Music Together North Riverdale YM-YWHA
- Riverdale Jewish Center (RJC)
- The Atria
- Riverdale Neighborhood House
- Central Riverdale
- South Riverdale
- North Riverdale
- Riverdale YM-YWHA: wide array of activities. Riverdale Y has an official afterschool program with bus transportation from all the schools in Riverdale.[1]
- Wave Hill: tours, art classes, beautiful garden
- Elisa Contemporary Art: Representing world-class artists from emerging through late career. Art consulting services.
References
- ^ Staff. "Postings: Historic Designation; Recognizing Riverdale.", The New York Times [New York, N.Y.] October 21 1990, Late Edition (East Coast): A.1. Accessed June 11, 2009.
- ^ Hernandez, Javier C.; Chan, Sewell (May 22, 2009). "N.Y. Bomb Plot Suspects Acted Alone, Police Say". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/nyregion/22terror.html?hp. Retrieved April 10, 2010.
- ^ Two Rabbis Find They’re Separated Only by Doctrine By SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN. To the would-be bombers of two Bronx houses of worship, the distinctions between Reform and Orthodox Judaism were either irrelevant or invisible. May 30, 2009
- ^ "Nat'l Weather Service confirms tornado in Riverdale". http://www.news12.com/articleDetail.jsp?regionId=5&articleId=257048&position=1&news_type=news.
- ^ "http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ny/bronx/"
- ^ The New York Times "Riverdale, the Bronx, Real Estate Buying Guide"<http://www.nytimes.com/ref/realestate/nabe-riverdale.html>
- ^ The New York Times "Riverdale, the Bronx, Real Estate Buying Guide"<http://www.nytimes.com/ref/realestate/nabe-riverdale.html>
- ^ AIA Guide to New York City, p. 610
- ^ Riverdale, New York – Estate Area. July 4, 2008 <http://www.robertehill.com/Riverdale_Estate_Area.asp>
- ^ Siegal, Allan M. "Russian Building Going Up Form the Top Down; The Construction Technique", The New York Times, June 17, 1974. Accessed May 5, 2008.
- ^ Welcome to Community Board No. 8, Bronx Community Board 8. Accessed May 3, 2008.
- ^ InsideSchools profile of P.S. 24 Spuyten Duyvil School
- ^ InsideSchools profile of P.S. 81 Robert J. Christen School
- ^ Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy
- ^ a b Kinneret Day School
- ^ Spuyten Duyvil preschool
- ^ RNSFC
- ^ RPC Nursery School
- ^ http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:PGEU6-d1tV0J:www.litkicks.com/Texts/RoadRoute6.html+kerouac+on+the+road+subway&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari
- ^ "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Comics#Archie_and_Riverdale"
- ^ Husbands and Wives
- ^ Good Night, and Good Luck
- ^ "Mad Men," Season 3, Episode 3: "My Old Kentucky Home"
- ^ Goodman, Lawrence. 'Too Jew For Who?", Brown Alumni Magazine, March / April 2008. Accessed May 4, 2008. "Altman, who grew up in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, doesn't consider himself religious."
- ^ a b c d A Brief History of Wave Hill, Wave Hill. Accessed May 3, 2008.
- ^ Oestreich, James R. "Rudolf Bing, Titan of the Met, Dies at 95", The New York Times, September 3, 1997. Accessed May 4, 2008. "Sir Rudolf Bing, who as the dapper and acerbic general manager of the Metropolitan Opera from 1950 to 1972 ushered the company into the modern era and into Lincoln Center, died yesterday at St. Joseph's Hospital in Yonkers. He was 95 and lived at the Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale in the Bronx.... In 1989, Sir Rudolf was admitted to the Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale with what was diagnosed as Alzheimer's disease."
- ^ "June Bingham Birge, Who Wrote Books and Plays, Dies at 88", The New York Times, August 29, 2007. Accessed May 4, 2008. "June Bingham Birge, the author of books and plays, died on Aug. 21 at her home in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. She was 88."
- ^ a b Jacobson, Mark. "Joltin' Jew", New York (magazine), April 17, 2006. Accessed May 3, 2008. "I lived in Riverdale, in the same building with Willie Mays."
- ^ Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher. "Ted Brown, Talk Show Host and New York Radio D.J., Is Dead", The New York Times, March 22, 2005. Accessed May 4, 2008. "As a teenager in the 1950s, Jonathan Schwartz, another New York radio colleague, watched Mr. Brown broadcasting from his basement studio at his home in Riverdale, in the Bronx."
- ^ "Designated Hebrew" By Ron Blomberg, Page 120
- ^ Gorenberg, Gershom. "How Do You Prove You’re a Jew?", The New York Times, March 2, 2008. Accessed May 4, 2008. "Farber, 41, has a round, clean-shaven face and frameless glasses that make him look like an earnest grad student. He grew up in Riverdale, N.Y., attending the kind of Orthodox parochial school that, he told me, “celebrated Americanism,” that turned the American bicentennial into the focus of an entire school year."
- ^ "Profile: Fernando Ferrer", The New York Times, August 10, 2005. Accessed May 4, 2008. "HOMETOWN Riverdale, the Bronx"
- ^ Bernstein, Nina. "Ward of the State;The Gap in Ella Fitzgerald's Life", The New York Times, June 23, 1996. Accessed May 3, 2008. "Her most recent biographer, Stuart Nicholson, has surmised that the authorities caught up with her and placed her in the Colored Orphan Asylum in Riverdale."
- ^ "SIDNEY FREY DIES; MADE HI-FI DISKS; Ex-Head of Audio Fidelity, 47, Popularized Stereo", The New York Times, January 14, 1968. Accessed July 26, 2008.
- ^ Dempsey, John. "TV news giant Friendly dies: Legacy of integrity and highest standards", Variety (magazine), March 5, 1998. Accessed May 3, 2008. "Slowed by several strokes in recent years, Friendly was at home in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, just north of Manhattan, when he died."
- ^ Yardley, Jonathan. "Book World Live: Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig", The Washington Post, April 5, 2005. Accessed May 3, 2008. "On June 2, 1941, just days short of his 38th birthday, Henry Louis Gehrig died at his house in the pleasant New York City neighborhood of Riverdale."
- ^ Lucy interviews Jordan Gelber, Avenue Q. Accessed May 4, 2008.
- ^ a b Stern, Sarah. "'Frumpies' Come to Town And Observe Shabbos in Riverdale", The Forward, April 8, 1994. Accessed June 11, 2009. "'Now it's commonplace,' says Blu Greenberg, a long time Riverdale resident, author and feminist. Ms. Greenberg, married to Rabbi Yitz Greenberg..."
- ^ Goldberger, Paul. "CHARLES E. HUGHES 3D DEAD; LEADER IN BANK ARCHITECTURE", The New York Times, January 10, 1985. Accessed May 4, 2008. "Mr. Hughes, who lived in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, was the grandson of Charles Evans Hughes, the former Chief Justice of the United States."
- ^ Eder, Richard. "BOOK REVIEW Living at the Low End of the Upper Crust GENTLEMAN REBEL The Memoirs of H. Stuart Hughes.", Los Angeles Times, December 13, 1990. Accessed May 4, 2008. "Surely, that baked Henry Stuart into the upper crust. Perhaps, the bottom of the upper crust, he muses. But then there were the Kennedys; much richer, and beginning to be more powerful. When Joseph P. Kennedy moved from Riverdale to greater things, the Hugheses thriftily bought his house. Yet they-the Hugheses-were received by Hudson River Society; the Kennedys were not."
- ^ McNeil, Kate. 'For Yeshiva's president, life can imitate television", The Riverdale Press, January 3, 2008. Accessed May 3, 2008. "Riverdale resident Richard Joel compares his job – president of Yeshiva University – to the presidency of the United States."
- ^ Eric R. Kandel: Autobiography, Nobel Prize. Accessed May 3, 2008. "Finally, Denise was on the Columbia faculty and our house in Riverdale was near Columbia, thereby greatly simplifying our lives."
- ^ McPhee, Michele; and Wedge, Dave. "The Fall of Joan", Boston magazine, August 2005. Accessed May 4, 2008. "Virginia Joan Bennett was born September 9, 1936, in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, a neighborhood that closely resembles the lace-curtain Irish communities in Boston where paintings and photographs of JFK still hang on the walls."
- ^ a b Gross, Max. "Riverdale Run", The New York Post, April 24, 2008. Accessed May 3, 2008. "Over the years, these areas, filled with multimillion-dollar homes, have attracted the rich and privileged, including Lou Gehrig, Ella Fitzgerald and Sugar Ray Robinson. John F. Kennedy spent his youth in an enormous white mansion on Independence Avenue."
- ^ Bernstein, Nina; and Stein, Robin. "Mystery Woman in Kerik Case: Nanny", The New York Times, December 16, 2004. Accessed May 4, 2008. "Most puzzled about the nanny, perhaps, are former neighbors of the Keriks and their kin. In the Riverdale section of the Bronx, where the family lived in a first-floor apartment for years before moving last year into the Franklin Lakes home they had extensively renovated, neighbors did not recall any household help."
- ^ a b c d e f g Jackson, Nancy Beth. "If You're Thinking of Living In/Fieldston; A Leafy Enclave in the Hills of the Bronx", The New York Times, February 17, 2002. Accessed May 3, 2008. "Fiorello H. La Guardia, a three-time mayor of New York, lived and died at 5020 Goodridge Avenue.... After World War II, Richard Simon, founder of Simon & Schuster, bought a Georgian red-brick Baum house where he brought up his three musical daughters: Joanna, Lucy and Carly. TODAY, residents include United Nations ambassadors from Benin and Guinea; Jennifer J. Raab, president of Hunter College and former head of the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission; and G. Oliver Koppell, the former New York attorney general newly elected to the City Council. Theodore Kheel, the labor lawyer, has a house around the corner from Ruth Friendly..."
- ^ McCarthy, Peggy. "A New York Irishman, and Flaunting It", The New York Times, March 16, 1997. Accessed May 4, 2008. "WHEN John L. Lahey was growing up in St. Margaret's parish in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, he thought the world was Irish."
- ^ Novelist Christopher Lehmann-Haupt to Read at Mount Saint Vincent, College of Mount Saint Vincent press release dated September 2, 2005. Accessed May 4, 2008. "A former senior daily book reviewer for The New York Times, Lehmann-Haupt resides in Riverdale with his wife, writer Natalie Robins."
- ^ Bruni, Frank. "Manhattan Through a Warped Window; Featured in a Film: A Homeless Tour Guide's Offbeat City View", The New York Times, October 1, 1998. Accessed May 4, 2008. "Mr. Levitch grew up in a middle-class Jewish family of five in Riverdale, the Bronx, and attended Horace Mann, a respected private school."
- ^ Collins, Glenn. " BASEBALL: SUBWAY SERIES; 1956 vs. 2000? It's Deja Vu All Over Again, Except for When It's Not", The New York Times, October 21, 2000. Accessed May 3, 2008. "In 1956, the Dodger legend Pee Wee Reese occupied a modest brick duplex on Barwell Terrace in Bay Ridge, pitcher Sal Maglie lived in Riverdale and many Yankees occupied an apartment hotel on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx."
- ^ Wolfer, Sondra. "Olympic fencer Tim Morehouse takes his stab at being the best", New York Daily News, July 21, 2008. Accessed August 5, 2008. "As a young teen, Tim Morehouse took up fencing at the Riverdale Country School as an excuse to get out of gym class.... Almost kicked off his first fencing team for skipping practices, the Riverdale native was encouraged by a patient coach and discovered a passion for the sport."
- ^ Hartocollis, Anemona. "Apartment Complex Official Accused of Taking $1 Million", The New York Times, March 20, 2008. "The Century, built in 1976, is home to Tracy Morgan, the actor and comedian."
- ^ Glueck, Grace. "ART: PERU'S 'NAZCA LINES' AS SEEN FROM AIR", The New York Times, February 5, 1982. Accessed May 3, 2008. "Feb. 20 marks the 100th birthday of the sculptor Elie Nadelman (1882–1946), who spent the last 26 years of his life living and working in the Riverdale section of the Bronx."
- ^ Boxing Legends – Ray Robinson
- ^ Parhizkar, Maryam. "David Shapiro ’68: Four Decades of Poems", Columbia College Today, May/June 2007. Accessed May 4, 2008.
- ^ Maslin, Janet. "Heroines in the Footlights, From All Sides Now", The New York Times, April 17, 2008. Accessed May 3, 2008. "And Ms. Weller segues neatly from the fictional melodramas watched by the young Ms. Mitchell (then Roberta Joan Anderson) on Canadian movie screens to the real-life ones unfolding in Ms. Simon’s privileged, sexually overcharged household in Riverdale in New York."
- ^ Lowenstein, Roger. "As Governor, What Would His Battles Be?", The New York Times, July 16, 2006. Accessed April 13, 2008. "Eliot and his two siblings grew up in the prosperous Riverdale enclave of the Bronx, fed on progressive politics and duly enrolled in private schools."
- ^ Dunlap, David W. "Bronx Residents Fighting Plans Of a Developer", The New York Times, November 16, 1987. Accessed May 4, 2008. "A battle has broken out in the Bronx over the future of the peaceful acreage where U Thant lived when he headed the United Nations. A group of neighbors from Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil has demanded that the city acquire as a public park the 4.75-acre (19,200 m2) parcel known as the Douglas-U Thant estate, north of 232d Street, between Palisade and Douglas Avenues."
- ^ Biography: Richard J. Tofel, International Freedom Center. Accessed May 4, 2008.
- ^ Frank, Mortimer H. "A Toscanini Odyssey", The Juilliard Journal Online, April 2002. Accessed February 26, 2008. "That archive was housed at Wave Hill, Toscanini's Riverdale residence during World War II."
- ^ "Black, White and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self" (2000) by Rebecca Walker
- ^ "FEAR THAT GEN. WEBB WILL NOT RECOVER; Artillery Commander in the "Bloody Angle" at Gettysburg on His Deathbed.", The New York Times, February 12, 1911. Accessed May 4, 2008.
- ^ Stern, Eliyahu. "Leaping to respectability", The Jerusalem Post, May 24, 2002. Accessed May 4, 2008. "Based in the affluent Jewish enclave of Riverdale, in the New York City borough of the Bronx, Weiss has never really been accepted in the upper echelons of the US Jewish establishment."
- ^ Rosalyn Yalow Autobiography, Nobel Prize. Accessed February 24, 2008. "During that period Aaron and I had two children, Benjamin and Elanna. We bought a house in Riverdale, less than a mile from the VA."
- ^ Congregation Tehillah
- ^ Riverdale Hatzalah
External links