Riverdale Press

Office on Broadway

Founded in 1950 by David A. Stein, The Riverdale Press is a weekly newspaper that covers the Northwest Bronx neighborhoods of Riverdale, Kingsbridge, Kingsbridge Heights and Van Cortlandt Village. It is one of a handful of weeklies to win a Pulitzer Prize.

Firebombing incident

At about 5 a.m. on February 28, 1989, two men hurled firebombs at the offices of The Press. No one was hurt, but the first floor of the two-story building was consumed by the flames.[1][2]

The bombing took place five days after the newspaper published an editorial defending the right to read Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses, while the editorial was still on newsstands. A call to 911 claiming responsibility said the newspaper was bombed in retaliation for its editorial.

The Society of Professional Journalists gave the paper's co-publishers, Richard and Bernard Stein its First Amendment Award for their courage in continuing to publish despite the severe damage caused to the paper's offices by the firebombing.[3]

Pulitzer Prize

In 1998, Press editor and co-publisher Bernard L. Stein won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing for what the Pulitzer judges called "his gracefully-written editorials on politics and other issues affecting New York City residents."[4]

In June 2008, the Stein brothers sold The Riverdale Press to another pair of brothers, Stuart and Clifford Richner of Richner Communications, publishers of 12 Long Island community newspapers.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Office of Weekly Paper in Riverdale Is Firebombed, By DAVID E. PITT, New York Times, Wednesday, March 1, 1989
  2. ↑ Violence against the press: policing the public sphere in U.S. history, By John C. Nerone, Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 204
  3. ↑ Riverdale Press To Be Honored, Tuesday, May 9, 1989
  4. ↑ The 1998 Pulitzer Prize Winners: Editorial Writing
  5. ↑ New owners to continue family tradition at Press - The Riverdale Press

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