The RIVERDALE REVIEW • Thursday, August 12, 2010


Chained Seton Park dog run benches likely to stay put — finally By LAUREL NOBLE Two benches at the Seton Park dog run


were installed last week after the first three mysteriously went missing. Last year, Councilman G. Oliver Kop-


pell was promised two world’s fair park benches by former Parks and Recreation Commissioner Hector Aponte. These were installed and then stolen, although the two benches are so heavy that they each require three or four men to lift them. Confused, the Seton Park Dog Run


Group contacted the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, and here is where they story gets interesting. A few days later, another bench was


installed at the dog run. A press conference was held and prominent local officials involved in the dog run bench project


had their picture taken on the bench. Then, that bench disappeared, only to reappear outside the Spuyten Duyvil Branch library. According to the Parks Department,


the same day the bench was installed, an elderly man contacted the city agency and requested that a bench be put outside the library adjacent to the dog run. “I was able to refurbish a bench that


was taken out of a park that was going under construction,” Parks Manager Ray Acosta said in an e-mail. “My staff placed the bench adjacent to the dog run. The following day it was found in the dog run. We removed it from the run and chained it to the fence [near the library], where it remains today.” The dog run’s park bench count at that


Riverdale Hatzalah honors Verizon By CANDICE M. GIOVE The $30,000 grant Verizon recently be-


stowed on Hatzalah will greatly enhance the volunteer ambulance service’s ability to communicate in situations where every second counts. So this past Sunday, those volunteers


thanked the major telecommunications company with an award at their annual barbeque. “We are pleased that we have the


opportunity to thank Verizon for its significant financial support of our or- ganizations,” said Rabbi David Cohen, Haztalah’s chief operating executive. “This funding has enabled us to drasti- cally improve our two-way radio coverage between our dispatchers and emergency


point was zero. With nowhere to sit and nowhere else


to go, the Seton Park dog owners contacted Councilman G. Oliver Koppell’s office. Koppell’s office tried to unravel the


web of contradicting stories and odd behavior. The Seton Park Dog Run Group said the bench that was installed and then moved to the library had been theirs for months. “People from the dog run knew the


bench had been there for a year and a half,” said Karen Glazer, former president of the Seton Park Dog Run Group. “There was confusion as to where it really belonged and how long it had been there.” Confusion continued, but the fact


remained that a bench was needed. So last week, the City followed through and


installed two refurbished benches in the dog run. “We will be dropping off and chaining two world's fair benches recently removed from Tremont Park, which has gone under construction,” said Acosta in an August 4 e-mail. But everyone had learned a lesson this


time around. “We had them chained to the fence,” said Andrew Sandler, com- munity liason for Councilman Koppell’s office. “I’m glad that we sorted it out,” he continued, “and now we’re going to have two new benches there. And hopefully, we won’t have any more problems.” Safely secured, the new benches will more


likely remain in place. But the park bench culprit remains at large. There is one lead: Maybe the authorities can start with whoever stole the cookies from the cookie jar.


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first responders, which is critical to en- sure the quickest response to medical emergencies in our area.” The technology enhancement—which


included the installation of a radio an- tenna on top of the Henry Hudson Park- way’s Whitehall building in March—has eliminated dead zones, where dispatchers and volunteers experienced fuzzy trans- missions or could not communicate. It was a problem particularly in North Riverdale. “When we would answer the dis-


patcher to say that we were taking a call or to ask for paramedics or other equipment, the dispatcher often could not hear us because our portable ra- Continued on Page 14


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