Meet new reporter at The Riverdale Press

Eric Harvey has joined The Riverdale Press news staff. He mainly covers police and politics.

He interned and freelanced for the Greenwich Free Press in his home state of Connecticut over the past four years, covering such events as the Memorial Day parade, Boys & Girls Clubs, local politicians and government. He was also an editing/social media intern for Fomite Press, a small publishing company in Burlington, Vermont.

Harvey earned his bachelor’s degree in professional writing at Champlain College in Burlington last May. He was an editor for Willard & Maple, a student-run magazine.

One notable project he undertook at Champlain included producing several psychological horror stories that were hosted on a website.

He can be reached at eharvey@riverdalepress.com, or by calling (718) 543-6065, Ext. 324.

‘Dialogues of Carmelites’

The Bronx Opera returns with four performances of Poulenc’s moving “Dialogues of the Carmelites,” music and libretto by Francis Poulenc, performed in English, May 6 and 7 and May 13 and 14 at the Lovinger Theatre, Lehman College, 250 Bedford Park Blvd. West.

Principal roles in the two casts will be played by Barbee Monk and Alina Tamborini as Blanche de la Force; Hannah Spierman and Michelle Trovato as Madame Lidoine; Annie Chester and Caroline Tye as Mother Marie of the Incarnation; and Tiernan Elizabeth Chase and Sarah Daniels as Sister Constance.

“Dialogues of the Carmelites” begins in the spring of 1789, on the eve of the French Revolution.

At its heart, the opera tells the story of Blanche de la Force, a young noblewoman torn apart by fear. She leaves her father and brother for the perceived safety of the convent, becoming a Carmelite nun.

As the story progresses and time passes, Blanche relates to her sister nuns, and witnesses the traumatic death of the Priory’s Mother Superior. The Reign of Terror in 1794 forces the nuns to choose between their vows and conformity. Unwilling to renounce their religious life, they ultimately choose martyrdom, a choice which drives Blanche to flee the convent in confusion and terror.

Bronx Opera Company was founded in 1967 by its artistic director and music director, the conductor Michael Spierman, and is run by Maestro Spierman in partnership with his son Benjamin Spierman, the company’s general director.

Times for performances are 7:30 p.m. on May 6, 2:30 p.m. on May 7, 7:30 p.m. on May 13 and 2:30 p.m. on May 14.

Tickets: $40 and $30. To make reservations, go to BronxOpera.org or call (718) 365-4209.

Espaillat: Jordan hearing a show

U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who attended the unprecedented House Judiciary Committee field hearing  on gun violence Monday in New York City, was upset the chair decided to hold the hearing near Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office.

“As the former president of the 34th Precinct Community Council in the 1980s, I spent years fighting crime in Manhattan during one of the most violent periods in the history of New York City,” Espaillat said. “My family and I have also been held up at gunpoint in my own neighborhood, so believe me — I know these issues deeply.”

As for chair Jim Jordan of Ohio holding the hearing at the Jacob Javits Federal Building, Espaillat and other New York City Democratic leaders thought it was more of a show to embarrass Democrats than an actual hearing. Bragg oversaw the indictment of former President Donald Trump on felony charges related to hush money paid to pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels.

“There is flat out no justifiable reason for Chairman Jordan to be holding this hearing in New York,” Espaillat said. “Unfortunately, we have experienced a nationwide increase in crime in the years that followed the Covid-19 pandemic. The rate of murders in the United States has gone up.

“Additionally, the Washington Post reported that crime in Chairman Jordan’s district of Mansfield, Ohio, appears to be higher than New York City’s according to several metrics.”