Author pens futuristic
Bronx sci-fi action novel
org. BRONX WEEKLY May 5, 2019 12 www.BXTimes.com
NY Landmarks group presents
Sacred Sites Open House
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
Three borough
churches will be participating
in the New York
Landmarks Preservation
Conservancy’s annual
Sacred Sites Open House
that celebrates the architecture,
history and traditions
of houses of worship
all over the state on Saturday,
May 18 and Sunday,
May 19.
The conservancy will
feature Christ Church Riverdale
at 5040 Henry
Hudson Parkway,
Riverdale Presbyterian
Church at 4765
Henry Hudson Parkway
and St. James
Episcopal Church at
2500 Jerome Avenue
as part of its weekend
dedicated to this
year’s theme: ‘Medieval
to Modern: Celebrating
New York’s
Religious Art and Architecture.’
“New York has a
rich and diverse array
of religious architecture,”
said Peg
Breen, NY LPC president.
The conservancy,
which has provided
grants and technical
assistance to maintain
and restore
houses of worship
since 1986, fi rst began
hosting the open
house weekends in
2011, and Ann Friedman,
NY LPC’s director
of its sacred
sites program, said
the weekends proved
so successful they became
annual events.
“All three (Bronx)
churches are interrelated,”
said Freidman.
“They are all gothic
revival, all 19th century,
all Victorian,
and they all have
lovely windows and
stone masonry.”
The three churches
from the borough are
all by well-know architects
of the 19th
century: Richard Upjohn
at Christ Church
Riverdale, James
Renwick at Riverdale
Presbyterian Church
and Henry Dudley at St.
James Episcopal Church,
she said.
“These architects knew
of each of other and would
have been under consideration
for the same projects,”
said Friedman,
adding that they were infl
uenced by the medieval
English Gothic architecture.
The two Riverdale
churches are across the
road from one another,
and they are churches in
beautifully landscaped
settings, constructed with
local stone and have slate
roofs, she said.
Fr. Andrew Butler,
Christ Church Riverdale
rector, said that the
church has been participating
for years.
“It always a privilege
for us to be able to open
our doors even more than
they are already open,”
said Butler, adding that
the church is a beautiful
space architecturally
designed by
Upjohn, who also
designed Trinity
Church Wall Street.
A pre-booked
guided tour will be
held on Saturday,
May 18 from 11:30
a.m. to noon and will
highlight a window
donated in memory
of Mayor Fiorello
LaGuardia and altar
rail donated by
Babe Ruth in honor
of parishioner and
Yankees hero Lou
Gehrig.
Riverdale Presbyterian
Church,
a short walk from
Christ Church Riverdale,
will be open
for self-guided tour
from noon to 3 p.m.
both days, and there
will be an 11 a.m.
choral mass on Sunday.
P a t r i c i a
Gourdine, a Riverdale
Presbyterian
parishioner and
church elder, said
that the same architect
who worked on
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
designed the
church.
St. James in Fordham
will be open
that Saturday from
11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and
is known for its Tiffany
stained glass
windows.
To view a digital
guide and register
for pre-booked
tours, visit www.
nylandmarks.org or
www.sacredsitesopenhouse.
BY ROBERT WIRSING
A Bronx native’s
newest novel envisions
the borough’s
future through a science
fiction lens.
West Bronx native
Lilliam Rivera’s
latest novel, ‘Dealing
in Dreams,’ is
a fast-paced dystopian
novel depicting
sisterhood and the
cruel choices people
are forced to make
for survival.
Set in a futuristic
Bronx now dubbed
‘Mega City,’ the
novel chronicles the
action-packed journey
of 16-year-old
Nalah, the leader
of the city’s fiercest
all-girl crew Las Mal
Criadas.
Her leadership
role brings with
it violent throwdowns
and access
to the hottest ‘boydega’
clubs, but she
quickly grows weary
of her questionable
lifestyle.
Nalah dreams to
leave the streets and
make her home in
the exclusive Mega
Towers, former NYCHA
housing developments
converted
into luxury housing
for the city’s chosen
elite.
To make it to the
Mega Towers, Nalah
must prove her loyalty
to the city’s benevolent
founder
and cross the border
in search of the mysterious
gang known as the
Ashé Riders.
Led by a reluctant
guide, Nalah loses sight
of everything and everyone
she cares about.
She must then choose
whether or not she’s willing
to do the unspeakable
to obtain what she
desires.
The Simon & Schuster
published novel explores
themes of family, gender
role reversal, personal
growth and violence’s
impact on youth and society.
Rivera’s novel was inspired
by such classic
novels as ‘The Outsiders’
by S. E. Hinton and
‘A Clockwork Orange’ by
Anthony Burgess, which
explore youth and a subculture
of extreme violence.
She added that A
Clockwork Orange’s incorporation
of creative
slang and young people
in the future inspired her
while writing Dealing in
Dreams.
Nalah and her crew
embody the concept that
family trancends blood
relation.
Rivera also cited
Bronx authors
Nicholasa Mohr and
Nikki Grimes as her
literary muses.
“There are subtle
hints throughout
Dealing in Dreams
that Bronxites can
pick up on to envision
where exactly
the action is unfolding,”
Rivera explained.
The award-winning
writer and author
grew up in the
Twin Parks West
Housing Development
at East 183rd
Street and Webster
Avenue.
The Binghamton
University alumna
moved to Los Angeles
18 years ago, but
still visits her hometown
to see her parents.
Staying true to
her roots, Rivera
bases her novels’
characters and
worldviews on her
time residing in the
borough.
Her first novel,
‘The Education of
Margot Sanchez,’
published in 2017,
is a coming-of-age
romantic tale set to
the backdrop of the
south Bronx.
Rivera’s forthcoming
novel, ‘Pheus
& Eury,’ a young
adult Bronx-based
retelling of the classic
Greek myth Orpheus
and Eurydice, is
scheduled for release in
fall 2020.
Dealing in Dreams is
available via Amazon,
www.barnesandnoble.
com, Books-A-Million,
IndieBound and in bookstores
everywhere.
Rivera will be attending
the Science Fiction
Festival on Saturday,
May 18 from 1 to 7 p.m. at
Queens Library, Corona.
To stay informed, visit
www.lilliamrivera.com
or follow Rivera on Instagram
and Twitter @lilliamr.
Lilliam Rivera is an award-winning writer and
author of the young adult novels ‘Dealing in
Dreams,’ ‘The Education of Margot Sanchez’
and ‘Pheus & Eury.’
Photo courtesy of Lilliam Rivera
Dealing in Dreams is a fast-paced dystopian
novel depicting sisterhood and the cruel
choices people are forced to make for survival.
Photo courtesy of Lilliam Rivera
Christ Church of Riverdale
Photo courtesy of LPC
The Riverdale Presbyterian Church
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