Greenacres Celebrates Retiring Faculty Members
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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Faculty, parents, students, PTA Presidents and alumni gathered in the courtyard of the Greenacres School for a bittersweet goodbye to seven members of the staff who will retire at the end of the school year. Retiring this year are Principal Gerry Young, classroom teachers John (Jack) Dean and Oksana Slywka, School Psychologist Nancy Karagis, Music Teacher and STA President Trudy Moses, Speech and Language Teacher Eva Sax-Bolder and Physical Therapist Harriet Siegel.
With a combined 225 years of service to the school, these Greenacres veterans are a part of the heart and soul of the school. A hearty table of refreshments was available and everyone took turns reminiscing until the speeches began.
PTA Presidents, present and former, arranged the tributes and gifts from Tiffany's were provided by the PTA Executive Committee. A cake with a memento for each teacher was presented and the retirees were toasted individually.
Departing Principal Gerry Young got his own roast from the PTA Presidents with contributions to his Greenacres time capsule, each to remind him of his tenure at the school. Among the many gifts presented were paint chips and carpet swatches as Young loved to paint and redo, a framed photo of him from the Scarsdale Inquirer, pennies-- because one year the children collected a million, a deed to Huntington Avenue which parents have long wanted to close, a parking citation for those who leave their cars parked next to the school during pick-up, a wrapped brick to remind him of the work he did to rehabilitate the Greenacres courtyard, a water bottle for Brain Gym, a Chia pet for his green initiatives, a book about the south of France where he attended school, a basketball hoop in honor of the courts that were built, a fan because the school asked for but never got air conditioning, Greenacres memorabilia and a Life is Good mug – because, well, it is!
Baseball Classic is a Hit in Scarsdale
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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The Scarsdale Baseball Club hosted the 12th Annual Westchester Baseball Classic Memorial Day weekend tournament and close to 300 baseball players from 15 teams in Westchester came to town for the annual summer classic. Scarsdale fielded teams in each of the 14u, 15u and 16u brackets with the 16u Raiders taking the runner-up trophy after falling short to Westchester Academy in a thrilling championship game. This year the tournament was fortunate to be sponsored by the new Smashburger on Central Avenue. They did a great job feeding the many hungry players and fans.
(Pictured at top) 16u Raiders Team
Back: Ethan Raff, Josh Cromwell, Michael Wallach, Tyler Mandel, Dylan
Doughty, Koji Sakulrat, Jeff Weigel (Coach)
Front: Pat Lyons, Nate Ware, Scott Kelly, Teddy DeLorenzo, Harry Chalfin.
Not pictured: Masashi Kawabata
14u Team Picture (above)
Back - Eric Alessio (Coach), Brad Waterhouse, Kiran Ramachandrin, Jack
Callahan, Michael Green, Joe Weintraub, James Conlan, Kodai Morikuni,
Sam Bernstein, Joe Kelter (Coach)
Front: Cole Thaler, Jonah Schneider, Hayato Ide, Jack Waxman, Michael
DiSanto, Dan Karp
Not pictured: Ben Lehrburger
Delay the Revaluation?
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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This letter was sent to Scarsdale10583 by Donald Dietz III of Brewster Road: Contrary to the Scarsdale Inquirer's commentary on last week's Village Board meeting, I thought the Heathcote homeowners who spoke did understand the revaluation process very well. They presented legitimate arguments, asked reasonable questions and made sensible suggestions as to how the Village might move forward in order to improve the revaluation and make everyone more comfortable with Tyler Technologies' methodology.
In contrast, I found many of the Village's responses to be less than forthcoming and, in some instances, even deflecting and dismissive, as if the revaluation were already a fait accompli. Not a confidence builder in my book.
As I see it, there are two key issues the trustees ought to tackle and resolve before Tyler's preliminary assessments are adopted by the Village Assessor and set in stone. The first is the accuracy and, therefore, the reliability and legitimacy of the Tyler revaluation. The second has to do with transparency and trust, and correcting the perception around town that something is just not right, that the Tyler revaluation is not any more equitable or fair than what we have now.
As to the first, it is clear that what Tyler has wrought is not right and can be legitimately questioned. At a minimum, 927 homeowners scattered throughout the Village (me included), not just in Heathcote, say this is so, and it is no secret that there are others out there who were unable to contact Tyler during the Village's abbreviated review period. Collectively, these good citizens own at least 16% of the revalued properties in the Village, if not more, which is not insubstantial. They certainly should not be marginalized by anyone, including the Inquirer, as merely a few inevitably disgruntled citizens.
In addition, by the Village's own admission (to wit the Mayor, the Village Manager and the Village Assessor), there are many mistakes in Tyler's work. This includes an indeterminate number of properties undervalued by Tyler, whose owners are inexplicably silent at this time. But we have been told not to worry, since it will take the Village only three years or so to find and fix these errors. Wow! Since when is anything in this community other than excellence acceptable? A valuation error rate possibly approaching 35-40% to start does not seem to meet that standard.
Perhaps the more difficult problem to resolve is that of trust, without which any revaluation will come under constant scrutiny and criticism and even potential legal challenge. Is this really what the Mayor and Trustees want as their legacy?
Why not embrace the appeal made by the Heathcote constituency last week and defer the revaluation for a year so that there is adequate time to correct obvious errors, share information and hear everyone out without their having to file formal grievances at potentially significant cost, as they are being told by the Village to do now? Why not make every effort to demonstrate that the revaluation is in fact not only equitable and fair, but accurate and a marked improvement over the system in place today? That would be a proper outcome and a logical way to proceed.
Alternatively, if for some as yet unknown reason there is insufficient time (or lack of political will) to delay implementation, the Village ought to put in place a mechanism to ensure that those who have been wronged or improperly benefitted are, respectively, made whole or incrementally assessed by the Village at some future date. The idea would be to restore taxpayers to the position they would have been in had the revaluation not been instituted prematurely, but instead had been done correctly the first time. In this way, balance, credibility and equity could be reestablished after the fact.
Respectfully submitted,
Donald E. Dietz III
66 Brewster Road, Fox Meadow
Community Pitches in to Conserve Bronx River Reservation
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- Written by: Pam Fuehrer
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The Day of Service - Pitch in For the Parks event held to honor Dr. McGill upon his retirement was a terrific success. Jim Sutton, Executive Director of the Bronx River Reservation Conservancy assigned our group the area from the wooden bridge at the Scarsdale Train Station southbound to Harney Road. Almost forty members of our community - children, parents and local business owners ranging in ages from five to over fifty years - showed up at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday 5-17, ready to make a difference in our community. The results were astounding; please see for yourself. The energetic group removed huge sections of the invasive knotweed plant along the path, clearing multiple areas of its threat. Dr. McGill and his wife both participated, adding a special touch to the effort to act Not for Self - or Non Sibi. The McGill Farewell Committee is grateful to all those who were able to attend the event, those who wished to do so but couldn't, and to those who participated in their own activity that day, helping others in Dr. McGill's honor.
Police Issue Warning About Phone Scams
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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In response to multiple incidents involving Phone Scams, the Scarsdale Police has issued the following:
Warning to the Public Regarding Incidents of Telephone Fraud
Recently there has been an increase in incidents occurring over the telephone, where the caller attempts to fraudulently obtain money from victims using several different "phone scams". The Scarsdale Police Department wants to alert residents to these fraudulent scams, to prevent people from becoming victimized.
"Grandchild In Jail" ‐ In this scam, the caller will claim to be a friend or relative that got into trouble or was involved in an accident in another country (often Mexico, Canada or one of the Caribbean Islands) and needs money to get out of jail. In some cases the scammer will tell the victim they are a police officer and their grandchild has been arrested and needs to have money sent to them for bail. The scammer will require that a Western Union MoneyGram be sent or Green Dot Card Money Card be purchased and the card number provided to them.
"IRS Tax Warrant" – In this scam, the caller will claim to be an agent or police officer from the 
Internal Revenue Service calling about a past due tax balance that is owed. The caller will tell the victim that unless the debt is paid immediately, they will send a team to the victims home to immediately arrest them. They scammer will also request that the "tax debt" be paid with a Western Union MoneyGram or Green Dot Card Money Card.
"Jury Duty Warrant" In this scam, the caller will claim to be a police officer or a warrant officer from Westchester County or New York State claiming to have a warrant for the victim for failing to report for jury duty. The scammer will also claim that unless a fine is immediately paid, the police will be sent to the victims home to arrest them. The scammer will demand that the fine be paid using a Western Union MoneyGram or Green Dot Card Money Card.
The public should be aware that all of the above telephone scams have been occurring frequently, and that the scammers are very good at frightening their victims into compliance. No government agency will ever ask you to pay a fine using a Western Union Money Gram or Green Dot Money Card. Should you receive any of these types of calls, advise the caller you are notifying your local police department and hang up. Never respond to any telephone or Internet request for money without first speaking to a trusted friend, relative or your local police department.
