Neighbors Ask Trustees to Move Pickleball Courts Away
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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Though the Village plans to move ahead with a plan for a temporary conversion of three tennis courts at Crossway to pickleball courts, a few neighbors remain opposed. In order to bolster their case, they retained consultants to analyze the potential impact of pickleball courts on their homes. See a copy of the report here.
Below, in a letter to the Mayor, Board and Village Manager, they urge the Village to change their course.
Dear Mayor Arest, Board of Trustees and Mr. Cole:
Attached please find the revised report prepared by Bob Unetich analyzing the conversion of the three all-weather tennis courts at Crossway Field into six pickleball courts. Mr. Unetich is the leading expert on pickleball, is a sound engineer and is generally recognized as the go-to person concerning the location of pickleball courts. After analyzing the Crossway area, area including relative elevations, Mr. Unetich has concluded that pickleball does not belong in the Crossway residential area. Mr. Unetich’s conclusion that pickleball courts do not belong in our residential area – or any residential area - was confirmed by a recent New York Times article that stated “moving pickleball away from human life may be the only surefire solution.”
The Village has not properly analyzed alternative locations for Scarsdale pickleball and the effect of the loss of three Village tennis courts. The noise generated by pickleball is well documented. Its popping sound pierces the air and carries impacting nearby neighbors quiet and peaceful enjoyment of their homes. The WQRNA pickleball committee is not advocating against pickleball courts in Scarsdale, but believes that finding the proper location for these courts is crucial. Pickleball players have intermittently started to play on the Crossway tennis courts and the noise from their play can be heard in the adjacent homes with the windows closed. It is disruptive when people are working in their homes and if continued would impact daily life. The inability of neighbors to peacefully and quietly enjoy their backyards is unacceptable. Just ask the people living next to the Fox Meadow Tennis Club.
While we appreciate the time devoted by the Village Board on a voluntary basis, the Village has not conducted appropriate due diligence into the Crossway Pickleball Pilot or Proposal and the Village’s actions to date regarding the pickleball courts have not been in the best interests of the Village taxpayers. Putting six or eight pickleball courts at the Crossway Bowling Green would have been shown to have been ill-conceived if any meaningful diligence was performed. Water and sewerage problems abound along Crossway that make drainage of additional runoff unacceptable. Our committee hired the leading expert in locating pickleball courts. He analyzed the location, relative distance to residences and elevations, and concluded that the Crossway tennis courts should not be converted to pickleball courts because of their proximity to neighbors. He also stated that the existing fencing which is approximately 10 feet high is inadequate and needs to be at least 12 feet high to place Acoustifence on it. We strongly recommend that the Village step back and perform all necessary due diligence on this project.
Furthermore, it is disingenuous that while the Village recently passed a revised Noise Code limiting disruptive noise levels in the Village, the Village has exempted itself for ‘Village approved recreational activities’. There is no justification for protecting the quality of life of most Village residents by limiting privately generated noise, but at the same time, allowing the same or more disturbing noise simply because it takes place on Village property. Also, there is a difference between noise generated a few times a year and noise generated on a daily basis.
Additionally, converting three tennis courts at Crossway into pickleball courts will cause the Village to lose needed tennis courts and will simultaneously place pickleball courts and its accompanying popping noise and congestion into a residential area. According to the Rec Department there were over 1,575 tennis permits issued to Scarsdale residents and about 540 pickleball permits issued. The Crossway tennis courts are heavily used at the same time that pickleball players would want to use them. The Rec Department reported in its memo dated June 8, 2023 that the Middle School and High School Courts are not available from 8 am -3 pm for public use and the High School has exclusive use for interscholastic play between 3 pm – 6pm during the school year. Without the tennis courts at the Middle School and the High School, Scarsdale has 10 tennis courts available for reservations. Converting the 3 all-weather Crossway tennis to pickleball courts will leave the Village with 7 Har-Tru tennis courts and NO all-weather tennis courts for 1,575 permit holders. Clearly this is an insufficient number of tennis courts to satisfy demand for use.
The Crossway tennis courts should not be converted. Leaving only 2 tennis courts which are not all-weather courts at Crossway and 7 tennis courts total in all of Scarsdale Village is not an acceptable option even during a “pilot program.” The proposal would leave no all-weather tennis courts available to the public in all of Scarsdale during school hours. Brite and Wynmor are Har-Tru courts. Further, Har-Tru courts do not have as long a season as all-weather courts and some players prefer all-weather courts to Har-Tru courts.
In addition, the Scarsdale women’s tennis team which was disbanded during the pandemic has advised the Rec Department that it wishes to resume play and will need all five Crossway tennis courts. They have reached out to the Rec Department several times to indicate their desire to restart the team. In fact, Brian Gray stated at the June 13, 2023 Board of Trustees Work Session that the loss of these courts would be challenging. He further stated that if the Women’s League got up and running, it would need 6 to 8 courts. This would be clearly impossible if three Crossway tennis courts were converted to pickleball courts. Mr. Gray also stated that he witnessed the Turf War in Yorktown where courts had lines painted for pickleball on the tennis courts and the tennis players went out at night and repainted the courts for tennis. We should not hurt our tennis program for a pilot pickleball program.
Rather than proceed with a pilot project that would at best confirm Mr. Unetich’s conclusions, the Village should:
-Read and consider Mr. Unetich’s report and his recommendations.
-Analyze the needs of the over 1,500 tennis permit holders and the effect of converting three all-weather Crossway tennis courts to pickleball use.
-Conduct a feasibility study that includes looking at other locations away from residential areas and that do not eliminate existing tennis courts.
-Examine the noise, environmental, traffic, safety, parking, landscaping and hours of operation.
-Not rush to spend significant taxpayer money before completing steps 1-4.
Respectfully submitted,
WQRNA Pickleball Committee
Kaare Weber
Alan Garfunkel
Co-Chairpersons
SHS Seniors Come Full Circle
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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A new tradition has begun in Scarsdale. On Wednesday June 21, on the last day of school at Fox Meadow Elementary, Scarsdale High School seniors who attended Fox Meadow donned their graduation gowns to return to the school.
There they were greeted by parents and teachers and presented their own elementary school teachers with flowers. The ritual brought the students back to the beginning of their Scarsdale education on the eve of their graduation from the high school the following day, June 22, 2023.
The idea was the brainchild of Scarsdale mom Jennifer Love who learned that other districts including Horace Greeley in Chappaqua, Edgemont as well as many schools in Connecticut and New Jersey conduct this “feel-good” event annually. She and several other mothers from different neighborhoods proposed it to each of the elementary school principals who, after discussing it, felt it was too difficult to coordinate. But the students decided to proceed with this community building event as a pilot program at Fox Meadow, which is close to the high school and required no transportation.
On Wednesday, a group of seniors in their graduation gowns convened on the blacktop behind Fox Meadow School at dismissal time. There they were greeted with hugs and cheers from their elementary school teachers and enjoyed a moment of bonding.
The event was joyous and simple. The seniors hope it will become a tradition at all of Scarsdale’s elementary schools in future years and think it would have been even more meaningful to them if they had witnessed it each year as Fox Meadow students.
Promposals: Love is in the Air
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- Written by Vivian Zweig
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It may not be Valentine’s Day, but love is still in the air for Scarsdale High School seniors. With this year’s prom approaching quickly on June 1st, seniors are rushing to construct and execute elaborate “promposals.” For those of you who may not know, a “promposal” is an elaborate way of asking someone to go to prom, usually involving bouquets of flowers and hand-crafted posters. This year, I saw fairy lights laid out in front of windows to spell “Prom?” and rooms decorated with balloons and candles. I even saw someone hire a mariachi band to serenade their to-be date! But among them, two particularly stood out to me.
Alex V and Jadyn S are nearing their two-year anniversary and have been a couple since the end of their Sophomore year. The couple has a special spot where they regularly go to watch the sunset and have picnics, and Alex recognized that it was the perfect spot to stage his promposal. Alex gathered an array of food—bread, cheese, olives, crackers, shrimp, pasta, and more—for a candle-lit picnic. He picked Jadyn up and took her to the spot, where he told her to open an inconspicuous cardboard box. Inside it, Jadyn was shocked to find a homemade vanilla cake with the word “Prom?” on top. While Jadyn was opening the cake, Alex retrieved a handmade poster with the sentence: “It has been a fun 2 years and taking you to PROM would be the… icing on the cake!” The couple was then enjoying a romantic picnic when disaster struck… the weather turned dark and stormy. Refusing to let the incoming storm ruin their date turned promposal, they drove to Kensico Dam, where they opened the trunk, set up the picnic in the back, and enjoyed the candle-lit ambiance in the rain.
It's near-impossible to top that promposal, but Oliver D.F.A executed an equally elaborate and creative plan for his girlfriend, Alicia X. For the past few weeks, Oliver has been interning at one of the five elementary schools for his senior options. Alicia had been asking to meet his class, and Oliver decided to deliver. After hours, maybe even days, of brainstorming the perfect promposal, Oliver gathered 19 pieces of paper, pencils, erasers, paintbrushes, red paint, and a few friends. After a few hours, each piece of paper had a bright red letter on it. 
His recruitment for help executing his plan didn’t stop there. After checking with the teacher in advance, Oliver handed each student in his class a letter and arranged them in a specific order. With Alicia on her way, Oliver stepped into a bear costume and retrieved a bouquet of flowers. Alicia was shocked to find her boyfriend, in a bear costume, with a bouquet of flowers, surrounded by students holding pieces of paper that spelled out, “Be the honey to my bear?” Oliver had decided to make his promposal a callback to the numerous teddy bears that he’s gifted Alicia, and she was overjoyed by his elaborate idea.
With “promposal season” coming to a close, like every year, the juniors have big shoes to fill! This year, the prom will be held on the evening of June 1st at the Glen Island Harbour Club in New Rochelle. Pre-Prom festivities, such as the red-carpet ceremony, will begin at 4:00 PM in the Dean Field parking lot and are open to the public.
A Spectacular Parade Down the Red Carpet
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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The SHS Class of 2023 had their trip to the red carpet on Thursday night June 1, on the warmest day of the year to date.
They glowed and shimmered in sparkles and jewel tones of vibrant red, blues and greens. The more traditional couples had bowties and pocket handkerchiefs to match their dates' dresses. Others took it to a new level – wearing costumes worthy of the Met Gala or the Emmy’s. For the most part, senior girls wore long dresses while juniors sported short.
Make-up was also dazzling with lots of shine. Hair for the most part was worn loose and flowing and some chose to dye it in interesting hues.
Some had begun the festivities a few hours earlier at pre-prom gatherings at homes with professional photographers, making for a very long day of posing.
It was a highly entertaining parade for the hundreds of parents, teachers, administrators, friends and community members who came out to view the dazzling spectacle, which was launched in 2003 and has grown to be a prized annual event.
After about an hour of photos, screams and hugs, the class lined up, walked the red carpet and boarded the buses for their 2023 Prom at the Glen Island Harbor Club.
What happened after that will likely remain unreported. But we heard some students had plans to head to Blue Midown, a club in the city, for post-prom parties and then out to summer houses and the Hamptons for celebratory weekends.
Presenting the Class of 2023 in metallics....
In red
In blue
In green
In high fashion
And in all the colors of the rainbow
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Scarsdale/Edgemont Girl Scouts to Raise $25,000 for Betty Taubert Girl Scout House
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- Written by Jennifer Donohue
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Jennifer Donohue, from the Girl Scouts Heart of Hudson, shared the following letter:
The Scarsdale/Edgemont Girl Scout community is working to raise $25,000 for capital improvements to the Betty Taubert Girl Scout House on Wayside Lane. The Village of Scarsdale received a NYS Community Development Block Grant of $120,000 that is to be matched through contributions from the Scarsdale/Edgemont Girl Scout (SEGS) Service Unit, Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson, Inc. (GSHH), and the Village of Scarsdale (the Village).
The Betty’s House Campaign is chaired by adult members of the Scarsdale/Edgemont Girl Scouts, Donna Marie Caro, and BK Munguia. To date, the campaign has raised nearly $8,000, and SEGS is reaching out to the community to help raise the additional $17,000. The funds will go toward a number of repairs at the Betty Taubert Girl Scout house, including adding an air-handling ventilation system and air purification units, installing a new roof, replacing the exterior doors and windows, as well as upgrades to the kitchens, flooring and HVAC system.
There has been a Girl Scouts House in Scarsdale for over 80 years. The Betty Taubert Girl Scout House has stood for over forty years after being rebuilt after a fire destroyed the original house. The grant, and matching funds raised, will help ensure that Girl Scouts in the Scarsdale/Edgemont community, a service unit of Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson, will continue to have a dedicated place to hold troop meetings, community activities, and continue programs that help girls develop friendships, discover hidden talents, and become the leaders of tomorrow. A number of other community groups use the building as well.
One Cadette (Grade 6-8) Girl Scout said: “Betty’s Girl Scout House is important to me. Some of my favorite Girl Scout memories have taken place there – where we’ve celebrated with other Girl Scouts. Since I was a Daisy in kindergarten, the house is where we’ve held Halloween parties, holiday parties, sleepovers, bridging ceremonies and more. It’s been a great place to meet with younger scouts to teach them what we’ve learned as older scouts. I want it to be here for many years for more Scouts to come.”
Donations can be made online at www.girlscoutshh.org/BettysHouse. Contact Kari Willis, GSHH Chief Philanthropy Officer at kwillis@girlscoutshh.org or 845-236-6002 ext. 748 with any questions.
Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson (GSHH) serves over 14,000 girls and 8,000 adult members throughout Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Sullivan, and Ulster Counties. At GSHH, they are part of a community of girls and women looking to serve the community through individual and group service projects as they discover new skills and interests and experience new challenges. GSHH offers every girl a chance to practice a lifetime of leadership, adventure, and success.
