Fall Happenings from the Scarsdale Forum
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The Scarsdale Forum (TVCCEF) presents its first Sunday Speaker Series program on Sunday, October 17th at the Scarsdale Woman’s Club, 27 Drake Road at 3 p.m.
Financial journalist Tom Herman who wrote for The Wall Street Journal for more than 40 years will discuss “The Economy and the 2010 Elections”. Herman currently teaches an undergraduate seminar “Behind the Headlines: The Press, Business and the Economy” at Yale University and a course on business and financial news coverage at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. He writes a weekly column “Ask Dow Jones” in The Wall Street Journal Sunday, a personal finance section that appears in approximately 70 newspapers and is a columnist for The Fiscal Times, an online news organization.
The Sunday Speaker Series programs are open to the public, free of charge and are underwritten in part by a generous grant from the Irving J. Sloan Education Fund, made possible by the Liz Claiborne-Arthur Ortenberg Foundation.
On Thursday October 7, The Forum invites the public, free of charge, to its membership meeting in the Scott Room of the Scarsdale Library at 8 pm. A welcome reception will begin at 7:30 p.m.
At the meeting, Mayor Carolyn Stevens will present the “State of the Village” and Eric Staffin of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee will moderate a panel discussion “Being Prepared: Emergency Management, the Village and You”. Panelists include Scarsdale’s Chief of Police John A. Brogan and Fire Chief Tom Cain as well as Commissioner Anthony W. Sutton, DES, Westchester County.
The Scarsdale Forum is a 106 year old civic club dedicated to improving life in Scarsdale. The Forum studies issues before the Village and County governing boards and provides input to them via reports and recommendations. Scarsdale residents are encouraged to join and participate in the process.
For more information, visit their website, call (914-723-2829) or e-mail office@scarsdaleforum.com.
Edgemont Seeks Candidates for the School Board Nominating Committee
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The Edgemont Community Council ("ECC") is seeking Edgemont residents who reside in areas covered by the Northern Greenville, Southern Greenville and Central Park Avenue civic associations to serve as members of the School Board Nominating Committee ("SBNC") for the 2010-11 term. The ECC sponsors the SBNC, members of which interview and recommend residents for the annual election to the Board of Education. The SBNC consists of two voting members as well as up to two alternate members from each of Edgemont’s eight civic associations and one member from the high school student body.
This year, the Northern Greenville, Southern Greenville and Central Park Avenue civic associations have not elected SBNC members. The ECC believes, however, that having SBNC members from each of the civic associations is important, so that the views of a broad cross-section of Edgemont residents are included in the consideration of potential School Board candidates. Accordingly and pursuant to its by-laws, the ECC may select members to serve a one-year term on the SBNC from areas covered by civic associations that have not elected members.
If you are resident in an area covered by one of these three civic associations (please see the back inside cover of the blue book for the civic association boundaries) and are interested or know of someone who would be interested in serving on the SBNC, please contact Marc Ackerman at mackerman@omm.com or 914-472-1892. The strength of the nominating process depends on our community’s willingness to invest the time and effort to serve on the SBNC, and we encourage all residents to consider such service.
Candidate Bob Cohen Releases First TV Spot
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NYS Senate Candidate and Scarsdale resident Bob Cohen has released his first television commercial. Scarsdale residents will recognize the setting in Scarsdale Village and see many familiar faces in the spot that will air on cable TV in the 37th Senate District. Cohen has already raised $260,000 in his effort to unseat State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer who has held the seat for 26 years.
Cohen contends that state spending is out of control, property taxes are sky high, and New Yorkers need opportunities to return to work. See the commercial here: http://www.youtube.com/user/BobCohen2010 and visit his campaign website to learn more.
Trustees Ponder Driveway Lease for Tavern Owners
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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The Trustees Law Committee met early Tuesday morning August 31 to review community comments on the proposed lease of the village-owned driveway of the Heathcote Tavern parking lot to building owners Frederick Fish and Stephen Odor.
The developers have leased the restaurant to parties who plan to open an Italian restaurant, Apulia II on the site of the former Tavern. However, without the right to use the driveway, there would be no access to the parking lot, so both the Village and the developers are eager to come to an agreement.
At an August 9th meeting, members of the Heathcote Five Corners Coalition charged the committee with being secretive in their negotiations, but this meeting was more cordial. The Coalition had reviewed the proposed lease and sent comments to the Trustees for their consideration. The Coalition’s goal is to prevent Fish and Oder from developing their property and using the Village's land without coming back to the Village for approval. The Coalition's analysis of the current draft of the lease revealed that the developer would be able to expand the use of the property beyond its current scope.
Peter Gordon, an attorney and member of the Heathcote Five Corner’s Coalition assured the Trustees that the Coalition believes it would be advantageous to have a restaurant on the site and agrees that that the developer has a right to make use of his property. However, he believes that this new lease should not allow Fish and Oder to further develop the property, in a similar manner to what was proposed in 2009.
Gordon felt that there were glaring deficiencies in the proposed lease that would allow the developer to exploit loopholes and use the Village's land to expand the Tavern building or otherwise develop the property. He asserted that the lease needed to be well drafted and tightly written to prevent Fish from proposing one plan now and reinterpreting the text later on.
Larry Bell, another member of the Coalition thanked the Trustees for inviting the group to the meeting and considering their comments. However he felt that they were invited in too late in the process, after the proposed lease had already been sent to Fish and Oder. Echoing concerns from the August 9th meeting he said, “We were invited in at the very end, when it was too late to consider substantive changes to the lease.”
His wife, Janet Bell urged the Board to proceed with great caution and to serve as guardians of the village for now and the future. She told the Trustees that these same developers had added a top floor and a penthouse to a project in New Jersey that violated local height restrictions. Ultimately they had to tear off these top two stories.
Mayor Carolyn Stevens defended the Trustees, telling Larry Bell that the public was notified about all meetings and “did not need a personal invitation” to attend. She said, “to criticize the process is extremely unfair.” In an effort to mediate, Trustee Toder said, “In retrospect, perhaps we could have done more.”
Stevens assured the Coalition that they share a common goal with the Village, which is to keep the property viable so that the developer does not want to tear it down. Despite differences in language she assured the group that the Village and the Coalition were in agreement on the intent of the lease.
The proposed lease requires Fish and Oder to pay the Village $15,000 per year for use of the driveway for an initial term of five years. After 2015, the lease will be automatically renewed for one-year terms until 2025, provided the property is leased to a full service restaurant. The Heathcote Coalition has proposed the addition of wording to the contract that gives the developer use of the driveway, only if the tavern building includes an operational restaurant, cocktail lounge and offices “that is comparable in size to the restaurant, cocktail lounge and office space operated there prior to April 2010. “ This would prevent the developer from building apartments, additional parking and more offices without coming back to the Village for permission.
At the close of the meeting the Trustees thanked the community for their input and agreed to review the Coalition’s proposed changes to the lease.
Greeburgh Police Chase and More
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Police Chase: Police received a report of a shoplifter at Rite Aid on Central Avenue around 9 pm on August 17. According to the report, a large black male had exited the store with several stolen items in a blue backpack and fled on foot towards McDonalds. Police spotted the man across from McDonalds and chased him over several fences and onto the rooftop of an abandoned structure. Police ordered the man to get down from the roof, and when he refused, they shot him with a Taser gun. The gun missed the suspect, but he did jump off the roof and was intercepted by police. Swinging his arms violently he refused to put his hands behind his back. Officers shot him with the Taser again, but he continued to struggle. Finally police caught the man’s hands behind his back and he was placed under arrest.
The suspect then admitted to the theft saying, “yea I know I got caught boostin it, I was gonna sell it for a bus ticket to Cleveland.” Vernon Hall, age 43 of Fisher Avenue, White Plains, was positively identified by a Rite Aid employee and was booked and processed for possession of stolen property and resisting arrest.
Smash: A 71 year-old New Rochelle women drove her 2010 BMW into the front window of Harmon Discount Cosmetics at 165 South Central Avenue on August 18th. She claims she was parking in the lot in front of the store when the car “got away from her.”
Tires Slashed at Scarsdale Golf Club: an employee of the club, who had parked in the club lot on 8/16 found that three of his tires were slashed. The Mount Vernon man had no idea who might have done the damage.
Harassed: On August 17, the manager of Planet Fitness on Central Avenue reported that she was receiving threatening text messages from an employee that she had fired. The messages said, “you better watch your back” and that he was going to “get you fired.”
Lost and Found: A Riverdale boy left his Nintendo D.S. in California Pizza Kitchen on August 19th. Shortly after leaving the restaurant he remembered it and his mother called CPK to ask them to hold it for her. However, when they returned the restaurant manager told her it was gone.
A bag of marijuana was found in the restroom of Red Lobster on Central Avenue on Monday August 16th.
The property manager for the Central Park Dance Studio found graffiti that read “God 26” spray painted on the back of the building on Friday 8/20.
Angry: An unhappy customer at Men’s Warehouse on Central Avenue made a scene when he was unhappy with the alterations to his tuxedo on 8/19. The store employee called the regional manager but the man was not satisfied and became irate. Police arrived and helped the man calm down and come to an agreement with the store.
Animals: A complaint was received about a barking Rottweiler at 3:30 am on August 21. Police found the dog in the yard of 382 Ardsley Road but were unable to locate the dog’s owner. A town summons for loud and habitual barking was issued to the residence.
A Sherwood Road woman returned home on Friday 8/20 to find a sick cat on her doorstep. As the cat’s owner could not be found, the cat was transported to the New Rochelle Humane Society.
