Scarsdale Tennis Team Excels in Conference Matches
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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It's been a thrilling week for the Scarsdale Girls Varsity Tennis team who played in the conference tournament at Harrison High School in post-season matches on Tuesday, October 14 and Wednesday, October 15. The team was in high spirits after a stellar season where they won 12 matches and dropped only 1. Though some of the best teams in the area including Edgemont, Kaio, Clarkstown North, Horace Greeley and Suffern were not in their league this year, Coach Jennifer Roane arranged special matches with some of these teams and Scarsdale excelled in these non-league matches as well. She proudly told me that Scarsdale triumphed in non-league events against Bronxville and Edgemont.
The SHS team sent one singles player and two doubles teams to the conference that 
included teams from 21 schools. Ashley Granieri, who has played singles all season, elected to continue to play singles in the conference, while Kim Zou and Adrienne Travis who had played first and third singles for the team, paired up to play doubles. First doubles team Kate Rabin and Jessica Tsai entered the tournament as well.
For their opening matches on Tuesday, Rabin and Tsai played O'Brien and Grandville from Tappan Zee and won easily 6-2, 6-2. Tsai said they were a bit tight in the beginning but held their ground and succeeded. Later that evening they played their second round against Feitler and Orgielwicz of Mamaroneck and won 6-4, 6-3.
Zou and Travis who were new to doubles as a team also reported being shaky in the first set but beat an team Wolfe and D'Onofrio from Byram Hills 6-4, 6-0. Later that day they met Gray and Luongo of Nyack and barely gave up a game, winning 6-0, 6-2.
In singles Ashley Granieri dominated, beating Kaleigh D'Arcy of White Plains 6-0, 6-0.
All three teams were poised for day two of the conference. Though it was windy and threatening to rain, the matches proceeded and proved to be competitive. We saw Granieri play Deana Giambo of Harrison. Granieri's used her short slices to lure her opponent to the net and then followed up by passing Giambo with a cross-court drive. Granieri won 6-2, 6-3 and will play in the semi-finals of the conference when the rain stops.
Day two was also successful for both of Scarsdale's doubles teams:
Rabin and Tsai were paired against a powerful pair of sisters from North Rockland, Dwyer and Dwyer. They had a very competitive match that looked like it could go either way. The Scarsdale team lost the first set 2-6, won the second 6-4 and pulled out a victory in a close 10-7 tiebreaker.
Travis and Zou played Ursuline rivals Foster and Campose and scored an impressive victory, 6-4, 6-0. We saw Travis playing the backcourt and setting up Zou who has a powerful overhead and was successful at decisively ending many points with strong shots from the net. If the two Scarsdale doubles teams continue to win in the next round, they will end up playing against each other for the conference title.
Out of the twenty-one teams entered into the conference, Scarsdale's three entrants all succeeded to the final rounds. We'll be watching to see what happens in the finals.
Spotted Around Town this Week
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Here are three photos taken this past week in Scarsdale:
Yarn Bomb at Scarsdale Library
A reader sent in this photo of the "Yarn Bomb" with a Halloween theme on a tree at the library. Will anyone take credit and tell us more about it?
Protest on the Post Road:
While the Concours D'Elegance was taking place in Scarsdale Village, a group from Immaculate Heart of Mary were stationed on the Post Road to protest abortion. See their photo here.
Deep Ditch on Paddington Road:
Last – can anyone give us an update on this 7 foot ditch at a home on Paddington Road? It's been like this since last spring – and we wonder what's going on down there. Trench warfare?
Sign Up for Halloween Window Painting in Scarsdale Today
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The Scarsdale Parks and Recreation Department will be holding their Annual Halloween Window Painting Contest and Parent/Child Halloween Window Painting program on Sunday, October 19th from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm. All kids who live in or attend public or private schools in Scarsdale in grades 1 – 10 are eligible to participate in this event.
In addition to the Window Painting programs, there will be a Costume Parade held in the Village streets by Chase Park. The parade line up begins at 2:45 pm in front of Chase Park. The parade will start at 3:00 pm. Special entertainment and refreshments will be provided after the parade. All Pre-K and Elementary School children are welcome to participate in the costume parade.
The deadline to register for the Halloween Window Painting programs is Monday, October 13th. As windows are limited, registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. Please register online at http://reconline.scarsdale.com.
For questions, call the Recreation Department at 722-1160
A Farm Share in Scarsdale
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For those who miss the Scarsdale Farmer's Market, here's a great alternative. Scarsdale native Hilary Corsun is delivering fresh food from NYS farms to Scarsdale on alternate Tuesdays throughout the fall. Corsun, a 2006 graduate of the Cornell University School of Agriculture and Life Sciences runs Good Food Farmers Network that brings vegetables, salad greens, herbs, chicken, eggs, beef and even flowers from upstate farms directly to Scarsdale. You can buy a share and receive deliveries from now until Thanksgiving.
After travelling to Africa to learn about microfinance, working for a non-profit that educates farmers and farming herself, Corsun is seeking to fill gaps in the regional food system and make local agriculture more financially viable. She is aiding farmers with marketing and delivery and is now making their produce available to you.
She currently has 45 members of the network in Scarsdale who either pick-up their shares at Hitchcock or receive home delivery. You can choose to receive salad greens, vegetables, pea shoots, herbs, eggs and also opt for pasture raised beef and organic chicken. All the produce is pesticide free. This week's delivery includes the last tomatoes of the season, turnips, kale, peppers and arugula as well as triple-washed salad mix from Little Seed Garden. Depending on your selection, the cost is about $150 per season for fresh organic produce delivered direct to Scarsdale.
Learn more and sign up for your share at goodfoodfarmers.com or contact them at info@goodfoodfarmers.com or by phone at 914-874-4459. Fees will be pro-rated for the season.
Final Tax Assessments Now Available Online
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The wait is over. For those who grieved your tax assessments, the new tax roll is now available online. Check it out and see where you stand. According to Robert Berg who served on the Board of Assessment Review more than 950 grievances were filed and the Board reduced 12% to 15%. Here is a comment on the process from Berg:
The final 2014 property tax assessment roll was released last night. The Board of Assessment Review ("BAR"), an independent Town Board consisting of Chairman Tom Giordano, Ken Sklar, Gary Ellis, Paul Sved, and me, worked extraordinarily hard this year. We considered more than 950 property tax grievances filed on or before Grievance Day which was June 17, 2014. This was a record number of property tax grievances for Scarsdale, but that's not surprising considering that this was the first town wide property tax revaluation in 45 years. On Grievance Day itself, about 90 property owners spoke before us to argue their grievances, and we heard argument from early afternoon until late in the night, allowing everyone who wanted to say her piece. In a normal year, only a handful of property owners or their representatives appear in person.
Many of the grievances lacked independent real estate appraisals of the properties. On Grievance Day, we stressed that even though an appraisal is not required for a grievance, an independent appraisal is often the best evidence of the fair market value of the property. (Other "best" evidence includes the actual sales price of the property in an arm's length sales transaction which occurred during the valuation period). As a matter of law, the tentative assessment which the owners were grieving is presumptively legal, so the property owner has the burden of proving the fair market value of the property. We invited and encouraged all grievants who had not done so to submit independent appraisals or evidence of the recent sales price of the properties to buttress their cases, asking that such evidence be provided within two weeks. (We actually accepted such evidence up through our last meeting at the end of August).
Following Grievance Day, the BAR met two full evenings per week throughout July and August. We reviewed each and every grievance (other than those which the Village Assessor had resolved), analyzed the evidence (if any), deliberated, and made our determinations. While I don't have the exact numbers, I believe that we reduced the assessments on about 12% - 15% of the properties before us.
Overall, Tyler Technologies, which conducted the revaluation, did a very good job -- well within the normal margin of error. But, in those cases where we lowered the assessments, the property owners were able to demonstrate that the Tyler Technologies tentative assessment was too high. No assessments are ever raised through the grievance process, and now that the assessment role is final, no property can be reassessed higher until the next town wide revaluation, except to account for new construction or renovations.
Because all properties are now carried at 100% of fair market value, the equalization rate or residential assessment ratios that have been used for years no longer apply. Property owners who are dissatisfied with the BAR's determinations have the right to appeal the determinations in court until October 15, 2014.
Finally, I would like to thank our Assessor, Nanette Albanese, and her outstanding staff for their tireless efforts throughout the revaluation process. Besides working with and supervising Tyler Technologies for several years to ensure that the revaluation was performed as well as possible, they provided us with untold hours processing the grievances, otherwise assisting us, and making sure we were well-fed during our evening deliberations. My fellow Board members deserve the community's thanks for volunteering to give up many lovely Summer evenings to plow through 950+ files in order to help achieve property tax equity for all Scarsdale residents. We now have a final assessment roll that, for the first time in 45 years, is, for the most part, fundamentally fair in distributing distributing Scarsdale's property tax burden according to each property's current fair market value. While the reallocation of the property tax burden may cause some residents financial hardship, remember that for years, their property taxes have been subsidized by other Scarsdale residents.
