New Video Series: Introducing the People Who Run Your Village
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Who is running Scarsdale Village and what do they do? A new video series produced by the Advisory Council on Communications and Village staff allows you to come face to face with people like the Police Chief, the Village Assessor and the Village Treasurer, though you haven’t broken the law or forgotten to pay your taxes.
In this charming video series, you’ll see the people who hold key positions and learn about the extent of their responsibilities. Check them out here:
Here is a press release from the Village with more information about the endeavor:
Village Voices: Meet the Local Officials Who Make Scarsdale Shine!
Condoleezza Rice once commented, “There's no greater challenge and there is no greater honor than to be in public service.”
The many volunteers supporting both the Village of Scarsdale and the Scarsdale community, whether as members of our many boards and councils or as members of our community-based organizations, and our professional staff dedicate countless hours to maintaining and enhancing our local quality of life. Often, their work is beyond public view, yet all members of our community reap the benefit of their collective commitment to excellence in public service – the magic dust that helps to make Scarsdale shine.
Members of the Advisory Council on Communications, chaired by Dara Gruenberg, have collaborated with Village staff to produce a series of video shorts – “Village Voices: Meet the Local Officials Who Make Scarsdale Shine!” – to help introduce you to the leadership staff at Village Hall, many of whom you may only be acquainted with by name phone or email.
The Village Voices video collection provides a small window into the roles and duties our professional staff and their respective departments are responsible for. At the same time, we hope you appreciate being able to attach a face to the names you see on our website and elsewhere.
We believe you will enjoy the new video series. Please take time to periodically view the Highlight Story on our landing page at scarsdale.com, as we will be adding more videos to the collection.
(Pictured at top: Village Clerk Donna Conkling)
NYS Department of Transportation Renumbers Hutchinson River Parkway Exits
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If you thought you lived off Exit 22 of the Hutchinson River Parkway, the Mamaroneck Road exit, think again! As if life wasn’t confusing enough, the New York State Department of Transportation has decided to renumber the exits. So moving forward, the Mamaroneck Road exit will become exit 12.
Why? Here’s the official explanation we received:
As part of a New York State Department of Transportation project to install new reflective signs, the DOT is also transitioning to a mileage-based exit numbering system, replacing the consecutive exit numbering system.
Under the new system, exit numbers correspond to mileage markers. So, an exit between mileage markers 1 and 2, will be numbered Exit 1. If there are additional exits before mileage marker 2, the exits will have letters added -- 1A, 1B, 1C, etc.
Below is a table from the NYS DOT showing the old consecutive exit numbers and the corresponding new mileage-based exit numbers.
Paulin Sponsors Legislation to Ensure Early Intervention Service for Young Children
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Paulin at Press Conference to announce the Passage of the LegislationThough New York State mandates that early intervention services are available for children under the age of three with delays or disabilities, many have not been able to access these services. Why? Because when an Early Intervention provider renders services, they must bill the insurance company first. In recent years, private insurers have only paid approximately $12 million out of $80 million in EarIy Intervention claims, rejecting approximately 85% of claims.
Though these unpaid claims are ultimately paid by New York State and local counties which split the cost, the process is cumbersome and the delay in receiving payment has caused many providers to close their doors.
Now, new legislation sponsored by Assemblymember Amy Paulin and Senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick and passed by the NYS Legislature will ensure that commercial health insurers contribute their fair share to the Early Intervention program. It increases funding for Early Intervention services and streamlines the reimbursement process to providers. The bill will save counties around the state $28 million while creating a reliable fund for early intervention service providers, funded by the health insurance industry.
Commenting on the passage of the legislation, Paulin said, “This legislation is a massive step forward in reforming and strengthening the state’s Early Intervention program so that more children can get the help they need, when they need it. It will ensure that commercial health insurers contribute their fair share to the Early Intervention program, will assure good stewardship of state and local tax dollars and, most importantly, will allow Early Intervention providers to focus on the critical services they provide to children and families.”
“Early Intervention fundamentally changes the trajectory of a child’s life for the better,” said Westchester County Executive George Latimer. “Thanks to Assemblywoman Paulin and Senator Reichlin-Melnick’s leadership, this law would provide additional funding for these life-changing services. When we know a program works, it should be a no-brainer to increase its capacity – our children’s lives are too important.”
Those who work in the field praised the passage of the bill and urged the Governor to sign it into law.
"Westchester Children's Association applauds State Assemblymember Amy Paulin and State Senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick for successfully passing critical Early Intervention legislation (A5339/S5560A) and urge Governor Cuomo to promptly sign it into law,” said Josh Prywes, Program and Policy Manager, Westchester Children's Association. “As a proud member of the Kids Can’t Wait Leaders Council, a coalition dedicated to strengthening availability and access to Early Intervention services, WCA knows this bill will build crucial statewide capacity for young children with developmental and special needs. It provides a vital and viable mechanism to prevent delays in Early Intervention services, which is especially important to our County, which ranked number 56 out of counties in the timely delivery of Early Intervention services across New York State in 2018. We know that, when enacted, this legislation will jump start wellness for young children, reduce long-term developmental challenges and statewide costs, and center children and their families on a path for success."
“Covered lives is a practical approach to ensure that Early Intervention agencies and their therapists continue to focus on therapeutic services and that Insurance Companies are held accountable to pay their fair share of the costs of these services. Covered lives will save the State and Counties millions of dollars by no longer subsidizing the commercial insurance industry for denied services. For these reasons, I am delighted to join the bill’s sponsors urging Governor Cuomo to sign into law, covered lives when it reaches his desk,” said John Calderon, President, Theracare of New York.
Assemblymember Amy Paulin, a Scarsdale resident, has long been an advocate for families and children, and this legislation is another in a long line of bills she has passed to improve constituents’ lives.
93rd Annual July 4th Celebration in Arthur Manor
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Third Place Winners: Jack (4) and Sloane (2) Callaghan. Stephanie Tsang and Christian CallaghanOn a slightly overcast Sunday morning, July 4th, the Arthur Manor Neighborhood Association held its 93rd Annual 4th of July parade though the roads of Arthur Manor ending with its time-honored patriotic ceremony in Davis Park.
The marchers began gathering at the corner of Bell and Sprague Roads at 9:15 am on Sunday morning. Before the parade kicked off at 9:45, the judges ranked the individual and group marchers in categories such as most patriotic scooters, tricycles, and strollers and floats.
Matt Callaghan, Jon Lewis, Teegan Lee
At 9:45 am sharp, special Scarsdale Police and Fire Department escorts with their sirens blaring accompanied Scarsdale Volunteer Fire Company Number 1 and all of the marchers through Arthur Manor to Davis Park. The parade ended at Davis Park where the traditional 4th of July ceremony was held before the flag pole at the North end of the park.
The ceremony began with the raising of the flag by the Scarsdale Volunteer Fire Company No. 1’s color guard and accompanied by the National Anthem, sung perfectly by Arthur Manor resident Richard Gast, which was followed by the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. The crowd then observed a moment of silence to remember all of the men and women of the U.S. military who sacrificed so much for liberty and democracy in the United States and abroad.
Scarsdale Village Trustees Randy Whitestone and Jonathan Lewis then separately addressed the crowd in Davis Park on the significance of July 4th and the relevance of this special day for all residents. Village Trustee Karen Brew and Former Village Trustee and member of Scarsdale Volunteer Fire Department Number 1, Matt Callaghan, were also in attendance together with Arthur Manor’s own Uncle Sam - played magnificently, as always, by Teegan Lee!
Jeanne Bongiorno, with the winning float Independence ice cream and children Grace and Christopher Horne and husband Chris.Former Arthur Manor President Al Stuart then conducted the awards ceremony for the day’s marchers and other parade participants in the various categories such as floats, bicycles, tricycles, etc.. (A complete list of the winners follows below) – with trophies and ribbons awarded to the winners! Because of the risk associated with COVID, the annual games were not held this year – but will return in 2022. Plenty of time to practice the egg toss with your friends!
Local Scarsdale volunteers Mason Marsh and Darlene LeFrancois-Haber were also on hand in Davis Park to demonstrate to interested residents the benefits and ease of the Village’s food scrap and composting system.
Bobby Kyle CarltonThis annual event in Arthur Manor is only made possible through the collective efforts of the Arthur Manor volunteer residents including the Marcus, Roche, Porco, Bonanno, Bongiorno, Stuart and Martin families, and all of the other Arthur Manor volunteers too numerous to list here.
Arthur Manor Parade Winners:
Patriotic Scooters: 1st place: Malula Schuerlein, 2nd: Michael Selvitella 3rd: Bella Marmann
Patriotic Bicycles: 1st place: Brooke Biondi, 2nd: Zoe Zheng, 3rd: Elliot Chang, Honorable Mention: Johan Schuerlein
Patriotic Tricycles: 1st place: Ryan Rybicki, 2nd: Cole Capossela
Patriotic Carriages & Strollers: 1st place: Oliver Wilcott, 2nd: Michael Rybicki
Patriotic Floats: 1st place: “Independence Ice Cream”, Grace and Christopher Horne, 2nd: “Team USA”, James and Molly Martin and Caitlin and Collin Maddaloni, 3rd: “Arthur Manor USA”, Jack and Sloane Callaghan, Honorable Mention: Johnny Biondi, “Patriotic Wagon”
Matthew and Jack Callaghan
Paulin Sponsors Legislation to Combat Gerrymandering
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Amy Paulin and James SkoufisAssemblymember Amy Paulin and Senator James Skoufis, joined by Scarsdale Mayor Jane Veron and members of the League of Women Voters of Westchester and Scarsdale held a press conference at the newly re-opened Scarsdale Library on June 23 to announce the passage of legislation to require all counties to follow fair redistricting standards.
The legislation is aimed at preventing counties from gerrymandering for political gain and from disenfranchising voters by dividing villages and towns with common interests. It requires the 23 counties in New York that operate under a charter to follow the same redistricting standards as all other counties in New York. Their bill modernizes those standards to further ensure towns from being divided for unjust purposes and to bring the standards in line with generally accepted best practices for redistricting. Importantly, the updated standards include ensuring that equal weight is given to all residents in the allocation of representation, that districts are not drawn to favor voters of one political party, that districts are compact and contiguous, that districts are formed to promote the orderly and efficient administration of elections, and that districts are not drawn with the intent or result of denying or abridging the equal opportunity of racial or language minority groups to participate in the political process.
Amy Paulin, Renee Baylor and Alissa Baum, President of the LWVS"Representation matters, and for those living in self-chartered counties such as the three I represent, this legislation takes us one large step toward preserving the will of the people by standardizing how legislative districts are drawn and redrawn,” said Skoufis. “Just shy of 20 years in the making, this is a bill with serious teeth and I call on the Governor to sign it so that these reforms are enacted just in time for the 2022 once-a-decade county redistricting proposals. I am grateful to Assemblymember Paulin for her partnership and years of dedicated 
Assemblymember Paulin with Scarsdale Mayor Jane Veronleadership on this issue."
The passing of this legislation represents the culmination of 20 years of work by Paulin who first fought for fair county legislative districts as president of the Scarsdale League of Women Voters (“LWV”) in 1991. At that time Scarsdale was split into two separate districts, and the Town of Scarsdale, along with the Scarsdale LWV, sued Westchester County on the grounds that the state Municipal Home Rule Law (“MHRL”) prohibits towns from being divided. The Town of Scarsdale’s lawsuit was dismissed due to lack of standing, and although the Scarsdale LWV lawsuit proceeded it was never decided by the courts.
Scarsdale, a small town of only 6.6 square miles, was then split into 3 districts in 1993. At that time Paulin, who was now the President of the County LWV, again sued the County over unfair redistricting. The case went to the NYS Supreme Court, and then to the appellate level. Ultimately the NYS Appellate Division upheld the lower court decision that Westchester County was not required to follow the criteria in the MHRL because it operates under a charter form of government and is bound only by the redistricting criteria in its charter.
The County had two subsequent redistricting cycles in 2001 and 2011, when fair districting was restored.
LWV Westchester Members with Amy PaulinHenry Neale, a Scarsdale resident and the attorney who represented the LWV in its lawsuit, said, “All counties in New York State should follow the same standards for redistricting—something I have been advocating for a long time. It is not logical and clearly unfair that voters in a chartered county can have their votes diluted by splitting towns or packing members of one political party or another into a district, when voters in the rest of the state are protected.”
“This legislation will prevent towns like Scarsdale from being split into multiple legislative districts, which dilutes the vote of residents and leaves them without a clear, singular representative to advocate on their behalf,” said Paulin. “With this legislation, the integrity of cities, towns and villages in Westchester and other chartered counties.
Veron, also a former President of the LWV of Scarsdale thanked Paulin for her excellent representation and the League of Women Voters of Scarsdale and the LWV of Westchester voiced their support for the new legislation.
