Scarsdale Remembers 9-11
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The Scarsdale Department of Public Safety and village officials gathered on Tuesday September 11 to remember those who were killed on September 11, 2001 and to honor the sacrifices of the first responders and recovery workers. The ceremony commenced with a moment of silence and four sets of five bell rings, replicating a code used by the FDNY to announce the death of a firefighter. Father Sebastian Bacatan of St. Pius X Church delivered an invocation. Scarsdale Police Chief Andrew Matturro and Fire Chief James Seymour raised and lowered the American flag to half-staff and Police Officer Malcolm Greer sang the national anthem.
Deputy Mayor Carl Finger, Police Commissioner Jane Veron and Fire Commissioner Matthew 
Callaghan addressed the group. Scarsdale High School student, Megumi Ozawa, sang a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace as Scarsdale PBA and UFFA members placed wreaths at the bases of their respective commemorative monuments to honor the fallen.
Members representing both the Scarsdale Volunteer Firefighters and Ambulance Corps placed an additional wreath at the base of the flagpole. Fire Captain Christopher Mytych acknowledged the first responders, recovery workers, and those that lived or worked in lower Manhattan following the attacks, who are now afflicted with 9/11-related illnesses. Reverend Kelly Rogers of Scarsdale Congregational Church delivered a benediction.
Police Commissioner Jane VeronTrustee Jane Veron made the following remarks at the ceremony:
I join you today to pay tribute to those whose lives were tragically cut short and to
honor the selfless dedication and bravery of you and your colleagues, our first responders.
It is seventeen years later, and we remember vividly as if it were yesterday. We all knew precisely where we were, what we were doing, the moment we learned of the horrific attack on our great nation, on our beloved city of New York. So incomprehensible, intensely personal, an affront to everything we hold dear.
We carry with us, deep in our hearts, the memories of the loved ones, friends and colleagues we 
Deputy Mayor Carl Fingerlost that day. These many years later, we continue to reel from the debilitating health struggles faced by our rescue and recovery workers. So much has been sacrificed; we shall not forget.
On Sept 11, 2001, several of our Scarsdale police officers joined the emergency response effort, and for the ensuing months, each member of our police force assisted the NYPD. Among our current fire department professionals, several of you were at ground zero or covering for the FDNY.
Fire Commissioner Matthew CallaghanThose days and months following the attack were grueling for all of us. We were seething with anger, emotionally drained, completely devastated, exhausted, heart broken. But we were also kinder and gentler to one another. We stopped focusing on petty differences. We embraced both friends and strangers. We came together in a way that I had never before experienced in my life. Out of the depths of despair, we emerged stronger and more united.
What I love so much about our country, about New Yorkers specifically, is our resilience and resolve. We do not cave in. We fight to protect what we hold dear.
You, our first responders, live that ethos. You were drawn to a profession that puts others above 
SHS Student Megumi Ozawa sang Amazing Graceself. You keep us safe and secure; help us when we’re in need. You are the reason the rest of us can go about our daily lives.
We are grateful to you, our dedicated public servants, and we will forever cherish the memories of those who have sacrificed for our country.
Photos by Jon Thaler -- See more here.
Fire Chief James Seymour with Fire Captain Christopher Mytych
Police Chief Andrew Matturro with Fire Chief James Seymour
Police Officer Malcolm Greer sang the national anthem.
Rachel Johnson Weds Jacob Ramsay
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Rachel Glenn Johnson and Jacob Mills Ramsey were married September 1. Rabbi Tom Weiner of Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains officiated at Second, an event space in New York City.
Mrs. Ramsey, 28, is Administrative Director of Programming at Sala Institute for Child and Family Centered Care and Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone. She is a 2008 graduate of Scarsdale High School and graduated with honors from Cornell University, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree from the College of Human Ecology in Policy Analysis and Management. She has a Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration from The Sloan Program at Cornell.
She is the daughter of Ellen Kurtz of New York City (formerly of Scarsdale) and Dr. Michael Johnson of White Plains N.Y. The bride’s father is a physician specializing in cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology and is affiliated with Montefiore Medical Center and White Plains Hospital. The bride’s mother is a Registered Nurse and founder of Kurtz Legal Nurse Consulting, a professional medical resource for defense and plaintiff attorneys.
Mr. Ramsey, 35, is Assistant Director of Operations at Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Sociology from Indiana University, Master of Public Health from The University of South Carolina and Master of Health Administration from Cornell University.
He is the son of Holly and James Ramsey of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The groom’s father formally of Ford Motor Company Finance Division and the groom’s mother formally of Integrated Health Associates are enjoying their retirement with their four children and six grandchildren.
The couple met at Cornell in graduate school over a beer pong championship where they reigned undefeated. They will honeymoon in Hawaii and live in New York City.
LimeBikes Show Up On Scarsdale Streets
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Have you seen any green and yellow bikes on sidewalks or lawns around town? It turns out that LimeBike is testing their dockless bikes in White Plains and a few are now showing up in Scarsdale as well. Cyclists can download a free phone app to find the nearest bike and to pay for its use. LimeBikes tracks the bikes locations using GPS and redistributes them to busy areas.
We spoke to Assistant Village Manager Josh Ringel about the bikes and he said that both White Plains and Yonkers have agreements with the company to run the cycle share program there, and bikes from other towns may be showing up in Scarsdale. For now, the Village has no formal policy on these bikes and hopes that people will leave them in racks and off the sidewalks to avoid any safety issues.
One resident was not happy with the appearance of the bikes and sent the following letter to the Mayor:
“I just saw what appear to be shared bikes just sitting unattended in the middle of the sidewalk on the Popham Bridge near the train station. Of course I have read about these in the Wall Street Journal and how they are often a public nuisance. If this has not come to the board’s attention, please accept this as my request that the Village review whether leaving unattended property as a public nuisance on a public sidewalk is a violation at least justifying the impounding of the property. Seems to me it is litter at a minimum. I have no problem with bike shares so long as they are not left in the way like these were. The Popham Bridge is very busy with pedestrian traffic and requiring everyone to walk around two bikes blocking half the sidewalk is not pretty and certainly unnecessary. If people are forced to walk in the street it could even be dangerous.”
Have you used a shared cycle? Share your experience and your thoughts on this in the comments section below.
Scarsdale Summer Brides
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Wedding bells rang for many Scarsdale brides this summer. Here are wedding announcements from four happy couples. We would love to publish more happy news. Please send your wedding announcement to scarsdalecomments@gmail.com.
Jessie Gatof and Jason Morgan
Jessica Marie Gatof and Jason Alexander Morgan were married Aug. 11. Rabbi Jonathan E. Blake officiated at the Montage hotel in Laguna Beach, Calif.
The couple met at the University of Pennsylvania, from which both graduated magna cum laude.
Mrs. Morgan, 25, is an associate on the investments team at Lubert-Adler, a real estate private investment firm in Philadelphia.
She is the daughter of Bonnie Littman Gatof and Peter A. Gatof of Scarsdale, N.Y. The bride’s mother is the chief executive of USAI Lighting, a LED lighting manufacturer in New Windsor, N.Y., and serves on the director’s council at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lighting Research Center in Troy, N.Y. Her father was until 2013 the chief executive of US Data Capture, an electronic payment processing service that was in Rye Brook, N.Y. He is a director of the School in the Square, a charter school in New York.
Mr. Morgan, 28, is a senior vice president for acquisitions and investment management in King of Prussia, Pa., at Morgan Properties, a real estate investment and management company, for which the groom’s father, Mitchell L. Morgan, is chairman.
Lindsay Marx and Michael Rappaport
Lindsey Rachel Marx and Michael David Rappaport were married July 28. Rabbi Gary M. Katz officiated at Tappan Hill, an events space in Tarrytown, N.Y.
Mrs. Rappaport, 29, is a science teacher in the elementary grades at the Stephen Gaynor School, a private special-education school in New York. She graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse and received a master’s degree in childhood general and special education from Bank Street College of Education.
She is a daughter of Sandra J. Marx of White Plains and Brendan R. Marx of Hartsdale, N.Y. The bride’s father, a lawyer, is a principal, in New York, in the law firm Offit Kurman. The bride’s mother retired as a founder of Schiffman, Ekman, Morrison, Marx, an advertising talent agency in New York, and is now a storyteller who appeared on a PBS series, “Stories From the Stage,” in October 2017. The bride is also a stepdaughter of Renée L. Marx and Keith R. Marshall.
Mr. Rappaport, also 29, is a principal consultant at Capco, a financial services consulting firm in New York. He graduated cum laude from the University at Buffalo.
Brett Sereysky and Jospeh Kaufman
Brett Sanders Sereysky and Joseph Charles Kaufman were married on August 18, 2018 at the Tarrytown House Estate in Tarrytown, NY. Rev. Mickey Correa officiated the wedding. The bride, 30, and the groom, 31, met through mutual friends in 2013 on a ZogSports kickball team. Mrs. Kaufman is the head of recruitment at CardFlight, a financial technology start-up in Manhattan. She graduated from the University of Rochester and will receive her master’s degree in clinical social work from Fordham University this month. She is the daughter of Andrew and Joan Sereysky of Scarsdale, NY The bride’s father is a sales executive with SALT Payroll Consultants. Her mother retired from MediaCom. Mr. Kaufman is an Account Manager on the Client Strategy team at Path Interactive, a digital marketing agency in New York. He graduated from Quinnipiac University. He is the son Jonathan Kaufman of Kinnelon, NJ and Charlotte Rakay of Butler, NJ. The groom’s father is currently the Chief Strategy Officer at Fusion headquartered in New York, NY. The groom’s mother is a Senior Client Associate at Wells Fargo Advisors in Wayne, NJ. The groom is also the stepson of Lisa Kaufman.
How They Met
Brett and Joe met on a Zog Sports kickball league on Roosevelt Island in New York City in the Spring of 2013. The team was put together by mutual friends. (Joe was wildly impressed by Brett's pitching skills!) Brett and Joe got to know each other throughout the season, both on and off the field. They had their first date on August 23rd, 2013 at Dave and Busters in Times Square. A sign of things to come, Brett and Joe continue to embody a fun and playful couple to this day. Brett and Joe love visiting new places and going on adventures. They have visited Ireland, London, Nashville and Arizona to name a few and are honeymooning in French Polynesia this October. However, that's not to say a night in on the couch with takeout is out of the picture! After four years of dating, Joe took Brett to Cape Cod, MA for her birthday- a favorite place for Brett who spent her childhood summers there. On August 4, 2017, Joe proposed on a jetty at Bank Street Beach in Harwich.
Jodi Zucker and David Hassman
Ms. Jodi Zucker of Scarsdale was married on Aug 4, 2018 to Dr. David Hassman in Avalon, New Jersey. Jodi is the mom to Shelby, Nicole, Ben and Julia. David is the dad to Corey, Brooke and Abigail. The couple will reside in both New York and New Jersey.
The Grad Bag Story: Out with the Old, In with the Old!
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At colleges everywhere, dumpsters are filled with used but still usable items. Desk lamps, sheets, comforters, rugs, laundry bags, hampers, fans, and blankets are thrown away. This is where Grad Bag comes in. We collect, clean, package, store and redistribute dorm room items to soon-to-be college students who might not have the means to buy these things on their own.
Liz Gruber and Tara Smith Tyberg founded Grad Bag in 2012. As we moved our kids out of dorms, we watched the amount of dorm goods students throw into dumpsters at the end of the year. Knowing how expensive it is to outfit dorm rooms, we knew that a sustainable project needed to be born.
We started Grad Bag as a small grassroots effort contacting friends and neighbors asking them to donate their leftover dorm goods to us. We cleaned, folded and packaged the goods in our basements. We brought the goods to an August college transition workshop held by Let's Get Ready (LGR), a 501(c)(3) organization which harnesses the energy of college student volunteers to act as tutors and role models, providing free SAT prep, college guidance, financial aid workshops and mentoring for inner city high school students. At the conclusion of the transition workshop, the students loved shopping for free, guided by older college students.
Stanley Steemer sent two teams and cleaned over 200 rugs!
After this first successful pilot, Grad Bag has expanded to collect goods directly at colleges on move-out day including Columbia, Barnard, Fordham, Sarah Lawrence, Vassar, Wesleyan, CT College, Princeton and SUNY Purchase. In 2015 we started a pilot in Boston. We now have our "pop up" shops in Westchester, NYC, Boston and Maine. We gave dorm goods to over 600 students this summer!
This effort is only feasible with very generous in-kind donations and volunteerism. Scarsdale Village rises to the occasion every year to get the job done. We are thankful for the donations from Unitex Laundry, Stanley Steemer Carpet Cleaning, Standing Room Only, trucking by McKenna Custom Contracting, and especially to our summer home, Westchester Reform Temple. Scores of Scardalians come out to help collect goods from colleges, fold sheets, unload trucks, and help students shop wisely at our give-aways. Project Grad Bag thanks all our many supporters.
To donate or learn more about Grad Bag, visit our web page at www.gradbag.org.
Unitex loading a truckload of laundry.
Interns at work. How do you fold a bottom sheet?
Volunteers at one of two “community folds” at WRT. The group helped fold and package Grad Bag’s total of over 500 sets of sheets, 400 comforters, 300 blankets and 150 mattress pads
