Local Band to Play at Vintage
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On Saturday night March 26 The Del Bocas -- a 6-member rock band of Scarsdale and Edgemont residents - will perform at Vintage in White Plains at 9 pm. The band includes: Dan Bernstein (Greenacres), Dave Cannon (Fox Meadow), Dan Groner (Fox Meadow), Erika Radin (Fox Meadow), John Soler (Edgemont), and Eric Wayne (Edgemont).
There is a $10 cover charge.
The Del Bocas
Vintage
171 Main Street
White Plains, NY
Saturday, March 26 at 9 pm
Letter From Write-in Candidate Robert Selvaggio
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Here’s a letter to the site from Robert Selvaggio who was a write-in candidate for Village Trustee in the Tuesday March 15 election, reflecting on the events of the week:
Joanne: By providing an open forum for Scarsdale citizens to disseminate information and express their views, you are of course doing great service to the community. Thank you! However, it's understandable that the interests of the community at large and certain private interests will often clash -- and that explains the motivation of these individuals for impugning your motives and hurling false accusations at you.
We corresponded and spoke for first time on Monday, and I admire your persistence in tracking me down and extracting a statement (by the way, I still have no idea who was behind this "sinister plot" to write us in, but in retrospect I am glad they hatched it). Scarsdale voters wanted to know more, and your website was the only medium that gave us the information we needed to vote intelligently. After posting our comments in your "Candidates Speak Out" column, my phone didn't stop ringing and my "inboxes" at work and at home were jammed. There was no possibility of going to work that day.
Neighbors I hadn't met previously called to ask whether I registered all my home improvements over the years at Town Hall and whether I paid nanny taxes for Maggie, our popular babysitter who was with us for eighteen years. Fair questions of a candidate -- how can a Trustee have the moral authority to tax others if he himself won't pay his fair and legal share? (Yes, all my home improvements were registered over the years, and we faithfully paid all nanny taxes and insurance). How would I as an economist evaluate the risk-return (from both an EBITDA and social perspective) tradeoffs of the proposed SCC project? What was my view on the "affordable housing" initiative? Do I understand that roundabouts are safer than traditional intersections and old-time traffic circles? A recently-minted MBA e-mailed a question about my thoughts of an article in "Wired" magazine that blamed the financial crisis on a particular mathematical technique used by quantitative analysts (I wonder how my answer impacted her decision at the voting booth!) People actually "Googled" my name, examined my Linked-in profile, and read a recent article on the "Monoline Meltdown" I was invited to post. Upon request, I sent out 14 CVs, and when I was told that one Scarsdale organization that I recently joined didn't know enough about me to support the write-in candidates, I sent out many more. I don't think I distributed more resumes since I looked for a summer internship in 1982. It's all about information; people want more of it, not less.
I'm told that we actually received in the neighborhood of 200 votes, not the 130-140 reported. There are clearly spelling and logistical challenges to writing-in candidates, so many ballots could not be counted in the official tally. I am proud of the votes Sharon and I received -- we did not campaign or hand out flyers or even ask for votes at the train stations -- our votes surely came from the information people could gather from Scarsdale10583 and from their own follow-up due diligence. And no one (including me!) even knew there was a write-in initiative until last Friday. Over a thousand of us voted -- that's a new record and that's just terrific, and you deserve much credit for that.
I have been encouraged to run again next year, and to do it again through the CNC nominating process that has served us well for many years. I will do just that. And I look forward to communicating with my friends and neighbors via Scarsdale10583.
Regards,
Bob Selvaggio
Local Station Pumps Tainted Gas
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At over $4 a gallon, when you buy premium gas, you assume you are getting high quality fuel. However, it turns out that some local residents weren’t even lucky enough to get gas at a “Getty” Station at 755 White Plains Post Road in Eastchester in early February. Customers at the station actually had a mixture of gas and water pumped into their tanks and their cars stopped dead within a few miles of the station.
One of the victims, Peter Zurkow of Fox Meadow, is aware of six cases of cars that were damaged by the watered down gas. He estimates that together the six victims paid around $7,000 in repairs, and that doesn’t include the cost of the tainted gas, towing or loss of use of their cars. Though he suspects there were many more victims, someone would need to be permitted to comb through the records at the station to determine if others were affected.
It turns out that despite the signage, the station is not a Getty affiliate, but is independently owned by Sam Jacoby who has not made himself available for comment.
Zurkow called both the Eastchester and Scarsdale Police who told him it was a civil not a criminal matter and instructed him to contact the station owner. However when Zurkow got no response from him, he called the County Health Department, which regulates environmental issues and the County Consumer Protection Department that regulates weights and measures. Zurkow filed a complaint with the County and also filed a FOIL request so that he could see the department’s findings.
In the report, which he received on March 7, it shows that the Westchester County Department of Health sent investigators to the station on February 11 in response to a complaint. They tested the contents of the gas tanks and found that the Premium tank contained five inches of water and the station was closed down by the fire department. It appeared that rainwater leaked into the tank via breaks in the piping.
The County has scheduled a hearing but it is not clear whether they can order the station owner to reimburse buyers for the damage done to their cars. No one knows if the station owners' insurance will pay for the claims, but since Sam Jacoby has not returned calls or text messages Zurkow and the others may have to file in small claims court to get their money back.
So next time you ride up to the pump, caveat emptor!
Register Now to Vote in the School Budget Election on Tuesday, May 17
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With the Scardale Village election behind us, the Board of Education wants to prepare residents for the school budget vote on Tuesday May 17, 2011. If you want to vote in the May election, there is no better time to register than now, and here is how to do it.
Westchester County registration-by-mail forms are available in the main office of every school. You may also access the form at http://citizenparticipation.westchestergov.com/register-to-vote . Anyone who delivers or mails one of these registration forms to the County Board of Elections will be registered with Westchester County and also considered to be registered with the school district. Mailed registration forms must be received by the County Board of Elections in time to be processed by May 17, 2011, the date of the vote.
In addition, anyone may register for school district voting with the School District's Board of Registration at the offices of the Board of Education located in the High School (Brewster Road side of the school) as follows:
- Tuesday, May 10, 2011 - between the hours of 4:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
- Thursday, May 12, 2011 - between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
The deadline for registration at the Board of Education office is May 12, 2011.
Absentee ballots are available for the budget vote and election after Monday April 18 and you can apply for the absentee ballot now:
1. Anyone who is registered and will not be in Westchester County for the vote on May 17, 2011, may apply for an absentee ballot by mail or in person. Application forms are immediately available from Lois Rehm, the District Clerk, in the Board of Education offices in the High School (contact her at 721-2410 or lrehm@scarsdaleschools.org ). The absentee ballots will not be available until after Monday, April 18, 2011.
2. If the application is to be mailed to the voter, the voter must return the completed application in time for it to be received by the Clerk seven days before the election Tuesday, May 10, 2011.
3. If completed applications are delivered personally, they must be received by the District Clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. the day before the election Monday, May 16, 2011.
4. All absentee ballots must be delivered to the Clerk’s office no later than 5:00 p.m. on the day of the vote, Tuesday, May 17, 2011.
Take care of registering to vote or applying for an absentee ballot now so that you can participate in this important upcoming vote.
Coming and Going
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Five Guys Burgers and Fries is opening on Main Street next to City Center in downtown White Plains. The chain has been rated by Zagat every year since 2001 and serves burgers made from fresh ground beef with your choice of toppings as well as fries cooked in peanut oil. They are represented in almost every state in the union and there will soon be one in our backyard.
However Peniche, a wine bar and tapas restaurant at 175 Main Street has closed pending a sale. A popular hangout, it was always crowded when we stopped by and it will be missed.
Also coming to Scarsdale, is Martine's Bakery. They currently run a very successful shop in Tuckahoe, across the street from the Crestwood Station where they sell breakfast pastries, fresh baked artisinal breads, soups, sandwiches, salads, espresso, cappuccino and specialty cakes. They will move into the space previously occupied by Rush Jewelers on East Parkway and are hoping to open before Easter. Baking will be done in Tuckahoe, reserving more space for customer seating at the Scarsdale location. Martine's will have tables inside -- and outside when the weather allows, and will be open from early morning to dinnertime, seven days a week.
Photo courtesy of Betsy Cadel
