Fire Fair At Crossway Firehouse
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A "Fire Fair" at Station 3 (56 Crossway) is planned for Saturday, October 20, 2018 to promote Fire Prevention Month. It will be held from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M., rain or shine.
It will be a full Fire Department effort, with participation from all three volunteer companies, explorers, as well as the career staff.
The fair will include a "Smoke Trailer" – a simulated house with a smoke machine for kids to crawl through; apparatus demonstrations; Hourly FIRE DEMONSTRATIONS; extinguisher demos; fire prevention videos; fire safety checklist completion prizes; literature and food. Other "hands on" activities for children are also planned.
The school program will take place prior to the fair. On Friday, October 19, 2018, firefighters will visit the first grades in all of the elementary schools in the village. They will show a safety video and discuss fire prevention and will hand out flyers to children of all ages to bring back home reminding the families about the fair.
This year’s theme for Fire Prevention Week “Look. Listen. Learn. Be aware. Fire can happen anywhere,” works to educate about three basic but essential steps to take to reduce the likelihood of having a fire – and how to escape safely in the event of one:
Fire safety equipment such as fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and fire escape ladders will be on sale. New this year, you can bring your home fire extinguishers to the Fair and get a free inspection. Although the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) designates October as "Fire Prevention Month", we know that emergency preparedness has to be ongoing all year round. Stay safe!
A Bear in Ardsley?
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After receiving a report of a bear sighting on Cheshire Lane in Ardsley on Friday 9-28, Greenburgh Police are warning residents against leaving children and pets unattended and to avoid leaving food or garbage outside. Police, animal control officers and officers from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation searched the area including the woods that border Boulder Ridge condominiums and found no signs of the bear and classified the incident as “not confirmed.” However they are assigning extra officers to patrol the area and advised anyone who sees a bear to refrain from approaching it and to contact the Greenburgh Police Department via 911. Additional information on encounters with bears can be accessed here: https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/94710.html
Seasons Kosher Grocery Files for Bankruptcy But is Still Expected to Open a Larger Store at the Golden Horseshoe in October
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Despite filing for Chapter 11, Seasons Supermarket is still expected to open at the Golden Horseshoe Shopping Center in October. The shopping center has been redesigned and attracted many new tenants including CVS, Chopt Salads. However they were awaiting the opening of the supermarket which is expected to draw considerable traffic to the center.
Now it’s clear why Seasons has taken so long to renovate the space and move in.
According to an industry newsletter, the kosher grocery store Seasons has $42 million in debt and filed for bankruptcy. They have stores in Manhattan, Queens, Lawrence, Baltimore, Lakewood and Clifton New Jersey and Scarsdale and they were expected to expand into the Gristedes location at the Golden Horseshoe Shopping Center in Scarsdale, which has now been vacant for three years.
The report says that the phone at the Flushing Queens location was disconnected.
Rob Fine, owner of the Golden Horsehoe Shopping Center said that he still expects the Scarsdale location to open in October, pending the approval to take on new financing. Please see the email he sent to the other tenants in the shopping center on September 18:
For the last three years, Seasons has been working towards opening the big store as a full-service market. For a host of reasons, that has not happened.
Please know that on September 16, 2018, Seasons Corporate LLC and its subsidiaries, including our Scarsdale tenant (collectively, the “Debtors”), filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy relief in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York (the “Bankruptcy Court”), bearing case no. 18-45280. According to the Debtors’ bankruptcy filings and statements:
The Scarsdale Location. The Debtors’ anticipate that the big store will be restocked and open for business in October, 2018, and the little store will not be re-opening.
Debtors’ Financing. The Debtors’ filed a motion seeking approval for a $5,700,000 financing facility with SKNY LLC. The financing is to fund operations and the administration of these bankruptcy cases through the closing date of the sale of the Debtors’ assets. It is expected that the Bankruptcy Court will enter an Order granting the Debtors’ request to borrow approximately $3,700,000 of the $5,700,000 on an interim basis later today (Tuesday 9/18).
Debtors’ Sale of Assets, Subject to Higher and Better Offers. Debtors filed a motion seeking to sell their assets, including the Debtors’ lease rights, subject to higher and better offers. The sale closing date is scheduled to occur on or before December 31, 2018. Presently, SKNY LLC has agreed, subject to certain conditions, to purchase the Debtors’ assets for a purchase price of $12,000,000. From what we understand, there are several other parties interested in submitting competing bids for the Debtors’ assets.
A hearing on the Debtors’ financing and sale bidding procedures is scheduled for October 3.
Primary Vote Breakdown for Scarsdale
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How did the primary vote in Scarsdale compare to votes in Westchester County and New York State?
We received the Scarsdale vote count from Village Clerk Donna Conkling today, and compiled this chart to compare the Scarsdale results to Westchester County and to New York State.
What does it show? First, Scarsdale voters supported Governor Cuomo with 73.67% of the vote, as compared to 65.6% for New York State voters.
In the race for Lieutenant Governor, Scarsdale voters again supported the winner Kathy Hochul by a wider majority than NYS voters. In Scarsdale Hochul took home 62.54% of the votes, while statewide she won narrowly with 53.34% of the vote.
The largest disparity in the vote came in the race for Attorney General. While Letitia James won the election with 40.56% of the statewide vote, in Scarsdale she only got 22.11% of the vote. Scarsdale voters supported Zephyr Teachout who got 49.49% of the vote here as compared to only 30.99% statewide.
Scarsdale Couple Convicted for Running Pill Mill, Mamaroneck Woman Indicted for Murder of Baby Daughter
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On September 6, 2018 Bridget G. Brennan, New York City’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor, announced that a Manhattan Supreme Court jury returned a guilty verdict against Scarsdale residents Dr. Rogelio Lucas and his wife Lydia Lucas, who managed her husband’s medical practice. The Lucases were convicted on one count of Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree and 29 counts of Criminal Sale of a Prescription for a Controlled Substance following a four-week trial. A licensed internist since 1972, Dr. Lucas surrendered his medical license in April of 2016 while criminal charges were pending. The Lucases own a home at 15 Black Birch Lane in Scarsdale.
As proven at trial, Dr. Lucas and his wife operated a medical practice at 215 West 101st St., Suite 1A, in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where they engaged in a conspiracy to sell prescriptions for the addictive opioid painkiller oxycodone for no legitimate medical purpose. Prior to 2009, the Lucases offered legitimate medical services through a primary care practice that catered to the elderly and accepted insurance. Between Jan. 2, 2009 and May 13, 2015, the practice underwent a radical transformation into a pill mill that churned out prescriptions for oxycodone in exchange for illegal cash payments.
“As today’s verdict makes clear, doctors and medical personnel who use their special privileges to illegally distribute addictive drugs for no medical reason will be judged by same standards as street dealers,” said Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan. “Dr. Rogelio Lucas and his wife Lydia reaped hundreds of thousands of dollars by selling prescriptions for $120 per visit. They will now face the consequences of the harm they caused by putting millions of highly addictive oxycodone pills out on the street.
“I thank the jury for their careful attention in this case, and the law enforcement agencies which methodically pieced the evidence together,” Special Narcotics Prosecutor Brennan said. Sentencing is scheduled for June 21, 2018 before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Kirke Bartley, who oversaw the trial.
Rogelio and Lydia Lucas were arrested on June 9, 2015 and released on $500,000 bail each. In conjunction with the arrests, agents and investigators conducted court authorized searches of the Lucases’ office and apartment in Manhattan, and a second home at 15 Black Birch Lane in Scarsdale, NY.
As detailed at trial, approximately $680,000 in cash was recovered from the Scarsdale residence. Photographs in evidence showed boxes recovered from a bedroom containing cash and handwritten notations by Lydia Lucas indicating the precise amount of money in each box.
Evidence further revealed that Lydia Lucas served as the gatekeeper for the office and maintained lists of the numbers of patients and amounts paid per day. Generally, patients who received oxycodone prescriptions were charged $120 cash for each office, while those few who did not receive oxycodone prescriptions were charged $80. Over the course of one year alone, Dr. Lucas and his wife made approximately $500,000 in cash deposits into multiple bank accounts.
A sign posted in the office instructed patients that while the office would accept insurance, such as Medicaid and Medicare, those who chose to pay in this manner would be restricted from receiving oxycodone.
Multiple drug rings received prescriptions for oxycodone from Dr. Lucas that were then filled at pharmacies and the pills sold on the black market. Patients who tested negative for oxycodone, indicating that they were not taking the medication, were still provided with prescriptions, despite clear indications they were not themselves taking the pills. Medical examinations were perfunctory and MRIs found in the office’s files contained obvious indications of forgery, including spelling errors.
Crowds gathered in the waiting room, prompting complaints by members of the community. Dr. Lucas relocated his office three times before landing at 215 West 101st St., Suite 1A. A court authorized review of Dr. Lucas’s prescribing history revealed he wrote oxycodone prescriptions for approximately 45 to 50 individuals per day at the height of the conspiracy.
Defendant: Cynthia Arce (DOB 7/10/89
Mamaroneck Woman Indicted for the Murder of Baby Daughter
On September 12, 2018 Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. announced that Cynthia Arce of Mamaroneck was indicted on charges related to the death of her toddler daughter, Gabriella Boyd, in their Chestnut Avenue home April 28, 2018, and the attack on two Village of Mamaroneck Police Officers.
The Westchester Grand Jury indicted Arce on one count of Murder in the Second Degree, a class A felony, in the death of Gabriella Boyd.
In the attack on the two police officers she faces the following charges:
2 counts of Attempted Aggravated Murder, class A felonies
2 counts of Attempted Aggravated Assault upon a Police Officer, class C felonies
2 counts of Assault in the Second Degree, class D felonies
Incident Location: A house located at 507 Chestnut Ave. in the Village of Mamaroneck where Arce lived with her mother and daughter.
Background:
Prosecutors allege, on April 28, 2018, Village of Mamaroneck Police responded to 507 Chestnut Ave. following a 911 call from Arce's mother, reporting that someone was dying. When they arrived, they found 2-year-old Gabriella Boyd unresponsive on her bed.
Officers immediately tried to resuscitate the child. While clearing the house, other officers located Arce in an adjacent bedroom behind a closed door. Arce had both her hands hidden behind her back and refused to comply with repeated police commands to show her hands. Arce then brought both hands from behind her back and above her shoulders revealing two large knives, one in each hand. She charged at the officers, repeatedly slashing at two of them. When Tasers failed to subdue her, a third officer shot Arce, ending the confrontation. Officers continued their efforts to resuscitate the child until paramedics arrived.
Gabriella Boyd was transported to White Plains Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Following an autopsy, the Medical Examiner’s Officer ruled her death to be a homicide. Two Village of Mamaroneck Police Officers were injured as a result of the confrontation.
Arce was taken to Westchester County Medical Center where she was treated for several weeks for her gunshot injuries. Arce was arrested at the hospital, charged, and remanded by a judge to the Westchester County Jail where she has remained since.
At this time, the date of Arce’s arraignment on this indictment is pending.
The indictment was the result of a joint investigation among the Village of Mamaroneck Police Dep, the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Laura Murphy, Bureau Chief of the Career Criminal Bureau, and Nicholas DiCostanzo, both of the Superior Court Trial Division.
