We write in support of Trustee candidate Maura Gedid in the special election on July 11th to add two seats to Irvington’s Board of Education. We have known Maura and her family since they moved to Irvington. We are confident that Maura has the skills to make a strong contribution to the Board and the desire to maintain and improve Irvington’s schools. Her MBA and financial marketing background provide vital skills for understanding the business and budgeting of the schools. Her consulting work gives her experience in building consensus, how the Board functions. Her community service includes a number of other roles, but introduction of the Walking School Bus stands out. She worked hard to launch this program to develop kids’ safe walking habits. In the big picture she cares about making our community a livable and attractive place to raise a family.
Please join us in voting for her in the special election on July 11th.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.by Greg Clary
A new novel by a Sleepy Hollow writer highlights the Hudson Valley as the setting for a suburban woman’s rebirth after a nasty divorce.
For 25-year resident Rebecca Chianese, the local streets are as familiar now as those of her Brooklyn youth, and her book Mercy easily captures the people and experiences of each.
“Walking along the Hudson River is where most of my characters come to life,” Chianese said. “Then they boss me around until I tell their stories.”
Chianese, married to Anthony Scarpati for over 30 years, is involved in everything from The Foundation for the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns to welcoming newcomers annually at a gathering in her Sleepy Hollow Manor home.
A graduate of the fiction-writing program at Sarah Lawrence College, Chianese earned a living for years as a social worker, but still found time while raising a family to write two screenplays, Daffodil Hill and Waltzing with My Father, which were accepted into the Hudson Valley Reading Series.
And fans of the HBO’s legendary Mafia series The Sopranos will be familiar with her father, Dominic Chianese, who played Uncle Junior for six seasons.
Her plays, The Session and That’s Life were both produced off-Broadway in New York City.
Mercy is her first novel, published in May, and, given recent readers’ comments, it will soon be her most popular work.
“I was cussing Rebecca the first night I read her book,” joked Annie Reilly, well-known waitress at Bellas Restaurant on Broadway. “I couldn’t put the book down when I should have been going to sleep.”
Mercy is the story of Carly Manning, a 49-year-old woman searching for her own power and persona through her talent as a painter, after years of putting her creative work off to take care of her husband and children.
The book is a powerful, gripping story that mixes a wry dose of humor and fun into stormy family encounters with a drug-addicted brother, a famous father, and friends who change with her new new-found status as an empty-nester and single woman.
Chianese, born and raised in Brooklyn, began her love of reading at the Brooklyn Public Library in Grand Army Plaza and has been writing as long as she was able to hold a pencil. A voracious reader herself, she has been meeting with book clubs on the East Coast to give readers a chance to hear first-hand from the author about her work.
Mercy was recently featured at the Hudson Valley Writers Center, and Chianese has been holding readings and book-signings throughout the tri-state area.
Reviewer and fellow author, Maureen Linker, said the story captures a New York City life that many may never have known first-hand.
“Though today’s hipsters might long to capture the ‘authentic’ Brooklyn of the 1970s and 80s,” Linker wrote. “Chianese takes us back to the pain and glory of growing up during the time of struggling artists, a New York City with empty museums and Park Slope families lined up for government cheese.”
Readers have praised the look back at a different time as well as the main character’s relentless efforts to forge a better future.
“I loved Carly, I loved her resilience, and I loved her determination to become a better person,” wrote Rabia Tanveer. “Her story is so pure and real; you cannot help but sympathize with her and love her. I wish I could give this novel more than five stars!”
The book cruises along until Carly’s self-involved father, an over-the-hill country music star, tries to resurrect his career with a reality show that soon ensnares the entire family in craziness they’d all rather avoid.
Throw in a tumultuous Westchester Thanksgiving dinner with exes and fisticuffs, a police incident on the Tappan Zee Bridge and you’ve got a fast-paced finish that leaves the reader equal parts fulfilled and still looking for more.
Mercy is available on Amazon and at local bookstores upon request, including Scattered Books in Chappaqua.
For more information about the book and author, please visit: www.rchianese.com.
Alissa Abramson
Matthew Abramson
Kevin Adams
Stephanie Ades
Michelle Agovino
James Agro
Natalie Aronson
Imogen Aukland
Dorian Barber
Sofia Bazdekis
Maxine Bell
Nina Bernstein
Christina Bundrick
Sean Henry Canning
Caileigh Cappello
Suzanne Carroll
Emma Castiblanco
Carson Cerrito
Alec Chevreux
Dan Chevreux
Larissa S Chraim
Katherine Colucci
Riley Conklin
Jillian Conley
Justin Conwisar
Leia Correa
Anotonia Cruz-Kent
Gianna D’Arrigo
Aine Daly
George Danyluk
Cleo R Davidowitz
Akofa A Demanya
Daniel DeMatteo
Aidan Denahy
Lara DePaoli
Emma DeRose
William Felix
Jake Fitzgerald
Matthew Giambrone
Anthony M Giampaolo
Rachel** Gideon
Bradley Goldsmith
Katherine Graubart
Hope Felicity Gray
Mikelis Grendze
Jillian Gunther
Daniel Gur
Jacob Gyory
Lindsay Halpin
Hana Hamad
Edward Hansen
Madison Hernandez
Sam Herte
Donnell Holifield
Jayda Holifield
Jacob Hrbek
Miranda Jacobsen
Larissa Judd Pojanowski
Shelby Kaplan
Isabella Kashkin
Juliana Kashkin
Max Kerner
Yoon Kim
Marc Kletter
Griffin F Knapp
Laura Koenig
Lisa Kusiak
Nia Lee
Seok Lee
Robert Lewis
Melissa Lindsay
Stephanie Lopez
Monique L Magras
Matthew Matrullo
Michael McDonald
Jared McGuire
Kelly McLoughlin
Katherine McMahon
Eric Mendelson
Ryan F Meng-Killeen
Daniel Merlos
Remy Mermelstein
Zoe Mermelstein
Rebecca Mesonjnik
Scott Mitchell
Henry Monness
Clara Montgomery
Eric Moss
Samantha Nadasi
Alex G Nakajima-Inglis
Harrison Narrizano
Elsa P Ordahl
Lydia Pak
Dillon**NHS Palmieri
Shivay**NHS Parekh
Hee Soo** Park
Evan**NHS Pickar
Kyle T Picone
John Powers
Serena Purswani
Kurt Radlauer
Ian Reilly
Julia Ring
Vincent V Rodriguez
Joy M Ruffin
Max Russell
David Russin
Avani Saggi
Jordan Sahawneh
Jordan G Schwed
Steven Scott
Justin Shedrofsky
Atsuyo Shimizu
John Shpati
Gabriel Siegel
Nicole Sklitsis
Mitchell Sloane
Mason Smerling
Alexander Smith
Matthew Spencer
Ashley Stegeman
Carli Stern
Yuri Sugihara
Kieran P Sullivan
James Vamosy
Marcus Vamosy
Thomas Wassmann
Robin Weiss
Jack R Yang
Max S Ziluck
Esmeralda Abreu
Angel Acosta Diaz
Alexandra Adofo
Anthony Aguirre Leon
Melanie Alberto
Melissa Almonte
Stephen Alvarez
Tatiana Andre
Xavier Andre
Aranxa Anorve
Heidy Arana Heleno
Jessica Arduino
Junior Arevalo
Alexander Arias
Diego Arias • (Valedictorian_
Yannoli Arias
Justin Atkinson
Ariel Azzis Puebla
Daniel Barros
Dylan Basescu
Jeantil Beltré
Marcos Benzan Mata
Zachary Bernstein
Austin Bird
Alec Bjorkland
Lindsey Boozer
Kevin Borden Jr.
Matthew Briante
Gabrielle Brown
Julisa Cabrera
Joselyn Calderon Guallpa
Ivan Capellan
Alexander Capellán
James Carney
Starlene Carolan
Helen Carr
Maya Carvalho-Evans
Kimberly Casino
Nikole Castillo Garcia
Aaron Cember
Lily Centra
Eric Chacha
Johan Cid
Chantal Cornejo
Manuel Crespo Zhinin
Nilda Cruz
Margaret Cusanelli
Kali D’Agostinis
Manuel Davila
Nicholas Davis
Biomar De La Cruz
Francis De La Cruz
Brayan de Leon Zacarias
Hannah Derechin
Daniel Downes
Enrique Duque
Madelyn Elia
Erick Espinoza
Rosicely Fabian Rodriguez
Nadia Fassa
Ricardo Fernandez
Angelica Ferrera
Ener Ferreras
Leiny Ferreras
Christian Flores-Perez
Marissa Fortugno
Kathryn Franco
Zackary Frank
Leonard Frasca Jr.
David Friedman
Julian Gagliardi
Josephine Galeotafi ore
Isander Garcia
Juan Garcia
Johan Garcia Cruz
Nathan Gargano
Damon Gaynair
Simon Geisker
Peter Genao
Solenny Germosen Estrella
LaVese Gilchrest
Zachary Goldbaum
Madelin Gomez Rodriguez
Trevor Gonzalez
Zachary Gross
Jason Guaillas
Sirena Guanuna
Sofi a Guarnieri • (Salutatorian)
Ismael Guzman
Emelin Guzman-Perez
Sebastian Hanlon
Sofi a Hantzaridis
Talia Hayes
Uriel Hilario
Ranma Hudson
David Husselbee
Amanda Hynes
Lauren Hynes
Samantha Hynes
Michael Illescas Niola
Isaiah Isaacson
Ali Jahmaali James
Nyja Jamison
Melissa Jaramillo Merizalde
Eddie Jimenez Jr.
Cynthia Jimenez Vele
Elyse Johnson
Caroline Kachnowski
Liam Kent
Marie Komorowski
Levy Kupfer
Andrew Laub
Gabriel Laureano
Benny Ledesma
Jason Loja
Adanelys Lopez
Michael Lopez
Ronayssi Lopez
Barbara Losowski
Christian Maia
Hannah Mancini
Ryan Many
Christopher Maria
Michelle Martin
Regina Martin
Serena Matera
Josef May
Demitra McClung
Magali McMurry
Mya Merkoski
Katherine Miles
Wade Monks
John Mora
Eldon Morales
Rosy Morfe Gomez
Peter Moriarty
Makayla Morrison
David Murillo
Caroline Murphy
Stephany Nerys
Alexandra Newbey
Isaac Newland
Christiana Nisco
Sophia Norwood
Indiana Nunez de Jesus
Kimberli Ocampo
Pearse O’Donohue
Luis Olivares
David Owen Jr.
Elizabeth Parham
Jeremy Pember
Edward Perez
Juliette Phillips
Claudia Pillacela
Cristina Pinho
Amanda Poy
Roberth Pucha Cajamarca
Lori Quituisaca
Elizabeth Quizhpi
Geri Ramirez Rodriguez
Angel Ramos
Wileidy Reyes
Nighoel Rivera
Brandon Roberts
Donna Rodrigues
Diego Rodriguez
Emmanuel Rodriguez
Favio Rodriguez
Jailene Rodriguez
Jennifer Rodriguez
Rahinelka Rodriguez
Xavier Rodriguez
Yosibel Rodriguez
Kiara Rosario
Paola Rosario
Cassandra Russo
Atesh Sakarya
Natalie Salazar
Jashon Sample
Ammie Sanchez
Jeanine Sealtiel
Emma Shapera
Nythia Shibuya
Jakob Smith
Theodore Smith
Mia Solomon
John Starkey
Owen Steele
Clifton Steurer
Caleb Straus
Jomary Suarez
Tia Sue
Robert Sullivan III
Yoelvis Susaña Hilario
Micah Swinton
Troy Tallman
Jaylina Thomas
Henry Titcomb
Justin Torres
Fabian Tovar
Franklyn Trejo
Daniel Tucci
Orienni Ureña Guzmán
John Uyaguari
Georgia Vachon
Carola Vasquez Sanchez
Felix Veloz Morales
Samuel Warnock
Jack Weitzner
Ethan Wilens
Mikael Williams
Alexander Wills
Nicholas Wingate
Grace Yawman
Lissett Yuqui
Carlos Zhagui
Thalia Zhagui Ayala
Giselle Zhinin Fajardo
Enrique Zhispon-Patino
Isabel Zhu
Alexis Zhunio
Saylor Abel
Christopher Agostino
Glory Akoh
Nermine Mahmoud Farouk Amer
Mika Andrews
Jessie Anker
Christopher Gianni Arditi
Maximilian Baumann
Noah Berliner
Elizabeth Bloom
Gavin Bradley
Tenia Braithwaite
Hannah Louise Brown
Maddison Rose Cambeiro
Leon Campbell
Noel W. Campbell
John Capone
Benjamin Chuang
Justin Cohen
Isabel Cruz-Bai
Thomas Christopher Cullen
Jacob Day
Amanda Diaz
Samantha Marie DiGirolomo
Matthew Antonio Ellis
Maria Espinoza
Lauren Danielle Fitzgerald
Ray Flaks
Lisandra Frroku
Eliza Louise Fry
Enrique Andres Garcia
Isaiah Gardner
Nicholas Angelo Granata
Michael Green
Benjamin Greengrass
Terenia Hankewycz
Ursula Hansberry
Dale Francis Hasbrouck
Elizabeth Madison Hinksmon
Tion Holness
Andrew Holzman
Jamie Honigman
Blake Hord
Christopher Imbrogno
Mio Ito
Maxwell Kahan
Michael Kaufmann
Ryota Kawanishi
Sophie Kimerling
Nell Klassen
Edward Knecht
Erika Alexis Laino
Michelle Laino
Seojin Lee
Jordan Anthony Loran
Gabriella Maggi
Sequoia Imani Manderson
Bernard McGoey
Andrew McKeown
Conor McKeown
Stephanie Medina
Luka Miskovic
Paul Morrison
Seiji Munemura
Yasmine Myftija
Cheyenne Niccolls
Joseph O’Brien
Shannon O’Halloran
Yukali Okkotsu
Brian O’Shea
John Alexander Palicz
Rachel Karla Paredes
Jeremy Presta
Samantha Rachmil
Julian Raderman
Alison Richman
Jamie Ritch
Franco Rivera
Victor Roca
Alexandra Rossillo
Breanna Mariana Sanchez
Ervin Sandoval
Senen Alexander Santana-Sharp
Ivan Sarbinov
Molly E. D. Selin
Anabelle Sheely
Calvin Sheely
Isamu Sherman
Jonathan Sherman
Jacob Daniel Shornick
Tyreese P. Shortt
Najee Smith
Francesco Staluppi
Marina C. Stern
John M. Sullivan
Liyah Teller
Kenneth C. Torres
Samantha Turco
Michael Anthony Vazquez
Dylan Williams
Lindsay Yue
Shayan Argrette Ahmad
Isabella Cacdac Ampil
Salik Awan
William Kirby Ballentine
Lucy Alison Barse
Matthew Peter Bonanno
Kristen Elizabeth
Bringsjord
Winston Edward Britton Jr.
Camille Harker Butterfield
Madison Kelly Chen
Andrew Kendrick Chung
Jack Kaplan Clark
Jackson Spencer Corrigan
William Biddle Cotter
Meghan Irene Macrae Cunningham
Fernando H. Docters
Joy Morgan Dracos
Sabrina Esther Fleishaker
Justin Kai Forstmann
Owen Faulkner Friesen
Uriel Arturo Garcia
Olivia Whitman Giacomo
Ashley Elizabeth Halloran
Michael Paul Hanlon
Sunya Hassan
Eleanor Fearnaught Henrich
Grace Cook Henrich
Craig Alexander Johnson
William Chandler Jones
Rina Jung
Wyatt Anders Khosrowshahi
Kevin Hyun-Min Kim
Joseph Roger Lawton
William Zachary Lenihan
Samuel James Leonard
Olivia Grace Listokin
Sarah Beth Lucente
Findlay William Drew McCombe
Tina Anjali Mehrotra
Alexander Paul Mercurio
Alexandra Murray Meyer
Catherine Marie Meyer
James Robert Meyer
Tyler Anthony Meyer
Carolyn Barere Miller
Riya Mital
Bujana Mulosmani
Amin Abdul Mustefa
Marisa Rose Nakagama
Angus William Parton
Jordan D. Patrick
Amanda Lloyd Patterson
Alexander Popov
Lisha Angela Malolos Rabeje
Benjamin Harris Renton
Christian Xavier Riegler
Michaela Lorraine Riegler
Samuel Ross Rinzler
Deborah Christina Ro
Malcolm Stewart Roesser
Akash Navid Samad
Josephine Tomasi Sasso
Jordan Alexander Schwartz
Brooke Ashley Schwidel
Sarah Nicole Schwidel
Isabelle Connery Sellon
Olivia Paige Selmonosky
Tyler Sexton-Holtmeier
Amari Peter William Sherrill
Ryan David Smith
Luisa Stalman
Amanda Caroline Stern
Aurora Elena Straus
David Winchester Streit
Clay Sullivan
Stephen Elliot Tannenbaum
Christopher Brian Thompson
Seth David Tilliss
Hannah Marshall Urken
Ivie Eleonora Uzamere
Theodore Michael van Eck
Tucker Frederick van Eck
Christopher Lee Wahrhaftig
Steven James Wahrhaftig
Cory Mendel Weinreb
Hope Patricia Weisman
Gabriel Benjamin Welch
Jack Oliver Weyndling
Connor Steven Wilke
Lila Mandana Wolfe
Roya Mina Wolfe
Morgan Elena Zepf
Tremarli Philmore Abbott
Tülay Kimika Akoglu
Isabelle Moon Alexander Anqile
Maayan Bar Apkon
Nua Isabella Araki
Alexandra Faye Berdon
Adriana Katarina Bjäringer
Daniel Moses Bring
Treasure Faith Brooks
Sophie Ryan Buchanan
Haley Alexandra Casper
Benjamin James Catania
I-Cheng Chan
Suchakree Chueluecha
Oliver Santiago Clayton-Fernandes
Samantha Grace Coffey
Samantha Kate Coppola
Meaghan Jane Cunniffe
Lucas Prial Curran
Chloe Danielle Davis
Isabelle Rose Davis
Thomas Farley Davoren
Courtney Haley DeLong
Willa Emma Dow
Jonah Fitzsimmons Dubin
John Caperton Epley
Lauren Alexandra Evans
Geoffrey Chiva Fox
Jared Ekpe Foxhall
Darryl Adena Frank
Octavian Frisenda
Marissa Simone Alexis Gaines
Juanyi (Echo) Gao
Jack William Garbus
Giselle Shouhai Garvey
Haley Elizabeth Goodman
Lucas Charles Gray
Victoria C. Graziosi
Jonathan Robert Greenberg
Jamilah Aniyah Carlezce Grizzle
William Ross Mungo Groombridge
Sophia Kent Gutfreund
Tyler Noah Guy
Emily Kristen Guzzardi
Robert Cameron Haber
Anna Joe Hadar
Tess Catherine Higgins
Ingrid Alexandra Hirt
Edward Lucas Hock
Jason Victor Holzberg
Lucas Win Hsing
Ji Hung
Nina Raquel Hylton
Josh J. Isaac
Issayeva Tomiris Kazbekovna
Emma Kate Katz
Taylor Kesicki
Kieran Khanna
Alice Jane Rose Kinsley
Jonathan Austin Klein
Fatomata Konteh
Jessica Marie Kreinik
Aline Martins Lanes
Natalie Rose Taber Lansbury
Dylan Chadwick Lavigne
Lazarena Georgieva Lazarova
Hyo Bin Lee
Min Hyung Lee
Jacob Truman Lesser
Adam Leung
Alexandra Brooke Lewin
Mingyu (Kenneth) Li
Owen Jack Lieber
Alexander Joseph Luis
Eitan Lior Magaliff
Kintashe Mubanga Mainsah
Adam Curcio Mann
Alison Marie Marouk-Coe
Kevin Andrew McGuire
Thomas Culpepper McKenna
Phillip John Minton
Julia Montgomery Moore
Julia Ruth Ventur Murphy
Jack Morris Murray
Riya Raj Nakum
Herschel Sam Norwitz
Zoe Layla Babad Palmer
James Eugene Perry IV
Kirina Alana Petkun
Julia Rose Poster
Leo George Psaros
Qian (Virginia) Qian
Ahamad Akande Raji
Manuel Milan Ramsler
Hannah Joyce Regele
Jacob Day Regele
Daniel J. Roma
Noah Gregory Rosner
Emma Helen Rubinson
Jordan Brie Rusoff
Samantha Rose Rusoff
Saskia Leah Sackner-Bernstein
Elena Hope Salzmann
Nina Samko
Scott Vincent Santoro
Margaret Anne Sharon
Vanessa Julianne Sheldon
Reena Sheth
Daniel Thomas Solomon
Wenxi (CiCi) Song
Daniel Alper Starr
John William Sullivan III
Hadley Beatrix Talty
Mark Jonathan Tseytin
Eva Schmeidler Ury
Mark Usov
James van der Vord
Phoebe Alexandra Stewart van Essche
Zengyi (William) Wan
Yige (Cindy) Wang
Huston Steven Watson, Jr.
Adam Ross Wolf
Nicole Mae Wong Hui Shan
Emma Casey Woodruffe
Runlin Yao
Zhumin (Iris) Ye
Sangeun (Elly) Yeom
Liuchang (Kree) Zhang
Ruiwen Zhang
Yurong (Olivia) Zhang
Mikayla Siporah Zion
Pursuing the implementation of the East Parcel Project by the SHLDC will be David Schroedel’s initial work as recently appointed Strategic Planning Advisor, but he has been committed to serving the Village of Sleepy Hollow for almost a decade.
He was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Village of Sleepy Hollow in 2008, and re-elected in 2010. As a Trustee, he served as Chairman of the Finance and the Public Safety sub-committees, and was a member of sub-committees overseeing the Department of Public Works, Village Communications, and General Motors Site Development. He is credited with spearheading the effort to rebuild the village’s water supply infrastructure with a 100-year time horizon, leading to the construction of a new reservoir tank and redundant supply connections to the three New York City aqueducts.
Schroedel brings a long history of management experience to his job. He was Chief Executive Officer of FINEX Management Services, Inc., for 33 years before retiring in 2013. The company specialized in providing management, consultation and information technology services to the health care industry. It pioneered in the early adoption of electronic health records management and storage, and developed highly reliable data acquisition and analysis software.
His appointment drew praise from the person who took over Schroedel’s post as Chairman of the SHLDC. “The LDC board is pleased that David has accepted our offer to serve as Strategic Planning Advisor,” Michael Dawley stated. “His expertise, commitment, passion, and historical knowledge have been instrumental in driving this important village project forward. As the idea of transforming the East Parcel becomes reality, retaining David is a major step towards assuring we have adequate resources and focus.”
Schroedel said, “I am very proud about what the LDC Board did in shepparding the project through this environmental process. It took a little longer than I thought it was going to take, about 20 months. But we got through it and I think we provided the Board of Trustees a very solid basis for their making decisions for their going forward.
“In my role as a volunteer I was putting in about twenty hours a week…over the last year and a half or so, once we got into the full blown SEQRA, (State Environmental Quality Review Act), process,” Schroedel said. “The Board has asked me to play a more pivotal role in holding together the team of the experts we have brought in to help us realize this mission.”
The SHLDC is described as a “Non-profit corporation that promotes and supports employment opportunities and economic development in Sleepy Hollow and surrounding communities through the use of selective financing, real estate development, public works, and related business partnerships.”
Changes are afoot for Sleepy Hollow Football. After more than a decade, Wolfpack Football which serves kids Kindergarten through 6th grade with flag and youth tackle football programs is renaming itself Jr. Horsemen Football. New High School Varsity Football Coach Jorge Veintimilla will oversee football at all ages in town and the idea is to more closely align the youth football feeder program with the Varsity program. On July 19, 26 and Aug 2nd, Jr. Horseman clinics will take place from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at SHHS where Jr. Horsemen can train with Varsity Coaches and players.
With youth football players already attending 7-on-7 camps, alumni parents are holding some fun fund raisers to offset the cost of football training. On July 15th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Family Fun Day will take place at Barnhardt Park for kids grade K to 6 and their families. There will be food, skills competitions and fun events to raise money and introduce the new program. On Saturday July 22nd, the Inaugural Alumni Flag Football Game will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the SHHS Football Field. Registration is at 10 a.m. for anyone in the community who has been involved or simply supports Sleepy Hollow Football. Teams will be divided up and the tournament kicks off at 11 a.m. There are three packages available to join in and help contribute to the program. There will be an after-game celebration at JP Doyle’s from 2-4pm.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.After more than a decade of fights over size and design, Tarrytown’s affordable housing project at 21Wildey Street is well on its way to a projected completion date of November 30. But a new controversy has arisen over how to define “affordable,” which will determine who is eligible for the 12 new apartments.
The development was authorized under the village’s old “moderate income” housing ordinance, which defined affordability based upon the income of village employees. In addition, it included preferences for village employees and fire and ambulance corps members.
The building was constructed on the site of Tarrytown’s old village hall by National RE/sources of Greenwich, Connecticut as part of the agreement that opened the way for that developer to build its Hudson Harbor residences on the waterfront.
In 2009, Westchester County was sued by the federal department of Housing and Urban Development for failing to “affirmatively further fair housing” in its use of federal funds. The consent decree resulted in the county promoting a more restrictive “model ordinance.” In 2012, Tarrytown adopted that ordinance, which prohibits preferences and sets much lower income thresholds of affordability than the old village law.
While it was always understood that the village would follow the old requirements, so much time has passed that the Tarrytown Board of Trustees recently asked its attorneys, Steve Silverberg and Kathy Zalantis, for an opinion. They will deliver their opinion at a work session on July 12.
“I’m inclined to think we will have to abide by the new provisions,” said Tarrytown Village Administrator Richard Slingerland.
The new ordinance defines an affordable rental apartment as affordable to a household with income of no more than 60% of the Area Median Income, adjusted by family size. For a family of two, this works out to a maximum of $53,520. It’s $60,180 for a family of three.
Asked how potential tenants might apply for the housing, the village administrator encouraged them to attend the village work session on July 12th.
As members of the Greenburgh Drug and Alcohol Task Force, Tarrytown and Irvington police officers were involved in an investigation that led to the arrest of Jesse A. Jorge of Tarrytown. Task Force members, along with officers from the North Castle Police Department and Detective Division, caught up with Jorge at a Stop & Shop on North Broadway in North White Plains on July 7. Jorge was charged with felony possession of Ecstasy, Marijuana and Psilocybin (psychedelic mushrooms) and released on $2,500 in bail. At his July 11 arraignment, the case was put over until August 8th.
Maura Gedid and Brian Friedman were the top two vote-getters in the July 11 special election for two seats on the Irvington Board of Education.
The summer election was scheduled after residents in the Irvington School District voted in May to expand the Board of Education from five to seven members.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Brian Friedman
Gedid, who helped the district start the Walking School Bus program in the spring 2016, received 613 votes, while Friedman, who has been involved with the PTSA, finished in a close second with 607 votes.
Della Lenz, who has worked with many community and civic organizations, came in a distant third with 391 votes, and John Dawson, a former school trustee and teacher for over 30 years, wound up fourth with 269 votes.
Gedid and Friedman were both sworn-in July 12 at the Board of Education’s annual reorganization meeting.
“With great humility,” Irvington Mayor Brian C. Smith announced on Facebook that he will be seeking a fourth term as mayor of Irvington in the November election. Smith, who was originally elected as a Republican, says he is running on “the independent (lower case ‘i’) Irvington First party line,” having broken with the state and national GOP over a number of Trump-era positions.
Most notable of these is Trump’s immigration policy, which Smith and the entire Irvington board (the remaining four are Democrats) openly rejected in May when they unanimously adopted a resolution stating that the village would not cooperate with federal immigration efforts to round up undocumented immigrants.
Acknowledging his disassociation with the GOP, Smith referred to an article about small town government by KJ Dell’Antonia in the July 2 issue of the New York Times that reads in part: “Americans are fond of saying that all politics is local, but the thing is, when it’s local, it’s not ‘politics.’”
There are so far no signs of anyone challenging Smith for the mayoralty, an indication of his general popularity. He drew muted criticism last year when he voted against an assisted living facility proposed by the Brightview Corporation, thereby killing a project that could have brought the village $600,000 in tax revenues. Three of the five trustees had indicated support for the proposal.
“I still greatly enjoy working, debating, thinking, celebrating, talking and compromising with residents and fellow board members as we try to find what is best for the Village we all love so much,” Smith wrote in his Facebook announcement. The village is currently engaged in an update of its Comprehensive Plan that includes proposals to move both the Department if Public Works facility on Astor Street and the Fire Department on Main Street, with no obvious candidates for new locations. The plan also contemplates multi-story parking facilities, which were banned in 2003.
Rockland-bound motorists will soon be the first to experience the new Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Current Governor Andrew Cuomo announced last week that the westbound lanes of the 3.1-mile, state-of-the-art twin span will be open to traffic on Friday, August 25 as vehicles will be diverted from the Tappan Zee Bridge. The new $3.98 billion bridge will be fully open in mid-2018.
Once finished, the bridge, which will be the largest ever built in New York State, will have four lanes for traffic in each direction, along with breakdown/emergency lanes. The westbound side will also feature a 12-foot-wide shared-use bicycle and pedestrian path, which will include six overlooks.
Two of the four tall tower cranes that have been in use during construction have been dismantled and removed following the installation of a maintenance elevator and tower rooftops. The other two cranes are being utilized on the eastbound side. As of July 21, more than 70 of the bridge’s 96 stay cables have been installed by Tappan Zee Constructors.
The bridge is being designed so that major maintenance will not be necessary for at least 100 years. Tappan Zee Constructors is also constructing two buildings in Tarrytown: the Thruway Authority’s new maintenance facility and a new State Police facility. The buildings will provide faster bridge access for State Police and Thruway personnel responsible for maintenance, operations and security. These access points will also allow emergency crews to quickly respond to vehicle breakdowns on the new bridge.
Construction operations on the new bridge began in late 2013. The existing bridge opened in 1955 and handles about 140,000 vehicles daily, well above what it was equipped to support.
Cuomo has ordered tolls on the bridge to not increase until at least 2020 and has called on the New York Thruway Authority to establish a resident discount program for drivers living in Westchester and Rockland counties.
Brace Cottage in Wilson Park will soon be demolished.
In the winter of 1934, John Hutchinson emerged from a two-story, stone cottage in Tarrytown. To his left were the nuns of Marymount. Ahead on the hill, he could see the red gabled roof of the big house, a massive, far more elaborate version of his own dwelling. Behind him, bisected by the Old Putnam County Railroad, were sheep meadows and corn fields. Though very near, the clackety-clak of the old train likely did little to disturb life inside the cottage. Its stone walls – a masterpiece of masonry – were two feet thick, cool in the summer, cozy in the winter, besides “Old Put” ran its last in 1929. Perhaps “Hutch” drew a quick breath of cold air as he headed out the door. Today would be a busy day, but then again, they all were if you managed an estate along Wilson Park Drive.
At the far north end sat Kykuit, the Rockefeller home. Next door was Rockefeller’s good friend, Worcester Warner who made his fortune from the manufacture of telescopes. Warner’s neighbor, two doors to the south, was Charles C. Brace, MD, a transplant from Colorado. Brace moved east seeking a more desirable location for his Denver Chemical Company, makers of Antiphlogistine, a warm salve for the reliefof aches, sprains and chest colds. Sales of the poultice made Brace far wealthier than his modest upbringing could have foretold. The profits funded the construction in 1906 of “Braceholme,” the 12,000-square-foot mansion Hutchinson could see from his doorstep.
Hutchinson was the caretaker of the Brace estate. He oversaw everything – the enormous greenhouse, the 10,000-square foot carriage house, the fields and the orchards. All employees answered to him. Children on the estate remember him as being a “dour Scottsman” and their sworn enemy. Likely he put up with no nonsense.
On this day, as he hurried on his way, Hutch may have stopped in at the carriage house to greet John Hunter who lived on the second floor with his wife and cared for the horses. The carriage house was divided – horses on one side – automobiles on the other. In the middle was a large turntable to position the cars for parking. Perhaps Brace was hedging his bets as to which mode of transport would prevail, so he decided to have both. This was a turning point in history and it must have been a little sad for Hunter to watch this transition knowing he was headed for obsolescence. He spent his time polishing the brass on the carriages and treating the leather harnesses to keep them in tip top shape. Perhaps he was looking forward to a good Christmas snow so he could hitch-up the team and take the Brace children for a sleigh ride all the way down Main Street to the Tarrytown train station. He liked that.
Today, the whole estate was abuzz with preparations for the annual Brace family Christmas party. Soon guests would arrive by car or horse-drawn sleigh and Hutch had one final thing to do.
For nearly six months out of the year, a fire was kept burning day and night in the mansion’s central fireplace. Open on four sides, the fireplace was big enough to stand in and its’ chimney could accommodate a full-grown man, and sometimes did. Brace’s grown son enjoyed dressing-up like Santa Clause and emerging from the chimney to delight his own children.
The laying of the Yule log in the colossal fireplace was a firmly-adhered-to Christmas tradition at Braceholme. Hutch was out on this day to the fetch the massive log, specially selected for the occasion. It took several helpers to carry it into the house where it was laid with reverence and ceremony.
Hutch may have stayed for the party since the Braces considered “the help” to be part of the family or perhaps he just went back to the caretaker’s cottage, which was a fine place to live. Solidly built, the cottage outlasted even Braceholme itself. The mansion was demolished in 1986 when the land was sold to a developer. The cottage, a few stone walls and parts of the apple orchard are all that remain of the Brace estate. And soon the cottage will be gone, too.
For five years, historic preservationists have to tried to stop Toll Brothers, Inc. from demolishing the cottage. It occupies one of the building lots that Toll owns along Wilson Park Drive. The developer has been eager to rid itself of the troublesome cottage so it can get on with building a new house. Those who would see the cottage preserved tried to buy the property, but the economics of the $1.1 million asking price was problematic. Toll also declined pleas to subdivide the lot so the cottage could be sold separately. The Tarrytown Planning Board did what it could. The courts intervened, but time and tactics have run out.
The paperwork from 1975 stating that the cottage was eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places was “not found” by Toll’s predecessor and not seen again until 2014 when preservationists discovered it. But it was too late. The subdivision plans had already been approved with no provision for conserving the cottage. Now there is no going back.
Toll Brothers can demolish the cottage. It’s their right. And when the wrecking ball smashes into those stone walls, another tangible reminder of Tarrytown’s golden era will be dust in the wind.
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Brace Cottage in Wilson Park will soon be demolished.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.The winners of the 2017 Historical Society of the Tarrytown’s/Warner Library Hall of Fame Essay contest are Maggie Singman of Tarrytown, who wrote about Katherine Wasserman Davis, and Andrew Walek of Sleepy Hollow, whose subject was baseball player Eddie Collins. The Mayor and Board of Trustees of Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown provide a $200 scholarship to a Sleepy Hollow sophomore from each village for their winning essay about a historical local figure.
Congratulations to two Metro Award winners: Sleepy Hollow High School students Henry Titcomb and Mary DelVecchio who were both winners in the competitive awards sponsored by The Journal News and the Helen Hayes Youth Theatre. Titcomb won the award for Male Acting Performance and DelVecchio for Best Vocal Performance.
The Sleepy Hollow Middle School Music Department faculty and students participated recently in an adjudicated performance for Fantastic Festivals in Connecticut and brought home four gold medals. After the festival, the students were treated to a day at Lake Compounce amusement park.
Donated
In May, the Teachers Association of the Tarrytowns donated 4,300 pounds of food and $800 to the Community Food Pantry of Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown.
Tarrytown Planners Awarded
The “Distinguished Citizen Planner Award” was presented to Tarrytown’s Joan Raiselis last month at the 44th Annual Awards dinner of the Westchester Municipal Planning Federation, (WMPF). Raiselis is co-chair of the Village Train Station Waterfront Study, and was appointed to the Tarrytown Planning Board in 2006.
Tarrytown was also honored with a Planning Achievement Award, accepted for the village by Mayor Drew Fixell and Deputy Mayor Thomas Butler at the event at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club. The award was for the activities of “Tarrytown Connected, a framework for the Station Area and Waterfront.”
Born
Trenton Major Price was born on May 10 to Lordess Turner and Jerelle Price of Tarrytown. Sonia Nalini Mahtani was born on May 5 to Amit Mahtani and Shalini Sudarsanan of Tarrytown.
Irvington Resident Elected to Children’s Village Board
Irvington’s Kathryn O’Neal-Dunham was elected to the Board of Directors of The Children’s Village, located in Dobbs Ferry. This organization works in partnership with families to help children develop the skills and positive attitude needed to succeed as healthy contributing adults. Each year, CV serves 10,000 of New York’s most at-risk children and their families. Programs include short-term residential programs, shelters, foster and adoptive homes, a community center in Harlem, programs for youth involved with the juvenile justice system, and a host of family support services. For more information go to www.childrensvillage.org.
Awarded
The Family YMCA at Tarrytown received a $15,000 grant from the Westchester Community Foundation to support daycare enrichment offerings, including dance and swim lessons, for all its participants.
Please send submissions about distinctions and honors given to local community members to: mroglier@yahoo.com.
The Irvington Town Hall Theater is excited to announce the inaugural year of the ITHT Stage Door Playwright Festival. After three seasons of hosting innovative and compelling readings of new works by contemporary playwrights, the series has evolved into a weekend festival. It will launch this November in the beautiful historic theater situated above town hall in Irvington on Hudson. The theater is currently seeking submissions of new works from playwrights.
Scripts should be a one-act, no more than an hour and submitted to ITHT Stage Door Playwright Festival, 85 Main Street, Irvington, N.Y. 10533 or mailed electronically to ithtstagedoorplaywrights@gmail.com. Guidelines for submission, plays and production are available at: http://www.irvingtontheater.com/theatre-festival. Scripts will be chosen by a panel of theater professionals and enthusiasts.
Submissions must be received by September 15, 2017. Earlier submissions are encouraged.
The Westchester Community Foundation, one of the largest funders of nonprofits in Westchester, has awarded grants totaling $45,000 to three agencies in Tarrytown working to ensure the summer is filled with free concerts, cultural experiences, and lots of fun.
A grant to Jazz Forum Arts will support 16 free jazz concerts in the village, a grant to Lyndhurst will open the doors for free tours of the historic home for residents, and educational and entertaining programs at the farmers market will be supported through a grant to Rivertowns Village Green. The grants are awarded through the Arnold E. and Olga C. Feldman Fund, which was established in a bequest by Tarrytown resident Arnold Feldman for the benefit of village residents. The fund has distributed $132,000 to date for the benefit of village residents.
Jeanne Louise Johnson Kostich, a resident of Pocantico Hills since 1963, died July 8. She was 94.
Mrs. Kostich was the founder of the Museum of Primitive Art’s Department of Conservation (now the Michael C. Rockefeller Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art). After studying at the University of Chicago, she served with the American Red Cross in Europe in the 1940’s, and then spent a number of years in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, with her paintings exhibited in Paris, Minneapolis and New York. In 1957, she joined the newly-formed Museum of Primitive Art and then the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She was an active member and Fellow of both of the American and the International Institute of Conservation, with a number of specialized papers presented at meetings and conferences. Her strong attachment to paintings, however, remained unabated and she complemented her professional and artistic work in her studio at home and by her activities at the Art Students League in New York.
She was a former President of the Pocantico Hills Residents Association and the Village Historian, having written, A History of Pocantico Hillsfrom 1880 to the Present. She was married to Dragos D. Kostich, professor and United Nations administrator, who predeceased her in 2007. She is survived by her daughter, Alexis D. Kostich.
Roger Ardanowski, 51
Roger H. Ardanowski, a loving father, devoted husband, family member and friend, died suddenly July 10. He was 51.
A life-long resident of Tarrytown, he loved his family, the pool, a roaring fireplace, cooking, and Army football. He was also the first male Girl Scout Leader of Troop 2255 in the Hudson Valley. He graduated from Marist College in 1988 (BA) and Long Island University in 1992 (MBA) and specialized in a successful career in public relations/legal marketing.
He is survived by his loving wife Tracy (Boggier) and daughter Madison, parents Henry Ardanowski and Bonnie (Baker) Dubenchiek, and numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Stanley Biloon, 91
Stanley Biloon, a resident of Sleepy Hollow and longtime local pharmacy owner, died July 14. He was 91.
Born and raised in what was then North Tarrytown, he attended local schools and graduated from North Tarrytown High School in 1943. He was drafted into the Army and served in the Pacific Theater, stationed in Okinawa. His group was preparing for the invasion of Japan when the dropping of the atomic bomb ended the war. He then was part of the occupying force in Japan until his return to the U.S.
Under the G.I. Bill, Mr. Biloon attended and graduated from Syracuse University and the Columbia University School of Pharmacy, graduating in 1953. He joined his father Alvin, also a pharmacist, in operating the Sleepy Hollow Pharmacy in Tarrytown. After Urban Renewal, he moved the pharmacy to Main Street in Tarrytown, and a few years later bought the Irvington Pharmacy, which he operated for many years until his retirement, making many friends in the community the pharmacy served. He was a member of Temple Beth Abraham, the Rotary Club of Tarrytown and the Men’s Club of the JCC on the Hudson. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, the former Ruth Herskowitz of Ossining, a daughter Diane Kaplan (Lawrence) of Briarcliff Manor, a son David (Etta) of Indianapolis, Indiana, and four grandchildren: Michelle Kaplan, Rachel Kaplan Kaufman, William Biloon and Andrew Biloon.
Timothy Brady
Timothy Brady, who worked for 30 years as the audio visual specialist for Irvington schools, died June 5. He was 68.
In the past five years he had suffered from kidney failure and a spinal cord injury, but his strength and persistence helped him to overcome many medical obstacles. In 2013, his son, Ian, a sergeant in the Marines, lovingly donated a kidney to his father.
After retiring from the school district, Mr. Brady operated his sound company, EDIT Sight & Sound, on a full-time basis. He was an active presence in both indoor and outdoor events, charitable functions and concerts in and around Nyack and Westchester. He loved music and for over 25 years was the chief sound engineer at the Tarrytown Music Hall and the Irvington Town Hall Theater where he worked with many artists, musicians, play groups and private affairs. He brought humor, warmth, wit and music to everyone he met. A very creative and talented musician, he was able to inspire and support others in their work as well as sing and play guitar in many bands.
There are three open slots on the November ballot for seats on the Irvington Village Board of Trustees: one for mayor and two for trustees. With little more than three months to go, there are exactly three candidates vying to fill those seats: Mayor Brian C. Smith is seeking a fourth term as the village’s chief executive; Deputy Mayor Connie Kehoe is going for a fifth term as a trustee and third as deputy mayor, while newcomer Janice Silverberg aspires to a second term on the board.
Smith, originally a Republican, said he is running on “the independent (lower case ‘i’) Irvington First party line,” having broken with the state and national GOP over a number of Trump-era positions. Both Kehoe and Silverberg are Democrats who were nominated by their local party unanimously at the June 6 convention and have already submitted more than the required number of petitions to the Board of Elections. The mayor began that process only this past month.
The local Republican Party, which is paired with the independent Irvington First party line, has decided not to put up a challenger for the mayor’s job but may still field a candidate or candidates for the trustee seats.
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“I still greatly enjoy working, debating, thinking, celebrating, talking and compromising with residents and fellow board members as we try to find what is best for the village we all love so much.” —Mayor Brian Smith
“We have not yet, however, decided whether to run anyone against Connie and Janice,” says GOP chair Rocco “Rick” Rasulo. The Independent Party nominating petitions are due in August, but those who follow politics in the village say they have not heard of any candidates emerging.
The lack of opposition is at least partly a reflection of satisfaction with the jobs being done by these incumbents but even more so an indication of the non-partisan nature of village politics. In his Facebook announcement, Smith referred to an article about small town government by KJ Dell’Antonia in the July 2 issue of the New York Times that reads in part: “Americans are fond of saying that all politics is local, but the thing is, when it’s local, it’s not ‘politics.’”
The clearest political act by the current board was the May adoption of a resolution stating that the village would not cooperate with federal immigration efforts to round up undocumented immigrants. That resolution was originally crafted by a group calling itself the Irvington Activists, a group made up largely of progressives with a broad agenda pushing back against Trump policies. But Smith was quick to embrace the resolution and voted for it along with the four Democrats on the board.
The mayor drew muted criticism last year when he voted against an assisted living facility proposed by the Brightview Corporation, thereby killing a project that could have brought the village $600,000 in tax revenues. Three of the four remaining trustees had indicated support for the proposal.
“I still greatly enjoy working, debating, thinking, celebrating, talking and compromising with residents and fellow board members as we try to find what is best for the village we all love so much,” Smith wrote in his Facebook announcement.
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Connie Kehoe – Kehoe has been a champion of Irvington’s all-but-complete Historic District, which encompasses virtually all of the village’s downtown.
Kehoe has been a champion of Irvington’s all-but-complete Historic District, which encompasses virtually all of the village’s downtown. She has also shepherded an ambitious “Streetscape” project that is exploring ways to modernize the downtown commercial district with better and clearer pedestrian markings, parking, lighting and, most ambitiously, underground utility wires. Kehoe is also an active supporter of the Town Hall Theater, the Tiffany Room and the expansion of Eileen Fisher’s social consciousness initiatives in the village.
Silverberg came to the board with experience on the school board and the village’s housing committee. “My personal commitment is to continue to focus on creative approaches to affordable housing,” she says. And like the rest of her trustee colleagues, she is all in on the ongoing Comprehensive Plan (see story, page 4). “I look forward to working with the mayor, my fellow board members and village residents to complete the Comprehensive Planning process,” she said. “This was a significant undertaking that doesn’t end with the articulation of our goals, but requires careful planning to ensure that we in fact achieve these goals.”