eastchester review 2-27-2015

February 27, 2015 | Vol. 3, Number 8 | www.eastchesterreview.com

Eastchester REVIEWTHE

been dead set against imple-menting new taxes, according to state Sen. George Latimer, a Rye Democrat. Latimer’s legislative district includes the Village of Tuckahoe.

The tax, if approved, would impose a 3 percent charge on hotel occupants within Tucka-hoe borders on top of the 3 percent Westchester county hotel tax already in place.

At the village board’s Feb. 9 meeting, a resolution was ad-opted by a unanimous vote of the board to restart the process again this year to implement the tax.

The desire for Tuckahoe of-ficials to see a hotel tax put in place is the anticipation of a

new Marriott being proposed for Tuckahoe’s Marbledale Road section.

Tuckahoe Village Adminis-trator David Burke said if that hotel is constructed the tax can bring additional revenues into the village of approximately $100,000 to $150,000.

Currently, the village does not have any hotels within its boundaries. Therefore, if the Mariott plan falls through, Tuckahoe would not be able to generate any revenue from the tax.

Cities such as White Plains, New Rochelle, Rye and the Village of Rye Brook are among the other municipali-ties in the county to implement

the tax, with Rye Brook hav-ing set the precedence as being the only non-city to secure the tax to date. White Plains, New Rochelle and Rye annually collect approximately $1 mil-lion, $280,000 and $150,000 in hotel taxes, respectively, while Rye Brook collects $630,000.

Burke, who was the assis-tant village administrator in Rye Brook in 2010 when Rye Brook first gained authorization to implement its hotel occu-pancy tax, said historically, it’s been difficult for villages to pass the hotel tax because state government officials believe

luxury community, “Quarry Place,” on the corner of Main Street and Midland Place, and a 49-unit, luxury apartment building across from the Crest-wood Train Station.

Proposals for a Marriott Springhill Suite hotel on Mar-bledale Road and a four-story, mixed-use complex at 100

Village to attempt hotel occupancy tax again

Now, there’s a development boom in the village, he said.

Under Ecklond’s leader-ship, Tuckahoe has added businesses, such as Starbucks, a brewery and an ice rink, and has been home to some ma-jor developments—a 108-unit

ELECTION continued on page 9hOTEL continued on page 7

Development dominates Tuckahoe election talkBy ChRIS EBERhART

Staff Writer

With village elections just weeks away, one Democrat has come forward to challenge the two Republican trustees seeking re-election. Mean-while, Mayor Steve Ecklond, a Republican, has decided to run for another term in the mayor’s office, yet Democrats are not opposing him.

Republican trustees Tom Giordano and Greg Luisi will be running for re-election for their second and third two-year terms, respectively, against Democratic challenger Anthony Fiore Jr.

With only one Democrat running in this year’s elections, the Republicans, regardless of the outcome of the election, are guaranteed to maintain their majority on the village board, which is currently com-prised of four Republicans and one Democrat. Village trustees are given an annual stipend of $5,352.50. Ecklond, once of-ficially re-elected mayor, will continue to take home his an-nual stipend of $7,282.

As the Village of Tuckahoe continues to undergo a trans-formation into a more devel-oped community, that issue, along with village spending, has been on the forefront of campaign chatter.

The village election will take place on Wednesday, March 18.

Ecklond’s main focus was and is development.

When he was first appoint-ed as a village trustee in 2004 by former Republican Mayor Mike Martino, Ecklond said Tuckahoe was just beginning to see developments, but the economic crash stunted the village’s growth until recently.

By ChRIS EBERhARTStaff Writer

With a Marriott proposal in mind, the Tuckahoe village board will again try to gain au-thorization from the state to implement a hotel occupancy tax.

The state Legislature voted down the measure just last year.

In order to install a hotel tax, a municipality must receive authorization from the state, which has been a roadblock in recent years for all municipali-ties that have applied for the new tax. The Republican-led state Senate and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, have

Mayor Steve Ecklond

Age: 54stAtus: IncumbentFAmily: Married, one sonyeArs on the boArd: Seven years as trustee, four years as mayoryeArs in the villAge: Entire lifePoliticAl AFFiliAtion: Republicanendorsements: Republican and Conservative lines occuPAtion: Small business owner

The Town/Village of Harrison was rocked last week after a resident shot and killed his two teenage daughters before turning the gun on himself. For story, see page 8. Photo/Andrew Dapolite

Why?

2 • ThE EASTChESTER REvIEw • February 27, 2015

Sunday Monday TueSday WedneSday ThurSday Friday SaTurday

1 2Tuckahoe Board of

Education workshop 7:30 p.m.,

TMS/THS Library

3Eastchester Town Council meeting7 p.m., Town Hall

Tuckahoe Planning Board work session

7 p.m.

4Eastchester HS/MS joint

PTA meeting 6:45 p.m.

Tuckahoe PTA general meeting 7:30 p.m.,

Cottle Auditorium

5Tuckahoe Board of

Trustees work session 7 p.m.

6Eastchester High School

Rock Against Cancer 7 p.m.

TMS Valentine’s Dance 7 p.m., cafeteria

7

8Daylight Savings Time

9TSF Board meeting

7:30 p.m., TMS/HS Library

Bronxville Board of Trustees meeting

8 p.m.

Tuckahoe Board of Trustees meeting

8 p.m.

10Bronxville PTA meeting

7 p.m.

PTA Executive Board meeting 7:30 p.m.,

TMS/THS Library

Eastchester Board of Education work session

8 p.m.

11Tuckahoe zoning board

6:30 p.m.

Bronxville Design Review Committee

7 p.m.

Bronxville Planning Board meeting

7:30 p.m.

12 13Tuckahoe

Superintendent’s Conference day

14SAT exam

15

Selection Sunday

16Tuckahoe Board of Education meeting

7:30 p.m., TMS/THS Library

Eagles Sports Club meeting

7 p.m.

17

St. Patrick’s Day

March Madness begins

Eastchester Town Council meeting7 p.m., Town Hall

18Village elections

19Bronxville Board of Education regular

meeting 7 p.m.,

Multi-Purpose Room

TMS/THS spring musical 7:30 p.m., auditorium

20First day of spring

Bronxville Superintendent’s Conference daySchools closed

TMS/THS spring musical 7:30 p.m., auditorium

21TMS/THS spring

musical 7:30 p.m., auditorium

22 23Eastchester Middle

School Incoming 6th Grade Parent Orientation

7 p.m.

24

Bronxville zoning board meeting 7:30 p.m.

Eastchester Board of Education meeting

8 p.m.

25

TMS/THS Taste of Tuckahoe Lunch periods

26 27

Eastchester High School Stand Up Comedy

7 p.m.

28

Tuckahoe village budget work session

8 a.m.

29Palm Sunday

30Tuckahoe snow

makeup day

Bronxville and Eastchester

spring recess

Schools closed

31Tuckahoe, Bronxville

and Eastchester spring recess

Schools closed

March 2015Planning ahead...

February 27, 2015 • ThE EASTChESTER REvIEw • 3

Bronxville incumbents unopposed

By JOhN BRANDIStaff Writer

In a seemingly safe place to be a Republican, one pre-viously appointed Bronxville trustee candidate has rejected an offer to run on the Repub-lican line.

Trustee Randolph Mayer, a registered independent, is seeking his first full two-year term on the Board of Trustees. He was chosen last month to fill the unexpired term of re-tiring Trustee Donald Gray, a Republican. In order to fill the appointment, Mayer left the village’s Planning Board, a seat which remains vacant as of press time.

But Mayer, 61, decided to turn down the Republican Par-ty’s nomination and run solely on an independent line. He said he wanted to preserve his independence and thinks vil-lage government is not a place to play party politics.

The trustee has decided to just run on the Bronxville Citizens for Responsible Gov-ernment line. Mayer will be joined on the minor line by Republicans Mayor Mary Marvin and Trustee Robert Underhill. Both Marvin and Underhill will also appear on the Republican line when res-idents cast their ballots next month.

Ultimately, it won’t change the election outcome since the village elections will again run uncontested.

Village GOP candidates have faced no outside opposi-tion in nine years and the last time a Democrat ran was in 2006, but that attempt failed.

Beyond the village’s Planning

Board, Mayer said his com-munity involvement experi-ence extended to the school district’s non-partisan com-mittee, which nominates resi-dents for Bronxville Board of Education seats, and serving as both a vice president of the consistory, a governing body at The Reformed Church of Bronxville, and on the board of an adult school.

Mayer still said there’s a learning curve to the job, but wants to see the downtown area continue to improve while echoing Marvin’s sen-timent about village services.

“We have to continue to fo-cus on efficiency and trying to produce most services for the least amount of dollars in a sustainable way,” Mayer said.

Meanwhile, Marvin, once elected, will be serving her sixth term as mayor. Hav-ing lived in the village for nearly 30 years, Marvin, 60, has served in all facets of the community, on different school boards and on the vil-lage’s zoning board. Besides her duties as mayor, Marvin also serves on the Eastchester Community Action Program, a program designed to as-sist low-income school-aged children, and on The College Council at SUNY Purchase.

On her agenda for her next term in office, she’d like to keep with the status quo.

Marvin said a consistent goal has always been to use taxpayer money “wisely” and keep tax increases low while still providing for a high level of municipal services.

Underhill, also running for a sixth term on the vil-lage board, said there are cer-

tain projects in the village he would like to see completed, like the Parkway Road Bridge repairs and the Kensington Road project, which is a near-ly completed 54-unit luxury condominium complex next to the Bronxville Metro-North train station.

“A lot of change has oc-curred and I would like to see it through to completion,” Un-derhill said.

The deputy mayor, 59, said as for the state of the village that a lot has been going right. He believes Bronxville’s high municipal credit rating of Aaa, which is also the best a municipality can receive and insures low interest rates on borrowing, and the hiring of a new village administrator and treasurer has really shown that Bronxville is in a strong position.

“It’s validation that this is a very vibrant community,” Un-derhill said.

The mayor and trustee po-sitions are for two year terms.

The vote takes place on Wednesday, March 18.

Betsy Harding, chairwom-an of the Bronxville Demo-cratic Committee, could not be reached for comment as of press time.

CONTACT: [email protected]

Bronxville voters can cast their Election Day ballots in the village on March 18 for Mayor Mary Marvin and trustees Robert Underhill, center, and Randolph Mayer. The trio is running in an uncontested race for village board seats. Photo courtesy purchase.edu/shorenstein.com

Follow us on Twitter @eastchesterview


What’s going on...

and to register. You can also get instruction online at LearningExpress, go to bronxville- library.org.

Reader instructionIndividualized instruction on downloading

books using e-Readers is available by appoint-ment.

KnittersJoin the library every Wednesday at 11 a.m.

for a knitting hour at the Bronxville Public Library. In its inaugural season, the Bronx-ville Public Library Charitable Knitters Guild delivered scarves to residents of St. Christo-pher’s Inn for Christmas.

Please bring in worsted weight, acrylic yarn in your choice of colors and size seven knit-ting needles.

Wednesday, 11 a.m. to noon, in the board room located on the lower level of the library.

No knitting instruction will be given. No registration is required. Come to one or all sessions. For more information, please call the adult reference desk, 337-7680 ext. 24.

bronxville Women’s club

After 34 years away from art, Carol Perron Sommerfield has returned to realize a dream. A step in that journey can be seen at her solo show at the Bronxville Women’s Club during March where she will be exhibiting more than 40 of her landscape paintings and pastels, all created during the past three years. The opening recep-tion, which is free to the public, will be held on Sunday, March 1 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the historic Bronxville Women’s Club, located at 135 Midland Avenue in Bronxville. Carol Per-ron Sommerfield’s paintings have won numer-

eastchester Public library Online pre-registration, recommended for book clubs, is now open. Refreshments will be served. Copies of the books are available at the circulation desk.

Get free tax help AARP tax-aide volunteers will offer free

tax preparation and assistance at the Eastches-ter Public Library. Volunteers will be available on Tuesdays between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. until April 10. Assistance is available on a drop-in basis for seniors and low and moderate income taxpayers. AARP Foundation Tax-Aide offers free, individualized tax preparation for low-to moderate-income taxpayers—especially those 60 and older.

Don’t forget to bring your important docu-ments to the site, especially those related to the Affordable Care Act. Access the complete list online at aarp.org/taxaide.

bronxville Public library Book Discussion Group

Join the Bronxville library on the third Tues-day of each month from 7 p.m. until 8:30 p.m., in the board room. Sign up at the reference desk to get on the email list.

Computer InstructionFree instruction in internet access and Mi-

crosoft Office software, Tuesdays and Thurs-days at 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. Call the reference desk at 337-7680 ext. 24 for more information

Deadline for our What’s Going On section is every Wednesday at noon.Though space is not guaranteed, we will do our best to accommodate your listing. Please send

all items to [email protected].

Teen Technology ClubOn, Saturday, Feb. 28 at 11 a.m., the Teen

Technology Club for grades 8 and up will have a special lesson in the free programming lan-guage Scratch. Please bring your own laptop with Scratch already downloaded onto it. The discussion will be led from a screen, so if you cannot bring your own device you can still fol-low the discussion.

Reading buddiesOn Wednesday, March 11 at 7 p.m., 2nd and

3rd grade reading buddies will discuss “The Snow Spider,” the first of Jenny Nimmo’s Ma-gician trilogy. Inspired by a Welsh mythology, “The Snow Spider” is the story of Welsh boy who on his ninth birthday learns that he may be a magician just like his ancestors.

ous awards and been featured in both solo and juried group shows. Her work is in private col-lections in the United States, Canada and Eu-rope and can be viewed at her websitefrogsleap-gallery.com

blood supplies low

Since the beginning of the year, dozens of American Red Cross blood drives were can-celed due to inclement weather in parts of the country. In addition, widespread flu has kept some regular blood donors from donating. The Red Cross asks that healthy individuals help ensure a sufficient and diverse blood supply by giving blood.

Upcoming blood donation opportunities:

Rye YMCA 21 Locust Avenue Rye, N.Y. 10580Feb. 28, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Eastchester Middle School 550 White Plains RoadEastchester, N.Y. 10709March 3, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.


Letters to the Editor

Children’s group submits county FOILTo the Editor,In her capacity as chairperson of the Campaign for Kids, a coalition of more than 50 non-prof-

it organizations and individuals concerned with creating and sustaining strong community-based youth development programs for Westchester youth, Cora Greenberg, executive director of West-chester Children’s Association, has submitted a FOIL records request to Westchester County.

The request was prompted by a prolonged selection process in which the county delayed notifica-tion by more than a month to the programs that applied. The concern by members of Campaign for Kids was the impact the county’s procrastination had on the many families who rely on after school tu-toring, and leadership programs to keep their children safely and productively occupied. Some pro-grams were forced to suspend activities, reduce the number of young people served and furlough or even lay off staff. In addition, funding was discontinued for a number of programs that had been suc-cessfully serving youth over many years, and these decisions have not been adequately explained.

Among the many items requested are:• A list of all agencies that applied for Youth Bureau funding and the programs they proposed.• A written explanation of the criteria that was used to review and evaluate proposals, especially if these differed from the criteria published in the Youth Bureau’s 2014 RFP.• For each program request: Community to be served, target population, the need to be ad dressed and proposed interventions/activities.

Joan Grangenois-Thomas,Westchester Children’s Association

Cuomo’s proposal is bad governmentTo the Editor, We strongly oppose the governor’s proposal to eliminate newspaper public notice of proposed

constitutional amendments. Instead of publishing public notices, the Board of Elections would post an abstract and brief

description of the proposed amendment somewhere on its website for three days in the week prior to the election. The secretary of state would also post a notice somewhere on its website once per month for three months.

At a time when there is general agreement that there is a need to increase transparency and account-ability in state government, it is astounding that this provision is included in a budget bill. Among the many reasons this is a very bad idea are:

1) By all accounts, broad swathes of New York State lack access to modern internet service. Gover-nor Cuomo has recently unveiled a proposal to begin to narrow this digital divide, and has said it will take major investment over the course of several years. This proposal disenfranchises voters in rural areas, voters who cannot afford a home computer with broadband access and a significant number of voters who are not highly computer literate.

2) This proposal assumes that New York voters sift through state agency websites when looking for news that affects them. They do not. They turn to a local newspaper. Existing law requires that Con-stitutional amendment notices be disseminated through a newspaper in each county of the state. Most of these newspapers land on voters’ doorsteps. Obscure and little-known state agency websites do not.

3) This proposal will not save money. Time after time, when advocating for legislation that would require government agencies to post information on their websites, we have been told it is too difficult or expensive. To ensure a tamper-proof publication of these most vital legislative initiatives would cost money, perhaps much more than the legislation estimates will be saved by eliminating newspaper public notice of amendments.

4) Newspaper publication keeps everyone honest. Knowing that a government document must be published by an outside entity helps prevent the possibility that such an important notice could be slanted or misstated. A state Supreme Court judge ruled in 2014 that the state Board of Elections in-cluded misleading language in its description of one proposed constitutional amendment.

5) Newspaper publication provides a historic record. Government websites may not be maintained long term. Newspapers are preserved in libraries and newspaper archives for posterity.

6) The governor has called for a constitutional amendment to strip public pensions from legislators convicted of crimes, and yet this bill supports making the proposed language available only on obscure websites few voters will ever see.

The proposed legislation says it will save $342,000. Total paid newspaper circulation in New York is approximately 8.6 million, and there are more than 10 million registered voters in New York State, so the proposal saves about three pennies per voter. This doesn’t seem very cost-effective government.

Michelle K. Rea,Executive director, New York Press Association


Publisher | Howard Sturmanext. 21, [email protected]

Editor-in-Chief | Christian Falconeext. 19, [email protected]

Sports Editor | Mike Smithext. 22, [email protected]

Reporter | Chris Eberhartext. 26, [email protected]

Reporter | John Brandiext. 18, [email protected]

Reporter | Marissa Pennext. 17, [email protected]

Editorial Assistant | Laura Romeroext. 25, [email protected]

Graphic Designer | Arthur Gedin

Graphic Designer | Jim Grasso

Advertising | Clark Morehouseext. 31, [email protected]

Advertising Coordinator | Marcia Schultzext. 27, [email protected]

Staff WritersJackson Chen, Alina Suriel

Staff PhotographerBobby Begun

ContributorsPeter Lane, Rich Monetti,

Christopher Petrowski

ColumnistsMary Marvin

LettersThe community’s opinion matters.

If you have a view to express, write a letter to the editor by email to

[email protected]. Please include a phone number and name for

verification purposes.

Community EventsIf you have an event you would like

to share with the community, send it to [email protected].

Delivery For home delivery or to subsribe,

call Marcia Schultz at (914) 653-1000 x27.

Classifieds & Legals To post your notices or listings,

call Marcia Schultz at (914) 653-1000 x27.

PostmasterSend address changes to: The Eastchester Review

c/o HomeTown Media Group, 200 William St.

Port Chester, N.Y. 10573

Visit us onlinewww.eastchesterreview.com

The Eastchester Review (permit #106661) is published by Home Town Media Group weekly for an annual subscription of $32. Application to mail at the peridcals postage

rate is approved at Port Chester, N.Y., 10573. Periodicals postage paid at Port Chester and

additional mailing offices.

Follow us on Twitter, @eastchesterview

Like us on facebook, facebook.com/eastchesterreview

200 William St., Port Chester, N.Y. 10573

Tel: (914) 653-1000Fax: (914) 653-5000

EastchesterTHE

REVIEWJay Heritage Center restores gardens

By MARISSA PENNStaff Writer

The Jay Heritage Center re-cently raised $1.35 million for a restoration of its public gar-dens, work that is already in the preliminary stages.

According to Suzanne Clary, interim director of the center, last June a proposal was submitted for a $500,000 grant from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

The center, the childhood home of John Jay, one of the country’s founding fathers who served in every branch of government and helped to author the Federalist papers, is nestled amid lush greenery on Boston Post Road in Rye. The center also received sev-eral generous donations last December from private do-nors and fundraisers, totaling $500,000 at its Hearth & Earth Luncheon, which the state Regional Economic Develop-ment Council grant matched.

The remaining $350,000 in funding for the restoration proj-ect came from private donors.

The center was one of 118 organizations in the mid-Hud-son region of New York, the only in Westchester County, to be awarded funding from the Regional Economic De-velopment Council, as part of a program launched by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, in 2011 to better serve non-profits and promote tourism in New York.

“We are very excited,” Clary said about restoring the gardens. “We have 1.5 acres of gardens defined by these sunk-en stone walls dating back to 1822 to work with.”

Peter Tartaglia, deputy com missioner of Westchester County

Hudson, N.Y. According to Clary, the proj-

ect will take anywhere from three to five years to complete. Presently, the center is in the process of building a 3-D model of what the gardens will look like.

The gardens, which will be broken up into separate rooms, as Clary referred to them, will be used for educational pro-grams to teach “everybody from five year olds to 50 year olds” about horticulture and history.

The first section of the gar-dens will contain a parterre garden, one that consists of planting beds in symmetri-cal patterns that are separated by, and connected by, gravel pathways.

“It will tell the story of the Jay family and their slaves that worked in the gardens,” she said, “because the gar-dens themselves date back to the 1700s and we even know the names of the people that worked in the gardens.”

According to Clary, the first section will be named “Mary’s garden” because there were “many Mary’s that worked at the Jay estate,” including Mary Rutherford Jay, Jay’s great, great granddaughter, and a slave referred to as “old Mary.”

The second room or section of the gardens is being built around an “old, dilapidated swimming pool,” according to Clary.

“It is going to be restored and repurposed as a reflect-ing pool, which will be shal-lower and may include aquatic

plants,” she said. There will also be a medi-

tation garden with an arrange-ment of plants, purposefully selected to reflect the same meditative style.

The executive director of the center said the Van Nor-dens—a Guilded Age couple that was very active in phi-lanthropy and social reform—which this section of the gar-den will be dedicated to, was very interested in Chinese cul-ture and the theme of the area will reflect that interest.

The third section will fea-ture a 100-foot-long arbor, a garden feature made of wood that forms a shaded walkway, to provide shade. Plans are to plant roses on top of the arbor.

The center plans to offer photography classes in the gardens and potentially grow fruits and vegetables, teaching students about horticulture.

“I think it is going to be an incredible destination both locally and outside of Rye,” Clary said. “Schools will be able to take field trips, in-corporating the gardens into school science programs and the gardens will also be a place where older residents that live in apartments or no longer have yards can enjoy the tran-quil environment.”

John Baker, the director of conservation at Westches-ter County Parks, Recreation and Conservation could not be reached for comment as of press time.


stages of planning with ar-chitectural firm, Nelson Byrd Woltz, which has worked on notable historic sites such as the Olana mansion, the home and studio of eminent painter Frederic Edwin Church, in

Parks, which owns 10 percent of the Jay Heritage Center’s prop-erty, was also excited about the project. “We think it will bring a lot to the county and are very happy about it,” he said.

The center is in its initial

Grace Talcott Van Norden in the gardens circa 1905.

The future site of one section of the Jay Estate’s garden as planned will be called “Grace’s Garden.” Here, an abandoned swimming pool will be transformed into a reflecting pool surrounded by a garden. An anonymous donor has agreed to match all individual and corporate donations for this space of up to $200,000.

The site of one section of the garden, which is still enclosed by an original stone wall dating back to 1822.

An archival photo of boxwood parterre at the Jay Estate on Boston Post Road in Rye. Restoration of this area, will also help tell the story of John Jay’s great, great granddaughter Mary Rutherford Jay, who grew up on the estate and was inspired by the gardens there to become one of America’s earliest landscape architects.

The Jay Heritage Center is planning to restore its gardens and to build a beautiful 100-foot-long rose arbor to shade part of the area. Photos courtesy Jay Heritage Center


Bronxville to get more LED lightsBy MARISSA PENN

Staff Writer

After installing LED light-ing in about 60 percent of its downtown over the last few years, the Village of Bronx-ville is moving forward with plans to replace even more bulbs in its business district and on its residential streets with LEDs.

The project, which is part of Bronxville’s 2015-2016 fis-cal budget, is in its preliminary stages, according to Village Administrator James Palmer. Palmer was unsure of when the project would begin, but said the conversions are being done in segments and portions of them will likely be com-pleted this year. Palmer said he hopes the entire business dis-trict and some of the residen-tial districts will be converted to LED by 2016.

“We need to improve the lighting downtown as soon as possible,” he said. “Some of the fixtures are much older, so the lighting is not illuminating downward towards the surface because they do not have ap-propriate refractors, so we are considering our options to re-places the polls and fixtures in phases for portions of down-town.”

The village is working with the New York Power Au-thority on the project and us-ing Lynstaar Engineering, of Pleasantville, to assist in the analysis. Palmer said the cost of the project is estimated to be anywhere from $300,000 to $900,000.

“We’re doing this primarily because it’s more energy effi-cient and costs less, but lasts longer,” Palmer said. “LED lighting also provides great il-lumination focused on the area that you need it to be.”

An LED is an electronic device that emits light when

an electrical current is passed through it. The energy effi-cient nature of LEDs allows them to produce brighter light than other types of bulbs while using less energy.

LED bulbs have a number of benefits that will make a significant impact for the vil-lage and the environment, ac-cording to Village Trustee Guy Longobardo, a Republican.

“The bulbs have a much longer life than traditional, in-candescent bulbs,” he said.

According to the U.S. De-partment of Energy, LED bulbs use 25 to 30 percent of the energy that incandescent bulbs do, but last eight to 25 times longer.

Longobardo said operating costs will be reduced and a lot less pressure will be put on the electric grid by using LED lights. “Plus, they are brighter than other light sources and are directional, which reduces light pollution,” he said.

LED lights are also pro-grammable, which incandescent

bulbs are not. For example, LED lights

may be set to project a dimmer light and may be set brighter when a pedestrian walks by, according to Longobardo.

The switch from incan-descent streetlamps to LEDs in portions of Bronxville’s downtown business district has seemed to come as a wel-comed change to some mer-chants.

“I think it’s great,” said Steve Singer, owner of Pro-visions For Pets, which is lo-cated on Kraft Avenue. “It’s a really smart move because not only does it save electric, but it saves labor costs because they last longer.”

Steven Derassele, who works at the local Pondfield Road coffee shop Slave To the Grind, hadn’t really noticed the changeover to LEDs, but said if it’s saving Bronxville money and nobody is com-plaining that he was a “fan.”

CONTACT:[email protected]

The Village of Bronxville is moving forward with plans to replace more streetlights in its business district and also on its residential roads with LED lights. File photo

have a news tip?

ContaCt your loCal reporters

Chriseberhart

[email protected]

johnbrandi

[email protected]

marissapenn

[email protected]

villages don’t have as much infrastructure needs as cities, so they don’t need the tax.

“We argue that this hotel [would] put a drain on our po-lice and fire services as well as infrastructure like water and sewer systems,” Burke said. “We are in a unique vil-lage here with larger urban centers, which is one of the reasons why we may have an advantage.”

Last year, Tuckahoe’s home rule requests passed the state Assembly but died in the Senate.

Latimer, who’s in favor of the hotel tax, said he views it as an additional revenue stream for a municipality to lower property tax costs.

“I have to look at this realis-tically,” Latimer said. “We will make a strong case and hope the leadership takes a second look...But I don’t know if anything has changed philosophically with the [state] leadership.” The state senator is now car-rying hotel occupancy tax re-quests for the Village of Ma-maroneck, North Castle, Yon-

kers, Port Chester, Tuckahoe and Harrison, many of which have been unsuccessful in pre-vious attempts at acquiring ho-tel taxes.

Latimer said the odds of the bill passing in the Senate rests with Yonkers, which he said is a large city that needs the money.

“If the Senate is not will-ing to let Yonkers go through, that’s saying nothing goes through,” Latimer said.


hOTEL from page 1

The Tuckahoe Village Board of Trustees adopted a Feb. 9 resolution that would establish home rule legislation to implement a villagewide hotel occupancy tax. But the village needs state approval, and the Senate and governor have been unwilling in recent years to sign off on any new taxes. File Photo

Hi my name is Cleo, and I’m a gorgeous Shepherd/Beagle mix. I’m 1 and 1/2 years old and weigh about 35 pounds. People tell me I’m the sweetest. I’m pretty much housebroken and sleep well through the night, preferably near my people. I’m very easygoing and just go with the flow. I luv to play, fetch and tug-of-war are my favorites, go for long walks and explore. Though I hate when my foster family leaves the house, I make the best of it by finding a cozy spot to snooze the day away. Larchmont Pet Rescue has taken good care of me as I am spayed, vaccinated, dewormed, heartworm tested and micro-chipped. Why not donate $300 so I can be part of your home—you won’t be sorry. To learn more, call 834-6955 or visit us on the web at NY-PetRescue.org. (Submitted)


Local sales tax collection is a reliable barometer of the health of the economy as a whole and local business dis-tricts in particular.

The village just received its second sales tax payment of $233,000 for this fiscal year from New York State bringing our current total to $459,000 or just under 52 percent of our budgeted amount. This keeps us on track to hit or exceed our budget estimate. This rev-enue source is extremely sig-nificant. Our budgeted number of $885,000 represents an in-crease of 10.16 tax points if this revenue is not generated. Every $87,100 we lose due to less lo-cal/statewide spending raises village taxes by 1 percent.

Though our projected num-bers are on target, statewide, local sales tax collections grew a sluggish $439 mil-lion or 3 percent from 2013 to 2014, representing the slowest annual growth since the end of the 2008-2009 recession. This was appreciably less than the 2012 to 2013 growth of 5.2 percent.

Much of the growth, how-ever weak, was generated in New York City which ac-counted for 69 percent of the increase. The city’s sales tax collection grew by $304 mil-lion, up 4.9 percent from 2013-2014. Although less than the 6.8 percent growth seen in 2013, a strong purchasing pat-tern continues in New York City post-recession.

On the flip side, the in-crease in Westchester County sales tax collection, which di-rectly affects Bronxville resi-dents’ total tax obligation, was only 1.3 percent in 2013-2014, significantly lower than the 3.8

Some numbers on the sales tax frontpercent growth experienced in 2012-2013. Sales tax revenue is critical to county budgets. It accounted for a whopping 33.2 percent of county reve-nues in 2013, the largest single county revenue generator. Al-most one quarter of the county sales tax revenue then gets re-distributed to local municipali-ties and school districts.

Regionally, the strongest sales tax revenue increase was in the North Country counties. However, the revenue growth is almost wholly due to ac-tual rate increases from the 3 percent range to 4 percent. As comparison, Westchester’s sales tax is 7.375 percent. The breakdown is as follows: New York State 4 percent; West-chester County 3.75 percent.

Long Island experienced the steepest decline—1.4 per-cent from 2013-2014. This was due in part to the wind-down of the rebuilding ef-forts that followed Superstorm Sandy which caused numbers to surge.

Nassau County in particu-lar saw the largest decline, 4.3 percent, as the former epicen-ter of post Sandy spending.

The economic decline in central New York, as evi-denced by the population de-cline and the resulting loss of congressional seats, is also reflected in sales tax revenue. Clinton, Genesee, Oneida and Seneca counties all continued on a steady slowdown in pur-chasing power as sales tax rev-enues keep decreasing.

Bringing it back locally, Bronxville’s sales tax revenue numbers for the current fiscal year have increased from the $830,000 range in years 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 to ap-proximately $860,000 in 2013 and $907,000 in 2014.

This positive trend bodes well for the village as does the recent uptick in the rental of

vacant retail spaces.New stores opening in the

village include North, an up-scale women’s clothier, which has contributed to making the village a destination for unique and fine women’s clothing.

Candy Rox will fill a niche for our school age children of-fering age appropriate acces-sories and birthday type gifts as well as sweet treats.

Three different style eating establishments have commit-ted to the village. Stillmeadow Gourmet, a farm to table take out and eat-in restaurant, will anchor the pivotal location at the corner of Meadow Avenue and Pondfield Road.

Beer Noggin, a craft and lo-cal beer emporium also serving light snack fare will take the place of the former yogurt shop. Owned by two young men in their 20’s, they are excited to be in a small village where neigh-bors know neighbors.

In mid-spring, the Bronx-ville Diner will open oppo-site Peoples United Bank. The owners have a winning for-mula in their other diners in Darien, Fairfield and New Ca-naan, Conn., and will replicate their style in our village.

Every new business adds energy, vitality, additional shopping or eating options—and the always important sales tax revenue.

Bottom line, if you shop online versus on Pondfield Road or Palmer Avenue, the sales tax savings you reap will eventually come home to roost in the form of higher lo-cal property taxes and/or a de-crease in municipal services. In contrast, a purchase made in the village sends money di-rectly back to our school and village government and sends a message that you are invest-ing in the future of our small village and all that it adds to your quality of life.

A retired White Plains police officer allegedly killed his two teen daughters Saturday before taking his own life in an incident which has left Harrison police officials baffled. A makeshift memorial was created at the Harrison High School locker of one of the victims, senior Alissa Hochman. Photo/Alina Suriel

Killings stun HarrisonBy JOhN BRANDI

Staff Writer

A retired White Plains po-lice officer shot dead his two, teenage daughters and then himself, in his Harrison home last weekend, in a shocking in-cident that authorities are still trying to piece together.

The news has since sent rip-ples through the Harrison com-munity with Police Chief An-thony Marraccini calling the incident “not comprehensible.”

A call was placed to police by Alissa Hochman’s boy-friend at around 3:36 p.m., on Saturday, Feb. 21, after he was asked to check on the fam-ily and discovered the body of Glenn Hochman.

Police arrived to the Adel-phi Avenue home at around 3:50 p.m., where they found three bodies inside, accord-ing to Marraccini, who held a press conference on Monday detailing the tragedy. The bod-ies were identified as Mr. Ho-chman, 52, and his daughters Alissa, 17, and Deanna, 13.

Samantha Hochman, 22, and her mother Anamarie DiP-ietro-Hochman, 50, were both on a preplanned trip to Mohe-gan Sun in Connecticut for the weekend and couldn’t contact the rest of the family, leading to the boyfriend visiting the home.

Authorities believe Hoch-man killed the teens each with a single gun shot wound to the head. The retired cop then turned his .40 caliber glock handgun on himself. Since there appeared to be no strug-gle, Marraccini said, it points to the fact that the teens were killed while they slept some-time during the early morning hours of Feb. 21. Authorities say Hochman also killed the family’s three dogs.

At the crime scene, police found a five-to-six page suicide note, and although Marraccini could not fully disclose what was written in the letter, he did indicate that Hochman wrote the “two girls were taken away,” which the chief said “indicates a motive” for the killings.

The incident was preceded by a verbal dispute the couple had the day before over an $80 cell phone bill. Though no physical violence was reported, DiPietro-Hochman went down to the police station to just have

the incident documented, ac-cording to Marraccini. Authori-ties also claim that last month, the couple had talked about the possibility of separating.

On Monday, Marraccini said the couple’s martial problems have not been ruled out.

Marraccini said the typed letter, which authorities believe was drafted at approximately 2 a.m. Saturday after the killing of the two teens, gave instruc-tions for what Mrs. Hochman “needed to do to get things in order for the family.”

“The note was really one page, the rest of it was pretty much instructions on what to

do [with] financial informa-tion,” Marraccini said.

Harrison Mayor Ron Bel-mont said he personally knew the family. He urged commu-nity members to seek help that the town is providing, such as interfaith support, during this “difficult time.”

“I encourage all those who knew and loved Alissa and Deanna to draw strength from the sense of unity we have here in town,” the mayor said. “I hope that we can celebrate their lives and remember, with fondness, the impact they had on us all.”

Meanwhile, Hochman had just retired from the White Plains police force and, ac-cording to White Plains Public Safety Commissioner David Chong, he never showed signs of mental illness or anger on the job. Hochman even won his department’s life-saving award last year for keeping an unre-sponsive man alive until para-medics arrived.

“The White Plains Police Department is shocked and horrified by the news of this unfathomable tragedy,” Chong said in a released statement. “We can only pray for the entire Hochman family.”

Harrison High School Prin-cipal Steven Siciliano said the community would come to-gether around this tragedy and that grief counseling has been set up to address any student or faculty concern. Alissa was a senior at the high school.

“Our hearts are broken again and yet we know our Harrison community will rally in support of the family,” Siciliano said.

This marks the third tragedy to strike the community in re-cent months.

Harrison resident Reyda La-Madrid, 47, was riding in the backseat of her SUV in White Plains on Nov. 3, 2014 with her husband when a White Plains firefighter, driving against traf-fic, crashed into her car, killing her instantly. And just days lat-er, Harrison High School junior Andrew Gurgitano, 16, died in his home on Nov. 8, 2014, after what county medical officials determined was a rare sponta-neous stroke.

Marraccini said the police in-vestigation related to the Hoch-man case remains ongoing.



Eastchester tax preparer indicted Westchester County District

Attorney Janet DiFiore and New York State Department of Taxation and Finance’s in-coming Commissioner Ken-neth Adams announced that Louis Ciampanelli, 60, of 1 Nelson Road in Eastchester, was arraigned on an indict-ment charging him with one count of grand larceny in the third degree, a felony, and two counts of criminal tax fraud in the fourth degree, felonies.

“While this defendant al-legedly held himself out to be a tax preparer, stealing clients’ money rightfully destined for the IRS and the New York State tax department, he also, over a number of years, failed to file and pay his own taxes,” DiFiore said. “When an indi-vidual doesn’t pay one’s taxes it impacts all of us, as the bur-den becomes greater on those of us who do.”

“More than 70 percent of all New Yorkers use a paid profes-

Main St. are being vetted by the village’s land use boards.

“Development has been the biggest difference in the village since I was appointed to the board in 2004,” Ecklond said. “And over the next two years, I’m excited to see the Quarry Place and Crestwood projects wrap up and the beginning of construction on the new hotel. I’ve had some input with the conceptual phases [of the proj-ects] and been in talks with de-velopers and architects.”

Beyond the development ac-complishments, Ecklond point-ed to the creation of the village administrator position, which was funded in last year’s bud-get, as another improvement, saying Village Administrator David Burke has made Tucka-hoe run more efficiently.

Next, Ecklond said, is to “take a hard look at the open parkland space in the village to refresh the parks.”

“It’s been about 10 years since that type of work has been done,” Ecklond said. “It should be done every few years, so we are going to take the time to look at grants to spruce up our parks.”

Fiore Jr., already a volunteer Eastchester firefighter and auxil-iary police officer in Tuckahoe, said he’s running to involve him-self even more in the community and bring an environmental ac-tivist voice to the board.

“I’ve been thinking about running [for trustee] since last year,” Fiore said. “I think sometimes the village board does a good job, but I want to see more environmental

ELECTION from page 1 changes, especially in the quarry [on Marbledale Road].”

The quarry, a defunct land-fill that’s been designated by the New York State Depart-ment of Environmental Con-servation as a Brownfield site, which is land that has poten-tially hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants that would have to be cleaned up before construction can com-mence, would be the home to the Marriott hotel. The hotel project is currently before the village Planning Board.

Fiore said the hotel would give visiting family members of village residents a place to stay and create an additional revenue stream for the village, but, he said, he’s against the ho-tel project if that means disturb-ing the continents in the quarry.

“I’ve been living here all my life,” Fiore said. “I know what’s in there...I’d like to keep that soil in place and protect the children and make sure those children’s children don’t get sick from that stuff.”

While the talk of the vil-lage has been the recent boom of development, Fiore would bring a different voice to the board, saying there’s too much development in a congested area of the village that’s going to create traffic concerns on the narrow streets of Marble-dale Road and Main Street.

On the environmental side, the biggest debate has been over a plastic bag ban, which was first proposed by Demo-cratic Trustee Stephen Quigley two years ago but shot down by a 4 to 1 party line vote of the board.

Fiore said, if elected, even though it would still be a 3 to 2 Republican majority, he’d look to reintroduce the plastic bag ban.

The police expenditures make up about one-third of the total village budget and Luisi said a major accomplishment during his tenure has been a police vehicle replacement pro-gram that’s trimmed fat off the police budget.

Luisi said the village went through four budget cycles without replacing the police ve-hicles before he was elected to the board in 2011.

As part of the newly-imple-mented program, Luisi said maintenance costs very little because the vehicles are under warranty and the village will replace each vehicle every three years to avoid wear and tear.

This program allows Tuck-ahoe to recoup a “decent amount of money” on the trade in and save “thousands and thousands” on mainte-nance costs.

“You don’t realize it, but the police vehicles are running 24 hours a day and in extreme weather conditions,” Luisi said. “So 75,000 miles on a police car is different from 75,000 miles on a car you and I would drive. And before I got on the board…Most of the vehicles were well over five years old.”

Even with the purchase of police cruisers and a new gar-bage truck last year, Luisi said Tuckahoe has been under the state-mandated tax cap con-straints without having to cut its municipal services.

“I’m committed to the Vil-lage of Tuckahoe and its resi-dents,” he said, “while continu-ing to provide the quality of life that we’ve come to expect.”

Looking ahead, Luisi, if re-elected, said it’s going to be important to monitor the population density and traffic in the village with such a large amount of developments un-der construction.

“We have a lot of growth and projects underway, and we just want to make sure we are being responsible,” Luisi said.

And with the hotel in the works, Luisi said the Board of Trustees will continue to pursue a hotel occupancy tax, which requires state approval.

“That’s vital to us,” Luisi said, “because it’s a steady revenue stream the village needs to sustain itself.

Giordano could not be reached as of press time.


Trustee Greg Luisi

sional to complete and file their income tax returns,” Adams said. “We will continue to work with law enforcement of all lev-els to uncover unscrupulous pre-parers and hold them account-able for their crimes.”

Between Dec. 14, 2010 and Feb.13, 2012, the defendant provided personal and business accounting and tax preparation services to John Nardini Con-struction, Inc.

According to the owner of the company and his wife, rather than pay the IRS or the tax de-partment directly, the defendant

had instructed them to provide him with checks, made payable to either Louis Ciampanelli or LMC Tax Consultants.

Ciampanelli told the victims that he would then, in turn, make the payments on their behalf to the taxing agencies.

The defendant never paid the taxing authorities for ei-ther their personal taxes or the businesses taxes. The funds were converted for his own use. The amount of the larceny is approximately $47,000. The defendant was arrested by in-vestigators from the district at-torney’s office.

Bail was continued at $5,000 cash/$15,000 bond. The case was adjourned to May 20, 2015.

The defendant faces a maxi-mum sentence of seven years in state prison.

Assistant District Attorney Robert Mayes of the Econom-ic Crimes Bureau is prosecut-ing the case. (Submitted)

Louis Ciampanelli

Age: 54stAtus: ChallengerFAmily: Single yeArs on the boArd: NoneyeArs in the villAge: Lifelong residentPoliticAl AFFiliAtion: Democratendorsements: Democratic lineoccuPAtion: Senior custodian for Lakeland School District

Anthony Fiorie Jr.

Age: 61stAtus: IncumbentFAmily: Wife, four kidsyeArs on the boArd: Four yearsyeArs in the villAge: 30 years PoliticAl AFFiliAtion: Republicanendorsements: Republican and Conservative linesoccuPAtion: Retired

Body found behind Port Chester school

On the morning of Friday, Feb. 20, the body of a 32-year-old Rye man was found be-hind Corpus Christi-Holy Ro-sary School in Port Chester.

Port Chester police identi-fied the dead man as Emery Stewart of 95 Maple Ave., in Rye. The police found his body, partially clothed, behind the elementary school, at 7:27 a.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:31 a.m.

Some of the man’s clothes were found near the body, ac-cording to Port Chester police.

Police are investigating whether he had taken off his clothes due to hypothermia, a dangerous drop in body tem-

perature where core body tem-perature drops below what is required for normal bodily functioning. It is caused by ex-posure to the cold for prolonged periods of time.

Twenty to 50 percent of hy-pothermia deaths are associated with paradoxical undressing, which typically occurs during moderate to severe hypother-mia, as the person becomes dis-oriented, confused, and com-bative. They may begin dis-carding their clothing, which, in turn, increases the rate of heat loss. Police are investigating whether Stewart’s death was the result of hypothermia and therefore whether he removed

his clothing himself.Hypothermia is a dangerous

drop in body temperature where core body temperature drops be-low what is required for normal bodily functioning. It is caused by exposure to the cold for a prolonged period of time.

The region saw record-breaking cold temperatures last week, which reached a low of 3 degrees.

Port Chester police, the Westchester County medical examiner and the Westches-ter County District Attor-ney’s office are working to-gether in the investigation of this incident. -Reporting by Marissa Penn

A man was found dead behind this elementary school in Port Chester on Feb. 20. Police in Port Chester believe the death may have been related to the frigid cold temperatures. Photo/Marissa Penn


A festival to shake off the coldBy JOhN BRANDI

Staff Writer

In spite of Old Man Winter, locals found a reason to cele-brate and venture out to Tuck-ahoe’s Broken Bow Brewery for its inaugural Kolsch Fest on Saturday, mimicking the fun and fanfare of festivals in Deutschland.

The idea behind hosting a Kolsch fest was to rouse the locals and get them to leave their homes to break up the monotony of cold and snow, and what better way to do that than with beer, according to Kristen Stone, head of market-ing for Broken Bow.

“I think that you have your Oktoberfest, they’re great,” Stone said. “Having a Kolsch Fest brings awareness to other styles.”

Kolsch is Mardi Gras in New Orleans with its cos-tumes and brevity. Kolsch is carnivals held in Western German cities, like Cologne. Kolsch tried to take a little bit of flavor, like Kolsch beer, and fun—live music, gathering lo-cals and costumes—to merge into a festival for patrons of the brewery right here in Tuck-ahoe, according to Stone.

She said those who come in are like family. The rela-tively new brewery in town has been popular, Stone said,

with the night portion of the event having sold out. She said the festival had some new beer on tap for customers to try, like Kolsch, but the traditional styles were still sold.

“We understand everyone has different taste buds,” Stone said.

Since the brewery doesn’t normally sell food items, Broken Bow teamed up with nearby Growlers Beer Bistro, on Main Street, to provide pa-trons with a companion to the beer. Stone said this isn’t the first collaboration, as she said Broken Bow is featured on tap there and the brewery partici-pated in Growlers Oktoberfest event last fall.

Meanwhile, for the Koslch Fest, the event was broken into two sessions, a morning and night edition. Stone said this

was done to replicate the feel of carnival in Germany that is usually a week-long event.

Broken Bow, which is lo-cated on Marbledale Road, marks just one of many brew-eries entering the Westchester County market on a sort of wave of craft beer expansion. Stone thinks people are start-ing to take notice of how well beer can complement a meal and there’s a greater consid-eration to local and organic choices of a person’s favorite brew.

“[Craft beer] has a lot more flavor and it’s definitely made with love,” Stone said. “The craft beer movement is about how well it pairs with so many different types of foods and how many styles [there are]. It’s exciting.”

As for how Broken Bow has

done so far in Tuckahoe, Stone said it’s been a “very fun roll-ercoaster” and that the com-pany has been very fortunate.

“Everyone seems pleased,” Stone said. “It’s a community of locals that come in all the time and it’s kind of our own Broken Bow family.”

Broken Bow will celebrate its two year anniversary in Au-gust with a party that Stone said will be shared with the brew family.


The Broken Bow Brewery is a fairly new addition to the Village of Tuckahoe community. Photos/Bobby Begun

Cold beer awaits distribution and the taste test.

From left to right, Kasey LaMothe, Sofia Barbaresco and Kristen Stone .

Patrons beat the snow on Saturday to come out to Broken Bow Brewery’s inaugural Kolsch Fest.

The crowd was invited to sample the new Kolsch beer, that premiered at the festival.


Eastchester Union Free School District’s

Official Newspaper

County wins housing appellate case By ChRIS EBERhART

Staff Writer

The county executive’s claims that HUD “acted in an arbitrary and capricious man-ner” in rejecting all eight of Westchester County submis-sions to obtain HUD-adminis-tered grant money can no lon-ger be ignored.

On Feb. 18, a federal ap-peals court overturned a lower court’s decision that had said the U.S. Department of Hous-ing and Urban Development’s rejections of the county’s analyses of possible zoning discrimination in its munici-palities and subsequent with-holding of grant money for fair housing are not subject to judicial review.

The ruling allows the coun-ty and Republican Westchester County Executive Rob Astori-no to pursue its case to recap-ture $752,844 in 2011 federal grant money, which is what’s left of the $7.4 million from the 2011 community develop-ment block grant funding that was administered to the county by HUD. The money is geared towards building affordable housing and revitalizing low-income neighborhoods.

According to the judge’s ruling, “HUD did not have the right to reject the county’s housing strategy or withhold funding on the basis of land use controls [and] zoning or-dinances ... that may affect the development of affordable housing in the jurisdiction.”

Astorino called the deci-sion a “major victory for due process against an aggres-sively overreaching federal bureaucracy.”

“Just like everyone else, HUD has to follow the law,” Astorino said in a released statement. “In this case, HUD was making up its own rules. That’s not right and the court has now made it very clear that

actions by HUD are subject to judicial review.”

Although this decision is considered a win by many elected officials in Westchester County because it guarantees their day in court, it does not recover the remaining $6.65 million in 2011 grant money, which HUD has already real-located to other jurisdictions.

The county originally lost the grant money in 2013 be-cause HUD claimed it was not in compliance with a 2009 af-fordable housing settlement agreed to by the federal de-partment and former West-chester County Executive Andy Spano, a Democrat.

The settlement was the byproduct of a 2006 lawsuit brought forward by the Anti-Discrimination Center of Met-ro New York that alleged the county had filed false certifi-cations with HUD for millions of dollars in grants. As part of the settlement, Westchester agreed to build 750 affordable housing units over a seven-year period, complete source of income legislation—which bans discrimination against potential renters and home-buyers based on their source of income—and complete an analysis of impediments, which is a review of the barri-ers affecting the development of affordable housing.

To date, the county has passed a source of income leg-islation and is on pace to ful-fill the 750 unit mark on time. But the one sticking point has remained HUD’s unwill-ingness to accept any of the eight analyses of impediments submitted by the Astorino administration.

In its defense, HUD pointed to paragraph 32 of the 2009 settlement—which said the analysis of impediments must be deemed acceptable by HUD—in rejecting the eight analyses of impediments be-

Federal judge, Pierre Leval, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, overturned a lower court’s ruling that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s withholding of federal grant money to Westchester County was not subject to judicial review.

tween 2010 and 2013. Be-cause all the submissions were rejected, the county was considered not in compliance with the settlement and HUD withheld a 2011 federal grant worth $7.4 million as well as $15.6 million worth of grant money from 2012, 2013 and 2014.

The county officially lost the 2011 grant money in 2013, which led to a lawsuit by the Astorino administration. That suit was dismissed in a ruling by federal Judge Denise Cote back in 2013. However, Cote’s decision was the one over-turned in court on Feb. 18.

However, the appellate court’s decision said para-graph 32 of the 2009 settle-ment does not affect whether the county’s lawsuit is subject to judicial review, but it may impact the final outcome of the case, but that will be deter-mined by the district court.


LIU, Bronxville expand teacher residency This collaborative model

provides a limited number of paid, clinically rich and inten-sive experiences for aspiring teachers while they complete graduate teacher prepara-tion studies at LIU Hudson. Bridging the gap between the-ory and practice, the residen-cies facilitate the transition of highly talented students from novices to full-fledged pro-fessionals. The residencies are motivated and capable individuals who embody the qualities that parents and pro-fessionals most value.

Upon completion of the program, they will be both capable and confident as they take on the challenges of the classroom, prepared to bring out the best in each and ev-ery child. The LIU Hudson/Bronxville teacher residencies are among the best and bright-est and no child deserves less.

Candidates presenting ap-propriate academic credentials and prepared to commence master’s degree coursework in summer or fall 2015, will un-dergo a screening process in order to gain admission to the

September 2015 Teacher Resi-dency cohort. Appointments will be awarded on a competi-tive basis.

Accepted LIU Hudson master’s degree candidates are granted either one to two year appointments. The Teacher Residencies combine broad, immersive, classroom-based experiences with the theory and pedagogy gleaned from graduate study.

For information about the program, contact Dr. Rebecca Rich at [email protected] or 831-2714. (Submitted)


AdoptionAdoption: Warmhearted couple wishes to give unconditional love to an infant.† Get to know us at [email protected] or 315-200-3559.

A childless young married couple (she-30/he-37) seeks to adopt.† Will be hands-on mom/devoted dad.† Financial security. Expenses paid.† Call/text.† Mary & Adam.† 1-800-790-5260.

ADOPTION: Unplanned Pregnancy? Caring licensed adoption agency pro-v ides f inancial and emotional sup-port. Choose from loving pre-approved families. Call Joy toll free 1-866-922-3678 or confidential emai l :[email protected]

Auto donAtionsDonate your car to Wheels For Wishes, ben-efiting Make-A-Wish. We offer free towing and your donation is 100% tax deductible. Call 315-400-0797 Today!

Donate your car to Wheels For Wishes, ben-efiting Make-A-Wish. We offer free towing and your donation is 100% tax deductible. Call 914-468-4999 Today!

CAreer trAiningWELDING CAREERS- Hands on training for career opportunities in aviation, automo-tive, manufacturing and more. Financial aid for qualified students. Job placement assis-tance. CALL AIM 855-325-0399

finAnCiAl AidParents! Having trouble with college fund-ing? Get personal help with financial aid forms for free grants. Visit www.sources-forstudents.com or call Paul Anthony Rivers at (914) 358-1700.

Help WAntedAIRLINE CAREERS begin here Get FAA approved Aviation Maintenance Technician training. Financial aid for qualified students ñ Housing available. Job placement assistance. Call AIM 866-296-7093

Heavy Equipment Operators In High Demand!††Get†Hands On Training And National Certifications Operating Bulldozers, Backhoes, Excavators.† Average $18-$22 Hourly!†Veteran Benefits Eligible!†1-866- 968-2577

Home improvementHAS YOUR BUILDING SHIFTED OR SETTLED? Contact Woodford Brothers Inc, for straightening, leveling, foundation and wood frame repairs at 1-800-OLD-BARN. www.woodfordbros.com. “Not applicable in Queens county”

lAnd for sAleFORECLOSED LAND! *5ac - $14,325 *7ac - $16,415 *9ac - $19,100 Prime upstate NY location just off the NY State Thruway! Buy all 3 for less than $49,000! Woods, dramatic views, town rd, utils, clear title, EZ terms! Call: 888-905-8847 NOW!

A B A N D O N E D FA R M L A N D ! 6 a c -†Stream- $24,900 Beautiful xmas tree plantation, babbling brook, nice Views, gorgeous country setting! Less than 3.5 hrs NYC. Call 888-479-3394 or NewYorkLandandLakes.com

misCellAneousSAWMILLS from only $4397.00- MAKE & SAVE MONEY with your own bandmill- Cut lumber any dimension. In stock ready to ship. FREE Info/DVD:† www.NorwoodSawmills.com 1-800-578-1363 Ext.300N

musiCAl merCHAndiseT O P C A S H P A I D F O R O L D GUITARS!†1920’s thru 1980’s. Gibson, Martin, Fender, Gretsch, Epiphone, Guild, Mosrite, Rickenbacker, Prairie State, D’Angel ico, Stromberg. And Gibson Mandolins/Banjos. 1-800-401-0440

vACAtion rentAlsOCEAN CITY, MARYLAND. Best selection of affordable rentals. Full/ partial weeks. Call for FREE brochure. Open daily. Holiday Resort Services. 1-800-638-2102. Online reservations: www.holidayoc.com

WAnted$WANTED$ COMIC BOOKS Pre-1975: Original art & movie memorabilia, sports, non-sports cards, ESPECIALLY 1960ís† Collector/ Investor, paying cash! Call WILL: 800-242-6130††[email protected]

CASH for Coins! Buying Gold & Silver. Also Stamps & Paper Money, Comics,† Entire Collections, Estates. Travel to your home. Call Marc in NJ: 1-800-488-4175

situAtions/serviCesADVANTAGE COMPUTER SUPPORTWe make your computer “people friendly” in your home or office. Fast Resopnse * Upgrades * Repairs * Network Support. Call Richard Klein 914-422-1798 or 203-781-8672.

@eastchesterreviewTwitter

Follow us on

WALK TO CREATE A WORLDFREE OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS!

04.18.15Staten IslandCloves Lake Park 04.19.15New York CityPier 26 Orange CountyCrane Park 04.25.15Rockland CountyRockland Lake State Park 04.26.15Westchester CountyGlen Island Park Putnam CountyMahopac Volunteer Fire Department

NYC – Southern NY2015presented locally by:

REGISTER TODAY!walkMSnyc.org • 212-463-9791

*Free Vehicle/Boat Pickup ANYWHERE*We Accept All Vehicles Running or Not*100% Tax Deductible

100% Tax

Deductible

WheelsForWishes.org Call: (914) 468-4999

Hudson Valley

Wheels For Wishes benefiting

DONATE YOUR CAR

A Step Back in Time... a Vintage Era~ 161 Pinewoods Ave., Troy, NY ~

A step back in time with detailed hand hewn moldings, classic staircase, curved walls and

servant quarters. This warm vintage home has modern conveniences we so yearn for like high end stainless steel appliances, gorgeous master

suite with incredible shower and walk in closets. Immerse yourself in the completely

secluded deck with natural lush vistas. Minutes from Albany, NY.

Proudly offered for $449,000.

Scott Varley Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker

(518) 853-7268 [email protected]

Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed by RealtyUSA or its agents and affiliates.

The Classifieds • Advertising that gets resultsour rAtes:

UP TO 4 LINES $42.50 for 2 weeks minimum. Each Additional Line $2.00

hoW to reAch us:(914) 653-1000x27 Fax: 653-5000

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING: 200 William Street, Port Chester

deAdline:Placement, correction or cancellation of an ad may

be phoned in any time before noon on Monday for publication

February 27, 2015 • ThE EASTChESTER REvIEw • 15SPORTS

humanize himself and win his way into the good graces of Yankee fans, backfired ter-ribly, becoming yet another blunder in the minds of the New York fan base.

That’s why I’ll be rooting

for him this spring. I’d love nothing more than for him to come out of the gates red hot, belting homers and causing Yankee fans to begrudgingly give him the respect they nev-er gave him in the past.

For all his faults, his biggest crime was one he had no con-trol over.

He was never Derek Jeter.

Follow Mike on Twitter @LiveMike_Sports

I never thought I’d say these words, but here it is; I’m an A-Rod defender.

Before I go too far down this road, let me say right up front that I’m no fan of the Yankee third baseman. He’s a cheater and a liar, and worse than that—at least in my Red Sox-crazy mind—he’s a Yankee.

But I’ll be damned if I don’t feel bad for him right now.

This week, A-Rod is down in Tampa, Fla., getting ready for the start of spring train-ing after serving a year-long suspension for PED-use, and nobody, not Yankee fans, not Yankee brass, seems to want him around.

Yankee fans are open-ly rooting for him to fail. The front office, some have opined, is hoping that he won’t be able to physically perform,

Rethinking A-Rodsaving the Yanks a fortune on incentivized milestones and perhaps praying the insurance policy will pay out the remain-ing money they owe the aging slugger.

For some reason, though, the idea of A-Rod as this tragic figure, an embattled superstar looking for one last chance at re-demption, makes even the most strident Yankee-hater I know (me) want to root for the guy.

Rodriguez has done some bad stuff. But more egregious than his flagrant violations of the MLB’s rules has been his reaction to the accusations. In-stead of clamming up and ac-cepting the inevitable suspen-sion like the 13 other players named in the MLB investiga-tion of Biogenesis, he took the “scorched earth” route, suing just about anyone who dared to presume he was a cheater.

There have been other play-ers who have forcefully denied accusations of their wrong-doing. Some lied in front of Congress, some, like Sammy

Sosa, conveniently forgot that they were conversant in Eng-lish. Others, like Ryan Braun, acted exactly the way that A-Rod did, going after those they deemed “responsible” for pos-itive tests.

But Braun will hear cheers in Milwaukee, Mark McG-wire is now a respected hitting coach in Los Angeles and even Barry Bonds comes home to warm receptions in the San Francisco area.

Not A-Rod though. He’ll essentially be play-

ing 162 games on the road this season.

Part of that is his doing, sure. But A-Rod’s never been a beloved player anywhere he’s been. He always struck me, for all his talent and all his money, as a clueless guy, un-able to endear himself to fans and frustrated that his prodi-gious talent was never enough to earn him the adoration that he felt he deserved.

Even his handwritten apol-ogy, an effort on his part to

Alex Rodriguez is set to begin spring training this week and while many Yankee fans want nothing more to do with the aging slugger, Sports Editor Mike Smith is hoping A-Rod can return to form this year. Photo courtesy Wikipedia.com

Follow Mike Smith @LiveMike_Sports stats • recaps • commentary

Follow @eastchesterviewfor Mike’s live, in-game action updates

To CoVER loCal spoRTs, you nEEd a

LIVE MIKE!

16 • ThE EASTChESTER REvIEw • February 27, 2015 SPORTSCruz shines locally

By MIKE SMIThSports Editor

On Feb. 20, Port Chester native Bryant “Pee Wee” Cruz had a homecoming of sorts, when the local pugilist head-lined his first ever fight card in Westchester. Throngs of fans turned out to see the unde-feated junior lightweight keep his perfect record intact, earn-ing a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Jorge Pazos at the Westchester Hilton to improve to 14-0 on his career.

The fight was no cake-walk, however as the rugged Pazos caught Cruz with a vicious right hook late in the second round of the eight-round bout, dropping him for just the sec-ond time in his pro career. Cruz beat the count, shook off the cobwebs and came back in

the third round to out-box Pa-zos until the final bell rung.

“I went back to the corner and I told [my trainer] it was my bad, I just got caught with my hands down trying to trade,” Cruz said. “I recovered and went back to boxing for the rest of the fight. Lesson learned.”

According to Cruz’s trainer,

Ryan O’Leary, Pazos, who came into the fight with a 14-7 record was selected because of his pedigree and ability to go deep into fights. Although the Mexican fighter was able to tag Cruz with a good shot, O’Leary said, the fight served as a learning experience for the rising star.

Bryant “Pee Wee” Cruz tags Jorge Pazos with a right hand on Feb. 20 at the Westchester Hilton. Cruz won a unanimous decision to bring his pro record to 14-0. Photos/Bobby Begun

“When you’ve got a guy coming out of Mexico, you know he probably has like 6,000 rounds of sparring,” O’Leary said. “We knew he was going to be tough. But once Pee Wee started boxing, he was masterful.”

One of Cruz’s biggest take-aways from the evening might not have been anything that had to do with his opponent, however. The slick-boxing Cruz said after the fight that dealing with a rabid home fan base—like the one he fought in front of on Friday—comes with its own set of challenges.

“Especially fighting in my hometown, I have to learn that you can’t always just go for the knockout to impress people; you have to stay smart and set up my punches,” he said. “But it was definitely great getting the

chance to showcase my skills in front of my hometown fans.”

Cruz wasn’t the only area-fighter with a rowdy fan base on Friday night, as fellow Champs Boxing Club stable-mate Alex Vanasse, a Carmel product, made his professional debut in a light-heavyweight bout against Richard Bal-lard. Like Cruz, Vanasse was dropped early in the fight, but the unseasoned slugger battled back to earn a TKO victory in the fourth round.

“I saw [Vanasse] upstate at some amateur shows and you could tell the kid was crude but was so strong and had a great punch,” O’Leary said. “He got caught with his hands down, a rookie mistake, but he fought through it.”


“Pee Wee” Cruz celebrates in the ring after his decision win against Jorge Pazos. Cruz suffered a second-round knockdown but boxed masterfully to outpoint his opponent.

Bryant “Pee Wee” Cruz reacts to the judges’ scorecards. Cruz is unbeaten as a professional fighter.

Alex Vanasse won his pro debut on Feb. 20, scoring a TKO win over Richard Ballard. Vanasse, a Carmel native, also trains out of New Rochelle’s Champs Boxing Club.

eastchester review 2-27-2015

Documents

village of tuckahoe

village of rye brook

village trustees

village boards

hotel taxes

rye democrat

hotel occupancy tax

hotel occupancy tax