rye city review 5-29-2015

RyeCityTHE REVIEWMay 29, 2015 | Vol. 3, Number 21 | www.ryecityreview.com

Remember★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★Hundreds gathered along Purchase Street in Rye to watch the second annual Memorial Day parade. The parade, revived last year after a near 50-year hiatus, started at Station Plaza and ended at the Village Green where the city’s annual Memorial Day ceremony was held on May 25. For Memorial Day coverage, see pages 6-8 and 10. Photo/Bobby Begun

2 • The rye ciTy review • May 29, 2015

Sunday Monday TueSday WedneSday ThurSday Friday SaTurday

1NYS science written test,

grades 4 and 8

Rye High/Middle School Jazz Night

7:30 p.m., Performing Arts Center

2Westchester County Board of Legislators

Public Hearing on Playland

7 p.m., Rye City Hall

Rye City Board of Education meeting

8 p.m., Rye Middle School

3Rye Neck Middle School Concert

6 p.m., Performing Arts Center

4Rye Neck High School varsity sports awards

ceremony6 p.m.,

Rye Neck High School

5 6147th Belmont Stakes

SAT and SAT subject tests

Rye Historical Society Gala

7 p.m.

7 8Board of Architectural

Review meeting7:30 p.m., Rye City Hall

9Rye Neck MS/HS Athletic

Open House6:30 p.m.

Planning Commission meeting

7 p.m., Rye City Hall

10Rye City

Council meeting7:30 p.m., Rye City Hall

11Rye High School last day

of classes

Rye Recreation Commission meeting

6:30 p.m., Damian Recreation Center

Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Commission

meeting7:30 p.m., Rye City Hall

12 13ACT test

14Flag Day

15

16Conservation

Commission meeting7 p.m., Rye City Hall

Rye City Board of Education meeting

8 p.m., Rye Middle School

17Rye Neck Board of Education meeting

6:30 p.m., HS/MS library

RTV Cable and Communications

Committee meeting7 p.m., RTV Studio

Rye Golf Club Commission meeting7 p.m., Whitby Castle

18Rye Senior Advocacy Committee meeting

8:30 a.m., Rye City Hall

Zoning Board of Appeals meeting

7:30 p.m., Rye City Hall

Rye Sustainability Committee meeting


19 20Rye High School

Graduation10 a.m., Nugent Stadium

21

Father’s Day

Summer Solstice

22Milton Awards Assembly

9 a.m., Milton School

Milton Moving Up Ceremony

7 p.m., Milton Auditorium

Board of Architectural Review meeting


23Planning Commission

meeting7 p.m., Rye City Hall

24Landmarks Advisory Committee meeting7 p.m., Rye City Hall

Midland Moving Up

Ceremony7 p.m.,

Performing Arts Center

25Rye City, Rye Neck last

day of school for students

Rye Neck High School Graduation

5:30 p.m.

26Rye City, Rye Neck Superintendent’s Conference Day

27

28 29 30Rye City Board of

Education meeting8 p.m., Rye Middle School

June 2015Planning ahead...

May 29, 2015 • The rye ciTy review • 3

Playland hearing to be held in Rye

Westchester County Legis-lator Catherine Parker, a Rye Democrat, is continuing her efforts to get as much input as possible from her constituents on the proposed management agreement for Playland.

Parker and the Westchester County Board of Legislators will be holding a public forum in Rye on June 2 as a way to maximize local input before the vote on the proposal.

Parker prioritized the need for this hearing after many lo-cal residents and the Board of Legislators felt they were shut out of the process that led up to the failed agreement with Sustainable Playland, Inc.

“It was really important to me that the neighbors of Play-

land have a voice in this pro-cess after they were ignored the first time,” Parker said. “As a Rye resident, I certainly still have some questions that I would like answered and I am sure that my constituents have even more that they would like to have answered as well. The advocates have been extreme-ly helpful in articulating vari-ous points and this hearing is about bringing the community together, not just to evaluate this plan, but to have an open conversation about what they want for Playland’s future and how the local community will be impacted.”

The meeting will take place in Rye City Hall and begin at 7 p.m. In an attempt to maxi-

mize community input, Parker also encouraged people who cannot attend the event to sub-mit written testimony to [email protected]. Those in attendance will be asked to keep comments to three minutes long to make sure that everyone that would like to speak can do so.

As requested by the county executive, the Board of Leg-islators is scheduled to vote on the proposed management agreement during a Board of Legislators meeting on June 10.

Parker stressed the urgency for input. “This could be the last chance that the public has to voice their opinions on this topic.” (Submitted)

Westchester County Legislator Catherine Parker, of Rye, will be holding a public hearing on potential changes to Playland at Rye City Hall on June 2. File photo

Indiana is a handsome lab mix who is full of life and love and quite outgoing. He is very sweet and friendly. Indiana is about a year old and around 40 pounds. He loves car rides and is always ready to accompany you anywhere you go. Indiana is very sociable and loves being part of everything you do. He gets along well with all other dogs. Why not donate $300 to Larchmont Pet Rescue to make Indiana a part of your home? Indiana is neutered, vaccinated, dewormed, heartworm-tested and micro-chipped. To learn more, call 834-6955 or visit us on the web at NY-PetRescue.org. (Submitted)


What’s going on...vides complete flex-ibility to keep a child of any age, ability and interest busy with cre-ative fun. Programs begin June 29 and can be combined for a half or full day, by the week or multiple weeks to suit everyone’s schedule.

Also new is the RAC’s Makerspace classes which feature both high tech and high touch fun in designing, creating and making. Class-es include: coding, Minecraft, 3-D design and printing, film making, LittleBits, MakeyMakey, Scratch animation, circuitry, Arduino, electron-ics and creative building.

Musical theater workshop weeks will feature opportunities to perform stage favorites “Wil-ly Wonka” and “Little Shop of Horrors.” For tweens, fresh air and fine arts will be on offer with the RAC’s new plein-air painting class for ages 11 to 14.

Rounding out the RAC’s summer offerings are traditional fine arts including painting, draw-ing, cartooning, ceramics, digital photography, writers’ workshops, vocal pop workshops and music instruction. For young artists, ages 4 to 10, the RAC offers a three-hour creative arts im-mersion morning program.

The summer guide can be found online at ryeartscenter.org. For questions, call 967-0700 or stop in at the main office located at 51 Milton Road, Rye.

Rye Nature CenterSummer camp

The Rye Nature Center offers an adventur-ous and educational summer program for chil-dren aged 3-and-a-half to 15-years old. Set on 47 acres of forest and trails, our camp creates an ideal setting for children to enjoy the outdoors. We offer a hands-on approach to scientific in-quiry and give our young naturalists the chance to encounter animals both in the museum and on the property. Registration for summer camp 2015 is now open. For more information, please call 967-5150 or email [email protected].

Rye RecreationJune Fest

On Friday, June 5, from 7 p.m. to 8:45 p.m., visit Rye Recreation’s Multipurpose Court for games, inflatables, music and more. Have fun with your friends. Register in advance. Drop-ins are welcome. Program is intended for children in grades 5 and 6; Rye residents only. Fee: $20

Wainwright House

Extended hoursThe Rye Free

Reading Room will be offering expanded hours from noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays, May 31 and June 7. The extra hours will be of particular ben-efit to students as they prep for Regents, AP tests and final exams, but of course all others will be welcome to use the library on these afternoons.

For more information about the library’s ex-tended hours, which are made possible by the generosity of an anonymous donor, go to ryeli-brary.org or call 967-0480.

Teen gamingThe Rye Free Reading Room invites teens to

play videogames the first and third Friday of the month. Play all our Wii games on the big screen. Some of our new games include Sonic and the Secret Rings, Mario Party 8, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Red Steel 2, Dance on Broadway, Trauma Team and PES 2010: Pro Evolution Soccer. Snacks will be provided.

Story timeNursery rhymes, songs and fingerplays.

“Granny Jean” Klein, well-versed in early

childhood development, introduces babies and toddlers to playful rhymes, songs and pup-petry. Parents and caregivers participate with the children at the library and are encouraged to continue the activities at home. Because the program is often a child’s first experience in an audience setting, it is important that adults strive to arrive on time and actively help children fo-cus on the presentation. Program is open to six month to three-and-a-half years. Mondays from 10 a.m. to 10:20 a.m., 20 minutes.

Teacher in the libraryGot homework? Drop by the library on week-

days, Monday through Thursday from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Rye teachers offer after school home-work help to students attending local public and private elementary schools in the Rye area. This is a free program, sponsored by the Auxiliary Board of the Rye Free Reading Room, Wom-an’s Club of Rye/Children’s Philanthropy Sec-tion and the PTO of Rye schools.

Rye Arts CenterSummer program registration

Keeping kids’ creativity flowing is key to summer fun. Look no further than The Rye Arts Center to find the perfect summer program or class for your child.

With a broad range of weekly as well as sum-mer long programs for kids ages four through teen and adults, The Rye Arts Center, RAC, pro-

niston at the Wainwright House, will bring peo-ple together, relieve stress and nervous tension, and reduce impatience and restlessness. Using the resonance of Tibetan Signing Bowls, you will restore chakra strength, equilibrium, es-tablish a refined, positive flow throughout your cellular body and increase spiritual awareness. Each class is $20 for members and $22 for non-members. Classes will be held on May 28, June 11 and June 25 from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Register by visiting wainwright.org.

Fundamentals of Tai ChiRobert Corrado will teach the fundamentals

of Tai Chi on Mondays from 11 a.m. to noon and Thursdays 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on an on-going basis. Those interested may start anytime and classes can be prorated. Tai Chi is beneficial to people of all ages and fitness levels. Increase your flexibility and balance, reduce stress by in-creasing your sensation of relaxation, increase vitality and longevity. For more information, visit wainwright.org.

Writing for laughsHumor writing is the art of using words to cre-

ate laughs. Whether you are interested in writ-ing comedy, tickling your fiction, or just helping your brain see the funny side of life, this class, led by Maureen Amaturo, will teach you how. This four week workshop series requires a minimum of four registrants in order to run. The workshop meets on Fridays from 10 a.m. to noon, May 29, June 5, June 12 and June 19. Workshop fee is $120 for members and $132 for non-members. For more information, visit wainwright.org.

Rye TV

Deadline for our What’s Going On section is every Thursday at 3 p.m. Though space is not guaranteed, we will do our best to accommodate your listing. Please send

all items to [email protected].

Rye library events

Sound vibrations for healing and balance

This bi-weekly class led by Marianne Den-

Intro to Adobe PremierLearn the basics of video editing on Adobe’s

newest software on June 1, June 8 and June 15. Adobe Premier allows you to do simple editing or go further and learn everything about video edit-ing. Joel Louis Ferdinand, Rye TV’s production coordinator will lead this lesson. For more infor-mation, contact Joel at [email protected].

White Plains Outdoor Arts Festival

On Saturday, May 30 and Sunday, May 31, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., experience fine arts and fine crafts at the 53rd Annual Juried Show. There will also be food available for purchase, as well as children’s workshops, student art ex-hibits, emerging artists display and more. Ad-mission is free. Volunteers are welcome. The location of this event is Tibbits Park, located at 1 North Broadway in White Plains. Proceeds support White Plains High School Art Scholar-ships. For more information, call 866-210-7137 or visit whiteplainsoutdoorartsfestival.com.


Rock chipping moratorium in the works

While the construction project at 135 Highland Road, pictured, is finishing up its rock chipping, the Rye City Council is thinking about implementing a six-month moratorium on chipping in the midst of working to enact a restrictive law. File photo

By JAcKSON cheNStaff Writer

Many months have passed since the formation of a study group on rock chipping. While the group is still working on its final recommendations to the Rye City Council, the mayor, in the meantime, proposed a moratorium on rock chipping to quell the noise.

The volunteer group was first created by Mayor Joe Sack, a Republican, back in November 2014, in response to an outpouring of angry resi-dents who were dealing with a common, noisy construction process. Rock chipping, or a common practice in construc-tion that uses mechanical tools to steadily break rock, first be-came audibly and physically noticeable to neighbors of a construction project at 135 Highland Road that began in the fall of 2014.

According to David Turia-no, the developer of the High-land Road site in question, the rock chipping process is close to completion and there

only remains a couple of small rocky areas to chip away at. However, with the residential concerns that sprung up, the idea of further restrictions on rock chipping is currently at the council’s forefront.

So far, the rock chipping moratorium that is still in the process of being drafted, pro-poses a six-month temporary ban on mechanical rock re-moval or the use of explosives within the city for more than 30 days. According to the draft law, if anybody surpasses the 30 days, they would be subject to a maximum fine of $1,000, a stop work order, 15 days of jail time, or any combination of those three consequences.

“We wanted to do this mor-atorium now before we even get to the law,” Sack said. “We want to make sure that we kind of freeze things so that there won’t be another Highland [Road] situation that we had.” The mayor added that putting the finishing touches on the components of a rock chipping law would take a little more time.

For Turiano, the morato-rium wouldn’t be a problem. The developer said that most of the projects he has worked on that include rock chipping, last anywhere from a few days to 15 days, almost never surpass-ing the proposed 30-day limit. Turiano said the Highland Road project has taken ab-normally long, approximately seven months to date, in com-parison due to larger chunks of rock that required extensive chipping.

To avoid any other future problems regarding rock chip-ping, the study group has been researching nearby communi-ties and their laws on rock re-moval, according to Council-man Richard Mecca, a Repub-lican, who serves as a member of the group.

“Surprisingly there are a lot of towns that have no restric-tions,” Mecca said, adding that the group has only found examples of rock chipping re-strictions in a few towns like Mamaroneck and Greenburgh.

The councilman added that the group has been researching

other methods of rock chipping and the best industry practices for rock removal overall.

“You have to strike that fine line,” Mecca said in determin-ing a rock chipping law. “If you can do less chipping, you might have a smaller yard or a shallower basement, but the developers understood that.”

While the group is still in the midst of filing its recommen-dations, Councilman Richard Slack, unaffiliated, who also sits on the study group, said

that time limits are something to be considered.

“One of the items that has been in active discussions and I expect we’re going to recom-mend is some kind of dura-tional limit on rock chipping,” Slack said, adding that he sup-ports the moratorium. “I think this moratorium would in ef-fect, put in place a durational limit while we’re working on the law.”

The councilman added that the temporary halt on rock

chipping adds the benefit of time while the law moves through the lengthy process of being written, filtering through public hearings and then final-ly being enacted. Mecca said the group was close to writing up its final recommendations to the city council.

The City Council will con-sider the enacting the mora-torium on its next meeting at June 10.

cONTAcT: [email protected]


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 | Jackson Chenext. 23, [email protected]

Graphic Designer | Arthur Gedin

Graphic Designer | Jim Grasso

Advertising | Lindsay Sturmanext. 14, [email protected]

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

Staff WriterJohn Brandi

Staff PhotographerBobby Begun

ContributorsPeter Lane, Rich Monetti,

Christopher Petrowski

ColumnistsJohn Carey, Laura Slack

Paul Bookbinder, Rye City Council

InternMichael Sciandra

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THE

REVIEWRyeCity Second-year parade

draws record turnout

By chriS eBerhArTStaff Writer

Last year, Rye’s Memorial Day Parade resumed after a near 50-year hiatus. This year, in a record turnout, hundreds of residents lined Purchase

Street to watch local organiza-tions, bands and war veterans march from Station Plaza to the Village Green where a cer-emony was held.

Members of the Rye His-torical Society, the Rye Cham-ber of Commerce, Rye Girl

Scouts and Boy Scouts, Rye Girls softball players and the Rye High School drum line all participated in the parade.

“It was a great turnout, and we achieved everything we wanted to,” said Tom Saunders, Post Commander of the Amer-

ican Legion Post 128. “And now that the parade is back, it’s been a huge draw and we look to continue its success.”

During the ceremony, the American Legion awarded its annual Americanism Award to Rye High School Social Stud-ies teacher Bob Steel for intro-ducing combat veterans to his classroom to teach the realities

of warfare, for contributions to veterans’ programs and his sup-port of the John M. Kingery Memorial Essay Contest. This year’s winner of the essay con-test was Rye High School ninth grader James Cronin.

The event also featured dis-tinguished guests and speakers

From left to right, Michaela White, 7, Dillon White, 5, Graham Durkin, 5, and Matthew White, 3, anxiously wait for the start of the parade along Purchase Street on Memorial Day.

State Sen. George Latimer greets veterans of the Rye American Legion Post 128. Milton School’s Brownie Troop 1914

Rory Stokes waves the American flag as the parade makes its way down Purchase Street towards Rye City Hall. This year marked the second year of the renewed parade.

U.S. Representative Eliot Engel makes an appearance in Rye and addresses the crowd. Photos/Bobby Begun

cONTiNued on next page


including Rye Mayor Joe Sack, state Assemblyman and former Rye Mayor Steve Otis, state Sen. George Latimer, the Rye City Council, the Ameri-can Legion Rye Post 128 and Westchester County Legislator and former Rye City Council-woman Catherine Parker.

During his speech, Sack spoke about the memoirs of Rye veterans Martin Dock-ery, who enrolled in the Army ROTC program and served as a 23-year-old advisor to the Army of the Republic of Viet-nam, and Robert Lynch, who enrolled in the Army ROTC program after Pearl Harbor and ultimately received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

“So while today I have cit-ed Martin Dockery and Bob Lynch, we are also, on this Memorial Day, truly recog-nizing those who made the ultimate sacrifice and who did not make it home to tell their stories,” Sack said.


Members of the Rye American Legion Post 128 march down Purchase Street. From left to right, councilmen Richard Mecca and Richard Slack, Marybeth Sack with her father, Mayor Joe Sack, and state Assemblyman Steve Otis.

Rye High School Band and Drumline performs. Photos/Bobby BegunRye High School Social Studies teacher Bob Steel, the recipient of 55th annual American Legion Post 128 Americanism Award, with his two sons, Will, left, and Sanger.

Village of Larchmont firefighters riding in a classic Larchmont Historical Fire District vehicle during the Rye Memorial Day parade on May 25.

A horse drawn carriage makes its way down Purchase Street as part of the parade procession.


Marines touch down at rye Playland

Throughout Memorial Day weekend, the U.S. Marines conducted air and ground demonstrations for the public throughout New York City and surrounding areas, including Westchester County, as part of Fleet Week 2015. On Sunday, May 24, one of those dem-onstrations took place on the beach located behind Playland Amusement Park in Rye.

This year’s event at Play-land included a ceremony in honor of Memorial Day, fol-lowed by a barbecue for vet-erans and their families. In the afternoon, a demonstration on behalf of the U.S. Military Corps Aviation/Marine Air-Ground Task Force was held, which included three military aircrafts: a MV-22 Osprey, a CH-46E Sea Knight and an AH-1W SuperCobra.

The aircrafts performed overhead sweeps around the crowded park before landing

near an open field next to the Edith Reade Sanctuary. After landing, dozens of Marines disembarked and performed a live raid for onlookers, secur-ing a fictional landing zone and setting up a perimeter

as they would during actual combat.

Once the demonstration concluded, soldiers were greeted by the crowd that had gathered for the event. Par-ticipants were also allowed

to view and tour the inside of the choppers that were stationed on an open field. The City of Rye Fire Depart-ment provided standby sup-port for the landing. -Review staff

One onlooker couldn’t help but secure a selfie with the Marines. Photos/Lester Millman

On May 24, the Marines conducted an air raid and ground demonstration landing on the grassy fields of the Edith Reade Sanctuary behind Playland.

As military personnel reach land, the surrounding is engulfed in dust and sand mimicking a live landing.Members of the U.S. Marines sign a book for a local scout.


LEGAL NOTICESNotice of Formation of Feenstra Law, PLLC. Art. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/21/2015. Office: Westchester County. SSNY designated as agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to: PLLC, 2 Jean St, Rye, NY 10580. Purpose: practice the profession of Law.

Notice the formation of Two Towers Advisors LLC Arts. Of Org. filed with the Sect’y of State of NY (SSNY) on December 2, 2010. Office location: Westchester county. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process served to: 3 ELLIS C0URT, RYE, NY 10580. Purpose: any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of Nina Cheigh Health Advisor, LLC. Art. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/05/2015. Office: Westchester County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to: LLC, 13 Johnson Place, Rye, NY 10580. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of C & S Maison LLC. Art. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/06/2015. Office: Westchester County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to: LLC, 169 Milton Road, Rye, NY 10580. Purpose: any lawful business, purpose or activity.

Notice of Formation of RY Studios LLC. Art. of Org. filed Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/17/2015. Office lo-cation: Westchester. SSNY Designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to: RY Studios LLC c/o United States Corporation Agents, Inc. 7014 13th Avenue, suite: 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of JFHDESIGN LLC. Art. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/22/2013. Office: Westchester County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to: LEGALINC CORPORATE SERVICES INC., 8857 Alexander Rd, Suite 100A, Batavia, NY 14020. Purpose: any lawful business, purpose or activity.

The meaning behind Memorial DayThe following remarks were given

by Mayor Joe Sack on the morning of Monday, May 25, during the City of

Rye’s Memorial Day ceremony on the Village Green.

Father Joe Lim and mem-bers of the clergy, Commander Tom Saunders and Legion-naires of Rye Post 128, Sen. George Latimer, Assembly-man Steve Otis, Legislator Catherine Parker, Council members Laura Brett, Ju-lie Killian, Terry McCartney, Kirstin Bucci, Richard Mecca and Richard Slack, distin-guished guests and all citizens of Rye:

Last November, on Veter-an’s Day, during the ceremony on this same spot on our Vil-lage Green, I made reference to the fact that I had become a reader of books by veterans, about their experiences at war.

I cited a number of authors from across the country, in-cluding one who subsequently received the National Book Award.

As it turned out, I did not need to look so far to find vet-erans who had published their memoirs because the great City of Rye has produced its own eloquent raconteurs of war stories.

One is Rye resident Mar-tin Dockery, who grew up in White Plains, attended St-epinac High School and then went on to Boston College, Class of 1960.

Martin was enrolled in the Army ROTC program while at BC, and after graduation, spent time at Fort Benning, Fort Knox and Fort Bragg,

en route to Saigon in 1962 as a 23-year-old advisor to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.

Martin was the sole Ameri-can assigned to an ARVN combat unit in the Mekong Delta for close to a year. Mar-tin came to realize, well before the American involvement in Vietnam escalated, that it was futile for the United States to interject itself in what was es-sentially a civil war, with divi-sions dating back hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

Upon the completion of his assignment, Martin presented his bleak but prescient assess-ment in a lecture to military brass in Germany, to which a high ranking colonel com-mented: “Who invited you here?”

That colonel and the U.S. command would have done well to absorb Martin’s observations.

When Martin was hon-orably discharged from the Army, he attended law school, and began working for the fa-mous Mudge Rose law firm, where future President Rich-ard Nixon and future Attor-ney General John Mitchell worked.

In 1999, Martin returned to Vietnam for a brief visit with a buddy, and was inspired to write “Lost in Translation: Vietnam, A Combat Advisor’s Story” which was published in 2003.

After retiring as a lawyer, Martin then returned to Viet-nam again, and worked in an orphanage for blind children. This time he stayed for 10 years, and he recently came

back to Rye.Martin has two adult sons,

and Martin and his wife Thao, whom he met in Vietnam, also have two 10-year-old twins, who currently attend the Res-urrection School.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Robert Lynch, of 23 Oakwood Ave., in Rye, was a 19-year-old stu-dent at Rye High School. Af-ter Pearl Harbor, he didn’t wait for the draft, and immediately enlisted in the ROTC program through New York University.

By 1943, Bob was being shipped out with the Army’s Third Infantry Division as part of the American invasion of North Africa. Bob subsequent-ly participated in the amphibi-ous assault on Anzio, Italy, and St. Tropez, France, on the way to Germany and victory.

During these fights, Bob was wounded and missing in action for more than 10 days. He received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, among many other honors.

Bob was honorably dis-charged in 1945 and returned to civilian life. He married Helen Brendel of Rye, and they had four children. Helen passed away in 1975.

In 1987, Bob remarried to Bobbe Rice, who had six chil-dren of her own.

Professionally, Bob went into banking, and I believe was the manager of the Citibank branch just around the corner, for many years.

In 2002, Bob returned to Europe, to the sites of the battles he fought in WWII, and gained some closure and perspective.

In 2005, one of Bob’s sons

encouraged him to memorial-ize his war time experiences, and what came in handy was the collection of letters which Bob had faithfully sent home to his family during the war.

Hence was born: “A Letter Marked Free,” published in 2007.

Also in 2007, Bob was awarded the French Legion of Honor, for his role in liberat-ing France.

And in 2012, Bob returned to Vesoul, France, upon the oc-casion of the 68th anniversary of the liberation of that town, where he was feted in a special ceremony by the mayor and all Vesoul residents.

Bob is in Naples, Fla., to-day. I am very grateful to Bob’s son-in-law, Tim Moyni-han, for sharing with me pho-tos and reminisces from this great occasion.

Tim is a veteran himself, and resident with Bob’s daugh-ter at the family home at 23 Oakwood.

There are many powerful and stark passages in Bob’s book. One which struck me particularly was a letter home from Bob those many years ago:

Dear Auntie and Company, I have another Anzio story.

I’m afraid they are all the same

in that the ending never chang-es. Draw up your chair and lis-ten to the story of a close friend of mine, a tough sergeant, who said he’d never go home, and didn’t.

It was February just 5 days before we were to be relived of our forward positions on “Hells Corner.” That night our sergeant was officially told in-side a week’s time, he would be heading home for good. He was excruciatingly happy at the news. In a matter of min-utes his joy rubbed off on his squad. We all became intoxi-cated with his happiness. Un-fortunately, when the five days were up, our company was not relieved as anticipated. In-stead, for some unknown rea-son, we had to remain at the front for 2 more nights before falling back into our second line of defense 300 yards to the rear. [To this day I do not know why the sergeant wasn’t relieved immediately and brought to safety. He wasn’t indispensable.]

Anyway, when the old ser-geant learned we were not to be relieved, he sat down and told us he would never go home now. He said he knew down deep in his heart that he would stay here forever in An-zio. We all kidded him and told him to forget it. Nothing would

During the city’s Memorial Day observance, Mayor Joe Sack speaks of the memoirs of Rye veterans Martin Dockery and Robert Lynch, while recognizing those veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice. Photo/Bobby Begun

happen to him. He was going home.

It was just getting dark on the sixth night when the Jer-ries threw a terrific artillery barrage at us. I was watching out of my foxhole when I saw the shell hit; the explosion was deafening. I knew it was close; too close for comfort.

When the shelling was over, we checked to see who was in-jured. I walked slowly toward the spot where I had seen that last shell go off. The foxhole in which the lieutenant and ser-geant had been staying was now nothing more than a big shell hole. All we ever found was a watch the sergeant wore on his wrist. You can’t imagine the felling that engulfed us. We were devastated! We had lost him! Shock waves kept perme-ating through our bodies. His words kept coming back to us, “I’ll never leave Anzio if I don’t get relieved on time.” The relief was two days late! Only two days late! He might have lived to see 90 years if our company hadn’t had to stay at the front 2 extra days. Two days is such a short time, but it wasn’t short enough. It takes only a split sec-ond to lose your life!*

Love to All, Bob

So while today I have cit-ed Martin Dockery and Bob Lynch, we are also, on this Memorial Day, truly recogniz-ing those who made the ulti-mate sacrifice, and who did not make it home to tell their stories.

Congratulations to Bob Steel on the Americanism Award. Congratulations to the American Legion for reviving the Rye tradition of this parade and this day—it already feels that there was never a lapse, and that this event has always been with us.

Finally, since it is our duty to remember every day, and not just on Memorial Day, I am pleased to announce that the flagpole, over yonder at the WWI Memorial, will be receiving a much needed sand-ing and painting in the coming weeks. Thanks for the dili-gence of the Rye DPW for that.

God Bless those who served and died in the armed services, God Bless America, and God Bless the City of Rye.

*Robert Lynch, “A Letter Marked Free” (2010)


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I was angry when French President Charles de Gaulle declared that foreign military forces would no longer be al-lowed in his country. Why? Because my father’s brother, as soon as World War I broke out, joined the French army as an ambulance driver and was decorated by the French government with the Croix de Guerre for his bravery. In 1917 he was commissioned a U.S. Army officer.

And I was angry because my own brother had gone to France and there laid down his life to help rid France of

Memorial Day reflectionsenemy occupation. Ever since then, Henry has lain with thou-sands of other Americans in the American Military Cem-etery at Épinal, in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains. He will not leave.

I vented my feelings on pa-per, composing the following in the Japanese tradition of Haiku, five syllables, followed by seven, and then another five, without meter or rhyme.

Some foreign soldiersWill not leave the soil of FranceWhere they fell, and sleep.Later it occurred to me that

President de Gaulle might not know the English tongue so I put it into his own language as best I could. Soldats étrangers

Ne quittent pas le sol de France,

Là tombés, ils restent.At the Rye Memorial Day

service on the Village Green, some kind people came up to me and said, “Thank you for your service.” I was grateful but wished they would have added, “Thanks to the fallen for their sacrifices.”

My brother Henry nev-er had a chance to have his own family, or a home of his own, or a career, or a normal life after the war ended. He was a student, and then he was a soldier, and that was all he had time for. RIP, dear older brother.


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The endless summerBy richArd ilSe

Welcome to the longest summer possible and, af-ter what Mother Nature dumped on us this past winter, father time is go-ing to reward us. This year, Memorial Day is the earliest it can be, Labor Day is the latest it can be and the 4th of July falls on a weekend. This calendar creation is actually a fairly rare event. The last time it happened was in 2009 and it won’t happen again until 2020. After that, it shows up again in 2026 and then not again until 2037.

Of course all of this de-pends on how you gauge a summer and there are two ways to do so.

First, there is the astro-nomical, or calendar, sum-mer, which is the 93-day period of time between the summer solstice and the fall equinox: June 21 through Sept. 22.

The second way is called “cultural summer.” The United States is unique in that it offers up two benchmark holidays that redefine sum-mers in America and gives us certain inherent advan-tages. Cultural summer is the 14-week period of time between Memorial Day and Labor Day and is inher-ently a week longer than an astronomical summer. This summer, due to the calendar quirk, we get an extra week on top of that.

Our cultural summers, even without the additional time, have other advantages over an astronomical sum-mer in that they capture more daylight. That is to say with the cultural sum-mer, the weeks between Memorial Day and the sum-mer solstice on June 21 offer up much longer days than on the back end, between Labor Day and the fall equi-nox on Sept. 22. Those days get progressively shorter. Besides, once Labor Day is over, our thoughts turn to fall fashion, football and falling temperatures, even though it’s still summer out.

On the flip side, those first

few weeks of June, which we count as summer here, carry with them some of the longest days of the year. A magical time of year where the sun never seems to want to set and life outdoors ex-plodes onto the scene.

This longest summer sce-nario may remind you of the classic 1960s movie “The Endless Summer,” where a couple of surfers chase summer around the globe, or more precisely, up and down the planet, hemisphere-hop-ping in search of the perfect wave and a 12-month sum-mer. This summer, here in the United States, we get the next best thing, the longest summer possible and no passport required.

There is something else that happens once in a blue moon this summer. We get two full moons in the month of July, which is rare, thus the phrase. Over the next 240 months there will be 15 blue moons. They can be defined as either the second of two full moons in a month, or the third of four in a season. Both fit for this summer no matter how you measure them. But the meaning of the phrase itself “once in a blue moon” has morphed over the years.

Originally, instead of mean-ing rare, it meant something that is absurd, right along the lines of another idiom “when pigs fly.”

So after last winter, where everything that could and as much as possible seems to have fallen out of the sky, you never know what’s going to drop out of the sky next. So after this summer ends and the leaves have fallen, after pumpkins and then turkeys have been carved and before the pigs wings ice up and they fall out of the sky too, remember the calendar also treats us to a Christmas and New Years that fall on a Friday, giving us two, true three day weekends to end the year.

But before that, if you re-ally are looking for things that actually do fall out of the sky, pay attention to mid-August and the Perseid me-teor shower. It is the best and brightest of many this sum-mer and occurs during a new moon phase, so the sky will not be moon-soaked. Just grab a blanket and let your eyes wander to the Northeast. They will average more than 60 per hour, that’s more than one per New York minute.

Richard Ilse is a resident of Stamford, Conn.

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14 • The rye ciTy review • May 29, 2015 SPORTS

my old college jersey (which I wore throughout the Sox’ miraculous comeback against the Yanks in 2004). For the Rangers, in Game 7s, it’s the Buekeboom road whites.

So I’ll break it out again on Friday, hoping that there’s enough magic left in its in-creasingly ragged threads to push the Rangers to the Stan-ley Cup Finals.

If anyone’s got a line on a case of Jolt, let me know—just in case.

Follow Mike on Twitter @LiveMike_Sports

The New York Rangers’ one-sided win over the Light-ning on May 26 means quite a few things. Most importantly, it means the Blueshirts have staved off elimination and will be playing at least one more game at Madison Square Garden this year. Secondly, it means that it’s not quite time for me to stick my lucky Jeff Beukeboom sweater in the closet for the summer just yet.

What many Ranger fans don’t realize is that behind the Rangers’ latest streak of six straight Game 7 wins isn’t just the Blueshirts’ poise or Henrik Lundqvist’s stellar big-game play in net. The most impor-tant piece of the puzzle is that a 30-year-old sportswriter from Westchester remembers to slide on the jersey of a man who hasn’t played for New

That Game 7 mojoYork since 1999 right before the opening faceoff in order to get the mojo working just right for a do-or-die elimina-tion game.

Okay, I get that it sounds silly, but you can’t argue with the results can you?

And I’m sure that if you polled the majority of sports fans in the area, at least 75 per-cent of them would have their own in-game rituals that have contributed to some pretty big wins over the years.

It’s tough to tell where this stuff starts. For me, at least, the idea of good-luck routines and superstition came from reading the stacks of books containing baseball factoids that populated my room in my youth. I would read about how Wade Boggs ate chicken before every game, or how Mo Vaughn would put his uniform on left-side first (left leg through the hole, right leg through the hole, etc.) to get ready for big games.

In an effort to emulate my

favorite stars, I too began to develop pregame rituals. Sure, I couldn’t get dressed like Big Mo (I had a hard enough time not putting my pants on back-wards, after all) but I found my own things; Jolt Cola be-fore I pitched, Starbursts be-fore football games, refusing to wash my socks when I was going through a hot-streak; these may not have been the healthiest superstitions, but they brought me some sense of control before big games, which I guess was the point.

Somewhere along the way, I just couldn’t keep up with my neuroses in my own sports career. For one thing, they dis-continued Jolt Cola—prob-ably because one bottle has enough caffeine in it to in-duce temporary ADD. But I transferred all this weird juju stuff into my sports fandom. For Giants games, I always don the jersey of a former Big Blue fullback like Jim Finn or Madison Hedgecock. For Red Sox playoff games, I break out

Sports Editor Mike Smith is planning to break out his lucky Jeff Beukeboom jersey for the Rangers’ Game 7 on Friday night. He’s hoping he hasn’t washed all the good luck out of it yet. Photo/Mike Smith

Follow Mike Smith @LiveMike_Sports stats • recaps • commentary

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We Deliver

By lAureN deMPSeyContributor

Being responsible for four senior boys in their last semester of high school can be a daunting task, but Ally Sullivan has been up for the job. Ally, a senior and one of the captains of the Rye High School crew team, is the coxswain on the men’s varsity four and has lead them to three straight New York State titles as well as three straight Youth Nation-al bids.

Ally is proud of winning three straight state titles and advancing to Nationals. Along with Ally, this year’s squad in the men’s varsity four includes Jim Palmer,

Jack Smith, Kiefer Müller and Brendan Faries. Their boat recently placed fifth in the Scholastic Nationals in Camden, N.J.

Over the past two years, Sullivan has fared well at Youth Nationals placing 14th in her sophomore year and 16th as a junior. This year’s nationals are being held in Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.

“Ally really helps to uni-fy our crew,” Müller said. “It’s easy to get caught up in your own rowing, and she brings our focus back to the boat and the team as a whole.”

Coach Stan Nelson is proud of the leadership demonstrated by Sullivan.

Ally Sullivan

“She is a great leader in the boat,” Nelson said. “Her vast experience has been a great contribution to our boat’s success.”

Because of her hard work, Ally was recruited by the College of the Holy Cross and will continue with crew there next year.

May 29, 2015 • The rye ciTy review • 15SPORTSPanthers cruise to semis

By MiKe SMiThSports Editor

After an 18-2 performance in the regular season, there was little doubt that Rye Neck’s softball team was locked in for a long playoff run. Through the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Panthers have proved just how much talent they have on the roster, out-scoring their opponents 31-1 en route to a berth in the Class C semifinals.

On May 21, the Panthers took care of their first round opponents, handily defeating Irvington 16-1 on the strength of a two-hit performance by hurler Diana King. King, who also went 3-for-4 at the plate, fanned 14 batters on the day, reaching her 700th career strikeout and 50th career win on the same afternoon.

“I think the biggest thing has been Diana’s composure,” Panther coach Joan Spedafino said. “She gets stronger as the game goes on each time.”

In fact, composure has been a big factor in all 20 of Rye Neck’s wins this year. With a deep, veteran roster, the Pan-

thers have seemed unshake-able down the stretch.

“I think when you have girls up, their first year on varsity is when they see everything,” Spedafino said. “But this team has experience, they’ve stayed calm, and on [May 21], it was their prom, and they were able to play with all of that in the

back of their minds.”Two days later, the Panthers

earned another mercy-rule win as they routed Dobbs Ferry behind a two-hit, 12 strikeout performance from King. Of-fensively, Rye Neck got a huge boost from Jackie DeCiccio who had three hits, including two home runs and four RBIs.

“[Jackie] is so powerful and she’s been working very hard on her hitting,” Spedafino said. “I’m so proud of what she has been able to do.”

Next up for the Panthers is a semifinal round showdown against North Salem, set for May 29, after press time. The Panthers have already played the Tigers once this year, beat-ing them 5-1. According to Spedafino, her squad is ex-pecting another tough test this time around. North Salem ad-vanced to the semis after get-ting a game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth inning from Hayley Donovan to bury Westlake 3-2.

“They’re a tough team and Bob Middelstadt is a great coach,” Spedafino said. “But we just have to come in and play our game, and hope for the best.”

A win for the Panthers would put them in the Class B finals, which are scheduled for May 30 at North Rockland High School.


Sam Yanuzzi connects with a pitch during Rye Neck’s win over Irvington. So far, the Panthers have outscored their playoff opponents 31-1.

Rye Neck’s Diana King throws a pitch against Irvington on May 21. In two playoff games this year, King has struck out 26 batters and allowed just one run.

A Panther player lays down a bunt on May 21. Nicole Miller slides into the plate against Irvington. Photos/Bobby Begun

rye city review 5-29-2015

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