city review-new rochelle 12-18-2015

Merry Christmas

December 18 & 25, 2015 | Vol. 3, Number 25 | www.cityreviewnr.com

A young Song Catcher shows her holiday spirit at

the city’s tree lighting event.For more, see page 6.Photo/Bobby Begun

Soundsof the

Season

2 • The city review • December 18 & 25, 2015

December 18 & 25, 2015 • The ciTy review • 3

$50M school bond scuttled by 37 votesBy SArAh vArNeyEducation Reporter

The polls closed at 9 p.m., but by 9:20, the unofficial count was in. By a margin of 37 votes, New Rochelle voters shot down Proposition 1, the nearly $50 million bond pro-posed to fix up the district’s 10 schools. The bond failed by a vote of 1,479 to 1,442. A to-tal of 2,930 people voted out of an eligible total of 43,181, according to city figures. New Rochelle has a population of approximately 80,000.

Had the bond passed, most of the 10 New Rochelle public schools would have received roof repairs, masonry repairs, door and window replacements, electrical upgrades and renova-tions to bring the schools up to date with Americans with Dis-abilities Act codes.

Proceeds from the bond were earmarked solely for maintenance.

District officials expressed shock and surprise at the out-come.

“I thought it was a no-brain-er. I really thought it was clear that the money was for essen-tial work,” said Diane Mas-simo, associate superintendent of schools.

David Lacher, a veteran of the Board of Education who is currently serving his fifth term on the board, described the de-feat as one of the lowest points of his tenure.

“This was a total shock. I’m hugely disappointed,” he said.

Those opposed to the bond complained about the timing of the vote, but elections for such measures are generally done at this time of year, Lach-er added.

James O’Toole, a former Independence Party mayoral candidate, was put off by the vote’s timing. “I thought the vote should have been in May. Also, there wasn’t enough transparency for where the money was going,” he said.

The school district distrib-uted information online and in presentations detailing which schools would be repaired,

the nature of the repairs and the amount to be spent at each campus, according to district officials.

Examining the school-by-school tally, Lacher said, “There were schools where the vote was closer than expected [including Barnard, Webster and Ward.] There were places where we thought we’d win big but we won small.”

The vote outcome at New Rochelle High School was definitely a surprise, Lacher said. There, opponents cast 204 votes against the measure, while 189 voted in favor of it. School district officials had expected a positive vote at the high school.

Ironically, the $50 million bond would have enabled the district to reap its proceeds without either an increase in the tax levy or any threat to the 2 percent statewide tax cap due to the amount of debt set to be paid off starting in 2016.

On the afternoon of Wednes-day, Dec. 16, voting machines were recanvassed and affidavit

votes were still in the process of being counted. Election re-sults will be officially certified at the Dec. 16 board of educa-

tion meeting. “You know what they say,

it’s not over, ‘til it’s over,” Jef-frey White, assistant superin-

tendent of business and admin-istration said ruefully.

cONTAcT: [email protected]

Polling Total Yes votes No votesLocation Registered by machine by machine Voters or absentee or absentee

Barnard school 3,066 204 155Columbus school 3,108 31 75Davis school 4,254 201 202Jefferson school 4,081 92 154MLK Comm. Center school 3,875 87 60NR High School 3,972 191 211Trinity school 3,700 67 84Albert Leonard school 1,501 176 75Webster school 3,214 135 101Isaac E. Young school 3,841 86 91Holy Name 3,226 49 177Ward school 2,112 106 90570 Fifth Ave. school 231 14 3

Total 43,181 1,445/49.4% 1,481/50.6%

Breakdown of school bond vote

Many of the totals at individual schools came as a big surprise to school community members. At Albert Leonard Middle School, the margin in favor of the measure was expectedly wide. “We have a lot of strong parent support there,” New Rochelle Board of Education member David Lacher said.


What’s going on...performance is appropriate for all ages, and is on a first-come, first-served basis to the capacity of the theater. For children in pre-kindergarten through grade five. This program is made pos-sible by the Friends of the New Rochelle Public Library.

New Rochelle holiday parking

In continuation of an annual tradition and to promote holiday shopping in New Rochelle, the city will offer two hours of free holiday parking in certain municipal lots. Free two-hour holiday parking in municipal lots will be in effect from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Thursday, Dec. 31. Normal parking regulations will resume on Saturday, Jan. 2. Off-street parking fees will be waived in all lots controlled by either meters or pay-by-space ma-chines, excluding the New Roc City garage, the New Rochelle Transit Center and all permit park-ing areas.

NewRoConnect

Please sign up to receive alerts and messaging through email, text and calls via the city’s Ne-wRoConnect system. Visit newrochelleny.com/NewRoConnect for more information.

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

all items to [email protected].

New Rochelle Public Library Homework HelpOn Mondays and Tuesdays from 3 p.m. to 7:30

p.m., and Wednesdays from 3 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. through Monday, Dec. 28. Steps to Success is the New Rochelle Public Library’s free homework help center for elementary and middle school stu-dents. Children in grades kindergarten to five can go to the Children’s Room on the first floor, and students in grades six to eight can go to the Teen Area on the second floor. This is a collaboration between the New Rochelle Public Library, New Rochelle Youth Bureau and Monroe College.

Make a Winter Wonderland workshop On Monday, Dec. 28 from 11 a.m. to noon in

the Huguenot Children’s Library on the lower lev-el, and from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in the Meeting Room of the main library. This workshop will guide chil-dren in creating their own magical winter wonder-land with very cool snowmen using Model Mag-ic clay. The clay is soft, clean, air dries and easy to use. Art instructor Wendy Podell provides the guidance and materials for this fun craft workshop. The workshops are limited to 25 children ages 4 and older, on a first-come, first-served basis, and are made possible by the Friends of the New Ro-chelle Public Library and the Partnership for the Huguenot Children’s Library.

Sciencetellers live showA live show of “Dragons and Dreams” by Sci-

encetellers will be presented in the Ossie Davis Theater of the main library on Tuesday, Dec. 29

from 2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. With castles, kings, a dragon keeper, an Ice Sorceress, the Horn of Fire, two villagers and a daring journey to save the en-tire kingdom, elementary school children are in-vited to enjoy this spectacular adventure. The sci-ence of fire and ice is revealed through a tale of “Dragons and Dreams” and experiments of flash paper, exploding bottles, “cool” dry ice and much more. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis to the 138-seat capacity of the theater. For children in pre-kindergarten through grade five. This pro-gram is made possible by the Friends of the New Rochelle Public Library.

Brown Bag Book DiscussionsOn Wednesday, Dec. 30 from noon to 1:30 p.m.

in the Conference Room on the second floor at the main library. For adults. Bring your lunch and join in the librarian-led discussion. This discussion will focus on “Andrew’s Brain” by E. L. Doctorow. Copies of the book are available at the Registra-tion Desk.

Remarkable RenaldoWitness the juggling, pranks, magic and hu-

mor of Remarkable Renaldo when the ringmaster clown of Circus Renaldo performs in the Ossie Davis Theater of the main library on Wednesday, Dec. 30 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Renaldo has per-formed with the leading circuses around the world, including Big Apple Circus, Toronto’s Garden Brothers Circus, England’s Zippo’s Circus, Sea-World in Florida and Circus Sarasota. This free

The New Rochelle Public Library and the Hu-guenot Children’s Library will close at noon on Christmas Eve, Thursday, Dec. 24 and will be closed all day on Friday, Dec. 25 for Christmas. The libraries will resume regular operating hours on Saturday, Dec. 26.

The libraries will close at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 31 for New Year’s Eve, and will be closed all day on Friday, Jan. 1 for New Year’s Day. The libraries will resume regular operating hours on Saturday, Jan. 2.

Visit nrpl.org for more information on events and programs at both libraries over the winter break.

Needlework workshopOn Saturday, Dec. 19 from 10:30 a.m. to noon

in the Community Gallery on the first floor at the main library. A drop-in crafts activity for adults. Rosalie Hollingsworth and Minnie Speciale will help beginners to experts with crocheting, knitting and other needlework projects.


Westchester County Execu-tive Rob Astorino joined with New York Rangers alumnus Adam Graves, Friends of West-chester County Parks and the Westchester County Parks De-partment at Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla on Friday, Nov. 27 to celebrate opening day of West-chester’s Winter Wonderland with a 27-foot Christmas tree lighting ceremony and special holiday celebration.

“I am proud to say that West-chester’s Winter Wonderland is here to stay,” Astorino said. “Thanks to all the wonderful partners, sponsors and of course, the county’s outstanding parks staff, Kensico Dam Plaza has once again been transformed into a magical place for winter-time fun. I encourage everyone to check out all the exciting at-tractions at Westchester’s new-est signature event. It’s a perfect way to get family and friends outdoors and into the holiday spirit.”

To pay tribute to the event’s presenting sponsor, Westchester Medical Center, Astorino invited Victoria Ricotta, a former patient

at Maria Fareri Children’s Hos-pital, and her family to light the tree with him.

Thanks to a new partnership with the New York Rangers, the event will feature a Rockefell-er Center-size ice rink called “RangersTown” as a nod to the RangersTown Hockey House in front of Madison Square Garden. Ranger alumnus Adam Graves attended the celebration to par-ticipate in a special children’s “Try Hockey for Free” session sponsored by the team. To add to the fan experience, the Rangers will also provide special perks each Friday, Saturday and Sun-day night for guests to enjoy, in-cluding special hockey sessions with Rangers alumni and photo opportunities with the Rangers’ player bench, field marketing vehicle and mobile brand experi-ence. The team will also offer at-tendees an opportunity to enter a drawing to win exclusive Rang-ers prizes and giveaways.

A new lineup of fun, family-friendly entertainment, includ-ing visits with Santa Claus, circus performers, carolers and storytellers, are scheduled to

take place in a new, heated tent on specific days throughout the event.

New general admission pric-ing is $15 per person, which al-lows unlimited access to amuse-ment rides, ice skating and rent-als, and visits with Santa Claus. Children ages 5 and under are free. Friends of Westchester County Parks helped develop Westchester’s Winter Wonder-land with the county parks de-partment, while also advocating and investing in Westchester County’s 18,000 acres of parks and open space.

“From the beginning, West-chester’s Winter Wonderland was designed to bring people to enjoy our beautiful Kensico Dam Park and celebrate the spirit of the season,” said Joanne Fer-nandez, board chairperson for Friends of Westchester County Parks. “We invite everyone to join and create a memorable hol-iday experience close to home.”

The event is presented by Westchester Medical Center, sponsored by Friends of West-chester County Parks and pro-duced by Westchester County

Winter Wonderland opens for the season

Department of Parks, Recre-ation and Conservation. Event sponsors include the New York Rangers, Yonkers Kia, Con Edison, Party Line Rentals and Robison Oil.

Westchester’s Winter Won-

derland will run through Sun-day, Jan. 3. Now through Dec. 20, the event will be open Fri-days and Saturdays from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Sundays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Beginning Mon-day, Dec. 21, the program will

be open weekdays and Sun-days from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. For more in-formation or to purchase tickets, visit wwinterwonderland.com. (Submitted)

From left, Danielle Ricotta, Michael Ricotta, Alfred Ricotta, Victoria Ricotta, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and Santa Claus stand in front of the Christmas tree at Westchester’s Winter Wonderland on Friday, Nov. 27. Victoria, whose life was saved two years ago by the expert care of doctors and nurses at Westchester Medical Center’s Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, helped light the tree. Contributed photo


New rochelle gets ready for the holidays

Rob Marrone, executive director of the New Rochelle Chamber of Commerce, welcomes the large crowd of New Rochelleans at the Annual Holiday Lighting.

New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson thanks the audience for attending and states how proud he is of the city.

Rabbi Emeritus Wohl gives his blessings and prayers at the city’s holiday event.

On Dec. 3, Santa gives out a little bit of cheer and gifts to children who have been good all year.

Santa Claus finally arrives to spread cheer, joy and hope to all.

St. Gabriel’s Sister Beth leads The Song Catchers choral group in downtown New Rochelle during the tree lighting event on Thursday, Dec. 3. Photos/Bobby Begun

Santa is distributing his gifts as fast as he can at New Rochelle’s tree lighting ceremony.

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Children flock to hug Santa Claus at New Rochelle’s annual tree lighting ceremony.


The first professional pro-duction of Disney’s “Tarzan” in Westchester is unlike anything you’ll see this holiday season.

Complete casting has been announced for the White Plains Performing Arts Center’s up-coming mainstage production of “Tarzan, The Stage Musical,” which will run from Dec. 18 to Jan. 10.

The show not only features performers from all over the country, but also showcases the talents of many Westchester na-tives. Jeremy Quinn of Yonkers will direct the production with music direction by Stephen Ferri of Harrison and choreog-raphy by Lexie Fennell Frare of Nyack. The cast features West-chester residents Kyle Arzaga of Chappaqua as Young Terk; Melanie Burg of Hartsdale in the Ensemble; Jenna Dallacco of Irvington/Greenburgh as Jane; and Jesse Goodman of Mahopac as Young Tarzan.

These local performers are joined by Nicolas Baumgartner as Clayton; Korie Lee Blossey as Kerchak; Jake Bridges as

Snipes; Ben Carlson, Darius Jordan Lee, Steven Liberto, Shawn W. Smith, Jeremy Swift and Marek Zurowski in the Male Ensemble; Jessica Crilley, Deanna Giulietti, Melissa Rose Hirsch, Annie Nelson and Mela-nie Porras in the Female Ensem-ble; Toby Miller as Professor Porter; Jennifer Theriot as Kala; Cartreze Tucker as Terk; Max Albert Vivino as Young Tarzan; Kyle Wolf as Young Terk; and Chris Stevens as Tarzan.

“Tarzan” features heart-pumping music by Grammy and Oscar-winning icon Phil Collins and a book by Tony Award-winning playwright Da-vid Henry Hwang.

“In this day and age of con-stant human brutality and trag-edy, the story of ‘Tarzan’ re-minds us of what’s really im-portant, especially at the holi-days—the unconditional love of true family, whether biological or chosen. And although we all look different, under the skin we are just the same. Disney’s ‘Tarzan’ is victorious in bring-ing to the stage a well-known

story with unforgettable melo-dies and heart-pumping music perfect for the entire family,” Quinn said.

Based on the smash hit Dis-ney animated film, “Tarzan” tells the story of an infant boy orphaned in a shipwreck on the shores of West Africa. The child is taken in and raised by a tribe of gorillas. He becomes a man, thriving in this environment, until the arrival of a hunting expedition, when he becomes aware of the world beyond his jungle home. “Tarzan” features high-flying excitement and hits like the Academy Award-win-ning “You’ll Be in My Heart” as well as “Son of Man” and “Two Worlds,” making it an unforget-table theatrical experience.

“Tarzan, The Stage Musical” will play the White Plains Per-forming Arts Center from Dec. 18-20: Friday at 7 p.m.; Satur-day at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Sun-day at 2 p.m.; from Dec. 26-30: Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m.; Monday and Tuesday at 7 p.m.; Wednesday at 2 p.m.; and from Jan. 2-10:

Westchester residents feature in ‘Tarzan’ musical

Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m.; and Friday at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 to $47. A $135 Family Four Pack—two adults and two kids—is avail-able for the 7 p.m. performances on Dec. 18, 19, 26, 28 and 29.

White Plains Performing

Arts Center is located on the third level of City Center off Mamaroneck Avenue and Main Street in downtown White Plains. For tickets, visit the box office Monday to Friday from 11 a.m.to 6 p.m., purchase tickets online at wppac.com or

call 328-1600. For group sales, please email [email protected]. “Tarzan” is recommended for audiences ages 6 and older. All persons entering the theatre, regardless of age, must have a ticket. Visit wppac.com for more information. (Submitted)

Image courtesy sabroadwayacademy.org


County and Latino U help students with collegeWestchester County is partner-

ing with Latino U College Access to help first-generation Latino students navigate the complex process of applying for state and federal financial aid for college. The effort is designed to help La-tino students and their families overcome language and financial barriers to attending college.

“We are proud to partner with Latino U on these vital programs for first-generation [Latino] stu-dents,” Westchester County Ex-ecutive Rob Astorino said. “For every family, the first to go to college is an achievement that has a tremendous impact for fu-ture generations to come. With this effort, we are helping stu-dents realize the dream of grad-uating from college.”

Latino U College Access of-fers several programs, paired with Spanish-language com-munity information sessions that support Latino students and their families who are preparing to go to college, including essay writing boot camp, SAT/ACT preparation classes, college coaching and mentoring and FAFSA First!, a program that helps students apply for college tuition assistance.

In October, FAFSA First! was recognized by the White House Initiative on Educational Excel-lence for Hispanics for making a meaningful contribution to in-crease and support educational outcomes for Latinos by im-

proving their access to financial aid. The program is currently scheduled to run at these times and places:

•Jan. 17, 1 p.m. at the White Plains Public Library (open to all)•Feb.. 2, 7 p.m. at Ossining High School (for OHS students only)•Feb. 4, 7 p.m. at White Plains High School (for WPHS stu-dents only)•Feb. 9, 7 p.m. at Sleepy Hol-low High School (for SHHS students only)•Feb. 27, 10 a.m. at Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry (open to all)

Students who complete the FAFSA form could be eligible for Pell grants of up to $5,775 per year and subsidized student loans with no interest while they are enrolled in college. Students who complete the NY TAP form and attend college in New York could be eligible to receive up to $5,165 per year of state aid in addition to their federal grants.

Shirley Acevedo Buontempo, founder of Latino U College Ac-cess, said failing to complete a FAFSA form is a fundamental barrier to attaining a college degree. Latino youth, many of whom are first in their family to go to college, have no help completing financial aid forms and lack financial literacy and information about applying for financial aid.

“Through our commitment, we are helping to improve the educational attainment of [Lati-no] youth in Westchester Coun-ty by supporting their college dreams so that they may fulfill their academic potential and en-sure the success of future gen-erations,” Buontempo said.

Provided the resources to ap-ply for federal and state finan-cial aid, Latino first-generation students will be able to better afford to complete a full-time, four-year college program. Ac-cording to a 2014 Pew Research Center report, Latino college enrollment among high school graduates age 18-24 surpasses white students 49 percent to 47 percent. However, Latino col-lege students are less likely than their white counterparts to en-roll in a four-year college, less likely to be enrolled in college full time, and less likely to com-plete a bachelor’s degree.

In January 2015, Astorino an-nounced a three-year contract with Latino U College Access as part of the Westchester County Youth Bureau’s Invest-In-Kids program.

Latino U College Access projects reaching 2,000 families with FAFSA First! over the next three years. More than 10,000 Latino students, including a sig-nificant first-generation popula-tion, attend school in the four participating school districts. (Submitted)

Boys & Girls Club opens art exhibitVisual arts programming at

the Boys & Girls Club of Ne Ro-chelle, BGCNR, takes on a new meaning. Each month, new art forms are introduced and taught by local artists. As Director of Operations Eric Woodlin notes, “At BGCNR, we embrace creativ-ity and self-expression, and en-courage all club members to ex-perience art locally and globally.”

Starting in December, club members are participating in an art project called “Creative Collage: Imagine!” Ceramic artist, teacher and President of the Clay Art Center Judith We-ber instructs club members on a storytelling and collage work-

shop that encourages members to imagine.

“Club members learn to tell a story, express a wish, relate a dream and share that informa-tion through the creation of a collage...the choice of subject is totally individualized, asking members to think about a topic that is not real, but one he or she is excited by,” Weber said.

Members’ collages are cre-ated from magazines, printed material, photographs, collected images, and enhanced by col-lected items. The resulting work is accompanied by the members’ story so the final work can be experienced in context.

The first monthly art exhib-it will begin on Dec. 18 and will run through Dec. 20 at the Remington Clubhouse Gallery located at 116 Guion Place in New Rochelle, with the en-trance and parking on Prince Street. Exhibit hours are Friday, Dec. 18 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 19 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and a closing recep-tion on Sunday Dec. 20 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information on monthly art exhibits or to be-come a BGCNR resident teach-ing artist, contact Eric Woodlin at [email protected] or call 235-3736. (Submitted)

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Smart Schools money to be spent on security, techBy SArAh vArNeyEducation Reporter

Over the next five years, the New Rochelle City School Dis-trict will spend its $3.5 million allotment from the 2014 Smart Schools Bond Act primarily on upgrading security at school lo-cations, incorporating new hard-ware into classroom settings and increasing accessibility and speed for the WiFi network.

Under the Smart Schools Bond Act, SSBA, school dis-tricts are allocated money to be spent on technology, pre-kinder-garten space, security equipment and additional space to replace temporary classrooms. Each school district was allocated a percentage of the total aid it receives from the state based on a state formula that uses a 2012-2013 baseline. In West-chester County, the only school district allotted more than New Rochelle’s was Yonkers’ with $23.9 million.

Security upgrades made to the New Rochelle district will in-clude new surveillance cameras, servers to make video data feeds more useful and upgrades to the main door entry control system.

Under the school district’s technology plan, Internet band-width between schools will in-crease from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps, but network improvements won’t end there.

For students, particularly at New Rochelle High School, the most welcome technology improvement will likely be the addition of nearly 1,000 WiFi hotspot boosters that will en-able more reliable Internet ac-cess. Networking improvements including outside plant costs, internal connections and compo-nents, professional services and testing will total $1.71 million of the SSBA pie.

Hardware is also a big part of the New Rochelle plan; SS-BA’s funds will also go toward

purchasing 2,264 new Chrome-books for students at New Ro-chelle High School.

“We will have 40 classrooms in the high school with 30 Chromebooks on carts for each one,” said Dr. Christine Cole-man, the City of New Rochelle’s director of technology.

Hardware additions will also include 30 new computers for each of the 20 classrooms at Al-bert Leonard and Isaac E. Young middle schools.

The Chromebooks will be purchased for either the 2016-2017 or 2017-2018 school years, depending on when the project is approved by the New York State Education Department and the amount of budget cycles over which the local school board de-cides to purchase the units, ac-cording to Coleman.

One of the primary reasons for the district’s hardware push is the New York Board of Re-gents move to computerized testing via the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. PARCC, a multi-state consortium, is

leading the move for students in grades three through eight to take the standardized annual English Language Arts and Math Concepts exams on computers. But the immediacy of that ef-fort is unclear right now. While the Board of Regents originally mandated schools be ready to implement PARCC testing for the 2014-2015 school year, that deadline has not been enforced, and a new one has not yet been set.

In addition to the $703,798 al-located to buying Chromebooks for the New Rochelle schools, the district will be required to spend the same amount on another 2,264 Chromebooks for 10 non-public schools within New Ro-chelle. Under the SSBA, schools are required to “lend” to non-pub-lic schools an equivalent number of “classroom technology” items such as individual computers.

Under SSBA rules, school plans for their allocations must be in line with existing technol-ogy plans.


• Security upgrades-cameras, servers, access control [$399K]

• Expanded WiFi access—addition of 969 access points [$1.7M]

• Addition of 4,500 Dell Chromebook 11 laptops [$1.4M]

Over the next five years, the New Rochelle City School District will continue to expand its network, including the provision of neighborhood WiFi access around certain schools. For example, WiFi access to students is available in a half-mile radius around the Columbus Elementary School. Technology upgrades will be implemeted every five years instead of every seven years.

New Rochelle Smart Schools Bond Act Expenditures:

New Rochelle High School, pictured, will receive 2,264 Chromebooks as a result of funding through the 2014 Smart Schools Bond Act. File photo


By ANGeLA JOrDANStaff Writer

On Dec. 7, The College of New Rochelle announced that it will begin admitting male stu-dents to the School of Arts & Sci-ences in the fall of 2016.

The decision is meant to re-flect changes in the atmosphere of higher education from the time the school was founded to now, according to a letter co-signed by Judith Huntington, the college’s president, and Eliza-beth LeVaca, chairwoman of the school’s board of trustees.

“The college was founded in 1904 by the Ursuline Sisters as the first Catholic college for women in New York state,” the letter states. “At The College of New Rochelle, the Ursulines challenged society’s prevailing attitudes of the time by providing access to the trans-formative power of education to women who did not have the same opportunity as their fathers and brothers.”

The move to include male stu-dents in the school was deliberated on by the school’s board of trust-

CNR to go full coed after a century-plusees and the vote was unanimous, according to school officials.

The School of Arts & Sciences is currently the last of the single-sex programs at the college. The School of Nursing, the School of New Resources and the Gradu-ate School have all been coedu-cational since the early 1970s.

There are about 4,000 stu-dents enrolled in all four schools at the College of New Rochelle, but the School of Arts & Scienc-es is relatively small, currently serving only about 270 women.

In the letter, LeVaca and Huntington explained that the decision to become fully coedu-cational was a calculated, pra- gmatic one.

“Market analysis indicates that fewer than 5 percent of high school women will consider applying to single-gender col-leges,” said the letter. “In fact, in a recent survey of freshman at CNR, almost 90 percent indi-cated that the School of Arts & Sciences being all women did not enter into their enrollment decision.”

Despite the statistical backing

of this choice and the confidence with which it was made, the president of the college said on “Conversations with Amy Bass,” a weekly radio show on WVOX in New Rochelle, that it was not an easy conclusion to come to.

“Even though this conversa-tion dates back to 1968, it still feels like big news because it’s a tradition and a value that we’ve held onto for 111 years,” Hun-tington said. “And so while it’s very exciting, there’s also a sense of sadness and loss that has to be acknowledged.”

According to Claudia Benitez, a current business and econom-ics senior, Huntington has also been very reassuring to the stu-dents, telling them that the deci-sion will not be as drastic as they might think.

“Our president has really been letting us know that we don’t ex-pect to see an inflow of 100 men coming in, and there suddenly being an imbalance to what our school was,” Benitez said. “And there’s a lot of data that shows that schools that have gone from all-female to [coed] don’t ever

really go 50/50, and that it’s mostly 70 percent women and 30 percent men.”

Overall, Benitez said that she is optimistic about the decision, and thinks it will be better for the school.

“I think having men on cam-pus will be great,” she said. “And I think that giving men an educa-tion from a school with a back-ground in women’s education is important too, for our society.”

Huntington did say, howev-er, that the decision to go coed raised some concerns with the School of Arts & Sciences up-perclassmen and alumnae.

Lisa Besseghini Winjum grad-

uated from the College of New Rochelle in 1986 and has served as the Class Fund Agent, a role reserved for an alumna of the college who helps raise money for the school’s annual fund. Besseghini Winjum is resigning from this position in light of this decision.

“I don’t speak for all alumni,” Besseghini Winjum said. “But many of us feel that the college handled it quite poorly. I believe that women’s colleges provide unique opportunities for leader-ship for women, they provide great academic environments to really build women’s confidence and leadership skills, and you

can’t get those in a coed school.”In addition to being opposed

to the decision, Besseghini Win-jum said that the school did a poor job of consulting the alum-nae, and felt that their opinions on the matter were never really considered.

“It was not a dialogue, it was a sales pitch,” she said.

Now that the entire campus is set to become coeducational, school officials have also indi-cated that there are plans to intro-duce men’s basketball and swim-ming to the college’s NCAA Division III athletics program.


Beginning in September, the College of New Rochelle will allow males into its School of Arts & Sciences. The college was founded in 1904 as the first Catholic college for women in New York state. Photo/Angela Jordan

The College of New Rochelle’s School of Arts & Sciences is the last of the schools on campus to become coeducational since the early 1970s. File photo


Area school supts. upbeat on 2016-17 budgetBy SArAh vArNey

Staff Writer

An impromptu Nov. 19 meeting of assorted Westches-ter school superintendents, board of education members and New York State Speaker of the House Carl Heastie, a Bronx Democrat, left the 21 attendees hopeful on several fronts, including the possible increase in state aid for school funding for the 2016-2017 school year.

The meeting was organized by Assemblyman Steven Otis, a Rye Democrat, who said that the goal of the meeting was to provide a forum for a thought-ful discussion. “Education is-sues are so important to all of the areas that I represent,” said Otis, who lauded Heastie for taking 90 minutes to meet with the group.

During the meeting, Heast-ie told attendees that the Gap Elimination Adjustment, GEA, that first took effect dur-ing the 2010-2011 school year would possibly be eradicated

for the 2018-2019 school year. The GEA was a last-minute mandate to close a state bud-get shortfall by proportion-ally decreasing state aid to schools. Positioned originally as a one-year emergency mea-sure, the annual reductions have remained in place. Sev-eral Westchester school dis-tricts are owed as much as $3 million.

During the meeting, Heastie also addressed decreasing the percentage by which standard-ized test scores for the yearly statewide English Language Arts and Math Concepts ex-ams influence teacher evalua-tions and salaries.

The weighing percent-age had been set at 40 since 2010, but last January, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, announced his desire to raise it to 50 percent. Adoption of the Annual Professional Per-formance Review and the Common Core standards was required for states to qualify for Race to the Top, RTTT, funding. RTTT grew out of

the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law, but was funded in 2009 with $97.4 billion doled out by the U.S. Department of Education. The education de-partment received those funds as part of the American Re-covery and Reinvestment Act that President Obama signed in 2009.

Now Heastie and other Al-bany-elected officials indicate that Cuomo’s previously-ex-pressed views have changed, and some state representatives have even discussed abolish-ing the weighted percentage altogether.

Cuomo has largely left the percentage level up to the state Board of Regents to deter-mine. A Common Core Task Force the governor called to-gether in February should re-lease its report soon, Otis said.

Still Cuomo’s turnabout is unexpected.

“I was surprised that [Cuo-mo] has taken such a radically opposite position. He went from 50 to zero,” Superinten-dent of Rye City Schools Dr.

Various Westchester school district officials who were able to meet with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Bronx Democrat, included school board members, superintendents and representatives from Board of Cooperative Education Services and the Lower Hudson Education Coalition. Photo courtesy Judy Weiner

Frank Alvarez said. Alvarez added that he was very pleased with the meeting.

Judith Weiner, legislative director of the Lower Hudson Education Coalition in Elms-

ford, echoed Alvarez’s cau-tious optimism.

“[Heastie] was very care-ful not to promise us anything, but he did say that he thought we would be very pleased with

this year’s budget and that there would be major changes in testing that would work in our favor,” Weiner said.


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Index No. 50563/2015 Date Filed: 11/17/2015SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER,

SUPPLEMENTAL Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., SUMMONS AND NOTICE

Plaintiff, -against-Blair Cohen, Individually and on behalf of the Estate of Harold Cohen a/k/a Harold R. Cohen; Alexis Cohen a/k/a Alexis Cohen Trinidad, if she be living or if she be dead, her spouse, heirs, devisees, distributees and

successors in interest, all of whom and whose names and places of residence are unknown to Plaintiff; Any unknown heirs, devisees, distributees or successors in interest of the late Harold Cohen a/k/a Harold R. Cohen,

if they be living or, if they be dead, their spouses, heirs, devisees, distributees and successors in interest, all of whom and whose names and places of residence are unknown to the Plaintiff; Roger Cohen a/k/a Roger

Adam Cohen; Virginia Federal Savings Bank; The United States of America acting through The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; State of New York, “JOHN DOE”, said name being fictitious, it being the

intention of Plaintiff to designate any and all occupants of premises being foreclosed herein, and any parties, corporations or entities, if any, having or claiming an interest or lien upon the mortgaged premises, Defendants.

PROPERTY ADDRESS: 4 Upland Road, New Rochelle, NY 10804

TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your an-swer, or a notice of appearance on the attorneys for the Plaintiff within thirty (30) days after the service of

this summons, exclusive of the day of service. The United States of America, if designated as a defendant in this action, may appear within sixty (60) days of service hereof. In case of your failure to appear or answer,

judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the complaint.

TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS: The foregoing Summons is served upon you by publication pur-suant to an Order of the Hon. Charles D. Wood, a Justice of the Supreme Court, Westchester County, dat-ed Nov. 13, 2015 and filed with the complaint and other papers in the Westchester County Clerk’s Office.

NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT THE OBJECT of the above captioned action is to foreclose a Mortgage to secure $915,000.00 and interest, recorded in the Westchester County Clerk’s Office on November 9, 2010, in Control Number 502853316 covering premises known as 4 Upland Road, New Rochelle, NY 10804 a/k/a Section 5, Block 1815, Lot 16. The relief sought in the within action is a fi-nal judgment directing the sale of the premises described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage

described above. Plaintiff designates Westchester County as the place of trial. Venue is based upon the County in which the mortgaged premises is situated.

NOTICE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME: IF YOU DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS SUMMONS

AND COMPLAINT BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE MORTGAGE COMPANY WHO FILED THIS FORECLOSURE PROCEEDING AGAINST YOU AND FILING THE ANSWER

WITH THE COURT, A DEFAULT JUDGMENT MAY BE ENTERED AND YOU CAN LOSE YOUR HOME. SPEAK TO AN ATTORNEY OR GO TO THE COURT WHERE YOUR CASE IS PENDING FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION ON HOW TO ANSWER THE SUMMONS AND PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY.

SENDING A PAYMENT TO YOUR MORTGAGE COMPANY WILL NOT STOP THIS FORECLOSURE ACTION.YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF

(MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT.Dated: Oct. 5, 2015

Frank-M. Cassara, Esq. Senior Associate AttorneySHAPIRO, DICARO & BARAK, LLC — Attorneys for Plaintiff175 Mile Crossing Boulevard, Rochester, New York 14624

(585) 247-9000 #87108

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improve their appearance. The paint used may be combustible and could be hazardous as well. When in doubt, ask the seller if they sell painted trees.

•Have the merchant saw off an inch or two from the trunk of the tree to help keep the tree fresh for longer at home. Also, if your tree is left outside, placing the trunk in a bucket of water will help keep it fresh.

•When disposing of a tree, do not leave it inside a home or building; do not place it against the exterior of a home or build-ing. In both cases, the tree is likely dried out and thus poses an increased fire hazard.

When choosing holiday deco-rations and lighting:•When possible, choose deco-

rations made with flame-resis-tant, flame-retardant or non-combustible materials. Look for these designations on the prod-uct’s packaging.

•Purchase lights and electrical decorations stamped with the name or symbol of an indepen-dent testing lab—for example, “UL” or Underwriters Labora-tories—and always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for installation and maintenance.

•Carefully inspect new and previously used light strands. Look for frayed cables and re-place any damaged or missing bulbs before plugging lights in.

•Do not overload extension cords, power strips and electri-cal outlets.

•When using power cords to illuminate outdoor displays, en-sure that they are designated for external or outdoor use only—never use power cords that are meant for indoor use. This infor-mation is usually indicated on

the product’s packaging. •Turn lights off overnight. If

possible, use a timer device to turn your lights off automatical-ly. This not only lessens the risk of fire, but saves on your energy bills as well.

If you light holiday candles or candelabras (menorahs, win-dow candles, etc.):•Keep lighted candles and can-

delabras at least one foot away from any combustible materials. Do not place candles anywhere near window curtains, furniture, wrapped gifts or anything else that could ignite.

•Place candles and cande-labras where they cannot be knocked down or tipped or blown over. If possible, keep the candle inside a weighted holder or one with a wide base.

•Extinguish a candle before it burns to within two inches of its holder.

•Never leave a lighted candle unattended—extinguish a can-dle before leaving the room.

•Discourage the use of candles in bedrooms and other areas where you may fall asleep.

•Store matches and lighters in high places, out of the reach of children, and ideally inside a locked cabinet.

•Consider using battery-pow-ered candles instead; if using electrical, plug-in candles, fol-low manufacturers’ instructions.

For more information, visit the National Fire Protection As-sociation’s website at nfpa.org.

Founded in 1872, the Fire-men’s Association of the State of New York represents the inter-ests of the more than 90,000 vol-unteer firefighters in New York state. For more information, vis-it fasny.com. (Submitted)

RHyMes WitH cRaZy

Lenore Skenazy

esZy

Lenore Skenazy

We don’t have to fear after San Bernardino

In the wake of the San Ber-nardino shootings, The New York Times ran an article titled, “I Think About It Daily: Life in a Time of Mass Shootings.”

But is this true? Have we real-ly all become convinced that we are under constant threat? Seems to me that since 9/11, we’ve learned what we’re made of; if not sterner stuff, then at least more rational stuff, and we know that violence is random and rare.

Yes, rare. Especially here. Let’s talk about local crime for a sec.

In New York City, as in most of the country, crime peaked around 1993 and has been go-ing down pretty steadily since then. In 1990, there were 2,245 murders in the city. Last year, the number here was 333.

That’s an amazing drop. But what about this very

instant? Isn’t crime sudden-ly “surging,” as the headlines suggest?

The Brennan Center for Jus-tice at the New York University School of Law crunched the numbers we’re hearing about. It found that while the murder rate is projected to go up 11 per-cent in America’s 30 largest cit-ies this year—which does sound alarming—the numbers are still far lower than 10 or even five years ago. Here in New York, the projected number of murders by year-end is 357.

That is sad, of course. But

as the report notes, “in absolute terms, murder rates are so low in many cities now that even an in-crease or decrease of just a few occurrences can cause a large change in percentage terms.”

For instance, if one person in a million dies from a deadly spider bite and the next year two people die this weird, icky way, that’s a 100 percent increase. But it’s not as if deadly spiders are taking over America (yet!).

The picture gets clearer if we think in terms of deaths per 100,000. “In 1990, there were 29.3 murders per 100,000 resi-dents,” the Brennan Center re-ports, citing FBI and police sta-tistics. “In 2000, there were 13.8 murders per 100,000. Now there are 9.9 per 100,000.”

So while “Murder Rate Up!” makes for a best-selling head-line, “Americans Far Safer Than They Were 20, 10, and Even 5 Years Ago!” is just as true.

When I spent 14 years at the New York Daily News, my edi-tor would sometimes remind me that people read the paper be-cause “they want to know what can kill them.”

But that’s not precisely the case. No one is writing thumb-suckers about the fear of heart disease. Only the most shocking and unpredictable deaths get this kind of treatment. And these rein-force the idea that simply by step-ping out of your home—or, God forbid, letting your CHILD step out of the home—death beckons.

The Times chose to reinforce the idea that not only are we all panicking about mass shootings, but that this dread is normal and

perhaps even sensible after the California and Colorado mur-ders. It did this by surveying the public with an online question: “How often, if ever, do you think about the possibility of a shoot-ing in your daily life?”

Naturally, the people who answered are those for whom this question resonates: those apparently crippled by an all-consuming fear of random vio-lence. “I would say I think about the possibility of a shooting in my life regularly,” wrote one 15-year-old.

The parents who responded sounded even more terrified. They wrote things like, “The oldest of my three children is in kindergarten. They have lock-down drills. I imagine the fear and chaos of a school shooting. The children, my son, the life and love that can be taken away. How will I live with myself if something happens to them? I’m so scared.”

And another: “Is this the day? Will a shooter pick my daugh-ter’s school because it only has one access road? What will she be thinking as she cowers in a closet? Or under a desk? Will she be crying for me?”

The odds are overwhelmingly no. She will go about her day and take her math test.

Crime is at a historic low. We are lucky to be living in such safe times. Until we embrace re-ality instead of the headlines, we will not be able to enjoy life or let our kids outside.

That is a tragedy.


FASNY provides life-saving holiday tipsTrees, lights, candles: check

your holiday safety list—twice! The holiday season has begun to bustle. People are celebrating, decorating with lights, putting up Christmas trees, lighting candles and preparing special meals. The Firemen’s Association of the State of New York, FASNY, would like to remind all New Yorkers of the safety hazards associated with festivities this time of the year, and to follow a few simple tips to ensure a happy and safe holiday.

“These tips should be at the top of every holiday list,” said FASNY President Robert Mc-Conville. “For safety’s sake, please check older electric light strands for frayed wiring or bro-ken bulbs; keep candles away from combustible materials such as curtains; and continually hy-drate your Christmas tree so it doesn’t dry out. We see more and more fires happening dur-ing the holidays, so we urge you to follow this advice to enjoy a happy, festive time while keep-ing your home and family safe.”

According to the National Fire Protection Association, NFPA, between 2007 and 2011, fire departments in the United States responded to more than 10,000 house fires that were caused by candles. An additional 230 house fires in that same pe-riod can be traced to dry and/or poorly-wired Christmas trees. Nearly half of all fires during the holiday season are started be-cause decorations are placed too close to a heat source.

FASNY and the NFPA offer the following safety tips.

When choosing a Christmas tree:•Check a tree for dryness while

at the seller’s lot: shake the trunk above a light-colored surface and watch for falling needles. If too many dry needles fall, choose a fresher tree. A locally-grown tree from New York may be fresher than one brought in from out of state.

•Avoid trees with an artifi-cial-looking green tint on the branches or trunk. These trees may have been spray-painted to

14 • The city review • December 18 & 25, 2015 SPORTS

liVe MiKeMike Smith

Follow Mike Smith @LiveMike_Sports stats • recaps • commentary

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

To CoVER loCal spoRTs, you nEEd a

LIVE MIKE!

Speaking as a former high school student who happened to attend the occasional winter sporting contest, I have to ad-mit: today’s high school fans are weird.

Now, perhaps it’s just me showing my age or document-ing my not-so-slow descent into old fogey-ism, but I’m honestly at a loss when it comes to the youth of today—and their be-havior at sporting events.

On Dec. 11, I traveled to Bronxville to watch the Broncos take on cross-town rival Tucka-hoe in an early-season meet-ing between the two teams. As expected, Broncos fans filled the bleachers to cheer on their young, talented squad. But even as someone who’s seen his share of student sections in his life, the thing that struck me about

Fathead fandomthis particular group wasn’t the chants or the attire; it was the props.

In addition to a stick horse, which honestly isn’t that odd considering the nickname of the sports team, Broncos fans also came brandishing a number of fatheads, or cardboard cutouts that have seen a proliferation at sporting events in recent years.

But while the fatheads seen in many sports arenas, espe-cially on the collegiate level, generally depict the coaches or players actually appearing in the games, the ones I saw at Bronx-ville—especially the likenesses of Donald Trump and WWE star John Cena—threw me for a loop.

Why Trump? Cena? What did it mean?

Hours after the game, I found my mind repeatedly drifting back to those questions. In fact, I ended up giving it much more thought than I did the perfor-mance of either team.

As a high school student, I was no stranger to the ironic use of pop culture icons. I mean, my entire campaign for junior class vice president was essentially an excuse for me to paper the hallways with images of Mr. T and Welsh crooner Tom Jones. But I never would have thought to repurpose these images for a sporting event.

I mean, our idea of being clev-er sports fans was simply hurling insults at the opposing team’s point guard until the assistant principal threatened to have a word or two with our parents.

But I guess this is a different world.

Every Saturday during the college football season, ESPN’s College Gameday crew seeks out the most inventive signs they can find at their host’s campus. Soccer fans in Europe toil for hours to create meticulous di-oramas about their opponents that would likely be censored on American television.

Bronxville fans cheer on their basketball team with the aid of some props on Dec. 11. Sports Editor Mike Smith may not understand all the nuances of high school sports fandom, but he applauds the effort. Photo/Mike Smith

So maybe, for sports fans, embracing absurdism is the log-ical next step. I applaud them

for it, I admire it, but I’m also glad I’ve outgrown it.

It seems awfully exhausting. Follow Mike on Twitter

@LiveMike_Sports

December 18 & 25, 2015 • The ciTy review • 15SPORTS

New Ro falls in OTBy MiKe SMiThSports Editor

On Dec. 11, New Rochelle squared off against a solid North Rockland team in an early-sea-son battle between two Class AA powers with aspirations of a trip to the County Center this year. The game proved to be a competitive affair, as the Red Raiders edged the hosts 63-61 in overtime. For the Huguenots, and first-year head coach Robert Bynum, the game should serve as an early test as the team looks to find its footing before league play ramps up.

Trailing 59-56 with just 41 seconds to play last Friday, North Rockland guard Gabby Cajou netted a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime. Cajou would finish the game with 19 points and also hit the game-winning layup to move the Red Raiders to 3-1 on the young sea-son.

With the loss, New Rochelle dropped to 2-2 so far.

Bynum, who previously served as an assistant under former head coach Bruce Dan-iele—who stepped down for

personal reasons—said that tak-ing the reigns of the New Ro-chelle program has been a bit of an eye-opener.

“It’s definitely different, and it’s not just about taking over, it’s about losing a friend and a fellow coach,” Bynum said. “We have things we can take from [the loss] not just for the girls, but for me as well in terms of preparing the team for these kinds of situations.”

Despite the change at the top, Bynum said that New Rochelle’s expectations are the same as al-ways. With a strong group of players, including Coppin State-bound guard Kayla Correa in the mix, the Huguenots should be considered favorites to make a deep run in the sectional play-offs this year.

Bynum has been particu-larly pleased with the play of Amina Wiley, who had a breakout game against North Rockland, scoring 23 points and grabbing 21 rebounds. Wiley should give the Huguenots a presence down low this year, according to the head coach.

“We have a lot of good play-ers,” he said. “It’s a good group of girls and I think we should be fine. We hoped to be 4-0 or 3-1 at this point, but it’s a learning experience.”

The Huguenots will be back

in action over the weekend when they travel to Rye for the Gar-nets’ annual winter tournament, and will begin their grueling in-league schedule on Dec. 22 against Scarsdale.

“Looking at the schedule, it shows that we’re not afraid to

play anyone,” the coach said. “We’re always looking to play more teams with different styles, different schemes, in any type of environment, and hopefully we can build some confidence.”


Eliana Silk attempts a layup against North Rockland on Dec. 11. North Rockland edged the Huguenots 63-61 in overtime.

Dominique Darius takes a shot on Dec. 11. Photos/Bobby Begun

Amina Wiley goes up for a layup against the Red Raiders. Wiley finished with 23 points and 21 rebounds in the loss.

Kayla Correa blows past a North Rockland defender. The Huguenots are currently 2-2 on the season.


By MiKe SMiThSports Editor

New Rochelle may be a young team, but that doesn’t mean the Huguenots don’t ex-pect to compete this year. De-spite a 1-2 record to start the season, head coach CJ Tozzo is confident that the team’s youth and tenacity are primed to make the Huguenots a force in the section this year, and for

Young Huguenots hit iceyears to come.

With just one senior on the roster, the Huguenots are mak-ing great strides under the third-year coach. On Dec. 4, they stood toe-to-toe with an undefeated Rye Town/Harri-son club for two quarters be-fore the Titans were able to pull away late for a 5-1 win.

The Huguenots’ effort has not gone unnoticed, as sever-al coaches within the section

have praised New Rochelle as being one of the hardest-work-ing teams around.

“It’s certainly a tremendous compliment, and it goes to the older players who have been through it before,” Tozzo said. “There are a lot of things in game and in practice that are outside of your control, but the one thing you can control is how much you’re willing to sacrifice for the team.”

New Rochelle stayed with the 6-1 Titans through the first period, before some untimely penalties pushed the balance in Rye Town/Harrison’s favor. Tozzo believes that the Hugue-nots’ performance should be a source of inspiration as the season unfolds.

“For the first period and a half, we were hands down the better team, but special teams and penalties kind of killed our rhythm,” he said. “We’re a young hockey team, and we’ve got to be able to learn from our mistakes.”

So far, the team has been relying heavily on senior Ma-simo Miceli and freshman Nick Scollard on the offensive end, while returning players Nick Ramondelli and Tommy Barry solidify the defensive unit.

In net, junior Arthur Lei-bowitz, who started playing goalie last fall, has done an ad-mirable job for the Huguenots.

“In all honesty, I haven’t ever seen growth like this in a player,” Tozzo said. “It’s amazing how quickly he de-veloped his game, both on and off the ice.”

The Huguenots will square off with a number of solid teams in the next week as they ready to take on perennial power Suffern on Dec. 18 and a fast, deep Mount Pleasant team the following day.

“We’re absolutely looking to challenge ourselves and build towards the end of the season,” Tozzo said. “Playing teams like this, I expect our younger players to grow up faster.

“Like I told the team, this isn’t a rebuilding year,” he added. “We’re contenders, and that’s going to be the mindset we have to have.”


Masimo Miceli carries the puck up the ice against Rye Town/Harrison on Dec. 4. Miceli is the lone senior on this year’s team.

David Benko battles with a Titans player during a faceoff.

A New Rochelle player slows down Doug Harrison on Dec. 4. Penalties cost New Rochelle in a 5-1 loss to the Titans. Photos/Mike Smith

Arthur Leibowitz makes a save against Rye Town/Harrison. Liebowitz has provided a steady presence in the net for the Huguenots thus far.

city review-new rochelle 12-18-2015

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