eastchester review 2-20-2015

February 20, 2015 | Vol. 3, Number 7 | www.eastchesterreview.com

Eastchester REVIEWTHE

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Parkway bridge to reopen The project was first pro-

posed in 2008, with the idea for an underground parking garage and approved varianc-es, at that time, for a total floor area ratio increase to 1.96 and for four stories instead of the required three, according to Les Maron, the attorney rep-resenting the developer of the project.

To put it into perspective, a floor area ratio of 2.0 would mean the total floor area of a building is two times the gross area of the plot on which it’s being constructed. Tuckahoe requires a total floor area of 1.2.

Maron said this initial pro-posal, with the underground garage, never received final

site plan approval and was scrapped due to the amount of rock and water underneath that would make a parking area im-practical.

Following that failure, the project returned before the Zoning Board of Appeals five years later, in 2013, with a new architect, a three-story propos-al and several new variances.

Since one floor was elimi-nated, the architect was now working with a reduced floor area ratio of 1.32, but still above the allowed 1.2. Since the underground garage was eliminated, the architect was proposing 33 above-ground spots, below the allowed 56, and for each space, a size vari-

ance was requested of 9 by 18, instead of the required 9 by 20.

According to Maron, the village also wanted to widen the sidewalk on Terrace Place by six feet, but in order to ac-complish this, this requires three more feet on the archi-tect’s part, so a variance was included on that front.

Though the variances were eventually approved in 2013, Maron said, the proposed apart-ment complex did not receive approval from the village’s Sign and Awning Board and ul-timately failed once again.

This year, the proposal was presented for a third time to

main street continued on page 7

Tuckahoe’s Main Street development lingers onBy JOHn BranDi

Staff Writer

For nearly 10 years, chang-es in the design have stalled a proposed multi-use apartment building for Main Street in the Village of Tuckahoe.

The four-story, mixed-use complex would have office or retail space on the ground level and 33 open-air park-ing spaces if the project ever came to fruition. Above that, Joseph Crocco Architects, the developer, has proposed 20 apartments, ranging from one to four bedroom units, plus a common room, gym and two rooftop access points to be built on the fourth floor.

By CHris eBerHartStaff Writer

Parkway Road Bridge is expected to be open for vehi-cle traffic by April 8 for the first time since June 2013.

That is if all goes to plan. Bronxville Mayor Mary

Marvin, a Republican, said the total $180,000 cost—which includes $150,000 for estimated construction costs and a $32,900 con-sultant contract—has been collected from all three mu-nicipalities—$75,000 from Eastchester and $30,000 from Yonkers with Bronx-ville paying the remaining $75,000—to fix the bridge’s structural damage. Those parameters were agreed to by an inter-municipal agree-ment Yonkers, Eastchester and Bronxville.

Marvin said the proj-ect went out to bid on Feb. 6. The contract is expected to be awarded during the March 9 Bronxville Village Board of Trustees meeting, according to Marvin, and construction will commence soon after.

The mayor said enough of the construction is expected to be completed by April 8 to reopen the bridge after what would be 22 months of cones and signs saying “Road Closed.”

Deputy Mayor Bob Un-derhill, a Republican, said construction on the bridge is long overdue.

“We haven’t heard much from the residents in the area, but there have been a lot of comments and inqui-ries from commuters who

would typically park on the west side and use the bridge,” Underhill said. “So I’m thrilled the work is final-ly going to get done.”

The bridge was officially closed in July 2013 after a routine inspection by the New York State Department of Transportation revealed structural damage.

Since then, the bridge has been the source of con-tention between Bronx-ville, Eastchester, Yonkers and Westchester County, with each claiming the other is responsible for the necessary maintenance and repairs.

The frustration and sub-sequent delay in reopening the bridge nearly led to liti-gation between Bronxville and Eastchester, but the mat-ter was settled through inter-municipal cooperation, with each side, except for West-chester County, shoulder-ing a portion of the expense. Because most of the bridge is located within Bronxville boundaries, the village was named lead agency.

In September, Bronxville awarded a $32,900 contract to the Manhattan-based en-gineering and design con-sultant WSP USA, which analyzed the inspection re-ports and aided the village with creating bid proposals to complete the construction.

The bids will be opened on Feb. 27 and reviewed by the Bronxville Board of Trustees before the village approves the contract during its March meeting.

COntaCt: [email protected]

Harrison firefighter A.J. Fusco does more than save lives. The fourth generation resident has cultivated his skills in the kitchen and created a cooking blog offering recipes and healthy eating tips to firefighters around the world. For story, see page 6. Photo courtesy A.J. Fusco

CookingWith

Fire

2 • the eastchester review • February 20, 2015

February 20, 2015 • tHe eastCHester review • 3


Rising student enroll-ment will drive the upcom-ing 2015-2016 budget dis-cussions for the Bronxville school district.

The first draft of the 2015-2016 school budget, totaling $46.8 million, was released during a Feb. 7 budget work-shop meeting. The budget is still in its infancy, but early tallies indicate a 1.56 per-cent tax levy increase, which is right at the state-imposed tax levy cap. The overall budget-to-budget increase is currently proposed at 1.33 percent, which amounts to a $612,975 increase over the current 2014-2015 school budget.

Dan Carlin, Bronxville’s as-sistant superintendent of busi-ness, said the focus for the school district in the coming years is to respond to rising student enrollment.

Student enrollment over the past five years—from the

Bronxville school budget under cap2011-2012 school year to the 2015-2016 school year projec-tions—in the district has in-creased by approximately 200 students with projections of another 100-student increase expected by 2019.

To counter the steady en-rollment increase, Carlin said the first draft of the 2015-2016 budget is proposing to create 3.3 full time equivalent posi-tions; this would be done by adding 4.5 full time equiva-lent positions while eliminat-ing 1.2 full time equivalent positions.

The positions that are be-ing proposed to be created consist of one administra-tive position, a director of in-structional technology, three teacher positions, elementa-ry, science and math, as well as an auditorium coordinator. Elementary curriculum and director of operations posi-tions would be eliminated as outlined in the preliminary 2015-2016 budget.

Carlin said declining teacher retirement contribu-tions, a reduction of approxi-mately $600,000 from the

BUDGET FAST FACTSTotal Budget $46.8m

Budget-to-Budget Increase $612,975/1.33%

Tax Levy Increase/Tax Levy Cap 1.56%/1.56%

Additional Positions Director of instructional technology 1.0 Fte* elementary teacher 1.0 Fte science teacher 1.0 Fte math teacher 1.0 Fte auditorium Coordinator 0.5 Fte

Eliminated Positions elementary Curriculum 1.0 Fte Director of Operations 0.2 Fte*Full time equivalent

2014-2015 school year, gave the school district the flex-ibility to hire additional staff.

“The focus this year has been rising enrollment and continuing our technology ef-forts and addressing the Com-

mon Core Standards,” Carlin said. “Declining teacher re-tirement contributions offset the new positions that were created. Other than that it’s status quo.”

The budget is expected to be

adopted during the April Board of Education meeting, with mi-nor tweaks between now and then, and ultimately put up for a public vote in May.


The Bronxville school administration released its preliminary 2015-2016 budget on Feb. 7. The draft budget comes within the state-mandated property tax levy cap and increases school spending by 1.3 percent over the current year’s budget. File photo


What’s going on...Adult events:

• AARP tax help Fridays, 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. now until Feb. 27.

• President Truman Lecture II Friday, Feb. 20 at 2:30 p.m.

• The Brontes: Books and Tea Explore the history and prolific works of the Bronte family on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 11 a.m.

• Hospice and Palliative Care program Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 11 a.m.

• Knit and Crochet Group Wednesday nights at 7 p.m.

Adult Movie Adult Movie at the library is showing “Water

for Elephants” on Feb. 25. Please call to register at 961-2121. The li-

brary is located at 71 Columbus Ave. in Tuckahoe. You may also go online at tuckahoelibrary.org.

Bronxville Public Library

“Book Discussion Group”Join the Bronxville library on the third Tues-

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

“Computer Instruction”Free instruction in internet access and Mi-

crosoft Office software, Tuesdays and Thurs-days at 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. Call the reference desk at 337-7680 ext. 24 for more information and to register. You can also get instruction online at LearningExpress, go to bronxville- library.org.

“Reader instruction” Individualized instruction on download-

ing books using e-Readers is available by appointment.

“Knitters”Join the library every Wednesday at 11 a.m.

for a knitting hour at the Bronxville Public

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

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

preparation and assistance at the Eastchester Public Library. Volunteers will be available on Fridays between 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. un-til April 10. Assistance is available on a drop-in basis for seniors and low and moderate income taxpayers. AARP Foundation Tax-Aide offers free, individualized tax preparation for low-to moderate-income taxpayers—especially those 60 and older.

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

Tuckahoe Public Library

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

all items to [email protected].

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

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

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

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

Blood supplies low

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

Upcoming blood donation opportunities:

Rye:Feb. 28, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Rye YMCA,

21 Locust Ave.

White Plains:Feb. 20, 11:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., White Plains

Presbyterian Church, 39 North Broadway.Feb. 20, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Fusion Academy,

701 Westchester Ave, Suite 200E.

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

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

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

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

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ContaCt your loCal reporters

Chriseberhart

[email protected]

johnbrandi

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marissapenn

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The fine print of last week’s agreement between the gover-nor and area congresswoman will force Westchester mu-nicipalities to prove they’re providing low-income hous-ing opportunities in order to receive previously lost federal funding.

On Feb. 9, New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Dem-ocrat, and U.S. Congress-woman Nita Lowey, a Demo-crat, announced an agreement that would provide eligible Westchester municipalities with a portion of $23 million worth of federal funding that was lost as part of an ongo-ing feud between the West-chester County executive and U.S. Department of Hous-ing and Urban Development, HUD, over implementation of the 2009 affordable housing settlement.

As part of the agreement between Cuomo and Lowey, $3.3 million in 2015 commu-nity development block grant money from HUD, along with an additional $1.5 mil-lion in state programs, will be funneled through the state, rather than the county, which the federal funding typically is disbursed to, before being disbursed to 31 eligible West-chester municipalities identi-fied in the 2009 settlement.

But, according to two fed-eral analyses—the Huntington and Berenson reports, which determine if there is exclu-sionary zoning in a given area based on racial and socio-eon-omic factors, respectively—10 different municipalities have exclusionary zoning and are not in compliance with the national Affordable Hous-ing Act. Three of which were named in both reports.

Since the first report was released, the Town of Mama-roneck altered its zoning and was taken off the list of exclu-sionary zoning municipalities, and Ossining and Pound Ridge are close to doing the same.

State to decide county HUD funding

Holly Leicht, a HUD re-gional administrator, said there is language in the Cuo-mo/Lowey agreement that will preclude municipalities deemed as not being in com-pliance with the Affordable Housing Act from receiving federal grant money.

Instead of using the Hun-tington and Berenson reports as the standards, the state will determine if the munici-pality is in compliance on a case-by-case basis based on a set of state-imposed criteria. Leicht said the exact language of such criteria is still being fi-nalized between HUD and the governor’s office.

“It’s a small distinction but an important one,” Leicht said. “By doing it this way, the mu-nicipalities that are in compli-ance will receive their fund-ing and won’t be hurt by the municipalities that aren’t in compliance. And the ones that aren’t in compliance won’t be able to circumvent the Afford-able Housing law.”

During a phone press con-ference after the Feb. 9 anno-uncement, Westchester County Legislator John Testa, a Cort-landt Republican and minor-ity leader, was weary of the “fine print” of applying to these grants.

“For the funding you’re go-ing to get, the devil is in the details as to what you’re go-ing to be required to perform or what you’re going to have to do to participate in the pro-gram,” Testa said at the time. “And we’re finding out with the settlement, the rug was pulled out from under our communities by added re-quirements that were not part of the settlement. And they are going to be a little gun shy about participating.”

Testa has followed the lead of Republican Westchester County Executive Rob Astori-no, who maintains his opinion that there is no exclusionary zoning in Westchester, despite the federal analyses that say otherwise.

The Astorino administration submitted eight analyses of im-pediments, which includes the county’s version of the Hun-tington and Berenson tests, but all have been rejected by HUD.

The analyses of impedi-ments is one of the conditions of the housing settlement that was agreed to by HUD and former Democratic County Executive Andy Spano, along with the construction of 750 affordable housing units by the end of 2016 and a com-pleted source of income leg-islation that bans discrimina-tion against potential rents and home buyers based on their source of income. The county is on pace to reach the threshold for number of units built by the deadline and has already completed source of income legislation.

The analysis of impedi-ments remains the holdup.

The disagreement between Astorino and HUD has led to the loss of federal grant money totaling $23 million for the years 2011 through 2014. Those funds are lost to Westchester County and won’t be returning.

The Cuomo/Lowey agree-ment is designed to fund the county with a total of almost $5 million for 2015.


The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said the agreement between the governor and congresswoman does not preclude Westchester municipalities from being in compliance with the national Affordable Housing Act. File Photo


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Staff WritersJackson Chen, Alina Suriel

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Christopher Petrowski

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Eastchstchst estechestech resteresteTEaTEaHEEaHEEastHEstREVIREVIRE EW

Firefighter fans kitchen flames

RECIPE:ROPA VIEJA

Serves 3 to 4 people

1 FLANK STEAK CUT UP INTO THIRDS

1 ONION, PEELED AND SLICED

2 GARLIC CLOVES, CHOPPED

3 BELL PEPPERS, STEMMED, SEEDED

AND SLICED BUNCH OF CILANTRO

RED WINE VINEGAR

LARGE CAN OF TOMATO SAUCE

SMALL CAN OF LOW SODIUM BEEF BROTH

CUMIN

SALT

PEPPER

OLIVE OIL

RICE, COOKED ACCORDING TO PACKAGE

Season steak with salt and pepper.In a large dutch oven or pot, heat a few “glugs” of olive oil

over medium-high heat.When the oil just starts to smoke, brown the steak in

batches on all sides and set aside on a plate. Add the on-ions to the pot, season with a pinch of salt. When onions are translucent add the peppers and garlic to the pot. When garlic just starts to brown, pour in a few splashes of red wine vinegar to deglaze the bottom of the pan, scraping any brown bits stuck to the bottom.

Add the tomato sauce to the pan and season with salt, pepper and cumin to taste.

Return the steak to the pan and just enough beef broth to cover. Cover the pot and simmer for 2 to 3 hours or until the steak is fork tender.

When the steak is done, remove to a bowl and shred. Return the steak back to the pot and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes to thicken the sauce up a little.

Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro.

By alina surielStaff Writer

Arthur Joseph Fusco is both a firefighter and an amateur chef.

Fusco has been one of Har-rison’s bravest since 2005, and is also the cook who stirs the pot behind forkandhoseco.com, a cooking website in which he shares his own reci-pes as well as recipes sent in by firefighters all over the world.

Fusco, 31, began crafting his art for cooking in the firehouse of Local 2245, located at 206 Harrison Ave. He said much of life in any fire company re-volves around the kitchen ta-ble. Fusco, a fourth generation Harrison resident, works two, 24-hour shifts, or tours, per week. The firefighters in his crew start each tour by talking together around their kitchen table, getting news on the pre-vious shift and sharing life tips such as how to build a house or change the oil on your car.

“I saw right away the im-portance of the kitchen table and then I realized the cama-raderie of when you cook to-gether.” Fusco said. “Every-one’s got their own skill.”

According to Fusco, it’s quite common for firefighters to cook together, so much so that, it has become part of the culture of their profession. He started his website as a blog to share his own recipes after realizing how much attention firefighters garner during joint trips to the supermarket to buy ingredients for their meals for the day. It has since expanded into a way for him to connect with rescue

workers in firehouses around the world. He received some of his earliest recipe submissions from his own friends who were also local firefighters, but some of the entries on his site today have come from as far away as Australia.

Fusco’s preference is bar-beque and anything with a rus-tic flavor and this style of cui-sine is prominently featured on Fusco’s site.

Since launching Instagram and Facebook profiles for Fork and Hose Co., he has enjoyed an unexpected explosion in ex-posure with 2,122 Instagram followers and 1,166 more on Facebook. Many of those in his audience are not just fire-fighters, but also civilians who want to eat like heroes.

“I think it’s a combination of people being curious and then a lot of people just want recipes that are firefighter ap-proved,” Fusco said.

Frank Tesoro, a Harrison firefighter in his 25th year on the job, has tasted Fusco’s cooking although they are not normally in the same crew. Tesoro, said he has noticed the younger firefighter constantly trying to improve his culi-nary skills since the beginning of his time in Local 2245, 10 years ago, and that he himself visits Fusco’s website to see which meals are featured.

“He has a desire to go a lit-tle bit farther than what the av-erage meal would be,” Tesoro said. “He’s quite creative.”

As part of Fusco’s outreach, he works with charitable orga-nizations aiming to improve awareness about the impor-tance of fitness in the firefight-ing profession. Every Friday

on his site, he posts workouts and exercise tips from 555 Firefighter Fitness, Inc., a non-profit founded to help reduce the amount of on-duty deaths in the fire service. The non-profit provides daily workouts geared towards the physical demands of firefighting, and, as part of its partnership with Fusco, every Monday, a fea-tured recipe from Fork and Hose Co., is shared on its Facebook page.

According to 555 Firefight-er Fitness, approximately 50 percent of firefighter fatalities are due to cardiac related in-juries.

Rob Piparo, a lieutenant of the City of New Brunswick’s fire company and co-founder of the fitness organization, said that Fusco fit well with their overall mission because he is interested in spreading information without making a profit from what he does.

“That’s what this whole thing is about,” Piparo said, “sharing information with fire-fighters across the country.”


One of A.J. Fusco’s dishes, Ropa Vieja. Photo courtesy A.J. Fusco

A.J. Fusco uses his cooking website to connect with firefighters from as far away as Australia about healthy eating and recipe tips. Photo courtesy Don Dearborn

Fork and Hose Co., is a website that aims to provide information to firefighters interested in healthy eating and exercise tips. Photo courtesy A.J. Fusco

A.J. Fusco has been a Harrison firefighter since 2005, having learned his skills in the kitchen while in the firehouse. Photo courtesy Don Dearborn


the zoning board at its Feb. 4 meeting, but with variances to the project that are not unlike what has been proposed in the past, according to Maron.

“We requested certain vari-ances which were not more than had been granted in two previous applications for this

main street from page 1

A Tuckahoe development project proposed for 100 Main St. is struggling to make it through any of the village’s Planning, Zoning or Architectural Review boards. Sketch courtesy Joseph R. Crocco Architects

property,” Maron said. This time around, things

are similar to 2008, with the specifications returned to mimic that initial proposal of four stories and 1.92 floor area ratio, respectively. There’s still consideration given to 33 parking spaces and within each spot a 9 by 18 size frame. The zoning board has yet to

make a final determination, and Maron said the public hearing has been extended to March.

Tuckahoe Village Admin-istrator David Burke and the architect of the project could not be reached for comment as of press time.


A man was found dead on Friday, Feb. 13 on the train tracks in Rye. MTA police are investigating the incident. File photo

Man found dead on train tracksMTA police are investigat-

ing a dead body found on the Metro-North railroad tracks in Rye on the morning of Feb.13.

According to the MTA, a 6:56 a.m. a New Haven Met-ro-North train out of Stamford, Conn., and headed for Grand Central terminal reported see-ing a deceased individual on the tracks at 7:23 a.m. while passing through the Locust Avenue area of Rye. The train’s conductor stopped the train and made a reverse move in order to be rerouted.

The body of an African-American male was located by MTA police, who are investi-gating whether he was struck by a train. This week, the man was identified as William Joseph, 27, of Far Rockaway, N.Y.

As a result of the investiga-tion, one track, the inbound lo-cal, was closed to train traffic until 10:25 a.m., which caused delays of 20 to 30 minutes. Congestion on the main New Haven line also impacted the smaller New Canaan and Dan-bury branches, which are part

of the New Haven line and run adjacent to it.

This incident came just two weeks after six people were killed when a Metro-North Harlem line train headed to Chappaqua collided with an SUV on the tracks in Valhalla.

The Rye Police Department has not been involved in the in-vestigation, according to Rye Lt. Scott Craig.

Aaron Donovan, an MTA spokesman, could not be reached for comment as of press time.-Reporting by Marissa Penn


This column is a departure from the normal format of my weekly messages as it is neither an update on ongoing projects and issues or a look forward. Rather it is a request for your input about a village program. Now that it is budget season, the trustees and I are grappling with what has be-come a perennial issue—what to do with the paddle tennis courts and program. While this issue is rather small in the overall scheme of things, in a tax environment where ev-ery dollar matters and we are subject to tax caps by our state government, we are truly at a crossroads with respect to this program—do we keep funding a money-losing proposition that is used by fewer and fewer residents?

As background: We have a facility that cost, with im-provements, approximately $360,000. The cost basis is $193,431 (including deprecia-tion), carrying a debt service of $150,280.

In addition, the heating, lighting and general mainte-nance costs such as shoveling, are not insignificant. Captur-ing all of our costs in the per-mit fee would price the pro-gram out of competition given our numbers. Bottom line, villagers are not signing up to play. Only 23 residents or .33 percent of our population are permit holders. This rep-resents a 70 percent decrease in participation in just eight

The problem with the paddle courtsyears. As a result, 77 percent of the current paddle permit holders are non-residents. As it stands, this year’s program is projected to lose $15,000.

Historically, the village board was at this same cross-roads in 2008 and chose to fix the courts that were in great disrepair, rather than shutter-ing the program.

At the time, the village committed $253,900 in capi-tal expenditure and paddle players—resident and non-residents alike—generously contributed $70,000 via a fundraiser.

Given the village’s yearly subsidy to the heat and light costs as well as carrying the debt service over the past sev-en years, the village has repaid in kind the gracious donations.

Bringing it back to the current discussion, I share a glimpse of the process as the tustees debate the pros and cons of keeping this program going at taxpayer cost. Giv-en that four out of the five of us are lawyers, conversation takes on a Socratic style as ideas are out forth.

The following is a flavor of our discussions and we ask residents and paddle players to add their voices to the conver-sation:

Why are residents not join-ing? Is it because popularity has waned? Is it because the recent upgrades at nearby pri-vate clubs result in fewer vil-lagers playing at the village? What are the other reasons?

How do we encourage resi-dent participation? The two tier permit fee system is very favorable to residents as it

stands currently? So what are other incentives?

Would beginning a chil-dren’s program jumpstart the program? Can we partner with local schools, (as we do with our tennis courts), for instructional classes and/or team parties?

Who would teach/staff these physical education class-es, thus freeing up field space?

Should we seek an outside vendor to operate similar to the Lake Isle model and take a percentage of the revenue?

Should we dismantle the courts, sell them and convert the real estate to a different use?

Would an enforcement sys-tem be profitable so that all players and team participants have valid permits?

Deficit or not, are the pad-dle courts needed because our village has so few public rec-reational opportunities, save the village tennis courts. We have no pool or even a senior/community center.

Do those who use the courts contribute to the energy/econ-omy of the village?

Does having the paddle courts enhance the uniqueness or ambiance of the village that is an intangible value added to our real estate?

Once the paddle courts are gone, they will not be coming back.

These discussion points are just the tip of the iceberg and I know we are missing salient points. Please form the discus-sion by emailing or calling Village Hall at [email protected] or 337-6500. All suggestions attached to a name will be considered.

Town of Eastchester

Official Newspaper

Eastchester Schools


Westchester County Execu-tive Rob Astorino announced that Vito Pinto, the director of the county’s Veterans Ser-vice Agency and the Office of STOP-DWI and Drug Preven-tion, will be stepping down at the end of March. A former Democrat Westchester County legislator, town councilman in Eastchester and village trustee in Tuckahoe, Pinto served 27 years in elected office prior to being appointed by Astorino in 2010 to lead the county’s ef-forts to assist veterans.

“Vito Pinto may have been the easiest appointment I ever made,” the county executive said. “He’s hard working, like-able and his care and concern for our veterans is exemplary. Part of the reason is that Vito was a veteran himself and also that care and compassion for oth-ers is just part of Vito’s DNA. I’m sad to see Vito go. He’ll be tough to replace but he has most certainly earned his retirement and I wish him well.”

Pinto served eight years in the Navy and is a veteran of the Vietnam War where he flew combat missions as a Naval Aviation Officer in the Fighter Squadron 96 aboard the carriers USS Ranger CVA 61 and USS Enterprise CVAN 65 in the Tonkin Gulf.

“It’s been my greatest plea-sure to serve Westchester County veterans these past five years under the tremendous leadership of Rob Astorino, a

true friend of veterans,” Pinto said. “I’m leaving my post but I will stay actively involved in helping our servicemen and women, active and retired. I also enjoyed my time work-ing to educate young people on the dangers of drugs and al-cohol and efforts to stop drunk driving and will continue in those efforts as well.”

Under the leadership of As-torino and Pinto, several nota-ble changes were made to bet-ter serve the county’s veterans population:

The agency worked in part-nership with the Patriot Hous-ing Initiative to provide hous-ing for 75 homeless veterans in 100 days. The effort result-ed in exceeding the goal and housing was found for 85. To date, the program has housed 247 homeless vets.

A third counselor was hired

Public servant to leave Westchester postto meet the needs of veterans and their families.

Counselors were given lap-tops and portable printers to al-low for outreach programs for shut-in veterans or widows.

An annual Veterans Virtual Job Fair was held to match veterans with businesses look-ing to hire veterans.

The “Smiling on America’s Heroes” program offered dis-count dental and vision coverage to veterans and their families.

The Hudson Valley Honor Flight for World War II vets was launched out of the West-chester County Airport. A sec-ond flight is scheduled to take place on May 9, 2015.

Several positive changes also occurred in the Office of STOP-DWI and Drug Prevention:

Usage of the STOP-DWI simulator trailer at local schools and community events was increased.

Worked with the Westches-ter Coalition for Drug & Al-cohol Free Youth to help train thousands of middle and high school students in leadership skills to interact with their peers to keep our youth alco-hol and drug free.

Substantial grant fund-ing was obtained to allow the county police and municipal police departments to conduct increased DWI enforcement through sobriety checkpoints and roving patrols to deter drunk driving in Westchester. (Submitted)

Vito Pinto


An overabundant deer pop-ulation doesn’t abide by mu-nicipal boundaries as they’re roaming about lower West-chester, so county officials are taking a top-down approach to addressing the issue by imple-menting a countywide plan that’s already been established within parks in the northern portions of the county.

“Regional deer management is important for any successful deer management program,” said John Baker, director of the Westchester County Conser-vation, Parks and Recreation Department, which created the county’s deer management program in 2008.

Baker said a bow-hunting program was implemented, among other places, in coun-ty parks such as Ward Pound Ridge in Northern Westches-ter, where the deer population decreased from about 65 deer per square mile in 2008 to less than 20 deer per square mile last year.

“The success is not just our program,” Baker said. “We view deer management as a regional issue, not just an issue of one municipality or one location.”

To date, the county’s deer management program has only been implemented in rural, county-owned parks up north, but the overpopu-lation of deer has become an issue for Southern West-chester municipalities in suburban and urban areas,

County addressing deer overpopulation

such as Rye, Mamaroneck and Harrison. In Rye, there was a car accident involv-ing a deer as recently as last month along Boston Post Road, one of the city’s main thoroughfares.

Baker said “for sure” there will be a marshlands hunting program to address the issue in Rye. Currently, he said, his staff is reviewing a den-sity study to determine the population of deer in Rye and has been coordinating with Rye City Mayor Joe Sack, a Republican. Baker will be at-tending a deer summit sched-uled for Rye on Feb. 25.

Managing deer south of I-287, such as in the marsh-lands area of Rye, will re-quire a different strategy, Baker said.

The program that’s already been established north of I-287 is consistent for five or seven days by 50 to 60 hunt-ers. But Baker said, in lower Westchester environments such as Rye, the hunting should be erratic and limited to one day a week so the deer don’t adapt to the hunting routines. Baker suggested us-ing just two or three marks-man bow hunters in those types of settings.

“In a southern park, the hunting would be very lim-ited and the hunters would be very skilled, so you don’t have the issue of a wounded deer going into a surrounding neighborhood or surrounding streets,” Baker said.

Immuno-contraception programs have also been a

point of discussion as an al-ternative to hunting, but Bak-er said, because of the high costs of the program, it’s not yet available to the county department overseeing the deer issue.

Dan Lemons, chairman of the CUNY’s Animal Care & Use program who has been involved in the immuno-con-traception program for the past two years, said Hastings-on-Hudson is trying the im-muno-contraception program as an experiment because the population of the village is too dense to hunt the deer. Lemons is a resident of Hast-ings-on-Hudson.

Lemons said, in addition to immunizing does, the Hast-ings-on-Hudson immuno-contraception program is also looking at the metrics of what deer are doing and the acci-dents in the area.

“We may have immunized some does,” Lemons said, “but if we don’t budget those metrics after four or five years and don’t see changes in accidents and vegetative damage, we are going to have to say this isn’t working.”

At the local levels, elected and appointed officials from the City of Rye, Village of Mamaroneck and Town of Harrison will meet in Rye City Hall on Feb. 25 to dis-cuss options.

County Legislator Cathe-rine Parker, a Rye Democrat, could not be reached for com-ment as of press time.


Westchester County is looking into establishing a deer management program similar to the one that’s been implemented in Northern Westchester, for places like Rye, Mamaroneck and Harrison.File Photo

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Business Briefs

NYPA adds senior VP just as they would in a family setting. “We are thrilled to see this longstanding

dream of opening an intergenerational center in lower Westchester become a reality,” FSW’s president and CEO, Susan Wayne said. “This is a tremendous milestone not only for FSW, but for all the community members who can now take advantage of this unique programming.”

The Lanza Family Center for All Ages is named for Patricia Lanza who generously pro-vided a $1 million challenge grant that enabled FSW to embark on this project. Thanks to the enthusiastic response of many generous donors, FSW was able to meet this challenge, purchase a property in White Plains, and renovate the existing building to create a warm and inviting new center that will meet the needs of a diverse group of participants—older adults, young chil-dren and teens.

“We are so grateful to the donors who shared our vision and enabled us to reach this mo-ment,” director of special projects who spear-headed FSW’s fundraising efforts, Lynn Green said. “We also appreciate the support we have received from the City of White Plains, which has enthusiastically welcomed us to the com-munity.”

The building will be comprised of two wings, The Marjorie and Richard Dammann Youth Wing named after the founders of FSW and The Sperling Family Adult Wing. Programming at the center will include adult day services with caregiver support, early childhood education and a home base for FSW’s many youth devel-opment programs. Importantly, the center will include space where the diverse age groups can come together.

Participants will interact during planned in-tergenerational activities as well as through in-formal encounters throughout the day. Together, children, teens and older adults will enjoy gar-dening, sharing meals, singing songs, cooking side-by-side, and participating in special events that allow them to break down age barriers and form lasting impressions.

For more information about the Lanza Fam-ily Center for All Ages, or to make an appoint-ment to see the flagship facility, contact Lynn Halpern, director for communications and de-velopment outreach.

FSW was founded in 1954 and runs more than 50 social service and mental health pro-grams for all ages, including adoption, head/start/early head start, adult and youth residences and veterans outreach and support. Please visit fsw.org for more information.

Pelham Picture House announces new board officers

The Picture House Regional Film Center announced an anniversary, a change in board leadership and the naming of a new organiza-tion president following the meeting of the Ex-ecutive Committee of the Board on Feb. 9. The transition began with a unanimous vote for the new officers at the full meeting of the board in December and continued at a celebration later that month at the home of James Palmisciano, the new chair of the Board of Directors.

At the meeting, the outgoing board members and founders of the organization, Kathy Cor-

ton, Tom Peer and Ann Sorice, as well as Chair Emeritus John Calvel-li and longtime board members Thomas Can-ning and Dale Hisiger were toasted, applaud-ed and given director’s chairs emblazoned with their names and the Picture House logo.

“I am deeply honored to be stewarding this incredible organization into its second decade,” chair-elect Palmisciano said.

Palmisciano is the chairman and chief in-vestment officer of Gracie Asset Management. Brian Eccleston, newly elected treasurer for The Picture House, is northeast assurance managing partner at BDO U.S.A. Ellen Chandler was re-elected as board vice chair, as was Tracie Cohen as secretary. Laura deBuys, executive director of The Picture House since January 2014, was named president of the organization.

The Picture House will celebrate its 10th birthday as a nonprofit organization at events throughout the year and at The 10th, a festive mid-May birthday party for the organization honoring co-founder Ann Sorice.

Since 1921, The Picture House has served as a cultural center and community hub and is the oldest, continuously running movie theater in Westchester County. Today, after an extensive renovation and the addition of state of the art technology, The Picture House shows the best in new, independent and classic cinema and pro-vides students of all ages with the opportunity to learn about the art, science and business of film.

In a world where you can carry a movie screen in your pocket, The Picture House pre-serves the sense of community, wonder and engagement that has existed since the forma-tion of the first theaters. The Picture House is located at 175 Wolfs Lane in Pelham, thepic-turehouse.org, [email protected], via phone at 738-3161. The Picture House is a com-munity-based, mission-driven, nonprofit 501(c) (3) organization.

Westmed receives national recognition for cancer care

WESTMED Medical Group has been recognized by the Quality Oncology Practice Ini-tiative Certification Program, an affiliate of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. This is a three-year certification for outpatient hematology-oncology practices that meet the highest standards for quality cancer care.

“WESTMED is the only oncology prac-tice in Westchester County with QOPI Certification.“This means that WESTMED is in an elite group of outpatient oncology practices, signaling our strong commitment of quality to patients and to our referring physicians,” WEST-MED Oncologist Dr. Stuart Feldman said.

WESTMED voluntarily chose to participate in the QOPI certification process, which was designed by ASCO to measure the quality of care that oncology practices provide to their pa-tients. To become certified, medical practices are evaluated to determine whether they meet core standards in all areas of treatment, including treatment planning, staff training and education, chemotherapy orders and drug preparation, pa-tient consent and education, safe chemotherapy administration, monitoring and assessment of patient well-being.

ASCO is the world’s leading professional organization representing physicians who care for people with cancer. WESTMED Practice Parners is located at 2700 Westchester Ave., in-Purchase. Contact via phone at 681-5282 or go online at westmedpartners.com.

The next Business Briefs section will run in February. Please send any submis-

sion for our February edition to [email protected]. Each submission may

include one picture. If you have any ques-tions, email Editorial Assistant Laura

Romero at [email protected].

Kristine Pizzo, formerly an executive at Co-lumbia University, has joined the New York Power Authority, NYPA, as senior vice presi-dent of Human Resources.

Pizzo will oversee all employee benefits, programs, services and talent development at the Power Authority, which has 1,700 employ-ees in New York State, including 600 at its ad-ministrative headquarters in White Plains.

“We have a diverse mix of employees from the Canadian border to eastern Long Island and ensuring they all have the proper benefits and training is a complex task.” said NYPA president and CEO, Gil Quiniones said.

Pizzo, a resident of Eastchester, was pre-viously chief of administration at Columbia University where she led several key depart-ments including human resources, finance, marketing, communications and information technology. She had previously been the ex-ecutive vice president of human resources and chief administrative officer at the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

Pizzo has also worked in managerial roles in human resources at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the United States Olympic Committee, and was a judicial fellow at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

She has a bachelor’s degree from St. John’s University and a law degree from the Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law School at Touro College.

“NYPA has already established itself as a leader in the utility industry when it comes to providing a comprehensive array of benefits and programs for its employees,” Pizzo said. “I’m excited to build on that already robust foundation.”

NYPA is the nation’s largest state power or-ganization, with 16 generating facilities and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines. Its low-cost power supports hundreds of thousands of jobs statewide while reducing costs for the public sector.

NYPA uses no tax money or state credit. It fi-nances its operations through the sale of bonds and revenues earned in large part through sales of electricity. NYPA has been designated as the lead entity via Executive Order 88 by Gov. An-drew M. Cuomo to form a central management and implementation plan to carry out his Build Smart N.Y. plan to reduce energy used by state facilities by 20 percent by 2020.

Family Services of Westchester opens Lanza Family Center

Family Services of Westchester, FSW, cel-ebrated the opening of the Lanza Family Center for All Ages in White Plains, on Tuesday, Feb. 24, with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The cen-ter, modeled after My Second Home, FSW’s award-winning Intergenerational program in Mt. Kisco, will bring children, teens and seniors together at one site to participate in programs, share experiences and benefit from one another,


Six ways to beat camp homesicknessFuture stars summer campsPreparing for campTips for campers (and Parents!)

Lifestyles of Westchester County/February 2015 VoL.16 No.111

INSIDEÊ WESTCHESTERÊ COUNTYINSID

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Six ways to beat camp homesickness

By mari-Jane williams

Worried about your child getting homesick at summer camp? There are ways to ease separation anxiety so it will be smooth sailing.

When Peg Smith went to sleepaway camp for the first time when she was about 10 years old, she was wracked with separation anxiety. Smith missed home so much that she was almost physically ill, and had to leave. When her friends came back full of sto-ries about their fun adventures, Smith immediately regretted bailing on the experience and felt like she had missed out on something really special.

So the following summer, she went back. She got home-sick again, but fought through it. Smith, who is now the CEO for the American Camp Association, is glad she did.

“Homesickness is natural,” Smith said. “But it’s not fatal.”

About 10 percent of chil-dren will experience separa-tion anxiety at sleepaway camp, Smith said. For about 6 percent of kids, the anxi-ety will be severe enough that camp staff will have to call their parents. It’s normal for kids to be afraid of the unknown and to miss home, Smith said. But if they can stick it out, they will not only have that camp experience, they will learn how to be more independent and work through problems.

“Staffs are trained around homesickness, how to spot

it and keep kids busy and engage them and make sure they’re informed about what’s going to happen,” Smith said, noting that sometimes a child’s anxiety stems from not knowing what to expect. Counselors are trained to notice when a child seems sad or quiet, and reach out to him, acknowledge the feel-ings and then distract him, Smith said.

“Once the child gets dis-tracted and busy, most of the time they are feeling okay,” Smith said. “That doesn’t mean they won’t feel the homesick-ness again, but they learn how to take care of it or at least re-alize that they’re not going to feel this way for very long.”

So if, in addition to the standard pre-camp lectures about changing underwear daily, eating at least some vegetables and wearing sun-screen, you find yourself talk-ing about the homesick blues, don’t despair. It’s normal and, most of the time, surmount-able. Here are suggestions on how to prevent or beat back separation anxiety when your child heads off to camp this summer.

Let the child help choose the camp. The most successful camp experiences are the ones where the child and parent se-lect the camp together, Smith said. If he feels as if he’s had some input and control in the decision, he’s more likely to want to stick it out.

Practice sleeping away. Have your child sleep over at

the home of a friend or rela-tive so that camp is not her first night away from home, Smith said.

Emphasize the positive. Talk about what a great op-portunity it will be to see and do new things, and make new friends, and tell your child you can’t wait to hear all about it, Smith said. In the course of the conversation, acknowledge that new things can be difficult at first, but that she’s good at learning new things. If she ex-presses concern about getting homesick, tell her the counsel-ors are there to help.

Take something from home. Have your child pack a fa-vorite stuffed animal or book, or a family picture that she can hold or look at if she gets lonely for home.

Keep the lid on your own anxiety. It’s fine to feel ner-vous or sad about your child going away to camp, Smith said, but don’t talk to the child about those feelings. Discuss them with your spouse or a friend, instead, so your child isn’t burdened with worrying about you being lonely while he is away.

Don’t plant seeds of doubt. Never, never tell your child that if she gets sad or upset or homesick he can call you and you will come get him, Smith said. That sends the subliminal message that you don’t expect him to have a good time. In-stead, talk to the camp coun-selor or director about what they will do if your child is homesick. (Submitted)


Future Stars Summer Camps

For more than 30 years, Future Stars has been provid-ing families in Westches-ter, Manhattan and Long Island with the finest, most comprehensive, specialty day camp programs in the New York Metropolitan area. The campsite they have chosen at SUNY Purchase College is exceptionally suited to meet the diverse requirements of the camp day. Their staff is com-prised of certified high school/college coaches and educators, all of whom are highly trained in their area of expertise.

In summer 2015, they will be operating weekly special-ized day camp programs for

ages 4 to16. Starting June 22, offerings include tennis, soccer, basketball, baseball, lacrosse, football, multi-sports, field hockey, horseback riding, swim, Rising Stars, children entering K to 1,, cheerleading, volleyball, circus arts, magic, softball, diving, S.T.E.M. Edu-cation and academic. Children will have supervised swim-ming every day (instructional swim for Rising Stars). Door to door transportation is available.

Their camp philosophy is to provide every camper with a fun, safe and disciplined environment in which they feel comfortable and secure. Through their limited enroll-

ment policy, they get to know all campers and address their individual needs. All of the programs are led by a highly trained team of professionals who are carefully chosen to ensure each camper’s safety, skill development and indi-vidual enjoyment. Kids ben-efit from concentrated drilling and personalized instruction designed to inspire individu-als to pursue excellence while having fun.

Play with confidence, en-thusiasm, and a genuine love of the game with Future Stars. For more information, call 273-8500 or visit fscamps.com. (Submitted)


Preparing for Camp: Tips for Campers (and Parents!)

By BrOOke CHeley-kleBe

I love those rare moments of parenthood when I am not preparing for the next thing. Most of the time as a par-ent, I feel as if my day is full of getting something ready. Small things like breakfast, sack lunches, and backpacks. Big things like preparing my children to become productive adults. Our job as a parent is to prep!

It’s spring, and summer camp is on the horizon. Here are some things that you can do to prepare your camper and yourself for camp.

CamperPlan several sleep overs.

Resist the urge to pack their bags for them or to check on them while there. If they have a phone, have them leave it at home. This is a good way to practice not having direct or constant contact.

Have them write a good ol’ letter to someone. You will thank me when you receive a letter from camp!

Gear up physically. If you have purchased hiking boots, break them in with a long walk.

Especially for teenagers, have them take a mini-va-cation from their devices. A couple of hours or a weekend.

Have them write a state-ment for their social media pages. “Peace out Facebook, I won’t be sharing my day-by-days with you, I will be at camp.” Your teenager may not post that, but maybe some-

thing like it. Have them write down

their goals.Make a homesick plan:Homesickness isn’t en-

tirely bad. It’s great to love your home. It’s sometimes part of the process, and it’s a confidence booster when a camper gets through it.

Make a happy place plan and write it down. This is an amazing opportunity to learn a life skill. Today’s youth go to technology to escape, and studies show this increases their stress. Some ideas might be: taking 10 deep breaths, traveling to a happy place in your mind, packing a cer-tain stuffed animal, shooting hoops, or tossing a football. They are capable of this inde-pendence.

Your plan should NOT be, “Give it a couple of days and if you don’t like it, we will come get you.” This will set them up to give it a couple of days and knock the confi-dence right out of them.

Let your camper know what to expect with corre-spondence. You don’t need to write everyday, but let them know what to expect.

Yourself

You are giving your child an incredible gift. I cannot promise you that they won’t lose some socks, that they will love every meal or activity, and that they will adore every counselor. But you are prepar-ing them for college and be-yond; you are giving them the

freedom to gain confidence, independence, and leadership skills; and you are instilling in them that they can do it.

What do YOU want dur-ing their time at camp? Think about a vacation, time to orga-nize, time to have one-on-one time with your other children, or some “date nights” with your spouse or friends.

If you have apprehensions, work to resolve them. If you are worried that your camper is not going to know any-one, set up a pre-camp get-together. If you are worried about your camper’s medical needs, become friendly with the camp nurse. If you are anxious about their food aller-gies, talk to the camp’s head cook. Make a camper-sick plan for yourself. :) Make sure there is only excitement and optimism coming from you, and share your anxiety with another adult.

Pack self-addressed enve-lopes in their luggage.

Whether they are flying or driving, refrain from bawl-ing until they can’t see you. Take a deep breath, trust, and remind yourself that you are giving them an awesome gift.

Brooke Cheley-Klebe is the 4th generation to oper-ate Cheley Colorado Camps. She is the proud mom of three girls, Ellie, Kate, and Saman-tha, and loves being involved in the camp industry.

Photo courtesy of Cheley Colorado Camps, Estes Park, Colorado


Join a magical summer at Play Group Theatre

The Play Group Theatre has just entered its 20th year, and is celebrating five years in its beautiful home in downtown White Plains—a 20,000 square foot, fully air-conditioned state-of-the-art theatre complex, including two theatres, multiple re-hearsal studios, a scene shop and a costume shop. All that space is fully dedicated to children and teenagers and their pursuit of an authentic experience within the per-forming arts.

For young actors, The Play Group Theatre, PGT, offers the best in performing arts training and performance op-portunities. With a staff of 25 teaching artists, specializing in a variety of disciplines, PGT Summer Theatre pro-vides each student an immer-sive summer theatre experi-ence, guided by the principals of joyful collaboration and artistic integrity.

From Little Theatre, 4 to 6, to PGT Kids, 7 to 10, to the Young Actors Ensemble, 11 to 13, to Teen Conserva-tory, 14 to 18, to Design Tech Track, 12 to 17, and from a one-week Improv Workshop to the six-week MainStage cast, PGT Summer Theatre actors come together at a variety of stages in their cre-ative journey. No matter what brings you through PGT’s doors, what you will find there is an artistic haven—a creative home where you are chal-lenged to think creatively, to strive toward a higher level of artistry and to work within a group of dynamic, exception-al, emerging young artists in a collaborative environment.

PGT Summer Theatre is a conservatory style program, with half the day devoted to rehearsals, and half to a myriad of classes, including acting, dance, voice, Shake-speare, improv and more. A

trip to Broadway and a work-shop with Chicago City Lim-its are just some of the special events that round out the PGT summer experience. The PGT staff are professionals in the field and dedicated to providing a warm, nurturing, creatively charged, artistically challenging environment for every student.

At The Play Group The-atre, the focus is entirely on the love of the craft and the life lessons that are a natural result of a healthy and non-competitive creative process. The PGT staff sees the artists that students can become, while celebrating the children that they are and the result is great theatre for actors and audiences alike.

Join The Play Group The-atre for a magical summer.

For a sneak peek into a day at camp or for more informa-tion, go to playgroup.org or call 946-4433. (Submitted)


Summer fun at The Rye Arts Center

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 summer long programs for kids ages four through teen and adults, The Rye Arts Center provides complete flexibility to keep a child of any age, ability and interest busy with creative

fun. Programs begin June 29 and can be combined for a half or full day, by the week, or multiple weeks to suit ev-eryone’s schedule. New this year is an early drop off op-tion starting at 8:30 a.m.

Also new is the center’s Makerspace classes which feature both high tech and high touch fun in designing, creating and making. Classes include: coding, Minecraft, 3-D design and printing, film-making, LittleBits, Makey-Makey, Scratch animation, circuitry, Arduino, electronics and creative building. Musical theater workshop weeks will feature opportunities to per-form stage favorites such as Willy Wonka and Frozen. For young teens, get some fresh air and learn the fine art of plein-air painting.

Rounding out The RAC’s summer offerings are tra-ditional fine arts including painting, drawing, cartooning, ceramics, digital photography, writers’ workshops, vocal pop workshops and music instruc-tion. For young artists ages 4 to 10, the RAC offers a three-hour creative arts immersion morning program.

The summer guide can be found online at ryeartscenter.org beginning Feb. 23. For questions, call 967-0700 or stop in at the Main Office lo-cated at 51 Milton Road, Rye. (Submitted)


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February 20, 2015 • tHe eastCHester review • 19SPORTS

Phil Hartman and Jason Sude-kis all filled this role, the gritty Scott Brosius-types who might not fill up the stat sheets but are no less integral to the suc-cess of the unit.

And when the show lacked that singular star, it was up to the cast to forge their own identities. Sometimes it took a few years of tinkering with the personnel, but when it started to “click” we sometimes got greatness; the crude, frat-boy years of the Sandler-Farley era or the women-driven cast of the early 2000s with Tina Fey,

Amy Poehler and Maya Ru-dolph. When that all comes to-gether, it’s like watching those great Yankee teams of the late-1990s shift into playoff mode.

Over 40 years of program-ming, SNL has become as iconic a New York institution as just about any of our local sports teams. Online pundits even cover it as if it were, giv-ing weekly grades to cast mem-bers, making note of which es-tablished veteran seems stuck in a rut or which up-and-comer seems poised to make “the leap” to mega-stardom.

Perhaps nothing else in the entertainment world gives us a closer approximation to theworld of sport—a group work-ing in concert, on live televi-sion, to find something that works and constantly evolving to remain relevant.

That’s the beauty of SNL, and that’s the beauty of profes-sional sports.

It might not always be pret-ty, but there’s always some-thing going on.

Follow Mike on Twitter @LiveMike_Sports

When I was eight years old, I was convinced of two things: first, that I was going to pitch in the major leagues, and second, that I was going to spend my offseasons touring the country as the first-ever professional athlete/stand-up-comedian.

Neither one of these dreams may have come to pass, but I still love both sports and com-edy as much as I did when I was a youngster.

On Sunday night, I began to think about why these two passions of mine never wa-vered.

On Feb. 15, “Saturday Night Live” celebrated its 40th anniversary with a star-studded gala that paid tribute to the show that has launched as many culturally significant characters and catchphrases as any other program I can recall.

Saturday night specialAs I sat there, watching

with my roommate and com-municating with other friends via Twitter and Facebook, I was struck by something; ar-guments about the show—best skits, best hosts, best casts—weren’t all that dissimilar from sports arguments I’d had with the very same people.

In many ways, being a fan of SNL over the years has become akin to following a sports team. SNL, like a sports franchise, has had its ups and downs, its all-stars and its also-rans over the last four decades. And like sports, it invites debates about “which era is the best?”

There’s a common idiom that states that your favorites SNL-era is likely to be which-ever one you watched when you were in high school. Like-wise, sports fans are always quick to tell younger fans about the “good old days.” In the sports world, you can see this play out in countless ar-guments about the merits of

Jordan vs. Lebron. With SNL fans, it’s about who manned the update desk better, Dennis Miller or Kevin Nealon?

But what fascinated me about the sketch comedy show wasn’t so much the individu-al performers, but how each cast—or team—was construct-ed.

Like a sports team, many it-erations of the SNL cast were centered on a singular break-out star. Chevy Chase was “the guy” when the show first started and SNL became a ve-hicle for his stardom. In the 1980s, it was a young comedi-an named Eddie Murphy who took the reins and made the show his, firing fastballs ev-ery Saturday night like a prime Doc Gooden.

But, as in sports, a superstar can’t do it alone.

The great casts, even ones anchored by a breakout star, needed the glue guy, the guy who would do the dirty work. The rebounder, the straight man. Guys like Dan Akroyd,

On Feb. 15, Saturday Night Live celebrated its 40th anniversary with a television special. Sports Editor Mike Smith sees a lot of similarities between the long-running program and the world of sports. Photo courtesy NBC.com

Follow Mike Smith @LiveMike_Sports stats • recaps • commentary

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

To CoVER loCal sPoRTs, you nEEd a

LIVE MIKE!

20 • the eastchester review • February 20, 2015 SPORTS

By mike smitHSports Editor

On Feb. 15, Eastches-ter junior Nunzio Crowley brought home a Section I wrestling title, winning the 170-pound bracket at Clark-stown South High School to cap off a terrific run through the rest of the area’s top wrestlers this winter.

Crowley blanked John Jay’s Evan Frank in the fi-nals, beating the Indians’ standout 6-0 to claim his first-ever section title.

According to Eastchester coach Dave Massi, Crowley came into the season a bit unproven but with the poten-tial to do big things. As the season wore on, however, Massi said that expectations began to rise for the junior.

“We thought coming in that he would be a chal-lenger,” Massi said. “But about three-quarters of the

It was a dream come true for 21 girls from Tuckahoe’s Senior Rec Cheerleaders who headed to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., last week to compete in the UCA Nation-al High School Cheerleading Championship.

The team, which was rela-tively unknown, fared well at the competition, placing fifth in

Eastchester’s Nunzio Crowley squares off against a Harrison opponent on Dec. 5. On Sunday, Crowley won the 170-pound Section I title at Clarkstown South High School. Photo/Mike Smith

Crowley takes sectionway through the year, he had knocked off all the small school guys, he was beat-ing guys from the bigger schools and we knew that he had something.”

While Crowley’s win in the finals may have been one-sided, he needed a tight 1-0 decision in the semi-finals over Mamaroneck’s Roger Ransom to get there. Crowley had seen Ransom three times this season—most recently in the divi-sionals—and beat his Mama-roneck opponent each time. Although Sunday’s match was a barnburner, however, it didn’t quite compare to the double-overtime match the two wrestled at the last week in terms of drama.

“When you face a kid three, four, five times in a season, and they’re both at that level, you don’t expect one guy to win every time,” Massi said. “They’re both very good de-

fensive wrestlers.” Crowley’s defense has

been nearly impenetrable this season. At 40-1 on the year, points against Crowley have come at a premium for opposing wrestlers. Despite not being a prolific take-down artist, the junior has shown an aptitude for lock-ing opponents down and a refusal to give up points. In fact, he hasn’t surrendered more than two points in any match this season.

“He’s tough to reverse, he’s an unbelievable rider on top,” Massi said. “And he’s virtu-ally impossible to take down.”

Crowley will be head-ed to Albany on Feb. 27 to compete in the New York State Championships, where Massi believes his stingy de-fense could serve him well against the best wrestlers in the Empire State, includ-ing several top challengers from Long Island. Even if

he doesn’t come away with a state title, added his coach, the future looks bright for the Eastchester junior

“I think he should do well, but there are definitely a lot of talented wrestlers,” Massi said. “But [Nunzio] is

young, so there’s no telling what he’s capable of.”


Tigers compete at Disney

The Tuckahoe Senior Rec Cheerleaders pose for a photo at Walt Disney World during their trip to the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championships. Tuckahoe would place fifth in the nation in their division.

The Tigers compete in the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championships. Submitted photos

the nation in their division and beating the team that won the Nationals in the semifinal round.

It didn’t take long for the young ladies, ranging in age from 9 to 12 years old, to leave their mark on the competition. First, they advanced to the fi-nals, in a stupendous perfor-mance that wowed the thou-sands of spectators and com-

petitors from across the nation.Most of the teams drew

from large, city regions, such as Philadelphia and its sub-urbs, or multiple schools to make one team. Although such large competing rosters added to the challenge, tiny Tucka-hoe’s roster of girls from the Tuckahoe school district’s el-ementary and middle schools

were determined to show the world just who Tuckahoe is.

Under the direction of coaches Kaitlyn Partenza and Lori Romeo, the team dedicat-

ed endless hours of practice to become the mouse that roared, the youngest cheerleaders in Tuckahoe history to advance to the National Finals.

So what’s on tap for the fu-ture for these talented athletes? Even bigger dreams with plans for a return performance next year. (Submitted)

eastchester review 2-20-2015

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