Members of the Yonkers Dominican American com-munity joined with Coun-cilwoman Corazon Pineda to raise the Dominican Flag above Yonkers City Hall to celebrate the 172nd anniver-sary of the Dominican Re-public Independence Day on Feb. 26.

A celebration was held at Castle Royal after the Dominican Flag was raised above City Hall. The Yonkers Chamber of Commerce, the YMCA, Shoprite Supermar-kets, Dia Y Noche Restau-rant, Annabi Dental Care and Giovanni’s IV were the sponsors.

WESTCHESTER’S OLDEST AND MOST RESPECTED NEWSPAPERS

Vol 111 Number 10 www.RisingMediaGroup.com

PRESORT-STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDWhite Plains, NY

Permit #7164

Friday, March 4, 2016

From left are Mike Desimone, athletic director; the Hon. Christopher Johnson; the Hon. Michael Sabatino; Troy Bowers of the Westchester Knicks; and Ryan Settler, physical

education/health teacher. Two Yonkers teachers, and member of the Yonkers Federation of Teachers, at the town hall YPS Budget meeting at Roosevelt High School last week.

A side view of the property at 36 Main St., with the obstructed side featuring a mural by Rich-ard Haas. The property was recently landmarked and condemned.

Artuso’s Bakery’s big three – RJ Puma, Anna Artuso and Ralph Puma – at the bakery’s 40th Anniversary and Anna’s 85th birthday celebration.

Councilwoman Corazon Pineda celebrates Domini-

can Independence Day with others dressed in Dominican costumes.

By Dan Murphy The issue of bullying in our schools has

parents and educators trying to determine what efforts can be made to combat it, and what re-sponsibility falls on the student bully, that stu-dent’s family, and the school district that works to ensure the safety of all students.

The Charter School of Educational Excel-lence in Yonkers and the New York Knicks held an anti-bullying program with a focus on what every school district is trying to do to combat

bullying: Educate the students on bullying, and get them to speak to someone – a family mem-ber or teacher – to report it.

In addition to showing off their personal anti-bullying posters, CSEE students were treat-ed to three compelling testimonials on Anti-Bullying Day 2016.

Troy Bowers, the 6-foot, 8-inch former bas-ketball player and development manager for the New York and Westchester Knicks, told students

By Dan Murphy Yonkers Public Schools Superintendent

Dr. Edwin Quezada and the Board of Education held a town hall meeting last week at Roosevelt High School to discuss the upcoming 2016-17 school budget for the school year that starts in September.

Dozens of Yonkers teachers, and members of the Yonkers Federation of Teachers, rallied at the meeting for a new contact. Yonkers teachers have been without a contract for two years, and

YFT President Pat Puleo is trying to make sure it’s not three years.

“We have been without a contract for two years,” he said. “It’s important that we settle the contract for all of the staff. The mayor is mov-ing forward with a $2 billion school reconstruc-tion project that is desperately needed, and we are doing our part on the state level to help get support because it benefits everyone – students, teachers and staff in each school.

By Dan Murphy The Yonkers City Council’s decision last

week to landmark the Richard Haas Murals on Main Street in downtown Yonkers continue to elicit questions and commentary from the pub-lic. Emails to Yonkers Rising have come in at a

rate of five to one against the landmarking deci-sion.

Two thoughtful commentaries from “mid-dle of the road” Yonkers residents outline most of the arguments. Eric Schoen’s “This, Too, is

By Dan Murphy The friends, family and customers of

Anna Artuso’s Bakery on McLean Avenue are about to celebrate a milestone that few small businesses reach: Their 50th anniversary.

In order to get to a 50th business anni-versary, Anna Artuso’s has the two ingredients that any successful business has – a great prod-uct and friendly, attentive customer service. The desserts and pastries at Artuso’s are sec-

ond to none, ranging from wedding cakes, to cannolis, to boxes of Italian cookies, all made in-house and from 70-year-old recipes.

But the second factor in company’s suc-cess comes from the matriarch of the bakery that carries her name – Anna Artuso – and the impact that remains in her bakery and her community 50 years since she first opened its doors, with her husband, John, on March 10,

Anna Artuso’s Bakery Marks 50 Sweet Years in Yonkers

Yonkers Celebrates Dominican Freedom With Flag-Raising

Charter School & Knicks Hold Anti-Bullying Day

Yonkers Teachers Seek New Contract

Five YPS Schools Taken Off Failing List

Questions Continue onMural Landmarking

Continued on Page 10Continued on Page 7

Continued on Page 6

Continued on Page 8

Actor Dom DeLuise with RJ Puma and Anna Artuso at one of his concerts. DeLuise loved and requested Anna’s boxes of Italian cookies.

See More Photos on page 9

In recognition of Black History Month, we have been highlighting the careers of some of Yonkers’ finest. This week we highlight the career of Detective Ken Davis, who is currently assigned to the Narcotics/Gang Unit at the Yonkers Police Department. He is well known in our city and has spoken at many school, community and law enforcement events through-out the years.

Davis joined YPD on July 12, 1985 and upon graduation, received the Captains, Lieutenants and Sergeants’ Award for the Highest Military Bearing. He was assigned to the Third Precinct as a patrol officer and became one of the pre-cinct’s task-force officers. Along with the Fourth Pre-cinct’s task-force officers, both units patrolled high-crime neighborhoods, assist-ed in the desegregation tran-sition, and performed entry-team operations for the department’s Narcotics Unit.

Davis was eventually assigned to the de-partment’s Narcotics Unit. One of his many assignments included an undercover operation for an outside police agency that netted 23 drug dealers.

During the early 1990s, Davis was as-signed to the department’s Community Affairs Division. He, along with other officers, ap-peared in the New York Times article “Special Unit Quells Gangs in Yonkers.” As a volunteer, Davis was one of the co-founders and field co-ordinators for “Off The Wall,” a community-based graffiti art program. Its agenda is men-tioned within the New York Times article, “As Graffiti as Art. As a Gang Tag. As Mess.”

During the early 2000’s, Davis became a school resource officer assigned to Emerson Middle School (Cross Hill Academy), Saunders High School, Commerce M.S. (Palisade Prepa-ratory), and Mark Twain (Yonkers Montessori Academy). As a graffiti/gang specialists, he presented at several local, regional, national and

international conferences throughout the United States and Canada. He even offered expert tes-timony/evidence in a few NYC graffiti criminal cases.

In 2009, Davis was reassigned to the Gang/Narcotics Unit, this time as a detective.

Today, Davis is the department’s liaison for the YMCA’s Cure Violence/Violence Inter-rupters (SNUG) and a member of YPD’s Re-Entry Team at Westchester Department of Cor-rections. He has received a number of police awards, along with high accumulative hours in the areas of law enforcement development, graffiti research/investigation, street gang re-search/investigation, narcotics investigations, online resources/open source intelligence, out-law motorcycle gangs and police/community issues.

His favorite documentaries addressing police, community and gangs issues consist of the late Peter Jenkins’ “Protect, Serve and Sur-vive;” the History Channel’s “Street Gangs: A Secret History;” and “Eyes on the Prize: Ameri-ca’s Civil Rights Years 1954-1965.”

PAGE 2 - YoNkERs RisiNG - FRidAY, MARch 4, 2016

Volunteer reporters and photographers wanted: If you are an apsiring journalist or photographer and want to see you name in print, contact us at risingmediagroup.com.

High school interns are also welcome for this summer.

The Idol judges include Joyce Henery, Yon Zweibon, Olivia Hunter, Steve Sansone, Victor LaGamma and Peter DiIorio.

Idol contestants Zaina Shleiwet, Taylor Kennedy, Phoenix Navarro and Ariana Nagurney. (Shleiwet and Kennedy were named finalists.)

Kristian Kirkland performs for the judges and was named an Idol finalis.

Yonkers Idol Auditions BeginYonkers Police Detective Ken Davis Recognized

The Yonkers Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation kicked off its annual Yonkers Idol and Yonkers Junior Idol singing competition last weekend at the Nodine Hill Community Cen-ter.

Those auditioning must be between the ages of 15 and 19 years old to qualify for Yonkers Idol, or must be between the ages of 10 and 14 years of age to qualify for Yonkers Junior Idol. The win-ners will hold the title for a year and win $1,000, courtesy of the Untermyer Performing Arts Coun-cil Teresa Fund.

The title provides performance opportuni-ties for various City of Yonkers ceremonies and events.

The finalists are: Yonkers Idol (ages 15 to 19)

Joi Young, Skylar VanCott, Tiana Concep-cion, Susanna Stepanyan, Kristian Kirkland, Sa-mantha Rentas and Elora Day.

Yonkers Junior Idol (ages 10 to 14) Daniella Baldino, Christina Yavdoshnyak,

Darragh Hampton, Taylor Kennedy and Zaina Shleiwet.

Excellent Care, Close to Home

Saint Joseph’s Cardiovascular Center 930 Yonkers Avenue, Yonkers, New York We offer a full range of cardiovascular imaging services on-site, and patients can see a cardiologist in comfortable exam rooms and physician offices.

To make an appointment: (914) 308-7350

Saint Joseph’s Imaging at Riverdale 3050 Corlear Avenue, Bronx, New York The latest in imaging technology is available in an office setting, including MRI, digital mammography, ultrasound and DEXA.

To make an appointment: (347) 842-2250

Saint Joseph’s Family Health Center 81 South Broadway, Yonkers, New York Primary care for the whole family is available by appointment or on a walk-in basis. We deliver our services in a patient-centered Care Team approach.

To make an appointment: (914) 375-3200

127 South Broadway, Yonkers, NY 10701 (914) 378-7 000 • www.saintjosephs.org

From the latest in imaging technology and cardiovascular treatment to routine medical care for the whole family, Saint Joseph’s offers the services you need in comfortable, convenient offices in the community:

Photos by Donna Davis

YPD Det. Kenneth Davis

FRidAY, MARch 4, 2016 - YoNkERs RisiNG - PAGE 3

By eric w. schoenI’ve seen a lot living

in Yonkers for 56 years, the 57th having started Feb. 22. Grecian/Roman colonnades built in Getty Square with a ceremony like Ronald Rea-gan had in Berlin to “tear them down.” Proposals for movie theaters and baseball stadiums downtown, the inability for a Target to be built in Yonkers like most of America has had for years. Politicians and political leaders being marched off to jail.

That’s just for starters. What I am witnessing as we speak in Yon-

kers comes pretty close to taking the cake. I’ll call it “MuralGate.”

If you read my column last week, I stated my opposition to the landmarking of the “Gate-way to the Waterfront” mural and district. Part of the mural is on a building owned by the pub-lisher of this newspaper. I did not hide that. I also did not hide that if the publisher of this fi ne newspaper was sitting across from me eat-ing the popular McDonald’s all-day breakfast, I would not have a clue as to who he is.

Several hours after the deadline for fi l-ing this column, a City of Yonkers engineer condemned the brick building as “structur-ally unstable and a threat to public health and safety.” The city inspection followed a private structural engineer’s report submitted to coun-cil members by the owner of the property, Ris-ing Development, that pretty much came to the same conclusion.

The private engineer, Neil Wexler, presi-dent of Wexler Associates Investigative Engi-neers in Manhattan, found that mortar bonds on the building’s brick walls had deteriorated to “sand and dust.” In his report, Wexler said the eastern wall – on which the towering Haas mural depicts Henry Hudson’s arrival on the Half Moon among resident Native Americans framed by trompe l’oeil architectural elements of former Yonkers buildings – was the “main concern” where bricks “are visibly un-bonded.”

Wexler went on to say “the smallest ground shake will send the bricks tumbling to the ground.” He recommended demolition and replacement of the building rather than repairs in unsafe working conditions caused by the ex-tent of the property’s “distress.” The owner’s consultant said the existing mural should not be maintained in its current location.

A city engineer who works for Mayor Mike Spano condemned the building. A private engineer detailed how unsafe the building is. Did that stop our dear Yonkers City Council from approving the landmarking to prevent demolition of the murals? Nope. Did that stop Spano from saying he will “approve the land-marking legislation?” Nope.

As they say, “This, too is Yonkers.”So many questions come into play here. If

you or I see a potentially dangerous or clearly unsafe building or a potential fi re or safety hazard, you can call the Yonkers Buildings De-partment, Yonkers Fire Department, Yonkers Police Department or other city agencies and they will send out trained personnel to either request that the owner remedy the situation, or shut the building down. You can even do this anonymously.

Our city buildings inspectors and fi re and police personnel are true professionals who don’t let politics get in the way of safety.

The landlord of the condemned building, 36 Main St., has said for months that the build-ing has structural problems and needs to come down. Why did the city wait until the day of the landmarking vote to send in an inspector?

The City Council requests that the land-lord of the building provide an inspection re-port. He does. The head of the company that prepares the report comes to the City Council meeting to answer questions about the report. The structural engineer states in his profes-

sional opinion that the mural has “aggravated” the deterioration because it had been applied “in an unprofessional way.”

The council asks for the report, the writer of the report does not hide and comes to answer questions about it, and according to a report in the Westches-ter Business Journal, one council member with no structural engineering background calls criticism of the mural’s application “an insult” to the artist.

“I’ll have you know that Mr. Haas does murals all over the world and I would believe they’re all standing and all in great shape,” the council member said.

Hey, at least the guy said ‘”would be-lieve.” I would be startled if he had reports on all of the artist’s murals.

No one is questioning the artistic beauty of the murals. No one is questioning the tal-ent of the artist. I could not paint a mural like the artist has, and I can’t comment on whether he can write as good a column as I can. I am not Shakespeare and I am sure the artist would agree he is not Picasso.

Did the council approve the landmarking to appease the small group of residents and non-residents – less than 500 in number – who signed a www.change.org petition calling for the landmarking, knowing one of the buildings the mural is on is in bad shape and ultimately going to be torn down?

The city employs professional engineers to inspect buildings. Does the mayor not re-spect the opinions of the professionals who work for him?

I posed the following questions to Mayor Spano, and right before deadline this week re-ceived a response from Communications Di-rector Christina Gilmartin. Here are the ques-tions and answers, unedited:

Question: The city engineer says the building is unsafe. The owner of the building’s engineer says the building is unsafe. Why did the city wait to inspect the Sprayregen building with the mural on it until the day of the land marking vote? Upon complaint (or very public notice) the city can always inspect.

answer: The building commissioner was provided a report on structural conditions of the building. The commissioner had the obli-gation to review it and as result, he condemned the building to preserve the safety of the area. The mayor does not have the power to reverse the condemnation, it’s about public safety.

Q: Does the mayor feel he is acting re-sponsibly by signing the legislation for the his-toric district when he knows the city inspector says the building should be condemned?

a: Yes, signing the legislation is an affi r-mation of how the city values art and how it’s contributed to the city’s vitality.

Q: Does the mayor feel that a build-ing where a “little shake” could cause falling bricks should remain standing?

a: The building (department) reported that the building does not appear to be in im-minent danger of collapse.

Q: The people who supported the land-mark district... should they feel the council vote was legitimate or simply meant to appease them?

a: That is not for the mayor to answer; rather you should reach out to the City Council. We can’t comment on how people may feel.

The bottom line, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano? Tear down 36 Main St. It’s an accident waiting to happen!

Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com and follow him on Twitter @ericyo-nkers. Catch the Westchester Rising Radio Show featuring Dan Murphy and Eric Schoen on Thursdays at 10 a.m. on WVOX 1460 on the A.M. dial, or on the Internet at wvox.com and click on “listen live.”

Th is, Too, is ‘MuralGate’

Eric W. Schoen

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What do you get when you combine an award-winning local historian, a seasoned marketing and advertising pro, an experienced diversity and inclusion leader and a highly motivated Yonkers champion?

You get Yonkers’ own Angelique Piwin-ski. But there is one more facet of “Angie” to share here.

Angelique is transgender. In her own words… “I agreed to share my

story, but I was a bit nervous at fi rst because people can be so cutting and nasty with their comments, especially with something they don’t fully understand. Fear generally is the driver.

“The reason I am doing this is two-fold: To educate that transgender people are normal people just like everyone else. We just want to live our lives the way our hearts tell us is authentic to ourselves. The second reason is that I hope my story will give some degree of inspiration, and perhaps hope, to those who need to see someone locally who has accom-plished their transition with a reasonable de-gree of success.

“As background, the ‘T’ has been the most discriminated segment of the LGBT (lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender) popu-lation with surveys showing that only 0.3 percent of the U.S. population identifi es as transgender. For a city like Yonkers, with its 200,000 people, mathematically that would equate to only about 60 individuals. Most will never encounter a transgender and can only formulate knowledge and opinions from what is seen in the media.

“While a few transgender people have made news in a positive way, the statistics re-main grim – when you hear that 50 percent of all of those who identify as transgender have attempted suicide. Equally as bad was that 2015 saw the most homicides of transgender people in U.S. history. Perhaps my story can do a little to melt some of that hatred and mis-trust of things unknown.

“I’m just a person, like you. I didn’t choose to be the way I am. I just am.

“I’m a baby boomer and when growing up I knew I was different, but couldn’t really understand why. There was no Internet, noth-ing to read and no one to talk with who would be able to understand my questions. Even at 5 years old I couldn’t comprehend why some of the things that my male friends were so enthusiastic about, I had no interest in. This was not a phase. I went through life doing all of the things that society deemed as normal: went to all-boys Catholic grammar and high schools, got married, had kids, etc. Something still seemed missing.

“I spent the past 10 years or so doing my own casual research; reading and talking with many people, especially transgender women, just trying to understand. Their stories were my story. The epiphany fi nally came and I re-alized I truly have a female spirit and soul.

“After several very close family members passed away and some other things happened, this provided the impetus for me to change my life and live authentically. It was now or never. ‘Someday’ for me had to begin today.

“I created a plan and a timeline for myself and stuck to it as best I could. When I was

ready, it was not an easy thing to talk about with family, friends, clergy, co-workers and clients. I found that some of the people I con-sidered closest rejected me out of hand, while some of the people I feared the most em-braced and celebrated the real me. That was truly eye-opening.

“Levity was and continues to be my great-est asset in all of this and I use it as a teaching tool, as well. Case in point, when I was work-ing at my previous position, I traveled a lot. Before my formal transition, my own body was going through changes. Now, imagine going through security with my colleagues at Newark airport at 5 a.m. I am dressed in a male suit and tie. Under my shirt was a bra and triple-D breasts. I was always pulled out of line. I always requested female examiners and always had the exact same reaction in pri-vate: ‘Where did you get them done? They are beautiful!’

“A friendly, almost intimate conversa-tion always ensued and my concluding it say-ing that my team is waiting for me and they think I’m a terrorist or the unluckiest person imaginable. We would all laugh. Eventually my team would come to understand that I was actually the luckiest person – being able to be myself.

“I will tell you, not every day is easy. That’s no different than the rest of us for a va-riety of our own reasons. But deep down, I am truly happy and hope that the telling of this very short segment of my long personal story will make a difference in someone’s life.

“Since transitioning, I have been ap-pointed to two Yonkers city boards by Mayor (Mike) Spano, elected president of the Board of Directors of the Friends of Philipse Manor Hall NYS Historic Site, and elected to the Vestry of Historic St. John’s Episcopal Church Getty Square. My two Facebook groups, “His-toric Yonkers” and “Celebrating in Yonkers,” now have a combined membership exceeding 5,000 people. My corporate position was re-cently eliminated due to a client merger, so it may be time once again to reinvent myself.

“This will be a piece of cake compared to the last reinvention.”

Yonkers’ Own Trailblazer

Angelique Piwinski

PAGE 4 - YoNkERs RisiNG - FRidAY, MARch 4, 2016

Members of the Black Culture Club at Yonkers High School end February with a tribute to victims of police brutality in February.

Zoey would make a good family pet.

By Zipporah Osei The average Black History Month acknowl-

edgement centers almost exclusively around slav-ery, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Era. Even worse, the higher up in education a stu-dent gets, the less focus is given in classrooms to Black History Month at all; a student who wants to recognize Black History Month in high school often has to do so themselves.

The Black Culture Club of Yonkers High School spent the last day of Black History Month paying tribute to victims of police brutality. Stu-dents involved in the tribute dressed in all black and hung tribute cards around their necks. On these cards were the photos of victims of police brutality, a brief summary of their stories, their last words, and the years they lived.

Each card read “#Black Lives Matter.”In their celebration of the month, the mem-

bers of the Black Culture Club wanted to make it clear that black history did not begin with slavery, nor did it end with the civil rights era. To them, black history is being made right now, as the fight against police brutality in this country continues. Club members said they hoped their tribute would be a somber message to their teachers and fellow classmates.

“I think the most disheartening thing in or-ganizing this day was how easy it was to come together,” said club Co-President Kerly Noisette. “What I mean by that was that we had no trouble

finding a list of people who died at the hands of police. We had about 25 people wearing tributes today, but we could have easily had 100.”

The tributes were well received by much of the student body. After reading the cards, many of the students felt they were understanding the situ-ation in a new light. In the case of Oscar Grant, in particular, many of the students had not heard of the case and were stunned to learn that the of-ficer in question had shot an unarmed man when he had said he was simply going to Tazer him. For teachers, many of the cases brought disbelief that so many years had passed and yet the situation remains the same.

Most importantly, the day reminded YHS of its humanity.

“No matter what you feel about the politics of the situation, at the end of the day, we’re talk-ing about people who have died,” said Emily Ti-burcio, a club member who paid tribute to Tamir Rice. “People were reminded today that #Black-LivesMatter isn’t just a title or a reason for the black population to complain. It’s their response to watching their people die. It’s grief.”

Because black history does not end with the end of February, the Black Culture Club has plans to turn the tributes into a larger poster to be hung up in the school. The hope is that they will continue to inspire solidarity within the school. That, they said, is the true spirit of Black History Month.

The Leake and Watts Biondi School in Yonkers inducted Hugh B. Price (second from right), former head of the National Urban League, into its Black History Wall of Fame on Feb. 26. Joining Price are (from left) Al Grimes, assistant principal for the Biondi School and a

2012 Wall of Fame honoree; State Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins; and Alan Mucatel, executive director of Leake and Watts. Stewart-Cousins also presented Price with a proclamation declar-ing Feb 26 “Hugh B. Price Day.” Photo by An-drew Jones

The Yonkers Animal Shelter has many pets available for adoption.

Zoey is a mixed-breed dog about 2 years old and weighing 50 pounds. She has been at the shelter several months and has learned quite a few things since being there: She knows sit and down and is learning “high five.” Zoey is very athletic and would make a great agility dog.

She is a beautiful shade of brindle – lighter

than most dogs; sort of a toast color. While she only likes some dogs, she’s excellent with people and would be a great family companion for a sin-gle-pet household

Visit Zoey at the Yonkers Animal Shelter, 1000 Ridge Hill Blvd., between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily. For more information, call 914-377-6730 during business hours or 201-981-3215 at any time, or email lesliem147@gmail.com.

YHS Says ‘#BlackLivesMatter’Biondi School Honors Price For Black History Month

Consider Adopting Zoey

To join the Exchange Club of Yonkers contact Vice-President David Tubiolo at 646-596-3375

The Arc of Delaware County seeks dynamic professionals and leaders who seek a rewarding career helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities lead personally fulfilling lives. Join our nationally recognized organization where employee satisfaction, respect, and caring are experienced every day.

Seeking Dynamic Professionals

To learn more about these positions or to apply, visit: www.delarc.org

• Chief Services Officer• Speech Pathologist• Supervisor/Life Coach 10• Assistant Director of Residential Services• House Manager

A number of activities are planned at West-chester County parks and nature centers the weekend of March 5 and 6.

On Saturday, March 5 at Croton Point Park in Croton-on-Hudson, “Project FeederWatch” will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. Learn how to identify and count birds with the experts from Saw Mill River Audubon. Beginners welcome. For more information, call 914-862-5297.

Also on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to noon at Read Wildlife Sanctuary at Playland Park in Rye, a nature photography skills program is planned. Bring your camera and learn how to take better nature photos. 914-967-8720.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday at Trailside Nature Museum at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, Routes 35 and 121 South in Cross River, a “Sugarhouse Chat” is scheduled. Stop by and watch as the evaporator produces winter’s sweet reward, maple syrup. 914-864-7322.

In addition on Saturday, at Lenoir Preserve on Dudley Street in Yonkers, “Seasons at Lenoir” will open with a reception from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The show features works inspired by the preserve and is on view Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. through April 1. 914-968-5851.

From 1 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Cranberry Lake Preserve on Old Orchard Street in north White Plains, a nature-themed movie will be shown. The fee is $3 per person and includes popcorn. Pre-registration is required at 914-428-1005.

Also on Saturday, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Marsh-lands Conservancy on Route 1 (Boston Post Road) in Rye, a volunteer work project is sched-uled. Bring work gloves and help inspect the for-est regeneration area and Crabapple Island; work tools provided. 914-835-4466.

On Sunday, March 6, “Project Feeder Watch” will continue at Lenoir Preserve in Yon-kers, from 10 a.m. to noon. Join this citizen sci-ence project sponsored by Cornell University Or-nithology Lab and learn to identify birds and do a bird count. 914-968-5851.

Also on Sunday, “Sugarin’ Off” is scheduled from noon to 3 p.m. at Muscoot Farm on Route 100 in Somers. Join the fun on the last day of maple sugaring with maple-inspired activities and sweet treats. 914-864-7282.

From 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday at Lasdon Park, Arboretum and Veterans Memorial on Route 35 in Somers, learn how to provide the proper food, shelter and nesting places to attract birds to your back yard. Pre-registration required at 914-864-7264.

Also on Sunday, at Marshlands Conservan-cy in Rye, the “Winter Adventure Series: Flint Knapping” is planned. Make a projective point to take home with you. (Children younger than 12 must be accompanied by an adult.) 914-835-4466.

For more information about upcoming pro-grams at Westchester County parks and nature centers, visit www.parks.westchestergov.com.

The memories of Yonkers residents will soon to be recorded as oral histories thanks to a $25,000 grant awarded to the Hudson River Mu-seum. The project, “Yonkers Voices,” is spon-sored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The stories gathered from Yonkers residents through interviews will assist the museum to ex-pand its education and cultural programs and ex-hibitions so that they reflect the experiences and interests of all Yonkers’ neighborhoods.

Yonkers, once the home of upper-mid-dle-class suburban residents, is now an urban working-class city because of immigration and expanding industry. Changing over decades, the new face of Yonkers is part of the memories of generations of residents old and new. Residents here a long while might recount how hard was it to see a city change, fill with new buildings, new roads and facilities that overnight seemed crowded. New residents may remember what it was like to move to a city where they could not understand the language or find their way to schools and municipal buildings.

Joining the museum in its search for oral histories are four more Yonkers organizations that for many years have strived to better the quality of life here: Yonkers Riverfront Library, the Nepperhan Community Center, Philipse Manor Hall and the Yonkers Family YMCA.

These organizations will bring the “Yonkers Voices” project to the public and provide a place for residents to meet, remember and record.

“The oral histories we gather short term in-volve community engagement, break down bar-riers and provide a gathering place for all who participate,” said Jennifer Patton, the museum’s director of education. “Long term, it creates in-terest and involvement in the programs that re-sult from the knowledge we get from ‘Yonkers Voices.’”

Long term, too, are plans to index and store the histories in the new digital media lab at Yon-kers Riverfront Library for use in future exhi-bitions. Some interviews can be seen at www.tumblr.com/blog/YonkersVoices.

Interviewers trained in technique from the museum and the library will speak with resi-dents and record their stories. The goal is to ob-tain 30 stories – 10 captured in video and 20 on audio. Interviews begin April 20 at the River-front Library, 1 Larkin Plaza. Arrangements to interview home-bound participants can also be made; contact Jennifer Patton at 914-963-4550, ext. 221.

Residents who want to contribute oral his-tories to “Yonkers Voices” can do so by emailing YonkersVoices@hrm.org with your contact in-formation, or calling Patton at the above number and leaving your contact information.

Birds, Art & Maple Sugaring At County Nature Centers

HR Museum Awarded Grant To Gather Oral Histories

FRidAY, MARch 4, 2016 - YoNkERs RisiNG- PAGE 5

On Th is Day in Yonkers History…

By Mary hoarpresident emerita, Yonkers historical society

Monday, March 7 March 7, 1929: Theodore Merseles,

asbestos king and a pioneer of the mail order business, passed away in Del Mon-te, Calif. A resident of the Lawrence Park section of Yonkers, he was president of the Johns-Manville Corporation, a gigan-tic asbestos company. Previous to that, he had been president of the Chicago mail order house of Montgomery, Ward and Company.

March 7, 1930: Mariner hero Cap-tain George Friend of the Liner America in darkness and heavy seas performed another humanitarian act. Fried, a resi-dent of Colonial Heights, responded to a wireless request from the Cranford for help to get Chief Engineer Frank Battam back to America where his daughter, bad-ly burned in a fi re, was calling for him.

Fried maneuvered his great ship to a close distance to the vessel and, at 4:30 a.m., sent a lifeboat through heavy winds and threatening seas to pick up the man. Sadly, the same fi re claimed the life of Battam’s wife and his son.

tuesday, March 8 March 8, 1920: Three hundred members of

the Sons of Italy Lodge inspected the old Armory on Waverly Street. The organization purchased the building from the county for a social and athletic center. Those gathered had contributed $11,500 in cash toward the purchase of the building; the building cost $5,500.

March 8, 1922: Mayor Taussig, who played fi rst base on his college team and remained a base-ball fan, asked the Common Council to legalize playing baseball on Sundays in Yonkers.

wednesday, March 9 March 9, 1915: Motion picture theaters in

Yonkers were allowed to open on Sundays by an order of the New York State Supreme Court. Yon-kers police unsuccessfully had attempted to prose-cute owners for violating the Sunday labor sections of the Penal Code.

March 9, 1953: All 13 members of the Com-mon Council received telegrams from a televi-sion star. Harry Hershfi eld, a cofounder of the New York Cardiac Home, sent his regrets that his television program prevented him from attending the public hearing on a zone change to allow the Cardiac Home to building on the old Untermyer Estate on North Broadway. The zone changed was granted. The organization planned to build two buildings, one to be built at a cost of $800,000 for ambulatory patients, and one costing $100,000 for employees.

thursday, March 10 March 10, 1903: For the fi rst time in many

years, the Common Council ordered residents of the third and fourth wards to plant shade trees on their property. They expected the price of the trees to be $5 each; the trees were to be placed 10 feet apart.

March 10, 1926: Yonkers telephone workers joined the thousands of former and present fel-low telephone company employees observing the 50th birthday of the telephone. Special ceremonies marked the day and workers wore the semi-cen-tennial button of blue and white – the Bell Sys-tem colors – decorated with a modern telephone and number 50. The Yonkers offi ce held a gala luncheon for the occasion in which Mayor Walsh, eight aldermen, city offi cials and directors from the Chamber of Commerce attended, as well as long-term employees from the Yonkers offi ce.

Friday, March 11 March 11, 1900: The battle of the sexes was

brought to the game of Whist in Yonkers. The two active clubs, Yonkers Whist Club – all men – and the Compass Whist Club – women only – chal-lenged each other to a match, with a team of eight representing each club. The men ungallantly won by 16 points, with a rematch promised in the near future.

March 11, 1922: During a very heavy wind and rainstorm, Dr. Elmer Sheets saw a tattered American fl ag fl ying from the City Hall fl agpole. He called Mayor Taussig immediately to complain, saying it was undignifi ed for the city to display a fl ag that was so tattered, and offered to donate a fl ag if the city could not afford to replace one. Taussig investigated, and found Yonkers had a spe-cial storm fl ag, used only when the weather was terrible.

The regular fl ag had been taken down when the storm began, and the “storm fl ag” put in its place. The regular fl ag was put right back up when the weather cleared.

saturday, March 12 March 12, 1925: To save people the trip to

White Plains, the New York Motor Vehicle Bureau announced applicants for drivers’ and chauffeurs’ licenses would be able to take their road tests on McLean Avenue three times a week.

March 12, 1927: The GAR announced plans to form a Yonkers regiment of 2,000 volunteers in case war was declared.

sunday, March 13 March 13, 1930: Count Mihály Károlyi, fi rst

president of Hungary, spoke in the Masonic Tem-ple on Anti-Fascism; he was introduced by Nicho-las Lasko, president of the Associate Hungarian Societies of Yonkers. The Yonkers Committee of the Anti-Horty League sponsored his appearance. This was his second visit to Yonkers; his fi rst trip was in 1914.

March 13, 1931: A one-man operated Park Avenue trolley car went out of control on the steep Palisade Avenue Hill, careened across Elm Street, jumped the track and smashed into a building at the corner of New School Street in a tower of fl ames. One of the worst tragedies experienced in Yonkers, it cost the life of one woman and injured 37 people.

For more information on the Yonkers His-torical Society, Sherwood House and upcoming events, visit www.facebook.com/YonkersHistori-calSociety, or LinkedIn and Twitter @YonkersHis-toric. For information on membership in the YHS, call 914-961-8940 or email yhsociety@aol.com.

The old Armory on Waverly Street.

An ad for Yonkers resident Theodore Merseles’ company.

State Sen. George Latimer last week called for passage of a series of bills that he says would bring real reform for local governments by relieving them of unfunded man-dates.

“Only through achieving long-promised mandate relief will our local government be able to meet the burden of the property tax cap, and ulti-mately provide further tax relief to property tax pay-ers,” he said.

In 2011, the state imposed the property tax cap, limiting local governments’ and school districts’ ability to increase taxes to 2 percent or the rate of infl ation. Each year since the implementation of the tax cap in 2012, the rate of infl ation has declined. For 2016, the tax cap is actually 0.73 percent, and is expected to be close to 0 percent for 2017.

As part of the agreement reached in Al-bany, the property tax cap was to be paired with mandate relief, with the state either tak-ing over the cost of state-mandated programs and services that local governments pay for, or state funds replacing local property tax dollars as the payment method.

“We have failed to uphold the promise we made to schools and local governments,” said Latimer. “The state has imposed billions of dollars in costs on counties, towns, village, cities and school districts. In an effort to pro-tect local taxpayers from the growing costs of these mandates, the state then imposed a cap on the main source of revenue available to them. The costs of meeting these state man-dates continue to grow, while New York State has placed our local governments on a fi xed income.”

Latimer pointed to several major man-

dates that cost local gov-ernments tens of millions of dollars, including the multiple primary elec-tions held for state and congressional races, and the early intervention and pre-kindergarten special education programs.

The senator has spon-sored or co-sponsored the following legislation to assist local governments by providing mandate re-lief:

S.6452A – Would move the congressional and statewide election primary dates to the same

day, to be held in June. This complies with a federal court mandate and would save up to $50 million dollars.

S.6486 – Increases the state government’s share of the cost of the state-mandated Early Intervention program, which provides special-needs services to children through age 2.

S.2898A – Establishes a defi ned contri-bution pension plan for non-civil service and elected public employees.

S.3991A – Limits the amount of money local governments are required to contribute to the state and local retirement system to 2 percent or the consumer price index.

S.429 – Would require New York State to take over the local share of Medicaid, cur-rently estimated at $17.5 billion, which is paid largely through the county property tax.

S.2295 – Requires the state to pay the costs of any and all state-mandated programs provided by local governments and school dis-tricts.

“New York State should stop passing costs and programs off to the municipalities,” said Latimer. “Our state must start treating lo-cal governments like they are part of the fam-ily.”

Latimer Calls for Action On Mandate Relief

State Sen. George Latimer

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By Dan Murphy With the race for Westchester County ex-

ecutive more than a year away, the talk about which Democrat will step forward and challenge incumbent Republican CE Rob Astorino, who is expected (but not certain) to run for a third term in 2017.

Insiders in White Plains tell us that two Democrats have emerged as the leading con-tenders. Assemblywoman Amy Paulin and Yon-kers Mayor Mike Spano, with County Legislator Ken Jenkins telling everyone that regardless of who the party preference is, he will challenge that candidate in a Democratic primary.

“Amy and Mike are watching each other to see what the other decides to do,” said our source. “It is unlikely that they will challenge each other and both are deciding if they really want to run.”

Paulin has considered a run for county ex-ecutive on a few occasions, declining to instead continue her service as a senior member of the Assembly. If she decides to run next year, she will immediately rise to the top of Democrats running, based on her long-standing relation-ships with Democrats throughout the county and women’s rights organizations like My Sis-ter’s Place.

Her fundraising capabilities are also second to none.

Spano would be another formidable can-didate. He comes from the largest city in West-chester with the highest number of Democrats in the county. Spano would run on his record over fi ve years of controlling spending, improving education, and continuing the economic boom in Yonkers. The Spano name is well known in Westchester and as a former Republican, he could tout the fact that he could attract Repub-licans and Independents if he decides to run for county executive.

Both Paulin and Spano remain unsure about a run for the seat. “Mike is trying to fi gure out what he wants to do with the rest of his life,” said our source. “He has another three years as mayor, and combined with his 14 years in the Assembly, he may not want to run again. Amy also had to decide what to do next and where

her future is.” County Legislator Ken Jenkins is telling

supporters and fellow Democrats that regardless of which Democrat decides to run for county executive, he is running and will run in a demo-cratic primary. Three years ago, Jenkins agreed not to run in a primary and abide by the results of the county Democratic convention, which nomi-nated New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson.

Bramson lost to Astorino in 2013 and Jen-kins is steadfast in his desire to run and chal-lenge any and all Democrats.

Jenkins has continued his aggressive ac-cusations of the Astorino administration, as he did when he was chairman of the BOL for two years. Jenkins recently issued a written request for the BOL Litigation Committee to analyze the complete set of costs involved with Astorino’s failure to act in respect to the housing stipulation agreement.

Estimating the loss to the county taxpayers at $25 million, Jenkins is calling on Astorino to pay for the newest fi nes for contempt of court out of his campaign funds.

“Westchester County has never been held in contempt of court, even when litigating the initial settlement at its most controversial mo-ments,” he said. “County taxpayers should not have to pay for the county executive’s politi-cal actions and these most recent fi nes should be covered by the county executive’s campaign funds.”

Jenkins’ rhetoric has both supporters and detractors in Democratic circles, with some be-lieving it is exactly what is required to defeat Astorino, but others believing it too far over the top and was the reason Democrats lost the ma-jority on the BOL.

Current BOL Chairman Michael Kaplowitz is said not to be interested in a run for county executive, and will continue to serve on the BOL and work in the private sector.

Other Democratic candidates could emerge – especially if Paulin and Spano decide not to run – including Assemblymember Shelley May-er, County Clerk Tim Idoni and others. Current-ly, county Democrats are waiting to see what their two prominent candidates decide to do.

Paulin & Spano Eye Each Other’s Moves for Co. Exec.

Jenkins Tells Dems He Will Primary

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PAGE 6 - YoNkERs RisiNG - FRidAY, MARch 4, 2016

AGENDA FOR ZONING BOARD OF APPEALSFebruary 25, 2016

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: A Public Hearing will be held before the Zoning Board of Appeals of the City of Yonkers on TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2016 at 6:00 P.M. sharp, in the Ceremonial Courtroom, Yonkers, New York (building is accessible to the handi-capped), on applications for Appeals from the Building Commissioner’s decisions and applications for Variances under the provisions of G.O. # 4-2000, as amended:

NEW HEARINGS# 5486– Area Variance – Andrew Romano, Esq., on behalf of Yaitza Aguada, owner, on premises known as 137 Gailmor Drive, Block: 4460, Lot: 19, Zone: S-60

# 5487– Area Variance – Andrew Romano, Esq., on behalf of 151 Ludlow Street Corp, owner, on premises known as 58 Knowles Street, Block: 168, Lot: 1, Zone: I

# 5488– Area Variance – Richard J. Pearson, PE of John Meyer Consulting, on behalf of CPD NY Energy Corporation, lessee, on premises known as 1282 Midland Avenue aka 838 Kimball Avenue, Block: 5245, Lot: 5, Zone: BR

# 5489– Use & Area Variance – James Veneruso, Esq., on behalf of 1111 CP Avenue LLC c/o Infinity Real Estate, owner, on premises known as 1113 Central Park Avenue, Block: 5425, Lot: 100, Zone: OL

JOSEPH CIANCIULLICHAIRMAN, ZBA

#1434 03/04/2016

THE CITY OF YONKERS/YONKERS PUBLIC SCHOOLS, BUREAU OF PUR-CHASING, One Larkin Center, 3RD Floor, Yonkers, New York 10701 (Located in the Yonkers Riverfront Library Building across from the Metro-North train station) will receive sealed Bids for the following projects until 2:00 PM, on the dates below. Sealed Bids will be publicly opened and read at the address above in the 3rd Floor Finance Conference Room. Solicitation documents are available for downloading from the Empire State Purchasing Group website at http://www.empirestatebidsys-tem.com/. The City welcomes and encourages participation by local and minority and women owned business enterprises.

Bid 6018 - Opening date 3/30/2016: Repairs/rehabilitation for the 1st Precinct firing range floor. Bid 6023 - Opening date 3/16/2016: Industrial Explosive Proof Camera and Acces-sories. Bid 6024 - Opening date 3/23/2016: School 31 upgrades to emergency utilities & replace doors/windows. Bid 6025 - Opening date 3/16/2016: 2016 Annual House Drain Lateral Repair Con-tract. Bid 6026 - Opening date 3/23/2016: Maintenance, repair & replacement of ROSS Control Valves at various locations as needed.

#1435 03/04/2016

CORPORATION NOTICECITY OF YONKERS - NEW YORK

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to law, that the City Council of the City of Yonkers, New York will hold a Public Hearing on Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at 7:00 P.M. in the City Council Chambers, 40 South Broadway, Yonkers, New York on the following resolution, to wit:

PROPOSED RESOLUTION

A PROPOSED RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF YONKERS DESIGNATING A PORTION OF McLEAN AVENUE AS “ANNA ARTUSO AND JOHN PUMA MEMORIAL WAY” AT THE INTERSECTION OF MARTHA AVENUE AND ST. BARNABAS PLACE

VINCENT SPANOCity Clerk

#1436 03/04/2016

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ClassifiedsNotice of formation of Apple Accessories LLC. Of Org. filed with the Sect’y of State of NY (SSNY) on February 12, 2016. Office location: Westchester. The street ad-dress is: 70 Saratoga Ave, B2, Yonkers, NY, 10705. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process served to: Anna M. Matias, 70 Saratoga Ave, B2, Yonkers, NY, 10705 Pur-pose: any lawful act.

#6738 02/19 - 03/25

Notice of Qualification of YRC Capital, LLC. Appl. for Auth. filed with NY Dept. of State on 1/8/16. Office loca-tion: Westchester County. NY Sec. of State designated agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served, and shall mail pro-cess to 810 Yonkers Ave., Yonkers, NY 10704. DE addr. of LLC c/o Vanguard Corporate Services Ltd, 3500 S Dupont Hwy, Dover, DE 19901. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901 on 1/7/16. Purpose: any lawful activity.

#6739 02/26 – 04/01

Do you remember ANGELA DOLAN?

Mary Angela Dolan was born in County Fermanagh, Ireland, in 1918. She emigrated to Yonkers in 1949 and may have worked at

O’Dare’s restaurant on 602 Central Park Avenue. If you have any recollections or photos of Angela, please contact Zoe McCaw at zmccaw01@qub.

ac.uk or 31 Colenso Court, 2-18 Colenso Parade, Belfast BT9 5BB, N. Ireland.

Yonkers” column on page 3 – calling the situa-tion “MuralGate” – and former Councilwoman Joan Gronowski’s letter below, both articulate the rationale to at least table the matter until a compromise can be made, or officials can find a way to pay for salvaging of the one mural that sits on a condemned building at 36 Main St.

Three other thoughts on the matter: First, most of our readers know that Yonkers Ris-ing is owned by Rising Development LLC, one of the partners in the redevelopment project for downtown Yonkers that includes 36 Main St. One of the arguments made at the council meeting, and a similar argument I had heard from council members before the vote, was that the submission of the requested documents – specifically an engineer’s report and study of the stability of 36 Main St. – came in very late.

For that the developers are guilty. However, the requested documents did

make it to the council before its vote, and the condemnation of the property, for which the decision was made by the city’s building de-partment and nobody else, was made hours before the council vote. Yes, the council had to either make a quick decision or table the mat-ter. Councils past and present have done so and will continue to do so.

The Verizon building, which was also landmarked by the City Council at 5 Riverdale Avenue, highlights another problem with this vote. Verizon claims it has an agreement with the city not to landmark the property that su-persedes the council vote last week. No discus-sion or consideration was given to that fact ex-cept by Councilmembers Breen and Shepherd, who were the two “no” votes against the land-marking.

Finally, there has been a lot of criticism over the years at the lack of progress in the re-development of downtown Yonkers, and specif-ically at Rising Development. I find it troubling and ironic that now, as Rising Development has found a partner, received zoning approvals and has the financing to move forward with an ambitious and well-thought-out plan, another roadblock is put before them.

“On Tuesday, Feb. 23, the Yonkers City Council voted 5-2 to grant landmark status to three Richard Haas murals painted in 1997 on the exteriors of three buildings near the inter-section of Main Street and Riverdale Avenue – the heart of the city’s downtown redevelopment area,” said Councilwoman Gronowski. “This landmark status means the murals and the three structures, upon which they are painted, cannot be demolished without the approval of the Landmarks Preservation Board.”

There is no argument challenging the beauty of the murals, titled “Gateway to the Waterfront,” which depict the settlement and history of the City of Yonkers. One of the Haas

murals is on the façade of 36 Main St., a build-ing that was condemned by the City of Yonkers hours before the City Council voted to declare the artwork a historic landmark.

There were numerous public speakers in favor of the landmarking of the three murals, prior to the vote, and at least one criticism of the owner of one of the structures for allowing the structure to be exposed to and compromised by the elements. Ironically, for many years, the city did just that with the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research – a structure truly worthy of landmark status. The city also let deteriorate Yonkers Fire Station 1 on New School Street, despite the fact that it still housed our firefight-ers, and the building was condemned and va-cated in June 2015.

Speaker comments noted the fact that there was no defacement or graffiti on the mu-rals, but there was absolutely no discussion as to who would be responsible for current or fu-ture repairs to these murals due to the elements and expected degradation of the materials used to paint them. It didn’t seem important.

When casting his vote, Councilmember Sabatino questioned the engineer’s report, with the comment, “I will have you know that Mr. Haas does murals all over the world, and I be-lieve they are all standing and in great shape.” I don’t know how much time Sabatino devoted to the assessment of the Yonkers murals, or to even researching the effects of time on Haas’s murals in general, but it took me all of 5 min-utes to google several articles about the Haas murals.

A 30-page thesis of the Haas murals writ-ten in 2013 states, in part: “Out of the 53 out-door murals that Richard Haas has created, 21 murals have been lost.” The author further notes that the “Gateway to the Waterfront mu-ral in Yonkers, N.Y.” is “compromised, show-ing signs of paint fading and needing overdue maintenance.”

Not surprising, as it is an outdoor paint-ing near a waterfront. Who will pay for these repairs?

The City Council received an engineer’s report, albeit delayed, but it seemed to be dis-missed for the most part. I believe the council received it five days before the stated meeting and had an obligation to put over the vote on the landmarking, if members did not have enough time to study and weigh the informa-tion. This is done very frequently and often in matters of lesser importance.

I might add that the landmarking process for these murals also seems to have been done in the 11th hour – almost 20 years after they were painted.

Even if the murals themselves are worthy of landmarking, the underlying structures most assuredly are not. The Yonkers’ landmarks ordi-nance allows owners to file a hardship applica-tion, in which the City Council could set the landmark designation aside so that the owner can redesign, alter or demolish the site.

Questions ContinueContinued from Page 1

FRidAY, MARch 4, 2016 - YoNkERs RisiNG - PAGE 7

Seniors and Health Care

By Julissa Javiersocial security assistant district manager in Yonkers

Question: My child lost his Social Security card. How can I get a replacement?

answer: You can replace your child’s Social Security card at no cost to you if it is lost or stolen. You are limited to three replacement cards in a year and 10 during a lifetime; legal name changes and other exceptions don’t count toward these limits. Also, you may not be affected by these limits if you can prove you need the card to prevent a significant hardship.

The documents you will need to provide will differ depending on whether your child is a citizen of the United States or a foreign-born citizen. To get a new card, you will need to provide original documents that prove citizenship – no photocopies or digital replications are accepted. You will have to provide proof of your identity as well using a U.S. driver’s license, a state-issued non-driver identification card or a U.S. passport.

Learn more about applying for a replacement Social Security card at www.socialsecurity.gov/ssnumber.

Q: A few months after I started receiving my Social Security retirement benefit, my former em-ployer offered to take me back. It’s a great offer. Can I withdraw my retirement claim and re-apply later to increase my benefit amount?

a: Social Security understands that unex-

pected changes may occur after you begin receiv-ing retirement benefits. If you change your mind, you may be able to withdraw your Social Security claim and re-apply at a future date. This withdraw-al must occur within 12 months of your original retirement, and you are limited to one withdrawal during your lifetime. Keep in mind, however, that you must repay all of the benefits you received.

Learn more about the one-year period when you can postpone your benefits at www.socialsecu-rity.gov/retire2/withdrawal.htm.

Q: I heard that Social Security benefits in-creased at the beginning of the year. What is the average Social Security retirement payment a per-son receives each month?

a: You are right – Social Security benefits increased this year. In 2015, nearly 64 million Americans who receive Social Security or Supple-mental Security Income began receiving a cost-of-living adjustment increase of 1.7 percent to its monthly benefit payments. The average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker in 2015 was $1,328 (up from $1,306 in 2014). The aver-age monthly Social Security benefit for a disabled worker in 2015 was $1,165 (up from $1,146 in 2014).

As a reminder, eligibility for retirement ben-efits still requires 40 credits (usually about 10 years of work). The Social Security Act details how the COLA is calculated. Read more about the COLA at www.socialsecurity.gov/cola.

New York-Presbyterian/Lawrence Hospital team members rallied for cardiovascular health and heart disease prevention at the American Heart Association’s Hudson Valley Heart Walk in October, which earned the hospital the AHA’s top honors for participation by an area hospital.

AHA representatives presented the Hud-son Valley “Hospital Cup” trophy to NewYork-Presbyterian/Lawrence Heart Walk team cap-tains and executives during the hospital’s Heart Disease Prevention Committee meeting Feb. 17.

Social Security Q&A

American Heart Association Recognizes NYP/Lawrence

From left are Jennifer Gelick, American Heart Association regional director; Judy Campisi, executive director for the local AHA; Tracey Lewis, vice president of operations for NYP/

Lawrence; Tina Sokolik, telemetry unit nurse manager and Heart Walk team captain at NYP/Lawrence; Danielle LeStrange, director of emergency nursing and clinical outreach, and

Heart Walk team captain at NYP/Lawrence; Margaret Walotsky, patient care director of the NewYork-Presbyterian Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at NYP/Lawrence, and Heart Walk team captain; and Alisa Holland, director of marketing and Heart Walk team captain at NYP/

Lawrence.

St. John’s Riverside Hospital recently an-nounced that its Internal Medicine Residency Program has been approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education after an 18-month approval process.

The program will offer both three-year cat-egorical and one-year preliminary pathways, de-signed to train knowledgeable, compassionate and efficient physicians.

“There is significant demand for primary care physicians both nationally and locally, therefore, additional training programs are needed to ensure an adequate physician supply,” said Ronald Corti, president and CEO. “This program is good for St. John’s and the community we serve.”

“The medical education program at St. John’s Riverside Hospital embodies our commitment to providing quality medical care to our community,” said Michael DiGiorno, DO, FASN, designated in-stitutional official for the residency and nephrolo-gist on staff at St. John’s. “We began formally educating medical students nearly three years ago

and with support from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine have continuously expanded and honed the program. Our comprehensive cur-riculum focuses on community-based health care and aligns with the hospital’s mission of service to our community.”

“I am proud to be a part of a medical staff that has supported the introduction of resident training in both theory and practice at St. John’s River-side Hospital,” added Dr. Paul Antonecchia, pro-gram director of the residency program and vice president for medical affairs at St. John’s. “We are privileged to have an excellent and diverse team of physicians on our medical staff who are excited to share their expertise and experience with new residents. The addition of resident physicians in in-ternal medicine will reinforce St. John’s reputation as a quality hospital that provides outstanding care to its community.”

For more information, visit www.Riverside-Health.org, “like” the hospital on Facebook or fol-low it on Twitter.

Internal Medicine Residency Program Approved

The six Westchester County-owned golf courses are scheduled to open for the season on Wednesday, March 16, weather and conditions permitting. Tee time reservations may be made online by calling the individual courses. Walk-up reservations will also be accepted.

Reservations via the automated telephone line will no longer be accepted.

The courses are Mohansic in Yorktown Heights, Maple Moor in White Plains, Saxon Woods in Scarsdale, Hudson Hills in Ossining, and Dunwoodie and Sprain Lake in Yonkers.

Greens fees for 18 holes with a Westches-ter County Park Pass (except Hudson Hills) are

$36 for weekends and holidays, $32 for week-days, and $25 for seniors and juniors (weekdays only). Greens fees without a park pass are $46 weekends and holidays and $42 weekdays. Twi-light, super twilight and nine-hole discounts are also available. Golf cart fees will increase by $1, to $19 for 18 holes and $15 for nine holes.

Fees for Hudson Hills can be found at www.hudsonhillsgolf.com.

Any available E-Z Reserve spots will be sold at the courses. E-Z Reserve enables golfers with a Westchester County Park Pass to block out a regular Saturday or Sunday tee time for a period of 25 weeks.

County Golf Courses Scheduled to Open

“But at the same time, we have to make sure our staff gets a cost-of-living increase,” contin-ued Puleo. “I don’t want it to be a third year; it doesn’t send the right message to our teachers who are working very hard.”

The YPS received some good news last week, when the State Education Department removed five schools from its “failing list.”

Roosevelt High School-Early College Stud-ies made the greatest gains, attaining the State Education Department accountability status of “good standing” for the remainder of the 2015-16 school year and for the 2016-17 school year, moving the school out of “persistently strug-gling” status in one year. Also making strong gains are Robert C. Dodson School and Enrico Fermi School, both now in “good standing,” moving from “struggling status.”

School 13 and the Scholastic Academy for Academic Excellence were upgraded by the SED and removed from a list of “priority” schools.

“I never really liked the concept of a failing list measured by tests that are not good for stu-dents and not good to evaluate students,” said Puleo. “But with that said, I know how everyone has worked so hard, and we look to the point where our other schools should be taking off soon. That’s our job, to make sure our schools are succeeding.”

“Today’s release from the New York State Education Department is a testament to com-mitment and intense work of our administra-tors, teachers, support staff, civil service staff, students and families,” noted Yonkers Board of Education President Dr. Nader J. Sayegh. “With a clear focus on improving student achieve-ment, our schools have systemically changed the school culture, making high expectations for all students a reality.”

“Yonkers demonstrates time and again that when we work together we can overcome the challenges presented to us,” added Yonkers May-or Spano. “After years of stagnation, the Yonkers Public Schools removed from the struggling list are schools now on an upward path to success. That is a testament to the dedicated students, teachers, parents and administrators – especial-ly our Yonkers Board of Education trustees and superintendent of schools – who work tirelessly each day to better our schools.

“Congratulations and let’s not stop un-til each and every school shows the progress I know we are capable of achieving.”

Dr. Edwin M. Quezada, interim super-intendent of schools, encouraged all of the schools to celebrate every success along the way.

In a letter to the principals from Quezada and Sayegh, they wrote: “Please continue to sustain your efforts. Maintain your work using inten-tional strategic decision-making and fostering collaborative conversation among stakeholders. Constantly use your data to review and revise your comprehensive plan. And always keep what’s best for children core to all of your ac-tions.”

YPS released the following information on the standing of its schools: 29 schools have an accountability status of “good standing;” 11 schools improved their accountability status including the three already noted, as well as School 5, School 13, Family School 32, Scholas-tic Academy, Thomas Cornell Academy, Gorton H.S., Lincoln H.S. and Yonkers Middle-High School; six schools have an accountability sta-tus of “focus; one school has an accountability status of “priority;” and three schools have an accountability status of “struggling.”

“That’s one of the narratives out there, that our schools aren’t succeeding – that’s not true,” said Puleo. “All we are saying is we should say to our teachers ‘you are doing a good job and we respect you,’ with a new con-tract.” He added that contract discussions so far have been slow.

“We are still waiting for City Hall to get back to us, but we do sit and talk, but a new con-tract involves a package of items that includes some sort of salary increase,” he continued. “We haven’t had any real discussions on that and I don’t want to wait until the last minute. We need to negotiate and then I have to bring it back to the teachers and then to the Board of Education for a vote, and the funding needs to be a part of the city budget. We are running out of time and that’s what is concerning.”

At the town hall meeting, Quezada laid out his budget proposal for the next school year and went over the different options and budget dol-lars the School Board, the mayor and the City Council will have to work out the details for.

Quezada’s preliminary budget calls for spending $562.2 million in the 2016-17 school year, an increase of $13.7 million. Revenues for next year are estimated at $554.6 million, leav-ing a $7.6 million budget hole. Quezada has also included an additional $16.4 million in extra funding for “moving toward compliance and proposed new programs.” Not included in the $16.4 million are funds to settle new union contracts if they are negotiated.

The additional $16.4 million would in-crease the total budget to $578.6 million and leave a budget hole of $24 million.

The next town hall meeting and YPS bud-get presentation will be held at Montessori School 27 on Monday, March 7 at 7 p.m.

Yonkers Teachers Continued from Page 1

1966.The story of the Artuso family is the

quintessential story of the American dream, and how, through hard work and persever-ance, a family business was born.

Born in Reggio, Calabria, Anna Artuso and her brothers Jack and Vincent left Italy in 1929 with their mother, Maria, to reunite with their father who left for America years earlier looking for work. Not able to speak any Eng-lish, the three children were placed into the first grade. Due to the Great Depression and the subsequent loss of his job in construction, money was very tight for Joseph Artuso and his newly reunited family.

Vinny found himself washing pots in a local bakery, Spagnola’s Pastry Shop. He was 11 years old at the time. Seven years, later he entered the Army and his brother Jack entered the Navy.

Around this time, Anna’s younger sister Victoria introduced Anna to her best friend’s older brother, John Puma. Although they were not allowed to go on dates alone together, the couple often found themselves out with their younger sisters, Vicki and Olga. John courted Anna for about two years before entering the service during WWII. Before he left to serve his country the two were married, on Jan. 25, 1942.

It was a small wedding without a cake. Military service ran strong in the Artuso

and Puma families and those who served our country have never been forgotten by the bak-ery – even today.

At the end of the war, Jack and Vinny Ar-tuso were able to borrow some money from family and friends to buy the bakery Vinny worked at all those years earlier, with a close family friend, Joseph Zima.

Anna was working at her brothers’ shop when John Puma returned to civilian life and his family – plus two (Ralph and Joseph) – on Nov. 1, 1945. John opened a tailor shop, but after business wasn’t what he hoped, he and Anna sold the shop and decided to rejoin her brothers to work with them in the Mt. Vernon Pastry Shop they had opened.

Anna and John’s eldest son Ralph was taught the craft of baking with many other great Italian bakers from the New York area. Most of these bakers eventually left the Artuso family to open their own shops, taking with them the knowledge they had learned from the Artuso family.

Eventually, John and Anna thought it was time to venture out on their own, borrowing money from family and friends – just like her older brothers did – to open Anna Artuso Pastry Shop at 969 McLean Ave., Yonkers. The grand opening was Thursday, March 10, 1966, and the rest is Yonkers history.

With a German bakery down the street and with two other bakeries opening (and closing) at the same address as Artuso’s, the

people in the neighborhood gave Anna and John six months to a year before they would close.

They grossly underestimated the magic of Anna and John Puma.

Anna worked the front of the bakery while John worked the back, performing all of the tasks required to keep the bakery op-erational – but not baking. Sons Ralph and Joseph, along with some other bakers on loan from the other shops, worked hard to get this shop off the ground.

Ralph eventually served in the Army, and the bakery began sending a box of cookies overseas once a week to servicemen fighting in Vietnam. The letters started to pour in and when those boys made it home, the pastry shop was one of their first stops to personally thank the Pumas for their generosity

The same jar they used to hold addresses in is still there, waiting for the APO address of another serviceman or woman to send a box of cookies to.

When Ralph got out of the service, just like his father, he was quartermaster stateside, but as a baker. Honing his skills even more during his service for his country, Ralph came back already in the routine of getting up early and making the bread and baked goods for the troops.

He became the head baker of his parents’ shop.

A year later, Feb. 4, 1967, Ralph married his sweetheart, Marie, whom he met just be-fore entering the Army. Ralph made his own wedding cake, and it would be one of his first of many…

Anna began her special bond between her customers immediately. When a family came in, Anna first focused on the children, and gave them each a free cookie. “I have to take care of my future customers,” she would say.

“These same kids now come in with their kids and grandchildren and we still follow the tradition and give them a free cookie,” said third generation and current Anna Artuso Bakery owner R.J. Puma. “You can get your cakes anywhere, but here you also come in for the customer service. There’s something here that’s special; it came from my grandma but Anna’s spirit is still in the shop to this day, where customers come to reminisce about her.”

When one customer came in to talk about her son in Vietnam, Anna mailed him a box of the famous Anna Artuso Italian cookies, and a tradition began of sending a box of cookies to the many servicemen from Yonkers. The Yonkers Home News and Times (Rising’s old newspaper) and the Herald Statesman began to take interest in Anna’s efforts and elected officials also joined in. Soon, Anna and her family bakery’s cookies were fast becoming legend.

Around the holidays, most of Anna’s cus-tomers and families who have moved away still want that box of cookies to enjoy and re-

member. The cookies are mailed and, similar to the movie “A Field of Dreams,” the custom-ers don’t care about how much the shipping may cost, the memories are worth more than any dollar amount.

Anna enjoyed going to Broadway shows and talk shows. Whenever she took a trip to Atlantic City or Manhattan, she brought along a box of cookies with a note. Before you knew it, stars including Merv Griffin and Dom De-luise were asking for the cookies before every show.

“Anna was the best people-person I’ve ever met,” said RJ Puma. “When she smiled, she gave you the feeling that this was some-one I wanted to get to know. She had a genuine love for people, and held your hand, and you didn’t want to leave. We teach our staff to try to live up to Grandma’s attention to detail and customer service.”

The grandchildren of Anna and John also went to work at the bakery. RJ began learn-ing the baking business in the back, and his sisters, Marisa, Julianna and Dina, worked the front counters.

“I worked in the back with my dad and grandpa and learned the whole thing,” said RJ. “Grandpa was the jack of all trades and my fa-ther did all of the wedding cakes for 30 years. It was an honor for us to make a wedding cake for a customer and it still is.”

It is also interesting to note that Anna and John Puma enjoyed the successes of their business starting at the age of 45. At the 40th anniversary of Artuso’s, the family gathered and celebrated in 2006, but without Grandpa John who passed away in 2004.

Anna Artuso passed away in 2008 and, at a time in most businesses when the choice must be made to sell or continue, Ralph Puma and his son RJ made a decision. After 40 years of baking cakes and pastries, Ralph Puma wanted to retire and enjoy his love of fishing in Florida with his wife, Marie.

RJ Puma took over as chief executive of-ficer.

“Working in a family business is differ-ent,” he said. “You make concessions for each other. After Anna passed away, my dad, who was by her side for 42 years, was tired, and he missed her.” Ralph died in 2012 but RJ said, “I was glad I got him out of here for a little bit.”

Now RJ plays both roles for the bakery; he greets everyone who asks for him in the front, and he continues to bake in the back of the

house, with a capable staff helping him. How does RJ keep the family business

alive? “It’s in the hands and how you make it,” he

said. “If you go to other bakeries with similar recipes the product is a little different because of the hands and despite the fact that we use the same recipes from 70 years ago.

“You also have to love this job,” continued RJ. “This is an art and you have to enjoy what you are doing to be successful at it. My kids don’t want this life and I understand.”

No worries for the customers – RJ is only 45 and has many years to go.

And customers all have their favorite items.

“Our wedding cakes and special occasion cakes are still the bread and butter of the busi-ness,” said RJ. “The day-to-day cookies always sell, but you have to focus on the big cakes to survive – tiered cakes. Anything from 3-D cakes to photo cakes to cupcakes can all be made here at Anna Artuso’s. The cannolis and the cookies are the two other items that rank high – with the rainbow/tri-color cookie and the chocolate drop cookie the favorites.”

In order for a neighborhood baker to survive these days, RJ said it has to be visible and out in the community. “I want McLean Avenue to survive; I live, work and play here,” he said. “I plan on being here for a long time.”

The personal touch remains at Anna Ar-tuso’s. RJ will personally deliver some of the multi-tier wedding cakes that he makes “just to make sure they get there and it’s perfect for the bride and groom,” he said. “I learned from the best that you need to connect to your customer and see that the spirit of Anna, John and Ralph are still here.”

An effort is underway to rename the cor-ner of Martha Avenue and McLean Avenue as “Anna Artuso and John Puma Way.” The City Council and Mayor Mike Spano are sup-porting those efforts. “I think it’s appropriate because of the work my grandparents did for veterans,” said RJ. “During the official anni-versary celebration kickoff on March 10, select items will be sold at the original 1966 prices, and plans for other customer events through-out the year are posted at Facebook.com/An-naArtusos.”

The street should be renamed for all that Anna Artuso and her family have given, and still give the people of Yonkers. Congratula-tions on 50 years!

PAGE 8 - YoNkERs RisiNG - FRidAY, MARch 4, 2016

Happy 50th Anniversary Anna Artuso Pastry Shop!

The four generations of the Puma Family – John, Ralph, RJ and Ralphy.

A newspaper clipping from the Yonkers Home News and Times, the former name of Yonkers Rising, featuring Justice of the Peace James Panettiere, Anna Artuso, John Puma and Matthew Mazzella from a 1967 story in which the judge pulled the name of an overseas

serviceman to get a box of cookies.

The original ad that ran for Artuso Bakery in 1966.

Anna Artuso’sContinued from Page 1

FRidAY, MARch 4, 2016 - YoNkERs RisiNG - PAGE 9

Hudson Valley Restaurant Week, presented by The Valley Table magazine, held a kick-off celebration for the spring 2016 season last week and toasted 10 years of success at Xavier’s X2O on the Hudson in Yonkers.

Joining in the celebration were Janet Craw-shaw, publisher of The Valley Table and founding sponsor of HVRW; dozens of renowned regional chefs; Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino; Rockland County Executive Ed Day; Mayor Mike Spano; the HVRW Advisory Board; regional tourism leaders; and Hudson Valley arti-sanal producers, purveyors, farmers, winemakers, distillers and more.

Peter X. Kelly, owner of Xaviars Restaurant Group, renowned chef and restaurateur, wel-comed everyone to his riverfront restaurant and spoke about his support of Hudson Valley Res-taurant Week, which runs March 7 to 20. A record number of restaurants – more than 220 – have al-

ready registered for the two-week culinary event that offers diners the chance to experience the best restaurants of the region at a fraction of the normal price point.

The dining fest showcases the tantalizing fla-vors, talented chefs and exceptional dining expe-riences in the Hudson River Valley that spans 114 miles. It’s an opportunity for chefs to flaunt their best fare, for diners to check out new restaurants or visit old favorites, and for all customers to toast and enjoy the bounty of the Hudson Valley.

“Whether it’s the new restaurant Baja 328 Tequila Bar and Southwest Grill in Beacon or the historic Olde Stone Mill in Tuckahoe, with so many restaurants participating, there is something for everyone,” said Crawshaw. “Be it date night, corporate lunch, girls’ night out or just a night off from cooking, now’s the time to take advantage of HVRW specials. The growing popularity and participation in HVRW over the past decade un-

derscores the importance of the Hudson Valley as a culinary capital, both regionally and nationally.

“Restaurant owners eager to sign up demon-strate the economic success of the event, which has helped it grow to become one of the largest restaurant weeks in the nation,” she added.

The HVRW roster is a balance of restaurants that have participated in Restaurant Week since its inception 10 years ago, like Crabtree’s Kittle House in Chappaqua and Restaurant X and Bully Boy Bar in Congers; and restaurants on both side of the Hudson River that are new to the party, like Vigneto Café in Highland, Austin’s in Piermont and New City, Mountainside at the Catskill Re-sort in Barryville, Woodnotes Grille at Emerson Resort and Spa in Mt. Tremper, Rabbit and Tur-tle in Poughkeepsie, and Winston Restaurant in Mount Kisco.

HVRW features prix fixe, three-course din-ners for $29.95 and lunches for $20.95. Partici-

pating restaurants span throughout seven New York State counties, including Westchester, Rockland, Dutchess, Putnam, Orange, Ulster and Sullivan. Participating chefs take great pride in using seasonal and sustainable product, often sourcing from surrounding farms, and represent a wide variety of cuisines, including Argentinean, French, German, Greek, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Mediterranean, Mexican, new American, Thai and Swiss.

Stay tuned to see what spring-themed, local-ly sourced dishes appear on this season’s menus.

In 2015, HVRW generated an estimated $10.2 million in sales revenue and an estimated $844,387 in tax revenue, representing a 37 per-cent average increase in business during the event, according to a survey of participating restaurants.

For more information, including a complete list of participating restaurants, visit www.Hud-sonValleyRestaurantWeek.com.

The Yonkers African-American Heritage Committee recently held its Black History and Heritage Month fundraiser.

Many dignitaries and elected officials were in attendance, including Congressman Eliot En-gel, State Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, City Council Minority Leader Michael Sabatino and Councilman Christopher Johnson

The keynote speaker was professor Herb Boyd, and the honorees included Yonkers Po-lice Department Detective Ken Davis and Pastor Alonda Hassell.

Boyd (born Nov. 1, 1938) is an awarding-winning author and journalist and has published 22 books and countless articles for national maga-zines and newspapers. A graduate of Wayne State

University in Detroit, he teaches African and African-American history at the College of New Rochelle in the Bronx, and is an adjunct instructor at City College in the Black Studies Department.

Master of Ceremonies Regina Oyanike Win-stead led the African Libation in honor of ances-tors who have passed on. The audience was en-couraged to call out the names of their departed

family and friendsSeven-year-old Aaliyah Syndor of KCCC

sang “Lift Ev’ry Voice,” Persia Green of Commu-nity Baptist Church performed a praise dance, Ivy Reeves recited “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou, and local spoken word artist Khartell recited one of his original compositions that received a long round of applause.

Hudson Valley Restaurant Week Celebrates 10 Years

Dominican Independence Celebrated at Yonkers City Hall

African-American Heritage Committee Marks Black History & Heritage Month

Elected officials join with HVRW board members, chefs and restaurant owners to toast the kick-off of the 10th annual Hudson Valley Restaurant Week.

The Yonkers Dominican community, young an old, raise the Dominican flag outside City Hall.

Yonkers Africa-American Heritage Committee members and honorees with elected officials. Photo by Donna Davis.

Photo by Donna Davis

PAGE 10 - YoNkERs RisiNG - FRidAY, MARch 4, 2016

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that although he was always tall, he, too, was bullied in school.

“Life wasn’t easy for me,” he said. “I grew up in a single-parent family and my mom worked three jobs. I was a big, tall, goofy kid and wasn’t coordinated. I remember what it felt like to be bullied and I didn’t like it. Just because you don’t have the same shoes, or same look, or an Xbox, it isn’t a reason to hurt someone.

“But I didn’t roll it back and do it to them,” continued Bowers. “Don’t pick up their bad hab-its. Also, find a way to relieve your pressure. I played sports. It will make it a little better if you can find that peace. Take it to an adult or teach-er. There has to be someone that you can take it to and help; let them navigate you through it. If you think it’s going to go away, it won’t. Write a note if you can’t communicate it.”

Yonkers City Councilman Michael Saba-tino has prioritized the issue of bullying during his first four years in office. One of Westchester’s openly gay elected officials, Sabatino gave the students an interesting perspective on bullying, and they were captured by his remarks.

“We have to accept our peers for what they are,” he said. “Growing up wasn’t easy for me. I was a small child and had glasses. I was called ‘four eyes’ and a ‘sissy.’ When I realized I was gay, the amount of bullying I received was almost unbearable. I almost ended my life. If you ever find yourself in that situation, go to an adult you trust. You are a valuable person, and you are at an age when nothing is worth ending your life for. I’m glad I didn’t make that choice.

“You also have a responsibility to say some-thing to the bully if you see bullying and try to stop them,” Sabatino continued. “There is also bullying in the workplace, and we passed a reso-lution on the City Council. We still have to deal with it as we go through life. Your job as the next generation is to put bullying to an end.”

Yonkers City Councilman Christopher Johnson connected to the students with some humor, and with some thoughts on bullying that I had never realized.

“I wasn’t always this sexy,” he joked. “I al-ways knew who I was and how important it was to have confidence in myself. Be the bigger per-son and know your self-worth.

“The person doing the bullying is jealous and a hater,” Johnson continued. “If you’re being hated on, you’re important and you are special,

if they are taking time out to bully you. Bullying comes on your phones and computers, but al-ways know that there are adults in your life that want to know what’s going on. Help your friends who are being bullied by telling an adult.”

A recent lawsuit filed against the Byram Hill School District in Armonk, by the parents of a student identified as “A.M.” in court papers, tells a sad story that many parents with a child in any Westchester school district have experi-enced or heard stories of. “A.M.” was a seventh grade student at the H.C. Crittenden School, and during the 2014 and 2015 school years, this student was the subject of bullying that is out-lined in court papers.

“These attacks included, but were not lim-ited to the plaintiff, ‘A.M.,’ being verbally told to ‘kill yourself ’ and ‘drink bleach,’ having her school locker vandalized and being physically pushed and shoved while on school grounds…,” and “posted a campaign of severe, pervasive, vicious and demeaning written attacks on an Internet site, which attacks were directed at the plaintiff.

“Such written attacks posted on the Inter-net site included, but was not limited to calling plaintiff (expletives), encouraging her to ‘jump off a cliff ’ and to ‘go die in a hole;’ and to ‘cut herself with a razor’ …”

The lawsuit claims that the district and staff took no appropriate action after being told by the parents of the bullying. The lawsuit contin-

ues: “The specific acts of bullying that occurred

during this time period included, but were not limited to the following: a) ‘A.M.’ was physi-cally pushed off a stool… injured her leg and went to the school nurse for treatment; b) on approximately 10 occasions, locker was vandal-ized, her lock was broken, papers were ripped, books were scattered throughout the locker and her mirror in the locker was broken; (and) c) on various occasions, rocks were thrown at win-dows at her residence, books were ripped out of her backpacks while she was walking home from school, and keys and mail were taken from mailbox by a student who attended the school.

“On various days during the abovemen-tioned time period, the bullying affected ‘A.M.’ to such an extent that ‘A.M.’ would hide in the bathroom through many of her classes to avoid coming in contact with her classmates and the pervasive bullying and on numerous occasions, ‘A.M.’ would leave the school grounds during school classes and walk aimlessly through the Village of Armonk.

“As a direct result of the abuse and bullying, ‘A.M.’ began to cut herself regularly on her legs, stomach, shoulder and chest while at H.C. Crit-tenden Middle School and on at least two occa-sions (she) went to the H.C. Crittenden school nurse who treated her cuts and sent her back to class.

“On each occasion, the school nurse con-

tacted Kim Lapple, who upon viewing the self-inflicted cuts advised the school nurse to ban-dage it up and told ‘AM.’ not to do that anymore.

“On May 5, 2015, plaintiff wrote a suicide note while in school and placed said note in the backpack of another student. This note was viewed by and then given to Kim Lapple, who failed to advise either the school authorities or plaintiff… of its existence.

“On May 5, 2015, shortly after writing the suicide note and as direct result of the constant and pervasive abuse and bullying inflicted upon her by other students of the HO Crittenden Middle School, ‘A.M.’ attempted suicide by cut-ting her wrists.

“On May 5, 2015, after her attempted sui-cide, ‘A.M.’ was rushed to NewYork-Presbyteri-an Hospital and admitted for a period of 12 days. As a result of the constant bullying, harassment and abuse, the plaintiff was forced to withdraw from the H.C. Crittenden Middle School,” states the lawsuit.

The family’s attorney, Anthony Mamo, said the district should be held accountable for ig-noring its duties under the law, referring to the New York State Dignity for All Students Act, which was passed to protect students from ha-rassment and bullying on school property.

That legal requirement is what school dis-tricts are trying to deal with; the emotional toll of bullying and how it affects families is another issue – both with no easy solution.

CHARTER SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCEA PUBLIC SCHOOL WITH A PRIVATE SCHOOL SETTING

260 Warburton Avenue, Yonkers, New York 10701914-476-5070 Ext. 18

Visit our website at www.charterschoolofeducationalexcellence.orgDesignated as a REWARD SCHOOL FOR 2014 and 2015 by the New York State Department of Education

We are accepting new student applications for Grades K-8

INFORMATIONAL SESSIONS

• January 26, 2016 at 2:30 p.m.

• February 11, 2016 at 5:00 p.m.

• March 16, 2016 at 9:30 a.m.

260 Warburton Avenue Yonkers, NY 10701

APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 29, 2016 at 4:00 p.m.

LOTTERY DATE: April 4, 2016

For an application or more information please call

914-476-5070 Ext. 18

Estamos aceptando aplicaciones para los grados K-8

SESIONES INFORMATIVAS

• 26 de enero a las 2:30 p.m. • 11 de febrero a las 5:00 p.m.

• 16 de marzo a las 9:30 a.m.

260 Warburton Avenue Yonkers, NY 10701

LA FECHA LIMITE PARA ENTREGAR LA SOLICITUD DEL SORTEO ES

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Para obtener informacion llame al

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“We aim to inspire, motivate and instill a love for learning in all children”

CHARTER SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCEA PUBLIC SCHOOL WITH A PRIVATE SCHOOL SETTING

260 Warburton Avenue, Yonkers, New York 10701914-476-5070 Ext. 18

Visit our website at www.charterschoolofeducationalexcellence.orgDesignated as a REWARD SCHOOL FOR 2014 and 2015 by the New York State Department of Education

We are accepting new student applications for Grades K-8

INFORMATIONAL SESSIONS

• January 26, 2016 at 2:30 p.m.

• February 11, 2016 at 5:00 p.m.

• March 16, 2016 at 9:30 a.m.

260 Warburton Avenue Yonkers, NY 10701

APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 29, 2016 at 4:00 p.m.

LOTTERY DATE: April 4, 2016

For an application or more information please call

914-476-5070 Ext. 18

Estamos aceptando aplicaciones para los grados K-8

SESIONES INFORMATIVAS

• 26 de enero a las 2:30 p.m. • 11 de febrero a las 5:00 p.m.

• 16 de marzo a las 9:30 a.m.

260 Warburton Avenue Yonkers, NY 10701

LA FECHA LIMITE PARA ENTREGAR LA SOLICITUD DEL SORTEO ES

EL DIA 29 DE MARZO A LAS 4:00 p.m.

LA LOTERIA SE LLEVARA A CABO EL DIA 4 DE ABRIL DEL 2016

Para obtener informacion llame al

914-476-5070 Ext. 18

“We aim to inspire, motivate and instill a love for learning in all children”

CHARTER SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCEA PUBLIC SCHOOL WITH A PRIVATE SCHOOL SETTING

260 Warburton Avenue, Yonkers, New York 10701914-476-5070 Ext. 18

Visit our website at www.charterschoolofeducationalexcellence.orgDesignated as a REWARD SCHOOL FOR 2014 and 2015 by the New York State Department of Education

We are accepting new student applications for Grades K-8

INFORMATIONAL SESSIONS

• January 26, 2016 at 2:30 p.m.

• February 11, 2016 at 5:00 p.m.

• March 16, 2016 at 9:30 a.m.

260 Warburton Avenue Yonkers, NY 10701

APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 29, 2016 at 4:00 p.m.

LOTTERY DATE: April 4, 2016

For an application or more information please call

914-476-5070 Ext. 18

Estamos aceptando aplicaciones para los grados K-8

SESIONES INFORMATIVAS

• 26 de enero a las 2:30 p.m. • 11 de febrero a las 5:00 p.m.

• 16 de marzo a las 9:30 a.m.

260 Warburton Avenue Yonkers, NY 10701

LA FECHA LIMITE PARA ENTREGAR LA SOLICITUD DEL SORTEO ES

EL DIA 29 DE MARZO A LAS 4:00 p.m.

LA LOTERIA SE LLEVARA A CABO EL DIA 4 DE ABRIL DEL 2016

Para obtener informacion llame al

914-476-5070 Ext. 18

“We aim to inspire, motivate and instill a love for learning in all children”

CHARTER SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCEA PUBLIC SCHOOL WITH A PRIVATE SCHOOL SETTING

260 Warburton Avenue, Yonkers, New York 10701914-476-5070 Ext. 18

Visit our website at www.charterschoolofeducationalexcellence.orgDesignated as a REWARD SCHOOL FOR 2014 and 2015 by the New York State Department of Education

We are accepting new student applications for Grades K-8

INFORMATIONAL SESSIONS

• January 26, 2016 at 2:30 p.m.

• February 11, 2016 at 5:00 p.m.

• March 16, 2016 at 9:30 a.m.

260 Warburton Avenue Yonkers, NY 10701

APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 29, 2016 at 4:00 p.m.

LOTTERY DATE: April 4, 2016

For an application or more information please call

914-476-5070 Ext. 18

Estamos aceptando aplicaciones para los grados K-8

SESIONES INFORMATIVAS

• 26 de enero a las 2:30 p.m. • 11 de febrero a las 5:00 p.m.

• 16 de marzo a las 9:30 a.m.

260 Warburton Avenue Yonkers, NY 10701

LA FECHA LIMITE PARA ENTREGAR LA SOLICITUD DEL SORTEO ES

EL DIA 29 DE MARZO A LAS 4:00 p.m.

LA LOTERIA SE LLEVARA A CABO EL DIA 4 DE ABRIL DEL 2016

Para obtener informacion llame al

914-476-5070 Ext. 18

“We aim to inspire, motivate and instill a love for learning in all children”

CHARTER SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCEA PUBLIC SCHOOL WITH A PRIVATE SCHOOL SETTING

260 Warburton Avenue, Yonkers, New York 10701914-476-5070 Ext. 18

Visit our website at www.charterschoolofeducationalexcellence.orgDesignated as a REWARD SCHOOL FOR 2014 and 2015 by the New York State Department of Education

We are accepting new student applications for Grades K-8

INFORMATIONAL SESSIONS

• January 26, 2016 at 2:30 p.m.

• February 11, 2016 at 5:00 p.m.

• March 16, 2016 at 9:30 a.m.

260 Warburton Avenue Yonkers, NY 10701

APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 29, 2016 at 4:00 p.m.

LOTTERY DATE: April 4, 2016

For an application or more information please call

914-476-5070 Ext. 18

Estamos aceptando aplicaciones para los grados K-8

SESIONES INFORMATIVAS

• 26 de enero a las 2:30 p.m. • 11 de febrero a las 5:00 p.m.

• 16 de marzo a las 9:30 a.m.

260 Warburton Avenue Yonkers, NY 10701

LA FECHA LIMITE PARA ENTREGAR LA SOLICITUD DEL SORTEO ES

EL DIA 29 DE MARZO A LAS 4:00 p.m.

LA LOTERIA SE LLEVARA A CABO EL DIA 4 DE ABRIL DEL 2016

Para obtener informacion llame al

914-476-5070 Ext. 18

“We aim to inspire, motivate and instill a love for learning in all children”

CHARTER SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCEA PUBLIC SCHOOL WITH A PRIVATE SCHOOL SETTING

260 Warburton Avenue, Yonkers, New York 10701914-476-5070 Ext. 18

Visit our website at www.charterschoolofeducationalexcellence.orgDesignated as a REWARD SCHOOL FOR 2014 and 2015 by the New York State Department of Education

We are accepting new student applications for Grades K-8

INFORMATIONAL SESSIONS

• January 26, 2016 at 2:30 p.m.

• February 11, 2016 at 5:00 p.m.

• March 16, 2016 at 9:30 a.m.

260 Warburton Avenue Yonkers, NY 10701

APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 29, 2016 at 4:00 p.m.

LOTTERY DATE: April 4, 2016

For an application or more information please call

914-476-5070 Ext. 18

Estamos aceptando aplicaciones para los grados K-8

SESIONES INFORMATIVAS

• 26 de enero a las 2:30 p.m. • 11 de febrero a las 5:00 p.m.

• 16 de marzo a las 9:30 a.m.

260 Warburton Avenue Yonkers, NY 10701

LA FECHA LIMITE PARA ENTREGAR LA SOLICITUD DEL SORTEO ES

EL DIA 29 DE MARZO A LAS 4:00 p.m.

LA LOTERIA SE LLEVARA A CABO EL DIA 4 DE ABRIL DEL 2016

Para obtener informacion llame al

914-476-5070 Ext. 18

“We aim to inspire, motivate and instill a love for learning in all children”

Students, teachers and guest speakers at the Charter School of Educational Excellence in Yonkers for its anti-bullying program.

Charter SchoolContinued from Page 1