‘IT WAS SURREAL’: Physician pair grapples with COVID-19, facilitates patient communication with families
In early March, Edgemont resident Daniel Fenster was standing in front of his first COVID-19 patient at New York-Columbia Presbyterian. He was focused on the task at hand, but he couldn’t hold back the thoughts flooding his mind:
“Am I going to be okay?”
“Is my family going to be okay?”
“What if I die? How is my family going to get by?”
“Am I doing enough for my patients?”
“Am I doing enough for my staff?”
“Will life ever get back to normal?” ...
$20M suit against Greenburgh police moves forward
District Court Judge Kenneth Karas on May 18 denied defendants’ motion to dismiss all claims made against four Greenburgh police officers involved in an incident in 2017 in which Yonkers resident Jonathan Maldonado died while in police custody after being detained at the corner of Harvard Drive and Central Park Avenue in Hartsdale.
In the $20 million civil suit filed against the town of Greenburgh, Karas declined orders to dismiss claims that police violated Maldonado’s Fourth and 14th Amendment rights, that officers were deliberately indifferent to Maldonado’s medical needs and that officers were negligent ...
IHM pastor called to serve at Manhattan parish
Looking out over Post Road, Father Thomas Lynch took a seat at a plastic children’s picnic table outside of Immaculate Heart of Mary’s school building. The sun was blistering, and the heat was stifling. The shade from a large tree behind him offered a little relief, with only speckles of sunlight shimmering across his face. His plastic clerical collar placed carefully in his shirt pocket, he donned a bright white facial mask and a baseball cap as he gazed over the bushes toward the cars and trucks whizzing by. The site was familiar for Lynch, who had called the church home for two years ...
A sign of changing times
They’re a familiar sight during most elections, but in Scarsdale campaign signs are a rare commodity, mostly due to the village’s century-old nonpartisan system, which set out to squelch infighting and the need to campaign for office by instituting Scarsdale’s nonpartisan Citizens Nominating Committee (CNC) to select candidates and avoid contested election ...
Committee votes to save Dolma Road house from demolition
Ann Cefola never met her grandfather, but she knew his work. She’d think of him when trotting down village streets and seeing the small medieval revival cottages, grand Tudor revival houses and large colonial revival homes dotting the landscape. Whenever she entered the village’s downtown, she was greeted by 1 Chase Road and was enamored with its gleaming slate gables and timbered stucco — the cornerstone of the village’s Tudor-style theme.
“Where did he get the inspiration for that?” she would think to herself. “Was it a trip to Europe?” ...
The signs they are a changin'
Dyan Atkins was church shopping. Though she was raised Catholic, she had stepped away from organized religion and stopped following much of the church’s dogma, rules and rituals. She wanted to find a church she connected with, so every Sunday she would make the rounds, testing out different churches and denominations. She went to five or six different places of worship, but none seemed to strike her fancy ...
Battery storage application worries residents
Worried about a potential fire hazard or environmental impact, residents in Greenburgh are pushing back against a proposal from Eagle Energy Storage, which is seeking to construct a 20-megawatt (MW) 4-hour Tesla Megapack battery storage facility on the property of the Knollwood Country Club ...
Asian American community on edge amid uptick in hate crimes
Vivian Guo was sitting in her room scrolling through social media when she heard about the shootings in Atlanta last Tuesday. At first, she didn’t quite comprehend the gravity of what had happened. With many people already posting about hate crimes committed against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the last couple of months, Guo was feeling desensitized ...
Former IHM teacher, coach admits to abuse
Following five lawsuits filed in Westchester County Supreme Court in November accusing a former sports coach and physical education teacher at Immaculate Heart of Mary School of sexually abusing five students in the 1960s, eight more suits were filed in the last three months against IHM, the Archdiocese of New York, and Edwin “Ted” Gaynor, who is accused of sexually abusing students between 1962 and 1969.
Gaynor, who according to court documents lives in Ossining, allegedly admitted in a Dec. 12 letter sent to the law firm representing a defendant known as R.L., that he molested R.L. in 1967 ...
Third time’s a charm? EIC will file another petition for incorporation
The Edgemont Incorporation Committee (EIC) announced April 15 it will draft a new petition in hopes of making the hamlet Greenburgh’s seventh village. It will be the group’s third petition in its four-year battle to self-govern.
Following a major blow to EIC’s incorporation effort last February when the New York State Appellate Court denied the EIC petition for incorporation, the EIC decided not to appeal the court’s decision to the New York State Court of Appeals and will instead move forward with a new petition ...
New distancing guidance from state impacts schools
The New York State Department of Health (DOH) updated its guidance Friday, April 9 to better align with guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) last month.
Mirroring the CDC’s guidance and citing evidence that young children have lower susceptibility and incidence of COVID-19, the state will now allow school districts to reduce physical distancing requirements to a minimum of 3 feet without barriers in counties where there is low, moderate or substantial risk of viral transmission ...
Moving out: Zachys to relocate to Port Chester
Zachys, the local multimillion dollar wine retail, auction and storage behemoth, which expanded over the decades out of a 327-square-foot shop on East Parkway in Scarsdale, will be leaving the village after more than 75 years ...
‘Passport purgatory’: Local residents join millions facing passport backlog
The world is finally opening up and travelers are eager to head overseas this summer after more than a year of travel opportunities curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Bags are packed and flights are booked, but travelers are finding an unexpected hitch in their plans: expired passports ...
Troublesome Brook causes more trouble in E’mont neighborhood
Robert DiLorenzo was one of the lucky ones. After a rainstorm swept through Westchester County around 3:30 p.m. on July 8, his garage only filled with a few inches of water. It was a welcome sight, since his entire house, situated in a low-lying area and a flood plain on Clarendon Place in Edgemont, should have been drenched with water. Over the years though, DiLorenzo has spent close to $100,000 waterproofing his property. He installed retaining walls, added a sump pump, raised his driveway and completely waterproofed the foundation ...
Board extends superintendent's contract despite community pushback
Several residents chimed in during public comment on June 21 to voice their objections to the timing of a contract extension for the school superintendent, as listed in the school board consent agenda posted that same day ...
Scarsdalian in space: Crew of 4 takes 10-minute venture to outer limits
Mark Bezos, a Scarsdale resident and volunteer firefighter who is also the younger brother of Jeff Bezos (the founder of Amazon.com and probably the richest man in the world) took a roundtrip journey to space July 20 aboard a 60-foot-tall reusable rocket developed by Jeff Bezos’ company Blue Origin ...
Feiner considers eliminating Hartsdale Public Parking District
A majority of the town board voted down a resolution introduced Feb. 12 by Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner calling for state officials to initiate a law — pursuant to a subsequent home rule law request — to expand the number of commissioners on the Hartsdale Public Parking District (HPPD) and to remove the requirement that obligated commissioners to own real property within the district. Feiner and Councilman Francis Sheehan voted in favor of the measure, and councilmembers Diana Juettner, Ken Jones and Gina Jackson voted against the resolution, but agreed to hold over the resolution for a re-vote on March 11. Those who opposed the measure cited a need to discuss the topic further in public ...
Supervisor renders Edgemont incorporation petition legally insufficient, calls petition decision a ‘slam dunk’
Echoing his 2017 denial of the Edgemont Incorporation Committee’s first petition submitted in an effort to make Edgemont Greenburgh’s seventh village, Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner rendered the EIC’s newest petition legally insufficient, citing the petition’s failure to include an accurate list of regular inhabitants, the inclusion of signatures before the petition’s submittal, a failure to include a metes and bounds description of the proposed incorporated area and a lack of common certainty in the proposed territory. ...
Edgemont petition under fire
As a standing room only crowd filled Greenburgh Town Hall with a hum of conversations on July 16, the dais stood empty, with only the stenographer seated at the front of the room and Town Attorney Timothy Lewis nearby. Then, as the clock struck 7:35 p.m., Supervisor Paul Feiner and former New York State Supreme Court Justice Robert Spolzino walked in to begin the public hearing — five minutes after the scheduled start time. ...
Mechanic fights to keep 37-year-old auto shop
Gerardo Casarella sat at a large table in his mechanic’s shop waiting room May 31. He twirled the rag in his hand multiple times on the same portion of table, cleaning it beyond perfection. Eventually he stood up and walked over to move a shelf that stood in front of more than two dozen pictures of his family and friends.
He pointed to a photograph of himself and his wife standing in front of his storefront; the year “1982” written on top of the photograph in black marker.
“All my children, they were raised in this shop,” said Casarella — known by his friends and customers as Gerry. ...
Town clerk accepts E’mont’s incorporation petition
Jeffrey Sherwin and Jon Lewis stood in the Greenburgh Town Hall parking lot May 28. In his left hand, Sherwin firmly grasped a nearly 4-inch thick folder, filled with more than 600 pages of signatures, exhibits, affidavits and a $6,000 check made out to the Town of Greenburgh.
Things came together quickly, with a looming bill in Albany introduced only one week before which — if passed — would complicate the entire process. Thus, the duo spent much of the Memorial Day holiday weekend finalizing the documents and preparing for the filing. This was not the first time Sherwin and Lewis had walked into the town clerk’s office to submit their assortment of papers — but they hoped it would be their last. ...
Cioffi petitions to run for G’burgh supervisor
It was a dreary, drizzly morning at the Hartsdale train station as Lucas Cioffi handed out petitions May 13 to commuters.
“Hello, I’m running against Paul Feiner in the general election, if you’d like to sign this petition it helps to get me on the ballot,” Cioffi told the commuters rushing to catch trains to the city.
Cioffi, who grew up in Edgemont and moved back this past year, is petitioning to run as an independent for town supervisor. In the first week of his petitioning he has collected 750 of the 1,500 signatures needed to get his name on the ballot, a deadline he will have to meet by May 28 ...
Plan for Old Colony Road raises questions
In November 2010, Edgemont resident Gertrude Rothschild died. A world-renowned materials science and engineering professor at Columbia University, Rothschild was a physicist who researched and developed light-emitting diodes used in many modern day technologies like cellphones and television screens. Rothschild lived with her husband Henry on Old Colony Road. Besides owning the mid-century modern home on the corner of Midvale Court, Rothschild also owned three parcels of land across the street ...
An environmentally conscious government at the state, county and local level
Jeffrey Coleman stepped out of a small office at the Scarsdale recycling facility. The sky was completely clear of clouds and the sun reflected brightly off of his white shirt and striped blue tie. Coleman had only been the superintendent of public works in Scarsdale for four months, but he had chalked up plenty of experience elsewhere, doing the same job in the town of Cortlandt for eight years and New Rochelle for 10 ...
Students learn lessons about sustainability at every level, every day
Rutherford Hall was filled March 12 with more than 20 students, a peculiar sight compared to the usual board of trustees meetings at village hall. Almost all of them were from Emily Block’s City 2.0 public policy class at Scarsdale High School. One by one, students went to the microphone to voice their opinions to the board ...
Keep Calm and Buy Bitcoins Here
Like many bodegas in East Harlem, Apollo Deli & Fruit has an ATM machine perched in the corner of their store. People use the machine often. Getting cash to buy sandwiches and drinks. But this Deli, on the corner of Frederick Douglass Blvd and 126th St, has a second ATM sitting near its entrance – and this one dispenses bitcoins ...
Ayala Sneaks a Win in District 8
Diana Ayala’s campaign office was just about empty. The white walls were barren, the boxes were packed, and the sound of whirring filled the room as Ayala fed a box full of documents into a paper shredder. She was stressed but confident about the recount. She had already announced her victory and felt sure knowing that nothing would keep her from her earned seat on the City Council. The New York City Board of Elections’ unofficial vote count had Ayala leading by a mere 122 votes ...
W2C 1:1 Replicas
AJ Bsis is tired but anxious as he plops down on the edge of his bed. His hands caressed a 4.5kg package just recently delivered from the post office. Inside of it, clothing and accessories from premium streetwear brands like Supreme, Bathing Ape and Ray Ban. Usually, high-end designer clothing brands like these cost hundreds or thousands of dollars in stores or online. They are highly sought after because of their limited release and status symbol recognition. But for Bsis and many young adults like him, who relish the exclusivity of premium clothing brands but cannot afford the high prices, take an alternate route, by buying counterfeit clothing items from sellers in China and having them shipped to the United States for a quarter of the price ...
How One Tech Company Grew a New Composting Strategy
Trevor Dickson rolled up to the Cadman Plaza Park in Brooklyn during his lunch break. He was wearing a Carhartt Jacket with a green plaid shirt and a hat whose brim flapped in front of his eyes ...