Forty trees along Route 120 bridge will be cut down
Companion to sycamore story
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Celebrate our 232nd year of independence
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
— John Hancock
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
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Letters to the Editor: Millwood firehouse
Fire station No. 1, downtown Millwood
July 4, 2008
What to do about Millwood’s firehouse? Move forward!
Barbara Mellinger
What to do about Millwood’s firehouse? Go back!
Leo Rota
What to do about Millwood’s firehouse? Move forward!
Dear Editor,
I think the Millwood firefighters have waited too long to get a bigger, better and safer firehouse. We depend on them for our safety. I’ve lived here for the past 40 years and I am fed up with all this bickering. We all voted “yes” without hesitation when the Fire Station No. 2 was proposed and built so that the “west enders” could have better service. Now that they have a great firehouse they don’t care about the hamlet’s needs. What about Fire Station No. 1? We need the same great firehouse for the rest of Millwood.
I think it’s shameful that people are putting cost before safety. It would cost a lot more money if we had to hire firefighters. I think our volunteers are the best and deserve the best. I expect the full support of all the residents of Millwood, New York, including the members of the West End Neighborhood Taxpayers, to build a new fire station for our fine Millwood firefighters before there is a disaster at Fire Station No. 1.
Barbara Mellinger
Millwood, N.Y.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What to do about Millwood’s firehouse? Go back!
Dear Editor,
The people of Millwood will never pass an eleven million dollar bond for a firehouse. The proposed plans and studies which have cost Millwood taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to date have no possibility of being accepted by the community. They were not accepted when gas was $1.28 a gallon when this thing started in 2001, and they’re not acceptable now that gas is $4.50 a gallon.
The community will support an updated firehouse, but there is no reason the costs of this project cannot be cut in half. I would suggest looking at the existing firehouse No. 1, built in 1928. Besides some repairs, all that has to be done to the downtown firehouse is that the existing one story extension should be expanded, within the existing property lines, about 15 feet in width and 15 feet in length with a second story for recreational and meeting facilities.
Furthermore, Fire station No. 2 should be studied, reevaluating the existing spaces and expanding the existing meeting room and eliminating the fire commissioners’ offices. Instead, utilize the old farmhouse for commissioners’ offices and meeting rooms.
There is plenty of room for expansion at Fire station No. 2, which sits on two and a half acres. Study the meeting room and devise a way to expand it. The stone farmhouse that sits on the property could be turned into executive offices for the fire commissioners. Millions of taxpayer dollars would be saved.
The fire commissioners should make the existing buildings work, and get this overpriced new building out of their minds.
Leo Rota
Leo Rota is the longtime owner of the Millwood lumber yard site.
Fire station No. 2, Pinesbridge Road
Stone farmhouse behind fire station No. 2
Rota’s sketch for expansion of fire station No. 1
Two story western section of fire station No. 1
One story eastern section of fire station No. 1
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Superintendent Fleishman and school district come to terms
July 4, 2008
by Ann Marie Fallon
The Chappaqua Board of Education and Superintendent David Fleishman have reached an agreement on a three-year contract extension.
Fleishman, who will begin his fourth year as the district’s superintendent, will see his salary rise to $255,000, from $240,692. The contract also calls for salary increases for the 2009 - 2010 and 2010 - 2011 school years, effective July 15 of each respective school year, in an amount to be determined by the board by June 15 immediately preceding each new school year. This contract retains the prior contract’s $500 per month car allowance.
The agreement includes an increase from $10,000 to $15,000 in the school district’s non-elective direct payment into the superintendent’s 403(b) tax shelter. Fleishman’s monthly premium contribution for his health insurance for individual and dependents under the Northern Westchester-Putnam Schools Consortium will rise from five percent to ten percent.
Janet Benton, president of the board of education, commented, “The board is really pleased to have Dr. Fleishman continue to lead the district for the next three years. He has performed well in all aspects of his job. He is a strong educational leader, working closely with Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Lyn McKay and our building principals, to ensure the highest quality of teaching in our classrooms. He is constantly in our schools – talking to teachers and working with students. He has built strong relationships throughout the district – with staff, parents, PTA leaders and board members. We believe David is the right person to lead Chappaqua for the next three years.”
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Amsterdam property update: new field not ready until spring, what use to make of carriage house
Carriage house at the Amsterdam property
July 4, 2008
by Christine Yeres
Six months ago the New Castle town board voted to construct one field rather than two on its Amsterdam property at Hoag Cross Road. Although the project is well underway, the board learned in its work session last Tuesday that sod cannot be laid in the heat of summer. So it will be laid in the fall, pushing back the opening of the field for play until next spring. The question currently before the board is what to do with the carriage house that remains on the property.
The larger main house was razed several years ago, and the remaining carriage house has been used since for storage of town materials and supplies. There had been a plan years ago to convert the living space on the second floor, a railroad-style apartment that runs from end to end over the garages, into affordable housing. However, that plan never went beyond a plan. Now that the playing field and parking spaces are being laid out, the board is thinking again about possible uses for the carriage house.
The upstairs is in great disrepair (visit our photo gallery or check below to see this quaint building), but the town engineer examined it a few months ago and pronounced it sound. So there’s no more talk of leveling and removing it.
Now the question is whether to leave the bottom floor of stables as town storage and fashion a couple of apartments out of the second floor, or to make two-story housing out of it. The board is also considering whether to allow a caretaker for the park to inhabit the living space. Two single-story wings off the central two-story section partially enclose a courtyard in its center. Some residents have expressed interest in having the ground floor of the carriage house become a space available for public meetings or for performances. See photos of carriage house below and in Photo Gallery.
The Millwood Task Force will discuss possible uses of the carriage house at its next meeting, Thursday, July 10, at 8:00 p.m.at Fire Station No. 2 on Pinesbridge Road.
Playing field under construction
Amsterdam field and parking construction
Parking, playground, white carriage house in the distance
West wing of carriage house
East wing and covered walkway of carriage house
Front of same east wing
Back of the carriage house, showing second floor dormers of living space
Crossing the courtyard
Front view of east wing and main building with center courtyard
Below, interior of second floor living space
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Millwood Matters
Though still a draft, needs report will go public
July 4, 2007
by Gene Nadel
The imminent web site posting of JLN Associates most recent draft of their Millwood Fire District Needs Assessment Study is expected to provide the public with useful information. BOFC Chairman Anthony Olenik announced that a medical emergency had prevented the consultant, John L. Nickerson, from arranging a final meeting with the Board to clarify certain items in the report, but that it would be published nevertheless.
The draft report will appear on the Board’s web site www.millwoodfiredistrict.org.
Earlier, Commissioner Fred Scheier, Public Relations Chair for the Board, had issued the following statement:
“The Millwood Fire District Needs Assessment 2nd Draft provided by JLN Associates has been reviewed by the Fire District Board and comments have been returned. The only significant open items are:
1. Breakdown of the 5,255 SF of “Apparatus Floor” (page 70).
2. Brief explanation as to the need for a second breakout room.
Commissioners Hala Makowska, Angelo Indusi , and I are of the opinion that with these clarifications the report is in final form. Once this final version is received, the next step is for JLN to present it to the Board in a public meeting. We would like this presentation to take place on or before the July 28th monthly public board meeting, preferably before, if possible.
Another ‘critical path’ task is to get a ‘Cost benefit analysis’ regarding Drive Thru Bays. This should detail additional costs for the various drive Thru Bay Scenarios, vs “back in” bays, and detail the anticipated savings of these drive thru bays. Savings will be in the form of estimated reduction in property damage and personal injury as well as any insurance coverage savings.
The completed Needs Study combined with the Drive Thru Bay Cost benefit will allow the Board to decide upon the new building program.”
Presumably, by next week’s issue, there will be a good deal more to talk about.
Millwood Task Force Meeting next Thursday, July 10th
Reminder - The regular monthly meeting of the MTF (postponed from its usual first Thursday because of the conflict with the holiday) will take place this coming Thursday, July 10th at 8:00 pm at Fire station #2 on Route 134. In addition to discussion on the Fire District report, various Planning Board actions and many other matters of current interest are on the agenda. As always, the public is welcome to attend.
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Music in July under the stars at the gazebo
July 4, 2008
by Ann Marie Fallon
Beginning next Wednesday, July 7, the town of New Castle will once again present “Musical Wednesdays at the Gazebo.”
This four week summer concert series, a long tradition in New Castle, will be held at the New Castle recreation field adjacent to town hall. Prudential Holmes and Kennedy, a local real estate broker, is the official concert sponsor this year.
The 2008 series opens with The Chappaqua Orchestra playing a medley of popular classics and show tunes. The music begins at 7:00 p.m., so bring a lawn chair, blankets and a picnic dinner and relax with your neighbors under the stars. The town asks that no glass containers be brought to the field and that you please leave your pets at home.
The remainder of the four-week series will include Jukebox Heroes on July 16, who will offer a salute to rock and roll from Buddy Holly to the Beatles. On July 23, the opening act will be the Chris Brown Band, followed by the main act, Joey Arminio & The Family USO Variety Show, which will include a tribute to U.S. veterans.
The final concert on July 30 will open with BookEnds, featuring Chris Brown and Joe Summo, followed by Bennie and the Jets, who will perform a tribute to Elton John’s music.
If it appears that the weather is refusing to cooperate, the Horace Greeley High School auditorium will be the alternate venue. For more information, contact the New Castle recreation department at 238-3909. After 4:30 p.m. any change of venue will be announced on the recreation department hotline, 238-2540.
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Criminal mischief on St. John’s Place
July 4, 2008
by Susie Pender
On Tuesday, July 1, at 4:35 p.m., officers from the New Castle police responded to a report of fireworks in the area of St. John’s Place.
“When they arrived at the scene,” according to the police report, “they interviewed a witness who stated that he saw two persons throw a bottle into the street that caused a small fire.”
The two suspects had fled from the scene by the time the police arrived, but not long before. Under those circumstances, when suspects may still be in the area, the New Castle Police sometimes calls in help from the canine unit of the Westchester County Police to try to track the suspects. The canine unit arrived and the dog attempted to track the suspects from the scene. Unfortunately, the dog was unable to locate them.
According to Lieutenant Marc Simmons of the New Castle Police, there was no evidence to suggest that the suspects were targeting anyone with their bottle-throwing, and no one was ever in any danger.
The case is still under investigation and the police request that if anyone has any information that could help them, please contact the detective division at 238-1566.
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Does it have to go? Tree, rock, chainsaw, shoot!
July 4, 2008
by Christine Yeres
The orange plastic ribbon that identifies the towering ancient sycamore at the corner of Quaker Road (Route 120) and Douglas Road as take-down material is no mistake.
Our readers wrote us, hoping it was. They feared the enormous sycamore was marked for removal as part of the plan to make the intersection work better for long school buses. These concerned readers had also heard that the enormous rock on the southeast corner of the same intersection will be taken out as part of the bridge replacement project slated to begin this summer.
The acute angle of the right hand turn off the bridge headed north prohibits the long-bodied yellow buses from turning right when returning to their bus depot on Hunts Lane. Instead, the buses come straight off the bridge, motor all the way up to Roaring Brook School, use the school’s driveway to make a U turn, and return to the intersection to turn left on to Hunts Place. If the rock were removed, the buses could manage the right turn off the bridge from downtown.
“Moving that rock,” said town administrator Jerry Faiella, “is our chance to correct an impossible intersection, reduce bus traffic and save fuel. The tree has other problems.”
Workers discover fatal flaw
Without the giant sycamore, that handsome anchor sitting at the very end of the new raised walkway alongside the Duck Pond, a wooden utility pole holding up two courses of heavy black wires will have that place of pride on the lush green peninsula. The puny orange plastic ribbon doesn’t seem enough of a marker. Is there another kind of ribbon that could express regret that it has to be taken down?
“In fact, someone tried to save it, we think, by removing the ribbon,” said a sympathetic David Rambo, New Castle’s assistant commissioner of public works. He recognizes the tree as irreplaceable. But when the town was constructing the sidewalk, workers spotted a cavern at the base of the tree on the Quaker Road side. “We had an Almstead arborist come, and another from Cornell’s Cooperative Extension. We ran a bore test, too, and the verdict was that although it looks healthy, it’s hollow enough on the inside that it rated 13 on a scale of 14, dangerous to surrounding ‘targets’ such as people, cars, wires and houses.”
The sycamore, with its stately no-nonsense single, solid-brown trunk three feet in diameter, rises uninterrupted – no graceful curves or branching arms - slightly tapering, for 50 feet, easily clearing pesky Con Ed wires. Only then does the canopy begin; its branches and leaves the top two fifths of its height. The canopy is relatively see-through, and what you see are the mottled brown-and-white, ghostly upper branches that make the sycamore so striking even bare in winter. The tree may be 200 years old or more. Rambo says he will take care to count its rings when it is cut.
More trees will follow, as bridge work begins
Several other large sycamores, as well as some mature maple trees and evergreens that line the bridge on either side, will be taken down because of bridge reconstruction requirements, totaling 40 trees in all. The landscape we’re left with might be closer to the authentic look of New Castle 200 years ago, but after such a long acquaintance with the greenery that has grown up, it will be a sad change, maybe even a shock. Click Photo Gallery to see trees along bridge that are marked for take down.
Above, rock of ages will be moved so buses can make the turn;
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below, trees along Route 120 bridge that are marked for removal
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July 8, town board to hold public hearings on dogs, RD parking, real estate in first floor space
July 4, 2008
by Christine Yeres
The New Castle town board will hold several public hearings at its July 8 regular meeting in the assembly room of town hall. The 7:45 meeting begins with the supervisor’s and administrator’s reports, followed by a presentation by the Zoning Board of Appeals, then four public hearings.
The town board will hear citizens on whether to extend the hours, and months, during which dogs are permitted off leash in public parks; whether to shift special permit jurisdiction from the zoning board to the planning board; whether to allow Northern Westchester Hospital to use 140 parking spaces at the Reader’s Digest property for the three years it takes them to expand their emergency department; and whether the town board meant to exclude real estate from the “offices” designation of a recent law that prohibits “offices” on the first floor of downtown buildings. The board encourages community members to come and participate in the discussions.
Later this summer the board will set a date for yet another public hearing, this one to decide whether to declare a six-month moratorium begining in autumn that would freeze first-floor uses.
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New Castle Quakers 12U travel baseball team heads to Cooperstown
July 4, 2008
by Peter Clarke
The New Castle Quakers 12U (aged 12 and under) baseball team is heading upstate this Saturday to Cooperstown, New York, home to the legends of the sport, to participate in the prestigious Cooperstown Dreams Tournament. The national event features over 80 select travel teams from across the country.
This year’s Quaker squad continues a long tradition of 12U teams from the New Castle Baseball and Softball Association attending the Cooperstown Dreams Tournament ─ billed as the “First and Foremost Youth Baseball Experience.” In anticipation of the tournament, the players organized several fundraising events to defray the cost of the trip, including selling water bottles and team decals.
This year, the team has adopted the “Angry Quaker Guy” as their mascot. quaker_poster.pdf He appears on their team banner, which will be displayed proudly by the team as they march in the opening ceremony on Saturday. His fierce face is also featured on their team pins, which they will trade with players at the tournament from across the nation.
Tournament includes skills competitions as well as games
After the opening ceremony, the team will participate in a skills competition. Nine Quakers will take the field in the “Around-the-Horn” drill that tests their throwing speed and accuracy. In addition, there are three individual events: “King of Swat” brings the biggest hitters on each team together for a home run contest; the “Road Runner” drill tests the fastest players in an around-the bases sprint; and finally, the “Golden Arm” drill finds the strongest and most accurate arms during a 125-foot throw-off.
The Quakers’ schedule includes games with all-star teams from Utah, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. The players, coaches, families and fans are looking forward to a great week of competition, and especially a visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame, as they share their love of baseball with teams from across the country.
Preparation for the tournament includes momentum
The 12U Quakers have been preparing by playing several scrimmages over the last few weeks on fields that feature the same dimensions as Cooperstown’s fields: 50 feet from the mound to home plate and 70 feet between the bases. This so-called modified field is larger that the usual little league field, which is 45/60.
The tournament provides a one-week break from the Quakers’ schedule in the Westchester Putman Baseball Association summer season, which ends with the playoffs in August. A strong showing in Cooperstown will give the Quakers momentum when the season resumes on July 12. An emotional and tense extra-inning victory over Ossining on Wednesday night was the perfect sendoff for the Quakers, who improved their record to 5-3.
The roster for the Quaker squad is Peter Buseck, Risten Clarke, Dan D’Auria, Justin Ellick, Will Galvin, Nicolas Girardi, Bryan Hamerschlag, William Hansen, Andrew Myers, Jonathan Renzulli, Robert Scherl and Conor Walker. The Quaker coaches are Peter Clarke, Gregg Hamerschlag, Tom D’Auria and Scott Hansen.
Summer season highlights: Danbury and Carmel
The Quakers opened their summer season on June 21 splitting a twi-night doubleheader against a powerhouse Danbury Little League squad in Connecticut. At a twi-night doubleheader, the first game is played in the twilight, or late afternoon, then after a 20 – 30 minute break, the second game is played. In the opener, Hansen, Myers and Hamerschlag teamed up for a strong pitching performance in a game that ended in a thrilling play at the plate.
The Quakers were up by one run in the bottom of the sixth and final inning when a Danbury runner tried to score the tying run on a wild pitch with two outs. But catcher Clarke scooped up the loose ball and fired to Hamerschlag, who had sprinted from the mound to cover the plate. Clarke’s throw beat the runner and Hamerschlag’s tag ended the game. The second game was all Danbury and the Quakers left Connecticut with a 1-1 record.
After the split in Danbury, the Quakers traveled to Carmel the next day and pounded out 11 hits in a 13-2 victory against the Carmel Cubs. Hansen lead the way with two hits and ended the game early with a walk-off two-run double. Walker, Ellick and D’Auria contributed key hits in the Quaker win.
Summer season highlights: Shrub Oak, Cortlandt and Somers
Later in the week, the team traveled north again for an early-season showdown against perennial rival, the Shrub Oak Storm. Renzulli and Scherl hit solo home runs to drive the early Quaker offensive attack. But the scrappy Shrub Oak team battled back to take a late lead. The Quakers showed off their resiliency by scoring three runs to tie the score in the top of the sixth, but Shrub Oak pulled out the game in its last at-bat on a fly ball.
But revenge is always sweet and the Quakers got that four days later with their first home game of the season at Gedney 3. Shrub Oak held the lead until Clarke hit a solo home run over the right field fence in the third inning to tie the game. The Quakers put together a string of eight hits in the bottom of the fifth inning and finished with an 11-5 victory.
Galvin brought the crowd it its feet with a two-strike bases loaded double off the left center field fence. After two missed bunt attempts designed to score Scherl from third on a safety squeeze that would have tied the game, Galvin ripped a screaming line drive that missed by just inches being a grand slam home run. Walker followed with a sharp singe delivering two RBIs. The offensive attack ended with seven runs and secured the win for Myers, who pitched four superb innings for the come-from-behind win.
The Quakers hit the road again June 29 for a show down versus Cortlandt at Seabolt Field. Under threatening skies, the game was a low-scoring pitching duel with Hansen and Hamerschlag on the mound for the Quakers battling a strong lefty from Cortlandt. Galvin and D’Auria hit back-to-back singles in the top of the sixth with the Quakers down a run, but the tying run never got past third base in the 3-2 loss that ended in a downpour.
Last week opened with the Quakers facing Somers at home. The team fell behind Somers 3-0 going into the bottom of the third. But they rallied behind Scherl’s timely hitting, while alert Quaker base running took advantage of a sloppy Somers defense. Girardi and Buseck helped the Quakers score two runs in the fourth and another two in the fifth. Renzulli and D’Auria combined to pitch the first five innings before Clarke came on in the sixth to earn the save.
Exciting extra innings battle with neighboring Ossining
In their final game before Cooperstown, the Quakers hosted an experienced team from Ossining in an exciting extra-inning battle. While the Quakers took the early 3-0 lead after three innings, the Ossining offense, combined with untimely Quaker errors, helped the visitors put four runs in the book for the lead.
Undeterred, the Quakers battled back. Their hard-fought victory over Ossining once again featured a late rally by the Quakers as they tied the score in the bottom of the sixth inning and then won it in the seventh. Walker was the difference in the game as the leadoff batter reached base in every at bat and scored four of the seven Quaker runs, including the winning run on a Buseck sacrifice ground ball. Hansen and Ellick pitched solid innings and Myers held off a late attack from Ossining to secure the win.
Peter Clarke and his wife Karen have lived in Chappaqua for over 20 years. Their three sons have been active in the New Castle Baseball and Softball Association since 1998. Peter has coached this team since 2003.
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Sixteen reading bugs guess right!
July 4, 2008
by Christine Yeres
The first drawing for the Chappaqua Library’s summer reading bug program was last week. Sixteen reading bugs correctly guessed the number of goodies in the reading bug jar. This week’s drawing is on Saturday, July 5, then it will go back to Friday’s for the remainder of the summer. See inside for photos.
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And the winners of the Ezra Jack Keats Award for 2008 are . . .
Click “Read more” for YouTube snippet.
July 4, 2008
by Miriam Lang Budin
One of the joys of working with children’s literature is the discovery of new, talented authors and illustrators.
That has been my happy task for the past year, as I chaired the Ezra Jack Keats Award committee. It’s an especially interesting committee because it’s comprised of authors, illustrators, academics and librarians, so we have varied perspectives on what constitutes excellence in picture books. The discussion is enlightening and lively, sometimes to the point of being heated.
The 2008 New Author Award winner is David Ezra Stein, author of “Leaves,” which is the story of a young bear’s perplexity as he notices the change of seasons: “It was his first year. Everything was going well until the first leaf fell. ‘Are you okay?’ he wondered. . . .” Stein’s own fluid bamboo pen and watercolor illustrations accompany his enviably economic text to perfection. Children will recognize and identify with the young bear’s modest discoveries about the ever-changing natural world, which make “Leaves” a book for all seasons.
The 2008 New Illustrator Award was presented to Jonathan Bean for his illustration of “The Apple Pie That Papa Baked,” by Lauren Thompson. Bean’s curvilinear, three-color drawings are nothing short of delicious. Our first sight of that gently steaming pie sets our mouths watering in anticipation, but we quickly see that much needs to be done before dessert can be served.
The lucky farmer’s little daughter is in a perpetual state of excitement, her pigtails flying behind her from the moment she sits up in bed to run in headlong pursuit of the pie fixings while followed by a contingent of hungry barnyard animals. Bean’s work is both an homage to the classic illustrations of Wanda Gag and Virginia Lee Burton and a foray into new technology. Bean created single-color drawings on sheets of vellum for each illustration, then scanned and combined them via computer.
Every major publisher in the United States submitted books to the committee, which considered 156 titles this year. Authors and illustrators must have published three or fewer picture books to have their work considered. We’re truly recognizing these writers and artists at the beginning of their careers. That’s part of what makes it so exciting.
More information about the Ezra Jack Keats Awards is available at http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/bookawards.
Both “Leaves” and “The Apple Pie That Papa Baked” are available for circulation from the Chappaqua Library. Check them out to see if you agree with the committee!
Miriam Lang Budin is a librarian in the children’s reading room of the Chappaqua Library.
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“Holes” are all they’ve got at Dunkin’ Donuts
July 4, 2008
by Christine Yeres
And those holes are in the ceiling. Carpenters, electrician and plumber come and go all day, working to finish up, “closed” signs on front and back. Yet still, every morning, some customers grab the new chubby pink “D” door handle and are puzzled, and then chagrined, to find resistance.
The renovations to the interior of Dunkin’ Donuts are on schedule, owner Jim Lash reported, and he expects to open early next week. This week, the new “D” handle appeared on the outside of the door, a heavenly pink ring was installed just inside, bearing the Dunkin’ Donuts’ name and listing coffee and drink offerings.
Try the door next week, and you should be rewarded.
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Asian-fusion newcomer offers meal in a “Spoon”
July 4, 2008
by Christine Yeres
After about a year in the works, Asian-fusion restaurant “Spoon” finally opened its doors last Saturday night at the intersection of Routes 117 and 120. The fusion of two retail spaces next to D’Agostino’s, formerly a Chinese takeout restaurant and a card shop, the eatery offers both lunch and dinner, Monday through Saturday, with dinner only on Sunday night. The spare, modern black-and-gray interior is a spacious single room, with a bar (a liquor license is pending) along the right hand wall and a sushi station along the back wall.
With entrees ranging from “Steamed Chilean Sea Bass,” to “Indian Curry Seafood” and “Grilled Angus Rib eye with mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables and sweet onion-cranberry sauce,” the restaurant offers a panoply of sushi and sashimi as well. Among the “Chef’s Special Rolls” is “Spoon Roll,” described as a “California roll topped with spicy tuna and crunch.”
Alex Poon, the owner of Spoon, has three other restaurants, all named “Koo.” Koo in Rye is neo-Japanese; in Danbury it is hibachi; and in Ridgefield, Asian-fusion. The chef of Spoon, Stanley Yong, was head chef at Wild Ginger, another of Poon’s restaurants until recently, now in new hands. The concept here in New Castle is spoons, and nearly half of the dishes are served in some kind of oversized spoon. Spoon’s owner and manager are still hunting for more spoons, preferably jumbo size, to add to their collection of serving dishes.
Spoon is open Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.; on Friday and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to11:00 p.m.; and on Sunday for dinner from 4:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Bring your own spirits to enjoy with your meal while they wait for their liquor license, expected to be approved in about three weeks.
“Spoon Roll”
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A wedding quilt for Deb and Jack
July 4, 2008
by Pam Thorton
Two years ago on July 1, 2006, my niece Deb married Jack. There were two things she wanted me to do as part of her wedding. One was to take the veil her mother, my best friend since we were 12 years old, wore at her wedding and sew sequins and seed pearls onto it to update the look. It took me four months to complete that assignment on the cathedral length veil. The second request was for me to create a “memory quilt” with messages from everyone who was invited to the wedding.
Now my niece comes from a huge family, we’re related by love, not blood, and there were over 250 people invited to the wedding. So my mission for a whole year was to create the hundreds of five inches by five inches quilt squares needed for the quilt and then hunt down the invitees at the engagement party, wedding shower and family picnics and have them each sign a quilt square. In the end there were people still signing quilt squares at the wedding reception.
Mission accomplished, well, almost
That was the easy part. As a quilter I love to create the individual squares and piece them together—the creative side. The b-o-r-i-n-g side for me is the actual putting it all together. For both tasks, I stitch by hand, a very time consuming method. The last quilt I made was for my father to take with him to the nursing home, and that took five months to finish.
So the fact that this quilt sat in my apartment for two years was no surprise, given my busy schedule and the fact that I knew months of sewing lay ahead. So it sat and sat and sat. In the meantime my niece and her husband had their first child, the amazing Jack, and are now expecting their second child this January. You can imagine the overwhelming sense of guilt I felt at not having finished their quilt. I kept saying to myself, “It’s a wedding quilt, not a marriage quilt!”
That’s when a friend of mine recommended a woman who lives in upstate New York who, for a very modest fee, will put the quilt together. She has a long-arm sewing machine that can create fancy stitches and knock out a quilt in a day. Sign me up! I sent it to her last week and it arrived back in the mail today. Wonderful!
All I have to do now is stitch down the binding, a day’s worth of work, and appliqué to the backing a label of some wedding photos I scanned on fabric. I hope to get this to them within the next week or two.
That’s the story of Deb and Jack’s quilt.
Pam Thornton is director of the Chappaqua Library. Please share any quilting tips, tricks and books with her at
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David Nierenberg, 1962 New Castle Citizen of the Year
July 4, 2008
by Lorie Nierenberg
I write this article about my late father, David E. Nierenberg, hoping to reconnect with some of his old friends from the Chappaqua area he loved so much.
On June 17, 2008, Dad passed away peacefully in his sleep in Saratoga, California, at the age of 90, after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and heart failure.
Born in Philadelphia to Elodie Keebers and David Nierenberg, Dad graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and Yale Law School and served as a lieutenant (gunnery officer) in the U.S. Naval Reserve in the Pacific theater during World War II. He practiced law with Bondy & Schloss in New York City and then also in Chappaqua. He lived in Chappaqua from 1953 - 1995, co-founding the Chappaqua Orchestral Association and serving as the elected New Castle Justice of the Peace. He was named New Castle Citizen of the Year in 1962.
He was married to Joan Livingston Werblin, former Life Magazine Copy Chief, until her death in 2000. He subsequently married Joan (“Jeff”) Vinton, also formerly of Chappaqua, and they lived in Briarcliff Manor until moving to Saratoga in 2005. In addition to Jeff and me, Dad also leaves behind his brother Theodore Nierenberg of Teaneck, New Jersey; my sister Wendy Nierenberg Gibney and her husband Robert of Berkeley, California; my brother David W. Nierenberg and his wife Joan of Lebanon, New Hampshire; stepsons Lewin, John and Henry Vinton and their families; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, who lovingly referred to Dad as “Pops;” and many other loving family members.
Dad’s passion for life, commitment to service and love of family will be remembered always. A memorial service will be held in Saratoga on July 24. An East Coast memorial service is being planned for sometime in the fall. Anyone who may be interested in additional information, or simply in getting in touch with the family, may contact me at , or 6744 Towne Lane Road, McLean, Virginia 22101.
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Spotlight on Activities July 4 – July 10
July 4, 2008
Friday, July 4
All governmental offices are closed.
Fireworks: New Castle does not have a fireworks display, however, the following nearby towns have free displays.
Dobbs Ferry: Fishing derby, fun and fireworks. Fishing for ages 7 - 15, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.; games, picnicking, 12:00 p.m. to 9 p.m.; fireworks at 9:00 p.m. Admission is free for the whole day, 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. The event is at Waterfront Park. For more information call 914-693-2203.
Harrison: There will be free fireworks at 9:15 p.m. at the Project Home Run site, Oakland Avenue at Halstead Avenue. For more information call 914-670-3035.
Katonah: Independence Day celebration. There will be a free reading of the Declaration of Independence, patriotic music and picnicking on the front lawn at 11:00 a.m. at the John Jay Homestead, 400 Route 22. For more information call 914-232-5651.
Rye: There will be free fireworks at 9:30 p.m. at Playland Amusement Park, Playland Parkway, Exit 19 off I-95. For more information call 914-813-7010.
Sleepy Hollow: There will be free fireworks at 8:00 p.m. at the former General Motors site, Beekman Avenue and River Street. For more information call 914-366-5106.
Tarrytown: Concert and fireworks. The Van Martin Swing Band precedes the free fireworks at 7:00 pm. – 10:00 p.m. at Pierson Park, next to the Metro-North Railroad station. For more information call 914-631-8347.
Sunday, July 6
Outdoor market: Starting this Sunday, Peekskill will begin sponsoring an open air market featuring 25 – 30 vendors every Sunday through October 26 The market will be located at the intersection of Bank and Park Streets. For more information, call (914) 734-2750.
Monday, July 7
Movie: The “Books Into Movies” series for grades 4 – 6 at the Chappaqua Library will showcase “The Water Horse” from 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Pizza will be served. Space is limited so please register by calling 238-4779 or online at http://www.chappaqualibrary.org/index.php/childrens/registration/
Tuesday, July 8
Government meeting: New Castle Town Board will hold its meeting at 7:45 p.m. in the town hall assembly room.
Wednesday, July 9
Fencing instruction: Can you foil Jerry Sulli’s foils? The Chappaqua library is sponsoring a fencing program for children entering grades K - 2 at 3:00 p.m., and for children in grades 3 and up at 4:00 p.m. Space is limited so please register by calling 238-4779 or online at http://www.chappaqualibrary.org/index.php/childrens/registration/.
Music at the Gazebo: At 7:00 p.m., the Chappaqua Orchestra will kick off New Castle’s annual free summer concert series with popular classics and show tunes. Presented by the New Castle Parks and Recreation Department, the concerts will take place at the New Castle Recreation Field adjacent to New Castle Town Hall four Wednesdays in July, all starting at 7:00 p.m. Bring lawn chairs, blankets and a picnic dinner (no glass containers, please). No dogs allowed. The parks and recreation department asks that bicycles not be ridden on the field during the concerts. Rain venue: Horace Greeley High School Auditorium.
Government meeting: The Architectural Review Board will hold its meeting at 8:00 p.m. in town hall.
Thursday, July 10
Government meeting: The Millwood Task Force Meeting will take place at the Millwood Firehouse #2, Route 134 at 8:00 p.m.
Movie under the stars: Westchester County is sponsoring an outdoor movie screening of “Bee Movie” at sundown at the Kensico Dam Plaza. The plaza opens at 5:00 p.m. for picnicking. For more information, call (914) 864-PARK.
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Town offers FASST training for student athletes
July 4, 2008
by Ann Marie Fallon
The New Castle Recreation and Parks Department has teamed up with professional trainers at Functional Agility Speed and Strength Training, Inc. (FASST) in Millwood to provide training to student athletes in grades 8 -12 beginning August 4.
This intense conditioning and training program promises to improve first step speed, endurance, explosive power, strength and agility. The six session training program will take place at Horace Greeley High School, Aug. 4 – 14, on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
The cost of the program for New Castle residents is $135. You can register in person at town hall or online at the New Castle website, http://www.town.new-castle.ny.us; click on “Latest News,” then click on “register today for FASST.” If you choose to register online you will incur a $9.28 transaction fee. If you would like more information, contact Wayne Bass in the recreation department at 238-7291.
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Pam’s progress with her companion planting
July 4, 2008
by Shobha Vanchiswar
Here is my second monthly installment on how Pam Wright’s experiment with companion planting is coming along.
(To read the first installment, click here: Let’s check in on Pam Wright and her companion planting, click here :Let’s check in on Pam Wright and her companion planting NewcastleNOW.org, June 6, 2008)
The bad news: weeds and cold weather
As you can see from the photos, there has been much growth. Unfortunately, this indicates that weeds have been her biggest problem. Pam was advised by the person who inspired her to try companion planting that close under planting would choke out the weeds, but that has not happened. She feels if she had perhaps under planted with more mature plants instead of seedlings, it might have worked. Some collards that were under planted with mature nasturtiums are more weed free.
The damp, cold spell a little while back has caused her marigolds to struggle. She lost some and others are stunted. Also due to the damp weather, all the cucumbers called it quits.
The good news: no watering necessary
Pam has now top dressed with compost. Over this she will be adding a layer of mulch. The tomatoes have been staked.
Because of the rain, she has not had to do any watering.
The cabbage, Swiss chard, squash and pumpkin are doing well amidst the foundation plantings in the front. Pam has added garlic chives to the cabbage and nasturtiums around her mail box. She hopes this will deter the deer.
I think, in the past month, many lessons have been experienced and learned. This is a great example of how wonderful a classroom a garden can be. Stay tuned for further progress.
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New Castle Police, Ambulance and Fire Blotters June 25- July 2, 2008
July 4, 2008
Editor’s Note: Each week NewCastleNOW.org provides highlights from the New Castle police blotter as well as a list of emergency calls to the Chappaqua Volunteer Ambulance Corps and to the Chappaqua Fire Department and the Millwood Fire Department for the prior week.
New Castle Police Department
New Castle Police Department blotter Thursday, June 26 – Wednesday, July 2
Thursday, June 26, 2008
6:10 a.m. Top Hill Road – Burglar alarm
9:27 a.m. Ridgewood Terrace – Traffic stop – arrest
11:20 a.m. South Greeley Avenue – Criminal mischief
8:46 p.m. Pine Cliff Road – Suspicious person
Friday, June 27, 2008t
9:42 a.m. Upland Drive – Burglar alarm
7:57 p.m. Taylor Road – Larceny / stolen property
11:48 p.m. Random Farms Circle – Disturbance
Saturday, June 28, 2008
3: 30 a.m. Kipp Street – Noise complaint
6:35 a.m. North Greeley Avenue- Noise complaint
5:55 p.m. Roaring Brook Road – Traffic stop – arrest
11:20 p.m. Bedford Road – Panic alarm
Sunday, June 29, 2008
12:55 a.m. Saw Mill River Road – Traffic stop
1:28 p.m. Lakeview Road – Traffic stop
2:7 p.m. Kerry Lane – Burglar alarm
4:37 p.m. Pine Cliff Road – Criminal mischief
7:50 p.m. Armonk Road – VTL Offense - arrest
Monday, June 30, 2008
8:46 a.m. Westorchard Road - Traffic Stop
2:53 p.m. South Greeley Avenue – Property lost
9:33 p.m. Vails Lane – Traffic stop
Tuesday, July 1,, 2008
8:57 a.m. Marcourt Drive – lost property
11:45 a.m. King Street – Accident with personal injury
2:48 p.m. Saw Mill River Road – Disturbance
4:57 p.m. Fawn Ridge – Suspicious person
10:25 p.m. Haights Cross Road – Animal complaint
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
7:13 a.m. Hoag Cross Road – Noise complaint
11:58 a.m. Quaker Street – Traffic stop
12:32 p.m. King Street – Accident with property damage
Chappaqua Volunteer Ambulance Corps.
Ambulance Calls for the week of Monday, June 23, through Sunday, June 29
1 Sprain
3 Falls
2 Back pain
1 Choking
1 Hemorrhage
1 Chest Pain
1 Possible Stroke
Chappaqua Volunteer Fire Department
Department calls from June 25 through Wednesday, July 2
Millwood Volunteer Fire Department
Department calls from June 25 through Wednesday, July 2
Wednesday June 25, 2008
7:47 p.m. Crystal Springs Road - Residential Alarm
Friday June 27, 2008
11:35 a.m. Seven Bridges Road - Commercial Alarm
3:38 p.m. Taconic State Parkway - Motor Vehicle Accident
Sunday June 29, 2008
10:59 p.m. Schuman Road - Carbon-Monixoide Alarm activation
Monday June 30 , 2008
2:11 p.m. Route 100 (AKA Sawmill River Rd) Motor Vehicle Accident with Extrication
6:12 p.m. Taconic State Northbound, Motor Vheicle Accident
Wednesday July 2 , 2008
3:18 p.m. Taconic State Parkway, Motorcycle involved Motor Vheicle Accident
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In the garden with Shobha Vanchiswar
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July 4, 2008
Things to do in July
1. Continue regular mowing. Raise mower blades. This is not only healthier for the grass but it also helps in moisture conservation.
2. Keep weeding. At this time of year, they are prolific.
3. Dead head repeat flowering perennials to optimize flowering.
4. Stake those lilies! Also, prop up other plants that may be flopping over. As my friend Henriette says, “Staking shows respect for the plants.”
5. Cut back plants that look tired or are spent.
6. Trim hedges and topiaries.
7. Harvest ripe seeds. Lay them in a single layer on a screen and keep in a cool, dry, and well ventilated place. When dry, put them in envelopes or packets. Don’t forget to label, noting plant name and date.
8. Take cuttings to root from non-flowering stems of shrubs and climbers. Even if you may not want anymore of these plants, they will make nice gifts for friends and family.
9. Fertilize plants growing in pots.
10. Keep your garden tidy. Neaten edges of beds and borders, except for plants placed to spill over. Cut back dead limbs and pick up spent flower debris.
Order spring flowering bulbs. They will be shipped to you in the fall in time for planting.
Baby robins in nest almost ready to leave
acquillegia with seed heads
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Baptesia with seed pods
Iberis sempervirens with seeds
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Recent Real Estate Transfers
Each week NewCastleNOW.org provides a list of New Castle real property transfers filed with the Westchester County Clerk’s office.
Published week of July 4, 2008
Address................................. Price
115 Castle Road.......................$585,000
25 Commodore Road.................$740,000
7 Iris Lane.................................$2,450,000
35 Garden Ridge........................$1,235,000
Published week of June 27, 2008
Address................................. Price
131 Douglas Road...................$ 1,239,000
25 Kerry Lane..........................$920,000
28 Waters Edge........................$204,000
681 King Street.........................$625,000
162 Byram Lake Road................$488,500
Published week of June 20, 2008
Address................................. Price
9 Peck Road..............................$615,000
51 Granite Court.........................$1,450,000
302 N Greeley Avenue................$441,500
Published week of June 13, 2008
Address................................. Price
162 N Bedford Road .................$725,000
10 Cross Ridge Road................$870,000
5 Stone Road...........................$1,700,000
Published week of June 6, 2008
Address................................. Price
17 Hammond Ridge Road...........$1,911,686
565 Millwood Road.....................$670,000
30 Fawn Ridge.......................... $539,000
52 Shingle House Road...............$750,000
Published week of May 30, 2008
Address................................. Price
21 Langeland Drive....................$499,900
19 Frog Rock Road...................$3,150,000
37 Pine Cliff Road.....................$750,000
Published week of May 23, 2008
Address................................. Price
23 Chatham Road....................$730,000
310 N Greeley Avenue..............$405,000
32 Taylor Road.........................$1,115,000
54 Dunbow Drive.......................$841,700
Published week of May 16, 2008
Address................................. Price
5 Cerf Lane............................$ 1,650,000
111 Castle Road.....................$ 707,500
48 North Way.........................$ 1,325,000
245 N Broadqay Road..............$ 875,000
Published week of May 9, 2008
Address................................. Price
127 Armonk Road.....................$ 577,500
40 Oak Hill Road......................$ 780,000
336 N Greeley Ave, Unit 18E.....$ 479,000
Published week of May 2, 2008
Address................................. Price
18 Kisco Park Drive.................$ 420,000
60 Sheather Road....................$ 1,555,196
178 Seven Bridges Road..........$ 799,000
30 Sand Street........................$ 385,000
Published week of April 25, 2008
Address................................. Price
112 Byram Lake Road.................$2,250,000
6 Derby Lane..............................$ 760,000
30 Old Mill Road..........................$ 609,000
Published week of April 18, 2008
Address................................. Price
13 Roseholm Place.................$ 1,060,000
50 Devoe Road........................$ 1,361,700
86 Random Farms Drive...........$ 1,750,000
22 Hollow Ridge Road..............$ 750,000
Published week of April 11, 2008
None reported
Published week of April 4, 2008
Address................................. Price
59 Pinecliff Road.......................$750,000
42 Fox Den Road......................$958,750
149 King Street.........................$672,500
Published week of March 28, 2008
Address................................. Price
1 Hammond Ridge Rd ...............$2,673,713
Sheather Rd.............................$2,900,000
97 Sheather Rd.........................$14,100,000
22 Random Farms Cir ................$1,825,000
Published week of March 21, 2008
Address................................. Price
28 Overbrook Drive....................$795,000
57 Random Farms Drive...........$1,562,695
650 Quaker Road....................$ 800,000
3 Hammond Ridge Road...........$652,600
Published week of March 14, 2008
Address................................. Price
28 Inningwood Road....................$750,000
2 Gray Rock Lane......................$1,597,000
205 Corton Lake Road............... $1,300,000
12 Haights Cross Road...............$2,250,000
142 Seven Bridges Road ............$818,500
2 Skywood Road........................$836,000
Published week of March 7, 2008
Address................................. Price
365 Millwood Road...................$756,000
23 Spring Valley Road..............$300,000
14 Hollow Ridge Road...............$900,000
74 Hilltop Drive........................$1,063,250
59 Red Oak Lane.....................$640,000
49 Quaker Bridge Road.............$828,000
54 Whippoorwill Crossing...........$990,000
Published week of February 29, 2008
Address................................. Price
3 Hayrake Lane.......................$ 1,520,000
20 Ryder Road.........................$ 1,150,000
74 Westorchard........................$720,000
40 Ridgewood Terrace...............$ 765,000
131 Douglas Road....................$ 577,000
1 Hunting Ridge Road...............$ 785,000
5 Winthrop Road.......................$1,395,000
Published week of February 22, 2008
Address................................. Price
19 Hidden Hollow Lane................$810,000
31 Avenue Avenue.......................$700,000
18 Hollow Ridge Road..................$2,700,000
30 Vails Lane..............................$1,375,000
64 Sheather Road........................$1,808,070
26 Spring Road............................$950,000
6 Hunting Ridge Road...................$1,200,000
Published week of February 15, 2008
Address................................. Price
75 Edgewood Rd,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,$590,000
56 Ludlow Dr..............................$1,500,500
67 Random Farms Dr .................$1,675,000
6 Berol Cl...................................$2,100,000
6 Deer Creek Ln..........................$1,750,000
127 Stone Bridge Sq....................$630,000
7 Inningwood Rd..........................$600,000
23 Aspen.....................................$477,500
Published week of February 8, 2008
Address................................. Price
6 Berol Close........................$2,100,000
6 Deer Creek Ln....................$1,750,000
127 Stone Bridge Sq ............$630,000
7 Inningwood Rd....................$600,000
10 Glen Terrace.....................$1,250,000
32 Oak Hill Rd........................$995,000
Published week of February 1, 2008
Address................................. Price
95 Valley View Rd....................$1,251,000
8 Oak Hill Rd............................$1,665,000
75 Edgewood Rd.......................$590,000
56 Ludlow Dr.............................$1,500,500
67 Random Farms Dr ................$1,675,000
Published week of January 25, 2008
Address.............................. Price
728 Quaker Rd........................$ 685,000
104 Rambling Brook Rd............$535,000
144 Hamilton............................$1,075,000
Published week of January 18, 2008
Address.............................. Price
155 Birchwood Close................$330,000
Sheather Road........................$1,050,000
Published week of January 11, 2008
Address.............................. Price
85 Orchard Ridge Rd................$540,000
57 Marcourt Dr.........................$750,000
3 Hunting Ridge Pl....................$1,135,000
20 Random Farms Cir...............$1,860,000
34 Inningwood Rd......................$565,000
Published week of January 4, 2008
Address.............................. Price
23 Hammond Ridge Road.............$1,587,615
18 Green Lane.............................$1,535,000
75 Burr Farms Road......................$ 1,165,000
7 Cerf Lane...................................$ 1,929,000
12 Bradley Farms Road.................$ 1,920,047
84 Campfire Road.........................$ 715,000
Published week of December 28, 2007
Address.............................. Price
8 Spruce Lane N...................$1,289,000
8 Hammond Ridge Road........$1,718,485
Published week of December 21, 2007
Address.............................. Price
4 Anne’s Wood Lane..............$ 927,000
177 Sommerstown Road.........$ 830,000
65 Laurelton Road.................$ 535,000
356 N Greeley Ave................ $ 518,000
Published week of December 14, 2007
Address.............................. Price
20 Spring Glen Drive..............$875,000
8 McClelland Drive................$125,000
41 North Place.....................$1,610,000
72 Whippoorwill Lake Rd......$1,760,000
4 Vails Lane.......................$627,000
Published week of December 7, 2007
None reported
Published week of November 30, 2007
Address................................Price
6 Old Road Lane...................$ 1,300,000
11 Bittersweet Lane...............$ 1,350,000
25 Red Oak Lane...................$ 582,500
Published week of November 23, 2007
Address................................Price
130 Old Roaring Brook Rd........$1,950,000
25 Hamilton Dr........................$ 680,000
24 Marcourt Dr........................$ 1,300,000
80 High Way...........................$ 999,999
29 Indian Hill Rd......................$1,422,000
Published week of November 16, 2007
Address................................Price
62 Top Hill Rd.................$1,110,000
138 Deer Run.................$ 497,500
138 Deer Run.................$ 472,700
17 Winthrop Rd..............$1,935,000
Published week of November 9, 2007
None reported
Published week of November 2, 2007
Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Price
66 Pheasant Run . . . . . . . . .$ 380,000
36 Hilltop Drive. . . . . . . . . . .$ 1,810, 000
Published week of October 26, 2007
Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Price
35 Ridge Rd. . . . . . . . .$ 590,000
757 Armonk Rd. . .. . . .$ 1,025,000
147 S Bedford Rd. . . . .$ 800,000
12 Colony Row. . . . . . $ 935,000
60 Pinecliff Rd . . . . . . .$ 922,000
14 Lakeview Rd. . . . . . $ 990,000
29 King St. . . . . . . . . . .$ 1,200,000
9 Hilltop Dr. . . . . . . .. . $ 1,150,000
190 Bedford Rd. . . . . . . $ 1,470,000
112 Millwood Rd. . . . . .$ 375,000
19 Jeffrey Ln. . . . . . . . $ 3,850,000
Published week of October 19, 2007
Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Price
124 Mill River Rd. . . . . . . . $ 560,000.00
12 Ridgewood Terr . . . . . . $ 647,000.00
19 Seneca Dr. . . . . . . . . . . $1,130,000.00
376 Quaker Rd. . . . . . . . . . $ 540,000.00
31 Taylor Rd. . . . . . . . . . . . $2,100,000.00
33 Elizabeth St. . . . . . . . . . $1,235,000.00
Published week of October 12, 2007
Address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Price
25 Gedney Way . . . . . . . . . . $ 1,273,000
85 Hilltop Dr . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 1,337,500
565 Millwood Rd . . . . . . . .. . . $ 699,149
41 Inningwood Rd. . . . . . . . . .$ 450,000
43 Touchstone Way. . . . . . . .. $ 510,000
7 Ryder Rd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 617,500
18 Hammond Ridge Rd . . . . . .$ 2,151,341
12 Joan Dr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 1,462,000
75 Brevoort Rd. . . . . . . . . . . . $ 1,462,000
Published week of October 5, 2007
Address. . . . . . . . . .. Price
1 North Pl. . . . . . . . . ...$ 1,075,000.00
71 Deepwood Dr . . .. . . $ 1,499,000.00
46 Barnes Ln. . . . . ... . .$ 1,890,000.00
24 Upland Dr . . . . . . .. . $ 1,200,000.00
26 Meadow Ln. . . . . . . . $ 845,000.00
9 Roseholm Pl. . . . . . . . $ 922,000.00
9 Killington St . . . . . . . $ 953,000.00
47 Inningwood Rd . . . . . .$ 950,000.00
115-125 King Street . . . ..$ 515,949.00
90 Random Farms Dr . .. $ 1,700,000.00
80 Castle Rd . . . . . . .. ..$ 605,000.00
10 Erin Ct. . . . . . . . . . . .$ 860,000.00
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New Castle group write State DOT claiming decision to replace bridge is in violation of federal law
Editors’ Note: On Thurday, June 26, 2008, environmental attorney James J. Periconi sent a letter to the Regional Design Engineer for the New York State Department of Transportation in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., on behalf of the “Concerned Citizens of Chappaqua,” New Castle residents Chuck Napoli, Manny Areces, David Metz, Tom Kasulka, Leslie Marra and Jane Holmes. Describing the group as “dedicated to enhancement and preservation of the small town feel of the hamlet of Chappaqua,” Periconi writes that the group opposes “the demolition, replacement and widening of the historic Quaker Street Bridge . . . which would be detrimental to the hamlet’s unique way of life, because the decision to destroy rather than repair the existing bridge has been made in violation of federal law.” For text of the letter, click “Read more.”
Copies of the letter were sent to Town Supervisor Barbara Gerrard, Town Administrator Gennaro Faiella and Acting Town Engineer Robert Cioli, as well as regional director of the Department of Transportation Joan Dupont and others. 2008.06.25_Letter_to_NYSDOT.pdf
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Catching real estate offices in first-floor prohibition net . . .
. . . town board seeks to amend law, impose moratorium
Houlihan Lawrence’s 75 South Greeley Avenue space
June 27, 2008
by Christine Yeres
To encourage more retail businesses in the downtown hamlet, a year and a half ago the town board changed New Castle’s downtown zoning laws to prohibit any new financial institutions, professional offices and business offices from taking first-floor rental space. A few months ago, when real estate agency Houlihan Lawrence applied to the building department to move from its offices at 75 South Greeley Avenue to the newly rebuilt two story space on the same street just north of Greeley Home & Hardware, the building inspector said “No,” declaring that real estate offices fell within the “business offices” category of the new law and were, therefore, a prohibited use of first-floor space.
Newly renovated space at left; Greeley Home & Hardware, right
The town board never meant to include real estate in prohibition
A review of town board minutes shows, said town administrator Jerry Faiella, that the board had no intention of catching real estate offices in its prohibitions net. So in its July 8 regular meeting, the town board will hold a public hearing on an amendment that would bring the 18-month old law into line with the board’s legislative intent by removing real estate offices from the list of prohibited first floor uses.
Instead of relegating all three uses—new financial institutions, professional offices and business offices—to second floor space, the amendment will propose that only financial institutions and professional offices be excluded from first-floor space, exempting business offices. Depending on community response that evening, the board might complete its hearing and pass the amendment then and there; if residents wish to discuss or dispute it, the hearing might be carried over, to be discussed further at a subsequent town board meeting or meetings.
Refining “business office” definition
About 18 months ago this same law worked to prevent Chase Bank, clearly a financial institution, from inhabiting first-floor space at the corner of Greeley and King streets (see NewCastleNOW.org “Chasing first-floor uses,” 5/21/08 ). “Professional office” was easy to define as doctor-lawyer-accountant type entities, but the “business office” category was harder to put a finger on and is an integral part of many retail uses. For example, an eyeglass store, a hardware store or even a restaurant might have dedicated business office areas in their shops, but, as primarily retail operations, they are all welcome uses of first floor space. Some people view real estate offices as a kind of retail operation for very large big-ticket items; others see them as stealing space from potential retail rental stock, and maintain that it is “retail” that is key to the health of a downtown.
Time in which to reexamine by means of a moratorium
In its ongoing attempt to diagnose and define the commercial health of downtown Chappaqua, on July 22 the town board will set a date for a public hearing on whether to declare a six-month moratorium that would put a freeze on certain first floor uses. “During that time,” said Faiella, “a retail business such as a jewelry store, an ice cream parlor, a restaurant can come in. Retail uses are what we do want.” The purpose of the freeze, he continued, “is to study the impacts of the uses we presently have and also to study some uses we haven’t included at the moment. The goal is to develop more of a vibrant downtown and to encourage those uses people have said are important to them.”
Bowling alleys need not apply
Although the amendment under discussion on July 8 may soon redefine whether real estate qualifies as “business and professional offices,” that pair are first on the board’s list of uses that may not rent first floor space during the term of the moratorium. Others are “telephone exchange building, hospital or clinic for small animals, barber, hair dresser, tailor, dressmaker, shoe repair or other personal services, financial institutions, fast food restaurant, multi-family dwellings, hand laundry, dry cleaning and dyeing, gasoline filling station, shops for repair and upholstering of furniture, shops for electricians, plumbers, silversmiths, bowling alley, billiard and pool room, and wholesale trade.
The space between
Not knowing whether the amendment to release real estate offices from the prohibition will be approved leaves much unresolved. Asked what real estate offices might do between the time of an amendment as early as July 8 to allow them back into the approved first-floor uses category, and the time the town board gets around to actually imposing a moratorium freezing such uses, Faiella answered, “Good question,” but insists that during the moratorium the town board will, in considering what’s best for the commercial health of the town, look at everything, adding that, by the end of it, real estate might find itself on or off the list of allowable first floor uses. And as to whether, if banned again from first floor use, a real estate office already in first floor space would be free to “swap” its first-floor space for other first floor-space, Faiella answered that the board had not yet addressed such a contingency.
A licensed real estate agent with Houlihan Lawrence, town board member John Buckley has not officially recused himself from consideration of this matter, but will likely do so by the time of the July 8 public hearing.
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Department of transportation bridge presentation contains unpleasant surprises
June 27, 2008
by Susie Pender
Soon, as you leave downtown Chappaqua over the Route 120 bridge, you’ll be able to look down and see big machinery gathering on the vacant lot where the former Chappaqua Drama Group was once housed. You can watch the creation of the staging area throughout the summer as you experience your last trips over the stone bridge. September will see the start of real construction.
At its Tuesday night work session, the town board hosted representatives from the New York State Department of Transportation, who presented an overview to the board and the public of the final construction plans for the $18 million replacement of the Route 120 bridge.
Four factors combine to make work site a challenge
As part of her presentation, NYS Department of Transportation Regional Director Joan Dupont pointed out the four factors at this work site that in combination make the project a particularly challenging job for the agency. First, because of the railroad, she noted, “we’re only allowed to work over it during the wee small hours of the night and that work is up in the air.”
Second, they must maintain access to the train station, including pedestrian access, at all times. To do that, they will construct a pedestrian bridge. At the same time, Dupont explained, “the Saw Mill Parkway ramps bring a lot of traffic right smack dab into the middle of this project site, and we can’t close those off either.”
The third consideration is that the project “is right up adjacent to a very vibrant, active, strong business district. We want people to be able to continue to shop there easily,” said Dupont. And, she concluded, “the schools add substantial traffic — bus, car and student pedestrians — several times a day.”
In closing, she predicted, “I will not pretend to you that this will be easy, but I am sure that you’ll have, when we’re done, an award-winning bridge that you’ll all be proud of.”
News of lane closures surprises public and, apparently, board members
Dupont turned over the presentation to Edward O’Leary, who noted that, as indicated on the plans, lane closures are permitted during the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. During these lane closures, two-way traffic over the bridge will alternate, sharing one lane.
To a community recently frustrated by the delays of up to 45 minutes for a gas main replacement along Route 117 over the last month, this statement came as a disconcerting surprise. Expressing the view of many in attendance, Manny Areces stated during the question and answer session, “it has been presented all along that the reason that the bridge needed to be widened to three lanes was to maintain two lanes of traffic during construction at all times, 24/7.”
Town Supervisor Barbara Gerrard concurred, “That was our understanding.”
Indeed, in the glossy brochure prepared by the department of transportation in March and distributed at Tuesday’s meeting, under “Project Information,” it states: “Bridge Width: The width of the bridge is controlled by the need to maintain two lanes of traffic during construction and to support the Town’s various hamlet plans. . . . Two lanes of traffic across the bridge will be maintained throughout the construction of the new bridge by using a “narrowed” existing bridge for 2 lanes in Stage 1 and a portion of the new bridge for 2 lanes in Stage 2.”
In an attempt to clarify, O’Leary indicated that these closures would be occasional, “on perhaps three days out of a month, and then you could go a month without another closure, for a concrete pour on a pier, or to receive a delivery, or at night when they lift out beams over the railroad.”
Gerrard concluded, “It appears from the presentation that this is different from our understanding. But I am trusting the DOT. They will have staff here in Chappaqua and emergency responders will be notified.”
Email exchange suggests that lane closures were not a surprise to town board
In an exchange of emails this March between New Castle resident Tom Kasulka and Jerry Faiella, town administrator, on which Gerrard was copied, it would appear that the town board was well aware that there would be lane closures.
“With regard to traffic flow, I did some research, and it appears that two way traffic is to be maintained during peak hours (M – F, 7 – 9am and 4 – 6PM, Sat 10 to 4pm) Is that consistent w/your understanding,” asked Kasulka in an email to Faiella on March 12, 2008, with a copy to Gerrard.
“There will always be two way traffic, however during the construction there will be temporary lane closures as barricades shift or steel is put in place. Those temporary closures cannot be made during the peak hours regardless,” Faiella responded that same day.
New Castle resident suggests broad detour plan could help with traffic snarls
Donald Weisstuch, a retired professional engineer, proposed that a broader traffic management plan might be a good idea. “Even ten minutes of lane closure can produce back-ups that will take an awfully long time to unravel,” he pointed out. He suggested that someone needs to look at “how to mitigate the impact [of these lane closures] and carefully understand how you inform people of upcoming closures.”
He proposed a much larger area in which to detour traffic, down Roaring Brook Road to the Saw Mill Parkway, through Pleasantville to the south, and by way of routes 133 and 117 to the north.
Stephen Germinaro, the engineer in charge of the project from the department of transportation who will be on site every day in Chappaqua, said that the design and traffic people at the agency would need to be consulted regarding any formal detour plan.
Notification of lane closures
Germinaro, who will be on site “100% of the time” and has 18 years of experience with department of transportation projects throughout Westchester County, explained after the presentation in response to reporters’ questions that he will be in contact with the superintendent of the schools, the town board and the emergency services agencies in New Castle to obtain their input on lane closures. “I will have to get a feel for the traffic, the behavior of the residents.”
He and O’Leary agreed that, practically speaking, the 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. window will be sufficient for lane closure purposes. “There is no practical use for the 3 - 5 window. By the time we set up for the lane shift, it would be time to dismantle it.”
Gerrard pointed out that the town set up their E-Alert system a few months ago in anticipation of using it to keep community members informed about delays on the bridge. NewCastleNOW.org will also publish daily updates to inform the residents of lane closure times.
The law of unintended consequences
One resident at the public meeting on Tuesday saw a silver lining in the black cloud of frustration over delays caused by the prospect of lane closures. “Maybe parents will find it so difficult to get over the bridge that they will be enticed into putting their children on the school bus instead of driving them!”
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