Welcome to the Town Section

Millwood Matters

Though still a draft, needs report will go public
July 4, 2007
by Gene Nadel

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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.”

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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. 

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Millwood Matters


Update: The next Millwood Task Force meeting will be Thursday July 10 (NOT July 3, as originally planned).).

June 27, 2008
by Gene Nadel

Utter frustration is surely an apt description of the state of mind of those Millwood Fire District residents who expected to finally be introduced to the long awaited outside consultant’s “Needs Study” at the Board of Fire Commissioners’ monthly meeting this past Monday (6/16) night. Instead, the public learned the following…

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Dunkin’ Donuts renovation “on track;” still closed, opening soon


June 27, 2008
by Christine Yeres

Owner of Dunkin’ Donuts, Jim Lash, estimates that his doors may open by the first week in July.

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Bus crash update from police report


June 27, 2008
by Christine Yeres

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Millwood Matters


June 20, 2008
by Gene Nadel

+ Needs assessment report Monday, June 23
+ Town board discusses Millwood site design plan
+ Old Putnam RR line speaker at library Thursday, June 26

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Baby deer trapped in Bell School window well


June 20, 2008
by Christine Yeres

At 3:45 p.m. Thursday, June 19, New Castle Police answered a “911” call to the front entrance of the Bell Middle School, where a fawn had jumped or fallen into a window well and was unable to get out.

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Plywood coming off at Wags and Whiskers

June 20, 2008
by Christine Yeres

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School bus crashes on 120, minor injuries to driver, no children aboard


June 20, 2008
by Christine Yeres

The bus that veered off 120 into brush and a tree at Suzanne Lane Thursday, June 19, had been inspected the very day of its crash, according to Seth Corwin of Chappaqua Bus Company. 

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Kitchen employee at Whippoorwill Country Club drowns in club pool

June 13, 2008
by Susie Pender

After a second steaming day that almost reached 100 degrees, Cesar Leon-Leon, aged 21, and three of his friends who worked together in the kitchen at the Whippoorwill Country Club decided Tuesday night to cool off in the club’s pool. At that time, around 8:45 p.m., the pool was closed for the day with no lifeguard on duty. 

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Town board work session and regular meeting


June 13, 2008
by Christine Yeres

In work session: environmental impact statements, draft and generic; hearing set for zoning change to permit hospital parking; bridge construction company seeks staging area.  Regular meeting: seniors turn out to tell of need for new bus; County moving forward to improve septic management program, may enlist private companies to make inspection reports.

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Summit Greenfield seeks 56.53% reduction in assessment; local taxes in arrears


New Castle’s Board of Assessment Review
June 20, 2008
by Ann Marie Fallon

Grievance Day has come and gone. There was one noteworthy applicant seeking relief from its current assessment. Summit Greenfield, the owner and developer of the Reader’s Digest property, has filed a petition with the New Castle Board of Assessment Review seeking a decrease in the tax assessment of their property. 

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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. 

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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. 

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Op-ed: Stuck on the bridge; a plea for better communication


June 27, 2008
by Tom Kasulka

If all goes according to current plans, sometime soon you will drive across our historic Quaker St. Bridge and notice that the canopy of trees lining the gateway to our hamlet being marked for removal. Over the next few weeks you’ll then witness the gathering of cranes, bull dozers and back hoes as construction of a 265-foot-long great wall and new road commence where the trees and a grassy hill once stood. 

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In work session, town board discusses off-leash hours, dog bite incidents with residents


In the work session
June 27, 2008
by Liza Margulies

With “off-leashing” becoming as familiar a sight across the country as soccer games and little league, sooner or later rules and guidelines for park usage in this manner would need to be established.  So it was that a small but devoted group of dog owners were in attendance Wednesday, June 18, night for the town board’s work session discussion regarding the parks and recreation department’s recommendations to regulate dogs in the town’s parks—most notably, Gedney Park. 

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Fire races through Foxwood 8-unit condo complex in Pleasantville

June 27, 2008
by Ann Marie Fallon

On Sunday afternoon, June 22, a lighting strike to building 16 in the Foxwood condominium complex in Pleasantville ignited a massive fire. Both the Chappaqua and Millwood fire departments responded to aid the Pleasantville Fire Department. 

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New Castle Police, Ambulance and Fire Blotters June19- June 25, 2008


On Wednesday June 25th, the Millwood Volunteer Fire Company along with many other fire departments from NY gathered in Yorktown for the Yorktown Fireman’s Parade.
June 27, 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.

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New Castle Police, Ambulance and Fire Blotters June12- June 18, 2008

June 20,2008
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.

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Letter to the Editor: Will kids in New Castle lose out again?


June 13, 2008

An Open Letter to the New Castle Town Board

As many of you may know, the New Castle Town Board has been presented with an exciting proposal that could provide a tremendous benefit to the various youth athletic programs in our town. A local group has offered to construct a full-size state of the art synthetic turf field on the soccer field located at Gedney Park. 

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Chappaqua PTA honors two recipients of lifetime membership awards


Andrea Klausner..............................  Deirdre Kucharik
June 13, 2008
by Ann Marie Fallon

On Tuesday night at the final Chappaqua PTA meeting for the 2007-08 school, Andrea Klausner and Deirdre Kucharik were honored with New York State PTA Honorary Life Membership. This award is presented annually to individuals for distinguished service to children and youth.

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Op-Ed: Barack Obama makes history, help make him president


Rose Cohen and Rita Tobin
June 13, 2008
by Rose Cohen

A lot has happened since those cold days in January when I stood in the Chappaqua train station with a few other hardy souls, encouraging voters to support Barack Obama in the New York Democratic primary.

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Winners of Young Writers’ Contest announced

June 13,2008
by Christine Yeres

High School Winners added!

In January, the word goes out from the Friends of the Chappaqua Library that Young Writers’ Contest applications are available to middle and high school students. This is a contest that pays serious attention to the power of the pen, the ability of writing to amuse, to persuade, to communicate or to touch readers’ hearts, whether through fiction, non-fiction or poetry.

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Open Invitation to Chappaqua Library Retreat


June 13, 2008
by Pamela Thornton, Chappaqua Library Director

Board of Trustees of the Chappaqua Library will be holding a retreat at the library on Sunday June 22nd from 10 – 12:30.  The retreat will provide the staff, public and the Board to meet and discuss what the future holds for the library and how to better serve our patrons. In addition to presentations from staff and members of the library Board, our guest speaker will be Ms. Siobhan Reardon, Executive Director of the Westchester. 

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