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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

June 6, 2008
Opposition to turf field proposal for Upper Gedney Field

Editor’s note: This is a copy of a letter submitted recently to the New Castle Town Board.

Photos by Lori Sachare
May 30, 2008
by Susan Carpenter

Last night, the Westchester Municipal Planning Federation gave a special commendation to the town of New Castle for its development of the Route 120 pedestrian path.

First zoning board session for new member Gerry Golub
May 30, 2008
by Christine Yeres

On Tuesday night Town Supervisor Barbara Gerrard appointed New Castle resident Gerry Golub to the zoning board. Golub, a New Castle resident for 37 years and retired managing partner of the accounting firm of Goldstein Golub Kessler & Company, will fill the seat left vacant by the resignation two weeks ago of the board’s chairperson, David Levine. Levine served 13 years on the zoning board of appeals, the last three as chairman.  Golub will complete Levine’s term, which runs until January 1, 2010.  The zoning board, a court of appeals, has the power to grant special use permits and variances that allow actions not permitted by the town’s zoning laws.

May 23, 2008
by Ann Marie Fallon

On Tuesday, May 20, both the Chappaqua school and library budgets received easy approval by the voters.

May 23, 2008
by Christine Yeres

The empty storefront in downtown Chappaqua that used to house Chappaqua Stationery and Giona’s Italian restaurant has long been leased, but still stands empty. Chase Bank has been paying rent on the space for the past 18 months, but cannot move in.

Stewart Berg, Gus Larramendi, John Re and Bob Snyder at work session
May 23, 20008
by Christine Yeres

The New Castle Recreation and Parks Commission appeared before the town board at its Tuesday, May 20 work session to pass on the news of an unsolicited preliminary proposal from a private company, Precision Sports Complex, to partner with the town. This would allow Precision Sports Complex to install an artificial turf field at Upper Gedney and raise a bubble over it during winter months to enable year-round sports programs. 

Millwood Fire Company Annual Inspection - Tribute to 50 Year Veteran Neil Gollogly
May 16, 2008
by Gene Nadel

Residents of the Millwood Fire District and the Board of Fire Commissioners ("BOFC") will convene in the Assembly Room at New Castle Town Hall at 7:30 this Monday, May 19th to hear the anxiously awaited Needs Assessment Study report by Fire Consultant John Nickerson of JLN Associates. For anyone unable to attend in person, the meeting will be carried live by NCCTV - Channel 78, and will be rebroadcast on subsequent days at times to be announced.

May 16, 2008
by Ann Marie Fallon

The Trump Park Residences is a 141-condominium community located in Yorktown, New York. This high end project, launched in September 2006 by Donald Trump and Louis and Michael Cappelli, was touted for “active adults” ages 55 and older or, as marketers for this type of residences prefer to say, “55 or better.”

May 16, 2008
by Christine Yeres

Summit Greenfield has applied to the New Castle Zoning Board for a variance that will permit Summit to lease 140 of its parking spaces to Northern Westchester Hospital (“NWH”) for a limited period of time, while NWH expands its emergency department and builds a parking structure.

May 2, 2008
Editor’s note: NewCastleNOW has been covering the goings on about town for six months now, and we thought it was time for a listing of the topics currently under consideration by the town board.

Citibank parking re-do, Route 117 sidewalk, Walkway through woods to Bell Middle School, Reader’s Digest environmental impact statement, New Castle generic environmental impact statement, Millwood Shell station, Little red and white stationhouse in Millwood, Allen Place garbage district, School board’s bill to town for $81,000 for maintenance of fields, Parking lot across from Susan Lawrence, New town planner hired, 120 Bridge, Hamlet Steering Committee, Police Department expansion, Changes to Gedney leash law, Basketball court at Gedney, Sewer district for Random Farms-Riverwoods-Yeshiva, 9/11 Memorial, and New parks and recreation department employee

Town Clerk and Receiver of Taxes Jill Simon Shapiro and Town Supervisor Barbara Gerard at press conference
April 25, 2008
by Ann Marie Fallon

Property owners in the Town of New Castle will receive a refund check from town hall in a couple of weeks.

April 25, 2008
by Ann Marie Fallon

April 21st was the deadline for submission of candidates’ petitions to School District Clerk Theresa Markley for those seeking a place on the ballot for election to either the school or library board.  Three candidates came forward to run for the two seats available on the School Board: Janet Benton, Gregg Bresner and Rob Gursha .  Library Board candidates Barbara Lowenthal and Catherine Campbell Nesbit will vie for one slot.