Police Report - Downed Trees, Wires, Thefts and More
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Snow: A Brambach Road women came to police headquarters on 2/24 to complain that kids at Scarsdale High School threw ice and snow at her 2010 Mercedes while she was at the school on 2/23 and 2/24. The woman and her husband confronted the boys who they believed to be the culprits and the boys in turn came to the police station to claim that they had been harassed.
While clearing snow on Aspen Road on February 26th Highway Department employee Keven Gannon was hit by snowballs thrown by four boys. The snow hit the driver and his truck and since his window was open one of the snowballs struck the driver in the face. After they hit the driver they fled. The boys had been shoveling snow at 20 Aspen Road but the homeowner did not know their names. The driver was not injured.
Also on 2/26 kids sledding at the high school threw snowballs at a passerby who did not wish to identify himself.
On Saturday 2/27, a caller from Sprague Road spotted a Hyundai full of kids who were driving around the neighborhood and stopping to knock down snowmen on resident’s lawns.
Death: Mr. Edmund Newman of Harvest Drive passed away during the nigh on February 22nd. The death was reported by his wife, Dr. Frances Fiorillo when she was unable to wake him in the morning.
Lost Credit Card: On 2/23 a Circle Road woman reported that she lost her debt card on 2/18 and it had been used several times without her permission. She noticed unauthorized charges and came to police to file a report.
Burglary: A Lebanon Road family returned from vacation on 2/23 and found that their home had been entered through the rear basement door, which had been pried open. The only item they noticed missing was a iMac computer valued at $1,200.
A Jefferson Road home was entered and tossed while the owners were out of town. The mother of the victims went by to check the house on 2/22 and found that someone had entered the home through the back door and taken an apple computer valued at $2,500.
A Brite Avenue mom reported that her son’s Breitling Aerospace watch, valued at $1,500 had been taken from their home sometime between February 21st and 24th . No other items were missing from the house.
Ross Road residents reported the theft of antique stone lawn ornaments weighing 25 to 30 pounds each and valued at $800 from their lawn on 2/23 or 2/24.
The Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps treated a 2-year old with a head injury on Wellhouse Lane on 2/27.
Car Trouble: A Harwood Court resident called police for help early on the morning of 2/24 when she locked her keys in the car with the motor running. The car was in front of Starbucks in Scarsdale Village. Police called the Heathcote Gulf station to assist her with getting back into the car.
At 11 in the morning a 2007 Lexus got stuck on Crane Road and could not get up the hill. The Scarsdale Fire Department called a tow truck to assist the driver and after the car was towed they salted that area of the road.
On the evening of 2/25 a police car going south on the Post Road with the emergency lights on was hit by a car going east on Crane Road approaching the Post Road.
A car slid off the road into the bushes at Fenway Golf Club on Secor Road at 2:20 in the afternoon on 2/26 . The driver called police for help. Not an hour later another car slid into a snow bank at the intersection of Mamaroneck Road and Catherine Road and had to be towed.
A White Plains resident, driving a 1997 Ford on Saxon Woods Road slid off the road and ended up on the front lawn of 177 Saxon Woods Road. Due to the snow it could not be determined if any damage had been done to the property.
David Johnson Tanner of Eastchester was stopped by police on the afternoon of 2/28 and found to be an unlicensed driver who was driving an unregistered car without insurance. The driver received a summons and the rear license plate was removed from the car that was towed to the owner’s home.
Dispute: A Park Road man returned home on the afternoon of 2/27 to find men cutting a tree in his driveway … however these were not contractors he had hired. The family’s 15 year-old daughter was at home waiting for the contractors when two unknown men showed up at the door. Thinking they were the men her father had called she told them to proceed.
When her father returned he asked the men to leave the property and were advised that they would not be paid.
The balance of this past week’s police report was a virtual chronology of the effects of the winter storm on trees, streets and homes. Police responded to over 70 reports of fallen trees and wires.
Details of each incident are too lengthy to list, but here is a recap of the locations where trees and power lines were down:
Thursday February 25th:
2 Barry Road, tree branch down in roadway
3 Olmstead Road, cable wires down in driveway
24 Ogden Road, large tree limb down blocking Ogden Road
980 Post Road at Ferncliff Road, tree branches on wires
9 Stratton Road , wires on fire
157-159 Brite Avenue, low hanging wires blocking driveway
244 Mamaroneck Road, large tree fallen in road
55 Graham Road, Verizon wires down
180 Brewster Road, power line down
54 Secor Road, large tree limb resting on phone wires
18 Rodney Road, large tree and wires down
209 Brewster Road – trees down blocking roadway
50 Claremont Road – neighbors tree fell on car
310 Boulevard – wires down
Spruce Lane - large village owned tree leaning on wires
Friday February 26th
60 Brambach Avenue – car stuck in snow bank
139 Brite Avenue – wires on the road
9 Huntington Avenue – trees leaning on power lines
2 Hickory Lane – possible fire
37 Stonehouse Road – Sparks seen and a loud bang heard
14 Ridgecrest East – low hanging wires
153 Brewster Road – Wires down
16 Taunton Road – tree fell on car
1185 Post Road – tree fallen on wires
201 Brewster Road – large tree fell on roof of house
175 Brewster Road – wires tangled in trees – no power
18 Montrose Road –trees and wires down
8 Donellan Road – trees and wires down
175 White Road – tree and wires down
125 Mamaroneck Road – low hanging wires
Farley Road closed from Brewster to Valley Roads due to fallen tree
29 Lawrence Road – wires down
7 Carman Road – wires down
170 Boulevard – wires down in area
26 Hampton Road – telephone wire down on lawn
29 Ferncliff Road –Pine tree and wires down
5 Corell Road –low hanging wires
127 Brewster Road –large tree blocking road – wires down
118 Brewster Road – cable wire down
42 Claremont – sparking wires
1070 Post Road – wire down
54 Park Road – large tree down – blocking street
31 Marjory Lane, wire down on lawn and car
1201 Post Road, wires down across the street
46 Paddington Road, Cablevision wire down
28 Kent Road, wires leaning
103 Walworth, neighbor’s tree fell and damaged fence
40 Sage Terrace, fallen tree
26 Hampton Road, phone wire down
Heathcote Bypass, low hanging tree branches
203 Fox Meadow Road, low hanging wires
259 Heathcote Road, tree blocking Heathcote Road near the Scarsdale Medical Center
10 Paddington Road, power and cable lines down
226 Cushman Road, power lines on fire
50 Sheldrake Road, tree leaning on wires
91 Brite Avenue, wires down in road
15 Brayton Road, wires down in road
80 Huntington Avenue, wires down
Saturday February 27th:
1201 Post Road, wire on front walkway
111 Garden Road, tree limb blocking road
2 Oakwood Place, large tree limb blocking roadway
8 Tory Lane, wires in roadway
175 Brewster Road, downed power lines in driveway
142 Boulevard, tree blocking street
105 Cushman Road, wires down
Sunday February 28th
83 Cushman Road, sparking wires
10 Overhill Road, large tree branch on wires
35 Sage Terrace, branches on wires
163 Boulevard, downed cable wire
Monday March 1st
28 Huntington Avenue, wires in snow
Storm Update
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The multiday snowstorm that hit the East Coast last week was challenging for both residents and Con Edison. All told 50,000 households in Westchester had no power on Friday morning February 26th and Con Edison had 300 crews working on the ground to restore it.
According to Con Edison spokesman Bob McGee, Con Edison brought in teams from as far away as Ohio and Pennsylvania to back up the force in Westchester County. As so many of the outages were due to trees that fell on the lines, Con Edison also hired local contractors to cut down trees and remove debris.
By Saturday morning Con Ed had brought power back to 28,000 homes leaving another 22,000 in the dark. The company prioritizes cases by working first on those repairs that will bring power back to the most homes.
As Scarsdale has overhead wiring we were hit much harder than residents of New York City where power lines are below ground. McGee also asserted that if Con Edison had not done their tree trimming program this past year, they estimated that the situation would have been three times as bad.
The heavy snow on the ground made the work difficult as dangerous live wires could be hidden beneath the snow. Crews had to proceed with extreme caution and luckily over the five days of work there were no injuries. As of Tuesday afternoon March 2, only 220 of the 50,000 homes in Westchester were still without power, two of those in Scarsdale.
While some waited out the storm at home, other's took refuge in nearby hotels. According to Hugh Anderson, General Manager of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in White Plains, and estimated 50 guests checked in over the weekend to get warm. The hotel staff welcomed local residents with special group breakfasts and dinners and both the pool and the health club were enjoyed by the crowd.
Crash on Mamaroneck Road
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Crash: After hitting two utility poles a Chevy Suburban turned over on Mamaroneck Road and then slid into an eastbound 2008 Audi. James Brigante of Hartsdale was driving westbound on Mamaroneck Road in a Chevy Suburban on Friday February 12th at 5:16 pm. Due to a medical condition, he lost control of the car and hit a utility pole on the eastbound side of the street. The car ricocheted across the street and hit another utility pole on the other side of the street, and then flipped over onto its roof.
A housekeeper for a Scarsdale family, Deicy Maria Osorio, was driving a 2008 Audi eastbound on Mamaroneck Road when the overturned Chevy Suburban collided with her car. The accident occurred near the intersection of Mamaroneck Road and Cooper Road
When police arrived they found Brigante sitting on the side of the road. He was disoriented and said he did not remember what happened. The Scarsdale Ambulance Corps determined that Brigante was in diabetic shock which had caused him to lose consciousness. Miraculously no one was seriously hurt though the 2003 Chevy Suburban was totaled and the Audi sustained significant damage. Mr. Brigante, who is a diabetic, was taken to the Westchester County Medical Center by SCARVAC and the other driver was not injured. The road was clear at the time so ice was not the cause of the accident.
Collision: Mark Harris of Hartford, Connecticut was fleeing Westchester County Police who had attempted to stop him while he was driving north on the Hutchinson River Parkway at 2:20 on the afternoon of 2/11. In his attempt to get away, he exited the parkway at Weaver Street and failed to stop at the stop sign at the top of the exit. He collided with a 2009 Honda driven by Marion Loguidice of New York City. Harris then hit a street sign and made a left onto the northbound entrance ramp for the parkway, but the car was damaged so the driver exited the highway and pulled into the Weinberg Nature Center on Mamaroneck Road. Scarsdale Police found the car and called the County Police who took the two occupants into custody for fleeing the police and for possession of empty drug paraphernalia.
Found Puggle: A small male Puggle with a red collar was found running in front of 15 Park Road on 2/9. Police called the phone number they found on his tag and left a message. They registered the dog in the "lost dog book" and Tiffany Montrola from the New Rochelle Humane society came to pick up the dog.
Attempted Burglary: Police responded to a burglar alarm at 13 Walworth at 11:30 on February 8th and found a side window broken and slightly ajar. The homeowner was called and when she returned she found the house in good order. Apparently the intruder had been frightened off by the activated alarm.
iPod stolen from Heathcote School classroom: On February 9th, the music teacher at the Heathcote Elementary School called police to report that a black iPod, valued at $249 had been taken from her classroom. The iPod was the property of the Scarsdale School District and had been plugged into a stereo system in the room.
Stop Sign Down: A Brewster Road woman saw a 1999 Mercedes Benz hit a stop sign and drive away on February 8th. She recorded the license plate number and called police to report the damage. Police went to the home where the car was registered and issued the driver, who is a high school student, a summons for leaving the scene of an accident.
Arrest: James Earl Hardee, age 46 of Mt. Vernon surrendered at Scarsdale Police headquarters on February 11th in response to an arrest warrant for driving without a license. He was released on $230 bail by the judge and a court date was set for a hearing.
Threatened: A Black Birch Road man reported that his 16-year-old daughter had received threats from a third party that a classmate "wanted to her harm over the winter break." The girl goes to school in White Plains. The father asked for extra surveillance of the home during the coming week.
Mayor Carolyn Stevens Comments on the Comprehensive Village Plan
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Below please find remarks from Mayor Carolyn Stevens given at the Scarsdale Village Board meeting on Tuesday night February 23rd when the Board received comments on the Village Center component of the Comprehensive Plan:
Tonight we have the second Public Hearing on the Update to the Comprehensive Plan for the Village Center. Based on some of the comments we had at the last meeting I would like to provide an overview. The purpose of a comprehensive plan is to provide some guidance to property holders and future Village and Land Use Boards – it provides a policy foundation for future planning, zoning and development action. There are no mandates in the plan – only a menu of possible amenities that might be traded for zoning changes should some property owner wish to change what is on their property. The Plan carefully reiterates the features of the Village center that the residents and other stakeholders wish to preserve – attempts to determine what residents and other users of the Village Center would like to see improved – and tries to lay out what some of the tradeoffs are for those improvements. The purpose is not to make those choices now…but to provide a framework for later discussions.
We heard from several folks at the last meeting who are concerned for our local gas stations – I use one of them and have so for many years – would I like to see it remain…yes. But that is my personal view and preference…that needs to be weighed along with all the other opinions – including that of the property owner; because nothing will change if the owner of the property doesn’t seek a change. Do I personally think whatever is eventually built on the Freightway lot should be built to the maximum considered…probably not. But then I don’t know what the options or how it could be massed (I am not an architect – much less one with vision) but I have learned over the years of being on the Board that sometimes good ideas come along – and we shouldn’t preclude them if they meet the vision and goals laid out in the Plan.
For those concerned about process – this plan took the Planning Board two and a half years of work to produce. To refer to only one of the surveys that was done, as if that was all that the report is based on, is misleading. There were other surveys and numerous public sessions and interviews with SNAP, Friends of the Parks, the Overhill Neighborhood Association, the Fox Meadow Neighborhood Association, Old Scarsdale, the TVCC and other groups were all sought out for input – there were numerous public meetings and long and seemingly endless public work sessions where the Planning Board members (this covered three Boards) discuss, debated and deliberated on the underlying principles and philosophy of this document and whether the items included worked to move those principles forward. I sat in on some of those sessions – some went until 1:00 AM…because the Planning Board wanted to accurately reflect in this document what they had heard – they sought to balance the competing goals from all of the stakeholders and fashion a document that reflects our basic values and vision for the Village Center.
So while I am at this – let me thank the recent Planning Board and all of the past iterations of the Planning Board that have worked on this document – especially the chairs – Bill Miller, Jonathan Drescher, and David Karp for the careful and thoughtful job – and time consuming job - that was done. Please accept my thanks on behalf of the Village Board.
Let me add one thing with respect to the Planning Board --It has recently come to my attention that some individuals have sought to have a private meeting with the Planning Board about a project that is not yet before the Planning Board. Such a meeting would be improper and illegal.
For those who don’t understand the Planning Board’s role let me take a moment to explain. The Planning Board sits as a quasi- judicial body when it is reviewing projects – and just as it would be improper for a party to a lawsuit to ask for a private meeting with a judge so to it is improper for the Bd. to have such a meeting. Any discussions with regard to a project need to be in public, on the record and with the Applicant present. Nor are telephone calls to individual members to discuss the merits of any project or applicant proper.
I would also add that there seems to be some confusion in general on the role of the Planning Board. The Planning Board is required by state law and receives its powers from state law. It is not a creature of Village Law and it does not answer to the Village Board although the members are appointed by the Village Board. The Planning Board duties are codified and they are charged with making sure that a project complies with all environmental laws, zoning laws, and other codes that might apply such as health code, clean water acts, etc. It is their charge under state law to work with a property owner to make sure that any project that is built is in compliance with all applicable laws and codes. It is not their job to determine what should be built – but only to determine if what is being proposed meets all legal requirements and if not, to work with the property owner to bring it into compliance. Yes, it can recommend variances if it believes that the trade-offs are worth it, but these must be granted by the Board of Appeals. They don’t chose the project… it is the landowners choice. I hope this acts as a bit of primer.
Again thanks to the Planning Board for all of its hard work on the Plan and all the other hard work they do.
A Call for a Moratorium on Con Ed Tree Cutting Program
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The Westchester County Board of Legislators Committees on Environment and Energy will have a joint meeting discussing Consolidated Edison’s recent tree cutting along electric transmission line corridors. Both committees will, also, address legislation calling for a moratorium on Con Edison’s tree cutting program and a revision of the State’s Public Service Commission requirements. Representatives from Con Edison have been invited to attend.
Recent tree cutting and clearing along electric transmission line corridors has raised many questions and concerns among homeowners and municipalities that border these lines. Con Edison operates and manages the transmission lines, which span from Yonkers to Yorktown. Without notification, Con Edison clear cut thousands of trees along the Sprain Brook Parkway, causing a loss of privacy and an increase in traffic noise for residents whose properties bordered the Sprain Brook Parkway in Greenburgh.
Though it is too late to save the trees, legislators can hopefully prevent further clear-cutting of trees.
The meeting will be held on Monday February 22nd at 3 pm in the Westchester County Board of Legislators Committee Room at 148 Martine Avenue, 8th floor, in White Plains.
