Ch-Ch-Ch Changes:
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A quick drive around town reveals big changes have been made in our landscape in the past few weeks:
Demolished: The original Post Road Elementary School at the corner of Post Road and Soundview Avenue is now being demolished. The school, which was almost 100 years old, has been replaced by a beautiful new $38.5 million elementary school. It is a green, eco-efficient building, energy-saving building, and architects claim it is the greenest school in the state. The new 87,000 square foot school, which opened in November, 2009, was designed by the firm Kaeyer, Garment and Davidson and features a 340 seat auditorium, a 3,300 square foot cafeteria and a 10,000 square foot gymnasium. The design maximizes the use of natural light to cut electricity costs and includes solar panels to provide hot water to the facility. Heating and cooling are provided by a geothermal convection and heating system and a “green roof” has been planted to reduce storm water runoff and to cool the building.
The site of the former building will include a parking lot and playing fields. Check out the entrance to the new school and circular courtyard on Sterling Avenue.
Closed: In another change to the area, the Triangle Deli, across the street from the Post Road School on Post Road has closed.
Built: If you have traveled across Weaver Street lately, no doubt you noticed the addition of an imposing concrete wall. Curious? The new wall is part of the Heathcote Manor development that will include nine residential units in five structures. The concrete wall encloses a large detention basin that borders Weaver Street and is required to catch enough storm water runoff to accommodate a “hundred year storm.” Local residents, who are calling the new addition, "the great wall," are concerned about its size and proximity to Weaver Street. There appears to be very little space for a sidewalk or for plantings that have been promised to mask this tall concrete structure. Plans for the development were approved twenty years ago, and the work was started without an updated review. Furthermore, hundreds of trees were clear cut to accommodate the development. For more details on the project, go to http://www.scarsdale10583.com/shout-it-out/496-more-development-on-weaver-street.html
Gone: The green grocer, Hartsdale Farms at 214 East Hartsdale Avenue in Hartsdale, seems to have gone the way of Big Top and O’Porto.The store is now dark and vacant. We’re hoping that the formula for success in Hartsdale emerges in 2010!
Cops Collide
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An off-duty Westchester County Police officer was charged with driving while intoxicated early in the morning of 12/27 when he ran into another car driven by an on-duty Scarsdale police officer. The off duty officer, identified as Jospeh Kraus of Gramatan Avenue Mount Vernon, was driving a blue chevy pick up truck when he ran into the Scarsdale officer’s cruiser at the corner of Popham Road and East Parkway at 1:37 am on Saturday. He apparently ran through a red light at the intersection. He refused to take a breathalizer test but was observably drunk and charged with DWI and his car was impounded.
The Scarsdale officer, Jessica Knatz was hit on the drivers side door and sustained facial and back injuries. She had to be extracted from her car by the Scarsdale Fire Department and was taken to the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla by the Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Knatz, has been with the Scarsdale Police Force for 2 1/2 years and previously worked for four years in Manhattan. Commenting for the Scarsdale Police Force, Lt. Bryant Clark said that they hoped for a "quick return to health" for Officer Knatz.
Scarsdale Resident Charged in Theft of $12 Million in Gold
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Another Scarsdale Mom is in the public eye this week. The Daily News reports that Teresa Tambunting has been charged with lifting gold from her employer over a period of six years.Prosecuters claim that she stole over 500 pounds of gold from Jacmel Jewelery in Long Island City where she worked as a vault manager. She hid the goods in the lining of her purse and stored it in barrels in the basement of her Fox Meadow home. Company officials grew suspicious last January when a company audit revealed that $12 million in inventory was missing.
A mother of three, Ms. Tambunting was arraigned Wednesday 4/29 in Queens Criminal Court on grand larceny charges and released on $100,000 bail.
Scarsdale Forum Annual Holiday Party and Beerfest
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The Scarsdale Forum (Town and Village Club Education Forum) is holding
its second annual Members' Holiday Party January 9th from 7 to 10 p.m. at St. James the Less. Resident brew-master Bruce Wells will have eleven beers and a hard cider on tap. In addition, there will be lots of great food, some donated from Langes Deli, and some by forum members, plus a special dish made with beer. There will be light music from a variety of eras at different times during the evening.
Among the beers on tap will be a beer made with 100% organic hops grown right here in Scarsdale. Continuing in the local tradition, the hard cider is made from cider sold at our Farmers' Market.
Three tasting sessions will be held during the evening, featuring very pale ales, American ales and bold malt beers.
Featured Beers:
Upstate Cream Ale
German Pilsner Lager
VIP Scarsdale Hopped Pale Ale
Scarsdale Farmers' Market Hard Cider
California Common Ale
California Red Ale
American Brown Ale
American India Pale Ale
Belgium Strong Ale
Biere De Garde
London Stout
Chocolate Raspberry Porter
A silent auction will be held - and among the items for purchase are a one hour weekly American History lesson for a high school junior from Forum Member and former chair of the SHS History Department, Eric Rothschild. Also on the list are home portraits, landscape design service, a Sony Reader and gift certificates from many village retailers.
The party is open to all members of the Scarsdale Forum. If you are not a member, or you let your membership lapse, you can join or renew at the door. The Forum has an introductory rate for new members of $35 for individuals, or $50 for a families. People can also join or renew online at http://www.ScarsdaleForum.com. The web site takes credit cards through Paypal. Due to limited space, please RSVP to [email protected] or by phone to 723-2829.
Scarsdale Forum Annual Party
St. James the Less
January 9, 2010 from 7-10 p.m.
R.S.V.P. to [email protected] or call 723-2829
Missing Mom, Bank Fraud and Illegal Substance Arrest
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From the Greenburgh Police: Missing Mom: A Sprain Valley Road man called Greenburgh Police on December 13th to report that his mother was missing. She was traveling from Pakistan to Newark on 12/12 via London. She phoned him when she landed at Heathrow and was scheduled to take a Virgin Atlantic flight from the U.K. to the U.S. He went to Newark airport to pick her up and found that she was not on the flight and that her boarding pass had never been scanned to board the flight to the U.S. He contacted the police in London who filed a report and recommended that he file a report here as well. After filing both reports he learned that she had been detailed at Heathrow but later the Heathrow police contacted the Greenburgh police and said that the woman was not in their custody. She is now listed as a "Missing Person."
Arrest: A young adult was arrested for possession of an illegal substance when her car was stopped for speeding on Ardsley Road on the night of December 11th. The 19-year old woman is a Chappaqua resident who was driving a car that carried three male passengers from Hastings.When her gray Honda was stopped, police found an unopened case of beer as well as six clonazepam tablets in a clear plastic bag. The driver was arrested, booked and released and the two underage passengers were charged with unlawful possession of alcohol.
Fraud: A Bronx man was arrested for fraud at the Citibank at 845 Central Avenue on December 8th. Bank employees called the police and officers were able to intercept the suspect in the parking lot. The man, identified as Steven Hankins, age 54 of the Bronx, had completed a withdrawal slip in the amount of $3,500 and supplied a fraudulent driver’s license in the name of Howard Tatz of Massachusetts. When he went to the teller to make the withdrawal, she suspected fraud and summoned her branch manager. The man was placed under arrest and the Boston police verified that the license was fraudulent.
From the Scarsdale Police:
Stolen Bike: A commuter came to the police station on December 4th to report that his $800 bike had been stolen from the bike rack at Depot Place where he locked it. He left it there when he went to work on Friday 12/4. When he returned, the bike was gone and he later found his helmet in the area.
Damaged Decorations: On Saturday night December 12th, Christmas decorations on the lawn of an Edgewood home were knocked over and pulled out of the ground. One of the inflatables had also been punctured. The residents remember hearing noise outside around 2 a.m.
Missing Violin: A Beechwood Road resident reported that a violin, valued at $600 had been taken out of her car, sometime between 11/28 and 11/30.
Fraud: A fraudulent Citi Health Card was opened in the name of a Mamaroneck Road resident and $3,960 was charged to it. The resident became aware of the card when he received a call from a collection agency seeking payment.
Traveling Trees: A Hampton Road resident found two large planters containing trees at the end of her walkway on the morning of December 13th. It turns out the trees belonged to one of her neighbors and neither resident knew how the trees traveled down the street. In addition, another Hampton Road neighbor had an egg thrown at the rear window of his car that same night.
Angry Mom: A Sherbrooke Park man came into police headquarters on December 10th to report that his wife, from whom he is currently getting divorced, had damaged the house they live in. The home belongs to his mother and while he was out with his children his wife damaged cabinets, countertops, furniture and a bedroom closet. He wished to document the incident.
Confused: A woman who suffers from dementia called police repeatedly on December 10th to assert that her son, who cares for her was acting crazy, that he raised his voice and that people were removing furniture from the house. Ultimately the son requested assistance from the police when his mother was complaining of pain and he was having trouble controlling her. SVAC arrived to transport her to White Plains Hospital.
Child Found: A child was found at 7-11 on Garth Road at 7:20 a.m. on December 9th. By the time the police arrived, the child’s mother had arrived to pick him up.
Child Lost: The security officer at Scarsdale Synagogue called police on 12/9 around 6 pm to say that a 12 year-old boy wearing a Yankees hat was missing. Police arrived at the synagogue and learned that the boy had a miscommunication with his mother and had walked home to Greenacres.
Downed Tree: A large tree fell across Saxon Woods Road on the morning of 12/9. The highway department arrived and removed it.
Feuding Couple: An Edgewood couple got into a feud during a party they attended on River Road on the night of December 11th. The wife left the party and returned home without informing her husband. When the husband failed to return home with the children, the wife got worried that he was driving while intoxicated and called the police at 1:05 a.m. on 12/12. Police checked the home on River Road, the man’s ex-wife’s house and finally his mother’s house, where they found his car parked outside. They rang the bell and spoke to the husband who said that he was staying there overnight until things cooled down. Police let the wife know that everyone was safe.
Theft: On the morning of 12/13 a Graham Road resident called police to say that money and jewelry had been taken from her home. She declined to file a report, saying that she wants to speak to detectives before doing so.
