Greenacres School Turns 100 in Style
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- Written by Toni DiMartino and Midori Im
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Greenacres Elementary, Scarsdale's oldest school, celebrated its Diamond Jubilee Gala on Friday, November 20 with a flapper-fabulous themed affair at Mulino's at Lake Isle. The more than 350 guests, which included alumni, principals (past and present), staff, board of education members, PTA presidents (past and present), parents (past and present) and community members, enjoyed a fun-filled evening featuring dinner, dancing and live and silent auctions.
The Jubilee Gala was a culmination of many months of preparation led by two Greenacres mothers (and SHS buddies) Sharon Kass Higgins and Isabel Uchitelle Finegold. They, and their 100th Anniversary Committee, reached out to past parents, students and faculty, not so easy since there was no Facebook or even worldwide web for much of the school's history. Ms. Finegold, who also was a member of the class of '80 at Greenacres, noted that one of the alumni honored was located because he played chess with a former teacher's husband. Commenting on the night, Finegold said, "It was a great evening to celebrate our beloved school turning 100. The community, our alumni and Greenacres staff, past and present, came out in full force to celebrate. The roaring 20's were evident with boas, pearls and fringe".
New York State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, U.S. Representative Eliot L. Engel and Assemblywoman Amy Paulin were on hand to present congratulatory proclamations.
Among the speakers were Greenacres PTA President Lynn Marvin, Greenacres Principal Sharon Hill, Scarsdale Superintendent of Schools Dr. Thomas Hagerman, Scarsdale Board of Education President Leila Shames Maude and alumni honoree Journalist Alan Schwarz (SHS '86).
The evening's honorees included Greenacres alumni: Broadway music director, Charlie Alterman, SHS '93; Statesman, Woody Bliss, SHS '54; painter/sculptor Nicole Eisenman, SHS '83; lawyer and diplomat, Kenneth I. Juster, SHS '72; founder & CEO, Rob Kissner, SHS '04; editor emerita, Linda Carpenter Leavitt, SHS '64; journalist, Alan Schwarz, SHS '86 and artist, Saya Woolfalk, SHS '97; as well as Greenacres Principals and Greenacres PTA Presidents.
The annual fundraiser enables the PTA to enrich the educational experiences of all Greenacres children by funding programs such as assemblies, technology and STEAM, arts programming, classroom and library enrichment materials, author visits, environmental awareness and much more.
Residents Debate Group Home Application for Murray Hill
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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Representatives from Monte Nido, a company that has applied to run a residential adolescent treatment facility in a private home at 2 Morris Lane in Murray Hill sought to diffuse opposition from community members at a meeting at the Scarsdale Library on Sunday November 15. The meeting was attended by residents and realtors who are concerned about the presence of the facility in their neighborhood. They fear additional traffic, object to a commercial enterprise in their midst and are worried that the group home will cause a depression in the value of surrounding homes in their neighborhood, which borders both Scarsdale and New Rochelle. A realtor said that agents would need to disclose the presence of the facility to prospective buyers of neighboring homes and wondered how that would affect future sales.
Attending on behalf of Monte Nido was Carolyn Costin, who founded Monte Nido in 1996, Dr. Doug Bunnell, the Chief Clinical Officer, CEO Vicki Kroviak and Westchester resident and mother of an anorexic girl, Nancy Turett.
Though local zoning code prevents businesses from opening in residential areas, a NYS law called The Padavan Act requires the Village to treat group homes as single-family residences. Unless the Village can prove they are saturated with group homes or find a comparable alternative site they must allow the facility to open.
Monte Nido claims that the home will be licensed to accommodate eight girls who will be managed by six to eight staff members during the day, and two to three at night. The will be licensed and monitored by the NYS Office of Mental Health and the residents will not attend Scarsdale Schools. They plan to accommodate all cars on the property and do not plan to purchase a vacant lot nearby to build a parking lot. The group promises to be "discreet and private," and when the girls leave the property they will be accompanied by staff members.
Monte Nido is a for-profit enterprise and will pay the $130,000 in property taxes for the home. Fees to stay at the home are said to be $1,000 per day.
Opinions about the application among residents vary widely. A woman who lives near another group home in Scarsdale told us that she never would have known it was there if someone had not told her. Others say that their own daughters could need help and welcomed the applicants. A person who commented on an article on Scarsdale10583 wrote, "I'm struggling to understand how this home will alter the traffic flows in Scarsdale, any more than the myriad construction, contractors and landscapers vehicles are doing now. So that really shouldn't be a concern. And it's hard to fathom how a home like this will SUBSTANTIALLY ALTER the character of the neighborhood – any more than the monstrosity at Five Corners has done. Will the Monte Nido folks significantly alter the home from the exterior, building on to what is existing? If so, then perhaps the assessed value increases and they pay more taxes. Will they pay their tax bill and maintain the property in the manner of the other homes in the neighborhood? I suspect they will. Will the residents and employees adhere to local laws and be good citizens of the village? Again, I suspect they will and will have no greater levels of incidents that that which is found currently across the village."
"We should not dismiss any program that has the potential to treat or assist with issues that cause depression or even suicide – whether in our community or outside. As we have seen too many times, and within the village, it's a growing problem."
"Furthermore, I would believe that if any of the opposition has had a loved one that has dealt with emotional issues similar to those of the girls that will inhabit this home, their objections would be swept away like the fallen leaves so swiftly raked off their property by their landscapers."
Those who oppose the facility are circulating a letter that they are encouraging their neighbors to forward to the Mayor. Here's what it says:
Our Community is in Jeopardy:
Let the Village know OUR residential community is NOT the place for another treatment facility!
If approved, we believe this facility WILL:
• Increase traffic in our neighborhood due to staff, patients, guests and emergency vehicles at all hours of day and night;
• Substantially alter the character of our neighborhood;
• Make our neighborhood less desirable to live in and even potentially reduce property values; and
• Add yet another treatment facility to the Heathcote community (there are already 8 in the immediate area!).
Come to the Land Use meeting on November 24th at 6:30 p.m. to urge the Village to suggest alternate, far more suitable sites in lieu of this utterly untenable location and to explore all issues of public safety connected with this proposal as we understand that some patients treated by Monte Nido have a history of substance abuse or drug addiction.
Monte Nido met little opposition in Irvington when they purchased their first property in Westchester to open another treatment home for people who suffer from anorexia. However, they later filed an application to purchase a second home adjacent to the first in order to expand their capacity. That application spurred opposition from neighbors and Monte Nido withdrew it, saying, they did not want to garner "ill feelings."
It is not clear how and if community views will affect Monte Nido's plans for Scarsdale. Learn more at a meeting of the Law and Land Use Commitees of Scarsdale Village scheduled for Tuesday night November 24 at 6:30 pm at Village Hall.
Below find an FAQ from Monte Nido:
Seniors Celebrate Halloween at SHS
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Kids wait thirteen years to dress up for the Senior Halloween Breakfast at Scarsdale High School – and you can't beat the costumes at the annual event. This year the breakfast was held on Friday October 30th, and the get-ups were as good as any year in recent memory. Though the morning begins at 7:30 am, on this one day it looked like everyone arrived on time.
What did we see? There were two mobs of kangaroos, a band of polar bears, a troupe of ballerinas, an Olympic soccer team, a pack of daffy ducks and a ward of prisoners sporting orange jumpsuits that said "SHS Correctional Facility, Released June 2016." We spotted super heroes and heroines, surfers, cops and robbers, ghost busters and aliens.
The teachers got into it too. Three language teachers were dressed as Coco Chanel, Napoleon Bonaparte and Michael Jackson. The Deans came as a baseball team, sporting "Field of Deans" t-shirts and one faculty member had her head poked through a picture frame and was posing as the Mona Lisa.
Creepiest of all were a group of girls sporting white contact lenses and splattered sheets who perfected the vacant look of zombies – scary stuff!
Village Manager Assures Residents that Scarsdale Water Passes the Test
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Is Scarsdale's drinking water supply safe? Residents may be alarmed by a notice that was sent with their most recent water bills advising them that Westchester County District #1 has failed to comply with an EPA mandate to treat the water with ultra-violet light to control the presence of cryptosporidium. The Safe Water Drinking Act required the water district to have the new disinfection measures in place by September 30, 2015 and the district failed to meet the requirements. Therefore the EPA required the Village to include notification with resident's water bills.
Currently surface water taken from the Kensico Reservoir is disinfected with chlorine which inactivates viruses but is not sufficient to treat cryptosporidium. The EPA warns that water that is inadequately treated may contain "disease-causing organisms including bacteria, viruses and parasites which can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea and associated headaches.
The EPA warns those who have "severely compromised immune systems," and infants, pregnant women and the elderly to see advice from their health care providers about drinking this water.
In the interim the water district tests the water weekly for the presence of cryptosporidium and giardia and to date they have found that the water is safe to drink.
A copy of the USEPA Tier 2 Violation Notice is available on the Scarsdale website here.
In his state of the Village message to the Scarsdale Forum in November, Mayor Jon Mark discussed the issue and the construction of two ultra violet treatment plans in White Plains which is expected to be completed by 2018.
Here are the Mayor's remarks:
"Separate from the Village water department operations, Water District #1, of which Scarsdale is a part, is required, pursuant to Federal and State regulations, to provide ultra violet treatment of the water to kill certain pathogens. To this end, Water District #1 is currently building two ultra violet treatment plants in White Plains on the 48 inch pipe from the Kensico Reservoir serving the Village. The estimated cost of the two plants is $10 million and the anticipated service operation date sometime in 2018. In the future, if full filtration of the water supply system is required, a treatment plant on New York City Water Board property in Valhalla would be built replacing the aforementioned ultra violet plants. If this project, currently estimated at $100 million, moves forward, it would be funded by the County Water District Tax which is allocated among Scarsdale, White Plains, Mount Vernon and Yonkers residents and will not be part of the Scarsdale water or tax bills."
Library Board Unveils Plans for a Major Overhaul
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There are ambitious plans afoot to renovate and expand the Scarsdale Library to meet the needs of the community now and in the future. Library Director Elizabeth Bermel reports that the library is heavily used by all segments of the community. The library's vibrant children's program is well-attended by toddlers and caregivers; teens come to do homework, study and work on group projects; it's a frequent workplace for those who don't have offices, community groups use it as a meeting place and everyone enjoys speakers, movies and even concerts. However, the outdated facility can barely accommodate all who wish to meet there.
After years of research, focus groups, visits to neighboring libraries, surveys and studies, the Board of the Library has now solidified their recommendations to update the library to incorporate new technologies, provide flexible multi-function work and meeting spaces and bring the current building up to code. According to Bermel, the goal is to "transform the outdated building to meet future needs."
At a meeting with the Scarsdale Board of Trustees on Monday night October 26, representatives from the Library Board and their architects and advisors updated the trustees on the steps they have taken to define their needs, and formulate plans for the library of the future.
Library Board President Terri Simon said that the library is "tired and inadequate," and falls short of "what our community has come to expect." She explained that in 2012 the board adopted a five-year plan to strengthen the role of the library in the community with expanded programming for children, teens and adults. They sought to "improve the experience with a comforting, welcoming space." Representatives from the library board toured other libraries to see how the building could be renovated and retained Lathrop Associates to do a conceptual master plan.
Preliminary estimates show that it will take $18.5 million to realize their plans. This funding will be secured through a public-private partnership in which the Village funds a portion and the rest is underwritten by private donations. The Board retained Plan A advisors to provide them with a fundraising feasibility study and then appointed a campaign committee which is headed by former Scarsdale Mayor Robert Steves, Betty Pforzheimer and Dara Gruenberg. They are currently working to secure donations from local residents.
In 2015, the Library Board hired Dattner Architects to develop schematic plans for the new library, which according to Simon, "Strike a balance between what we love about the existing library and transforming it into a building we can use in the years to come."
Daniel Heuberger of Dattner Architects explained that the new library would be forward-thinking, meet programmatic goals, be flexible and accessible, integrate technology and the environment and fit into the historical context of Scarsdale.
Plans for the new library include a glass entry with a café and public assembly space that can be used during the day and at night, even when the library is closed. In order to open up the library, the mezzanine level of the main reading room will be removed transforming it into a "lofty and light-filled" space. A windowed wraparound gallery will be added to bring in light, provide more seating and integrate the library with the grounds outside. The gallery will also have sliding doors to enable visitors to access outdoor tables when the weather allows.
Staff offices will be consolidated into one location on the lower level, which should improve effectiveness and efficiency. An outdoor amphitheater, also accessible from the lower level, will provide space for performances and presentations.
The Scott Room will be reconfigured so that the space is flexible and can be broken up into smaller spaces, depending on programming needs. Two smaller conference rooms will also be added for community use as well as smaller meeting spaces throughout the library. Meeting spaces will include networked flat screens to allow participants to collaborate and communicate.
What else? The library will feature a "green roof" t
hat is planted and will cool the building, retain water and slowly release it.
Summing up, Heuberger said, "The new library will be cutting edge and extend the range of people who will be interested in coming. It will be a better place to be."
Due to the extent of the project, it is expected that the library would need to be closed during the renovations for 12-18 months. It has been suggested that a temporary library would be set up at the Village-owned facility at Supply Field.
Realizing these plans will require significant contributions from residents. The Scarsdale Village Board initially indicated that they would kick in $4.5 million, but that number is still to be determined. At the suggestion of Bob Steves, a working group with representatives from the Library Board and the Village Board will be convened to examine the plans and the options for financing the work.
A reception to unveil the plans and launch the campaign to the community will be held at the library on December 3rd. Details to follow.
