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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 15 April 2014

Created: 15 April 2014

Last Updated: 17 April 2014

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If you can't get your teen to put down their smartphone, here's a great place for you and your tech-savvy son or daughter. In additional to offering haircuts, blow-dries, hair treatments and manicures, BST is providing tech toys for customers (young and old) to use while they are in the stylist's chair. The one-of-a-kind hair and nail styling experience offers the professionalism and expertise of a Paul Mitchell salon with the sleekness, and forward thinking atmosphere of an Apple Store. The new 1,500 square foot space features a sleek, modern design with white crisp finishes.

The salon is an interactive hub for kids who tag along to their parents styling appointments giving them the chance to experience three flatscreen televisions, free Wifi access, business Pandora, photo booth style Instagram printing stations, and even Xbox; all in a spacious, highly-designed setting.

"When we started to look at the opportunity in the Salon business we found a real gap in the services that were offered to teens and pre teens," stated BST Owner and Scarsdale resident Merav Abbe. "I also saw the need on a personal level - my two teen age kids need a styling salon of their own without having to tag along to my appointments and there just aren't many suitable options. BST will offer teens and pre teens a truly customized salon experience - an oasis that provides premium services in an environment tailored to their passion and filling a gap in servicing this often overlooked demographic."

In addition to affording salon goers a level of tech friendliness unparalleled in any of today's traditional salons, BST uses top of the line and Moroccanoil products exclusively administered by a staff of up to eight stylists for in salon treatment, additional staff for at home service, as well as three nail styling technicians and cosmetic artists. BST Salon is available for parties, either in store, or in home further adding to the first class pampering and personalized experience that defines the brand.

BST is located in the Golden Horseshoe Shopping Center at 1128 Wilmot Road, Scarsdale, NY. For party inquiries, appointments, pricing information and more call 914-472-0400 or visit www.bstsalon.com.

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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 24 April 2014

Created: 24 April 2014

Last Updated: 28 April 2014

Hits: 5752

The Scarsdale School Board completed a long year of budget discussions at their April 22 meeting, voting to approve a proposed budget for 2014-15 of $148,200,685 which translates to a 3.76% tax increase for Scarsdale residents and a 1.42% increase for those in the Mamaroneck strip. The proposed increase comes in just below the districts adjust tax cap of 3.94% and will require a 50% approval by voters to pass on Tuesday May 20th.

In addition to finalizing the budget, the Board had to make two key decisions; one involving a proposed tax exemption for veterans and the other on the district's health reserve fund for their self-insured health plan.

Under a law signed by Governor Cuomo in December 2013, the Alternative Veterans' Exemption from school taxes would have granted an estimated 305 veterans who reside in Scarsdale a total exemption of $558,358. Veterans already receive partial exemptions for Village and County taxes, and this new legislation would have extended the benefit to school taxes as well.

However, the burden of the $558,358 would not be funded through the state or federal government– rather it would be shared among the balance of Scarsdale taxpayers who on average would pay another $90 per year. In a discussion about the proposed exemption, Board Member Mary Beth Gose remarked, "This really should be done at the state or federal level. This is a terrible mechanism for funding this."

A vocal group of veterans and their wives attended the meeting to encourage the Board to adopt the exemption.

Bob Rosenthal of Birchall Drive asked if veterans of the Cold War would receive the exemption and encouraged the Board to approve it. Richard Cantor of Innes Road made a plea for better treatment of veterans on a national level saying, there are "Over 120,000 veterans sleeping on the street and 22 veterans a day commit suicide. Look out for our veterans -- see what you can do for them. Anything you can do would be appreciated and more than deserved."

Linda Shapiro of Cushman Road spoke on behalf of her husband who is a veteran. She said, "Most veterans are empty nesters and continue to pay school taxes. Shouldn't we think carefully and generously about the decision of whether or not to grant veterans benefits?"

Phyllis Finkelstein of Fenimore Road is married to a Vietnam veteran who she married three weeks before he went into the service. She said, "People spat at him when he wore his uniform in New York and in Japan he was advised not to wear it.
Today's world is cruel to veterans and we can send a message today and I hope we will."

Martin Millau of Lincoln Road told the board that he served in the Korean War and has lived here since 1968. He said, "We came here for the school district, built a house, put three sons through school who are all doing exceptionally well and I attribute that to the Scarsdale school district. We really want to stay here – if there could be some relief it would be much appreciated."

Newt Schiller of Lee Road said "I have lived here for 41 years and we have earned this exemption."

Board President Suzanne Seiden thanked those who came for their service and for sharing their views with the Board. She said that her father was a veteran and promised to take their views under consideration.

In the discussion that ensued, Dr. McGill advised the board to seek the opinion of a wider swath of the community. He said, "You have only heard from a certain segment of the community – perhaps you should try to get the view of the broader community and make a decision that reflects community values."

Since the board had to make a decision before May 1, Bill Natbony said, "This puts the board in a terrible position on a very short timetable."

Gose raised the question of how this could affect the district's STAR exemption and also said that the Veterans' Tax Exemption would put more pressure on the Board next year if they wanted to propose a budget under the state tax cap. (The value of the $558,000 exemption is about .43% of the total tax levy.) Leila Shames Maude said, "It's for a good cause but it's a shame it's the year of the reval when so many people are dealing with big surprises."

Seiden asked, "Would it make sense to wait until next year to make this decision? We can revisit it this next year .... given the burden of the reval. This could be an increase of taxes of .43% and affect our ability to come in under the cap. We want to do the right thing but this could affect us in ways that we may not be aware of right now."

Ultimately the Board voted 5 to 1 against the exemption, with Lew Leone voting in favor of it.

The Board also discussed whether or not to keep $15,000 in a health insurance reserve to give legislators the opportunity to negotiate to allow the district to maintain the reserve, which has been nixed by state auditors.

Seiden made a move to recommend that $15,000 be left in the reserve until the end of the legislative session on June 19 to see if Scarsdale could get an exemption. Bill Natbony questioned "why does the token deposit in the account makes a difference in their efforts to obtain a legislative solution? Perhaps we should leave the line item in our budget at $0 and say we intend to fund it if we reach a legislative solution. What is the benefit of the token $15,000?"

Seiden explained, "If there is no existing reserve, they (legislators) would have no argument on our behalf. It seems like a good compromise. We want to continue to be transparent with the community while we try to get a legislative fix."

Susie Rush, spoke on behalf of Amy Paulin and said "We will continue to explore the legislative option. The legislation passed in the Assembly but not in the Senate. State Senator Andrea Stewart Cousins has indicated an interest to carry the bill and she feels she can move it if it is couched in this way. We need to have an existing reserve – not just an empty line item."

The Board voted to include the $15,000 in the budget for a health care reserve.

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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 08 April 2014

Created: 08 April 2014

Last Updated: 10 April 2014

Hits: 9845

Middle School Science Teacher Christine Gilliand announced that a group of SMS science students had a successful trip to the NY State Science Olympiad tournament in Rochester last weekend.

The team earned its fair share of medals and here are the winners:

• Shock Value (1st) -- Joe Weintraub and Richard Xu
• Simple Machines (1st) -- Richard Xu and Ryan Jacobowitz
• Rotor Egg Drop (5th) -- Ryan Jacobowitz and Sneha Dey
• We placed in the top 10 in:
• Can't Judge a Powder (7th) -- Dan Goldstein and Wolf Cukier
• Metric Mastery (8th) -- Arjun Ravi and Derek Chi
• Road Scholar (9th) -- Arjun Ravi and Shamika Dhuri
• Experimental Design (10) -- Ken Tomita, Sara Hezi and Derek Chi

Overall, the team finished in 17th place out of 37 teams.

We asked SMS Science teacher Christine Gilliand how students prepared for the Olympiad and here is what she shared: "The Scarsdale Middle School Science Olympiad team began working on the events for the competition in October. Students work with the various Science Teacher/Coaches depending on the event they are involved with. Each of the teachers will coach 5 different events. Some of the events are building events where the students have to design, build, test and redesign something, such as a car, a lever, a helicopter, etc. Some of the events are lab events where the students have to learn and practice various skills, such as crime scene investigation, powder testing, identification (rocks, insects, birds, etc.). Some events are strictly testing events where the students study and take a written exam, in subjects such as meteorology, solar system, disease detective and green generations (alternative energy and sustainability issues)."

She continued, "The regional competition for Lower Hudson Valley was held the first weekend in March. SMS entered 3 teams (approximately 40 students) into this competition against other middle school in the region. The competition took place at our middle school, which takes an enormous amount of time and effort from the entire middle school science department, the secretarial staff and the custodians in order for the tournament to run smoothly. The top 4 teams from the regional tournament are then invited to compete at the New York State tournament, which was just held in Rochester this past weekend."

She added, "Just a little history, every year since we began the team in 2001, SMS has placed high enough at the regional tournament to compete at the state level. After the regional tournament we look at all the students and choose the top 15 for our state competing team. In addition to the competing team, we also take up to 10 students as a support team."

Here are the names of those who competed on the team: Anika Agarwal, Derek Chi, Wolf Cukier, Sneha Dey, Shamika Dhuri, Daniel Goldstein, Sara Hezi, Ryan Jacobowitz, Adina Mistry, Megumi Ohara, Arjun Ravi, Jack Silvers, Ken Tomita, Joe Weintraub and Richard Xu.

The supporting team members (these students did not compete, but helped the team in many ways in preparation and the day of the event) were: Sara Bali, Anika Dhuri, Riya Gupta, Padma Narayanan, Conner Raff, Nola Riina, Chloe Schneider, Matthew Shepetin and Gillian Zitrin.

The teachers who have been working with the students during the year and traveled with the team were: Cristine Gilliland, Jay Gandelman, Ken Raff, Laurie Ciccone and Jeff Tuttle. We also had some additional help during the year from Travis Richards and Jeff Williams.