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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Category: The Goods

Published: 28 April 2016

Here are comments on the tax revaluation submitted to Scarsdale10583 by resident Robert Berg and read at the Village Board meeting on April 26, 2016: As someone who has made revaluation in Scarsdale his second calling, I'm usually very cued in to what's going on in this process. That's why I was shocked to learn last Friday morning -- from reading an email I received from Hamlet Hub -- that a meeting of the Committee of the Whole was held last Thursday evening at which John Ryan provided a 2016 revaluation update.

Had I received timely notice, I would have appeared at this meeting, and I would have participated in the very important public discourse. Yet this meeting took place with no obvious advance publicity.

Indeed, the meeting probably would have occurred with no public participation at all had not resident Steve Rakoff serendipitously walked by Rutherford Hall on an unrelated matter, seen the microphones being set up, and asked what was about to take place.

Mr. Rakoff immediately sprang to action and lassoed about a dozen of his Heathcote/Murray Hill neighbors -- and the indomitable Bob Harrison -- to run down to Village Hall and join in.

The 2016 revaluation -- which I opposed, on multiple occasions last year -- is probably the most significant event in the Village this year. People are still traumatized by and recovering from the 2014 revaluation.

The 2016 revaluation will directly affect the property tax burden each and every property owner in the Village must bear and so, it's important to everyone in the Village.

Given the considerable public interest in this topic, I'm at a loss to understand why the Village failed to publicize Mr. Ryan's Revaluation Update in advance. Even if legal public notice of the meeting was issued, the effort was grossly deficient for such an important meeting.

I'm sure that had the meeting been properly publicized, Rutherford Hall would have been packed with residents. I'm sure that the Scarsdale Inquirer would have sent its reporter to the meeting. So after I finish my remarks, can someone explain what went wrong?

I spent the entire afternoon last Friday watching the meeting. While I disagree strongly with many of the comments made by the Heathcote/Murray Hill residents, I do agree that they raised many very valid concerns about the conduct of the ongoing revaluation.

When I hear John Ryan speak, it's like listening to Donald Trump!

Mr. Ryan simply is not capable of giving a straight answer to a direct question. He talks about how GREAT his model is; how TRANSPARENT the revaluation process is; how INTUITIVE his model is; how EVERYONE will easily be able to understand the model and the valuation of any property; how the model will account for ANY and ALL VARIABLES in a property.

Yet, here we are – just a month before the tentative assessment roll must be filed by law, and Mr. Ryan still won't let any member of the public see his model. He won't answer any specific questions about the model. He still plans on TWEAKING the model up until the very last day – June 1 – when he runs the model, and THEN, LIKE DONALD TRUMP'S AMERICA, everything will be GREAT again.

As I've told this Board before, John Ryan's continuing inability to provide specific answers to questions about his methodology does not inspire any confidence that this new revaluation will be an improvement over the Tyler Technologies revaluation two years ago.

But what's really wrong here, and what's grossly unfair to Scarsdale property owners, is that the new tentative assessments won't be revealed until June 1, 2016, the very day that begins the annual three week period for property owners to file tax grievances. Because this is a townwide revaluation, every single property owner of the 5,941property parcels in Scarsdale will be receiving a completely new property tax assessment, using an entirely new methodology. Property owners will then have a mere three weeks to file a property tax grievance if they disagree with the new assessment.

What's especially wrong is that property owners will have no opportunity to discuss the new tentative assessment with the Assessor's Office beforehand. If in any doubt, a property owner will be obliged to file a tax grievance in order to protect his or her rights.

Moreover, taxpayers who decide to challenge their new assessments will have to obtain independent appraisals from licensed appraisers if they have any realistic shot of winning their grievances.

Having grieved my Scarsdale property taxes many times in the fourteen years I've lived here, I have incurred the considerable expense of obtaining an independent appraisal several times. An independent appraisal from a good appraiser costs around $750 or more for a Scarsdale residential property.

I have also spent a lot of time litigating/negotiating with the Village, as Wayne and Nanette know, before usually obtaining a reduction in our property taxes. (Nanette did beat me in trial a number of years ago; I still lose sleep over that one.).

The grievance process is both costly and time consuming, and Scarsdale property owners shouldn't be forced into this grievance process because John Ryan waits until the very last minute to finalize his model and there's no time for informal meetings to resolve any issues on the valuation with him or Nanette before the grievance filing deadline.

Further, how in the world will Scarsdale property owners be able to secure independent appraisals from good appraisers who know the Scarsdale market in a three week period at the beginning of June when many other property owners in Westchester have already booked these appraisers and are filing their tax grievances?

It's simply not going to be possible! And that inability will likely doom those property owners' chances to succeed in their tax grievances.

Now I heard Mayor Mark say in his remarks this evening that he understands that property owners will have until September 1, 2016 to submit appraisals to the Board of Assessment Review provided they file their grievances by June 21. The Board of Assessment Review is an independent Town Board which hears property tax grievances in the first instance. I happen to be a member of that Board. Speaking for myself, the Board has not met this year, and won't meet until Grievance Day. We haven't been asked to extend the deadline for receiving appraisals. Generally, as a matter of courtesy to Scarsdale property owners, we do accept appraisals submitted after Grievance Day, but normally our deadline is mid-July, though we have accepted a couple in August. However, we normally complete our grievance review by early August. This year, with a new revaluation, I expect the number of grievances filed to be close to the 950 or so filed in connection with the 2014 revaluation.

I simply don't see how we can possibly accept appraisals until September 1, 2016 since the assessment roll must be finalized and filed by September 15, 2016 by law. The burden on the BAR, whose members are all volunteers, is simply too great.

This entire revaluation project is a train wreck waiting to happen in just over one month's time. The Heathcote/Murray Hill residents who turned out for last Thursday night's meeting are rightly upset with the vacuous answers they were given, and they demonstrated a very real and appropriate lack of confidence engendered by Mr. Ryan's presentation.

I strongly urge the Village Board to delay the property tax revaluation until next year (using a valuation date of July 1, 2016).

Now that Mr. Ryan has developed what he believes to be a workable and wonderful model, he can disclose the inner workings of the model publicly and receive educated feedback from the community to improve the model, if needed.

He can run the model using this year's sales and release tentative assessments early next year. Then, the Village should allow an informal grievance process to occur in the Spring so that residents can receive a fair shake before having to incur the upset and expense of filing a tax grievance.

Thank you very much.

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Written by Judie Dweck

Category: The Goods

Published: 02 May 2016

Are you indecisive about whether to dine on Chinese, Japanese or Thai cuisine? I suggest you visit one of the newest Asian bistros in the area, Ku Asian Bistro is in the Chester Heights section of Bronxville. It recently opened in the space that was Oriental Palace and before that, A Taste of China. The space has been completely renovated and the interior has a sushi bar, a regular bar and a private dining room in addition to the large main dining room. Soft multicolored lighting adds atmosphere to the 100 seat space.

Ku is owned by Eason Wang, Nathan Qiu and Kelvin Chen. The general manager is Sean Wu. Wu explained that Chef Wang specializes in the Chinese dishes and Chef Qiu is the Japanese area of the menu. Wang learned his craft from his father, Wei Cai Wang, a master chef in China and The United States, who is in Ku's kitchen, as well. Manager Wu indicated," Our dishes range from classic to creative, from traditional to fusion. Our goal is to cater to our customer's tastes and be a family friendly neighborhood restaurant. Many of our guests allow us to design their meal and leave the ordering to us."

Nicely salted warm edamame were offered as we decided upon our choices. Thai flavored hoisin sauce enveloped diced chicken, long beans, bell peppers, jicama and pine nuts, lending a crunchy texture to the chicken lettuce wraps. The warm tangy filling contrasted with the crisp chilled iceberg lettuce for a fine dish. Sushi pizza has become a popular item on Asian menus. Here a rice cake is the base for very fresh sliced tuna, salmon, yellowtail and white fish. Guacamole was the finishing touch on this tasty starter. From the innovative to the classic, we tried some exceptional barbecued spareribs. Meaty and marinated in a honey infused sauce, all fat removed, they were finger licking good. The hefty ribs were served on a fresh flower garnished plate for a lovely effect. I look forward to trying curry glazed rock shrimp and boneless short rib with a spicy tangerine miso glaze.

Of the many signature rolls, we chose "hot girl". Lobster tempura, lobster salad, jalapeno, avocado were among the treats wrapped in soy bean paper, which resulted in a fine mingling of flavors. A wine glass filled with fresh flowers added some visual beauty to this dish. The Post Roll wrapped in seaweed paper with salmon, eel. sweet shrimp, blackened tuna and mango was excellent, as well. The large selection of signature rolls brought out the creative talent of the chef. Ku Asian tartar of tuna and salmon arrived on a sectional dish with avocado and fried wonton chips and each was delicious in its simplicity. Among the starters, don't miss the pepper salmon carpaccio. Thinly sliced salmon is wrapped around a julienne of cucumber and crabmeat for a light and refreshing dish.

A very special entrée, which appeared on both the regular and Chinese New Year menus was the Crispy Duck. Here the boned duck breast and leg on the bone, were perfectly cooked for a tender result. Accompanied by baby bok choy and carrots and dressed with a hoisin flavored sauce it was truly elegant. From the Thai offerings, jumbo shrimp with the tail on in a mango sauce with green and red bell peppers, and fresh mango, perfectly ripened, was a nicely spiced choice, as well. Singapore rice vermicelli chock full of shrimp and Szechwan crispy beef were a couple of other favorites. Yet to be tried are wok basil chicken, Ku duck Asian fajitas, seafood curried hot pot and surf and turf bird's nest. The diet conscious diner in not overlooked with several steamed dishes offered.

Lunch here offers Japanese lunch boxes, sushi, sashimi and rolls, and entrees from Southeast Asia and China. A fine feature at Ku is their Sunday Brunch. It includes many dishes from the regular menu. They are prepared to order {no steam table here} and you can have as many portions as you wish at a reasonable price. It is a great value and a nice choice for a family outing.

Not to be forgotten is the parking area next to Ku, no need to concern yourself with meters.

Enjoy this nice new addition to the Asian dining scene soon.

PORK AND VEGETABLE DUMPLINGS (100 DUMPLINGS)
100 square 3 by 5 inch dumpling wrappers*

1 pound finely ground pork
1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
4 teaspoons minced garlic
2 Tbsps. finely sliced green onion
4 Tbsps. soy sauce
2 Tbsps. sesame oil*
2 eggs
½ pound Chinese cabbage, finely shredded *

For the sauce
1 Tbsp. heavy cream
1 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsps. black vinegar*
Canola oil for frying
*Available in Asian markets

In a large bowl, place the ground pork, ginger, garlic, green onion, soy sauce, sesame oil one egg and shredded cabbage. Mix all very well. Place a teaspoon of the filling onto each dumpling skin. Moisten the edges with the second egg, beaten. Fold edges to form a triangle. Roll edges slightly to seal the dumplings. Place dumplings on a lightly floured pan until ready to cook. Fill a large pot with water. When it boils add the dumplings. As it boils add cold water. Repeat this process 3 times to be sure the filling is well cooked. Place cooked dumplings on a tray and let them rest until they are totally cold and dry. When they are cold and completely dry, fry them in canola oil for about 5 minutes or until lightly golden. Serve with sauce.

In a small pot, reduce the vinegar by half. Swirl in the cream and butter and simmer until smooth. Serve with the dumplings

If this sounds too labor intensive, take a trip to Ku Asian Bistro and allow the master chefs prepare them for you to enjoy.

Ku Asian Bistro
480 New Rochelle Road
Bronxville (Chester Heights Area)
(914) 668 8877

Judie Dweck has been writing about restaurants and food for many publications. She teaches creative cooking to children at Scarsdale elementary schools. Through the years, her articles have appeared in Jack and Jill Magazine, Spotlight, The Pleasure of Cooking and The Scarsdale Inquirer. She balances her restaurant tastings with daily ballet classes.

Details

Written by Judie Dweck

Category: The Goods

Published: 19 April 2016

Sergio's Ristorante in Pelham, recently celebrated its one year anniversary. I was very impressed with it at its opening, and upon revisiting last week, I was delighted to find it better than ever. Pansies and tulips were starting to add color to the perimeter of Sergio's to welcome the arrival of spring.

We were shown to our white linen clad table in the elegant main dining room. A large floral arrangement which is freshened weekly, was the centerpiece of the room. The walls are enhanced with large black and white photographs of Italy. Separated by a staircase leading up to an additional dining room is the bar and lounge area. Mellow Frank Sinatra music was playing in the background.

Co-owners are Sergio Gashi and his cousin Nick Gashi of TuttaBella fame. I had the pleasure of savoring a delicious meal with General Manager Alban Gashi, the eldest son of Sergio. He has been honing his skills in the restaurant business since his early teens under the tutelage of his experienced father, Sergio. From busboy at Latanzi in the theater district, to Valbella Steakhouse and TuttaBella in Scarsdale, he possesses all the skills of a seasoned host and manager. " It is important to make our guests feel special. We aim to be a sophisticated staple in the Westchester community. Our guests often comment that dining at Sergio's is like getting away and dining in the city, without the traffic. Serving our guests is like theater. We are putting on a show for them and they enjoy being entertained. The best part of my work is meeting people. Dealing with volume on weekends causes some pressure but we deal with the hustle and bustle with a smile. I have learned the importance of having a positive attitude, being a leader, working with my staff and teaching by example so the staff becomes motivated and optimistic, as well."

Ventura Nava, the executive chef, has worked his way up in the kitchen and has added many new dishes to the original menu. We nibbled on crunchy country bread, house-made flatbread, and chunks of cheese as we perused the menu. The antipasti included favorites that I enjoyed at its opening, grilled octopus, clams oreganata and a tower of grilled vegetables. Upon this visit, I couldn't resist the ostriche con spinaci. The large ruffled shells encased whole bluepoint oysters and spinach mixed with cream and brandy. The combination was elegant and just divine. Beef carpaccio was another winner. The thinly sliced filet mignon was topped with tart arugula, onion and capers and shaved parmesan and drizzled with a touch of truffle oil, a classic dish so beautifully executed. New to the menu is the popular tuna tartar. Here, the coarsely chopped fresh tuna was layered with avocado and a citrus dressing. Triangles of fried won ton skins were the perfect scoops for this fresh from the sea delight. Other starters include sautéed baby artichokes, fried calamari, shrimp cocktail and clams casino. The common thread in all of the dishes is the use of the freshest fine ingredients. A salad of fresh beets and goat cheese, seafood salad and a creative combination of endives, apples, walnuts and gorgonzola with a champagne vinaigrette are lighter starters.

The choice of pasta dishes is varied. The gnocchi Pomodoro is excellent. The delicate morsels of potato gnocchi are bathed in tomato sauce and topped with fresh ricotta and basil, classic and tasty. A fine choice is the taglioine nero e biano. The strands of black and white pasta mingle with shrimp, radicchio and zucchini strips in a light garlic and olive oil sauce. It was colorful and delicious. Other good choices are pappardelle with Bolognese sauce, mushroom ravioli in brandy cream sauce, and cavatelli with broccoli rabe and sausage. Several risotto choices are offered as well.

Entrees of chicken, meat, fish and grilled offerings are numerous. We indulged in cotoletta contandina, a huge tender veal chop, grilled on the bone and surrounded by sliced potatoes, onions and red and yellow bell peppers, a dish fit for a queen.... with a very good appetite. I have enjoyed their porterhouse steak on a previous visit and each dish reinforces the fact that top quality ingredients are insisted upon here. From the fish selections, we chose a classic shrimp scampi. The jumbo shrimp rested on a bed of risotto and just enough garlic was in the sauce. It was perfection on a plate. Other possibilities are chicken martini, veal with artichokes, veal saltimbocca, baked branzino, zuppe de pesce, and a variety of grilled steaks and chops. Daily specials may include gnocchi with lamb ragu, veal ravioli with butter sage sauce and lamb chops martini.
Lunch specials are designed to accommodate people with a time limit, with choices of appetizer, entrée and coffee. Dinner is a more leisurely affair.

Towards the back of the main dining room is pastry chef Ardi Gashi working his magic. Chef Gashi has a gift for pastry preparation and started at a very young age. He is one of the younger members of the Gashi family. Italian cheesecake, tiramisu, white chocolate mousse cake, a killer zabaglione and the best almond encrusted napoleon in town are some of his specialties. If you order in advance, you might be lucky enough to have a souflee of coconut, pistachio, Grand Marnier or as I did, Bailey's Irish Crème. It was a heavenly cloudlike confection, a wonderful way to complete a glorious meal.
Alban Gashi describes Sergio's as, " fun, family friendly, with good food, good atmosphere and fair prices." Pay them a visit soon.

SERGIO'S RISTORANTE
503 Fifth Avenue
Pelham, NY
(914) 278 9771

Veal Saltimbocca –Serves 2

4 veal scallops, pounded to ¼ inch thick
4 thin slices prosciutto
3 Tbsps. dry marsala wine
2 cups chicken stock
4 slices fontina cheese
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
Salt and pepper, to taste

Season veal on both sides with salt and pepper. Melt butter in a large skillet. Press a slice of prosciutto on top of each scallop and saute in the butter for a total of 2 minute on both sides, until golden. While they are cooking add the wine and chicken stock. Top each with a slice of fontina cheese. Transfer the pan to a 250 degree oven until the cheese is melted. Place veal on a serving dish and pour sauce over it.

Judie Dweck has been writing about restaurants and food for many publications. She teaches creative cooking to children at Scarsdale elementary schools. Through the years, her articles have appeared in Jack and Jill Magazine, Spotlight, The Pleasure of Cooking and The Scarsdale Inquirer. She balances her restaurant tastings with daily ballet classes.