Former SHS Dean David Mendelowitz Indicted
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A beloved former dean from the Scarsdale High School Counseling Department has been indicted for patronizing prostitutes, possession of crack cocaine, for the illegal purchase of Viagra and for hindering prosecution. According to the Journal News, Dean David Mendelowitz, a favorite of SHS students was among 19 people indicted on Tuesday November 20th. The arrests were announced by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly following a 16-month investigation into an ad agency that allegedly promoted prostitution.
In the complaint Mendelowitz admitted to using cocaine for years, saying, "I order cocaine and crack from an Asian female that I know. I have been using cocaine for twenty years. The last time I used cocaine was on May 8, 2012. I usually use cocaine on Friday nights."
Outlined in the complaint are two communications Mendelowitz had with Jay King the manager of the prostitution and narcotics ring. On May 4, 2012 he asked King to send him a female prostitute named Yoyo and said he wanted "two more hours plus a hundred for a package of rock." code for cocaine). On May 10 he asked Jay to send a prostitute named Suji along with "the blue thing and everything", referring to prescription Viagra and cocaine.
On May 18, according to the complaint he again spoke to Jay King to let him know that investigators from the NYS Attorney General's Office had come to his apartment and knew that he had been seeing prostitutes and smoking crack.
Mendelowitz abruptly retired from Scarsdale High School in June, 2012 after an absence of several weeks. Colleagues and students were surprised by his departure and there was speculation that he was sick or that a family member was ill. He was not lauded with the other retiring members of the SHS staff at the June 18, 2012 meeting.
In comments on Scarsdale10583.com, Mendelowitz was called "a champion for students, a fabulous colleague, and an innovative thinker." He was also credited with serving as the president of the Westchester Putnam Rockland Counselors Association and teaching aspiring counselors as a professor at Fordham University.
During his tenure at the high school, Mendelowitz served on the Drug and Alcohol Task Force, a group of students, parents, teachers, school administrators, and community leaders that seeks to educate students and adults about drugs and alcohol and develop "drug free attitudes."
After news of the indictment broke on Tuesday afternoon November 20, parents and students were reeling in disbelief. Emails, with subject lines like "OMG" were widely circulated with links to the news. It was hard to reconcile the man everyone knew with the news, As one parent said, "I was very surprised to hear about the charges. He was very respected at the high school and did a great job." Ken Hershey, a 2009 graduate of SHS jumped to his Dean's defense. "Dave Mendelowitz is a good man and was an outstanding dean. Above all else, he is innocent until proven guilty." Some noted the resemblance of this case to that of Eliot Spitzer, in that both men were abusing the same laws they were charged with upholding. Particularly troubling to parents was Mendelowitz's role as a mentor to Scarsdale students.
An email from Michael McGill, Superintendent of the Scarsdale Schools was sent to parents and here is what it said:
Dear Members of the Scarsdale Schools Community:
I regret to inform you that we have just learned that a former dean at Scarsdale High School, David Mendelowitz, who retired in June, has been arrested on charges involving prostitution and illegal substances. Law enforcement officers have told us that his alleged conduct did not involve anyone in our community.
Despite this sad and most unfortunate news, we continue hopefully on our educational journey. After the difficulties of the past weeks, children are learning, and the schools are abuzz with productive activity. Please know that our children's safety and well-being are constantly in the forefront of teachers' and school leaders' minds.
We move forward, looking ahead to the reassuring warmth of family and friends this Thanksgiving Day and to positive, constructive learning in the coming months.
Sincerely,
Michael V. McGill
Superintendent of Schools
Summer Activities Fair at SHS November 28
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If you need some ideas for summer plans for your children, The Summer Activities Fair is the perfect opportunity to meet representatives from a wide variety of summer programs. Precollege enrichment, sports, music, theater, travel, community service, language immersion, outdoor adventure, environmental studies, travel in the U.S. and abroad, leadership skills and more. You'll find programs from as far away as Ireland, Montana and Wyoming offering kids the opportunity to explore their passions, whether it be living on a farm, European travel, delving into computer programming or scuba diving in the Caribbean.
Both parents and students are invited to attend the fair to speak with program representatives and students who have participated. See videos, pick up brochures and get great information about the breadth of possibilities available for this coming summer. The Summer Activities Fair is sponsored by the Scarsdale High School PTA and admission is FREE.
Where: Scarsdale High School Cafeteria
When: Wednesday November 28, 2012
What Time: 7:30 – 9:30 PM
Greenburgh Police Chief Urges Kids to Stay Inside Tonight
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With the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy still affecting large areas of the town, there are still live wires on the ground, power outages resulting in traffic lights and street lights not working and numerous road closures. And trees are still falling so you should be concerned about these hazards.
With these obvious dangerous conditions it is unsafe to have adults and children out on the streets tonight trick-or-treating. We are urging parents to please keep their children at home. However, if you insist going out for Halloween, do it during daylight hours since many areas of the town are without street lights and homes are in the dark.
The main roads still closed are:
• Hillside Ave between North Road and Valimar
• Mountain Road between Taxter Road and the Saw Mill River Parkway
• Sprain Road at Boulder Ridge
• Underhill between Paradise Drive and Hearthstone Circle
• West Hartsdale Avenue between Secor Road and Ridge Road
• Fort Hill Road between Jackson Avenue and Ardsley Road
• Fort Hill Road between Underhill Road and Longview Road
Also note the following:
-Approximately 40 secondary roads are blocked by trees.
-Approximately 8,700 power outages continue.
-Be cautious if utilizing candles for light in your home.
-Con Edison will distribute dry ice today at Empire City/Yonkers Raceway from noon to 6 p.m.
Stay safe and be aware of these dangers.
Joseph J. DeCarlo
Chief of Police
Tips for Handling the Stress of Sandy
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As a mental health clinician and mother of twins in Edgewood who has not had power since last Monday, I found myself asking the same questions many people have posed to me. I want to reassure others (and perhaps myself) that as complicated as life is now, we will all recover from Hurricane Sandy. Life will return to our own definition of normal. Even shrinks need to remind themselves of that from time to time.
Recognize and Validate “Unseen Loss.”
Loss and pain is unique to each person and should be treated as such. Yes, for most of us Hurricane Sandy has not manifested in the tragic loss of human life nor has it destroyed our town and neighborhoods as we know them. We are fortunate not to have been living in Breezy Point or Staten Island. For that, we are eternally grateful and recognize our luck at having been spared these horrible and painful experiences. During times of tragedy and disasters, we likely compare our own plight to others’ who have lost a great deal more than we. Of course, what we have experienced in Scarsdale does not come close to the depth and magnitude of human suffering in communities ravaged by the hurricane. But, don’t be fooled into thinking that we haven’t experienced our own losses or that they don’t matter. They do matter. Each of us experiences loss and pain in unique ways, usually related to our past experiences, emotional and physical constitutions and coping skills.
We can easily see the damaged houses and cars, downed power lines, the loss of a favorite tree and gasoline shortages. We are consciously aware of these things but I suggest that it is equally, if not more important, to focus on the “unseen losses.” We have lost stability and structure in our everyday lives. Getting to work is no longer jumping on the train to a subway and landing in the office by 8am. Making dinner isn’t zapping frozen food into the microwave (yes, that’s usually dinner in my house). The storm has taken away much of what we experience as normal and that in itself is a loss. Allowing ourselves to recognize these losses is the basis for our ability to manage and heal from them.
Feeling Out of Control is a Normal Reaction to an Abnormal Situation
Although you may feel as if you are “out of control” or “having a nervous breakdown” (not a technical word in the psychiatric world), odds are you aren’t. What you are experiencing is most likely an anxiety reaction to a stressful situation. Anxiety can interfere with our sleep, concentration, and ability to feel connected to people. It can manifest in physical discomfort such as dizziness and gastrointestinal problems. Anxiety is fleeting. It may feel like it lasts forever but it rarely does. Taking slow deep breaths in through your nose and breathing out through your mouth can help promote muscle relaxation and thereby reduce anxiety. Remember, your body cannot be simultaneously anxious and relaxed.
Perhaps you’ve heard it before. What matters most is not necessarily the crises experienced but the ways in which we respond to them. We cannot control when the Con Ed crew will repair our power lines but we can choose how to deal with these situations. We can become enraged while waiting in long gas lines or we can listen to music, we can worry incessantly or we can choose to deal with one issue at a time. We can feel as if the external world is defining our lives or we can take control of what we can. It’s important to remind ourselves that although some important things are out of our control today, we do have the power (no pun intended) to control more than we realize.
Reach Out and Touch Someone
Literally, human contact can make us feel better. Chatting with family, friends, neighbors, even people next to us in the supermarket can make us feel less alone and therefore less vulnerable. This is especially true for those of us who are used to being with peers in pressured work environments and who are now attempting to work from home with all that entails (Do I hear screaming children in the background of that conference call?). Vulnerability can predispose us to unnecessary stress. Being social, whether in-vivo or virtual, can actually “inoculate” us against the deleterious side effects of chronic stress.
Move
No, I don’t mean move from Scarsdale (as tempting as that seems to me at the moment), but move your body. We all know the research about the importance of exercise and the release of endorphins, the body’s “feel good” chemicals. Run up and down your steps. Do some basic stretching exercises. (As I am not an exercise aficionado I am taking my own advice on this one).
Michelle Sanders, M.S. Ed., Psy. D. has a doctorate in child clinical psychology. She lives in Scarsdale with her husband and ten year old twins. Dr. Sanders will be opening her private practice, specializing in children, in the Spring of 2013. She has held faculty positions at Pace University in New York City and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx. Her research has been published in several academic journals. You can reach her at: Sandersmichelle@optonline.net. Michelle is not a physician and recommends that psychological or physical symptoms be assessed by a mental health or medical professional. Her suggestions are not a substitution for medical advice.
Should Trick or Treating Be Rescheduled?
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With widespread power outages and downed wires in Scarsdale, trick or treating on Wednesday night October 31 could indeed be tricky. The Drake Edgewood and Fox Meadow Neighborhood Associations are making alternative plans for trick or treating on Sunday November 4 if current conditions continue. They encourage others around Scarsdale to consider this move as well.
According the Drake Edgewood Neighborhood Association (DENA), last year the community received notice the Village was “canceling” trick-or-treating at the very end of the school day, which led to confusion for the parents and disappointment for the children. Many families made the decision to go out despite the conditions. Other communities scheduled an alternate trick-or-treating date with much success.
The Drake Edgewood Neighborhood Association says if the Village again advises families not to "trick or treat" on Wednesday evening, DENA is designating Sunday, November 4 as our "Halloween Rain Date."
Though they realize that scheduling a different date and notifying the community is challenging, safety is their first concern. Halloween is a special day in Drake-Edgewood, and the neighborhood association hopes to find a way to keep the tradition alive should the weather prevent families from enjoying the festivities on Oct. 31.
Fox Meadow Neighborhood Association Linda Dietz also advocates an alternate date for trick or treating if Wednesday proves difficult. Here is the text of an email sent to Fox Meadow Residents:
Scarsdale neighborhood associations are calling for a rain-date of Sunday evening if it's impossible to trick or treat on Wednesday. IF the Village of Scarsdale asks residents to stay home on Wednesday (like last year), the rain date will be in effect. Please pass on the news to others who live here. Halloween must go on... as long as everyone is safe. Everyone take care!
