Con Edison and Damaged Sewer Laterals: An Update from Mayor Arest
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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Following a multiyear project to install a large gas transmission line along Walworth Avenue and Fox Meadow Road, some residents found that the sewer lateral lines from their home had been damaged in the process. This new headache followed years of road closures, excavation, repaving and loss of service. The utilities’ lack of accountability highlighted the problem of their right to access Scarsdale’s roadways without consideration of damage to the Village infrastructure.
How many homes were involved? With the street now repaved it has been difficult to do the inspections which need to be done by video.
In order to sell your home, residents are required to demonstrate that they have a working sewer lateral by filing a “Sewer Lateral Discharge Compliance Certificate,” so some who were selling their homes retained private contractors to do the inspections. Others waited for Con Edison to do the work. And once it was determined that the lines were indeed damaged, residents wanted assurance that Con Edison would pay for the repairs.
Furthermore, this new gas transmission line was never put into use, and now it turns out that there are flaws in the welding that requires repair. In addition, work needs to be done on a separate gas transmission line along the same route. All this will mean that the street will again need to be torn up, with road closures and disruptions in service.
The Mayor had an update for concerned residents at the August 11, 2026 Village Board meeting where he reported that the Village met with Con Edison on July 15 and August 5, and was joined by State Assemblymember Amy Paulin at the August 5 meeting.
He said, “According to Con Edison, they have now inspected the sewer laterals of 75 homes, with some of those requiring a second inspection. Residents of at least 63 of those homes are expected to receive their inspection videos by August 14th, with the remainder to follow shortly after. Of the results reviewed so far, Con Edison reports that 20 laterals need repair or reinforcement of their connection to the sewer main. Another 17 may possibly need the same, though they say they won't know for certain until the street is open, and 10 more addresses still need additional review. A handful of inspections remain to be completed. Once residents receive their videos, Con Edison has committed to coordinating directly with any homeowner whose lateral means are repaired or reinforced connection to the sewer main.”
Transmission Line Repairs
Though the new line is not in use, it already requires repairs.
Arest said, “Con Edison also alerted us to another separate yet related matter for this stretch of road. Con Edison has identified a number of locations along the transmission main itself that require excavation, so the welds where the pipes meet can be reexamined with X-ray testing as a matter of pipeline safety. I know this is not welcome news, but it is work that will have to be completed to ensure safety before the gas main is active sometime in the future. We understand that a number of these well locations line up with the same stretches of road where sewer laterals already need physical inspection or repair. We have made it clear to Con Edison that we expect this work to be coordinated and expedited wherever possible, so that once started, is completed as quickly as reasonably possible. These residents have already experienced significant disruption, and while we recognize that this work needs to be completed, they should never have been subjected to repeated rounds of construction.”
Plans are Needed
Arest said that this time, Con Edison will need to submit a work plan so that the street will not be torn up multiple times for repairs at the same site.
He said, “No permit for this work has been issued, and no permit will be issued until Con Edison presents a comprehensive plan that demonstrates every reasonable effort has been made to coordinate and expedite the work, avoid unnecessary repeated excavation, and minimize the impact on residents to the greatest extent possible. Safety, accountability, and efficiency must be built into that plan from the outset.”
“The Village will also require an independent inspector on site full time for the duration of the work at Con Edison's expense, along with any other measures we determine are necessary to protect our residents and our infrastructure.”
September 15 Community Meeting with Con Edison
He announced a meeting with Con Ed to give the community an opportunity to ask questions:
“We have also worked to ensure that you will have time to speak to Con Edison directly. They will be holding a community meeting, as we have previously discussed and committed to having. That meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 15 at 7p.m. here in Rutherford Hall, and Con Edison will take questions from residents. That meeting is important as we know there are still unanswered questions for residents, including why certain homes are not currently on Con Edison's inspection list. We have not treated that question as closed, and if we do not have a better answer before September 15, Con Edison should expect to give one that evening.”
“If your home is not on the list and you believe it should be, please continue to reach out. Some residents have also asked about a separate gas distribution main project in the same area, where the timing of the work may have overlapped for some homes. Con Edison has told us that project involved a substantially shallower trench and Con Ed says it is highly improbable that the work caused damaged to any sewer laterals. Residents who want to raise that question directly with Con Edison should plan to do so that night.”
“We're going to keep working with Con Edison because our priority is getting these repairs done as quickly as possible for our residents. But let me be clear: our responsibility is to the people who live on these streets. We will hold Con Edison accountable for the commitments they've made. Push for the action our community deserves, and make sure your voices are heard every step of the way.”
Trustees Approve Pickleball Court Repairs and a Special Use Permit for Caffe Nero
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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Good news for pickleball players. While the Village looks into building new pickleball courts, players are currently using the old all weather tennis courts at Crossway as pickleball courts. The Mayor says it will probably take a year to have these new courts built.
However these courts are cracked and need some improvement in the interim. At their July 28, 2026 meeting, the Village Board appropriated $25,000 for the purchase of new nets, crack repair and surface treatment.
The resolution for $25,000 includes approximately $15,400 for resurfacing materials, roughly $6,000 for nets and fencing, and approximately $3,600 for additional supplies and other project-related expenses.
The work will be done by Village employees. Staff anticipates completing the project during August, with temporary court closures coordinated to minimize impacts on users and programming
Caffe Nero
Also at the meeting Village Trustees approved a special use permit for Caffe Nero, a coffee shop and café, to open at 100 Christie Place in the spot previously occupied by Bank of America at the corner of East Parkway and Christie Place.
At the July 14 meeting of the Village Board, Christie Place residents expressed concerns about sidewalk seating, potential noise and refuse storage and pick. These issues were addressed in the resolution for the special use permit approved by Village Trustees on July 28, 2026.
The permit approval has many stipulations including the submission of:
-“A delivery and mobile order pickup plan, acceptable to the Village Manager and staff, designed to minimize adverse impacts on traffic, pedestrians, nearby residents, and the Christie Place development. At a minimum, the applicant shall provide a plan, subject to approval by the Village Manager, which identifies delivery locations, sets forth delivery hours and the establishment's hours of operation, procedures for third-party delivery services and customer mobile order pickups, and a designated management contact for operational issues. The plan shall provide mechanisms to
prevent the unlawful stopping, standing, and parking of delivery and customer vehicles; and
-“A refuse management plan, acceptable to the Village Manager and staff, identifying refuse storage locations, collection schedules, and operational practices designed to minimize adverse impacts on traffic, pedestrians, nearby residents, and the Christie Place development.”
And the issuance of this special permit is subject to review in years one, three and five after issuance on the certificate of occupancy, by the Village Manager, Police Chief and Village Planner as to review of the effectiveness of the refuse management and mobile delivery parking aspects of the café’s operations.
It also requires the Village Manager, Police Chief and Village Planner to meet and confer with the operator of the café as to these operational aspects; and if the café operator does not agree to any recommendations suggested by Village staff, the café operator shall appear before the Board of Trustees for discussion of modification to the special permit on these operational aspects.
Furthermore, “any outdoor seating on Christie Place or East Parkway shall require a separate sidewalk café permit issued by the Village Manager or his/her designee prior to installation, and any such sidewalk café shall be designed, installed.”
About signage, the resolution says, “any illuminated sign for the premises shall be subject to review and approval by the Board of Architectural Review, shall not be neon, and shall comply with all applicable provisions of the Village Code.”
Village Seeks Public Feedback on Freightway Development Study
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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The Scarsdale Village Board held a second work session on Tuesday July 28 to review the scope of the GEIS, or generic environmental impact study to assess all the impacts of development of the Freightway site.
Peter Feroe, a Planner with the firm AKRF, explained that the potential development site includes both the village-owned parcels that we know as the Freightway lots, the garage, the open lot and the Beedee lot. It also includes the Scarsdale Avenue lot. The Village has certain rights over the railroad tracks as well. And then, because of their adjacency, they are looking at the potential to include any or all of the privately owned parcels along Garth Road immediately adjacent to the Freightway sites in any evaluation of a redevelopment.
Feroe explained, “We want to figure out what the impacts of redevelopment would be, so we can get to a scenario that is beneficial to the village, and we're doing this through the SEQRA process, the environmental review process. The first step of that process is a public scoping process which creates the table of contents for what will be studied in a generic environmental impact statement and to get community feedback.”
In this iteration, the GEIS is being led by the Village of Scarsdale rather than by developers. Feroe explained, “To make a viable project here to help offset the costs of maintaining that public infrastructure, there would be a private redevelopment component of this project that would be led by likely a multifamily product with a certain number of units. That's what it's zoned for today.”
He continued, “We're looking at a broad range of what-if scenarios to look at traffic, infrastructure, utilities, schools. The draft scoping outlines how we're going to go about that that analysis, what we're going to look at, and how we're going to look at it. What traffic intersections, what data we're going to collect, and it's very, very detailed. If at the end of this study, you know, the village decides that there is not a path forward that meets Scarsdale's needs, they're under no obligation to continue. They don't have to move forward. There is no burden that's placed on them. “
“We're also looking at impacts to community services, and by that we mean first responders, police, fire, EMS. We're looking at parks and recreation. We're looking at impacts to schools. Fiscal impacts kind of goes along with the community service impacts, but kind of is the other side of that coin. What are the fiscal benefits? What are the economic benefits to the village and to other taxing jurisdictions, both in terms of new revenues, property taxes, sales taxes, etc. as well as avoided costs on the maintenance side of the garage?”
“Utilities, water, sewer, stormwater, electric, gas. What are the impacts to those? Obviously, both in terms of physical impacts, we know they're water, sewer, stormwater lines running straight through Freightway, as well as the capacity of those systems to serve a new development, and environmental site conditions, and potential environmental issues with the soil or anything else from past use, and cultural resources. We're proximate to several historic resources: the Bronx River Parkway downtown, a couple other individual buildings.”
Trustee Goldschmidt asked, “For public parking utilization, there is no subcategory of daily parking versus commuter parking. Is that something we should consider as a subcategory? Because is that a is commuter parking a different beast and has different characteristics than street parking or for the for homeowners or residents and people who are coming to the commercial area?”
Feroe, said, “Yes, and that is a subcategory that we intend to study. We've been taking counts out at the garage and the different lots at different times of day. We've been working with the village manager's office to obtain, and they've given us a bunch of data, current and historic, on permits that were issued to for various purposes, so we're putting that all together, and that is something we need to look at because that's going to inform how much public parking the village is going to require of a new development.”
Seth Ross, 21 Ardmore Road, Chair of the Scarsdale Forum Committee on Freightway thanked the board and the staff of AKRF.
He said, “there are a couple of things we would like to see dealt with explicitly in the the GEIS and therefore in the draft scope. One is some analysis of the project, both with and without the privately owned property.
The second thing is that we would like to see some discussion of alternative transportation, including bicycles, scooters, and other small motorized vehicles”
Trustee Kofman asked about the potential redevelopment scenarios, saying “It would be useful to understand what parameters that will be included in those scenarios. We're talking about unit count, unit type etc.”
Trustees also asked questions about the mobility and parking analysis and about proposals to mitigate impacts on traffic and transportation systems and requested that the analysis include the impact on pedestrian traffic and safety. Trustee Foley mentioned that the online survey on Freightway was very long and asked if answers to partially completed surveys would be counted. He was told that yes that information would be used.
The Village will hold their next public session on Freightway on August 11, 2026. Learn more about the project here.
Village Board Reviews Plans for Caffe Nero on Christie Place and Approves a New Water Main on Carthage Road
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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The Village Board considered an application for a new coffee shop on Christie Place called Caffé Nero to open in the vacant spot previously occupied by the Bank of America at their July 14, 2026 meeting. The applicant was asked to provide some details about the business and described a gathering place, modelled on European cafes, where both beverages and food are served. He said that each of Caffé Nerro’s 60 locations are designed for the neighborhood and are places to sit and enjoy yourself, hold meetings or see friends.
Some of the locations include welcoming features such as fireplaces, bookshelves, comfy seating, communal tables and nooks. The food is “European” and music is played indoors. They serve their own coffee which is roasted a roasteries in Washington DC and Europe.
The caffé would be open from 6 am to 7 pm seven days a week and have both indoor and outdoor seating on the sidewalk on East Parkway and Christie Place. Since it’s already late in the season, they said they would apply for the outdoor tables next year.
Though it’s not strictly a coffee pick up location, they do have an app that allows buyers to order in advance and pick up their coffee. They hoped to have some parking for those who wish to run in for a pick-up.
Speaking on behalf of the residents of Christie Place, Dan Gerardi said, “We’re happy that after two years the empty location will be occupied,” however he conveyed many concerns. Residents are worried that the music will be noisy and that the outdoor tables and seats will block the sidewalk. He said that the sidewalk was narrow. He also said, “Christie Place is an age restricted residence. The average age of Christie Place residents is 82 years old – many with assisted devices for walking. Making the walkway more narrow will affect some of our older residents.”
Susan Douglass of 59 Crane Road said she served on the Downtown Revitalization Committee of the Scarsdale Forum. She said she supported, the café. “It seems like a wonderful idea to have a gathering place to meet friends and come together. I think it’s great to have something that will bring vitality to the Village.”
Trustees had questions. Tim Foley asked, “Are you planning to respond to the Planning Board questions on refuse? They replied “yes”, that garbage would be stored in the garage…. And our delivery truck will be park on Christie Place next to the market. We will schedule early morning deliveries.”
The applicant responded to Gerardi, saying, “We make sure that the noise accommodates our neighbors – there will be no outdoor speakers. We don’t need to squeeze the sidewalks so that the sidewalks are not safe or convenient.”
The Mayor asked for a written response to the Planning Board concerns and these questions.
Aware that they are eager to open, The Board agreed to keep the public hearing open and to vote on the application at their July 28, 2026 meeting. The Mayor invited the community to send in their comments in the interim.
During public comments, problems with the Con Edison disruption of lateral sewer lines on Walworth Avenue continued to be discussed.
Joe Lawrence of 7 Walworth Avenue said that his neighbor at 3 Walworth Avenue spent $30-40,000 to correct theirs so that they could get the approvals to sell the house. Lawrence said, “This project has become a slow drip drip drip. There is no progress, there are no deadlines and no dates for repairs. We are hearing conflicting stories on what was damaged. We are now a coalition of 46 homes that have been disrupted. How can we apply more pressure? I am afraid this will extend into the winter when we can’t dig up the roads. We have to protect our residents and get a timeframe for repairs. A guy from the EPA said that flowing water is compromising our streets. A lot of people who are affected don’t even know it yet – because they have not tried to sell their homes. We are concerned that the Village is not addressing this more quickly. We are going to be in deep water. What is the Village planning to do to fix this problem?”
Steve Marchiony of 104 Walworth said, “I made the list and was scoped by the Con Ed contractor. I was told I have a disconnection in the street – but I have nothing in writing.
My house was one of the first scoped – on May 18. We were told we would have a report within a week. But they are having trouble loading the video onto their own system. How is the Village was going to resolve this.
Elizabeth Lawrence said, “Con Ed is not listening. We need to move ahead. I thank you for your help – we hope to have more.”
Yiwei Fang of 29 Walworth said, “I haven’t been able to get the scoping done to the connection point – we already tried three times. They can’t get the camera to the lateral -do I spend the $700? I am concerned with discrepancies in the videos.”
The Mayor responded, saying, “We have been in regular contact with Con Ed – and we have a meeting with them about this later this week. I hope to have something to share with you. It can’t take forever. There has to be more communication. The goal is still to have a meeting with them and have you present to get answers to your questions. We are trying to get answers on your behalf.
Resolutions:
The Village approved a $4,485,859.50 contract with MTS Infrastructure of Armonk NY to replace the watermain on Carthage Road. They were the lowest among nine bidders. They also approved a professional services agreement with 929 Construction Services LLC of Beacon, NY to provide project support and oversight for the Carthage Road Water Main project.
Another resolution for construction management and project support on call as needed for the Carthage Road water main project.
The Board approved to resolutions to fund counseling services provided by Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling Services. The approved $64,898 for the Aging in Place program and $341,343 for the Village’s share of the Youth Services Project.
Trustees approved an agreement with the School Crossing Guards for 3% annual salary increase from September 1, 2006 to September 1, 2029.
They adopted a Positive SEQRA Declaration for the Freightway Generic Environmental Impact Study (GEIS). The resolution says, “The Board of Trustees has determined that the Proposed Action has the potential to result in one or more significant adverse environmental impacts and that an Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) shall be prepared.”
During public comments Susan Douglass of 59 Crane Road said, “The Traffic Safety Committee was supposed to meet on July 1 concerning safety of crossing Crane Road. A frequent spot to cross is at Carstensan Road. I have been advocating for a crosswalk – drivers stop when they see people crossing in a crosswalk. I hope that the Village will consider putting in a crosswalk. I will offer to pay for the paint. It is such an inexpensive fix and I think it will help a lot of people.”
Village Manager Alex Marshall said that there are two multi-space parking meters in the lobby of Village Hall. She asked residents to try them and share comments. She also encouraged people to test the payment option (you will not be charged) -and to send comments to [email protected].
At a 6 o’clock meeting, the Board of Trustees held a work session on proposed changes to the Land Use code. After some discussion, they requested some revisions and will bring it up again at their meeting in August. See the proposed revisions here.
Power Outage and Pool Closure Following Strong Thunderstorms
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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(Updated 6:30 pm 7/5)
Strong thunderstorms, with winds reported at 60 mph swept through Scarsdale around 8 pm on Saturday night July 4, pulling down utility lines and taking out power.
As of 7:45 am, 286 homes were without power - and a fallen tree was blocking the entire entrance to Colonial Acres. By 1 pm, the map showed about 30 homes without power. Residents were still reporting outages on Penn Boulevard, Franklin Road and Crossway. In order to make the repairs at Colonial Acres, it was necessary to cut off power to the entire neighborhood.
The Village sent out the following around 2 on Sunday:
"Con Edison is currently in the area of Colonial Acres to prepare for removal of downed tree/wires. In order to safely perform this emergency work, Con Edison will need to de-energize the primary lines in the area, which may temporarily cause additional outages for residents in the surrounding areas."
The power outage also affected the Scarsdale Pool, which was closed for several hours on July 4, and on July 5 was not able to open. Here is the note from the pool sent out on July 5:
Dear Pool Members,
An uprooted tree on Mamaroneck Road at the Saxon Woods Golf Course
We wanted to provide an update regarding today's pool operations.
Due to an electrical outage resulting from last night's storm, the Scarsdale Pool is unable to open at this time. Restoration time is still to be determined, and we are continuing to monitor the situation closely.
We will provide updates throughout the day as we assess the situation and receive additional information. We appreciate your patience and understanding and look forward to welcoming everyone back as soon as it is safe to do so.
Thank you,
Scarsdale Pool Management
Share your photos with us at [email protected].
Evening Update
At 6:30 pm on July 5, the Village of Scarsdale sent out the following update showing closed roads and more homes without power than was originally indicated on the outage map:
Here is what the said:
Road Closures
Our Department of Public Works, Police Department, Fire Department, and other Village personnel have been working continuously to assess damage, clear roadways where it is safe to do so, and coordinate with Con Edison and other utility partners. As of 5pm, the following roadways still remain closed in the Village:
-Mamaroneck Road between Catherine Road and Canterbury Road
-Colonial Road at #3 (Con Edison currently on scene)
-Berwick at Whig Road
-Penn Road at #85 (Con Edison currently on scene)
Outage Information
A few hundred Scarsdale customers remain without electric service. Con Edison reports that approximately 7,000 customers remain without power across Westchester County, which experienced the largest concentration of storm-related outages. Several Con Edison restoration crew(s) are currently assigned within Scarsdale, and Village officials remain in close communication with the utility and continue to advocate for the resources needed to restore service to our community as quickly and safely as possible.
Flood Watch through Tomorrow Evening
The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Watch for our area through Monday night. Multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms are expected, capable of producing localized flash flooding, rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour, isolated strong to damaging wind gusts, and ponding on roadways. Widespread rainfall totals of 2 to 3 inches are expected, with localized amounts of 4 inches or more possible where thunderstorms repeatedly move over the same locations. Residents should avoid unnecessary travel during periods of heavy rain, never drive through flooded roadways, and stay well away from downed trees and any wires, which should always be treated as energized.
Residents should report all power outages, downed wires, gas odors, and other utility-related issues directly to Con Edison at 1-800-752-6633, even if they believe the outage has already been reported. Customers who report outages will receive restoration updates directly from Con Edison. For all other non-emergency public safety concerns, including downed trees, flooded roadways, blocked streets, or other hazards, please contact the Scarsdale Police Department non-emergency line at 914-722-1200. If you observe an immediate threat to life or property, call 911.
- Scarsdale Village Board Appoints New Treasurer and Announces Renovations at Village Hall and Fireworks on July 2
- Village Authorizes Matching Funds for Three Stormwater Remediation Projects
- Village Announces Relaunch of Freightway Development Site and Unveils Winning Anniversary Flag Design
- Con Ed to Inspect and Repair Damaged Sewer Laterals, A Call for Green Infrastructure and More from the Scarsdale Village Board
