Hit Parade: The Top Stories of 2014
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
- Hits: 4413
I am often asked about the top stories on Scarsdale10583. Readers want to know what content gets the highest number of hits and resonates most with readers. Now that we've come to the end of 2014 I thought I would share the greatest hits of 2014 with you as measured by our site analytics.
Some will seem quite obvious – but others are more curious:
1) Tax Revaluation
The coverage of the tax revaluation was a big hit on Scarsdale10583. Real estate tax appraisals are top-of-mind for Scarsdale homeowners and many were eager to know how their home was appraised, what their new tax rate would be --- and most important, how their tax bills compare with that of their neighbors. The first Village-wide revaluation in 49 years caused much discussion and debate, sometimes escalating to heated shouting matches. Especially popular was an eloquent complaint from notable Scarsdale residents Seymour and Audrey Topping about the injustice of raising the tax bill for their home on 2 acres in the Heathcote Association. They currently pay $45,000 per year, but with their new assessment of $4+ million, they stand to see an increase in their tax bill. They are not alone in their discontent and hundreds of appeals are now before a judicial administrator so there will be more coverage to come.
2) Vaping
What exactly is vaping and why should you care? Vaping or smoking hookah pens is a new trend among teens. These slick, flavorful e-cigarettes are nicotine-free and tar-free and marketed as safe cigarettes. But are they safe? Read what the controversy is all about.
3) Massa Closes
Massa will go down in history as the last restaurant to occupy the former 
site of the historic Heathcote Tavern. Ever since Scarsdale lost the tavern, the fate of the building has been in question. Bistro Citron made a go of it for a few years, and when they closed their doors Massa filled the void. Popular for a time, it also lost its way while the owners of the building were engaged in the lengthy process of getting permission to convert the site to initially 11 and now 14 residential units. Though the façade of the tavern will be preserved, that's about all that will remain of this iconic building.
4) Earl Graves Home Goes Down
When Earl Graves agreed to sell his brick mansion at 8 Heathcote Road, the new owners asked for permission to raze it. They claimed that the house was a warren of small rooms, poorly constructed and difficult to renovate. However, the application to tear down the house put the Village's Historic Preservation laws to the test. After all, the preservation laws instructed the Committee on Historic Preservation to determine if the "building is related to an historically important individual." Clearly Graves, the founder of Black Enterprise Magazine, was important so the CHP denied the demolition request. The buyers appealed that decision to the BAR who turned them down initially but ultimately voted to permit them to tear everything down but the brick façade of the central portion of the house. That is all you will see today if you drive down Heathcote Road. A single wall of bricks. Check it out.
5) More Closings
In February of 2014, the popular Golden Horseshoe restaurant Katzenberg's disappeared overnight. Management didn't even mention their plans to their employees who showed up for work the following morning only to find the doors locked. This is the second time that Katzenbergs has opened and closed in the same shopping center. Puzzling indeed.
Also popular with readers was the more recent news that both Taiim Middle Eastern Wine Cellar and toy store Scarsdale Children's Play were closing.
As much as readers wanted to know what closed, they were also interested in what was opening. Two new restaurants appeared on the local scene and were enthusiastically greeted by Scarsdale10583 readers. The Spadaro family who made their name in New Rochelle, has now opened an italian eatery on Central Avenue and enthusiasts of Greek food will be pleased to find Petra, a new Greek restaurant on Garth Road.
6) Prom Photos
Always popular with readers are the photo galleries from the pre-prom red carpet events preceding the Scarsdale Prom. The parade of seniors all decked out for the prom rivaled Hollywood celebrities at the Emmy's. Check out this year's stars of the senior class.
7) Don't Ask Don't Tell
Questions Not to Ask or Answer in Scarsdale got lots of attention on the site. Most of the questions involve the kids – from tots, to teens to grads. Read this so that you don't insert foot in mouth.
8) Hora Time
Bar and Bat Mitzvahs Scarsdale Style: These life cycle events are a focal 
point of a Scarsdale childhood. So many variables, so many decisions, so much money! This article reviewed it all. Where to have it, who to hire, how to entertain your guests and imbue the day with meaning as well.
9) Police Report and 10) Real Estate
We can't complete this article without mentioning the Police Blotter and the weekly Real Estate column... perennial favorites on Scarsdale10583. Petty crimes, family disagreements, mishaps and stunts provide great fodder for comment. House sales and stories and the constantly shifting real estate market all make for lively reading too.
Thanks to all of you for sharing your Scarsdale experiences with us on your community website, Scarsdale10583.com. Continue to send your stories to scarsdalecomments@gmail.com and together we'll make 2015 another great year in the 'dale.
Intense Rainfall Tests Scarsdale's Storm Water Management System
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
- Hits: 5920
How did the Village's new storm water management system perform during the heavy rainstorms on Tuesday December 9th? We asked Village Manager Al Gatta and Department of Public Works Supervisor Benedict Salanitro for a report on areas that have flooded in the past and here is what they shared:
From Village Manager Al Gatta:
"The first issue was the amount of rainfall. The Public Works Department reports that 3.16" of rain fell with great intensity over a 12-hour period, not the 24-hour period which was the design standard for the improvement projects. Also the Village-wide drainage system was still retaining water from rainstorms on the previous Saturday that decreased the amount the system could hold on Tuesday.
The improvements at George Field Park performed as expected with a small amount of flooding on the north end, across Eton Road. The rain garden at Cooper Green, opposite the public safety building also performed as designed and there were no problems.
However, at Brewster Road we had flooding in the high school parking lots but the road was open. We believe the flooding was caused by excess water in the watercourse from the rains on Saturday and the rain intensity on Tuesday. The 3.16" of rainfall entered the system too quickly, causing the parking areas to flood.
The Hutchinson River area had little flooding, but had some discharge from the sanitary sewers. We are looking at this issue with the County and the Village may have to undertake an Inflow/infiltration Study to determine the amount of rainwater that is getting into the sanitary sewer system and causing the backups. We are also working on a project with New Rochelle and the County to determine if the incidence of flooding can be reduced in the Hutchinson River area."
From Benedict Salanitro, Supervisor of the Department of Public Works:
"The very intense rainfall accumulation in a relatively short period of time (3.16 inches in 12 hours- as reported by Westchester County in Mamaroneck), was a perfect recipe for flooding and nuisance water to accumulate in low lying areas. This intensity together with about an inch of rain accumulation from the previous Saturday, (into part of Sunday) caused excessive saturation of the ground and the water was able to sheet flow off of the lawn( mimicking blacktop surface runoff) with greater velocity than normal.
The areas around Brewster Road (High School) was one of the first areas that experienced water related issues around 10 am, because the flows were so high. Many folks were not expecting to see the type of flooding that occurred and expressed concerns about the drainage system not being able to handle the rain, but in fact the conditions that we experienced was in-line with the expectations based upon the actually rainfall and duration.
The time that it took for these areas to recede was also an indicator for us of how well the system does in fact work, given the limitations of the amount of rainfall. All in all, while there were many areas of concern, understanding the storm characteristics puts everything into perspective."
Asked about homes near Cayuga Pond in Heathcote, Salanitro added, "There was flooding on some properties along Seneca and Cayuga that surprised some people, but we believe that the improvements worked as expected."
Architect Paul Katz Passes Away at Age 57
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
- Hits: 8396
Renowned architect and Scarsdale resident Paul Katz passed away on November 20, 2014 at the age of 57. He was the President and Managing Principal at Kohn, Pederson Fox (KPF), a global architectural firm with 670 employees. Katz died of septic shock at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital where he was being treated for cancer. Funeral services for him were held at Temple Israel Center in White Plains.
Katz lived in Greenacres with his wife Ziva Freiman and children Jonathan and Hannah. Jonathan is now studying at Oxford and Hannah is a student at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
Katz joined KPF in 1984 and is credited with managing the design and construction of some of the largest buildings in the world. Among them are the Shanghai World Financial Center with 101 stories and the 118-story International Commerce Center in Hong Kong. He developed the entertainment and conference center Earls Court in London, refurbished and expanded Covent Garden in London and worked on the master plan for Hudson Yards on the west side of Manhattan which is now being built.
Katz was a native of Cape Town, South Africa where his parents worked for a family-owned construction company, his father as an accountant and his mother running its human resources department. He studied architecture at the University of Cape Town and later at the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, where he received a bachelor of architecture degree in 1982. It was there that he met Ziva Freiman, a fellow South African, who was also studying architecture at the institute. Katz earned a master's degree in architecture at Princeton.
He was also a competitive chess player and played last summer in an exhibition match in the south of France. Donations can be sent to the KPF Foundation for an academic scholarship in his name.
Storm Inundates the 'Dale
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
- Hits: 3848
The seven acre retention pond at George Field Park did its job
Our first stop was George Field where the impact of the work was dramatic. The Village constructed a 7-acre dry retention pond at George Field, which is the largest pond in the county. The field was filled up and looked more like a lake than a green, and appeared to be doing its job of retaining water for slow release downstream. However, across the street, a home on Oxford Road still had considerable flooding in its sideyard.
At the library, library pond had expanded and the benches that usually border the pond were actually in the The benches around library pond were underwater
At the high school there was water water everywhere. The parking lots were deluged, the stream that runs along the parking lot was totally submerged and the drinking lot was underwater.
On Thursday, parents with high school students received an email that said:
"The Brewster Road and Wayside Lane entrances to the pick-up/drop-off circle are closed. We ask all parents who normally use the circle for pick-up to instead pick up their children on Post Road. All students will be instructed to go to Post Road to be picked up. We anticipate continued problems with flooding, as rain is forecast through tomorrow night. Therefore, we encourage all students to use buses and to carpool as much as possible. Parking spots are in short supply as the gravel lot and the lot at Harcourt Road have already flooded."
The parking lots at Scarsdale High School were flooded
Did you have flooding in your area? If so, send your photos to scarsdalecomments@gmail.com and post your comments below. There were no parking spots for students on Tuesday
The Giving Season: Take Our Survey
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- Written by Stacie M. Waldman
- Hits: 3857
It's that time of year again. Hanukkah and Christmas are just weeks away and you may be thinking about finding the perfect gifts, tipping those who help you all year round or how you will celebrate the holiday season.
December is also a traditional time to make annual donations to your favorite organizations and charities.
But how much do you give and to whom? We have put together a short survey about giving and hope you will take a minute to answer these 6 questions. Responses are anonymous! Once we tabulate the results we will let you know about your neighbors "giving" behavior ....
It will just take a minute. Click here to let us know what you give:
