Emily Hirsch Turns 95
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Our beloved “Sweet Lady,” officially turned 95 years young on Friday, June 15th, and I was there to share in the celebration. And, oh boy, what a celebration. Friends, family, residents, and fellow local proprietors came out in full force to show their love, respect and admiration for one of our town’s treasures. There really is no one like her.
Emily’s son, Jeff Brown, a retired attorney, says, “She’s just a terrific person, who has always been there guiding me throughout my life.”
Jill Lefkowitz, one of Emily’s granddaughters, added, “She’s also a great role model with a pretty remarkable work ethic.” That’s for sure!
After chitchatting with Emily’s family for a bit, I had one burning question that I needed answered. So, I turned to Emily’s son Jeff, and asked, with resolute determination, “I see your Mom driving, almost every morning, a pretty old Mercedes, and I’m dying to know…what year is it? And, how does she see over the steering-wheel?”
Jeff smiled and gave a little laugh, as he answered, “It’s an ’84 Mercedes and she adds two cushions to the driver’s seat for some added height.”
Hmmm. The mystery has been solved.
The nicest thing about Emily’s birthday bash was the community outpouring of love and affection that went into it. La Renaissance made a beautiful cake, Starbucks donated the coffee, Scarsdale Art and Frame provided a gorgeously framed birthday card and Chamber of Commerce commendation, and Lange’s supplied the outdoor venue and food.
Bonnie Ernst, a friend from Scarsdale Child’s Play for 31 years, was there to enjoy the festivities. She informed me that Emily recently signed a two-year lease to remain in her current space. Yay.
The party also drew Dr. Rosen from Scarsdale Eye Gallery, Michelle from La Dentelliere, and a group from Accent
Tony from “Lange’s” and Emily’s good friend, Ann Jackler, a local psychotherapist in town, joined forces to throw
I asked one of Emily’s granddaughters, Jill, “Have you been surprised at how beloved your Grandmother is?”
Her answer, quite simply, “Not really.”
Happy Birthday, Emily!
Photos courtesy of Karen Baranick and Sharon Lippmann
Contributor Sharon Lippmann, writes about her "so called suburban life" as a proud resident of Scarsdale, NY. She is a writer, blogger, mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend and one sassy chick. She loves exploring the interesting, strange, perplexing, vexing, ridiculous and funny that life offers up frequently. Enjoying more of what she has to say about nothing, and, well, everything at mydailypill.com .
Scarsdale Kids Fight Poverty With Lemonaid
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Dozens of Scarsdale children supported the Robin Hood organization on Saturday June 9 by setting up lemonade stands to sell drinks and goodies to support a great cause. Robin Hood contributes the funds from the "lemonaid" initiative to underprivileged children who live in local urban areas, to provide meals, medical help, nutritional information, schooling, shelter, and legal counsel for those in need. The organization’s efforts highlight the1.8 million New Yorkers that live below the poverty line and the 59% of babies born in NYC who are born into poverty. Every year at this time, organizers send out kits and “lemonaid” T-shirts to all parents and children that want to take part in this program to sell lemonade to benefit children in need.
(contributed by Debbie Singer)
The Parking Permit Lottery: Equality vs. Loyalty
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In the early days of the Christie Place garage, few Village residents were willing to pay the additional fee required to park there. Indeed, there were so few takers, the Village allowed commuters to swap their Freightway permits for Christie Place permits in order to generate buzz about the new garage.
Today, demand is so high that the Village is holding a lottery for the privilege of using the Christie Place garage from July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013. As a result, commuters who currently park at Christie Place may be forced to make alternative arrangements in the year to come, and many of them aren’t happy about it.
The increased demand for Christie Place parking permits has, undoubtedly, been driven by the construction project on Popham Road. It’s now harder than ever to get to and from the Freightway garage, both by car and on foot. Commuters who have opted for Freightway in the past because parking permits cost hundreds of dollars less than those for Christie Place are fed up with the time-consuming hassle, and they’re demanding spots in Christie Place. These demands pit historically budget-conscience residents with those who’ve been willing to pay a premium for the “right side of the tracks” convenience of Christie Place.
In an attempt to treat all of these commuters in a similar manner, the Village recently abandoned its practice of selling parking permits on a “first come, first served” basis in favor of a lottery. Although the previous system didn’t guarantee residents an ongoing right to park in the garage of their choosing, longtime permit holders were cognizant of the June 1 date for submitting a new application and, in general, were able to renew their permits from year-to-year. This year’s lottery, however, casts doubt on the value of the calendar-watching on which permit holders have relied in the past.
One commuter, who asked not to be identified, said that “the imposition of a lottery tells me that the Village doesn’t care that I’ve paid a $400 annual premium to park in Christie Place since 2009. If this decision was made by the Village Board, then our mayor and trustees apparently value equality over loyalty, and they’re out-of-touch with the mores of our community. My kids and I look forward to the elimination of the ‘adult only’ lap lanes at the municipal pool this weekend.”
Applications for parking permits will be accepted by mail from Friday, June 1 through 5 p.m. on Monday, June 10. A lottery to select applications is scheduled for Tuesday, June 12. The cost of an annual permit to park in Christie Place was recently raised to $1,450 (vs. $1,250 for 2011/2012). A permit to park in the Freightway garage during this period is $890 (vs. $840 for 2011/2012). Additional information is available on the village website .
Bank Scammers Arrested in Scarsdale Village
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Another big week for Scarsdale Police: Quick work on the part of personnel at Chase Bank on East Parkway and Scarsdale Police lead to the arrest of a Mt. Vernon woman and a Bronx man who were attempting to use forged identification to withdraw funds from the bank. Bank personnel recognized Fern M. Davis from a security image that was distributed after she made a similar attempt at Chase Bank on Palmer Avenue last week. Police also had a description of the car she was driving.
Police got a call from Chase on Wednesday afternoon June 6 
at 1:42 pm that a woman, who was later identified as Davis, age 47, had attempted another withdrawal and was leaving the bank. Police were able to stop Davis in her car which was driven by Shannon Burley, age 31 of the Bronx. The two were unable to make a getaway due to the horrific traffic in the Village, which was snarled by the Popham Road Bridge project, a Verizon truck on the Popham Road Bridge and a Con Edision truck that was repairing a gas leak downtown. Stuck in the car, it was easy for police to stop and investigate them.
The two were charged with a host of offences stemming from a string of similar incidents at area banks including:
- Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument
- Attempted ID Theft
- Attempted Grand Larceny
- Unlawful Possession of Personal ID information
Both were arraigned in Scarsdale Village court and remanded to the Westchester County Jail on $75,000 bail each.
Students Switch It Up With Senior Options
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The Senior Options program at Scarsdale High School is in full swing. Running from April 30th to June 12th, the program involves High School Seniors working at either internships or in independent project rather than attending school for the final section of the year. Seniors choose many different paths to fulfill their thirty hours a week, ten of which must be structured for those committing to an independent project. Many seniors venture into the city to work at their internships. Senior Carly Cohen is currently working at Boss Sounds, a music management and marketing company. Cohen’s responsibilities include updating the company website here. “Click on an artist. The news/press/tours/videos, that’s all me coding it in,” stated Cohen. Cohen expounded, “I just do different kind of publicity stuff every day. At night we usually go artists and repertoire researching, which involves going to concerts and scouting for new talent.” Considering all of the interesting actions that she is responsible for, it is no wonder that Cohen raves about her Senior Options internship. “I think I’ve learned more here than I did in all 4 years of high school.” Educational issues aside, the city itself has its own allure. Cohen’s favorite part is still, “Working in the city and eating at all these new restaurants every day.”
Other seniors have found internships closer to home. Senior Cara Scharf has taken up an internship at 
Hartsdale Veterinary Hospital. “I go in at 10:00 where I sit in on appointments. They range from normal check ups to vaccinations to actual medical exams. Around 11:30 appointments end and we start to prepare for surgery. We are usually in surgery till about 1:00, and then we eat lunch and resume appointments at 3:00. My role is usually to sit in and watch what is going on, and help with anything non-medical.” Scharf enjoys the internship, noting that the most interesting part has, “Definitely been watching surgeries.”
Still other seniors have decided to take a more physical route in their internships. Seniors Jake Dorf and Daniel Wilentz both have manual labor scheduled into their days. Dorf is working at Total Form Fitness Gym in Hartsdale. “I clean a lot and watch how the trainers interact with clients. They do a lot of key stretching that has helped a lot of the older clients here still be able to work out and stay fit.” Dorf likes the job because of his co-workers, the trainers at the gym. “It’s been really fun. I like the guys a lot 
here. They’re all nice guys.” Wilentz took an internship at the Greenburgh Nature Center. The job includes both indoor and outdoor sections. Wilentz’s favorite part is the indoor work, which includes, “Maintaining the animal museum and presenting animals to visitors.” However, the bulk of the work is the outdoor section, consisting of a lot of physical activity. Wilentz, on his outdoor responsibilities stated, “I cleaned out a chicken coop yesterday. Today we worked in a barn for sheep, cleaning out the old hay and putting in new hay. And feeding the animals of course. There's also maintaining the trails that the nature center has.” Similar, to Dorf, Wilentz also enjoys the company of his co-workers. “There are some other chill kids from Eastchester doing it, so it's a good time.”
Still another group of seniors has taken up residence at different schools throughout the district. Senior Adam Grossman is working with Mr. Bitterman’s 6th grade Social Studies class at Scarsdale Middle School. “I go in at 8:30, talk about the lesson plan for the day with the teacher, and co-teach for his classes. Sometimes I make a
lesson plan myself and teach on my own.” Having to deal with kids all day could be a hassle for some, but Grossman is getting by just fine. “The kids are usually very cooperative. Naturally they’re not as focused as older kids, but reception was generally positive with me working in their class.
Other than those doing full internships, a smaller portion of the grade embarks on independent projects. Seniors Evan Bederman and Max Cohen have decided to create some new apps for Android. “We're starting off small. Our first one is a dictionary app.
We've spent a few days getting acquainted with the android ecosystem and developing in eclipse. Earlier we spent a lot of time developing a website for the senior options program as well,” stated Bederman. The two work at the high school in one of the computer teacher, Mr. Leong’s, room. As their structured time, the two are interning for a freelance web developer in Maryland. “We're just helping him out with projects. So far we've tested some projects he's finished to make sure there are no bugs and they work correctly on multiple platforms,” continued Bederman. The process has been very rewarding for Bederman. “You get out what you put in. I feel I'm definitely picking up skills that will be useful to me in my college and professional life.” Senior Rebecca Hallac is also completing an Independent Project that involves, “Taking online Stanford classes, using Codeacademy.com, and helping out in a class at school.” The structured time consists of helping out with four of the high schools computer art classes. Hallac noted that, “It’s more of individualized help for students, but I will hopefully be teaching a few classes later!” The end goal of the project is, “To pretty much learn javascript programming. I think it is a great process. It allows students to learn about things that they never had time to do before.”
Overall, the Senior Options program has received high marks from the students participating in it. There is an overwhelming support for the program in contrast to continued school learning. “It's better than school,” remarked Wilentz. “The stress level is really low comparatively, and I think seniors deserve that type of break.” Grossman maintained similar sentiments. “Since seniors are done with their college decisions, they especially don’t want to sit in a classroom. Senior Options is a great way to switch things up!”
This article was contributed by SHS Senior Zach Edelman who is working at Scarsdale10583.com during Senior Options.
