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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 29 December 2015

Created: 29 December 2015

Last Updated: 29 December 2015

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On December 21, the Scarsdale Concours D'Elegance presented donations totaling $24,000 to the three community charities: Warrior & Family Assistance Fund sponsored by the Scarsdale Police Department, Edgemont Family Counseling Service, and the Scarsdale Foundation. The check presentation was well attended by representatives from the Concours board, each of the charities, the mayor's office, and the daughter of a WWII vet who recently received assistance from the program.

During the presentation, Jill Miller expressed her gratitude to the Warrior & Family Assistance Fund for their generous contribution in assisting her father, Marvin Wunsch (Metal Smith 2nd Class) who served in the US Navy during WWII on the battleship USS Harry Lee. After unsuccessful attempts with the veteran administration, Mr. Wunsch, who is 91 years old and disabled, approached the charity requesting assistance. The Warrior & Family Assistance Fund aided Mr. Wunsch who expressed his gratitude to the program.

The Concours is a non-profit organization that celebrated its 12th auto show in 2015. High school students participate in the organization of the event and proceeds go to community based charities. The show was originally started by two Scarsdale High School seniors, Evan Cygler and Dennis O'Leary in 2003 and continued this year with help from students, Ben Hasson, Sam Fried, Dan Patrizio, Jacob Goodman, Johan Schneider, and Sydney Lief.

These students with their parents and other members work diligently at the beginning of every year to create the show that the town enjoys with classic cars, music, food, and a formal award ceremony. Since its inception, the show raised $300,000 for charities through the generosity of the community, sponsors, and local businesses.

The Concours wishes to thank the following:
Board Members Absent: Gordan Rafajac, Alex Forschner, Richard Hubell, David Fried, and Leif Waller
Sponsors: Chubb Insurance, Pepe Auto Group, Miller Motors, BlackRock
Advertisers: Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP, BMW, Dominic European Car Repairs, Country Bank, Langs, Scarsdale Improvement, Christie-Spence Corp, J.B. Fee Sotherby's, Houlihan Lawrence, Rennewerk, JC Auto, Wilson's Jeweler, Platinum Drive Realtors, RW Pressprich, Alfredo Calvi & Son.

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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 06 January 2016

Created: 06 January 2016

Last Updated: 06 January 2016

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On January 5 Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino announced that construction of the Crane Road Bridge in Scarsdale is complete, on time and on budget. The Crane Road Bridge is the largest bridge construction project that Westchester County has ever undertaken at a total cost of $53 million. Astorino said, "We now have a modern and safe bridge in place that will make it easier to get around Westchester and hopefully take some of the stress out of the busy lives of the people who use the Bronx River Parkway."

Astorino thanked the residents and merchants of Scarsdale as well as Bronx River Parkway motorists for their patience, saying E.E. Cruz, the construction company, and the county worked to keep disruptions at a minimum.

The project is currently $500,000 under budget, expected to be enough to cover a few outstanding invoices. All four lanes of the parkway opened to motorists on September 4, 2015, with all work completed on December 20. Astorino added, "In a perfect world, we would have finished a little sooner, but despite some tough weather we saw during three years of construction, this project was completed in the shortest possible amount of time."

Joseph Malandro, president and COO of E.E. Cruz and Co. Inc., said the uniqueness of the bridge's "mushroom caps" structure motivated the company to bid on the project because "it was an engineering challenge to build it."

The Crane Road Bridge project accomplished the following:

• Expanded the four lanes from 9.5 feet in width to 11 feet
• Added a 4 foot right shoulder and a 2.5 foot left shoulder
• Added a 260-foot long deceleration lane for exiting traffic at Exit 12 northbound;
• Improved the curves to increase stopping sight distance and allow the advisory speed to increase from 20 mph to 30 mph
• Added a sidewalk to the south side of the bridge
• Installed a pedestrian ramp to access the southbound Metro-North Station platform and the Bronx River Parkway Reservation pathway

The Bronx River Parkway's Crane Road Bridge is made up of two bridges, one over the Bronx River, commonly referred to as the "mushroom bridge," and the other over the MTA Metro-North Railroad track north of the Scarsdale Station, commonly referred to as the "railroad bridge." These bridges share a common middle abutment. The original Crane Road Bridge was a major contributing element to the designation of the Bronx River Parkway Reservation on the National Register of Historic Places. Construction of the new bridge follows policies of the U.S. Department of the Interior for historic bridges.

Commenting on the project, Scarsdale Village Manager Steve Pappalardo shared the following:

"The Village worked closely with the County on the initial planning, coordination and timing of the project relative to the Popham Road Bridge project which immediately preceded the Crane Road Bridge construction. We sold the County certain Village properties located on the BRP they needed to complete the project and granted them a temporary construction easement for the north end of the Merchant Lot for the contractor to stage materials and work. The Village was paid in excess of $900,000 for the properties and easement. Relative to the scope of the project, we asked the County to install a sidewalk alongside the Crane Road northbound Exit 12 ramp that would lead to a new pedestrian ramp to and from the inbound (NYC- southbound) platform and the Bronx River Parkway Reservation pathway. We also asked that they improve the safety of this Exit 12 ramp and they did so by adding a 260-foot long deceleration lane for exiting traffic. They completed both of these requests and installed an accompanying crosswalk on East Parkway from the Chateaux to the Merchants Lot to access the sidewalk to the platform. Scarsdale residents living north of Crane Road have found this new access very convenient while walking to the station in the morning and we hope it reduces the number of vehicles accessing the train station for the morning commute. We also asked the County to construct a new stairway from the outbound (north) platform to the Merchants Lot, however the NYSDOT, who along with the Federal Highway Administration funded the preponderance of the project costs, would not approve as they considered it unrelated to the bridge construction project.

The County also modified their Maintenance and Protection of Traffic Plan at the Village's request by maintaining the southbound Exit 12 Crane Road ramp for most of the project duration. This ramp was initially to be closed for 3 of the 4 project stages, however the County revised their construction plan to accommodate its continued use as the Scarsdale Chamber of Commerce and other Village merchants expressed concern about the potential loss of business from removing this access point.

Other than some occasional issues with local traffic or the construction staging areas in the Merchant's Lot and off Depot Place which Village staff handled with the County DPW, the Crane Road Bridge project went well and the Village Center continued to function. As with the Popham Road Bridge Project, the cooperation and understanding of the merchants, business owners and Village residents in general, during what amounted to five years of bridge construction in and around the Village Center, is greatly appreciated. The resulting infrastructure improvements will benefit transportation, vehicular and pedestrian traffic safety and hopefully local commerce for many years to come."

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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 26 December 2015

Created: 26 January 2016

Last Updated: 27 January 2016

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This weekend, the Scarsdale High School Drama Club will present Things My Mother Taught Me at 7:30 pm on January 29 and 30. Written by Katherine DiSavino, the romantic comedy focuses on love, family and life lessons. The show will be directed by senior Victoria DiSalvo, and assistant directed by senior Sydney Prince.

The play follows Olivia and Gabe's move into their first apartment together. They pack up all of their belongings and drive halfway across the country to start a new life in Chicago. Their moving day doesn't go exactly as planned, though, and things become slightly more complicated when all of their parents show up to help! Can a two bedroom apartment contain all of the love, laughs, worry and wisdom that's about to happen? The comedy takes a generational look at relationships, and how sometimes parents pass their best lessons on to their children without even meaning to. Funny and touching, this one will make you laugh out loud and fall in love all over again.

The show will be performed at the Scarsdale High School on January 29th and 30th at 7:30. Tickets for the show will be available at SHSDCTMMTM.eventbrite.com and at the door.

Cast List
Olivia— Genna Shuster
Gabe — Ellis Jones
Lydia — Megan Reynolds
Wyatt — Egzon Muja
Karen — Ava Bradlow
Carter — Harry Gale
Max — Jenna Orrico
Marie — Lara Neishtadt
Officer Riley — Michael Hoffman
Officer Mason — Kathleen Kantor
Sheldon — David D'Silva