Coyotes Scare Families in Quaker Ridge
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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What to do about a pack of coyotes that are frolicking on Bradford Road adjacent to the walking path to Quaker Ridge School? Click here to see the video.
Parents and pet lovers are expressing alarm about a group of coyotes who are tearing around Quaker Ridge yards, often while children are walking to school. Today one coyote had captured a squirrel and was seen tearing it to bits.
One mom called the Scarsdale Police to ask for their help, and police advised to “keep the kids and the pets inside!” That was little solace to those who use the popular walking path every day, some for walking kids back and forth to school. Apparently police only kill coyotes who exhibit threatening behavior or appear to be sick.
Another parent was so terrified that she considered sending her husband out with a bat while he accompanied his son to first grade.
Here is information from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation about what to do if you see a coyote:
-Be aggressive in your behavior – stand tall and hold arms out to look large. If a coyote lingers for too long, then make loud noises, wave your arms, throw sticks and stones.
-Contact your local police department and DEC regional office for assistance if you notice coyotes exhibiting "bold" behaviors and having little or no fear of people, or if you see them repeatedly during the daytime in a human-populated area or near residences. Seeing a coyote occasionally throughout the year is not evidence of bold behavior.
-Do not allow pets to run free. Supervise all outdoor pets to keep them safe from coyotes and other wildlife, especially at sunset and at night. Small dogs and cats are especially vulnerable.
-Teach children to appreciate coyotes from a distance.
-Of course, if there is ever an emergency involving a coyote, please contact the Scarsdale Police Department at (914) 722-1200. A police officer will be dispatched.
-Please check the DEC website for further guidance and information. DEP Regional Office: 845-256-3000.
We reached out to the Scarsdale Police who said, "If a person sees a coyote, the person should avoid the area and call PD. Sometimes coyotes may be sick or dangerous and could pose a threat to the community. We will then respond to the area and monitor the actions of the coyote."
(Videos from Bradford Road, October 1, 2025)
Helping Kids Understand and Manage their Emotions
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- Written by: Wendy MacMillan
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Parenting is no joke, but sometimes it sure does help to laugh about it…especially when the humor is served up along with some sage advice. On Thursday September 19th, parents were treated to a lively and amusing discussion with bestselling author Alyssa Blask Campbell, where she shared practical strategies for helping kids understand and manage their emotions from her latest book, Big Kids, Bigger Feelings.
The event, sponsored by The Friends of the Scarsdale Library, was hosted by Caitlin Murray of Big Time Adulting. Murray, a brilliant and hilarious mind, not only brings a fresh perspective on the chaos of parenting, but she also brought her levity and wit to this important conversation with the authors.
Rachel Stewart Lounder, co-author of “Big Kids, Bigger Feelings” joined Campbell and Murray for the event at the Scarsdale Public Library where they discussed parenting tips for the unique needs of children. The authors emphasized the importance of understanding individual responses through a nervous system lens and how to recognize each child's individual sensory needs and how to provide appropriate support and regulation.
While their book lays out an easy five step method for parents to follow, in Thursday’s conversation the authors highlighted the concept of “sensory sensitivity” and “sensory seeking” and described how different children react differently to sensory stimuli. They went on to stress the role of parents in providing a supportive and regulated environment for their children and encouraged parents to model appropriate self-regulation themselves.
Before taking questions from the audience, the trio covered a variety of parenting topics including the challenge of dealing with children's misbehavior at home compared to the positive reviews they receive at school, the importance of compassion and understanding children's emotions, the significance of giving children control and space to express their emotions, and practical tips for parents to help their children recharge and manage their sensory needs after a long day (just to name a few!).
Though certainly a serious topic, the authors had the packed room laughing out loud and nodding in recognition. Campbell, Lownder, and Murray connected with their audience not just by sharing their expert knowledge, but by also sharing their honest, personal parenting anecdotes…demonstrating that the trials of raising young children is a universal experience.
See here to buy your own copy of Big Kids, Bigger Feelings. From their website: “Big Kids, Bigger Feelings is the guide you need to help your child thrive during these developmentally complex and wonderful years. The social and emotional skills you provide your children with now will prepare them for a lifetime of self-advocacy and stronger emotional intelligence. Campbell’s revolutionary Collaborative Emotion Processing (CEP) method, used in preschool and elementary school environments, teaches you how to work with your children to help them understand how they are feeling and process their big emotions in healthy, constructive ways.”
Discover how to:
· Teach kids to handle unkind behaviors and set boundaries
· Help kids learn to regulate themselves when they feel angry, sad, or upset
· Manage technology use in a safe and healthy way
· Navigate puberty, body changes, sex, drugs, and other important topics
· Develop a deeper connection with your child
And to make sure you don’t miss their next fun-filled event, check out The Friends of the Scarsdale Library.
Letter to the Editor: Proposed Garden Road Development Would Do Irreparable Damage to Neighbors and the Environment
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- Written by: Richard Cantor
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The following letter was written by Scarsdale residents Richard Cantor on 9/11/25.
The significance of this date, 9/11, does not escape me.
Nor does the significance of the decision Planning Board members must make concerning whether to approve or disapprove the proposed development of the property at 80 Garden Road.
A few days ago, on September 6th the front page of the NY Post had a very poignant picture of a NYC Firefighter in full turnout gear sitting on a curb after the collapse of the World Trade Center towers with his head bowed, covering his face with a one of his hands.
The headline read: “The number of first responders with 9/11 linked cancers skyrockets to nearly 50,000”. In other words, the long-term loss of life is far in excess of the original 2,977 people killed during the initial attack. The damage continues to accumulate.
That article serves as a metaphor for the long-term devastation many developers have been permitted to do to our community and to the environment – damage which aggregates well beyond the immediate impact of their clear cutting of trees and assaults on the soil.
There are overwhelming reasons why the project as proposed to develop 80 Garden Road should be disapproved, and I will let others testify as to what those reasons are. Trusting that the Planning Board is sincerely committed to balancing the conflicting demands for reasonable development against the overriding need to provide adequate protection for our community and the environment, I would like to suggest workable criteria to evaluate when a project is reasonable and when it represents egregious levels damage.
My recommendation is very straightforward and workable. Let the same profit motivation developers seek be balanced by an equivalent dollar amount of rehabilitation developers are required to pay into a fund created by the Village to compensate for the damage they do. Easily accessible criteria already exist on line to evaluate the financial value of various trees, the financial value of fertile soil, and the financial value of animal habitats. All that has to be done is to put these criteria to use.
Taking the 80 Garden Road proposal as an example, and to keep the mental math simple enough to do in one’s head, let’s say the developer wants to cut down 200 trees and that the financial value of the average tree on that property is appraised at $5,000. Then for the tree removal portion of the plan the developer would be required to contribute $5,000 x 200 trees or $1,000,000 dollars into the fund, which the Village could use to rehabilitate the environment, to compensate neighbors for damages to their properties and to ensure against aggregate damages in the future. If the trees were appraised with a different value, the required contribution to the fund could be adjusted accordingly. To that amount the value of damage to the soil and natural habitats would have to be added.
In this way developers’ motivations for profits would be tempered by the requirement that they invest to mitigate the damages their developments inflict on our community, and the Planning Board would have a consistent and unimpeachable methodology for evaluating proposed projects. No longer would developers be able to seek as much profit as possible regardless of the consequences and then abandon others to absorb the costs of mitigating the damage they do. Their self-interests would be self-limiting and they would be motivated to temper their projects to much more sustainable scopes. This would accrue benefits to all current and future Scarsdale residents while still permitting reasonable projects to be approved, such methodology would clarify and simplify the review process, and before anyone raises knee jerk objections without careful consideration, let me offer that the various environmentally oriented organizations in Scarsdale would be delighted to assist the Planning Board in implementing this groundbreaking idea.
In the meantime, since the proposed project for 80 Garden Road would inflict irreparable damage on neighboring properties and the environment writ large, it should be soundly rejected.
Thank you for your consideration,
Richard Cantor
Innes Road
Scarsdale, NY
Applications Filed to Raze Seven Scarsdale Properties: Dolkart Says 21 Barry Road Should Be Preserved
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Seven more properties could be demolished if approved by the Scarsdale Committee for Historic Preservation at their meeting on September 16, 2025. On the agenda are applications to raze the Ethical Cultural Society and replace it with a 110 unit senior living facility, to demolish a grand farmhouse on Eton Road and to take down 2 homes on Garden Road where developers have applied to build a subdivision, that will be under consideration by the Planning Board.
What’s more? Andrew Dolkart, the Village’s preservation consultant, has provided his views on whether 21 Barry Road and 74 Carthage Road meet the Village’s criteria for preservation.
80 and 88 Garden Road
Applications have been filed by developer Eilon Amidor to take down both 80 and 88 Garden Road, two homes that are within a proposed development site to be called The Gardens. The application to build 5 new homes will be before the Planning Board on September 11, 2025. This means that these two homes are under consideration by two land use boards at the same time. Plans to develop the wet site have been scuttled many times. However now the developers appear to be moving forward pending approval.
Amidor has also filed applications to take down:
-54 Drake Road
-17 Highland Way
This brings the total to four applications by Amidor for one meeting of the committee.
24 Eton Road
An application to raze a prominent 1911 farmhouse atop a hill in the Grange, at 24 Eton Road has also been filed. Perhaps in anticipation of resistance to the demolition, the applicants, Mikhail and Iuliia Pavlova have retained Lucia Chiocchio of Cuddy and Feder to represent them. She argues that the home does not meet the Village’s criteria for preservation. See her letter here:
Ethical Culture Society
Another interesting application has been filed to demolish two buildings owned by the Ethical Culture Society at 7 Saxon Woods Road in order to build a 25,000 square foot, two-story senior living facility on the site. The building would house 110 seniors and would be located next to the Ambassador. See the application here:
21 Barry Road
Also of interest, Cultural Architectural Historian Andrew Dolkart has evaluated a home at 21 Barry Road for his views on whether or not it meets Scarsdale’s criteria for preservation. After considerable research he determined that the home was part of Scarsdale’s earliest development and was built in a subdivision known as Westover. The development was “characterized by modest houses, designed during the 1920’s in historical styles with each uniformly set back on its plot behind a lawn.” Dolkart found that the house meets criteria 1 for preservation in that “it reflects the broad pattern of Scarsdale history.” He concludes by saying “It would be detrimental to the character of Westover and to the character of Scarsdale were this well designed and largely intact house to be demolished.” See his full letter here:
74 Carthage Road
74 Carthage Road
Also asked to research a mid-century modern ranch at 74 Carthage Road, Dolkart did not recommend that it be preserved. He said it was “not of significant architectural interest.” See his evaluation here:
Yeonsoo Go Released on August 4, 2025 After Five Days of Fear and Uncertainty
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(Updated August 6, 2025) After five days in detention, Scarsdale’s Yeonsoo Go was released by ICE on August 4, 2025. The 20 year-old rising sophomore was detained at Federal Plaza by ICE agents on July 31 after a routine visa hearing.
Though her visa was not set to expire until December, 2025 and she was following all legal procedures to renew it, she was seized by ICE and flown to a detention center in Louisiana. Friends and supporters held a protest in Federal Plaza on August 2, 2025 and enlisted the support of New York lawmakers to intervene on her behalf.
See the statement below from Assemblywoman Amy Paulin who secured her release with other New York lawmakers. A vigil that had been planned for Yeonsoo in Chase Park on Thursday August 7 has now been cancelled.
August 4, 2025 Statement from Assemblywoman Amy Paulin on the Release of Yeonsoo Go
I spoke with Yeonsoo Go tonight, and hearing her voice—happy, relieved, and finally free—filled me with emotion I can hardly put into words. She is home, she is safe, and she is so grateful for the outpouring of love and support from this incredible community.
I am overjoyed, moved to tears, and filled with pride in everyone who stood up for Yeonsoo. The pain, fear, and uncertainty she and her family endured over the past five days should never have happened—but tonight we celebrate her freedom and the strength of a community that refused to stay silent.
I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to Senator Chuck Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Congressman George Latimer, Congresswoman Grace Meng, and Congressman Mike Lawler for their swift efforts to help secure Yeonsoo’s release.
Because of this joyous outcome, the vigil and rally planned for this Thursday at 5pm is now cancelled. But the spirit behind it—unity, justice, and compassion—lives on. Let this moment remind us of the power we have when we come together, and of the work we must continue to ensure that no one is unjustly detained in this country.
August 6 Statement from State Senator Shelley B. Mayer
State Senator Shelley B. Mayer said, "I am deeply relieved that Yeonsoo has been released from ICE custody and has been reunited with her family. While I am grateful for the swift actions of my colleagues Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, Congressman George Latimer, Congressman Michael Lawler, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Senator Chuck Schumer, the Episcopal Diocese of New York, and the advocacy of so many in our community, we must not forget that Yeonsoo should have never been detained. Based on the information provided by her lawyer, Yeonsoo is a lawful, law abiding resident of the United States and has not been accused nor convicted of any crime.
"ICE’s actions against Yeonsoo, like their actions against thousands of others across this country, were unconstitutional and unacceptable. There is no justification for detaining law abiding individuals who are residing lawfully in the United States and attending immigration hearings as required.
"While we celebrate Yeonsoo’s release and her safe return home, we cannot forget about the thousands of other individuals, including many of our own community members, who are being held in custody without due process right now. Nor can we stop speaking up about ICE’s inhumane and hyper-agressive actions which are tearing our communities apart in fear and anxiety. I continue to stand firmly with our immigrant neighbors and will never stop fighting in the New York State Senate to protect their rights and to uphold the premises of our system of democracy."
