Annual Fire Prevention Fair - Saturday, Oct 18th!
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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The Scarsdale Fire Department is teaming up with the National Fire Protection Association, the official sponsor of Fire Prevention Week for more than 100 years, to host its annual Fire Prevention Fair. The event will be held at Fire Station 3, 56 Crossway, on Saturday, October 18, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, rain or shine!
Live fire demonstrations will illustrate the dangers of unattended cooking and improper fire extinguishment. There will be antique and modern fire trucks on display, interactive lessons from the fire safety trailer, bounce houses, refreshments, and a firefighter read-aloud to guarantee fun for the whole family. The American Red Cross will be in attendance for those who wish to learn about free smoke alarm installations, emergency preparedness, and hands-only CPR. Guests are also encouraged to bring their own fire extinguishers from home for a complimentary inspection and hands-on training!
The Fire Prevention Fair is a great opportunity to meet our career and volunteer firefighters, who are eager to share key messages from this year's campaign, Charge into Fire Safety: Lithium-Ion Batteries in Your Home
Buy only listed products. Look for a stamp from a nationally recognized testing lab on the packaging and product, which means that it meets important safety standards.
Charge devices safely. Always use the cables that come with the product to charge it.
Follow the instructions from the manufacturer.
Recycle batteries responsibly. Don't throw lithium-ion batteries in the trash or regular recycling bins. Visit call2recycle.org to find a recycling spot near you.
For more information, please contact the Scarsdale Fire Department at (914) 722-1215.
Fall Fun at the Scarsdale Pool
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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About 225 parents and kids came to the Scarsdale Pool on Saturday October 4 to enjoy beautiful fall weather and the Scarecrow Making Hayday event, hosted by the Scarsdale Recreation Department. There was fall fun for the whole family.
The main attraction was scarecrow making. Families brought clothing, hats and accessories and built their own scarecrows with hay provided by the Village. The mood was enhanced by music from a DJ.
Also on hand was the Weinberg Nature Center who brought animals. Plus there was face painting, arts and craft and a raffle.
Thanks to the Scarsdale Recreation Department for a festive fall event.
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
