Cheerleaders Shine at Weekend Tournament at SHS
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The Scarsdale Cheerleaders hosted their eighth annual cheerleading competition at Scarsdale High School on Saturday, January 12th. About 30 teams from Westchester County, the Bronx, Putnam County and Pennsylvania participated. The competition was a fundraiser for the high school cheerleading program, helping to send both their JV and Varsity teams to compete at the Nationals Championships in Orlando, Florida the weekend of February 8, 2013.
This year's Scarsdale Varsity team is lead by captains Taylor Doyle and Ali Levy and dominated by seniors.
According to Coach Stacy Monteiro, "Having mostly seniors this year and many of them who have been on Varsity since they were freshman their attitudes, work ethic and skill level is much better this year than in previous years so they have productive practices, work harder and compete better. They have also been scoring much higher on their score sheets, placing in the top 3 at competitions except for regionals. This current team took 5th place out of 18 teams at the Northeast Regional Qualifier for Nationals. Both our JV and Varsity teams will attend the Nationals championships in Orlando from Feb. 7th - 11th."
Here's a list of the teams that participated on Saturday:
Those in bold were winners in their divisions:
Ardsley
Delaware Valley
Eastchester
Good Counsel
Gorton
Harrison
Our Lady of Assumption
Mount Vernon
Portchester
Preston
RC Ketcham
Stars Youth
St. Catharine's
St. Francis Xavier
St. Theresa's
Ursuline
Walton
Westlake
Photos contributed by Mary Blum and Sunny Feinstein
Former Scarsdale Resident Martha Flanders Joins Dorf & Nelson LLP in Rye
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On November 5th, 2012, Martha J. Flanders, Esq. joined Dorf & Nelson LLP in Rye, New York, as Partner in the Corporate Law Practice Department. She brings valuable experience to the firm as she has been practicing Corporate and Business Law for over 30 years at several prestigious New York City firms. Most recently, Ms. Flanders was a partner at Cozen O'Conner where she practiced in the Corporate Law Group focusing on mergers and acquisitions, public and private securities offerings, venture capital investments, joint ventures and strategic alliances and corporate finance transactions, including premium finance, life settlement and related capital markets and securitization transactions. Prior to joining Cozen, Ms. Flanders was a partner at WolfBlock LLP in New York.
Some of the recent complex transactions in which Ms. Flanders has been involved include representation of:
1. An internet information aggregator in its $25 million recapitalization which includes the sale of preferred securities and a tender offer for outstanding securities.
2. Private equity funds in their $20-$25 million acquisitions of portfolios of life settlements.
3. A leading social media advertiser in a two-step sale of the company to a foreign public advertising conglomerate.
4. A corporate investment advisor in the sale of the company to a private bank.
5. A technology company in the $55 million sale of its business to a Fortune 500 company.
6. A technology company in multiple private placements of equity and convertible debt securities in several rounds of financings, including initial financing, bridge financings and up and down rounds of financings with angel, venture capital and strategic investors.
7. A storage company in a $10 million recapitalization which included the take out of one investor group by another investor group.
8. An asset management company with approximately $1 billion of assets under management in connection with its acquistions of related businesses and management life-outs Banks, financial institutions and corporate borrowers in secured and unsecured lending transactions ranging in size from $2 million to $80 million, including premium financial transactions.
Degrees and Qualifications
Ms. Flanders received her Juris Doctorate degree from New York University School of Law and her Bachelors degree in English from Barnard College where she graduated cum laude. She is admitted to practice law in the State of New York.
Bar Memberships and Affiliations
Ms. Flanders's professional affiliations include membership in the American Bar Association and New York State Bar Association, and as an advocate of community service, Ms. Flanders is active in the governance and community outreach of Hitchcock Presbyterian Church in Scarsdale, New York.
Dorf & Nelson LLP, Rye, NY, was founded in 1992. Its attorneys serve as legal counsel and trusted strategic business advisers of leading Fortune 1000 corporations as well as mid-market and emerging businesses. Their commitment to a high level of excellence, client-centered relationships as well as their breadth of experience lead to excellent results in the practice areas of Corporate Law, Commercial and Financial Services Litigation, Life Sciences, Intellectual Property, Real Estate, and Tax-Exempt Not-For-Profit Organizations.
Securing Our Schools: How Safe is Safe Enough?
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To what extent should we secure our schools? That's the question this week in Scarsdale where parents, teachers and school administrators continue to debate school safety. Protocols in district buildings are under review and some are urging stricter enforcement of current measures and implementation of new procedures. As Scarsdale School Superintendent Dr. McGill said in an email to the community, "everyone involved has had to wrestle with the difficult balance between having a secure school and having a school that's an accessible part of its community."
This is not the first time school security has come into question, and undoubtedly will not bee the last.
In June 1999 the NY Times ran a piece about an anonymous threat that forced the closing of the high school. According to the piece, when school reopened, "All students had to file in and out of the same entrance as book bags and containers were inspected by local police officers. In addition, school officials closed the cafeteria's kitchen and canceled after-school and evening activities through next week, when school ends for the summer. Students were also forced to remain on campus throughout the school day rather than come and go freely during their lunch hour or free periods. And they were told not to bring pagers or cellular phones to school."
Several years later, after repeated bomb threats administrators installed metal detectors for a day at the high school, and the entire student body had to line up single file to be scanned before entering the building.
Now rather than bomb threats, school officials are dealing with fears of gunmen and pondering what can be done to fortify the schools and guard against intruders and marksmen. A recent letter to Dr. McGill suggests that teachers be armed with taser guns containing pepper spray and there are calls for other measures including:
- Checklists to account for the whereabouts of each student
- Silent alarm buttons in the school office to alert the Scarsdale Police, similar to buttons placed next to bank tellers. Pushing this button would be easier than getting to a phone and dialing 911.
- Key card access to allow students and teachers to enter doors that are normally kept locked during the school day.
- Retaining guards to man school entrances
Area nursery schools are also concerned. In an email to parents from Deborah Fine at the Little School she assured them that "we have reviewed our emergency procedures. ...We are confident we have your children's safety as our topmost priority."
It is indeed difficult to strike the right balance to secure the schools without turning the staff into security guards who spend valuable class time following cumbersome procuedures.
A few parents we spoke to were philosophical about the issue. Tatjana Dragic, a mother of three students in the district said, "After Hurricane Sandy we took down three large trees that were too close to our house and precariously rooted. We were heartbroken and are planting other, smaller trees to replace them. But the reality is that, due to climate change, there will be more strong winds coming our way and we cannot risk having trees fall on the house. The Newtown tragedy is a similar sign of our changing social climate, and that we need to be very serious about school security, all the while protecting the joys of childhood."
Author and mom of two Scarsdale students, Sharon Lippman added, "I'm not nervous. They have to go to school. Our schools do their best to protect our kids. Unfortunately, if someone has a gun and wants to do harm, there is, currently, not much a school can do to stop that individual. My holocaust survivor grandparents and my time in Israel taught me an invaluable lesson ... tragedies happen but life goes on and you have to live."
Big Home Sales for 2012
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The weekly feature on home sales is one of the most popular columns on Scarsdale10583 with good reason. Scarsdale has a dazzling collection of homes, at prices that are equally astounding. We asked a few of the local realtors to send us the listings for their biggest or more significant sales of 2012 and here are the selections:
From Houlihan Lawrence:
16 Burgess Road: Six-bedroom, nine-bath home on 1.16 acres in Murray Hill. The house is relatively new, built in 1998 by Sunningdale Construction. Dramatic foyer, elegant rooms, spacious kitchen and lovely pool.
Sale Price: $5,300,000
27 Cooper Road, Grand Tudor-style home on 1.57 acres, built in 1916. Total elegance and exquisite charm radiate from every room in this beautiful home. Situated in the heart of Murray Hill estate area this home has it all. High ceilings, leaded glass doors, oak floors, paneled foyer, 3 fireplaces, a heated pool, a two story pool house and stellar landscaping.
Sale Price: $5,250,000
From Julia B. Fee Sotheby's
16 Richbell Road: Magnificent Murray Hill Tudor set on 1.62 acre gated property with pool and spa has been meticulously restored with top craftsmanship and amenities. Features include 4300 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 4 ½ baths, new slate roof, multi-zone heating and air, restored stonework and leaded glass windows and extensive landscaping.
Sale Price: $2,975,000
27 Oak Lane: Stunning Fox Meadow Colonial on a park-like .76 acre with 6,400 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 5 ½ baths, 2-story entry hall, gourmet kitchen and fabulous master suite.
Sale Price: $3,000,000
From Platinum Drive Realty:
260 Fort Hill Road: Majestic home built in 2005 on 1.5 acres in Edgemont. Two story entry and Turkish stone floor. One-of-a-kind moldings throughout. State-of-the-art kitchen with wet bar and butler's pantry. Fifty-foot swimming pool.
Sale Price: $3,500,000
10 Carstensen Road: Picture perfect Tudor located in Fox Meadow. Built in 1999, the home boasts over 6,000 square feet of living space surrounded by pristine landscaping, flowering gardens and a level private backyard. The fabulous interior with spectacular upgrades includes a first floor mudroom, a laundry room, an office, and a walk out basement.
Sale Price: $2,512,500
From Coldwell Banker:
7 Chesterfield Road: Georgian brick Colonial, on a one-acre lot in the heart of Fox Meadow. Excellent condition and beautiful finishes. The property is accessed via a quaint stone bridge over a babbling brook. Beautiful pool, six bedrooms and five baths.
Sale Price: $3,300,000
12 Carstensen Road: Young Tudor built in Fox Meadow in 1988. Twelve rooms with 5,039 square feet of wonderful entertaining space. Six bedrooms, four and a half baths. Large finished basement with 8' ceilings, home gym and home theatre.
Sale Price: $2,495,000
From Prudential Centennial
33 Meadow Road: New Construction. Stone and Shingle Colonial to be built. 5 Bedrooms, 5.1 Baths, 2 fireplaces on large level landscaped property with potential pool site, flagstone patio, 3 car garage. Spacious rooms with details throughout and nine foot ceilings.
Sale Price: $2,750,000
41 Murray Hill Road: A private and secluded retreat on 2+ acres in Scarsdale's premier Murray Hill. An extraordinary custom built contemporary masterpiece of steel, stucco and copper that was inspired by the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright. Built in 1982, but completely renovated since, this home offers a pond and golf course views, 3 sandstone patios, lawns of blue grass, heated Shoreline pool, 4 car garage, high ceilings,large rooms,walls of glass with views of nature-sunny, bright and private and quiet with an extra building lot.
Sale Price: $2,880,000
Fire Chief Recaps Storm Response, a Menorah in Chase Park, and more from the Village Board
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At the December 11, 2012 meeting of the Village Board, Fire Chief Cain reviewed fire department operations related to Hurricane Sandy. His remarks in their entirety can be viewed here – however here are a few of the interesting facts he noted:
- Fire Department staffing was doubled for the first 36 hours of the storm
- When the storm began, 14 volunteer firefighters worked alongside career firefighters at considerable risk to themselves
- In the first 24 hours of the storm, the department responded to 211 calls while in a typical 24-hour period they respond to 3.6 calls on average. So they did 59 times the work they do in a usual day.
- During the 12-day state of emergency the department responded to 403 incidents. In a typical 12-day period they would respond to 43.3 calls – so activity was at 10 times the normal volume.
- In the days following the storm, both volunteer and career firefighters made welfare checks on residents and firefighters conducted generator safety checks on temporary generators and helped residents with their proper use.
Other items on the agenda:
Public hearings will be held on January 8, 2013 to review proposed changes to the Village code regarding setback and noise requirements to accommodate permanent emergency generators. (Recommendations for changes to the law from the Planning Board were reviewed and discussed at a meeting of the Trustees Law Committee on Wednesday night December 12.)
Chabad Lubavitch of Westchester County was given permission to place a menorah in Chase Park from December 6 to 
December 20th.
Trustees approved a resolution to authorize the Village Manager to issue an RFP for the planning, coordination and supervision of a farmer's market in the village of Scarsdale from April, through November 2013. The market will be held in the lower parking lot Village Hall or in the Freightway open parking lot.
Gifts of $9,000 and $5,000 were accepted from Fenway Golf Club for use by the Scarsdale police and fire departments. The police will purchase mobile in-car video units and the fire department will purchase enhanced equipment to locate and rescue trapped or injured firefighters.
The Board of Trustees resolved to collect a recreation fee of $37,500 for a subdivision fee for a 2-lot subdivision at 21 Vanderbilt Road.
Personnel: Dan Hochvert was appointed to replace Emily Sherwood who resigned from the Village Planning Board and Julie Weinstein was appointed to the Conservation Advisory Council to replace Lynne Clark who resigned. Gary S. Ellis was appointed to serve on the Town Board of Assessment Review to fill the vacancy due to Janet Bell's expired term.
