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Written by: Jeffrey Levin

Published: 19 August 2025

Created: 19 August 2025

Last Updated: 19 August 2025

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The Launchers Won the SeriesThe Scarsdale Adult Softball 2025 season’s playoffs, the Scarsdale World Series (SWS), was won by the Launchers. The Launchers defeated the Pros in the final game of the SWS in extra innings. The Launchers came from behind to tie the final game in the bottom of the 7th inning and then scored the winning run in the bottom of the 8th to win the 2025 Championship. The final score was Launchers 7 and the Pros 6. The Launchers won their 2nd SWS in six appearances in the finals. The Pros in six appearances in the SWS have won once in 2007. The Pros reached the SWS by eliminating the 2025 pennant winners, Claire Leone. Claire Leone’s four straight SWS championships winning streak was ended by the Pros. Claire Leone had appeared in ten straight championship finals and had won the SWS seven times.

The Launchers were led by co-captains Kiran Ramachandran and Matt Daniel. Hoisting the Championship trophy presented by League Commissioner John Holt were Jack Callahan, David Love, Andrew Fialkow, Seth Thornton, Jake Fischer, Jacob Brief, Scott Galst, Joe Weintraub, Evan Maroney, Noah Glantz, Zach Swartz, Matt Hyman, Michael Berkowitz, Kevin Daniel, James Conlan, Archie Fanning and Mike Green.

The Pros co-captains Mike Liebman and Jeff Levin led a veteran team consisting of Bill Liebman, Scott Liebman (MVP), Charlie Hassan (league leading pitcher), slugger Conrad Horowitz, Jared Kasden, Dan Cohen, Michael Erbsen, Dave Farber, Eric Kaplan, Eric Lichtenstein, Adam Rosen, Steve Sage, Gracie Liebman, Mike Lubanski, Don Repetto, Dan Smith and Brad Weckstein.

The Pros

The final regular season standings were led by the pennant winning Claire Leone (9-3), tied for 2nd place with 8-4 records were the Launchers, Walk Ons and Pros, followed by the Bee Lines (4-8), Green Hornets (4-8) and the Underdawgs (1-11).

It is expected that the seven teams will return next season. The league looks forward to adding additional players and teams for the 2026 season.

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 03 August 2025

Created: 03 August 2025

Last Updated: 04 August 2025

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(Updated August 4,2025) Friends and supporters gathered at Federal Plaza on Saturday August 2, 2025 to protest the unlawful detention of Yeonsoo Go, the daughter of the Reverend Kyrie Kim and a 2024 graduate of Scarsdale High School who attends college at Purdue University.

On Saturday morning, friends and faith leaders gathered to demand her release and heard prayers and remarks from:


-The Rt. Rev. Matthew Heyd, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York
-Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition
-The Very Rev. Winnie Varghese, Dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine
-The Rev. Kyrie Kim, mother and Episcopal priest
-Councilmember Alexa Aviles
-Friends Caitlin Higgins and Gabby Lopez

A family friend of Soo shared that her visa is scheduled to expire in December 2025. She had already submitted an application for an extension and was summoned to court on Thursday, July 31, for a procedural issue related to that application. Soo was notified of the unexpected appearance only days in advance. At the end of the proceeding, the presiding judge set up a follow-up hearing for mid-August. However, as Soo exited the courtroom, she was detained by ICE agents. Her cell phone was confiscated, and she has had minimal contact with her family. On Sunday, Soo's mother learned that Soo had been flown to a detention center in Louisiana.

Caitlin Higgins, a close friend, described Soo as a role model to everyone who knows her and shared, “Soo is one of my best friends. Beyond being an amazing friend, she is incredibly kind, intelligent, faithful, and compassionate. I’m praying for her safe and immediate return.” At the time of her detention, Soo had been looking forward to taking her road test and finally obtaining her driver’s license in just two weeks. Then days later, she was scheduled to return to Purdue University to start her sophomore year in the School of Pharmacy.

Several community and government entities are actively involved in efforts to secure Soo’s release. These include Scarsdale Assemblymember Amy Paulin, Congressman George Latimer, and Senator Chuck Schumer, as well as Scarsdale Schools Superintendent Drew Patrick and the Scarsdale School District. Each is contributing within their respective roles to support her return.

Local residents were outraged by the story and sought ways to support her, launching a GoFundMe page and contacting religious leaders and elected officials. The Interfaith Clergy in Scarsdale has been notified and is ready to mobilize. Commenting on Facebook, one Scarsdale resident said, “These stories are everywhere. It’s starting to hit home now. Wake up call for Scarsdale.”

A community vigil for Yeonsoo has been scheduled for Thursday, August 7 at 5:00 p.m. in Chase Park, located in Scarsdale Village. The event is being organized by Assemblymember Amy Paulin in collaboration with the Scarsdale Interfaith Clergy. The program will include speakers, prayers, and music, with a full schedule to be released shortly. All members of the community are encouraged to attend and show their support for Yeonsoo’s release.”

On August 4, 2025 The Westchester Asian American Democrats(WAAD) called on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to immediately release Yeonsoo Go, a legal resident of Scarsdale, who was unlawfully detained by federal agents after a July 31 routine visa proceeding in a Manhattan court.

In a statement, the executive board said:

“We are outraged and heartbroken that Yeonsoo Go, only 20 years old, has become yet another legal resident unlawfully detained by ICE.

“A graduate of Scarsdale High School, Yeonsoo is currently a rising sophomore at Purdue University who has followed every requirement of her student visa. But minutes after a routine hearing, she was taken into ICE custody on July 31—without cause, without justice, without warning. This is not a bureaucratic failure nor an isolated incident. This is a human rights violation and part of a disturbing pattern of targeting immigrants. We demand the immediate release of Yeonsoo Go. We demand accountability. And we demand an end to the systemic injustices that criminalize our communities.

“We will not be silent. We call on every person of conscience to stand with us and Yeonsoo’s family and friends to speak up and fight back.”

Members of WAAD will attend a community rally and prayer scheduled for 5:00 PM Thursday, Aug. 7 at Chase Park (32 Chase Road) in Scarsdale, New York.

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 24 July 2025

Created: 24 July 2025

Last Updated: 24 July 2025

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Robert and Eleanor NovemberHitchcock Church reports that former Scarsdale resident and Scarsdale Bowl winner Robert November passed away at age 89 on July 23, 2025 while on a trip abroad. Robert was preceded in death by his wife, Eleanor in 2019. Together they were the recipients of the Scarsdale Bowl in in 2001.

November was a dedicated community volunteer who served on the Scarsdale School Board for six years, the final year, 1990-91 as Board President. He was a trustee of the Scarsdale Library, and was the President of the Friends of Scarsdale Parks. He was chair of the Advisory Council on Environmental Conservation and served on the Greenacres Association.

Robert and Eleanor were longtime residents of Walworth Avenue in Greenacres where they were well known for their annual Kentucky Derby Party, where guests donned festive hats and drank mint juleps.

Here are remarks about the Novembers from the 2001 Scarsdale Bowl Dinner at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in White Plains on April 26, 2001.

Looking for a Westchester home in 1971, Eleanor and Robert November sought a community with good schools, where people work together on solving problems, and where they would feel comfortable as a mixed faith couple. Scarsdale provided such a milieu.

For three decades, the Novembers have been unstinting in their commitment to serving the people and organizations of the community they live in.

Robert November has provided distinguished, service in his leadership and supporting roles. His 1990-91 presidency and previous five years on the Board of Education is a good example. The Scarsdale Inquirer said, "In his six years on the Board,...he has made a name for himself as a cool hand under fire and a business- savvy manager who knows how to run a meeting...But it is in this official's simple love for the job, and his unusual ability to lead by listening, that we feel the November legacy will most aptly reside."

Robert recalls with satisfaction the hiring of Richard Hibschman, a worthy successor to superintendent Thomas Sobol; tackling facilities problems, such as resolving the windows replacement issue; establishing mechanisms to involve the community at every stage of decision-making during the 1990's on major capital improvements and later voter-approved bond issues.

Now on the Library Board of Trustees, Robert's professional knowledge of publishing and automated information services, his business management skills, his ability to put issues into context, and his humor have contributed to the board's operations. He recently served as treasurer, and formerly president, of the Friends of the Scarsdale Parks and belongs to the TVCC. Beyond the community, he is treasurer and board member of the Deer Hill Conference Center used by many Westchester religious and school groups.

As chairman of the then United Way of Scarsdale, Robert was instrumental in hiring Executive Director Florence David whose effective work has been vital to the agency's success. As chair of the Advisory Council on Environmental Conservation, he was helpful in obtaining feedback and understanding from gardeners, facilitating enactment of the Leaf Blower ordinance. During his tenure the council surveyed all of Scarsdale street trees and recommended a conservation and maintenance plan.

Robert has been member of the Advisory Committee on Downtown Development, director of the Scarsdale Adult School, and past /current director of the Greenacres Association, for which he headed and coached some of the baseball and soccer programs, and treasurer of the Greenacres PTA.

Robert and Eleanor are committed to promoting understanding and respect of different faiths in the community. An example, one of many, has been the occasional interpretive model Jewish seders conducted by Rabbi Richard Jacobs of Westchester Reform Temple (to which Robert belongs) at Hitchcock Presbyterian Church (Eleanor's church) with the cooperation of Rev. Donald Steele.

Professionally, Robert spent 25 years at the New York Times, as vice president/group director for News and Information Services. Later he was an information services executive with American Bond Buyer, McGraw-Hill's F.W. Dodge Division and Burrelle's Information Services. Long involved with development of online information services and electronic publishing, he was chairman of the Information Industry Association, that field's national trade organization.

Born in Brooklyn, he grew up in Great Neck, Long Island and received a B.A. from Harvard College. Currently, he is a master's degree candidate in urban education at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 15 July 2025

Created: 15 July 2025

Last Updated: 16 July 2025

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Kally Lyons, a 2010 graduate of Scarsdale High School, married Matt Safko on June 19, 2025, in New York City.

The couple met at an engagement party in 2021 for one of Kally’s friends from Scarsdale (Rachel Fix ‘10) and one of Matt’s friends from the University of Maryland. A particularly insistent guest was convinced that Kally and Matt would make a great match. After some playful pressure, Matt asked for Kally’s number, and the rest is history.

Kally and Matt bonded over their shared love of family, both of their mothers are one of nine siblings, and their instant connection with Matt’s beloved cockapoo, Chase. Before long, the three were inseparable, and it felt only natural to make their family official by tying the knot.

Kally is the daughter of Kevin and Anne Ughetta Lyons of Scarsdale. Matt is the son of Ron Safko and Rita Duffell of New York City.

The couple exchanged vows in an intimate ceremony at Palma Restaurant in the West Village on June 19th and celebrated their marriage with a larger gathering of family and friends at the Altman Building on Saturday night.

Matt graduated from Xavier High School in 2009 and the University of Maryland in 2013. He is currently a Senior Director at TransPerfect. Kally graduated from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in 2014 and works in Marketing at GumGum.

The couple resides in Peter Cooper Village with their dog, Chase.