Architects Provide Update On Scarsdale Schools Master Plan
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Architects from Kaeyer, Parker & Garment, KG&D, have begun working on a master plan for the Scarsdale School District. The firm, who designed the Post Road Elementary School in White Plains, was retained to create a master plan and to propose solutions for updates at four of the district's seven schools.
Russ Davidson, President and Managing Partner of the firm appeared before the School Board on Monday night January 13 to provide an update on their progress. The firm's slogan is "listen, imagine, build" and they are doing just that. They have met with representatives from Heathcote, Edgewood and the Scarsdale Middle School and toured the schools to analyze existing spaces, identify needs and explore possible solutions.
The School Board has given the firm a proposed budget of $12 - $15 million which would be funded via a bond if it is approved by the community in December, 2014. The administration estimates that the debt service on this bond would not require a tax increase as it would coincide with the retirement of earlier bonds.
A "Facilities Master Plan Steering Committee" including residents, administrators, teachers, students and liaison from the Board of Ed has been designated to define district priorities. Simultaneously, KG&D has set to work on the master plan.
At the meeting on Monday night, Davidson showed some preliminary alternatives for an expanded library at Edgewood School, a new multipurpose room/cafeteria at Heathcote School and an Orchestra Room at the Scarsdale Middle School, where the stage of the auditorium now serves as the rehearsal space. For each school, Davidson presented three design options and provided a rough estimate of the cost.
Next steps will be a second meeting at Heathcote School and work at the high school where the firm will look at repurposing the auto shop, using the old gym as a mixed use space, providing space for science research and a wellness center and redesigning the Little Theatre.
In the question and answer period following the presentation, a Greenacres resident asked if anything was in the works for the Greenacres Elementary School that is now filled to capacity.
Superintendent McGill responded by saying, "Besides relocating the office, there is not a lot that we think that can be done to the building to address the issues. The classrooms are on the small size and there are problems with water infiltration in the walls. The issue for Greenacres will be, do we gut the school and begin again or do we move the building across the road and build and new building?" He continued, "No one has come up with good ideas about how to improve the quality without making significant changes. The building footprint cannot be extended and we looked at adding a second floor and that would not work. It is unlikely that there will be a new school within the next 5 years."
However he did suggest that parents come up with changes that could be made to improve the quality of life at the school that could be funded from the operating budget.
Assistant Superintendent Linda Purvis told the group that a $12-$15mm bond will not fund all of the projects on the district's wish list. The process now is to identify the needs of each building, gather information, make a plan and then figure out how to stage and finance the construction.
(Pictured at top: Davidson presents options for placement of a new multi-purpose room at Heathcote Elementary School)
Boykin Visits the Scarsdale League of Women Voters
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Benjamin Boykin II, County Legislator for District 5, spoke to the Scarsdale League of Women Voters on Monday, Jan. 13 at a general membership meeting.
The County Legislator, or Ben as he suggested he be called, made a presentation to the attentive audience, providing members with a 20+ page written handout that included details on the County budget for the 2014-15 year and the reorganization of the County Board as well as what he saw as the priorities of the County for the upcoming year. Some of the priorities for the Legislator were improving the relationship between the County Executive and the Board of Legislators, voting on the Playland Improvement Plan, moving forward with the Affordable Housing Settlement, consideration of the recommendations of the Westchester County Charter Revision Commission, and monitoring the Water District #1 litigation and projects such as the Sheldrake River drainage basin and the Crane Bridge project.
Following his informative presentation, Mr. Boykin took Q & A from the audience. He urged those present to contact him with any issues or concerns, leaving with them his work, home and cell numbers along with his e-mail address. District 5 includes all of Scarsdale, most of White Plains and a portion of Harrison.
(Pictured at top: LWVS President Susie Rush and County Legislator Ben Boykin: Photo credit: Nan Berke)
Beloved SHS Coach Joel Katz Passes Away at Age 79
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Beloved basketball and tennis coach Joel Katz passed away at age 79 on December 21, 2013. Katz had a lifelong career in physical education and coaching and touched the lives of thousands of students in a career that spanned decades in New York City, New Rochelle and Scarsdale.
Katz came to Scarsdale in 1988 where he coached many teams for many seasons, including boys freshman basketball, boys varsity basketball as well as the girls and boys junior varsity and varsity tennis teams. Katz was a varsity basketball player at NYU and before coming to Scarsdale, he taught physical education in New York City for 32 years at the elementary, junior high and senior high school levels. For 15 years he coached football, basketball and baseball at New Rochelle Academy.
Katz had a great way with teens and was warm, supportive and funny. He genuinely liked the students and was embraced and respected by them and their parents who appreciated his good nature and balanced perspective. When parents sought to give more students the opportunity to play tennis in the upper grades at SHS, he was chosen to be the coach of Scarsdale's first girls Varsity B Team, and often said, "they call this the B team, but they all get an A in my book." He was masterful at setting up compatible partners, giving everyone a chance to play and making each match a success, no matter what the outcome.
Varsity Tennis Coach Jennifer Roane remembered Coach Katz fondly. According to Roane, "I have worked with coach Katz for 19 years. When Ron Bouchier hired me to teach and coach he said I would be coaching the girls Jv tennis. The varsity co- coaches were Jack Kaminer and Joel Katz. They were called JK & JK. As a new member of the staff they both taught me so much about coaching and how to be a great coach. When Jack Kaminer retired Joel wanted me to be the new Varsity coach position. He was interested in the new team Varsity B team. Joel called the team the Varsity B+. The two of us worked together each fall and spring. The girls and boys loved to talk and share their lives with coach Katz. He was very competitive but at the same time he brought a smile and encouragement to every practice or match. I definitely will miss JK!"
According to Coach Jon Feld, another colleague at Scarsdale High School, Katz was equally skilled at developing talent on the basketball team. Feld said, "A coach, mentor, friend and teacher, no one cared more than Coach Katz did about his kids; they felt the same way about him. He will be remembered for the impact he had on the young men and women he coached. I coached with Joel for over 10 years, and had known him for 13. He had coached the freshman basketball team for 25 years, and every young man was a better person after playing for him. He was a solid evaluator of players and was pretty much spot on seeing talent in freshmen and how it could ultimately translate on the varsity level. Those who crossed paths with Coach Katz will forever remember him as someone who truly cared about what he did."
Greenacres mom Melissa Fastov whose two daughters played on Coach Katz's tennis team said, "He really was such a good man. Hannah played on his team for one year and Emily played on his team for two years and was captain. According to the girls, Coach Katz was supportive, encouraging and always inspired them to play their best, improve their games and, of course, to have fun."
Parent Elise Flagg said, ""Joel Katz had all the qualities that you want in your children's coach... he had a way of encouraging your child to do their best while keeping everything in perspective. He motivated the kids and still made the experience fun. His humor was legendary and we all looked forward to his witty comments at all the Maroon and White Sports Dinners. He made his mark. He will be greatly missed." SHS senior Jeff Leone added, "Katz was a great coach who made freshman basketball so much fun. It was a great experience playing for him."
Katz had been suffering from cancer of the tongue since August and took a break from coaching in the fall to undergo chemotherapy. However, a heart attack, not the cancer, took his life just before Christmas.
Katz, a resident of Larchmont, was born in 1934. Funeral services were held on December 23, 2013 at Riverside Memorial Chapel in Mount Vernon and there was not an empty seat in the room.
If you have memories of Joel Katz, please share them in the comments section below.
Photos courtesy of Rich Feuerstein, All Star Photography.
A Scarsdale Artist Creates a Genre of Her Own
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The work of contemporary artist Saya Woolfalk cannot be categorized easily – part painter, graphic designer sculptor, filmmaker, musician, futurist and philosopher –this talented Scarsdale native uses a variety of media to create highly original installations that are ripe with cultural and political overtones. Asked to describe what she does, Woolfalk says," I build installations and work with museums to build fictional cultures, videos, and performances. They begin with a fictional story that I flesh out using video, painting, and art."
Many of the installations include life-size mannequins, dressed in colorful costumes and ensconced in fictional environments where they examine cultural differences, racial stereotypes, gender types, and human relationships to the natural world. Woolfalk uses these mannequins to create live performances and integrates video as part of the tableau and as method of recording her work. To understand her work, take a look at this video of her exhibit at the Montclair Art Museum in 2012 where Woolfalk created the museums first solo multi media exhibition, centered on a society of women called, The Emphatics.
Woolfalk is receiving national and international recognition and her stories are on view worldwide. Her fanciful creations are now on view at 
places as far flung as the Studio Museum in Harlem to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Taipei. This year, Woolfalk was one of six artists selected from among 600 applicants for the Artist Studio Program at Smack Mellon in Brooklyn. http://smackmellon.org/index.php/contact/current-artists/The Program provides artists who are working in visual arts media with free private studio space as well as a $5,000 fellowship. Woolfalk debunked from her Manhattan studio to take advantage of this offer that allows her to work near her home in Brooklyn.
For Woolfalk, it all began in Greenacres, where she grew up on Walworth Avenue and was encouraged by her parents to develop her creativity in art, music, piano, violin and dance classes, beginning at an early age. Her home environment was multi-cultural as her mother is Japanese and her father is Afro-American and white. Her parents still live and work in the Village where her dad has a law practice and her mother, also a lawyer, works as his accountant.
Woolfalk also credits her grade school teachers, especially Mrs. Harley at Greenacres Elementary School, with providing her for the inspiration behind some of her work that continues today. Harley encouraged creative exploration via an archaeological dig, doing an ecological survey or a multi cultural study – themes that are echoed in Woolfalk's installations.
She complemented her school classes with art classes at AB Art in Hartsdale with Joan Fenroe where she drew, made oil paintings and did graphic design projects that developed her love of color and design. In high school, she moved on to study with Joan Busing who had a background in textile design and taught her about pattern and repeat design. She also remembers an art teacher at Scarsdale High School who was very supporting of her work and permitted her unlimited access to the high school art room and supplies.
Woolfalk did more than art during her years at Scarsdale High School. She acted in summer theatre, sang in the chorus and during college at Brown she majored in both economics and visual art. She is now working on a project about a group of people who create a corporation to distribute eco-utopian ideas – and she calls on her knowledge of many disciplines to bring these ideas to life.
She has a full agenda planned for 2014. In the next few months her work will appear at the Brooklyn Museum, followed by exhibitions at the Asian Museum, The Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, VA and the Seattle Art Museum. Though Woolfalk has much on her plate, we couldn't detect any stress in her voice. She sounds upbeat, exuberant and enthused about the way the world has embraced her vibrant, multi-cultural, sci-fi creations.
What advice does she give to any young artists in our audience? Here is what she said, "Only become an artist if you really want to be one. It takes hard work and perseverance. Listen to your mentors and teachers while simultaneously cultivating your own voice. Hear the responses of others and respond to them. But maintain your own voice.
If you would like to see her work, her closest exhibit to the 'dale can now be viewed at the Afrofuturism exhibit at the Studio Museum of Harlem and visit Saya Woolfalk's website to learn more about her and her work.
Iris Kalt: A Legend In Her Own Town
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Real estate agent Iris Kalt is something of a legend in Scarsdale. She has been with Prudential Centennial Realty for almost 20 years where she has been recognized repeatedly as one of the top performing agents in Westchester County. In 2000, she was profiled in the New York Times as "The Dealmaker." What are the secrets behind Iris' success? We spoke to her this week and found that she was very willing to share her tricks of the trade with our audience.
Here is what she told us:
How did you get your start in the field?
I began in 1986 as a part-time agent after Molly Goldstein, a top agent and member of my country club Bonnie Briar, told me I would be a terrific agent. After I was laid off as a school psychologist for a year she took me under her wing and taught me the business. She showed me how to look up listings in the Multiple Listing Service book (there were no internet listings at the time), introduced me to local builders and taught me how to do a subdivision. She taught me everything I know and I learned from the best.
The following year, the Board of Education called me back to work and I tried to work in the schools during the day and pursue my real estate career at night and on weekends. I quickly realized that you can't be successful in real estate on a part-time basis. It is difficult to get a listing just by being enthusiastic. You must build your reputation and network to get referrals. It is not an easy business but if you are dedicated and willing to put in your time and effort it can be lucrative.
Tell us about some of your more interesting sales:
In 1988 I had some Chinese customers who wanted a house that was large enough to accommodate their extended family. I agreed to show Johnny Lu the former home of Frederick P. Rose at 72 Brewster Road, a large ranch on one and a half acres with a pool and tennis court. The whole Lu family showed up at the train station and 6 people crammed into my 450 SL Mercedes convertible. They ended up buying the house and moved in -- but let the tennis court go. When they were ready to sell, I got the listing and sold it in 2009 to a developer who subdivided the property into three lots. There are now three homes there.
I also had the listing for 268 Fox Meadow Road near Fenimore Road where I realized there could be another subdivision. However, the Village would not let the developer take the house down as it was a "sister house" next door. The case went to state court and eventually the home was cleared for demolition. There are now two houses on the site.
I call 15 Meadow Road in Quaker Ridge the house that keeps on giving. Molly Goldstein sold me the house which sits on almost an acre of land adjacent to the Quaker Ridge School. I lived there with my family for eighteen years and my children could walk through the yard to school. When we were ready to move we sold the house to one of my customers. When that customer wanted to move, I sold him a new house that was being built on Stratton Road (also her listing.) I then sold the Meadow Road house to the builder of the new house on Stratton Road. He tore it down, built a new house and I sold that as well.
What are some of the differences between the market in the 1980-'s and 90's and now?
It's harder and harder to find a subdivision. You can still find teardowns but they are pricier.
What is your advice to those who are going to list their house for sale?
People prefer move-in condition houses. Buyers only know what they see. Refinish the floors, repaint, de-clutter, re-seal the driveway and landscape with welcoming plants and shrubbery. The house should look good. The better the condition, the quicker it will sell.
Price it near fair market value. The less you ask the more you are going to get. If you price it too high, real estate agents won't see the value and they won't bring qualified buyers. The listing will become stale. The less you ask the more competing offers you will get and the higher the bids. I listed a home on Overlook Road in Fox Meadoow for $1,795,000 and it sold for $2,010,000. The asking price gets them in the door ... it's a great selling tool.
What's your view of the tax revaluation in Scarsdale?
Some houses are under valued and some are over valued. The revaluation is only going to make it as fair as it can possibly be.
If you could look into the future, what would you expect to see 25 years from now?
As long as the Scarsdale school system and amenities remain tops, and Scarsdale remains a child-centered community, real estate in Scarsdale will be desirable. However, there may be less and less open space!
Anything else would you like to add?
I feel fortunate to have helped many families settle in Scarsdale and helped other sell their homes for top dollar and move to wherever they wanted to move in the time they wanted to get there. Whether they are buying another property or have to more in time for the opening of school, I get people where they need to be.
Learn more about Iris Kalt at www.IrisKalt.com.
