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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 23 April 2025

Created: 23 April 2025

Last Updated: 24 April 2025

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Latimer at an Earth Day expo at Scarsdale Library prior to the Village Board meeting on 4-22.How is the turmoil in the government in Washington DC impacting Scarsdale and Westchester? That’s what was on the minds of County Executive Ken Jenkins and Congressman George Latimer when they visited Scarsdale at the Village Board meeting on Tuesday April 22, 2025.

Latimer did not bring happy news from the Capitol. He called Washing a “very volatile environment,” where, the President has made a policy decision to change the federal government dramatically.” He said, “We will have to see how it plays out in the courts.”

He said that threatened costs in Medicaid, changes to public health policy, the decommissioning of the Federal Department of Education, cancellation of renewable energy contracts and the elimination of DEI programs could all potentially impact the state, the county and the Village of Scarsdale. He said that decisions are being made without long-term consideration of their impacts. About the tariffs, he said, “We don’t know how the situation will change, but we do know that things will be more expensive,” and he cautioned the Village to budget to allow for increased costs.

He called the atmosphere “hyper-partisan,” and anticipated the next fight over the need to raise the debt ceiling so that the government could continue to meet its financial obligations.

He asked the Village Board to provide him with a list of any federal funding they are due to receive so that he could fight for it in Washington. He said, “There are no assurances that even signed contracts will be paid. All things are in play.”

Latimer said that he has established a district office at 222 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains. He invited constituents who need assistance with passports, identification federal programs or other issues to contact the office at 914-325-5550.

Mayor Arest thanked Latimer for coming and said, “Thank you for representing us in DC but you are still somehow everywhere in Westchester.”

County Executive Ken Jenkins reported, “There are challenging times ahead of us from a budget perspective. $700mm of federal funds can impact the budget.” He said the county would continue their work on investments in flood mitigation and fair and affordable housing. He reported that due to federal cuts, eight employees from the county health department had been cut. He hoped to secure funding for EV charging stations in Scarsdale.

He vowed to, “continue to advance the best things we can do for every Westchester resident and said, “We will keep acting like its normal until its not.”

He reported on first quarter county sales tax revenues which contribute to the Scarsdale budget as follows:

Sales Tax
January was up 20% over the prior year
February was down 10%
March was down 20%
He said, “It is not looking good.”

He said he was looking forward to Bicycle Sundays and the kick-off for Destination Scarsdale and the Scarsdale Farmer’s Market on Sunday May 4, 2025.

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 21 April 2025

Created: 21 April 2025

Last Updated: 21 April 2025

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We could all use some comic relief these days, so here's a good one for your from the Scarsdale Police Blotter:

A Popham Lane man woke up at 6:30 am and found an unknown dog in his dining room. He told police that about an hour earlier he had seen a blue Volvo pull into his driveway. Perhaps the driver dropped off the dog?

The man also found a bag containing the dog’s food, medicine, leash and toys. He surmised that perhaps someone had dropped off the dog at the wrong house.

He called the police who contacted the veterinarian listed on the dog’s collar, trying to obtain information about the dog’s owner. The vet said they would look into it and call back.

In the meantime, police took the dog to headquarters.

At 8:48 am a dog sitter called the police and said that she was supposed to dog sit for her friend’s dog who was dropped off at the wrong address. She came to headquarters to retrieve the lost pet.

Police have not identified the names of those involved, but we would love to get a comment from you. Contact us at [email protected] – or call 914-980-4803 to tell us the rest of the story.

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Written by: Conservation Advisory Council

Published: 15 April 2025

Created: 15 April 2025

Last Updated: 21 April 2025

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As the weather warms and we all get ready to enjoy our yards and neighborhood landscape, here are some ways to improve the sustainability of your surroundings:

Go Organic: Organic yard care gives us a beautiful, healthy, thriving landscape, and it’s also beneficial to us, our pets, wildlife, and the environment. Many organic products, such as fertilizer and weed control, are readily available. Organic landscaping can be accomplished whether you do your own yard work or hire a landscaper. Read the CAC’s previous article about organic landscaping. 

Plant Trees: Trees enhance the beauty of our community, provide shade, soak up water, and help wildlife. Trees absorb carbon dioxide as they grow, further helping the environment. Whenever possible, plant native trees and plants --those that grow naturally in our area--as they are better suited to our climate and terrain. Once established, native trees can thrive with less water and fertilizer (and no pesticides), saving time and money.

Plant Perennials that Attract Pollinators: Butterflies, bees, and birds play an important role in our environment. Plants that attract these pollinators add beauty to our landscape while helping make our world healthy. Replacing part of your lawn with native plants is an inexpensive, simple way to support a healthy environment and to reduce costly lawn maintenance. Some plants to consider include coreopsis, Joe-pye weed, butterfly weed, aster, purple coneflower, salvia, and sedum.

Spare the Mulch: Placing mulch in garden beds and around trees can help keep moisture in and weeds out. However, too much mulch or improperly placed mulch can seriously harm trees and shrubs. Never pile mulch (or soil) against the trunk of a tree because the mulch will eventually rot the trunk as well as cause roots to grow in the wrong direction. Keep mulch approximately 6” away from tree trunks and about 3” deep in plant beds and around trees.

Water Wisely: To encourage stronger and more drought-resistant plants--and therefore, healthier lawns--water your lawn 2 times per week for a total of 1’’ of water, usually around 30 minutes per watering. Watering should be done in the early morning when the most absorption takes place. Use drip hoses to water trees and shrubs. Experts estimate that as much as 50 percent of water used for home irrigation is wasted due to overwatering and evaporation. Although Scarsdale requires all home irrigation systems to have a rain sensor--which shuts down the system when it’s raining—an even better way to go would be to add a smart water controller, which uses a WiFi connection to access weather data from the internet to automatically adjust watering schedules. Help save water and reduce your water bill.

Properly Care for Your Lawn: Keep grass about 3” high to promote deeper roots and a healthier, more drought-tolerant lawn. Taller grass is also less susceptible to weeds. Leave grass clippings on your lawn as they provide a natural fertilizer and help the soil retain water. Leaving lawn clippings also reduces the use of gas-powered blowers--a leading contributor to air and noise pollution--which are banned by the Village from June 1st through September 30th. Using high-powered electric or battery-operated blowers to clean driveways and walkways is a viable alternative.

Talk with Your Landscaper: Sometimes old habits are not easy to break, so it’s important to share information and to let your landscaper know that you want an organic, healthy, sustainable yard.

If you have any questions or comments, contact the Scarsdale Conservation Advisory Council.

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 28 March 2025

Created: 28 March 2025

Last Updated: 03 April 2025

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Scarsdale’s tree canopy is rapidly disappearing. The number of trees lost is alarming as tree roots mitigate flooding and leafy canopies serve to cool the atmosphere and improve air quality at a time when global warming and flooding pose risks to our environment.

Though Scarsdale strengthened the code for tree removals a few years ago, it appears these laws have not gone far enough to protect the Village in a Park.

The numbers are shocking:

• In 2024, 272 tree removal permits were issued by the Engineering Department for the removal of 793 trees.
• These permits required the replanting of a total of 242 trees and a donation in lieu of planting of $10,500.
• 551 trees (70%) that were permitted to be removed, did not require replacement (per Village Code) due to:

1. They were certified by an arborist as being dead, diseased or dying
2. They were as of right (2 trees per year)
3. The trees being removed were less than 6” dbh (Diameter at Breast Height)
4. The trees were identified as being an invasive species (ie, Norway Maple)

These counts to do not include any trees that were removed without permits.

So, it seems that the wide scale attack on trees is due to a lack of enforcement and the fact that so many trees were either too small or deemed “invasive” and therefore taken down without replacement.

This was the subject of a work session of the Village Board on March 25.

At the session, the Village Board offered the Department of Public Works an additional $30,000 to step up enforcement to permit an arborist to visit a property before trees were removed, and to visit afterwards to confirm that the required number of trees are replaced.

However, Supervisor Jeff Coleman said that this was already being done by the Village arborist. Coleman contended that the loss of trees was due to the current Village code that permits removal of many trees and that some take down trees without permits or on weekends and do not report the removals.

Instead of additional funding, he recommended that all tree surgeons be required to be licensed by the Village and that the tree code be strengthened to prevent removals.

Specifically he said, “Currently, there is sufficient funding requested in the 2025/2026 budget for the consultant arborist to fulfil the scope of services required to support the Department. We do not recommend the wholesale increase in days per month as it will not yield a significant (if any) increase in the number of trees being planted on private property throughout the Village. As noted, the Village Code does not require planting replacement trees under certain circumstances, which constitute the majority of removals. If it is the Viilage’s desire to increase the number of trees planted on private property, the Village Code should be revisited.

It should be noted that, given the complexity of the tree removal permit process and to increase compliance with the Village Code, the Department is working with the Village Attorney to draft a local law to require tree surgeons to be licensed by the village annually.”

Trustees agreed that the code should be re-examined and enforcement stepped us. Dara Gruenberg said, "I would like to re-examine the tree code next year." Justin Arest said, "I believe enforcement is the key issue. This would give us teeth in enforcement.” With respect to Coleman’s idea to license tree surgeons, Arest stated that should have a provision where if a tree surgeon breaks the law they should lose their license. And Karen Brew said, "I think this should be more punitive for those who violate the code. Is someone surveying the trees beforehand and afterwards?"

There were several members present who participated in public discussion of Scarsdale’s quickly shrinking tree canopy and how to address it.  Michelle Sterling said, “We currently have a 1/3 tree replacement rate. If this continues at this rate we will lose our tree canopy and all of the benefits that come from it. We need to have enforcement that site-checks every tree permit both before the permit’s approval and after the removal to make sure the replacements have gone in. We have cases where people file to take out one tree and take out many more than that. We have cases where a replacement is required and instead of planting a canopy tree a bush or an arbovitae is planted. And then there are cases where the replanting just isn’t done. Without enforcement our canopy will be lost.”

Lena Crandall and Madelaine Eppenstein were present and agreed. Madelaine Eppenstein added that there are currently too many exceptions in the code that allowed for tree removals without replacement, and that the code needs to be strengthened immediately.

Despite Coleman’s contention that enforcement is in place, an application before the Planning Board on Wednesday March 26, 2025 offered a stark illustration of a failure of the current system.

At the 3-26 Planning Board meeting the developer of a subdivided property at 2 Cooper Road appeared to amend a 2019 subdivision site plan The re-planting plan for 2 Cooper Road was ignored.after the fact. He had already clear cut the property, removing many large deciduous trees without permission and failing to replace them with over 50 blackberry, red maple, hackberry, beech, junipers, laurels, red cedar, and cryptomeria as outlined in the plan. See what was specified here.

Instead, the 1.16 acre property was clear cut and ringed with arborvitae and hemlock trees. The plan to re-plant was ignored.
In addition, the site plan included a single curb cut on Cooper Road but the builder went for a circular driveway and built an additional curb cut within feet of a busy corner. New curb cuts require traffic studies and permits.

Now five years later, after the property was sold, the developer seemed surprised that the original plan could not be amended. He offered to pay a fine but the Planning Board ruled that he should submit a new arborist plan accounting for removal and new plantings and a traffic engineer report for illegal curb cut.

The loss of trees is staggering and so is the developer’s blatant disregard for Village code.

Commenting on the article, Bob Miller of Benedict Road said:

To the Editor,
I am lifelong Scarsdale resident and regularly notice how the loss of trees erodes the character and charm of our town. Adding to the comments about homes, may I also note that the "buffer woods" around public spaces (such as schools and fields) are littered with dead trees and trees being choked to death by vines/roots that have grown out of control.
I see the similar problems in the Read Sanctuary in Rye, Saxon Woods Park, the Larchmont Reservoir, along parkways, and in other county public green spaces.

A great project for schools, scouts, summer jobs, and the like would be managing decaying organic matter and planting new trees in these public buffer zones. Doing so would strengthen our tree population, improve drainage, restore habitats, improve air quality, and reduce noise. In addition, such projects would elevate civic engagement, promote healthy outdoor activity, and create work opportunities.

Thanks for listening.
Regards,
Bob Miller
19 Benedict Road, Scarsdale