A Little Chicken Salad, a Lot of Heart
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- Written by: Andrea Seiden
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After months in the NICU, our son Gregory, who had been born prematurely, was finally discharged from Cornell to grow and thrive at home.
Frankly, I was a nervous wreck.
Greg was not completely out of the woods. He came home attached to a monitor to make sure he did not experience any “bradys”—episodes when his heart rate would suddenly drop and he could turn blue. The medical staff took this possibility remarkably in stride. They assured me that if it happened, a little gentle stimulation would usually get him going again. They made this sound perfectly reasonable.
At 12 weeks old, we faced another question: Was Gregory finally ready for his circumcision? Was he big enough? If we waited too long, would the procedure be more painful? This was a baby who had already been poked, prodded, monitored, tested and examined for months. The last thing I wanted to do was subject him to one more unnecessary trauma.
After much deliberation, including consultation with our own parents, who were doctors, we got the all-clear. Medically, Gregory was ready.
But I wasn’t.
I was now facing what seemed to me the insurmountable task of hosting a brit.
Mark and I had just moved to Scarsdale, and with the exception of our real estate broker, we had yet to make a single friend. This did not mean, however, that the brit would be a quiet affair. I knew Mark’s family and their friends from Long Island would not miss the opportunity to wish us well. They would come to what they considered “the country” in droves, bearing toy ponies, blankets and those wonderful wooden toys with GREG painted across them in enormous bubble letters.
Of course they meant well.
But the thought of a room full of men and women—many of them physicians who practiced with Mark’s father—leaning over my tiny premature baby the size of a Cornish hen with mouths full of chopped liver, commenting on the surprisingly impressive size of his schmeckel for a little preemie, or joking that the mohel worked for tips, was more than I could handle.
Hadn’t this little guy suffered enough?
I could already picture my father and father-in-law proudly holding this tiny survivor on a small bed pillow place on their laps while the mohel stuffed wine-soaked gauze into his mouth to prevent him from crying brought me to tears.
For months at Cornell, I had relinquished control of Gregory to an extraordinary team of doctors and nurses. I had trusted them because I had no choice. Now that he was finally home, I wanted to take a little control back.
So, in what I can only describe as an act of Jewish maternal defiance, I made a decision:
There would be no whitefish; no chopped liver; no onions; not even a bagel. There would be no food that looked as though it had been served at every brit since the Book of Exodus.
After three months of monitors, doctors, alarms, medical terminology and wondering what the next crisis might be, chopped liver was one crisis I actually had the power to prevent.
I wanted something fresh. Healthy. Modern.
Perhaps I could not control whether my three-month-old would have a brady, but, I could control the buffet.
There was only one problem: I had just moved to Scarsdale and had absolutely no idea where to find it.
So I drove around town on a mission. Eventually, I found myself in the Golden Horseshoe shopping center, where I discovered a small catering shop called Standing Room Only—SRO. I walked in.
And then, after holding myself together for months, I completely fell apart.
I told Sharon, Jack’s partner at the time, about the previous three months: trying to care for my little two-year-old while spending my days visiting a premature baby in the hospital, never entirely certain whether he would pull through or whether he would come through it all unscathed. I shared how worried I was about my son Josh who had completely reverted back to a high-pitched baby talk, would feel completely abandoned by his mother.
Sharon handed me Kleenex. She listened. At some point she even helped me adjust a completely useless breast pad (never did get any breast milk in), which tells you something about both my condition at the time and the intimacy of our relationship approximately 20 minutes after meeting.
And while I cried, she fed me. Chicken salad. Pasta with mozzarella and basil. Apple cake.
I remember feeling as though I were a little bird who had been starving and suddenly someone had noticed.
By the time I left, there was no question.
“You are catering my son’s brit.”
The following week, SRO arrived with everything beautifully arranged on trays and decorated with their signature flower buds. The food was delicious. The presentation was beautiful.
And Standing Room Only had a customer for life.
Over the years, I came to depend on SRO for parties, holidays and special occasions. I always knew the food would be wonderful and the presentation beautiful—right down to the hummus served in a red pepper surrounded by jicama sticks and other more familiar veggies.
When we renovated our kitchen and were unable to cook for several months, this was long before Uber Eats or the endless meal-delivery services we have today. SRO delivered a perfectly balanced dinner to us every evening.
Eventually, our kitchen was finished and I was finally able to cook again. My sons were not nearly as excited about this development as I was. They made it quite clear that they preferred the grilled salmon, pastas, chicken and mushrooms that had been arriving every night. Apparently, during the renovation, they had become accustomed to a certain standard of living.
But what I loved most was going into Standing Room Only and visiting with Jack and the staff. If Jack wasn’t too busy preparing an order for a party or a shiva—or sitting at his desk by the big window trying to conquer a mountain of paperwork—we would talk. About cooking. The latest Broadway show. Innocent Scarsdale buzz. Children. Life.
Most recently, I brought my grandchildren in to meet Jack on our way back from Community of Play which is located above the store.
Of course, Jack reacted as though they were the two most gorgeous toddlers he had ever laid eyes on. And, we became nostalgic about how quickly the years had passed, and we laughed about Gregory’s rather auspicious introduction to Scarsdale. I wasn’t aware of the fact that Jack was contemplating shuttering his store.
I also reminded Jack—as I always did—that I was one of his very first customers.
I recently read on Facebook how grateful Jack was to have spent the last 35 or so years in Scarsdale and to have been part of this wonderful community.
I am so glad he feels that way.
But I also hope he knows that gratitude goes both ways.
For so many of us, Standing Room Only was never simply a place to order food. Jack and SRO were there for the celebrations and the milestones, the holidays and the ordinary Tuesday nights. They fed us when our kitchens were under construction, when our houses were full of guests, when we were celebrating, and when we were grieving.
And in my case, they were there when I was a terrified young mother who had just brought a very small baby home from the hospital and was trying desperately to believe that everything was finally going to be all right.
Sharon gave me a Kleenex and some chicken salad. Jack and SRO gave me something I didn’t yet know I needed: my first feeling of being taken care of in my new community.
Thirty-five years later, I walked through that same door with my grandchildren.
I hope whoever takes over Jack’s Weaver Street space has his creativity and business sense. But even more, I hope they understand what made Standing Room Only so special.
You can learn how to make good chicken salad. But heart and soul are much harder to replicate.
We will miss you, Jack.
Jordan Copeland Comments on the Proposed Guidelines for Student Expression
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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(The following comments were made by Jordan Copeland at the August 24, 2026 meeting of the Board of Education)
I've spoken about the Guidelines for Student Expression twice before, so tonight I want to focus on binding legal precedent that I think presents a serious problem with the guidelines.
As reiterated by the Second Circuit, which covers Scarsdale, in Guiles v. Marineau (2006), if student speech is school-sponsored, Hazelwood gives the District broader authority to regulate it for legitimate educational or pedagogical reasons. But for a student’s personal expression that isn’t vulgar or subject to another recognized exception, Tinker applies, and the District generally needs a reasonable forecast of material and substantial disruption. Hazelwood applies “only when the student speech is ‘school-sponsored’ or when a reasonable observer would believe it to be so sponsored.”
That's important because the proposed guidelines appear to use a different test. They don't ask whether the speech is school-sponsored. They ask whether the activity is school-sponsored and whether the student is an "active participant.” Those are two different standards in important ways.
Examples of school-sponsored speech that can clearly be regulated under Hazelwood are a student's article in the school newspaper, a student's lines in a school play, or an approved graduation address. But a student's personal political button while displaying artwork at an exhibition doesn’t become school-sponsored speech because the student is an "active participant." Neither is a football player's kneeling as a silent political gesture, or a student's political clothing at prom. No reasonable observer would think the District was speaking through that student's button, gesture, or clothing; the school did not sponsor those expressions and they could not reasonably be viewed as bearing the school's imprimatur.
Guiles is particularly relevant because it highlights this distinction. A student wore a political T-shirt to school and was disciplined. The Second Circuit held that Hazelwood didn't apply because the school didn't sponsor the shirt and the shirt couldn't reasonably be viewed as bearing the school's imprimatur. It therefore applied Tinker and held that the school violated the student's First Amendment rights because there was no substantial disruption.
So there's a very specific question that you should have answered to your satisfaction by District counsel before proceeding with these guidelines: What is the legal authority for replacing the Second Circuit's distinction between school-sponsored speech and personal student speech with a distinction based on whether the student is an "active participant" in a school-sponsored activity?
If you don’t get a satisfactory answer to this, I think you should directly harmonize the guidelines to the appropriate legal standard so the District is on stronger legal ground.
Best,
Jordan Copeland
45 Woods Lane
Opening Soon: Sprouts Farmers Market and Capretta
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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Sprouts Farmers MarketWithout a market in Scarsdale Village, it often feels like we have limited options for groceries. That will be changing soon when DeCicco’s opens their new “Piccolino Market” in Scarsdale. We stopped by and saw a full crew at work at the store. The exterior windows are in and workmen appeared to be making progress on the interior. Fingers crossed for an opening this fall.
Sprouts Farmers Market
Meanwhile – another market is opening on Central Avenue in the space previously occupied by BEST Market at 393 N. Central Park Avenue in Hartsdale. And this one has a scheduled opening date… Friday September 4, 2026.
Sprouts Farmers Market combines the best of a farmers market with the convenience of a neighborhood grocery store. Dedicated to helping people live and eat better, the retailer offers the season’s freshest, most delicious produce at the heart of the store – all sourced in partnership with local and regional farmers. Sprouts opened its first New York state store earlier this year in January in Centereach Long Island.
From healthy proteins such as no anti-biotics ever chicken to $5 Sushi Wednesdays and its famous $5 sandwiches, Sprouts welcomes exploration and discovery in every aisle.
They offer fresh produce, meats, fish, dairy, prepared meals and more. And from what we can see online, the prices look reasonable!
Capretta
Construction at Capretta
And in Scarsdale Village, in the space previously occupied by the Japanese Restaurant Akai, the Z Hospitality Group is launching Capretta, a new chef-driven modern Italian restaurant at 57 Spencer Place, Scarsdale. We don’t know much about what’s in the works, but we do know that it will be an Italian restaurant from the same group that runs Aurora in Rye, and Terra and Mediterraneo in Greenwich and a few restaurants in New Canaan. We stopped by and saw construction in process on a colorful tile floor -- and hope that the new restaurant will open soon enough to greet you when you come back from your summer vacation.
Construction is in process at Piccholino - the new market in Scarsdale.
Village Board Considers Licensing Requirements for Design Professionals, Fines and Penalties for Violations of Building Code and More Land Use Code Changes
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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The Village Board discussed a draft of proposed changes to land use code at a work session prior to the Village Board meeting on July 14, 2026. After reviewing them, the Board asked Village Staff to revise them in places and agreed to call for a public hearing in August.
In the interim, they invite the public to review the proposals and email their comments to [email protected].
A memo from the Village Attorney provided an overview of the proposed changes – and you can see that explanation here:
Appearance Tickets
The first change expands the list of Village employees who are authorized to issue appearance tickets for violations of Village Code and Property Maintenance Code. The new list adds the Director of Planning and the Assistant Civil Engineer to the list of those authorized to issue appearance tickets.
Environmental Quality Review and SEQRA Review
These amendments eliminate provisions of Scarsdale Village code that are duplicative of the State Environmental Quality Review regulations. The changes involve wetlands permits and also empower the Director of Planning to be responsible for navigating the SEQRA process.
Freshwater Wetlands
The proposed changes are intended to simplify languages and processes and to remove provisions that have allowed certain types of encroachments into wetland-controlled areas and restricted buffers. The proposed code would charge the Village Engineer and or the Director of Planning to grant approvals regarding minor structures within 50-150 feet of a wetlands and to grant approvals for cutting trees within 50-150 feet of a wetlands. This would free up the Planning Board to review more substantial applications.
Licensing of Design Professionals
This new provision would require Design Professional who receive land use approvals from the Village to be licensed from the Village of Scarsdale. Design professionals are defined as “person who is an architect, engineer, landscape architect, or land surveyor issued a license by the State of New York, or a person who is an ISA Certified Arborist.”
This would allow the Village to revoke the license or deny an application if:
1. The applicant has submitted false or materially misleading information and/or certifications in connection with four (4) or more applications for Land Use Approval within the prior 12 months.
2. The applicant has been issued four (4) or more stop-work orders in the Village of Scarsdale within the prior 12 months.
3. The applicant has been issued four (4) or more Notices to Correct or Notices of Violation in the Village of Scarsdale within the prior 12 months.
Site Plan Approvals
These changes address the sequence of approvals from Land Use Boards and changes which projects need to be reviewed by the Board of Architectural Review. Read the memo to see which applications required BAR review.
Stop Work Orders
The memo outlines a new schedule of fines and penalties for work done without site plan approval or work that deviates from the approved site plan.
Here are the proposed fines and penalties:
First offense, by a fine not less than $500, not to exceed $1,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding 15 days, or both. The penalty for a corporate offender's first offense, by fine not less than $2,500, not to exceed $5,000, or any higher amount not exceeding double the amount of the corporation's gain from the commission of the offense. Each day that any such violation shall continue or exist shall constitute a separate and distinct offense hereunder.
2. For a second offense within five years after a conviction of a first offense, by a fine not less than $1,500, not to exceed $2,500, or by imprisonment not exceeding 15 days, or both. The penalty for a corporate offender's second offense, by fine not less than $7,500, not to exceed $15,000, or any higher amount not exceeding double the amount of the corporation's gain from the commission of the offense. Each day that any such violation shall continue or exist shall constitute a separate and distinct offense hereunder.
3. For a third offense within five years after a conviction of a second offense, which took place within three years after a conviction of the first offense, by a fine not less than $4,000, not to exceed $6,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding 15 days, or both. The penalty for a corporate offender's third offense, by fine not less than $25,000, not to exceed $50,000, or any higher amount not exceeding double the amount of the corporation's gain from the commission of the offense. Each day that any such violation shall continue or exist shall constitute a separate and distinct offense hereunder.
In addition, the offender could be subject to a civil penalty up to $50,000.
Free Westchester Band Concerts Begin on Thursday June 25
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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Why travel miles to Manhattan to pay for an expensive night of entertainment, when you can grab a chair, pack a dinner and head to Chase Park in Scarsdale Village, and relax under the stars with friends and family, while enjoying the FREE summer performances of the Westchester Band?
Scarsdale is one of the few Westchester communities that is still fortunate to benefit from free concerts every summer in their town. For nearly 60 years the Westchester Band, a 501(c)(3) not for profit organization, has been entertaining generations of residents and friends with repertoire of Marches, Broadway and light Classics, original band works, rock arrangements, and audience participation with mystery tunes and prizes. The Band is made up of talented members of the community, professionals, amateur, and outstanding student musicians, and the concerts are free due to the sponsorship of the Scarsdale Department of Parks and Recreation, local merchants, and donations from the Friends of the Westchester Band.
Under the direction of Maestro Alan Hollander, the Band performs every Thursday night at 8:00PM in the park, beginning June 25th, and ending August 6th. In the event of rain, the concerts are moved to the auditorium at Scarsdale High School (1057 Post Road.)
Additionally, the Band will play its annual Independence Day concert at the Scarsdale Village Pool (311 Mamaroneck Road) on Thursday July 2 , starting at 7:30 PM and will accompany the July 4th Fireworks display at 9PM.
This year promises to be filled with extra spectacular performances as we celebrate America’s 250th anniversary.
The Westchester Band is grateful to the generous supporters who share a passion in ensuring that the Band continues to make music accessible to all. Donations are greatly appreciated and tax deductible. Interested donors can mail checks made payable to “Friends of the Westchester Band” to 41 Van Etten Boulevard, New Rochelle, NY 10804.
For more information, please visit westchesterband.org.
