New Initiative Announced to Support Scarsdale Seniors
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Join Scarsdale adults over age 60 and their families on November 7th, 2010 from 3:00-5:00 p.m. at the Scarsdale Woman’s Club at 37 Drake Road, Scarsdale to celebrate the opening of the newly created, At Home in Scarsdale Village. Meet At Home Project Coordinator Susan Gilbert, SFCS Executive Director Geraldine Greene, At Home founding committee members, and learn about the varied programs At Home in Scarsdale Village offers members.
Connecting Scarsdale adults with each other, the community, and key support services is the goal of At Home in Scarsdale Village, made possible by the Rita Aranow Service for Seniors at Scarsdale and Edgemont Family Counseling Services. Newly appointed project coordinator Susan Gilbert, directs this dynamic initiative which models itself after similar organizations in Westchester, Connecticut, Massachusetts and across the nation. At Home offers members not only social, educational, and cultural opportunities to get together and socialize, but also provides a valuable network of services and referrals.
Ms. Gilbert has been working with active adults for the past five years in various community settings. A former public relations specialist, Ms. Gilbert recently received her Masters in Social Work from Fordham University with a concentration in gerontology. Excited to get started, Ms. Gilbert has already begun working closely with the At Home founding committee and community organizations to begin setting a calendar of events and listing available services. “Scarsdale residents want to continue celebrating life-cycle events and host families and friends in their own homes. Membership benefits include social events, assistance with locating resources through a proven provider list, the support of volunteer visits, escorts to medical visits, and help with technical skills such as computer and other electronic information needs. We plan to purchase a van that can transport between 12-15 adults. Some of our members may want to take a yoga class together or go to a play on Broadway, while others will be happy to have a teen volunteer visit on their birthday, read to them or perhaps change a light bulb that they can’t reach. We aim to meet the requests of all of our members.”
“The At Home program has been in the planning for well over a year,” explains Geraldine Greene, SFCS Executive Director. “When we received a generous grant from the family of Rita Aranow, the agency and a Scarsdale planning group decided to partner and form At Home in Scarsdale Village. With the SFCS appointment of Susan Gilbert, we have a designated professional who will work with the volunteers and recruit membership.”
The original volunteer group’s first meeting was organized by the late Judy Handelman in 2007 at the home of Lynne Clark. Deborah Porder, Founders’ Committee Member and Chair, says, “Our original idea was to offer social events, trips to performances, referrals to vetted home repair contractors and volunteer assistance. SFCS and the At Home group agreed to partnership when the Agency received a grant to develop an initiative to connect older adults with community support. It was a natural fit. SFCS has a long history of service to families and older adults, as well as collaborative partnerships.”
Like similar organizations, such as At Home on the Sound in Larchmont, Mamaroneck, the Gramatan Village in Bronxville, the Scarsdale group will be recruiting not only members, but also interested volunteers. For adults, this can be a meaningful and satisfying way of supporting their neighbors; for teenagers and students, this is a great opportunity to explore working in service to your community and meet school-based community-service requirements.
For further information or to join or volunteer, please contact Susan Gilbert at (914) 723-4529, or via email at: sgilbert@sfcsinc.org.
Pictured Above: Geraldine Greene, Executive Director of Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling Service and Lynne P. Clarke, founding member of the neighborhood organization.
New Sign for George Field
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A new sign was installed and dedicated at George Field in Greenacres on October 15. On hand to celebrate were Suzanne Busby, Superintendent of Parks and Recreation; John Carmody, Parks Foreman; Gary Senatus, Parks Department, Norman Alterman, Nora Morino and Deb Pekarek, all from the Greenacres Association.
A Naked Leaf Blower and Obscene Graffiti from the Greenburgh Police
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Kenneth Perko, age 67 of Old Army Road, Scarsdale was arrested for public lewdness at 6 pm on October 11 when he was spotted blowing leaves on his front lawn, naked from the waist down. The Policeman let him know there was a complaint, and Perko insisted that he was on his own property and that he was free to do as he pleased. He was arrested and taken to Greenburgh Police headquarters.
In another incident involving leaves, an Inverness Road man got into an altercation with a landscaper who was blowing leaves on the evening of 10/7. The resident wanted the landscaper to move his truck because it was blocking the street. The verbal argument escalated into a fight when the Scarsdale man pushed the landscaper and attempted to punch him in the face. While defending himself ,the landscaper inadvertently made a small scratch on the other man’s face.
On September 24, a 10th grade Woodlands High School boy had his Blackberry Curve confiscated at school because cell phones are not permitted in the classroom. His teacher told him to reclaim his phone from the Dean at the end of the school day, however when he got there the phone had been stolen from the teacher’s desk. The Dean told the boys mother to make a claim against the school.
On October 7th, a psychiatrist who works on East Hartsdale Avenue requested help with a suicidal patient. The patient said he wanted to jump off the roof and when questioned by the police he confirmed that he did want to kill himself. The man was taken to Westchester County Behavioral Center.
A Hartsdale resident found some obscene graffiti on the road in front of his home on Townsend Avenue that was painted overnight on October 10-11. A large penis with the man’s family name above it was spray painted in red on the street. No witnesses were found.
School Board Nominating Committee Seeks Members
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Would you like to have input in Scarsdale Board of Education policy, but are unable to devote the substantial amount of time a position on the School Board demands? Consider running for election to be a member of the non-partisan committee that selects the candidates to run for Scarsdale's school board.
The School Board Nominating Committee, which meets several Sunday afternoons between January and March, is the group that identifies, proposes, and nominates qualified candidates to run for the school board. The SBNC consists of 30 voting members, representing each of the five elementary school neighborhoods. Each member is elected to serve a three-year term, elections being held in January. The goal is to identify and nominate the best candidates to serve on the Scarsdale Board of Education.
We are looking for volunteers to run in this year's election. This is your opportunity to serve your community and have important input in selecting those individuals who have ultimate responsibility for policy decisions that directly impact our schools. Excellence in education is highly valued in Scarsdale. To maintain that tradition, consider seeking a position on the School Board Nominating Committee.
Interested in joining? Need more information? Visit www.scarsdalesbnc.com , complete a biographical form online and by November 11, 2010 submit a candidate petition with ten signatures to the SBNC Administrative Committee, P.O. Box H172, Scarsdale, NY 10583. For additional details about the school board nominating process, please contact the SBNC Administrative Committee's chairperson, Stephen Fridakis at sfridakis@unicef.org
Planning Board Considers Easing Downtown Parking Requirements
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The Scarsdale Planning Board met on September 29 to consider new parking regulations that would ease the way for restaurants to open in the Village. Currently, Village Code requires one parking space per 75 square feet of space or one parking spot for each three seats in a restaurant. The parking requirement for retail stores is half that amount and the Code makes it more feasible for retailers to open than restaurants.
In response to vacant storefronts downtown, the Village Board of Trustees passed a resolution in August requesting that the Planning Board review the Code, and if warranted, prepare a recommendation to amend it.
At the meeting, Village Planner, Liz Marrinan presented a report on the current situation and a comparison of Scarsdale’s code to eight nearby towns with more vibrant downtowns. She also provided information from the Institute of Traffic Engineers with their standards for parking. She found that Scarsdale, Mamaroneck and Ardsley have the most restrictive parking requirements, and Rye, the least restrictive.
She made the following recommendations for how the code could be changed:
- Decrease the parking requirement for restaurants to one space for every 150 square feet of rentable space, which is the current requirement for retailers.
- Decrease the parking requirement to one space per 100 or 125 square feet of leasable space and give the Planning Board the power to waive the requirement on a case-by-case basis.
The importance of making a change was highlighted by comments from property owner Doug Karp who owns the space previously occupied by Waterworks as well as other stores in a strip along East Parkway and Spencer Place. He reported that since Waterworks vacated the property last year he has had virtually no inquiries from retailers about renting the 3,000 square foot space, but many from people wishing to open a restaurant there.
A restaurant of that size would now require 20 dedicated parking spaces, as the current code does not allow for shared use of parking spaces, even though the spaces are utilized at different times of the day. The current code allows for cash payment to the Village in lieu of spaces, but this cost is prohibitive, and in Karp’s view, the requirements have prevented a restaurant from leasing the space.
Furthermore, Karp reported that the real estate taxes on the space continue to rise, and with no tenant in place, the property value has declined. If he is unable to lease the space ultimately he will need to grieve the taxes which will not be good for the Village.
Members of the Planning Board asked Marrinan to find out if the less restrictive parking requirements in other villages are working and requested an expert opinion. In addition, they wanted to see what other professional organizations recommend for downtown parking requirements.
Beverly Sved, who chairs the Planning Board asked Marrinan to gather the additional information and prepare a draft of an amendment to the Code for the Planning Board to consider at their October meeting.
In other business, the Planning Board approved an addition to the gas station at 865 Scarsdale Avenue as well as the addition of porticos at Hitchcock Church for the Greenacres Avenue entrances and landscaping work to improve drainage. The agenda item concerning a fence between the Quaker Ridge Golf Course and a Brittany Close home was held over.
