Spectacular Fireworks for the Fourth of July
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- Written by Vivian Zweig
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A lively crowd gathered at the Scarsdale Public Pool on Thursday, June 29, in anticipation of Scarsdale’s annual fireworks spectacular. The pool complex was packed with residents armed with lawn chairs and picnic blankets, occupying every inch of the lawn. Those looking to watch the display from a more spacious environment set up camp adjacent to the pool complex on Winston Field.
Residents began arriving early in the evening to claim spots on the pool complex’s lawn. As families settled down to enjoy snacks and meals, some more youthful residents could be seen splashing around the pool and playing lawn games. At 7:30 PM, the Westchester Band, directed by Alan Hollander, began the evening with a selection of patriotic songs.
The band began by playing America the Beautiful, setting the tone for the night. Among the songs played were American Overture, the Star Spangled Spectacular, and Stars and Stripes Forever. After a brief intermission, the crowd waited for the night’s main attraction—the fireworks spectacular—to begin.
As glimmers of light danced across the sky, the display captivated and dazzled the audience. The foggy evening added a unique and mystical aspect to the show. After about half an hour and an exciting finale, residents exited the pool complex in waves—another successful spectacular.
Although the fireworks spectacular has passed, the town’s 4th of July celebrations are far from over. Residents can look forward to attending the July 4th Parade at Arthur Manor and the July 4th Celebration in Greenacres. More information on these events can be found here!
Sign Up for the Village's Emergency Notification System
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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This letter was written by Scarsdale Mayor Justin Arest:
June 28, 2023
Dear Scarsdale,
Safety is the top priority for our community, and our village has taken a significant step to enhance our ability to communicate with you, particularly during emergency situations. After careful evaluation, the Village has chosen to transition to a new emergency communication platform: Everbridge.
Everbridge is a comprehensive, state-of-the-art communication system designed to provide you with important, potentially life-saving information as swiftly as possible, especially during a crisis. Everbridge rose to the top of our assessment as the most effective and reliable platform. Some of you may already be familiar with a service called Nixle, used by some of our neighboring communities. This service was acquired by Everbridge, and its functionality has been integrated into the Everbridge platform.
You can enroll right now by clicking here. We highly recommend that each member of your household sign-up for this service to ensure everyone is kept informed during an emergency. There is also an app for iOS and Android, “Everbridge Public Safety” that can be downloaded on your mobile devices. And in the coming days, all households will also receive a postcard containing instructions on how to sign up for Everbridge.
Additionally, for updates on less urgent matters, we encourage you to subscribe to Notify Me, another service designed to keep you updated with press releases from the Village as well as specific information on other topics that can be tailored to your interests. Enrollment for Notify Me is separate and can be completed here.
Please help the Village in keeping you up to date by signing up now for both Everbridge and Notify Me. Being prepared and informed is our collective responsibility and a vital part of ensuring the well-being of our community.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this important matter. If you have any questions or need assistance with signing up, please contact the Manager’s Office at Manager@Scarsdale.com. Together, we will keep our community safe and informed. The Village of Scarsdale wishes you all a Happy Independence Day!
My best,
Justin Arest, Mayor
Mayor@Scarsdale.com
Softball Team Says That New Field Does Not Meet Regulations
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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Though the Scarsdale School district touted the opening of a new softball field at Greenacres as a benefit for the SHS girls softball team, it turns out that the new field does not meet specifications and lacks essential features of a regulation field.
On Monday June 5, the district invited the softball team and others to a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new softball field at Greenacres Elementary School. The field is in the rear corner of Greenacres Field and had been closed for the entire spring while it was ostensibly being redone. The girls softball team currently plays at a Village owned field at Supply Field and had been asking for a field that was equal to the baseball field that the boys play on at Dean Field.
Unlike other facilities projects, there had been little discussion about this at school board meetings this year, and most were not aware that any work was in process.
According to parents, the new field does not have the correct dirt to grass ratio so that the outfield is in dirt rather than grass. It also lacks benches, a dugout or a scoreboard. It does little to meet the goal of an alternate facility for the girls and does not achieve equity with the boys facilities.
Sammy Fenigstein, the captain of the Girls Softball Team attended the ribbon cutting at the invitation of the district and had this to say:
"The Scarsdale softball team was never part of the process of choosing Greenacres as a new field for the team or as a practice field. We found out about its opening just a few days before. We were overjoyed to hear that Scarsdale athletics was taking a step in the direction of equality between men and women in sports, but we then saw that we are being given a field that is not playable.
For the past 20 years, we have been playing on a field at Supply with no dugouts, no scoreboard, and field conditions that are not up to par with Dean field, the boys baseball team’s field. Dean field has dugouts, a score board, batting cages, is right on the SHS campus, and so much more. We all thought that we were finally going to get a field that is somewhat close to what baseball has.
Then we went to the ribbon cutting the other day and saw that Greenacres field was still a baseball field (the dimensions were too large to be a high school girls softball field) and its condition was not even comparable to Dean field. We were then asked to do a ribbon cutting at that field. It really just felt like we were being used for a photo-op.
What upset the team the most was when the athletic department announced that we were “smiling ear to ear” when receiving our unusable field. In reality, we were appalled at the injustice now so clearly on display between men and women in Scarsdale athletics. If the school could fix the field issues at Supply, and give us a scoreboard and dugouts there, we would be content. We have been asking for equality between the baseball team and the softball team for many years. Instead we were given an unusable field and it was announced that we were all so happy about it.
As much as the team appreciates the effort put into attempting to make Greenacres a permanent field for us, there is more to be done to obtain equality between men and women in Scarsdale athletics."
Asked for a comment, Superintendent Drew Patrick said, "Skinning the field was a first step in the effort to provide more access for girls softball at all levels. We have work to do on the field to bring it up to a higher level of competition, and we are excited to work together to make these improvements in the months to come."
A field study that includes Village and school owned fields will be done next year to determine what is needed. Officials indicated that this field is only an interim step until that study can be completed and that more could come for the girls down the line.
Village Condemns Neglected Home on Madison Road
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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The Scarsdale Building Department accompanied by the Village Attorney’s office and the Scarsdale Department of Public Works conducted a search of a neglected home at 136 Madison Road in Arthur Manor. Following the search, the property was condemned.
The two-story, 1,706 square foot home was built in 1929 and has an assessed value of $675,000.
The house sits on a one-tenth of an acre lot and there is a separate one tenth of an acre lot adjacent to it, both with the same owner.
According to Village Treasurer Anne Scaglione, taxes on both lots have been paid.
China Takes Extreme Measures to Keep its Teens off TikTok
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- Written by Sameer Ahuja
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The terms “iPad kid” and “screenager” have become increasingly popular terms to describe children and teenagers who excessively use screens, particularly in social settings. There are many culprits: YouTube, Netflix, Instagram, and Snapchat. But one of the biggest is TikTok, a highly addictive social media app that allows users to share short video clips. Sameer Ahuja, a Scarsdale Village Trustee and the President of sports tech company GameChanger, discussed China’s TikTok restrictions and steps that the United States could take to curb addiction.
Ahuja writes a newsletter, Consume at Once, that discusses how technology is transforming how we create and consume movies, videos, TV, games, sports, and social media. He recently wrote the following article: China Takes Extreme Measures to Keep its Teens off TikTok.
China Takes Extreme Measures to Keep its Teens off TikTok
Do you really know what your kids are watching online?
It’s no idle query. For years, ever since the Internet became ubiquitous, well-meaning parents have torn their hair out over the content their children consume. Back in the early 2000s, Eminem CDs and 50 Cent music videos had parents printing out lyrics from sites like Genius, intercepting what they deemed abhorrent content.
Now, in 2023, the debate is all about TikTok.
Last month, the company CEO Shou Zi found himself in the hot seat. The hearing, which occurred in the U.S. Congress, featured a series of questions surrounding the viral app, its capabilities, and its dangers.
Viewers may recall Mark Zuckerberg’s similar testimony years ago, where congresspeople sounded woefully unprepared to confront Facebook’s founder. The hearings led to discussions about advancing tech and its growing ability to eclipse our archaic legal system.
It also featured plenty of memes.
A seemingly ridiculous question during the recent TikTok hearing included, “So if I have a TikTok app on my phone and my phone is on my home WIFI network, does TikTok access that network?”
US Rep Mike Gallagher referred to TikTok a “national security threat,” saying, “We have to deal with it before it’s too late.” Whether you agree or not, it’s clear valid concerns exist, especially regarding youngsters' app usage.
The Chinese government, for its part, has placed strict limitations on their version of TikTok, Douyin. This isn’t the first time Beijing has flexed its muscles to clamp down on what they warn is an issue of “teen addiction.”
Two years ago, the nation instituted strict restrictions on video games. According to CNN, “China has barred online gamers under the age of 18 from playing on weekdays and limited their play to just three hours most weekends...” Compare this to American kids’ average of 13 hours a week playing video games, and the worries about disparities start to seep in.
Now, with the proliferation of short form video apps like TikTok, CCP officials warn of the same phenomenon and are determined to enforce, “the regulation of short videos and preventing underage users from becoming addicted.”
Through these restrictions and Douyin’s “teenager mode”, the app already restricts content, such as dangerous pranks, adult topics, and other content the state deems unsavory for kids. In fact, in China, users under 14 are shown wholesome videos promoting art and culture, science experiments, history lessons, and more. They can also only use it for 40 minutes a day.
This brings us to the debate for similar restrictions in America. As we know, Americans have never embraced perceived governmental overreach, from the time of the nation’s founding. Restrictions that “infringe on personal freedoms” rarely pick up steam in a country built on rugged individualism.
So how do we proceed, knowing full-well as China does, that even casual TikTok viewing can turn wildly addictive?
For one thing, as the experience with Eminem and 50 Cent prove, we cannot shield kids in perpetuity. This means any strategy can’t solely be restrictive. We must also encourage positive content viewing habits.
Instead of wagging our fingers at the mindless “junk” content, it’s imperative we substitute it with something better. (After all, this is what China is doing. Example: most American kids want to become YouTubers, not astronauts; in China, the situation is reversed.)
This brings up yet another related issue.
Ever since any notion of a shared mainstream pop culture has collapsed, each internet user seems to exist in their own bubble, especially our youth. This makes it harder to monitor content, especially because viewing now occurs largely via private devices in silo.
Returning to our question, what kinds of content do we wish for our kids? Should it all be informative and educational, a kind of add-on to school? Even Saturday morning cartoons once upon a time managed to infuse fun with learning. Maybe this is a valid approach worth pursuing?
My advice?
Emphasize at least some content that inspires curiosity and personal growth. For every dance trend clip, there could be a related video promoting musical history and/or culture. Likewise, sports highlights could be paired with motivational fitness content.
Videos inspiring action and especially community in an age of virtual disconnect could turn things around, especially for young people. Moreover, they needn’t come from some top-down edict.
Rather, an opportunity exists in the market for (positively) disruptive bottom-up influencers to produce and monetize content that uplifts audiences, especially young people. This kind of good reinforcement is more likely to be effective than a blanket ban.
As I wrote about last month, it’s in our hands to shake up our addictive dopamine cycle with something else, something better. And I believe the secret sauce is autonomy.
As parents, the most enlightened of us know we can’t control every aspect of our kids’ lives. But we can do our best to block the bad, and more importantly, engage our young ones’ curiosity by offering something better. Something positive.
But this message isn’t just aimed at parents. Collectively, we are all going through a kind of digital adolescence, an age of deep uncertainty and confusion as we learn to assimilate newfound technological powers and infinite content made by anyone, anywhere in the world.
This brave new era comes with new responsibilities—and yes, privileges—our ancestors never had. My final advice? Hold more conversations with your kids about their viewing habits. And rather than ask: “What content are you watching?” Instead, ask: “Why are you watching that content?”
The answer may surprise—inspire you.
See more about what Ahuja has to say here.