Details

Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 18 August 2021

Created: 18 August 2021

Last Updated: 23 August 2021

Hits: 15544

This week, residents learned that late night flights of unaccompanied minors from the US Southern border have been landing at Westchester County Airport. The flights landed late into the night, after the voluntary curfew time.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has not confirmed how many such flights have landed or how many children are involved, but they have explained that these flights are part of a program to reunite children with parents or a vetted sponsor. The children’s ultimate destination is not Westchester County, but locations around New York, New Jersey and Connecticut and the unaccompanied minors are all vaccinated. They said, "It is our legal responsibility to safely care for unaccompanied children until they can be swiftly unified with a parent or a vetted sponsor. As part of the unification process, our Office of Refugee Resettlement facilitates travel for the children in its custody to their family or sponsors across the country. Over the last week, unaccompanied children passed through the Westchester airport en route to their final destination to be unified with their parents or vetted sponsor."

Westchester County Executive George Latimer was not aware of the flights. He said his administration was never told about these flights but has since asked for origination and destination of the people involved, their vaccination status, age, and when this will end.

He told Scarsdale10583, “The Federal government’s operation to transfer unaccompanied children from the Southern border to sites in NYC, NJ and Connecticut, connecting at our County Airport, was done without our prior knowledge it approval. It is no different than when the Trump administration housed hundreds of children from the border in sites across Westchester, also without our prior knowledge. It generated a firestorm on social media as people presumed the County was involved in the operation - which we were not.”

A statement from the County Executive discusses a backlash from Trump supporters and an attempt to spread misinformation about the flights.

Latimer said, “These flights have set afire the radical anti-immigrant right wing of Westchester… on my personal Facebook page as I advised people we were engaged in getting detailed facts, the Trump inspired angry cohort took to accusations, misrepresentations and outright lies. The intensity of the comments were aided by Republican candidates for office in 2021 who fanned the flames of distrust with innuendo and vitriol.”

He added, “As County Executive, I have no authority to stop or alter this operation. I have expressed my opposition to the surreptitious nature of late night flights (breaking our voluntary curfew) which added fuel to the fire of those opposed to the overall resettlement plan.”

Details

Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 03 August 2021

Created: 03 August 2021

Last Updated: 03 August 2021

Hits: 3068

Assemblymember Amy Paulin, Westchester County Executive George Latimer and the Westchester County Board of Legislators called for Governor Cuomo's resignation after hearing the results of an investigation of allegations of sexuals harassment against the Governor.

This is a statement from Assemblymember Amy Paulin following statement on the report released today by New York Attorney General Letitia James:

"The Attorney General’s report and its conclusions are clear – Governor Cuomo has broken the very law he signed by sexually harassing several women, all of whom were brave enough to come forward and tell their painful stories. I appreciate what they have done and stand with them. The Governor’s behavior was not only dehumanizing and degrading to these women, but it also demeans his office and position. It’s unacceptable for anyone to act as he did, let alone the Governor of our State. He needs to resign now, and if that does not happen, we in the Assembly must begin impeachment proceedings."

Here is what Westchester County Executive George Latimer said: The Attorney General’s findings are clear and compelling. The Governor must resign. The patterns of sexually harassing, intimidating and inappropriate behavior towards women cannot be tolerated.”

The Westchester County Board of Legislators concurred, and issued the following statement:

"The conclusion of independent investigators, as described in the report released Tuesday by Attorney General Letitia James, that "the Governor engaged in conduct constituting sexual harassment under federal and New York State law," makes it untenable for him to remain in the position of the highest authority in New York.

We cannot tolerate sexual harassment, intimidation and retaliation in any workplace, let alone in the State's Executive Chamber. We call on Governor Cuomo to resign immediately, and if necessary, for the State Legislature to take appropriate action; and we commend the women who came forward to speak with investigators for their courage."

Details

Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 22 July 2021

Created: 22 July 2021

Last Updated: 22 July 2021

Hits: 3960

Astronaut Mark Bezos, exits the crew capsule after a safe return to Earth.On Tuesday July 20, Scarsdale's Mark Bezos joined his brother Jeff  on New Shepard's first commercial trip to space. New Shepard is a fully reusable suborbital rocket system that is designed to take astronauts and research payloads on an 11-minute journey to space, past the Karman Line, which is the internationally recognized boundary of space, and return them to Earth.

Launched by Blue Origin, the company plans to make commercial space travel available to private citizens.

Mark, who is a volunteer firefighter in Scarsdale, was joined by his family in the west Texas dessert for the take off and landing.

Here are details of the historic mission and photos of Mark and brother Jeff before and after their first trip into space.

From Blue Origin

Blue Origin successfully completed New Shepard’s first human flight with four private citizens onboard. The crew included Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos, Wally Funk and Oliver Daemen, who all officially became astronauts when they passed the Kármán Line, the internationally recognized boundary of space. Upon landing, the astronauts were greeted by their families and Blue Origin’s ground operations team for a celebration in the West Texas desert.

A Historic Mission

• Wally Funk, 82, became the oldest person to fly in space.

• OliverDaemen, 18, was the first ever commercial astronaut to purchase a ticket and fly to space on a privately-funded and licensed space vehicle from a private launch site. He also became the youngest person to fly in space.Jeff Bezos and Mark Bezos celebrate a successful flight to space and back.

•New Shepard became the first commercial vehicle under a suborbital reusable launch vehicle license to fly paying customers, both payloads and astronauts, to space and back.

•Jeff and Mark Bezos became the first siblings to ever fly in space together.

Today was a monumental day for Blue Origin and human spaceflight,” said Bob Smith, CEO, Blue Origin. “I am so incredibly proud of Team Blue, their professionalism, and expertise in executing today’s flight. This was a big step forward for us and is only the beginning.” Blue Origin expects to fly two more crewed flights this year, with many more crewed flights planned for 2022.

Photo Credit: Blue Origin Media

Jeff and Mark Bezos walk across the crew access gantry to enter into the crew capsule for flight.

Details

Written by: Sammy Silberberg

Published: 28 June 2021

Created: 28 June 2021

Last Updated: 26 March 2026

Hits: 4890

A large gas main will be installed on Walworth Avenue, disrupting traffic from November 2021 until March 2022. The pipeline is part of a new transmission line that will extend from the Bronx to White Plains.

Several Con Edison employees attend the Village Board meeting on Tuesday June 22 to discuss the installation of the high-powered natural gas main. They explained that they will replace an existing transmission main on Walworth Avenue and will work on the three blocks from Fenimore to Colvin Road. They will also be installing new infrastructure during the construction to serve more customers and avoid costly future repairs. See Figure 1 for a map of the overall project.

The project is expected to take eight months to complete. Work will be done in segments so that it disrupts the smallest number of residents as possible. The schedule is set to complete the work from Fenimore to Greenacres by October 18th, 2021, Greenacres Avenue to Colvin Road by November 8th, Colvin Road to Brook Lane by December 21st, and Brook Lane to Brayton Road by January 6th. The pressure testing and distribution final tie-ins are scheduled to be complete by February 2021, and final restorations and paving are scheduled for March 2022.

The work is expected to take place Monday through Friday from 8:00 am-5:00 pm. Depending on the schedule and unforeseen circumstances, some work may be done on Saturdays. Con Ed reported that they developed a Noise Mitigation Plan for all of Westchester County that will include engineering and administrative tools to keep construction noises to acceptable levels.

Mayor Veron inquired what the communications strategy is for the project, and how residents will be made aware of the construction. Representatives responded that affected residents will receive emails about ongoing work and there will be traffic boards posted with information as well. Trustee Crandall added that Hitchcock Church is in that area, and in addition to crowded Sunday services, they also have a preschool in the building. She raised concerns about potential traffic issues and how children and caregivers can safely move in and out of the building. She said that “emails may not be sufficient” and suggested that Con Ed post paper notices on doors with a phone number to contact if any issues should arise. Mayor Veron later highlighted this point by emphasizing how helpful it would be for residents to have a single point of contact for issues related to this project.

Will customers lose their gas service during the construction? The Con Edison representatives said, "Customers will temporarily lose gas service while they are switched to the new distribution main." The interruptions will be scheduled and not take more than a few hours.

Trustee Whitestone inquired if Con Ed plans to hire any contract workers for the project and noted that in years past, contractors have had “poor diplomatic manners” with residents. He asked that Con Ed “hold their contractors to the same standards as their own workers.” Mayor Veron added that the Board received a lot of negative feedback from residents about these interactions. The Con Ed representative said he would investigate this issue, and that the project will try to contract out as little work as possible.

Addressing the traffic mitigation plan, Con Ed plans to put detour signs around Greenacres if the road needs to be shut down, although they do not plan to close the street. Police will help facilitate single-lane traffic if necessary. See Figure 2 for a map of the suggested traffic detour routes.

Con Ed then reviewed the 7-foot-wide trench that is part of the construction plan on the street. Trustee Brew asked if and how people living on that street will be able to access their driveways if a 7-foot trench is dug in their street. Con Ed explained that they do not plan on completely shutting down traffic at any point, and residents will always have access to come in and out of their homes. When the trench interferes, Con Ed will put a steel plate down so vehicles can enter and exit their driveway. Con Ed also noted that their Corporate Affairs office will be available at any time of day to answer questions or handle issues with residents.

Justin Arest if the presence of this line would allow Scarsdale residents to get new gas lines as Con Edison currently has a moratorium on new gas service to residents in lower Westchester. The answer from Con Edison was “no” for now, though they might lift the moratorium in 2023.