County Beaches to Open for Memorial Day But Region Fails to Meet State Criteria for Phased Reopening
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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On Tuesday May 19 Westchester County Executive George Latimer announced the opening of two county beaches for Memorial Day weekend, while at the same time revealing that other county run sites will remain closed, and that fireworks and ethnic celebrations would be cancelled.
The good news is that beaches at Playland and Croton Point Park will be open on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday for the Memorial Day Weekend. However Playland Amusement Park will remain closed—at least until July 20-- and fireworks spectaculars scheduled for the July 4th weekend at Kensico Dam Plaza and Playland Park are cancelled. There will be no ethnic festivals at Kensico – at least through July 20—but if possible-- these festivals could be held in October.
The County Executive warned residents to continue to wear masks and maintain social distance, saying “Whether or not these two sites will remain open will depend on how they are managed.” Latimer was pleased to report that golf courses and bicycle Sundays are open and there have been no new cases manifested because of these activities. At this point, no decision has been made about the opening of two county pools.
At an update on Tuesday May 19 Latimer reported the following statistics:
There are over 32,402 positive cases in Westchester but of those, almost 30,000 are cleared, leaving the active number of cases in the county at 2,162, which is a steady decline from a high of 11,000 active cases at one point in the crisis.
126,000 people, or 12.6% of the population in Westchester, has been tested and now the Governor is trying to open up antibody testing for everyone.
There are currently 400 people with COVID hospitalized and fatalities dropped to just 3 residents on Monday night. As a point of comparison, on April 10, 72 people died overnight.
The county has sufficient ICU beds and general beds to handle any surge. This week, doctors in Westchester can resume elective surgery.
Even with all this progress, as of 5-19 the mid-Hudson region has only met five of the seven state mandated criteria for re-opening so there is no schedule as yet to begin the phased reopening.
The region, which includes Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Sullivan, Rockland, Ulster and Westchester Counties, has failed to meet the following requirements:
-30 contact tracers per 100,000 residents; (expected)
-A 14-day decline in hospital deaths or a three-day average of fewer than five deaths.
Photos from the Pandemic: Unusual Sites Abound
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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These are unusual times indeed. We’re seeing things we’ve never seen in town before – and hope we never see again. Here are some pictures of the pandemic in Scarsdale. Have you seen anything strange? Share your photos with us at [email protected].
Empty streets allow pedestrians to walk in the middle of the street without even listening for traffic. There’s nowhere to go.
Paper towels and toilet paper are in scarce supply – and rationed at many stores.
People are wearing masks – alone in their cars, while biking and shopping. It’s often difficult to recognize friends and neighbors.
Kids are seeing friends by holding picnics on the top of their cars.
Teens meet in driveways and stay six feet apart.
Packages are left outside for a few days curing. It’s thought that this will dissipate the virus on surfaces.
The only way to conduct business, see friends or celebrate birthdays is online. Everyone is using Zoom, meeting software, technology that we didn’t know existed just eight weeks ago.
Plastic gloves are discarded willy-nilly.
Jigsaw puzzles are back, big time!
Medical testing is in. People are getting swabbed and pricked in an effort to learn their COVID exposure.
Tributes to first responders abound.
The Class of 2020 appears to be celebrating their graduation with lawn signs, rather than in person.
An ice- cream man in a face mask who only accepts Venmo payments. See sign on left of truck. (Contributed by Debra Asher)
Election Update: NY Democratic Presidential Primary to take place; Absentee Ballot Applications Sent to all Registered Voters; School and Village Election Dates.
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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(May 6, 2020) This UPDATED letter was sent to Scarsdale10583 by the League of Women Voters of Scarsdale)
Dear Editor,
The Scarsdale League of Women Voters has been closely monitoring all of the voting and election changes related to the COVID-19 crisis. The most effective way for you to stay informed is by visiting our voter service page where we will provide timely updates as soon as they become available. You may also visit the NYS League of Women Voters website. The NYS League also provides a texting service to keep voters up to date on voting changes: text VOTENY to 474747.
Following are a few highlights of recent changes to election laws. This includes updates as of May 5, 2020.
The New York Democratic Presidential Primary will take place on June 23. Although the Democratic members of the State’s Board of Elections had voted in April to cancel the Presidential Primary, a federal court ruled on May 5 that it would be unconstitutional to do so because it would result in irreparable harm.
All registered voters will automatically receive in the mail an absentee ballot application to vote in the June 23, 2020 primary elections. This change is in addition to Governor Cuomo’s earlier order allowing voters to choose “temporary illness” (due to fear of COVID-19) as the reason for applying for an absentee ballot.
On May 1, the Governor ordered that Boards of Elections will include paid return postage for all absentee ballots for the June primary.
The primary for our Congressional District and the County District Attorney’s Office will also take place on June 23, 2020. The Scarsdale League, along with our neighboring Leagues, is coordinating virtual Candidate Forums for contested primary elections. These forums will take place at the end of May and early June. We will update the community with details and the information will also be available on our website at LWVS.org.
On the local level, the May 1 Executive Order directed that all School Board/ School Budget elections are scheduled for June 9 and will be held via mail with return postage included. Each district will send out postcard notice which details the date of the election, date of the budget hearing, the definition of a qualified voter, and an absentee ballot.
All Village and Town elections previously scheduled to be held in March, April, May or June will be held on September 15, 2020. Absentee ballots previously submitted are valid and will be counted.
The Governor’s May 1 order recognizes that absentee ballot requests submitted before his Executive Orders on absentee voting will still be valid without further action by the voter. Further, Boards of Elections must also make available at their offices a voting system that is accessible for voters wishing to mark their ballot privately and independently.
Please read the Governor’s full Executive Order here:
If you have any questions regarding voting, please contact the League of Women Voters, voter service at: [email protected]. We know that the ever-changing rules can be confusing and are happy to answer any questions.
Stay safe,
Ronny Hersch
Beatrice Sevcik
Voter Service Co-Chairs
League of Women Voters of Scarsdale
Letter from Bill Kay: Correcting the Record
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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To the Editor: I am a former resident of Scarsdale and I still follow developments in the Village via the Internet and the Inquirer. I worked in numerous civic organizations in the 30 years I was a Village resident, including the Scarsdale Forum and predecessor organizations, SNAP, neighborhood associations and a number of official boards and councils of the Village. I had the honor of serving as chair of the Citizens’ Nominating Committee after having been elected to two terms as a member of the Committee – I spent nine years serving with the Nominating Committee in various positions. Part of my service with the Scarsdale Forum included working on the Village and County Budget Committees.
I have no doubt that the citizens of Scarsdale are impacted, like people in other communities in Westchester County, by the national health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic imported from overseas. However, health crisis notwithstanding, the Village is still responsible to provide municipal services (water, trash collection, etc.) and function as a Village.
The recent letter from the Scarsdale Voters Choice Party (“SVCP”) that was widely distributed via e-mail, espouses a bleak and incorrect message. Certain of its suppositions clearly indicate a lack of understanding of how Scarsdale government operates, how it is funded and even how services are provided by the Village.
Many parts of their message assert that the Scarsdale Citizens Non-Partisan Party controls the Village Board of Trustees, that certain Village employees, particularly in the safety services (police and fire, especially) work unnecessary overtime and that the Village Board can just change the way Village citizens are taxed. Another central message of the SVCP letter is that the Village budget must be filled with excess spending that can be cut while preserving “the services and programs that we find most essential” – a quote from the SVCP Working Paper that the letter refers to.
Having reported on at least ten annual Village and County budgets, I can say that what is described here is either not true or is misleading. Just three examples:
Overtime worked by the police and fire safety personnel in the Village is a result of those professionals actually working for more time than they are scheduled, not because the amount of time they work is predetermined when the Village budget is passed. Scarsdale residents are safer and more secure because the professionals in these departments do what is necessary rather than just get up and leave when their shift ends.
Property taxes are, for many, a daunting part of living in Scarsdale, but every property owner pays the same tax rate. The so-called “flat tax” that the SVCP calls for is already in place and has been for decades. New York State tax law prohibits charging different tax rates to similar entities in the same municipality, whether it be the Village or the County.
Although the SVCP message claims to “have never advocated cutting the salaries and regular hours…” of many Village employees, the very next paragraph in the message says “We have suggested a salary freeze…” Since the budget does contain some increases in personnel costs – some of which are governed by contracts in place and others like pension costs being not within the control of the Village, these two statements seem to contradict each other.
Finally, the whole point of the non-partisan system of nominating candidates for Village Trustees, Mayor, Village Justice, etc. is that it is non-partisan – it is free of partisan party influence and affiliations. By not being hostage to partisan political influence, like so many national, state and local political parties, the Scarsdale Citizens Non-Partisan Party can consistently get the best, most qualified citizens of Scarsdale to serve on Village governing boards. The Citizens Non-Partisan Party “administration”, as the SVCP suggests, simply does not exist.
The SVCP claims to be able to reduce both taxes and Village expenditures, without seriously affecting services. My review of their message does not reveal any realistic proposal on their part for doing so. Further, based on my years of experience reviewing Scarsdale’s budgets and familiarity with the Village’s budget process, if this were the case, it would already have been thoughtfully done – decades ago.
Bill Kay
Hawthorne, NY
District Attorney Investigating Anti-Semitic Incidents During Religious Online Video Services
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The Westchester County District Attorney is investigating two recent anti-Semitic “zoom-bombings” of Jewish religious services in Westchester, which were being video streamed in an effort to bring people together while following social distancing directives.
The incidents took place via a Jewish center video stream Friday, April 3, 2020, and a second incident the following week from another congregation. In both cases, congregation leadership had sent email invitations for anyone to join the interactive video stream. In both incidents, an unknown person or persons logged into the Zoom-based video conference and interrupted the services with anti-Semitic acts, including posting swastikas and other offensive material for all participants to see.
According to the Scarsdale Police report entered on April 9, the incident in Scarsdale occurred on April 9 at 9:30 am when unknown individuals interrupted a video meeting and posted “hateful and offensives messages.” One of the parties who hacked in revealed their name. The video was set up as a Passover service and 13 members of the synagogue were online when the incident occurred. During the service six to nine different people joined the call and shared offensive videos and pictures and made comments about “female XXXXXX.” The session was not password protected. After the interruptions, the parties ended the session and continued on another service. No threats were made.
According to DA Anthony Scarpino, “The DA’s Office is working with local police in Pelham Manor and Scarsdale to identify who is responsible. We have issued subpoenas and are reviewing a recording and other materials of the events. Together, our Cybercrime Bureau is working hard to trace the digital footprint of the perpetrators and our Hate Crime Unit is looking into the specific aspects of the incidents and what criminal charges might apply.”
“Everyone during the COVID19 crisis is trying to bring people together using technology but there will always be bad actors who find ways to exploit it. These anti-Semitic attacks are hateful and hurtful. My office is working with local police and federal authorities to find out who may have done this and whether they will be charged with a crime. As always, we stand with our friends in Westchester of every faith to protect their freedom to worship uninterrupted whether in person or online. We continue to work with our community partners to stop hate in Westchester.”
These acts follow continuing investigations into hateful emails sent to residents and a business owner in New Rochelle in February after the COVID19 outbreak began.
The DA reminds everyone using video conferencing software to always record the video stream to have a digital record of any issues that may take place. If your organization has been similarly affected please report it to your local police or the District Attorney’s Office.
Meanwhile, the ADL, working with the Zoom platform experts, has published best practices in using Zoom video conferencing software.
- LWVS and Scarsdale Forum Make Statements on the Proposed Village Budget
- Notable Locals Pass Away: Remembering Richard Brodsky, Earl Graves and Jane Nusbaum
- Scarsdale Medical Group Offers Drive-Through COVID-19 Tests to Existing Patients
- Bill and Hillary Clinton Send Pizza Delivery to White Plains Hospital Emergency Department
