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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 17 September 2025

Created: 17 September 2025

Last Updated: 17 September 2025

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Sometimes it seems like the recycling center on Secor Road has become a victim of its own success. Those who come to discard refuse and recycle household items find that the parking spaces are filled with other who are waiting to take what’s unloaded.

Locals who can now use it to recycle papers, plastic, books, clothing, electronics, paint and more, have found that the “Take it or Leave it” shed is attracting crowds, and making it difficult to people who want to use the shed to deposit their refuse. We’ve heard complaints from friends who say they cannot park near the trucks and end up hauling bags and furniture across the parking lot.

In order to address the issue, the Village has painted new signage intended to get better control of visits and traffic at recycling center. Parking spots in front of the shed and the trucks now say, “10 Minute Parking.” This should limit parking in those spots to those who are unloading. Those who linger at the center to collect discarded items will need to park further away.

Village Manager Alex Marshall explains, “Prior to the striping of these spots, this area of the Recycling Center did not have clearly identifiable parking spaces, which made it challenging for patrons and staff to determine where to park. We are hopeful that these new 10-minute spots will help reduce congestion on site and encourage more patron turnover. Staff are still in the process of striping additional parking spaces and corresponding signage will be posted.”

Photo Credit: Jonathan Mark

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 11 September 2025

Created: 11 September 2025

Last Updated: 11 September 2025

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Scarsdale Police Chief Steven DelBene returned to the Village Board to request funding for a new dispatch and record keeping system at a work session preceding the September 9 meeting of the Village Board.

He explained that the technology for the current dispatch system was developed 40 years ago and was adopted in Scarsdale 20 years ago. DelBene says the update is needed to enhance efficiency and to meet compliance requirements. The current system costs the Village around $40,000 per year and this new system will cost $126,000 in the first year and $72,000 in the second year with a 5% increase in operating costs for the balance of the ten years.

The new system integrates computer aided dispatch and record management. According to the memo, “CAD is the system dispatchers and officers use to receive emergency calls and quickly send the nearest available units to the scene. It tracks call details in real time, uses GPS to monitor officer locations, and logs key events as they unfold. RMS, on the other hand, is the central database where all information from those calls is stored – including incident reports, arrest records, evidence logs and accident details.”

The Village currently uses a system from a vendor called Central Square, and DelBene recommends the purchase of the new system from Central Square as well. He explained that since officers are already familiar with their software, the transition would be easy, there would be reduced training needs and fewer workflow disruptions than starting with a new vendor.

In order to evaluate their options, DelBene invited officers to demonstrations from various vendors including Motorola, Mark43, Tyler and Cody. He reports that his officers found the Central Square Pro product to be “the most user-friendly and operationally sound choice.”

In a memo to the Village he contends that the contract meets the “sole source eligibility” exemption and competitive bids under General Municipal Law 103 are not required. According to his memo, “To qualify for the sole-source exemption to competitive bidding, the Village must be able to show that the products to be purchased uniquely serve the public interest and are only available from a single source. As such, the Village must show as follows: (i) the product will provide unique benefits to the Village; (ii) that no other product provides substantially equivalent or similar benefits; and (iii) that, considering the benefits received, the cost of the product is reasonable in comparison to other products in the marketplace.”

Though he did not solicit formal bids from the other vendors, he got “competitive bids” from Motorola, Tyler Technologies and Cody Technologies and found that Central Square was most competitive for a ten-year period.

The memo says, “Recognizing the long-term nature of this investment, I conducted a detailed ten-year total cost of ownership analysis for each of these top three vendors. This analysis included all anticipated expenses—licensing, maintenance, support, and any recurring fees—to give a complete picture of the financial impact over the system’s lifespan. The results are as follows:

Motorola: $1,335,931.45

Tyler Technologies: $2,238,915.00

Code Technologies: $987,037.29

Central Square Technologies: $908,527.20

No back-up information for these estimates was provided in the packet to trustees.

DelBene added that Central Square is implementing a similar system in Elmsford and will offer a discount for cost sharing.

Trustees posed questions to DelBene. Would the partnership with Elmsford involve data sharing? The response was no.

About the estimates from the other vendors, Trustee Wise asked, “Are we comparing apples to apples – are they all exactly the same?”

Concerning the funding, DelBene explained, “There is $175,000 budgeted for in year 1. We are currently paying $40,000 a year.”

Trustee Gans said, “There is sole source and there is best value. What are the guidelines?”

The Village Attorney responded, saying, “If you can justify the criteria you can be exempt from public bidding. In terms of best value –you may have a preference for one but these offer different attributes that cannot be satisfied by different vendors.”

Trustee Mazer asked, “Why are you deciding to update it after 40 years?” DelBene, responded, “Because I am the new Chief…. It helps manage evidence and pinpoint an incident.” Mazer followed up, “Tell me how it will make a difference in how the officer processes the chase.?”

DelBene said, “We are now driving a horse and buggy on an interstate. This will pop up a map and directions to the location.”

Trustee Goldschmidt said, “I don’t understand the cost sharing concept with Elmsford – the cloud can be shared anywhere.” He was assured that data would not be shared.
DelBene explained, “I feel more comfortable with Central Square because staff felt familiar with it. Our officers will have an easier time transitioning.”

Asked if there was an independent rating for these systems, DelBene said, “No.”

Wise asked, “Why don’t we ask for sealed bids?”
The attorney responded, “Because the other ones are not providing the same equipment – and Central Square is already the lowest. It would be tough to draft the language for the bids.”

At the conclusion of the meeting, there was no timeline for formal approval of the proposal.

We followed up with the following questions to Scarsdale Village Manager Alex Marshall:

Question: From the discussion, I could not tell if Chief DelBene negotiated the price with Central Square. Since we didn’t get other formal bids, what is the process for agreeing on a price?

Answer: As Chief DelBene outlined on page 5 of his memo, multiple CAD/RMS companies were contacted and reviewed. Several of these companies provided the Village with quotes for their services. Central Square also provided the Village with a sample Master Service Agreement(MSA) that includes the pricing packages for the specific software and related services included. The Master Service Agreement, which has been reviewed by counsel, is included as part of the work session packet as well.

Question: Would the vendor selection be something that the Village’s Technology Advisory Council could study and make a recommendation on? DelBene himself said he is not a technology expert and since we have that expertise, would it make sense to tap into it?

We of course value the expertise of the Village's Technology Advisory Council, but we typically utilize their knowledge during projects affecting our broader IT infrastructure. For public safety matters, we rely on the expertise from public safety experts and officials. While Chief DelBene is not himself an IT professional, he and his department staff have a strong understanding of their technology needs. We also have a dedicated IT Officer with a background in computer science who has participated in the evaluation of these tools. As Chief mentioned during his presentation, he has spoken with police departments in New York and other regions who are utilizing Central Square's product, and he is confident that this product would suit his department's needs, especially as it pertains to maintaining our standards for national accreditation.

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 19 August 2025

Created: 19 August 2025

Last Updated: 11 September 2025

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(Updated August 21, 2025) Developers are renewing their attempt to construct a subdivision on a swampy piece of land at 80, 88 and 90 Garden Road in Scarsdale where they hope to build five new homes with pools.

In 2024 the applicants held multiple meetings with the Planning Board in an effort to gain approval to construct eight new homes with pools on the site. The plans involved a private roadway, using landfill to raise the grade of the site and the demolition of hundreds of trees. After significant pushback from residents, those plans were withdrawn in November, 2024. The applicants have been attempting to develop the property, failing to win approval for almost twenty years, since 2006.

Now they have submitted please to “reconfigure the existing lot at 90 Garden Road and re-subdivide the remaining lot area from 2 building lots to 5 building lots and a new shared private roadway. The existing structure at 90 Garden Road will remain while the other existing structures will be demolished and replaced with 5 new single-family homes rather than the eight proposed last year. This equates to a net increase of 3 new single-family residences.” They claim the project will “not create any significant adverse environmental impacts on the environment or community.”

Here are a few elements of the plan as outlined in documents available online:

According to plans submitted, in order to build the new homes

They will remove 246 trees and replace them with 383 trees. The previous plan called for the removal of 437 trees. Among the trees to be taken down are:

33 Northern Red Oaks
13 Tulip Trees
10 White Oaks
19 Sugar Maples
12 Black Oaks
16 Red Maples
20 American Beech
42 Norway Maples
11 Norway Spruce
11 Cedar SPP

In order to raise the grade by four feet, the plan calls for the importation of 8,000 cubic yards of landfill which is expected to be delivered to the premises over a period of approximately 15 days. The previous plan called for the importation of 30,000 cubic yards of fill.

Each of the five new homes will have their own private wells as the Village water system is not adequate to support water service for the additional homes.

In July 2025 Scarsdale Village Trustees reviewed three proposals to improve stormwater flow along both sides of Cushman Road and at the end of Cushman Road near Garden Road and Varian Lane. The area has experienced considerable flooding and water flows from the Garden Road site to these areas. Though drainage plans have been proposed, there are no timelines for their implementation. Jeff Coleman from the Department of Public Works said the Village is conferring with Westchester County to see if these plans could fit into their mitigation plans.

The area is already prone to flooding, Without the stormwater remediation projects in place, building the Garden Road only risks exacerbating an already fraught situation.

The Planning Board will consider the application to develop the Garden Road site at a hearing on September 11, 2025 at 7 pm at Village Hall.

See the full application here.

Developer Eilon Amidor has already filed applications with the Committee for Historic Preservation to demolish 80 and 88 Garden Roads on the agenda for their September 16, 2025 meeting. Therefore the homes are under consideration from two land use boards at the same time.

Commenting on the renewed application, a concerned neighbor said, “This project has been cooking since 2006 despite the repeated reference to 2018. (I have the documents). For nearly 20 years this developer has been trying to develop this site. What makes this iteration any better? There are fewer houses but:

-Still clear-cutting 200+ trees;
-Still trucking in fill from other construction sites to raise the terrain by 4 feet;
-Despite the raised terrain, homes will have basements and pools that will disrupt the high groundwater table;

Q: Where will this displaced water go?
A: Laterally, into neighboring properties;

-Swales to handle runoff will ultimately drain into the too small pipe that feeds into the stream behind homes on Willow;

-The Village has not done any remediation of the stormwater runoff problem at Cushman/Willow/Garden, and it remains, admittedly, inadequate to handle the current level of runoff.

I feel like Bill Murray in "Groundhog Day."

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 28 July 2025

Created: 28 July 2025

Last Updated: 29 July 2025

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Eric I. Hemel died on July 27, 2025, while vacationing with his wife and close friends on Kezar Lake in Center Lovell, Maine. He was 72.

Eric loved to travel the world by bicycle and by foot—preferably with family members in tow. On a walking trip with his wife, Barbara Morgen, in Vietnam in 2003, Eric became concerned about the large number of children in rural areas who were not in school, and he decided to do something about it. Eric and Barbara founded a scholarship program that has paid school fees and provided books, uniforms, bicycles, and after-school tutoring to thousands of children from low-income families across Vietnam over the last twenty years. Eric also visited hospitals in nearly every province of Vietnam to bring continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines to neonatal units. His efforts have saved thousands of prematurely born infants from death or brain damage in Vietnam and other parts of southeast Asia.

Thei Hemel's work in Asia was featured in an article on Scarsdale10583.com in 2014.

A cycling accident in October 2023 interfered with Eric’s ability to travel, but Eric continued to revel in the presence of his six grandchildren, who called him “Opapa” and clamored for his goofy animal impressions and spirited readings of picture books. He and Barbara celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary earlier this month.

Eric was born in Chicago on November 9, 1952, to Albert Hemel and Hertha Kreider. His father was an electrical engineer who changed the family’s last name from Himmelstein in response to antisemitism; his mother fled from Austria after the Nazi invasion and spent time in a refugee camp in Cuba before coming to Chicago. Eric was raised in Skokie, Illinois, until the end of ninth grade, when his family moved to Los Altos, California. After earning a bachelor’s degree, MBA, and PhD in economics at Stanford, Eric went to work as a budget aide to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York and as a senior policy analyst on Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign. He later served as a senior policy adviser on President Reagan’s domestic policy staff, staff director of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, and chief economist at the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. After moving with his wife and two children from Washington, D.C., to Scarsdale, N.Y., Eric worked in the finance industry for nearly three decades, including as co-head of U.S. equity research at Merrill Lynch.

Eric is survived by his wife, Barbara Morgen; his children, Deborah and Daniel Hemel; his son-in-law, Doug Stone; his daughter-in-law, Emily Blumberg; his six grandchildren, Nathaniel, Rebecca, Leah, and Elijah Stone, and Abraham and Helen Blumberg-Hemel; and his brother, Neal Hemel.

Eric Hemel's funeral will be held this Wednesday, July 30, at 1pm, in the main sanctuary at Congregation Kol Ami, 252 Soundview Ave, White Plains, NY. A burial will follow at Mount Hope Cemetery, 50 Jackson Ave, Hastings-On-Hudson, NY. Eric's family will sit shiva at the following places and times:

-- Wednesday, July 30, from 5pm to 8pm, at the home of Barbara Morgen, 10 Jefferson Road, Scarsdale, NY (service at 7:30pm)
-- Thursday, July 31, from 5pm to 8pm, at the home of Barbara Morgen, 10 Jefferson Road, Scarsdale, NY (service at 7:30pm)
-- Sunday, August 3, from 4pm to 7pm, at the home of Deborah Hemel and Doug Stone, 268 Nelson Road, Scarsdale, NY (service at 6:30pm)
-- Monday, August 4, from 4pm to 7pm, at the home of Daniel Hemel and Emily Blumberg, 28 West Houston Street, #23A, New York, NY (service at 6:30pm)

Donations in Eric's memory can be made to the Pacific Links Foundation, https://pacificlinks.org/donate, the organization that administers the SEEDS program that Eric co-founded. Friends and family are urged to enjoy a spray of Reddi-wip whipped cream directly from the can in celebration of Eric’s life. May his memory be a blessing.

Friends and family are urged to enjoy a spray of Reddi-wip whipped cream directly from the can in celebration of Eric’s life. May his memory be a blessing.

Longtime friend Michael Blumstein said, “Eric will long be remembered for his intellect, wit, warmth and generosity. He left a mark that few of us will forget.”