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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 08 April 2025

Created: 08 April 2025

Last Updated: 10 April 2025

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Jonathan Aubrey, Al Roker and Jill Serling on stage at Scarsdale Middle School.Once you see Al Roker in person, it’s easy to understand why he has had a 29-year run on the Today Show. He’s charming, entertaining and laugh out loud funny.

We had the chance to watch TV host Al Roker in action when he was interviewed by Scarsdale restaurant owner Jonathan Aubrey from Micheline, on Thursday April 3, 2025 at Scarsdale Middle School. The event coincided with the publication of Roker’s first cookbook, “Al Roker's Recipes to Live By,” written in collaboration with his daughter Courtney Roker Laga, and was hosted by the Scarsdale Adult School.

Discussing his relationship with food, Roker explained, “If you are a certain age, food equals love… It used to be a compliment to say, “You gained some weight. It meant you looked healthy.” He described his mother as a “good solid home cook,” and his daughter Courtney as a professional chef who suggested he collaborate with her on a cookbook with recipes from family members. Together they gathered 160 recipes and had to pare them down to a hundred for inclusion in the book. He said, “we’re two thirds of the way to the publication of our second book.”

Some of the recipes you’ll find in the book include his mother’s oxtail stew and dumplings, “sweet potato poo,” which is a sweet potato pie topped with marshmallows, a holiday favorite, plus ham and cornbread which are staples for Thanksgiving and Christmas

Roker, who is married to ABC News correspondent Deborah Roberts says he does all the cooking. He finds it relaxing and since he cooks, he doesn’t have to do the dishes. Speaking of dishes, as a child he remembers asking his mother why they couldn’t buy a dishwasher and she said, “Why should I?” Turning to her children she said, “I have six right here.”

Explaining how he got his start in media, Roker said he went to SUNY Oswego where he studied radio and television. After his first on air television performance, the department chair turned to him and said, “Roker, you have the perfect face for radio!” Little did he know that he was speaking to a future broadcast giant.

Roker shared the names of a few of his favorite restaurants including Antonuccis and Elios in Manhattan, Sylvias in the Bronx and Shawnaes House on Staten Island.

And what are some of his favorite recipes in the book?

Here’s a sneak peak of a few:

Sunrise Burritos
Blood Orange Aperol Spritz
Cold Brew Coffee
Bacon Waffles
Salmon Burgers with Herb-Mayo Sauce
Shortbread Banana Pudding
Shrimp and Grits with Bell Peppers and Bacon
Smothered Chicken
Coffee- and Spice-Rubbed Pork Chops
Tuscan Polenta
Silky Cauliflower Puree
Christmas Morning Cinnamon Rolls
Bourbon Apple Pie Milkshakes
Lemon Meringue Crumb Crust Pie

On the subject of family, Roker revealed that his brother Chris Roker lives in Scarsdale – and that he had forgotten to tell him about the event! But Al will be remembered for years to come in Scarsdale by the SAS students who lined up to have their copies of the cookbook signed by the beloved morning host.

Get your copy of Al's cookbook here:

And visit Micheline, Scarsdale's French bistro on Scarsdale Avenue.

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Written by: Diane Greenwald

Published: 28 March 2025

Created: 28 March 2025

Last Updated: 29 March 2025

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(This is the opinion of Diane Greenwald)
I hope you share my horror and outrage about Rumeysa Ozturk, a Ph.D. candidate at Tufts University, a Muslim woman from Turkey with a valid student visa, who was abducted Tuesday night off the street by hoodie-clad, masked agents of ICE. I am shaking in terror (as is the point.) Please watch this footage:

Chilling. This is not my America.

According to several accounts and this video, Ms. Ozturk was touched, cuffed, sent to Louisiana against a court order, stripped of her status without notice and before ever talking to her lawyer. She is apparently getting deported. Why and why this way? She did not resist. Would she not have just come into an immigration office, if called? Who are these many (inefficient) swarming sinister agents on the street? They looked like criminals. How is that safe?

I have heard some assume Ms. Ozturk incited violence, supported terrorists in campus protests over the Hamas/Israel war. There are no criminal charges though. And if this government had evidence that this Tufts graduate student posed an imminent threat to public safety, wouldn’t they have 1) told Tufts (they did not;) 2) proudly and loudly report their work to all of us? (they did not.) Instead, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated, “we revoked her visa… once you’ve lost your visa, you’re no longer legally in the United States… if you come into the US as a visitor and create a ruckus for us, we don’t want it. We don’t want it in our country. Go back and do it in your country.”

A ruckus? This is not a 1980s John Hughes movie, this is a woman’s life, a student, now traumatized and upended. When has a ruckus – a din, a fuss, a hullabaloo – risen to the level of sudden incarceration? When have we forsaken due process, even for dangerous actors? Is she dangerous?

What we know is she co-wrote an op-ed for her student paper with 3 other grad students on behalf of several others involved in institution-sanctioned student government. I hope you read it for yourselves. Letter here.

As I read it, I thought about campus life since October 7, 2023. I disagree with the authors’ assumptions, goals, and conclusions about Israel. It would not be an op ed if we all agreed. The letter is one-sided, expressing sympathy for Palestinian loss, a sentiment I share, in a way that I do not, and without mention of Israeli losses or hostages, thus to me, undermining any humanitarian high ground. It is otherwise written within the standards of community dialogue, and no mention of support for Hamas terrorists. The graduate students express frustration that the student resolution to divest from Israeli interests had been summarily (and repeatedly) rejected by the Tufts administration. These students seek reconsideration, without threats.

I have read many of these arguments and while I again disagree, I have never been harmed by reading. If this letter is the sum total of the government’s reason for grabbing a visa-holding student from the street, this is truly terrifying. It would be arbitrary, a stunning overreach, and an unhinged assault on free speech. This sure seems like fascism. Fascism makes nobody safer.

I appreciate any Jewish organization that supports “civil liberties and democratic norms,” consistently and for all. Amy Spitalnick, CEO of Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) and a Tufts alum, says over and over, “Selectively applying due process based on someone's identity or views makes Jews – and everyone – less safe… and [this administration] is exploiting our community’s real concerns to undermine our democracy.” Link here. I am a Jew, and this cannot happen in my name.

Campus Antisemitism

Last year, when my son was a senior at Tufts, a school he loves, I was critical of Tufts response to aspects of campus protests over the Hamas/Israel war. I wanted the school to respect first amendment rights, allow peaceful exchange of ideas (like in an op ed), and provide due process. But the student responses were often disruptive, uninformed, or out of proportion — and at the worst, they were overtly antisemitic. I felt Tufts had ignored its own neutral campus safety policies and was insensitive to hateful language. Tufts honestly tried, but also seemed ill-equipped for rapid educational responses. I was looking for commitment to building critical thinkers, armed against social media-fueled radicalization and misinformation. These highly educated students are meant to be our future and global leaders, and they need skills for tackling complex problems, not screaming irrational slogans absent nuance or solutions.

I thought I knew a lot about my son’s campus, but I didn’t. On social media, with video clips at the ready, parents were experiencing campuses in ways that had never before been available, and while there were real issues for many students, what we saw was often absent scale or context. I would see some incident on social media that looked like a massive uprising, and I would call my son. He would dismiss my fears quickly – it was small, it was over, it was nothing, or what are you talking about? Each kid’s experience is their own, but my son never directly experienced antisemitism, only faced ignorance (still a sad commentary for a place of higher learning.) When the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) gave his campus an “F” grade for Jewish life, he felt dismissed and alienated, saying, “I have not had a failing Jewish experience here.” I felt manipulated and fear mongered. I have learned from many friends with kids on lots of campuses, they had similar feelings.

To assume Ms. Ozturk unlawfully disrupted campus because she co-wrote an op ed would be a leap – evidence of her even being at a protest last year has yet to emerge (and there was a lot of film.) In fact, this year, campuses improved and quieted across the country, including Tufts, that made visible strides, though not publicized much. Focus on social media has been in a few places, like Columbia, but many other campuses across the nation heard Jewish voices and allies and responded with iterative changes to improve programming, ensure the compassionate enforcement of neutral regulations, and to de-escalate campus conflict. I am sure more work can be done, but I am grateful for these and other ongoing efforts, for all students to feel safe and seen. I sometimes hear the drum beat complaint from Jewish friends, “oh this or that Jewish issue would never happen if it were about a ‘fill in the blank for another minority’ student.” I see no value in victim competitions, and I do not imagine many minorities on college campuses feel protected right now.

Antisemitism, like any targeted hate, is real and must be tracked and fought, but Jews are not powerless or ignored. When we use a monolithic notion of “rising campus antisemitism” without nuance or even accuracy, it can be divisive, harms our credibility about real threats, and leads to dangerous assumptions – like Jews imagining without evidence that we are being protected when a Muslim woman is deported without due process. Again, not in my name.

American Democracy

Everyone is vulnerable in an authoritarian regime, especially when divided. We must all come together around our shared values rooted in democracy. I love my country. I feel privileged, and grateful, and ready to serve others far more vulnerable than myself. Ms. Ozturk deserves American due process and the protection of the First Amendment. Everyone does, even folks with whom I disagree. That’s what I think is great.

I am a patriot. This is the country that let all four of my grandparents escape hatred and achieve the American dream. I want our nation to remain a welcoming place of opportunity, a melting pot of ideas, innovation and debate, where the golden rule defines us, and the rule of law guides us. As a mom, when I see the video of Ms. Ozturk grabbed off the street, I shiver in fear. I also want to give Ms. Ozturk (and her mother) a hug and an apology. But if she (and her mother) now hates America, who could blame her?

Want something to do? Here are some suggestions from my niece, an immigration attorney.

Give to and support:

- Florence Project (AZ): https://firrp.org
- AMICA Center (DC): https://amicacenter.org
- NYLAG (NY): https://nylag.org/immigration/
HIAS (love HIAS), https://hias.org/
Catholic Charities, https://www.crs.org/
Make the Road, https://maketheroadny.org/
CUNY Citizenship https://www.cuny.edu/about/administration/offices/communications-marketing/citizenship-now/
Mutual aid groups can be really interesting as well -https://mutualaid.nyc/

For volunteer opps (or to explore other orgs), can use this link to do a search for groups in your area: https://www.immigrationadvocates.org/nonp.../legaldirectory/
Volunteer opps can be anything from escorting people to ICE appointments, giving know your rights presentations, helping people fill out a citizenship application (with attorney supervision), delivering food even, etc.

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 26 March 2025

Created: 26 March 2025

Last Updated: 26 March 2025

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Here is the PT Council Executive Committee and Budget Study Statement on the Proposed Budget for Scarsdale Schools, 2025-26, read at the Board of Education meeting on March 24, 2025.

The PTC thanks the District and the Board of Education for their ongoing efforts in developing the 2025-26 Scarsdale School Budget. We appreciate the District’s formulation of a budget that stays within the tax cap, a limit that is widely supported by the community.
This proposed budget reflects many goals shared by the PTC, including maintaining small elementary class sizes, and supporting a broad range of course offerings at the high school.

Furthermore, the proposed budget acknowledges the importance of maintaining both sanctioned and non-sanctioned sports programs, recognizing their role in promoting not only physical health and fitness but also supporting student mental well-being, inclusivity, and a sense of belonging.

The mental health and physical safety of our students remain priorities for the PTC. We value this proposed budget’s continued investment in social work support across all grade levels, as well as the presence of safety monitors within the schools. We appreciate the District’s sustained efforts to enhance the safety of our school buildings and buses through infrastructure improvements.

The PTC acknowledges the District's efforts to advance the upcoming bond initiative. We commend your commitment to involving the community in the process, ensuring that the bond addresses the needs of all stakeholders. As the District’s work progresses, we encourage thoughtful consideration of the long-term operational costs associated with these bond-funded improvements, particularly in regard to their potential impact on both current and future budgets.

The PTC is appreciative of the effort that has gone into formulating a budget that stays within the tax cap, but we also have concerns regarding the increasing use of Fund Balance. The current practice of using a fixed amount to balance the budget each year, coupled with the dependence on these funds to cover budget shortfalls, is unsustainable. Persisting with this approach will ultimately compel the District to either exhaust the Fund Balance or propose budgets that exceed the tax cap—both undesirable scenarios.

The PTC believes that our teachers are the heart of our schools. Salary and wages, along with employee benefits, accounted for 80% of our current budget. As such, the PTC respects the District’s thoughtful attention to staffing, as it works to provide a rich academic experience while also being mindful of cost.

We share the District’s concern about the rising health insurance costs. These costs represent a large portion of the budget, and all efforts must be taken to control and manage spending in this area. The PTC applauds the decision to include a member of the Board of Education on the Health Advisory Committee.

Additionally, the PTC recognizes the importance of supporting students with diverse learning needs and appreciates the District’s continued investment in Special Education. We have noticed an increase of nearly one million dollars in the Special Education budget. We urge the District to carefully consider costs while expanding the program, both in this budget and in future budgets.

The PTC values continued transparency and communication regarding the intersection between curriculum and budget. There is community concern related to the Reveal Math Curriculum, including its efficacy and whether the program has the continued need for a second math coordinator. Specifically, what will this second coordinator do to address the ongoing concern about the program and for what period of time will the District require a second math coordinator? We request that the District more clearly articulate steps that will be taken to assess the elementary math program and remediate any program weaknesses.

In conclusion, the PTC thanks the District and Board of Education for your work to date. We recognize and appreciate your efforts to support the personal and academic growth of our students; however, we are concerned about the continued depletion of the Fund Balance. We urge the District to explore ways to balance future budgets with more limited use of the Reserve Fund. Thank you for prioritizing transparency and communication with our community as you continue your work.

We encourage the community to actively engage and ask questions regarding the proposed budget before the vote on May 20, 2025. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

The PT Council Executive Committee and Budget Study Chairs

Meryl Satler, PTC President
Erica German, PTC President-Elect
Jeanette Rosen, PTC Secretary
Shilpa Spencer, PTC Treasurer
Jessy Li, Edgewood School PTA Co-President
Katie Garvey, Edgewood School PTA Co-President
Eul Hui, Fox Meadow PTA Co-President
Katy Goldman, Fox Meadow PTA Co-President
Tulika Khemani, Greenacres School PTA President
Andrea Burinescu, Heathcote School PTA President
Lindsay Forschner, Quaker Ridge School PTA President
Emily Hira, Scarsdale Middle School PTA President
Cindy Yau, Scarsdale High School PTA President
Irena Spiegel-Turner, Budget Study Co-Chair
Ranjana Saini-Chandarana, Budget Study Co-Chair

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 20 March 2025

Created: 20 March 2025

Last Updated: 20 March 2025

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It’s confirmed: the Social Security office in White Plains is closing. Upon learning about the department’s plans to close the local office, County Executive Ken Jenkins and Congressman George Latimer offered to provide the department with available space so that the office could remain open and accessible to Westchester residents.

On March 5 George Latimer said, “The expected closure of the Social Security Administration’s White Plains hearing office will mean seniors and people with disabilities will have to drive long distances – as far away as New Haven and Albany — at greater expense, to fight for their rights. But that does not have to happen,” said Rep. Latimer. “I am very glad to work with my friend and former colleague County Executive Ken Jenkins to offer County space to keep these important services in White Plains. I will work with officials at all levels of government to try to make this a reality.”

Ken Jenkins said, “Our priority is ensuring that Westchester County maintains access to essential services. We are committed to supporting seniors, individuals with disabilities and many others by finding solutions that keep Social Security resources available in White Plains. I’m grateful to Congressman Latimer for collaborating with me and Westchester County to turn this request and proposed solution into a reality.”

However, the Social Security Commissioner turned down the offer. On March 19 the Acting Commissioner of Social Security sent a letter to Latimer advising him that the White Plains office will close on May 31, 2025. He suggested residents drive to places as far away as Goshen, NY and New Haven, CT to resolve any issues with social security.

County Executive Ken Jenkins said, “This is a disgraceful decision that prioritizes bureaucratic indifference over the well-being of Westchester residents. The Trump administration is effectively cutting off access to Social Security resources for those who need them most. Westchester County will not stand by while Washington abandons our communities. I will continue fighting alongside Congressman Latimer and Congressman Lawler to ensure our residents are not left behind.”

At the same time, the agency issued a new edict requiring identity checks for any changes to benefits. As of March 31, 2025, “People who want to file for benefits or change the bank where their payments were deposited will no longer do so by phone and must first verify their identity online or go into a field office.”

So though the administration pledged to leave Social Security in place, Westchester residents are already seeing a diminution of the program.

Here is the letter from the Social Security Administration to Congressman George Latimer dated March 19, 2025.

The Honorable George Latimer U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative Latimer:

Thank you for your March 4, 2025 letter regarding the decision to close our White Plains, NY Hearing Office on May 31, 2025. I am committed to maintaining service options for our claimants in the White Plains area.

Please note that we have been evaluating options for the White Plains Hearing Office for some time. The office has had long-term issues with mold over the past five to six years, which the General Services Administration (GSA) has been unable to resolve. GSA has advised us that, as of May 31, 2025, we will no longer have a lease in the current office space due to the landlord’s decision not to renew it.

We will continue to provide the option of an in-person hearing for our claimants in the White Plains area, including at the following locations:

• Bronx Hearing Office (220 East 161st Street; Bronx, NY 10451)
• New Haven Hearing Office (157 Church Street; New Haven, CT 06510)
• New York Hearing Office (26 Federal Plaza; New York, NY 10278)
• New York Varick Hearing Office (201 Varick Street; New York, NY 10014)
• Goshen Permanent Remote Site (3 Coates Drive; Goshen, NY 10924)

We also will continue to provide the option of a virtual hearing by audio (telephone) and online video, which is selected by over 83 percent of our claimants who receive service from the White Plains Hearing Office. Because the vast majority of our claimants will not be affected by the office closure, we are not exploring an alternate location.

I hope you find this information helpful. If you wish to discuss this issue in more detail, please do not hesitate to contact me, or have your staff contact Dustin S. Brown, our Acting Assistant Deputy Commissioner for the Office of External Affairs/Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs, at (410) 907-5418. I am sending a similar response to Representative Lawler.

Sincerely,
Leland Dudek
Acting Commissioner