Northern Westchester

Pound Ridge playwright Mark St. Germain’s play, “Freud’s Last Session,” — about a meeting between C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud —  has been charming and challenging audiences Off-Broadway for nearly two years now, first in a community-center auditorium on Central Park West, now in session at New World Stages.

But last night might have been the night it officially arrived, when it became an answer on “Jeopardy!”

Jokes St. Germain: “My friends are definitely more impressed by ‘JEOPARDY!’ than the length of the run or any reviews.”

Former village Mayor Patricia Reilly was added to a list of special women yesterday.

Representatives of Sen. Greg Ball, R-Patterson stopped by Village Hall to accept her nominations for Ball’s Women of Distinction Hall of Fame.

Ball has asked each town, village, and city in the 40th Senate District that he represents to choose a nominee for this honor. A ceremony to formally induct nominees will be held March 30.

“I am a woman in a town of distinction,” said (former) Mayor Patricia Reilly. “In this town you are able to accomplish a lot because of the people that live here. This is certainly an honor, but I just want everyone to know that I accept this on behalf of everyone in Mount Kisco.”

Reilly is the mother of six children and the grandmother of 13 grandchildren. She served as mayor of Mount Kisco from 1994 to 2003.

Currtenly, she volunteers for the seniors of Mount Kisco, contributes her time to Friends In Service Helping and the St. Francis of Assisi Parish.

She has  been inducted into the Westchester County Senior Citizens Hall Of Fame in 1998, named Mount Kisco Neighbors Link Honoree of the Year in 2002, and served as Aide to the Grand Marshal in the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade in 2008.

A flood last year  damaged the children’s room of the Mount Kisco Public Library on East Main Street. While the clean-up of the facility is completed, many children’s books were ruined.

The library is asking the public to help by  gifting new books to the library that in turn will be shared with the community.

Almost all of the Library’s early literacy books were destroyed in the flood last year, and we do not have the funds to replace them. So, we have created a wish list including all of the titles we lost. If you would like to get one of them for the library, we would be very grateful, and so would all the babies and toddlers who visit the library! All you need to do is go to www.amazon.com and click on WISH LIST and type MOUNT KISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY in the “Find Someone’s List” box. There are two wish lists to pick from.

Petitions nominating candidates for trustee on the Briarcliff Manor Board of Education are now available, reports the district office.

The terms of Eric Bashford and Guy Rotondo expire June 30, 2012. The term of office is three years and posts are unpaid.

Board petitions must be completed and filed with clerk of the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District, 45 Ingham Road no later than 5 p.m. April 16.

Here is an explanation about the position:

Vacancies on the Board of Education are not considered separate, specific offices; candidates run at large. Nominating petitions shall not describe any specific vacancy upon the Board for which the candidate is nominated and must be signed by at least twenty-five (25) qualified voters of the District; must state the name and residence of each signer and must state the name and residence of the candidate; and shall describe the length of the term of office. Petitions are available in the District Office. If you have any questions, please contact Juanita Brockett, District Clerk, at 941-8880 ext. 4410.

 

The outdoor lifestyle store, Acadia on Main has begun its final sale of hiking pants and yoga slacks.

The store which opened in 2008 by Dan and Jane Sims of Katonah  has announced plans to close down.

 “Although the business was profitable and had grown substantially in spite of a difficult economic climate, in the end we felt it wasn’t worth the time commitment,” said Ms. Sims. “Dan was juggling his full-time job as a sports sales rep while trying to squeeze in time at the store, and I was freelancing as a health writer, driving our two kids to all of their activities, and working on the marketing for the store. We began to feel that the store was eating away the precious little free time we had.” The timing for closing the store coincides with the end of their three-year lease. “We were on the brink of deciding whether or not to renew another lease or just cut free,” said Ms. Sims. “We decided it made the most sense to focus our energies on our respective careers and reclaim our weekends so that we can enjoy time with our kids, who are both in high school and are getting older way too fast!”

This will leave yet another empty storefront in the Mount Kisco business district. The largest store is Borders Books & Music, but others include Victoria’s Secret and The Art Emporium.

News from Horace Greeley High School:

Students Mark the End of the Chinese New Year

Chappaqua — Horace Greeley High School Chinese language students yesterday joined the millions of people throughout the world marking the end of the 15-day Chinese New Year celebrations with a Lantern Festival.

The tradition of the Yuan Xiao Festival of making paper lanterns and enjoying a feast of dumplings was incorporated into the study of Chinese culture, which forms a large part of the Chinese curriculum in the school. “It’s important that students understand the Chinese culture while studying the language,” teacher Polly Li said.

Before handing out steaming dumplings, she slipped in a quick lesson on the correct use of chopsticks, challenging students to test their skills by picking up peanuts.

Chinese is increasingly popular at Greeley, where it has been offered for four years to upperclassmen. Last year, the elective was offered to freshmen and sophomores for the first time, and students can now take Chinese for three years at Greeley.

The Justin Veatch Fund is hosting a jazz workshop on Saturday, Feb. 11th at the Yorktown Community & Cultural Center featuring jazz performer, composer and teacher Rory Stuart. Stuart, who is a professor at the New School University Jazz Program in New York City has also taught clinics and workshops in Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark and even Kazakhstan. Primarily a guitarist, Stuart specializes in advanced rhythmic concepts involving all instruments.

“This is a great opportunity for some of the Yorktown area’s young, talented musicians to be exposed to an artist with impeccable credentials in an intimate setting at very little cost,” says Jeffrey Veatch, The Fund president. “Thanks to Mr. Stuart’s agreement to wave his fee as a charitable contribution to The Fund, the fee will only be $10 per student.” The workshop will be held at the Yorktown Teen Center room at the YCCC from 11am to 2pm. Veatch says he expects about a dozen students who will be playing a variety of instruments including guitar, keyboards, bass and drums. The workshop is also open to vocalists. “I expect we’re going to have a lot of fun with some serious learning on the side,” says Veatch, “and we hope it will end up in a nice jam session”.

The Rory Stuart Quartet has most recently released a new CD titled “So Rise Up”. Coda Magazine calls Stuart “one of the freshest new guitarists in Jazz”. His quartet, says Coda, “has the energetic flow of the highly acclaimed Coltrane Quartet.”

The Saturday jazz workshop is designed for young musicians and vocalists who have already developed a certain amount of proficiency but want to rise to a new level. There is still limited space in the workshop. Those interested should contact Veatch by email at jeff@thejustinveatchfund.org or by telephone (914) 772-1254.

The Justin Veatch Fund is a non-profit 501©3 organization created following the death of 17 year old Justin Veatch from an accidental drug overdose in 2008. Veatch was an incredibly gifted singer, songwriter and musician whose music on the CD “Permagrin: The Music of Justin Veatch by the Ivoryton Piano Factory and Friends” has been enjoyed around the world. The Fund’s programs are designed to honor his legacy by nurturing talented teen musicians. The Fund will present its fourth annual music scholarship to a graduating high school senior in June and will conduct its third annual two day summer music workshop in August. Jeffrey Veatch also has traveled to schools throughout our region to present a 40-minute multi-media program that tells what happened to Justin and how young people can take better care of themselves. Information about the fund and all its programs are available on its website http://www.thejustinveatchfund.org.

Not so fast, Mr. Astorino.

Responding to County Executive Rob Astorino’s announcement that his administration is well ahead of schedule on the affordablehousing settlement, Westchester County Board of Legislators Chairman Ken Jenkins says the self congratulations are premature.

The board, the Yonkers Democrat noted, hasn’t seen any report that shows that the county is in the clear on the decree reached with the federal government in 2009 that has had its share of challenges.

“The Westchester County Board of Legislators has yet to see any of the documentation to support the information in the Administration’s Quarterly Housing Report regarding the number of new fair and affordable housing units that are ‘in the pipeline,’ and so it’s difficult to respond accurately to such a simple declaration,” Jenkins said in an email. “The Administration’s self-congratulatory tone in its statement (Monday) needs to be balanced against the fact that the County has been asked by a federal court to answer a set of questions concerning the Administration’s position on source of income legislation passed by the Board, which, according to the terms of the stipulations of the housing settlement, may end up nullifying the settlement and exposing the County to a judgment  of upwards of $500 million.”

In its quarterly report to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the federal monitor, the Astorino administration maintains that 540, or 72 percent, of the required units are at some point in the planning pipeline.

“The county has made extraordinary progress and it is the result of our approach to work closely and cooperatively with municipalities, developers and non-profits around common goals,” Astorino said in a statement released Monday. “This will continue to be the county’s approach until we have fully met our obligations under the settlement. The numbers tell the story.”

The federal housing settlement mandates that Westchester spend $52 million to help build 750 units in mostly wealthy and white communities over seven years. It also sets benchmarks along the way, notably that 200 units have financing and 125 have building permits by the end of 2012. The county expects to meet those goals by spring.

Despite a continued stalemate with the federal government, County Executive Rob Astorino says Westchester remains well ahead of schedule on its affordable housing settlement.

In its quarterly report to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the federal monitor that was released today, the Astorino Administration maintains that 540, or 72 percent, of the required units are at some point in the planning pipeline. Read the report here.

“The county has made extraordinary progress and it is the result of our approach to work closely and cooperatively with municipalities, developers and non-profits around common goals,” Astorino said in a statement. “This will continue to be the county’s approach until we have fully met our obligations under the settlement. The numbers tell the story.”

The federal housing settlement was reached in 2009 and mandates that Westchester spend $52 million to help build 750 units in mostly wealthy and white communities over seven years. It also sets benchmarks along the way, notably that 200 units have financing and 125 have building permits by the end of 2012; the county expects to meet those goals by Spring.

So far, 15 communities including Ardsley, Briarcliff Manor, Cortlandt, Hastings, Larchmont, New Castle, North Castle, North Salem, Pelham, Pleasantville, Rye Brook, Rye, Somers, and Yorktown are at various stages of approval or in construction.

One three-family house in Pelham has residents living in the units.

More than 200 site reviews have taken place across all 31 communities, according to the report. The county has also set up a $2.5 million revolving loan fund to acquire and rehabilitate foreclosures in eligible municipalities. The county expects to an additional 14 units under this program.

But progress hasn’t been easy, in part, because of disagreements with HUD and the federal monitor, James Johnson, on a range of issues, including local zoning and an income discrimination law that Astorino doesn’t support. HUD has also held back millions in community development block grant monies because of differences.

Those disagreements are now being addressed in court.

“Even though that’s going on, we’re continuing to make progress,” said Ned McCormack, Astorino’s senior advisor and director of communications. “It’s important to keep moving … The process is working.”

HUD had no immediate comment today.

The Friends of the Somers Library is getting lots of praise for buying new chairs for the library in Reis Park. The group held a fundraiser in September with the help of the League of Women Voters.

Shown above admiring the new blue chairs from left to right are Meta Walter, Vice President Friends of the Somers Library;  Carol Sturtz, League of Women Voters;  and Pat Miller, Director of the Somers Library.

With the public’s  support through the purchase of baked goods, raffle tickets, and books on Library Day, co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters in September, the Friends were able to purchase 13 navy chairs, four navy/gold club chairs, and a loveseat.

“The style is smart and comfortable and the furniture is made in the United States. They look terrific and are a welcome change to the 30-year old sagging chairs that used to occupy that space,” reads a press release announcing the new decor. “So come on in, have a seat and do a puzzle, browse through a magazine, meet up with a friend, utilize the free WiFi, or curl up with a good book! We welcome you!”

(Photo courtesy of Somers Library)