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CityREVIEW NewRochelle February 26 & March 4, 2016 | Vol. 4, Number 4 | www.cityreviewnr.com
Latest building survey draft drives 4 bond options
‘CENTER’ OF ATTENTION New Rochelle’s Kayla Correa drives to the hoop on Feb. 20 against Mahopac. Correa and the Huguenots topped the Indians 52-39 to advance to the Class AA semifinals at the Westchester County Center. For story, see page 15. Photo/Mike Smith
3-way race for Westchester district attorney job By ANGELA JORDAN Staff Writer With former Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore now a state judge, and her replacement choosing not to seek election this November, three candidates have entered the race to take over the spot as the county’s top prosecutor. The latest entry is Bruce
Bendish, a White Plains Republican, who announced his candidacy for Westchester DA on Feb. 18 at a press conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in White Plains. Bendish, 69, served as an assistant district attorney in Westchester County for 14 years before he opened a private practice for criminal defense with fellow attorney Peter Goodrich.
“I am not a career politician,” Bendish said when announcing his candidacy. “I’ve never run for office, and have no desire to hold any other position than the office of district attorney.” Bendish will receive a primary challenge from Mitch Benson, a New Rochelle Republican, who launched his campaign website race continued on page 9
By SARAH VARNEY Education Reporter New Rochelle residents will vote on the school budget for 2016-2017 on May 17, but for now it’s the buildings and not the budget that have taken center stage. At the Feb. 23 meeting of the New Rochelle Board of Education, administrators presented four possible bond options ranging from $38 million to $104 million to fund repairs and renovations to the district’s 16 schools. This comes on the heels of the defeat of a $49.5 million bond to correct many of the most egregious exterior building issues on Dec. 15, 2015. “Originally, the [$49.5 million] bond was to address the envelope of the buildings,” Assistant Superintendent for Business and Administration Jeffrey White said. “We needed to get the buildings to the ‘satisfactory level.’ We wanted to seal them up.” The majority of the repairs designated for that original bond targeted building facings, failing roofs, nonworking fire escapes and electrical upgrades. In the latest draft survey from CSArch, an architecture and engineering firm based in the Albany, New York area, all of the New Rochelle school buildings were rated “U” for unsatisfactory. An “unsatisfactory” rating
means that building systems are functioning unreliably or have exceeded their “useful lives.” Repair or replacement of some or all components is needed. At the New Rochelle schools, most of the individual items graded unsatisfactory are related to health and safety issues. New Rochelle High School shows $10 million in health and safety costs alone, while both the George M. Davis and William B. Ward elementary schools need $4 million in repairs to health and safety systems, according to the survey. White laid out four bond options to cover the cost of the work. A “mini-bond” would raise $38 million and go toward roof replacements at New Rochelle High School, Isaac E. Young Middle School and Webster, Barnard and Davis elementary schools. It would also pay for masonry repairs, window replacements or repairs at Webster and NRHS along with door replacements at nearly half of the schools, according to White. A second bond option for $49 million is virtually the same as the Dec. 15 proposal that was defeated. Option three calls for a $79 million bond that would include repair or replacement to building systems—heat, air quality control and ventilation, Bond continued on page 5