November 18, 2016

THE

CityREVIEW NewRochelle

STATING THEIR CASE Harwan Alzuabidi celebrates his first-half goal against Fairport on Nov. 13 at Middletown High School. Alzuabidi and the Huguenots topped the Red Raiders 2-1 to win the Class AA state title. For more, see page 15.

Photo/Mike Smith

November 18 & 25, 2016 | Vol. 4, Number 35 | www.cityreviewnr.com

2 • THE CITY REVIEW • November 18 & 25, 2016

November 18 & 25, 2016 • THE CITY REVIEW • 3

Budget, $150M cap plan to up city taxes by 6.72%

By CHRISTIAN FALCONE Editor-in-Chief Property taxes in New Rochelle would increase by more than 6 percent in 2017, under an ambitious tentative budget released on Nov. 10 by the city manager.

The 2017 budget is also proposing to exceed a 1.88 percent state cap on property taxes requiring an override vote by the New Rochelle City Council.

City Manager Charles Strome’s $202 million budget is highlighted by a massive 10year capital program to update the city’s ailing infrastructure.

But since the state’s tax cap legislation does not exempt any capital work, the budget’s tax increase will balloon to 6.72 percent, if approved by the City Council next month.

With an eye toward the future, the city’s proposal is an indicator that budgetary belt tightening— since the tax cap was passed in 2012—is no longer sustainable.

Strome told the Review that maintaining core city services took his budgeting to the cap’s limit, and that requesting an override was necessary to fund the progressive capital program.

“With all the planned economic development [in New Rochelle], you have to have the infrastructure to sustain it,” he said. “This budget… provides a historic investment in the city that has not been achievable in past years.”

The proposed tax increase for the average homeowner is $227.

This would produce additional property tax revenues of $4.1 million, or 7.36 percent over the amount levied in 2016.

The $149.9 million capital program, which came as a result of a City Council-commissioned analysis of all city departments earlier this year, will be funded by long-term borrowing, grants, partnerships, use of fund balance, and a one-time tax increase

At a glance $202M budget for 2017 will exceed tax cap limit by 4.84% $149.9M 10-year capital program included in budget Addition of 12 staffing positions to various city departments $28M DPW relocation project planned for next year

of 4.84 percent in the 2017 tentative budget.

“You can’t predict 10 years out,” Strome said, “[but] a majority of these projects will get done.”

In all, the city manager said the capital program will cost residents less than 50 cents per day.

Of the entire program, $61.1 million of it is slated to be completed next year; the bulk of the cost would come from a $28 million relocation of the Department of Public Works, DPW. Some other major projects proposed in the 10-year program include upgrading some of the city’s fire stations; resurfacing streets; replacing the North Avenue Bridge; installing security cameras in various locations; installing on-street parking meters; and replacing the Main and Huguenot streets’ traffic signals.

The budget also proposes to add 12 staffing positions to multiple city departments, including eight position restorations that had been cut from previous budgets. The additions bring the number of full-time city employees to 607, an increase from 2012 when citywide staffing reached its low point of 582.

The restorations include five police positions; three patrolmen at the Intermodal Transportation Center and two officers citywide; and the restoration of three sanitation positions.

For police, staffing levels will rise to 162 sworn positions in 2017, which are up from 157 positions accounted for this year.

According to Strome, staffing at the Police Department was at, or near, 200 roughly 15 years ago.

Newly created positions consist of a new junior engineering technician, with a salary of $63,231, for capital projects in the DPW; the addition of a second building plans examiner position, for $111,723, to review plans for residents; and the addition of a second senior customer service representative, which will cost the city $38,099, to process permit applications, in the Department of Development; and a shared working supervisor with the Parks and Recreation Department for $58,943.

The budget also proposes to increase overtime for firefighters to help man the department.

In the meantime, the city will undertake a study with the fire union to try and ascertain what impact downtown development will have and what appropriate Fire Department staffing levels should be. The study is expected to be completed by mid-2017.

“Do we meet manning with more guys or more overtime?” is the question, Strome said, the study will look to answer.

The tentative budget does not reflect the agreed-upon raises for members of the City Council and the mayor. Those raises are to be calculated based upon the Consumer Price Index as of Dec. 1, 2016. Currently, members of the City Council earn salaries of roughly $34,000, while Mayor Noam Bramson, a Democrat, takes home a salary of nearly $89,000.

CONTACT: chris@hometwn.com

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4 • THE CITY REVIEW • November 18 & 25, 2016

What’s going on...

New Rochelle Public Library

Library hours Main library hours: Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesdays: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Huguenot Children’s Library hours: Mondays and Thursdays: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays: Closed.

The libraries will be closed on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 24.

Library exhibit How did New Rochelle look from the air in the 1930s through 1950s? How does it look today?

Visitors to the New Rochelle Public Library’s Lumen Winter Gallery will have the opportunity to see firsthand during the library’s November exhibit, “A Bird’s Eye View of New Rochelle, Past and Present.”

More than 100 images will be on display, juxtaposing historic aerial and bird’s-eye view photographs from the library’s local history collection with contemporary aerial shots that were captured this past summer by local photographer Louis

Vaccaro. The free exhibit will be on view through Wednesday, Nov. 30 during regular library hours.

Most of the historic images were taken by commercial aerial photographers just before and after the construction of 1955, and were donated to the library by collector Dominic Bruzzese. Similar angles from above were shot Vaccaro as he flew above New Rochelle in a helicopter. The photographs by Vaccaro, a self-professed “amateur photographer,” are frequently as stunning as the views.

Friends Huge Holiday Book Sale On Friday, Dec. 2 and Saturday, Dec. 3 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the main library’s lobby. A variety of gift-quality books, including popular novels, mysteries, and nonfiction in hardcover and paperback, to children’s books, brand new jigsaw puzzles, DVDs, and classic literature in attractive editions will be available for purchase at exceptionally low prices. The sale will also include gift wrap, holiday cooking and craft books, sets of books, and other bargain items for affordable gift-giving.

Make a Gift Fair On Saturday, Dec. 3 from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the main library. Children ages 5 and up are invited to create presents for holiday giving at the annual BID Family Day “Make a Gift to Give” Workshop. The BID Family Saturdays’ staff from New Rochelle schools, the Department of Parks and Recreation, and the library, along with teen assistants, will help participants use their creativity to make three lovely presents to give to family,

friends and teachers this holiday season. Participants will have the opportunity to make a colorful sun-catcher, bead a necklace or bracelet, decorate a picture frame, make a candy cane reindeer, fashion a sparkling snowman, or create other lovely projects suitable for gift-giving. A “Wrap it Up!” station will provide gift wrapping and tags for each of the creations. The program is free and participation is on a first-come, first-served basis.

BID Family Days is a partnership of the New Rochelle Downtown BID (Business Improvement District) with the New Rochelle Public Library, the city school district, and the Department of Parks and Recreation. For more information, call the library’s Community Relations office at 632-8254.

Young Artists Concert On Sunday, Dec. 4 at 2 p.m. in the Ossie Davis Theater of the New Rochelle Public Library. The public is invited to hear some of Westchester’s most accomplished rising musicians as they compete in the 53rd annual Westchester Musicians Guild’s Young Artists Concert. Top student musicians in grades 7–12, selected through a competitive audition process, will present a variety of riveting works. The concert is free; donations to the Westchester Musicians Guild are gratefully accepted.

The Westchester Musicians Guild, WMG, was founded in 1938 for the purpose of encouraging and upholding the highest standards of music teaching and performance. The WMG promotes goodwill and fellowship among professional musicians and music devotees in the community by

sponsoring a variety of formal and informal events, including professional chamber music concerts, informal play-ins, and a winter concert and party.

The WMG supports the advancement of young musicians through student recitals, the WMG Young Artists Concert, and scholarship awards.

The Interreligious Council of New Rochelle Annual Thanksgiving interfaith service The Interreligious Council of New Rochelle is happy to announce this year’s annual interfaith service of prayer and song, featuring a message of gratitude and thanksgiving, open to the entire community. The service will be held on Thursday, Nov. 24 at 9 a.m. at 10 Mill Road, at the corner of North Avenue. It is meant to unify the community on Thanksgiving Day, with a spirit of gratitude that transcends divisions of belief, denomination, or politics. The featured speaker is esteemed author from New Rochelle, Dr. Moshe Avital. Avital writes about the Holocaust, Israel, Zionism, Jewish education, American Jewry, commentaries on the Bible, Jewish prayer, Jewish personalities, and Jewish holidays. All are welcome. For more information, contact Haina Just-Michael at 917-5726654 or justhaina@gmail.com.

Deadline for our What’s Going On section is every Thursday at noon. Though space is not guaranteed, we will do our best to accommodate your listing. Please send all items to news@hometwn.com.

November 18 & 25, 2016 • THE CITY REVIEW • 5

Revenue shortfalls re-spark county budget concerns

With a deadline quickly approaching, revenue shortfalls and skyrocketing health care costs will become the focal points of Westchester lawmakers responsible for approving a county budget for 2017. File photo

By JAMES PERO Staff Writer When Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino presented his countywide budget for 2017 on Nov. 10, he once again put forward a plan that promises to keep taxes flat; something the Republican county executive has done every year since taking office in 2010.

Now, approval of the budget falls into the hands of the county’s legislative branch, which is faced with mending a substantial revenue shortfall and taming ballooning health care costs.

The operating budget, which will be vetted in tandem with the recently released capital budget over the next month, will cost Westchester taxpayers $1.8 billion—a 0.4 percent spending increase over 2016—and will not raise the county’s tax levy for the seventh consecutive year.

“Not increasing taxes is not an abstract slogan,” Astorino said at a press conference to unveil his budget. “It’s real money in the pockets of real people—young people, families, seniors on fixed incomes and entrepreneurs trying to scrape together enough money to start a business or stay in business.”

Broad cuts to nonprofits dominated talks during last year’s budget cycle; however, the 2017 budget, as proposed, has shown no reduction to services and nonprofits, or layoffs to county employees.

Joanna Straub, executive director of Nonprofit Westchester, a coalition of nonprofits countywide, said that while there are currently

no proposed cuts, if budgeted revenue were to decrease, nonprofit funding could be among the first funding to be sequestered.

Despite the Astorino administration’s commitment to maintaining the same level of services and staff, the county continues to grapple with increasingly stark revenue shortfalls, which it attributes to underperforming sales tax revenues and lower gas and energy prices.

The administration has estimated that between sales tax shortfalls and rising health care costs, it will see in total a $30 million revenue shortfall.

Such gaps have sparked concern from opponents of the county executive’s over the course of his two terms in office.

County Legislator Mary Jane Shimsky, a Hastings-on-Hudson Democrat who also chairs the county Infrastructure Committee, has been a consistent critic of what she has characterized as fiscal irresponsibility on the administration’s behalf.

“If you’re predicting revenues in your budget, you need to have a level of certainty that you’re going to obtain those revenues in the near future,” Shimsky said.

Among major complaints from lawmakers following the budget’s release was the administration’s inclusion of $15 million in projected revenue from a tenuous agreement between the county and Oaktree Capital regarding management of Westchester Airport.

The proposal, which was only announced on Nov. 3, looks to tap into additional revenue by privatizing the county-owned commercial airport, which sees in excess of 1.75 million passengers

annually.

Although the administration has lauded the deal as a potential source of $140 million in additional tax revenue over the course of 40 years, lawmakers have approached the plan with caution, criticizing Astorino’s attempt to fast-track its approval by tying a Board of Legislators’ decision to a required Dec. 27 budget deadline, and for not sending out a formal request for proposals.

“The Astorino administration negotiated with an airport management vendor behind closed doors, likely to avoid scrutiny for the newest accounting gimmick,” said county Legislator Ken Jenkins, a Yonkers Democrat who has already announced his plans to run for county executive in 2017.

According to Shimsky, the chances of the Board of Legislators signing off on a budget containing the administration’s airport agreement are increasingly slim.

“It is extremely, extremely unlikely that we’re going to book those revenues by the [Dec. 27] deadline,” she said, regarding the legislative chamber’s required review of the Astorino budget.

Among the major obstacles, Shimsky explained, are a lengthy application timeline regarding the FAA’s privatization program through which the administration would process its proposal.

Since the program’s inception in 1997, only two of the 10 airports that applied have gone through the entire process; Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in Puerto Rico and Stewart International Airport in COUNTY continued on page 11

6 • THE CITY REVIEW • November 18 & 25, 2016 THE

CityREVIEW NewRochelle 170 Hamilton Ave., Suite 203 White Plains, N.Y. 10601 Tel: (914) 653-1000 Fax: (914) 653-5000

Publisher | Howard Sturman ext. 21, publisher@hometwn.com Executive Vice President | Ira Ellenthal ext. 31, irathal@hometwn.com Christian Falcone Associate Publisher | Editor-in-Chief ext. 19, chris@hometwn.com Sports Editor | Mike Smith ext. 22, sports@hometwn.com

New Rochelle thanks

veterans for their service

World War II veteran William F. Moye, 102, delivers the invocation at the start of the New Rochelle Veterans Day ceremony at Memorial Plaza on Friday, Nov. 11. Photos/Jen Parente

Assistant Editor | Sibylla Chipaziwa ext. 25, sibylla@hometwn.com Graphic Designer | Arthur Gedin Graphic Designer | Jim Grasso Advertising | Lindsay Sturman ext. 14, lsturman@hometwn.com Advertising | Lynne Starr ext. 29, lynne@hometwn.com Advertising Coordinator | Sibylla Chipaziwa ext. 27, ads@hometwn.com Staff Writers James Pero, Corey Stockton, Franco Fino Staff Photographers Bobby Begun, Andrew Dapolite Columnist Lenore Skenazy Letters

The community’s opinion matters.

If you have a view to express, write a letter to the editor by email to chris@hometwn.com. Please include a phone number and name for verification purposes.

Peter Parente, a former Marine and president and event coordinator of the United Veterans Memorial & Patriotic Association of New Rochelle, gives his opening remarks.

Parente reminded attendees that the Constitution affords and gives citizens freedoms, and that “veterans of the United States of America that have died and served all over the world to protect our freedom and our Constitution.”

New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson said that words alone are not enough to honor veterans.

“This year especially, when our country has seemed so deeply divided, let us repay [veterans] by remembering that veterans did not serve under a blue or red flag; they served under the flag of the United States of America,” he said.

American Legion Post 8 Cmdr.

Paul Kearns speaks as the clock struck 11 a.m. on Veterans Day. “Each and every one of us owes [veterans] more than words can express,” he said.

Ron Tocci, former New York state veterans administrator who has served in Vietnam and currently serves as commissioner of Veteran Affairs for Westchester County, stressed the sacrifices that veterans make. “The experience of these individuals is something we should all reflect upon,” he said. “We ask that God bless them, and God bless America.”

Michael Warshaw, president of Heroes in Transition, briefly tells attendees about the nonprofit organization and the ongoing fundraiser with New Rochelle veterans and police. The allvolunteer organization was founded in honor of Warshaw’s best friend who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2009.

The nonprofit offers many services, including home modifications for disable veterans, PTSD group therapy, financial support, and bringing families together after deployment.

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New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson, left, and Peter Parente, president of the United Veterans Memorial & Patriotic Association of New Rochelle, pay their respects to dead veterans after placing a wreath at Memorial Plaza.

November 18 & 25, 2016 • THE CITY REVIEW • 7

Members of the New Rochelle Fire Department who have served in the armed forces stand at attention during the ceremony. The city has more than 20 veterans currently serving in the police and fire departments.

Photos/Jen Parente

Before a moment of silence honoring the dead who have served, Peter Parente, left, president of the United Veterans Memorial & Patriotic Association of New Rochelle, presents a former Hillcrest Fire Department captain a flag of dedication in honor of his son, Sgt. James Morrison, who was recently killed in action.

As former Marine Peter Parente reads out the names of veterans who are members of New Rochelle’s police and fire departments, police officers stand at attention. Parente also reminded attendees of what veterans experience when they come back into society, and how difficult it can be, especially with not enough being done to help them, calling PTSD “a scar that has affected their soul.”

8 • THE CITY REVIEW • November 18 & 25, 2016

November 18 & 25, 2016 • THE CITY REVIEW • 9

Mrs. Green’s shuts down 5 stores citing new strategy

The empty dairy shelves at Mrs. Green’s in Rye will not be restocked before the location closes. By Nov. 19, the store will be empty and boarded up.

By COREY STOCKTON Staff Writer Mrs. Green’s Neighborhood Market announced on Nov. 15 that it would be closing multiple stores in New York and Connecticut to shift focus to five of its “core” Westchester stores as part of a new strategy.

Amid customer complaints of supply shortages in some of its Westchester locations, the Irvington-based company released plans to close its Rye and Tarrytown stores, as well as two locations in western Connecticut and a location in the West Village in Manhattan.

According to David Kiser, a Mrs. Green’s manager, the Rye location will close its doors on Nov. 18 or Nov. 19, depending on how much inventory is left over following a close-out sale which featured 50 percent off on all items.

A spokesperson for the company said that the store’s loca-

tions in Tarrytown and Fairfield, Connecticut, launched the same sale, and would also be closed by the end of the week based on the same criteria. The Stamford, Connecticut, and West Village locations were closed immediately.

On Wednesday morning, shoppers perused the almost vacant isles at the Rye store.

“It wasn’t my No. 1 store that I visited frequently, but if I ever need milk or fruit, I would try and stop in as often as I could,” said Colleen Scott, a Rye resident who was sifting through the remainder of the store’s sparse merchandise.

“It always had nice alternatives, like green home products. It’s definitely sad for the town for sure. I wished it worked out.”

In a released statement, Mrs. Green’s said that it planned to shift attention to its five flagship locations within the county: Eastchester, Yorktown, Briarcliff, Mount Kisco and Larchmont.

“While the closure of any lo-

cation is difficult—especially because our customers and communities have supported us—they are also necessary as we focus on our core, profitable stores,” the company said.

In 2014, the company announced plans to expand from 18 locations to 40 by the end of that year, and planned to have 100 stores open within the next few years. That plan included a store at the Rivertowns Square Shopping Center currently being developed in Dobbs Ferry.

Plans for that store have been cancelled.

Also, Mrs. Green’s CEO Pat Brown has resigned as a component of the company’s new direction. John Collins, a spokesman for the company, told the Review that existing management has taken over Brown’s responsibilities while the company conducts an internal and external search for a new CEO. CONTACT: corey@hometwn.com

Mrs. Green’s Neighborhood Market in Rye will run a 50 percent off sale on what inventory is left before it closes. Four other locations will also close so the company can shift its focus onto its five most profitable Westchester County locations. Photos/Andrew Dapolite

10 • THE CITY REVIEW • November 18 & 25, 2016

November 18 & 25, 2016 • THE CITY REVIEW • 11

Mighty Mouse features in Thanksgiving parade

COUNTY from page 5

Newburgh, New York.

Stewart International has since reverted back to public management.

And a similar public-private partnership transferring the management of Rye Playland— a county-owned amusement park whose footprints sit within the city of Rye—was vetted by the county for nearly six years before it was finally approved earlier this year.

Further adding to fears of uncertain revenue streams in the county budget are the increasingly high costs of health care, which according to adminis-

tration officials have exceeded budget expectations by $10 million.

Budget numbers show that in 2016 the county appropriated more than $135 million to cover health insurance costs for current employees. For the proposed budget, Astorino has requested $152 million. Health care of retired employees alone cost the county $65 million in 2016, according to budget numbers.

Fights over to what extent the county is responsible for paying the full cost of employees’ health care have sprung up recently after heated negotiations between the Astorino ad-

ministration and the Civil Service Employees Association, CSEA—a union representing the county’s public sector workers—failed to produce a compromise, including a contract offer that the union rejected earlier this month.

“The contract rejection by the CSEA is just more evidence that the union is not dealing with reality,” Astorino said.

“Apparently, the CSEA thinks it is entitled to free health care forever, paid for by taxpayers.”

Contract negotiations between the two parties are still ongoing.

CONTACT: james@hometwn.com

Mighty Mouse will lead this year’s Thanksgiving parade, the first time giant balloons will be included.

Photo courtesy CBS Operations Inc. via New Rochelle Chamber of Commerce

Every year, the New Rochelle Chamber of Commerce and the city of New Rochelle plan a parade the Saturday before Thanksgiving that is the largest one in New York outside of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. This year, the parade is going to include giant balloons for the first time. To lead off this momentous occasion will be Mighty Mouse.

Mighty Mouse is a significant figure to New Rochelle because it was created at Terrytoons studios, which was located at the K building and then moved to 38 Center Ave. Also in the parade this year will be one of the animators at Terrytoon studios who still lives here in New Rochelle. Now 81 years old, Doug Crane worked a total of eight years there. He was hired after he had graduated from Cartoonist and Illustrator School. The school is now called the School of Visual Arts and it

is where he is now an animation teacher.

Terrytoons is also where Crane met his wife, Maureen— on his and her first day at work.

He began working at 9 a.m. as an illustrator, and she began working at 10:30 a.m. as an inker/ painter. Their love story begins

by Doug Crane walking up to the beautiful redhead, Maureen, and saying, “If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.”

Maureen answered, “How long have you worked here?" Doug replied, “Fifteen minutes.” And it was love at first sight.

Reminiscing of those days, Doug Crane told of another great story about how Joe Barbera of Hanna Barbera worked at a local New Rochelle bank.

He said, “When Joe Barbera found out how much more animators make when he was cashing their checks, he left the bank and went to work at Ter-

rytoons as well.”

Crane was also involved with the parade in 1982 for the 40th anniversary of Mighty Mouse.

In that parade, a Terry Toon parade float was first introduced and he helped design the float.

This year, Crane will be riding in a float also devoted to Terrytoons and he will be celebrated for contributing to such an iconic cartoon character that is remembered 74 years after its creation.

Mighty Mouse has his very special place in the New Rochelle Walk of Fame by the Library Green at the New Rochelle Public Library, because Mighty Mouse is only one of many people who got their start in New Rochelle. The 53rd annual New Rochelle Thanksgiving Parade is on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 10 a.m. all along North Avenue and on Main Street until Maple Avenue. (Submitted)

Advertise in our next special section!

Coming next month, Inside WC will feature our annual “Holiday Entertaining and Gift Guide” section. If you’re interested in advertising, please contact sales representative Lynne Starr at (914) 653-1000 ext. 29 or lynne@hometwn.com.

Jerry is a handsome, large, brown tabby. He was brought to us with his brother, Tom, when his former owner lost her job and had to move to a home that would not allow cats. Jerry is more than ready for a new forever home. He is one fun loving cat with a quirky personality, and should do well in a family.

Jerry is neutered, up-to-date with all vaccinations, in excellent health and microchipped. The donation for Jerry is $100. To meet this big, handsome boy, contact Pet Rescue at 835-3332 or 835-4133, or visit NY-PetRescue.org. (Submitted)

12 • THE CITY REVIEW • November 18 & 25, 2016

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November 18 & 25, 2016 • THE CITY REVIEW • 13

About that Yale interview RHYMES WITH CRAZY Lenore Skenazy

One recent Sunday I went to my local Queens bakery at 9, 11 and 2, and each time sat across from a friendly, open 18-year-old. These New York City students shared their hopes, dreams, and what they do in their free time. One researches drone strikes in Somalia. Another teaches the disabled to ski.

A third measures the size and shape of snake skulls.

Typical... for this group.

These are applicants for early admission to Yale.

Me, I’m an alumni interviewer. That means I help lighten the Yale Admissions Department’s load by volunteering to assess half a dozen candidates each year. This is my 15th or 16th goround, and it always gives me great delight.

But this year, it also gave me pause. That’s because another alum, Ben Orlin, just wrote a piece in The Los Angeles Times titled, “Why I Won’t Re-enlist as a Yale Alumni Interviewer.”

His beef is that “the whole process is so spectacularly insane that participating in it— even in such a peripheral role— feels like watching spiders crawl out of my tear ducts.”

The insanity is not the kids— they’re great. Nor is it Yale—it can’t take everyone. The insanity is the giant disparity between the number of stunning applicants and the number that get in: “For every bed in the freshman dorms, 20 kids are lining up, at least five of whom are high school rock stars,” Orlin wrote.

“From that murderer’s row, ad-

missions officers face the impossible task of picking just one.

There’s no right answer.”

He feels for all the students who have done so much, and are likely to take their rejection personally. (Don’t we all?)

What these kids can’t know is that they are just as amazing as the ones who get the thick envelopes, but they may be the 15th top debater who also spent a year teaching calculus in Kenya. No school needs 15 of the same thing. Thus, some get in, but others get bumped for a dancer/sculptor/beekeeper from Utah, or spear fisher (with perfect SATs) from Spain.

So, that day as I spoke with the hopefuls, I felt compelled to also mention The Ghosts of Applicants Past.

There was the girl so fascinated by rhetoric that she learned Ancient Greek. She wanted to read the first philosophers to describe speaking techniques like, “I won’t mention the defendant’s past as a thief, because that is not relevant to this case.”

She loved the way information got sneakily embedded. But she also loved neuroscience, so she was doing lab research on Alzheimer’s. Her modest little goal was to figure out whether how information gets into our brains has any relation to how it leaks out.

She did not get in.

Another year I met a young man from a Manhattan public high school who admitted that during middle school computer class, he would hack a friend’s screen to suddenly show cartoons when the teacher was walking past. By the time he was in high school, he put his computer skills to more serious

work by starting a web design company for local businesses.

If some of the coding got too hard, he’d farm it out to Russian programmers and pay them part of his fee. By senior year he’d turned his attention to the medical field and got an internship at a local teaching hospital. He discovered something (I couldn’t understand what) about how plaque builds up in arteries, and had come up with a new, cheap way to dissolve it. Ten medical school professors came to hear his lecture. When one objected that his idea wouldn’t work, he showed him how it would. This kid applied to Yale and MIT. I hope he got into the latter, because he did not get into Yale.

Then there was the young woman who was producing a documentary on a French fashion muse from the ‘70s. No dice.

And another student so fascinated by the French Revolution that she did original research on the guillotine jewelry of that time.

She didn’t make the cut.

Meantime, a young man I had a hard time interviewing because he had so little to say, did make it in. I gather that he was spectacular at math. But he got lost navigating from Union Square to our interview at a Starbucks on First Avenue and 17th and arrived late.

Which is not to say Yale gets it wrong. Many of the students I’ve recommended, it took. But Orlin got it right, too: Ivy admissions are an opaque process, not to be taken personally. The good news is that by the time students think they’re Yale material, they usually are.

Even if they don’t get in.

CONTACT: lskenazy@yahoo.com

Tips for a healthier holiday season As we prepare to gather with family and friends this holiday season, the American Heart Association, AHA, reminds us that we can make smart recipe substitutions to keep our holiday meals—and the people we love—healthier. Over-indulging in traditional holiday foods can add extra pounds to our waistlines, and increase our risk for obesity, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

More than 60 percent of Americans are overweight or obese, according to the AHA, so getting to and maintaining a healthy weight is important during the holidays and year-round.

The AHA recommends making small but impactful lifestyle changes to prevent heart disease and stroke, the nation’s No. 1 and No. 4 killers. Studies show that more than 80 percent of heart disease can be prevented with simple lifestyle changes like quitting smoking, exercising 30 minutes most days of the week and eating healthier.

The AHA says the first step is to determine your daily calorie intake with an app or online calculator, then adjust your daily calories into the healthy range.

A good place to start is by eating more fruits and vegetables which are low in calories and high in nutrition.

“Many of the traditional foods served during the holidays can be healthy—the trick is to not load on the butter, sodium and sugar,” said Roufia Payman, supervisor of Outpatient Nutrition Counseling, and diabetes lifestyle coach at Northern Dutchess Hospital. “Add color and nutrition to your plate with seasonal squash, roasted vegetables and fruit-based desserts.”

All of the holiday parties and dinners can throw off your healthy lifestyle goals. The AHA is offering its annual Holiday Healthy Eating Guide to help people navigate the holiday season in a healthy way. The 13page free guide has tips, recipes and resources to help maintain a healthy lifestyle during the busy holiday season. The guide is available free online at bit.ly/ AHAHolidayGuide.

Party with a healthy plan in place.

The AHA recommends healthy portions, limiting the empty calories in alcohol drinks, and filling up on healthier fruits and vegeta-

bles first, before the less healthy options. Keep dessert temptations to small samples of your favorites instead of full servings, and eat mindfully to enjoy every morsel. Don’t stand near the party buffet and avoid mindless nibbling.

Plate-up health first.

Be sure to pack your holiday meals with lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds, fish, skinless poultry, and plant-based side dishes and main courses.

Swap-in healthier choices.

Substitute fat-free and low-fat dairy products for the higher fat versions, like Greek yogurt for sour cream. Use lower sodium versions of foods like broth, canned vegetables and sauces.

Use whole grain breads and pastas instead of white flour ones.

Cook with unsaturated, healthier fats, and non-tropical oils.

Eliminate trans fats and partially hydrogenated oils. If you choose red meats, select the leanest cuts.

When it comes to poultry, light meat is leaner than dark. A serving size of meat is 3 oz., about the size of a deck of cards.

Avoid the empty calories of sugar-sweetened beverages, particularly if you are going to indulge in small samples of desserts. Here are some more tips.

More cooking tips: • Use vegetable oils such as olive oil instead of butter.

• Use herbs and spices, like rosemary and cloves, to flavor dishes instead of butter and salt.

• Bake, grill or steam vegetables instead of frying.

• Instead of whole milk or

heavy cream, substitute low-fat or fat-free/skim milk.

Baking swaps: • Instead of butter, substitute equal parts cinnamon-flavored, no-sugar-added applesauce.

• Instead of sugar, use a lowercalorie sugar substitute.

• Instead of whole or heavy cream, substitute low-fat or skim milk.

• Instead of using only white flour, use half white and half whole-wheat flour.

• Instead of adding chocolate chips or candies, use dried fruit, like cranberries or cherries.

• Use extracts like vanilla, almond and peppermint to add flavor, instead of sugar or butter.

Healthier beverages: • Instead of alcohol in mixed drinks, use club soda.

• Instead of adding sugar to mixed drinks, mix 100 percent juice with water or use freshly squeezed juice.

• Instead of using heavy cream or whole milk in dairy-based drinks, use low-fat or skim milk.

• Instead of using sugar to sweeten cider, use spices and fruit, like cinnamon, cloves and cranberries.

Of course, exercise is critical to weight management and overall health. The AHA recommends getting 30 minutes of vigorous exercise on most days of the week. Eating more? Walk more.

A brisk walk before or after meals can help burn those extra calories.

To find more simple ways you and your family can eat healthy, visit heart.org/healthyeating.

(Submitted)

14 • THE CITY REVIEW • November 18 & 25, 2016

Fantasy flop LIVE MIKE Mike Smith

If I get kicked out of my fantasy football league this year, I’m placing at least 85 percent of the blame on the New Rochelle soccer team.

I spent this past weekend making the rounds upstate; on Saturday, I drove up to Endwell to see the Bronxville field hockey team take on Cazenovia in the state semifinals. The following day, I drove down to Middletown to see the Huguenots win the Class AA crown against Fairport with a 2-1 win.

The one thing I did not do, however, was set my fantasy lineup.

With three defensive players on bye, and the majority of my top draft picks like Lamar Miller, LeGarrette Blount and Kirk Cousins on the bench since they had byes the week before, I trotted out an anemic, incom-

plete squad and handed a win to my opponent who, like me, was in the midst of a heated playoff race.

If you judged solely by my friends’ reactions, you would have thought I killed somebody.

Now, I understand it.

We play for quite a bit of money, and the fact that I made no effort to put a team together this week may have really hurt the chances of a few of our other “owners” to recoup their league fees.

I apologized to them sincerely, but in my heart, I still blame New Rochelle.

Sure, maybe more of it has to do with my technological ineptitude. For the life of me, I just couldn’t figure out how to adjust my roster from my phone because I haven’t used Yahoo’s app all year. As I waited on the sidelines for the game to start, I tried frantically to manipulate my roster, to no avail.

But then 1 p.m. hit, and the fantasy week—and the cham-

SPORTS

pionship game—were off and running.

For the next two hours, I watched the Huguenots play a beautiful game. Their crisp passes and strong defensive challenges were interrupted only by the occasional email from one of my friends to call me horrible names that can’t, for sake of decorum, be listed here.

By the time they were done celebrating their championship win, and I was done conducting my postgame interviews, it was after 4 p.m. and any chance I had to put a competitive team together was just about gone.

I lost an easily winnable game, dropped out of the playoff race, and all week long, I’ve been defending myself against allegations of collusion and tanking.

Maybe some of it was my fault, maybe some people in my fantasy league take things a tad too seriously, but I remain steadfast in my belief that it’s mostly New Rochelle’s fault.

TO COVER LOCAL SPORTS, YOU NEED A

LIVE MIKE! Follow Mike Smith @LiveMike_Sports stats • recaps • commentary Follow @cityreviewnr for Mike’s live, in-game action updates

Felipe Tobon embraces a young fan following New Rochelle’s 2-1 win over Fairport in the Class AA state championship game on Nov. 13. Photo/Mike Smith

But watching them celebrate that title, tears streaming down their faces as they embraced a

wild, adoring fan base? Something tells me that those guys are going to be able to live with that.

Follow Mike on Twitter @LiveMike_Sports

SPORTS

November 18 & 25, 2016 • THE CITY REVIEW • 15

New Ro claims state title BOYS SOCCER

class aa

STATE FINALS

NEW ROCHELLE 2 FAIRPORT 1 MIDDLETOWN HS

11/13/16

Game Notes: • Harwan Alzuabidi and Omar Espinoza both scored for New Rochelle • New Rochelle advanced to the title game after rallying from a three-goal deficit on Saturday • The win marks the first state title for the program since 1986

By MIKE SMITH Sports Editor After a thrilling, exhilarating—and at times, improbable— run through the postseason, New Rochelle finally put the finishing touches on a historic 2016 campaign on Nov. 13, beating Fairport 2-1 at Middletown High School to bring home the program’s first state title in 30 years.

As the final whistle sounded at Faller Field on Sunday, New Rochelle’s players rushed the field to celebrate the win, screaming,

Omar Espinoza finds the net to give the Huguenots a 2-1 lead in the second half of the Class AA state championship.

hugging, and shedding tears to commemorate a new milestone for Huguenot soccer.

“It feels so amazing, it’s just not going through my head,” said forward Harwan Alzuabidi.

“New Rochelle soccer, we don’t usually make it this far, but this is unbelievable.”

Alzuabidi netted the game’s first goal, sneaking one past Fairport keeper Jake Horst in the 19th minute, but the Red Raiders came up with the equalizer less than two minutes later. With the score tied at 1-1 heading into

the intermission, and the play trending more toward Fairport’s bruising physical style, the Huguenots regrouped in the second half, with Omar Espinoza scoring the game-winner in the 47th minute.

“After they tied it, we started playing like them, more physical and dirty, but that doesn’t help us,” Alzuabidi said. “But at halftime, coach just told us to calm down and play our game, and that’s what we did.”

Halftime adjustments have been something of a calling card for the Huguenots this year, as evidenced by their fantastic turnaround in the state semifinals against Calhoun the day before. The Huguenots headed into halftime of that game trailing 3-0 before rallying back to score four straight goals to top the Colts in overtime.

“That’s a credit to coach [Jarohan] Garcia and our captain

David Lopez sprays his teammates with water as the Huguenots celebrate their first state title since 1986.

Ethan Manley; they sat us down at halftime and told us to keep our heads up,” said senior Felipe Tobon. “Everybody came into that second half with motivation and I think that carried over into today.”

Winning keeper Ryan Goldstein said that Garcia’s direction helped the Huguenots fight off increasing pressure as the season went along.

“We knew we were a good enough team to do this, and we just set small goals for ourselves throughout the entire playoffs,” the senior said. “Coach was amazing, tactically, and we just proved we belonged here today, by continuing to set those small goals.”

Once the game was over, however, the Huguenots were finally able to take a moment to think about their Class AA title as a function of the bigger picture.

“This is amazing because it’s usually the football team that gets the recognition in New Rochelle, so to bring soccer to

Head coach Jarohan Garcia, left, and Adrian Morfin take part in New Rochelle’s postgame celebration. Photos/Mike Smith

the forefront of winning states, it’s amazing to represent our school in this way,” Tobon said.

“This is my second family, hon-

Harwan Alzuabidi scored the game’s first goal against Fairport on Nov. 13.

The early goal put the Huguenots on the right track.

Photo/Bobby Begun

estly, with all these people by my side, we’ve played together since we were kids, so we came into the season knowing that we were going to be united.”

CONTACT: sports@hometwn.com

16 • THE CITY REVIEW • November 18 & 25, 2016