Harrison REVIEW THE
February 26, 2016 | Vol. 4, Number 9 | www.harrisonreview.com
County to fund $58M in Rye Playland projects By JaMES pERo Staff Writer
Caring about
the Earth
Andrew Kranichfeld reads his book “Karen’s Garden” at a program for schoolchildren that focuses on gardening and the environment. Kranichfeld is an author from Rye who happens to be blind. For story, see page 9. Photo/Craig Douglas
Village of Mamaroneck passes unprecedented dog law By KIlEy STEVEnS Staff Writer The village of Mamaroneck is the first municipality in the state of New York to ban the sale of commercially bred animals in local pet stores. This unprecedented law was passed by a 4-0 vote, with one trustee abstaining, at a raucous Feb. 22 Board of Trustees meeting after weeks of discussion and public hearings. The law, dubbed “Public Local Law D-2016” was proposed by Mayor Norman Rosenblum, a Republican, and passed with the help of Susan Chana Lask, an attorney based in Manhattan. Lask said she became involved with the local legislation when a village resident emailed her ask-
ing for help. Although Lask is a litigator, she speaks to towns nationwide about animal protection. “I do that out of passion, pro bono,” she said. Though Lask and Rosenblum faced opposition from some members of the village board citing concerns over the constitutionality of the mayor’s proposal, Lask told the Review that she has worked on at least four federal cases that would upheld the legality of the law. “You’re not prohibiting the sale of all animals, you’re just regulating the source,” she said. The law, as written, states that pet stores within the village may only sell animals that come from animal shelters or humane societies within New York state. Under the law, no animal that
comes from a breeder or puppy mill is permissible to be sold in the village of Mamaroneck. The push for legislation began in August 2015 when residents began protesting a local pet store on Mamaroneck Avenue, then named Best Breeds Puppies and Kittens. The owner of the store at the time, Richard Doyle, of Mahopac, New York, has been in trouble with the law multiple times. He has been charged with three counts of misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, and one count of selling a diseased animal. One of his store fronts, located in Wappingers Falls, New York, has since closed. In December 2015, he was arrested at one of his other store fronts in Mohegan Lake on two felony counts of witness tampering.
The storefront in Mamaroneck was sold to a new owner in December, Kevin Casiraghi, who renamed the store National Breeders. However, Lask investigated the license number posted on a dog cage in the store, which was connected to a breeder in the Midwest who, according to Lask, was laden with violations. Some of the violations included shivering animals, the use of unapproved medications and animals who had not been examined by veterinarians. When reached by phone on Tuesday, an employee at National Breeders declined to comment. Part of the problem with regulating the source of animals, dog continued on page 5
In an effort to address a significant number of crucial renovations at Rye Playland, an agreement between Republican Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and the park’s management company, Standard Amusements, was amended on Feb. 22 to include $58 million in county-funded capital projects. However, the amended contract still requires approval of the Westchester County Board of Legislators by a March 31 deadline, otherwise the agreement can be terminated by Standard. The amended contract also allows for the extension of the co-management period between the county and Standard into the fall of this year. The amendment comes after an extension of the co-management period that occurred last October, which prolonged the period until March 31. The projects included in the amended deal—which would see Standard Amusements increase its investment in the park by $5 million to about $30 million—would tackle 11 different capital projects, at a total cost of $58 million, to provide renovations to various rides and structures, in addition to the rehabilitation of the park’s shoreline, all of which would be paid for by the county. According to the amended agreement, the two parties will outline a date for when the capital projects will be carried out by the county, a timeline that the agreements states must be finalized before by Aug. 31. The original deal between
Standard Amusements and the county was finalized in June 2015 after lengthy deliberations between the county and multiple management companies. Under the terms of the amended agreement, after a lump sum of $2.75 million, the county will receive a $300,000 annual fee from Standard Amusements, which would increase by 2 percent every year, putting the county’s total amount of money received from the deal at about $13 million over the next 30 years. Yet, the county will now spend millions of dollars on capital infrastructure upgrades that were not part of the initial agreement. According to Westchester County Legislator Catherine Parker, a Rye Democrat, this disparity of investment would put taxpayers on the line. “The entire idea was that in having the partnership it would reduce the burden to the taxpayer,” she said. “With the number as it stands, I don’t know that we [can] get to that place.” Parker said a more reasonable amount of money for the county to receive annually from the agreement would be about $1 million per year with a 2 percent increase; a figure that would bring the county to about $41 million during the lifetime of the agreement. Parker also said she doesn’t currently have a plan to fight the amended agreement, but will continue to review the terms until the March 31 deadline. “The entire Board of Legislators needs to take a look at what the changes are,” she said. playland continued on page 8
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