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Mamaroneck REVIEW THE

February 3, 2017 | Vol. 5, Number 5 | www.mamaroneckreview.com

Residents may file additional Ralph’s appeal By JAMES PERO Staff Writer

Village Manager Slingerland to step down in March By JAMES PERO Staff Writer After nine years in the village of Mamaroneck, Manager Richard Slingerland will resign, taking on a new role as village administrator in Tarrytown, the Review has learned. “Mamaroneck is a great community,” Slingerland said. “I became aware of an opportunity in Tarrytown, looked into it, and I was offered the job.” According to village Mayor Norman Rosenblum, a Republican, who has served all four of his terms as mayor working in tandem with Slingerland, the manager’s departure marks a

loss for the village. “I enjoyed the time with [Slingerland],” Rosenblum said. “While we didn’t agree on several items, whether it be something specific or in general, I think he added to the recognition of the village.” According to a statement released by the village of Tarrytown, Slingerland was selected amongst eight finalists—down from 35 initial candidates—and will replace administrator Michael Blau, who has served Tarrytown for the last 17 years. Budget documents for 2015 and 2016 show that Blau’s adopted Tarrytown salary was $222,000 for that time period.

Slingerland’s resignation comes a little more than 10 days after the authorization of a contract with Novak Consulting Group, a performance assessment firm based in Cincinnati, Ohio, which would be tasked with providing a comprehensive evaluation of the village manager’s performance. According to documents provided to the village of Mamaroneck Board of Trustees regarding the contract, the consulting group planned to conduct interviews with village board members, department heads and Slingerland in order to identify “strengths, weaknesses, and perceptions of effectiveness of the

village manager.” The $17,500 report, its findings, and recommendations from Novak are slated to be issued to the public on March 29. Slingerland said he will continue to operate under his current post as village manager until the end of March, and that he is not currently aware of any other prospective candidates to take his position. Currently, Slingerland is making $187,300 annually with the village. A new contract with Tarrytown, which was obtained by the Review, shows that Slingerland will earn $202,000. CONTACT: james@hometwn.com

Unsatisfied with a review by the village’s land use boards, Mamaroneck residents rallying against Ralph’s Italian Ices—an ice cream shop which has been the subject of a lengthy zoning appeal—may launch a separate appeal after the village building inspector indicated the shop is not required to seek additional variances. According to resident Anthony Francella, who lives on Keeler Avenue, a street adjacent to Ralph’s—located on East Boston Post Road—residents maintain that several variances have fallen under the inspector’s radar. Among those items are the storefront’s use of lighted signs, parking within 10 feet of the street without setback, and a second driveway leading to a residential street. “This isn’t just a Keeler Avenue, Frank Avenue, issue,” Francella said. “This could happen in anyone else’s neighborhood.” The recommendation that Ralph’s isn’t required to seek additional variances was made clear through records obtained by residents via a Freedom of Information Law, FOIL, request showing village Building Inspector Dan Gray, in an email to Lester Steinman, a member of the village’s zoning board, recommending that “no new variances are required.” The letter also states that an

explanation for the lack of variances in the form of a “bulleted list” will follow. According to additional FOIL requests sent by residents, no such list was ever provided by the building inspector. Meg Yergin, a resident who has been involved in the appeal of Ralph’s zoning compliance, said that while residents have not yet filed the second appeal to the zoning board, but the document has been drafted and residents may still file depending on the outcome of an upcoming zoning board meeting. The second appeal would seek to hear the list of additional variances in front of the zoning board. Since the summer, when Ralph’s—a popular Staten Island-based chain—opened its first-ever Westchester County location in Mamaroneck, backlash from residents in proximity to the business has generated controversy, and ultimately an appeal of its license to operate. Specifically, residents grew increasingly alarmed by traffic conditions and noise, claiming that the storefront had been allowed to operate as a result of a misclassification as a retail establishment by the village Planning Department. While Ralph’s was granted a interim permit to operate with reduced hours in July after a zoning appeal process, residents still maintain APPEAL continued on page 8

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Former village pet store owner fined, banned Former village of Mamaroneck pet store owner Richard Doyle has been fined $20,000 and banned from selling pets in New York state after an investigation from the state attorney general’s office. Both the ban and fine come after a two-year investigation from the attorney general’s office that was spurred as a result of numerous complaints from customers who had purchased sick or physically impaired pets from Doyle’s stores; some of which were sold at his former Mamaroneck Avenue storefront. “By shutting down stores that mistreat animals… we can help ensure that consumers are purchasing healthy pets, while protecting the animals themselves from those who break the law to turn a profit,” said state Attorney

General Eric Schneiderman. According to a statement from the attorney general’s office, the investigation revealed that Doyle had falsified documents for pets who had been sourced from unlicensed breeders in addition to performing a number of unlicensed surgeries in his stores. In addition, the investigation revealed, Doyle had also regularly instructed teenage employees to administer intravenous medications on his pets in order to mask infections and pass audits from outside veterinarians. Backlash over Doyle’s former Mamaroneck store has since launched a wave of public laws across lower Westchester County, where municipalities, starting with the village of Mamaroneck, have passed their

own anti-puppy mill legislation. The county Board of Legislators is currently considering its own iteration of an anti-puppy mill law that would limit where stores are able to source their pets from, in addition to placing tighter restrictions on store owners who have been issued violations from the state. The law is currently being workshopped in the county’s Legislation Committee, where it will eventually be passed up to the Board of Legislators for a full vote of that board. According to the attorney general’s office, $15,000 of Doyle’s fine will be distributed to customers who purchased sick pets from Doyle, and $5,000 will go to New York state. –Reporting by James Pero

Fox manslaughter case adjourned until Feb. 23 Emma Fox, who has been charged with an aggravated DWI and first-degree vehicular manslaughter for the death of 21-year-old Manhattanville College student Robby Schartner, is due to reappear in White Plains City Court on Feb. 23 after her Jan. 27 court date was adjourned. Fox’s case has been adjourned five times since she reportedly struck and killed Schartner, on Oct. 9, while he was walking along Westchester Avenue in White

Plains on his way back to Manhattanville. According to the White Plains Court Clerk’s office, the case was adjourned for “further proceedings.” Police reported that Fox, 24, had been intoxicated at the time of the incident when she struck and killed Schartner, of Fishkill, who was returning to college from a night out on Mamaroneck Avenue in downtown White Plains. Fox was measured with a blood alcohol content of 0.21;

the legal limit in New York state is 0.08. White Plains police reported that Fox had been travelling eastbound on Westchester Avenue at around 5 a.m. when she fatally struck Schartner with her car, a 2012 Nissan Sentra. However, her whereabouts at the time of the incident are still unclear. Stephen Lewis, an attorney representing Fox, could not be reached for comment as of press time. -Reporting by Franco Fino

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What’s going on... Mamaroneck Public Library

and caregivers. Lunes de 10:30 a.m. hasta 11 a.m. Una hora del cuento en español y inglés para niños de los 6 meses a 7 años con hermanos y cuidadores/as.

Teacher in the Library

Visit mamaronecklibrary.org for more information on library hours and programs.

AARP income tax assistance On Fridays, starting Feb. 3 through April 14, from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Community Room. AARP tax aide volunteers will offer free tax preparation and assistance at the Mamaroneck Public Library. Assistance is available on a dropin basis for seniors and low- and moderate-income taxpayers.

All ages story and craft hour On Saturdays from 11 a.m. to noon in the Children’s Room. No registration required. There will be stories to appeal to all ages of kids and their caregivers, and a craft simple enough for the little kids and creative enough for the big kids.

Bilingual Storytime / Hora del cuento bilingüe On Mondays from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. A drop-in Spanish and English storytime for children ages 6 months to 7 years old with siblings

On Mondays from 3:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. and on Wednesdays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Children’s Room. Free homework help for children in grades K–5 when school is in session. This program follows the Mamaroneck school district schedule.

Selling Your Home in Today’s Market On Wednesday, Feb. 8 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in Community Room. This program for adults gives participants the chance to ask experts questions. Michele Silverman Bedell, owner and broker of Silversons Realty LLC, has 25 years of experience. Barrie Sacks is a Mamaroneck resident who understands the importance of pricing and marketing properly to sell properties as quickly as possible. Leslie H. Jones is a practicing attorney with more than 20 years of experience. Please RSVP by calling 906-4376 or emailing msilvermanbedell@ gmail.com.

State Teen Video Challenge Create a video promoting summer reading at the public library, including your interpretation of the 2017 Collaborative Summer Library Program teen slogan “Build a Better World,” and you could win a $50 award for your library.

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One winning video created by a teen or group of teens will be selected as the New York state winner in the national Collaborative Summer Library Program, CSLP, “2017 Teen Video Challenge.” All state winning videos will be official 2017 CSLP promotional videos and will be viewed nationwide. The entry deadline is Sunday, Feb. 12. For more information, including entry forms, resources, and registration details, please call the teen library at 630-5875.

Larchmont Public Library Visit larchmontlibrary.org for more information on library hours and programs.

Re-Imagining Yourself in Retirement On Monday, Feb. 9 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Michael P. Coords Activity Room. No registration required. This free workshop will focus on the transition between employment and retirement, both mentally and financially. Topics to be covered are change of status, lack of structure, time management, important financial milestones to keep in mind, transitioning from receiving a paycheck to creating your own retirement income, and leaving a legacy.

Great Courses DVD lecture series On Thursday, Feb. 9 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Village Center. No registration required. “Turning Points in American History” is your chance to relive the most powerful and groundbreaking moments in the fascinating story of the United States of America. These DVD lectures present a captivating and comprehensive tour of those particular moments in the story of America, after which the nation would never be the same again. After each DVD lecture there will be a brief discussion period. On Feb. 9, the topics will be “1676: Near Disaster—King Philip’s War,” and “1735: Freedom of the Press—The Zenger Trial.”

Starting the Conversation: Adult Children and Parent Dialogues On Thursday, Feb. 9 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Michael P. Coords Activity Room. No registration required. Join this panel discussion, led by Abby Rosmarin, and get helpful tips on how to get a dialog started between adult children and parents on aging issues. Discussing health, legal planning, housing or finances with a parent can be intimidating to everyone involved, but it doesn’t have to be. The diverse panel of experts will provide guidance on keeping the discussion positive and productive, and ending the conversation with a plan.

St. Thomas Episcopal Church Down to Earth Winter Farmers Market On Saturdays through April 15 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Check out local vendors offering food of the season and other goodies. St. Thomas Episcopal Church is located at 168 W. Boston Post Road in Mamaroneck. For more information, visit downtoearthmarkets.com.

At Home on the Sound How to Stay on Your Feet The local service organization for seniors,

At Home on the Sound, has a valentine program for the community. This organization for residents ages 60 and up offers bimonthly programs and a variety of personalized services such as transportation to doctors and grocery stores as well as to local and cultural events. On Tuesday, Feb. 14, physical therapist Erik Hofmann will impart tips and exercises to keep seniors from loosing their balance and falling. Hofmann serves as director of the Larchmont branch of Recovery Physical Therapy. After receiving his physical therapy degree in 1998 from SUNY-Downstate Medical Center, he practiced at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital for three years before serving in orthopedic private practices in Manhattan and Westchester. To enhance his clinical skill, in 2003 he received an advanced masters in musculoskeletal physiotherapy from the University of Queensland in Australia. He is one of a handful of therapists in New York with this degree. Hofmann’s talk is free and open to the entire community. On Feb. 14, refreshments will be served at 3:30 p.m.; the program starts at 4 p.m. at Russell Hall in Larchmont Avenue Church, 60 Forest Park Ave. in Larchmont. For more information, visit athomeonthesound.org.

Volunteers needed At Home on the Sound is seeking additional year-round volunteers to drive older neighbors in Mamaroneck and Larchmont to errands, shopping or appointments. The local nonprofit supports adults who want to remain in their own homes as they age. Rides will be provided on weekdays, and volunteers can determine when and how often they drive. For more information or to become a volunteer, call 899-3150 or email athomeinfo@athomeonthesound.org.

Village of Mamaroneck news Call for summer concert series bands The Village of Mamaroneck Arts Council is seeking bands to play in our Summer Nights on the Sound Concert Series, on Sundays, July 16, 23 and 30 in Harbor Island Park in Mamaroneck. Please send an email to vomartscouncil@gmail.com with your interest, which dates you are available, and a sample of your music. Decisions are made in late February.

Woman’s Club of Mamaroneck Monthly meeting and Alzheimer’s talk The next monthly meeting of the Woman’s Club of Mamaroneck will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the clubhouse, located 504 Cortlandt Ave. in Mamaroneck. The guest speaker will be recreational therapist Cheryl Croce, who will discuss therapies that are helping in the fight against Alzheimer’s. New members are always welcome. If you are interested in joining, leave a message at 698-9749. 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.

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Letters to the Editor

I disagree with Latimer and Buchwald To the Editor, Marlene Kolbert’s letter, published on Jan. 20, is important in highlighting the volunteer work done by local officials and the huge problem Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino’s fiscal irresponsibility is leaving all of us. But I disagree with two of the New York state legislators I especially admire, Sen. George Latimer and Assemblyman David Buchwald. Both are quoted in the Review article, “Cuomo pins inflated taxes on local lawmakers,” as opposing pay raises for elected legislators, including themselves. Elected New York state senators and assembly members receive relatively low salaries and are considered part time. Perhaps if they were paid more, there would be less need for other sources of income for what amounts to more than full-time work. As it is, our state senators and assembly members—with notable and noble exceptions—tend to be either independently wealthy or sorely tempted to accept compromising payments from special interests. The former separates them from the lives of most of their constituents, and the latter has resulted in massive corruption, with our government leaders now being convicted felons. I hope Gov. Andrew Cuomo and all of us can reconsider the issue of pay raises in Albany.

About Letters to the Editor Publication is not guaranteed. We reserve the right to edit letters for content or space, at our discretion, without notification from the company. We reserve the right to reject submissions at our discretion without notice to the author. Sorry, but we are unable to notify authors in advance if and when a letter will be printed. Deadline for submission is Friday before publication. The maximum length of letters that appear in our pages is 625 words, but letters are usually significantly shorter to accommodate space needs. The letter should be signed and include the

writer’s address and phone number for verification purposes. We will not publish letters that cannot be verified. Publication by frequent letter writers will be limited to one per month. The opinions of letter writers do not reflect those of this newspaper. Please submit via fax to (914) 653-5000 or email to chris@hometwn.com or via post to Home Town Media Group, C/O Letters to the Editor, 170 Hamilton Ave., Suite 203, White Plains N.Y. 10601. We do not accept unsolicited Op-Ed submissions, film reviews, or food reviews.

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Publisher | Howard Sturman ext. 21, publisher@hometwn.com Christian Falcone Associate Publisher | Editor-in-Chief ext. 19, chris@hometwn.com Sports Editor | Mike Smith ext. 22, sports@hometwn.com Assistant Editor | Sibylla Chipaziwa ext. 25, sibylla@hometwn.com Reporter | James Pero ext. 20, james@hometwn.com General Assignment | Taylor Brown ext. 30, taylor@hometwn.com Graphic Designer | Arthur Gedin Graphic Designer | Jim Grasso Advertising | Lynne Starr ext. 29, lynne@hometwn.com Advertising Coordinator | Sibylla Chipaziwa ext. 27, ads@hometwn.com Staff Writers Corey Stockton, Franco Fino Staff Photographers Andrew Dapolite, Aaron Kershaw, Charlie McLaughlin Columnist Lenore Skenazy Letters

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Westchester County Airport book

takes flight By TAYLOR BROWN General Assignment Reporter

Through a collection of black and white photographs dating back more than 80 years, Kent Patterson tells the story of New York’s fourth busiest airport in his book, “Images of America: Westchester County Airport.” Patterson, a retired MetroNorth Railroad project manager and resident of Yorktown, explained that his inspiration for the project came from his love for transportation, and the lack of reading material he was able to find on the airport, which spans across the towns of Rye, Harrison and North Castle. “I like all transportation,” he said. “Subjects like boats, planes, trains, and I was always curious about the airport, living in Westchester.” Realizing the scarce reading material on the subject, Patterson embarked on the task of writing a few chapters before submitting his work to Arcadia Publishing

for consideration. The publisher expressed interest in further developing the book, with Patterson starting in November 2015. Arcadia Publishing has featured Westchester County in several books in a similar style. These include: “Westchester County: Protect and Serve” published in 2001, and written by Frank J. Donovan and Michael J. Lavin and “North Castle” published in Jan. 2017, and written by Sharon Tomback. A full list of these books can be found at Arcadiapublish.com. With the help of the county airport archives, Westchester County Historical Society, the White Plains Library, and Patterson’s own collection, he was able to acquire a majority of the material for the book. Accompanying the information in the book is more than 190 photos. These images include vintage aircrafts, airline schedules and photos from inside the White Plains terminal. The photos included from Patterson’s

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In 1963, these were the two main runways for Westchester County Airport.

collection date back to the ‘80s, and were photos that he took himself. The book begins in the 1920s with what was then known as the Armonk Airport, and follows the development process which brought Westchester County Airport to life. “When the discussion for the airport first started, aviation was not considered a serious industry,” Patterson said. “Maybe a sport, but never a serious industry.” Patterson recounts how the present county airport was a product of World War II, and was a topic of discussion for 15 years before construction began in 1942. “Had it not been for World War II, I don’t know if the airport would’ve even been built,” Patterson said. It would then take until 1945 for the airport to open for noncommercial use, and four years later airlines to begin using it. The Westchester County Airport pre-dates the John F. Kennedy International Airport, which opened in 1948 as New York International Airport, and LaGuardia Airport, which was built in 1953. Of further interest was that the county airport provided the U.S. Army with another defense mechanism, and the hub was used as a base by the U.S. Air Forces and the New York Air National Guard. This, in conjunction with the creation of fighter and bomber planes, kept the U.S. better equipped for war. Following the war, the airport

The “Images of America: Westchester County Airport” book captures the rich history of the Westchester County Airport. Photo courtesy Arcadia Publishing

was no longer needed by the army. By 1949, Westchester County had made the accommodations in order to open the airport up to commercial airlines. Patterson wrote that these changes included, “the airport [installing] hangars and… a control tower, radar, and other necessities”. Patterson explained that it took bigger, faster planes with better safety precautions in order to convince the public of its full potential. Westchester County Airport, which spans across 720 acres, currently serves six airlines including American Airlines, Cape Air, Delta, JetBlue, United Airlines, and Tradewind Aviation. For more than 25 years, the county has limited the airport to 240 scheduled passengers per half hour to keep air traffic limited so as to not disturb nearby neighborhoods.

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This was the last of Mohawk Airlines Douglas DC-3 planes to leave from White Plains. Photos courtesy Westchester Historical Society

Despite the benefits of Westchester County Airport, the local runways have seen a decrease in traffic in recent years. Patterson attributes this decrease in travelers using other forms of transportation, such as trains, which have evolved over the years allowing travelers access to cheaper and more direct routes. “They lost about 20 to 25 percent of traffic over the last eight years,” he said. “Some of it has come back; some of it will be a matter of attracting a few more flights.” But despite the airport’s deep history, Patterson explained the challenges he encountered during his 18-month long writing process. “The most difficult part of [writing] it was reaching out to people who were around when the airport was being built,” he said. “I had to rely on newspaper articles.” The book is set to release on Feb. 6, and will be available online at Amazon.com and Arcadiapublish.com, as well as in Barnes & Noble Booksellers. As for Patterson, he has already expressed interest in writing another book in a similar style, contingent on his first installment doing well. “I’m going to talk to the publisher about doing another book called ‘Westchester Railroads,’” he said. CONTACT: taylor@hometwn.com

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Corcoran named Rye public safety commissioner

APPEAL from page 1

By FRANCO FINO Staff Writer Rye City Police Commissioner Michael Corcoran is set to become the city’s first commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, a position which was approved through a citywide referendum last November. According to Rye City Manager Marcus Serrano, Corcoran, who was hired away from the West Orange County Police Department in New Jersey last February, has been selected as his choice for public safety commissioner; his appointment was expected to be ratified by the Rye City Council at its Jan. 25 meeting, after press time. According to Serrano, Corcoran is paid $165,000 for his position as the police commissioner; he said the new role will bump up Corcoran’s salary to Residents criticizing the legitimacy of Ralph’s Italian Ices—which has been the subject of controversy $185,000. following its zoning misclassification—may push for another appeal, citing lack of stringency from the village of “I am excited at what the fuMamaroneck Building Department. File photo ture holds as we, collectively, transform public safety services that the establishment—which is undergo a site plan review and under village code. currently operating in a C-1 zon- parking study in an attempt to Additionally, while the cur- in Rye,” Corcoran told the Reing district—should be reclassi- alleviate parking and safety rent hours of operation, imposed view in anticipation of the profied as a fast food establishment concerns spurred by the store’s by the zoning board in August, motion. “As a team, we will creand undergo a more stringent ample patrons spilling over onto dictate that the store may op- ate the conditions that will make review process. A lawsuit filed village sidewalks and motorists erate until 10:30 p.m. on the the city of Rye’s emergency serby Scott Rosenburg, the store’s filling parking spaces on resi- weekdays and 11:30 p.m. on the vices a model for all to follow.” On Election Day, voters apowner, attempting to overturn dential streets. weekends, Rosenburg is requestthe zoning board’s decision to On Feb. 2, after press time, ing that both stipulations be ex- proved the creation of Department of Public Safety for send the store through a special the village Zoning Board of tended by one hour. permit process, was thrown out Appeals will issue a determinaGray, the building inspector, the purpose of consolidating of court a little more than a week tion on Ralph’s use of an out- could not be reached for com- oversight of the Police and Fire departments. after being filed. door counter service; a style ment as of press time The position comes with Since the residents’ appeal, of serving which is currently Rosenburg has agreed to forbidden without a variance CONTACT: james@hometwn.com

Latimer, Otis to hold ‘Coffee and Conversation’ State Sen. George Latimer, a Democrat representing Westchester County, and state Assemblyman Steve Otis, a Democrat of the 91st Assembly District, have announced the first scheduled 2017 “Coffee and Conversation” community outreach events, which they hold annually in their respective Senate and Assembly districts. Latimer has held these events regularly since he was a member of the Westchester County legislature, offering an additional opportunity for constituents to meet and discuss issues and concerns of their choosing. “I spend a lot of time with the people of my district, at gatherings, events and formal meetings. I like to hold these

coffee and conversation sessions so that I can sit face-toface with my constituents, listen to their concerns and answer their questions. Without fail, each time I have one of these events, I learn a little more about what our communities want and need,” the senator said. Otis added, “These informal meetings are a great way to share your ideas and concerns with us on topics of importance to you. The discussions are always informative and often highlight new issues we can work on.”

The two state legislators will be joined by Westchester County Legislator Catherine Parker at the events listed below. The schedule for the upcoming “Coffee and Conversation” events is as follows: Rye: Saturday, Feb. 11 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Ruby’s Oyster Bar, 45 Purchase St. Mamaroneck: Saturday, Feb. 11 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Nautilus Diner, 1240 W. Boston Post Road. Additional dates in other communities will be forthcoming. (Submitted)

Rye City Police Commissioner Michael Corcoran will be formally appointed as the commissioner of the new city Department of Public Safety on Jan. 25, after press time. Photo/Andrew Dapolite

added significance, as there have been multiple issues within the city Fire Department for some time. Of late, the department has been faced with a lack of professional staffing and a shrinking volunteer base. According to John Castelhano, the president of the local firefighters’ union, the city currently employs 17 paid firefighters and as little as 30 active volunteers,

12 of whom are trained to fight indoor fires, as of press time. Additionally, Councilman Richard Mecca, a Republican and member of the city Fire Advisory Committee, said the Fire Department has been issued 20 citations, as of press time, by the New York Public Employees Safety and Health Bureau, which retains generally all of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, standards. The department also often violates an OSHA regulation dubbed the two-in, two-out rule, which mandates that if two professional firefighters enter a burning building, there must be two others stationed outside for observation. Currently, Rye joins the city of White Plains and the county as the only municipalities in Westchester with public safety departments. Rye City Mayor Joe Sack, a Republican, confirmed to the Review that the City Council plans to ratify the selection of Corcoran. “We will be expecting big things from him,” Sack said. “He has impressed everyone with his ability to lead the [Police] Department and to address all types of issues.” Serrano declined to comment about the number of candidates that were interviewed for the position. CONTACT: franco@hometwn.com

Cuomo touts transparency law expansion

As part of an ethics reform overhaul, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, announced that he would look to increase transparency in the state Legislature during his State of the State tour earlier this month. The governor’s initiative seeks to make state lawmakers—as well as the state’s ethics commission—subject to the Freedom of Information Law, FOIL. “It protects the public,” Cuomo said, “and it protects the government official from anyone saying he or she did anything wrong.” State FOIL laws allow the public to request access to documents and statistics kept by government agencies, with certain exceptions such as classified documents.

Currently, the general New York state FOIL laws apply only to state agencies, which do not include the Legislature or the courts. A specific section of the law applies to state lawmakers; but that section does not require that lawmakers make documents such as emails available to the public. Assemblyman David Buchwald, a White Plains Democrat who has championed the FOIL laws, questioned Cuomo’s assertion that FOIL laws don’t apply to state lawmakers. “FOIL does apply to the state Legislature,” he said. “It just applies in a somewhat different way because most of our actions are already made available to the public.” Buchwald added that he was open to any laws that would in-

crease transparency. In November, the governor signed an amendment to the FOIL law sponsored by Buchwald which he had shot down the previous year, shortening the appeals process. State Sen. George Latimer, a Rye Democrat who has also pushed for transparency laws, said he would welcome an expansion of FOIL to encompass state lawmakers, and reflected on his previous experience as an elected official on the Rye City Council and the Westchester County Board of Legislators. “I was under the rules of FOIL in those days and I never felt that that was a problem,” Latimer said. “We’re not at the level of dealing with national secrets.” -Reporting by Corey Stockton

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10 • THE MAMARONECK REVIEW • February 3, 2017

Resident covers march, inauguration with PBS By SIBYLLA CHIPAZIWA Assistant Editor As America’s oldest president was sworn in and millions worldwide marched against his nascent administration, a group of 10 Ithaca College journalism students was helping a national news outlet get a sense of what was happening on the ground. One of those students was Reesa Hylton, a Purchase resident and sophomore journalism major. The students, chosen by their professors, traveled to Washington, D.C., to cover the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump on Friday, Jan. 20, as well as the Women’s March on Washington the following day with PBS NewsHour. Some students helped PBS’ social media and digital production teams, while others were on general assignment, conducting interviews and gathering footage of the historic events. Hylton, 19, worked with one of the social media teams, dispersing into the crowd and speaking with attendees of both historic events, and then

tweeting them out to PBS’ social media managers for further dissemination. What she gathered from her experience were the varying viewpoints of many of the participants at both events. Hylton said the march for women’s rights was the polar opposite of what she experienced on Inauguration Day. “Saturday was a lot more positive and hopeful, even though [people were] protesting a situation that, for many people, is not ideal,” she said, adding that the she saw the march as “uplifting.” Hylton added that the inauguration was exciting in its own right, as it provided her and her fellow student-journalists a huge opportunity to witness the final step in the peaceful transition of power from one administration to another. There was added security compared to the march, and one word she used to describe the event was “intense.” “[The atmosphere] felt like it was coming from a place of strong discontent,” Hylton said. “What we learned from a lot of the people we interviewed

is the reason that they supported Trump was because they were really unhappy with how everything was going.” She added that responses on Friday were “gritty,” and that while there was excitement that their candidate won the presidential election, the feeling among some attendees, though surprisingly diverse, she said, was not “totally inclusive of everyone.” Hylton said it was also interesting to see “less extreme” Trump supporters, who were willing to talk to her group, despite the distrust that has developed in some citizens, most notably Conservatives and Republicans, toward the press following the presidential race. One moment that stood out to Hylton at the inauguration was seeing a group of people who met at the Washington Mall— complete strangers—deciding to protest Trump and stand up for their beliefs together. “I thought that was a really special moment, where they felt so at home with [each other],” she said. She also mentioned that

while looking for interviewees on Jan. 20, her group encountered three men who didn’t necessarily support Trump, but were present in support of “America in general.” Hylton said they were interesting to talk to, and when she asked if their message of love and inclusiveness would be supported by the new president, the trio replied that “we have to do what we can, hope for the best, and support [him].” Hylton shared her thoughts on the press now that the Trump administration has been installed, saying that it will be more important than ever to ensure the First Amendment. “There also needs to be outlets that are just giving the facts out, bringing that to a [wider audience],” she said. Hylton made an important observation on Friday. “There were a lot of misinformed or just completely uninformed people,” she said, referring to the Trump supporters she spoke to. “It’s the job of journalists everywhere to provide information in an accessible and informative way.” On rebuilding trust between citizens and the press, Hylton

Reesa Hylton, far right, with fellow student-journalists at the inauguration of Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. Hylton, a Purchase resident, was one of 10 Ithaca College students chosen to help cover the historic event and the Women’s March on Washington with PBS NewsHour. Photo courtesy Reesa Hylton

said that it will be hard, as people are inclined to pay attention to what they believe in, and only tune in to news outlets that align with their beliefs. In late 2016, Gallup polling found that only 32 percent of Americans have “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of confidence in the mass media, the

lowest in the poll’s history; any sense of trust in the press has dwindled over the years. “[Trust] has to start at a young age,” she said, adding that following a wide variety of news outlets is important in identifying fact from fiction. CONTACT: sibylla@hometwn.com

February 3, 2017 • THE MAMARONECK REVIEW • 11

February 2017

Planning ahead... SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY Black History Month

TOM board meeting 8 p.m., Town Center

Rye Neck incoming K registration starts

PTA Council 9:15 a.m.

VOM First Sunday Birdwalks 8:30 a.m.

12 Lincoln’s Birthday

All-County Chorus rehearsal 3:30 p.m., Sleepy Hollow HS Larchmont Planning Board 8 p.m., Village Center

CHAT musical casting 3:30 p.m. PACE 1 Show 7 p.m.

VOM village board meeting 7:30 p.m., Courtroom Larchmont village board 7:30 p.m., Village Hall

School House Open & Demonstration 1 p.m., Harbor Island Park

All-County Band/Och rehearsal 3:30 p.m., Seven Bridges MS, Chappaqua

VOM Board of Architectural Review 7:30 p.m., Courtroom Larchmont Traffic Commission 8 p.m., Village Hall

Valentine’s Day

National Donor Day VOM Ethics Board 7:30 p.m., Regatta Conf. Room VOM deer committee 7:30 p.m., Courtroom

Presidents Day, schools and government offices closed

VOM Tree Committee 7 p.m., Library Community Room

All schools winter recess starts

VOM Committee for the Environment 7:30 p.m., Courtroom

VOM village board meeting 7:30 p.m., Courtroom Al schools reopen

All-County Chorus rehearsal 3:30 p.m., Sleepy Hollow HS School board meeting 7 p.m., MHS VOM flood committee 7:30 p.m., Regatta VOM Budget Committee 7:30 p.m., Courtroom

Groundhog Day

SATURDAY

National Wear Red Day

World Cancer Day

HOM Musical 7 p.m.

PACE Senior Music Night 7 p.m.

FRIDAY

Larchmont environment committee 9 a.m., Village Hall

MAS Grs. 2 & 3 STEM Night 6 p.m.

Super Bowl Sunday

THURSDAY

VOM Planning Board 7 p.m., Courtro om

VOM Council of the Arts 7 p.m., Regatta Conf. Room Padres Unidos meeting 7 p.m., HOM Larchmont zoning board 8:15 p.m., Village Hall

Padres Unidos meeting 7 p.m., HOM Rye Neck school board 7 p.m., RNMS/HS library VOM HCZMC meeting 7:30 p.m., Courtroom TOM board meeting 8 p.m., Town Center

VOM Planning Board 7 p.m., Courtroom

Larchmont architectural review 8 p.m., Village Center

VOM zoning board 7:30 p.m., Courtroom

Rye Neck incoming K registration ends

Dos Caminos parent info meeting 9:15 a.m. & 6:30 p.m., MAS

MHS PACE Lip Sync Battle 7 p.m.

MHS mock SAT 9 a.m.

MUR Gr. 5 Square Dance 7:30 p.m., MHS

VOM traffic board 7:30 p.m., Courtroom

Transition for incoming Gr. 9 special ed 6 p.m., MHS library

Incoming Gr. 9 orientation 7 p.m., MHS McLain Auditorium VOM Board of Architectural Review 7:30 p.m., Courtroom

12 • THE MAMARONECK REVIEW • February 3, 2017

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Movies, mommies and predators RHYMES WITH CRAZY Lenore Skenazy

Ever wonder where our obsession with child predators began? The answer just might be at the movies. And “M” is the picture that started it all. What a creepy film. It opens with a mother puttering around the kitchen, waiting for her daughter to come home from school. We see the clock on the wall. We see her expression grow from cheer to terror. And somewhere in the streets below, we see a man buy a little girl a balloon. If your pulse is racing already, thank Fritz Lang, director of that 1931 classic that taught filmmakers everywhere to hook audiences with the primal emotion of heart-stopping fear for our kids. After bad guy Peter Lorre murders the girl he bought the balloon for—off-camera, so we can imagine the worst—the city rises up to hunt him down. He nonetheless manages to befriend another child on the street. But just as he’s leading her off to buy candy, her mother appears. Hallelujah! And that is the moral of the story: Unless you want your children to get murdered, you cannot let them go outside on their own. Lang himself said he made the movie “to warn mothers about neglecting children.” “It almost feels like those hygiene films that warned you to brush your teeth,” says Robert Thompson, a professor of pop culture at Syracuse University. “That’s what I think ‘Adam’ did as well.” “Adam” is the made-for-TV

picture that came out in 1983, two years after 6-year-old Adam Walsh was abducted from a Sears store in Florida and subsequently beheaded. Even more than “M” (which was, after all, German), it’s the movie that branded “stranger danger” onto the collective American consciousness. Until then, the majority of child abduction movies were either police procedurals or family melodramas, says Pat Gill, professor emeritus of communications at the University of Illinois. “You often don’t see the child at all, or if you do, it’s got some gangster’s moll taking care of the kid. He’s not tied up or anything.” “Adam” changed all that. The two-part mini-series broke all records, and the media world began ordering more and more kiddie kidnappings. That’s why we’ve seen flicks about everyone from teenage abductee Elizabeth Smart to toddler murder victim JonBenét Ramsey, to Amber Hagerman, for whom the Amber Alerts are named. Not to mention all those “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” episodes. How do you proceed to kick it up a notch? You hire Liam Neeson. In 2008, we got “Taken,” the megahit in which Neeson is convinced by his pushy ex-wife to let their 17-year-old daughter and her slutty friend travel to Paris without supervision. The girls land and immediately meet a cute but skeevy guy who asks to share their taxi. Moments after he drops them off, he and his gang of sex traffickers return. Neeson’s daughter sees the men grab her friend in the next room and speed-dials daddy—a Special Ops type—for advice. Matter-of-factly he tells her,

“You will be taken.” So will you, dear viewer, on what is basically an excuse for vigilante sadism as Neeson hightails it to Paris. Without a hint of jetlag, he takes on an international team of traffickers, allowing the audience to enjoy all sorts of cruelty while feeling smug: Take THAT, you fiends! Meantime, it gave parents something else to be terrified of. A mom at a PTA meeting once solemnly informed me that there are more girls sex trafficked in America today than there were slaves before the Civil War. (Um... wrong.) “Room,” by comparison, is a Serious Film. We know this because the lead actress, Brie Larson, won an Academy Award for playing the mom who raises a son within the confines of a backyard shed. Her fictional character was taken at age 17 when she was kind enough to help a man who said he’d lost his dog. In all these pictures, a mom is overtly or subtly at fault: The mother in “M,” who didn’t walk her child home from school. The mother in “Adam,” who didn’t keep her son by her side at Sears. The mother in “Taken,” who sends her daughter to Europe unchaperoned. And even in “Room,” Larson yells at her own mother for teaching her to be nice to strangers. Maybe if she’d been a little less nice, she wouldn’t have been snatched. The movie industry has realized what newspaper editors, cable TV producers, and grandstanding politicians already know: There’s no business like woe business, and most woeful of all are stories about missing children whose mothers could have saved them... but didn’t. CONTACT: lskenazy@yahoo.com

Town of Mamaroneck

Women’s heart attack symptoms differ from men We’ve all seen the movie scenes where a man gasps, clutches his chest and falls to the ground. In reality, a heart attack victim could easily be a woman, and the scene may not be that dramatic. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women—more than all forms of cancer combined. “Although men and women can experience chest pressure that feels like an elephant sitting across the chest, women can experience a heart attack without chest pressure,” said Dr. Nieca Goldberg, medical director for the Joan H. Tisch Center for Women’s Health at NYU’s Langone Medical Center and an American Heart Association, AHA, volunteer. “Instead they may experience shortness of breath, pressure or pain in the lower chest or upper abdomen, dizziness, lightheadedness or fainting, upper back pressure or extreme fatigue.” Even when the signs are subtle, the consequences can be deadly, especially if the victim doesn’t get help right away. Delay can cause permanent heart damage—or death. Even though heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women in the United States, women often chalk up the symptoms to less lifethreatening conditions like acid reflux, the flu or normal aging. “They do this because they are scared and because they put their families first,” Goldberg said. “There are still many women who are shocked that they could be having a heart attack.” A heart attack strikes someone about every 43 seconds. It occurs when the blood flow that brings oxygen to the heart muscle is severely reduced or cut off completely. This happens

because the arteries that supply the heart with blood can slowly narrow from a buildup of fat, cholesterol and other substances such as plaque. Many women think the signs of a heart attack are unmistakable—the image of the elephant comes to mind—but in fact they can be subtler and sometimes confusing. You could feel short of breath, “as though you ran a marathon, but you haven’t made a move,” Goldberg said. Some women experiencing a heart attack describe upper back pressure that feels like squeezing or a rope being tied around them, Goldberg added. Dizziness, lightheadedness or fainting are other symptoms to look for. “Many women I see take an aspirin if they think they are having a heart attack and never call 911,” Goldberg said. “But if they think about taking an aspirin for their heart attack, they should also call 911.” Know the symptoms to save a life. Heart attack signs in women: • Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest. It lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back. • Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach. • Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort. • Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness. • As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, par-

ticularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain. If you have any of these signs, call 911 and get to a hospital right away. Take care of yourself… first. “Many women put their health on the back burner while they’re busy taking care of everyone else. But it’s not unlike airline instructions to ‘put your oxygen mask on first, then help your friend.’ If you’re in a hospital from a heart attack, you can’t help anyone. You have to help your own heart first,” said Carolyn Torella, AHA Hudson Valley spokeswoman. “You’re worth it. Your health is worth the investment of time.” The good news for women is that heart disease is preventable in 80 percent of cases. Here are Goldberg’s top tips: • Schedule an appointment with your healthcare provider to learn your personal risk for heart disease. You can also learn your risk with AHA’s Heart Attack Risk Calculator at heart.org. • Quit smoking. Did you know that just one year after you quit, you’ll cut your risk of coronary heart disease by 50 percent? • Start an exercise program. Just walking 30 minutes a day can lower your risk for heart attack and stroke. • Modify your family’s diet if needed. Check out healthy cooking tips at recipes.heart.org. You’ll learn smart substitutions, healthy snacking ideas and better prep methods. For example, with poultry, use the leaner light meat (like chicken breasts) instead of the fattier dark meat (legs and thighs), and be sure to remove the skin. Learn more at GoRedForWomen.org. (Submitted)

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14 • THE MAMARONECK REVIEW • February 3, 2017

Ads, nauseum LIVE MIKE Mike Smith

I don’t know about you, but I can not wait until Super Bowl Sunday. The pomp, the circumstance, the two best teams (arguably) in the NFL squaring off; if you’re a football fan, what’s not to love? But there’s another reason I’m looking forward to the game this weekend: I’m just sick of hearing about it. With two weeks in between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl—and a real dearth of other mid-winter sports news—the NFL hype machine is simply an unavoidable occurrence in the buildup to the big game. After all, ESPN, Fox Sports 1 and other outlets have countless hours of programming to fill, and with very few stories to promote—aside from LeBron James’ ongoing beef with NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles

Barkley—sports fans get stuck in a cycle of rehashing the same old Super Bowl storylines for 13-straight days; an eternity in today’s media cycle. And what do we, the sports fans, get from that? Not much in the way of substance. There is only so much that one game can be analyzed. The most popular talking points over the last two weeks, “The Falcons will have to score a lot of points to beat the Patriots!” and “Is Tom Brady the best quarterback ever?” were all but beaten to death by last Tuesday, but because there’s nothing else to talk about, they’ve been debated, discussed and rehashed countless times since then. And it’s not just the television outlets. I love sports talk radio, for better or worse, and tuning in to WFAN has long been a staple of my commute. But during Super Bowl week? Forget about it. Programs from all over the nation descend like locusts on the

SPORTS

game’s venue, setting up booths on radio row where they fight to bring on an endless stream of former players and broadcasters, putting together short interview segments in which the main point is to plug whatever product the guest happens to be hawking that week. I mean, while I can’t stomach any more conversations about where Bill Belichick fits into the pantheon of great coaches, it’s still preferable to listening to an offensive lineman from the 1990s trying to get the word out about some new performance drink. If sports journalists had any sort of integrity, they might use this time to discuss the actual issues surrounding the game in general. Youth concussion rates, duplicitous owners and their stadium schemes, declining viewership; these are the things that should be brought up when the NFL is under the spotlight. But there are ads to sell, and a game to promote, so sadly, that’s not

New York Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes holds the Lombardi Trophy in 2012. Sports Editor Mike Smith is excited for kickoff on Sunday, because it means an end to the Super Bowl’s endless hype. Photo courtesy Wikipedia.org

what we’re going to get. So yeah, Sunday can’t come soon enough, not because I want to see the Falcons play the Pats,

but really, because I just want to stop hearing about it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve gotta run out and pick up that

new energy drink.

Follow Mike on Twitter @LiveMike_Sports

TO COVER LOCAL SPORTS, YOU NEED A

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

February 3, 2017 • THE MAMARONECK REVIEW • 15

16 • THE MAMARONECK REVIEW • February 3, 2017