Mamaroneck REVIEW THE
September 28, 2018 | Vol. 6, Number 40 | www.mamaroneckreview.com
Save the Sound: Westchester waters show improvement By JAMES PERO Staff Writer
NOT SO FAST A plan designed to protect waterfront communities along the Long Island Sound is receiving pushback because it may disrupt natural ecosystems. For story, see page 6.
Mother pleads not guilty in daughter’s death The mother of a deceased Mamaroneck toddler pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder charges relating to the death of her 2-year-old daughter Gabriella Boyd. In an indictment from a grand jury earlier this month, Cynthia Arce, 29, was charged with second-degree murder and was later arraigned on charges on
INSIDE
Tigers drop 2 OT thriller Page 15.
Tuesday, Sept. 18. In addition to the murder charge relating to her daughter, Gabrielle Boyd, Arce also faces two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated assault upon a police officer, and two counts of assault in the second degree relating to incidents with police during an initial response. Charges relate to an incident on April 28 in the village of Mamaroneck during which police responded to a 911 call where they found Boyd, severely injured and unresponsive. According to police, when officers attempted to help the toddler, Arce, attacked the officers with
a knife. Arce was first tased by police and then shot by the responding officers. She was hospitalized after the incident and is currently being held in Westchester County Jail. Gabrielle Boyd was later pronounced dead after being rushed to White Plains Hospital. Arce’s lawyer claims that she was attempting to take her own life when officers arriced and claims that she suffers from bipolar disorder and undiagnosed postpartum depression. The girl’s death also precipitated litigation from her father, Steven Boyd, who is suing Mamaroneck police and Westchester County, claiming law enforce-
ment failed to properly enforce a court order granting him custody of the child. The notice of claim, filed earlier this year, accuses Mamaroneck police officers of negligence in enforcing a court order that would have removed Boyd from the custody of her mother the day before the toddler’s death took place. Steven Boyd is seeking monetary damages. The Westchester County Medical Examiner’s Office officially ruled the death a homicide in August though the official cause of death is still undetermined and an autopsy by the county medical examiner has yet to be made public. -Reporting by James Pero
A biennial report from the environmental group Save the Sound shows what they characterize as “substantial improvement” in the water quality of the Long Island Sound. On Sept. 24, the organization released the results of its report at simultaneous press conferences in Connecticut and New York, giving Westchester County’s portion of the Long Island Sound, the Eastern Narrows, a “B-” grade. “The region where the improvement is the most dramatic is the Eastern Narrows,” Save the Sound said in a statement. “This region went from a ‘D+’ in 2008 to a ‘B-’ in 2017, benefitting from both the upgrades made to its local wastewater treatment plants and those made to plants on the East River, which flows into the western end of the Sound.” Additionally, throughout the past several years Westchester County and its municipalities have continued to fund incremental improvements to their sewer infrastructure—a major source of pollution in rivers and estuaries that lead into the Long Island Sound—due in part to a lawsuit launched by Save the Sound in 2015.The lawsuit, which named 11 county municipalities in the Sound Shore region, alleged that as a result of porous sewer lines, untreated waste entered rivers that lead into the Long Island Sound in violation of the EPA’s Clean Water Act. “In many respects what we’re seeing is a victory for the tenets of the Clean Water Act, as well as the commitment shown by New York and Connecticut officials, the EPA and citizens alike,” said Tracy Brown, director of Save the Sound’s Western Programs. “We
now have hard evidence that investment in improved technology at treatment plants pays great dividends.” One area of continued pollution in Westchester is Beaver Swamp Brook which runs through Mamaroneck, Harrison, and Rye, before emptying into the Long Island Sound. According to a Save the Sound analysis, in three of the group’s recent routine samples of a Beaver Swamp site behind Rye Neck High School, levels of enterococcus—bacteria found in human and animal feces—ranged from 700 to as high as 9,000 bacteria per sample. The safe swimming standard dictates that anything above 104 per sample is unsafe. “The most important step now is to recognize that there is more work to be done—both to keep from sliding backwards in the face of climate change and population pressure, but also to move forward so that the most heavily populated areas of the Sound share in the recovery,” Brown said. While waters in the Eastern Narrows have shown marked improvement, according to Save the Sound, the Western Narrows, which border New York City, have remained stagnant, receiving a grade of “F” since 2008. The culprit, says the environmental organization, is the lack of tidal flow between the Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean making it difficult for pollution to disperse. Despite the continued failing grade, Save the Sound’s analysts say the area has shown a decrease in dissolved carbon—a pollutant usually found as a result of storm water runoff—which could mark a positive trend in future analyses. CONTACT: james@hometwn.com