Cold turkey commute. Don’t even think about lighting up while waiting for your Metro-North train. Doing so could get you kicked off the platform, up to $50 in fines or a trip to jail.

The MTA‘s new ban on outdoor smoking starts today, following a months-long grace period the agency gave smokers to get used to the idea. The ban, which had a soft launch in November, prohibits smoking on Metro-North and Long Island Railroad outdoor platforms, as well as ticketing and boarding areas.

The ban does not apply to Metro-North stations in Connecticut.

Violators have gotten away with just warnings since November. But after several months of  leafleting, signs, announcements and electronic alerts, the MTA now expects passengers to play by the rules.

PCRA Girls Varsity team

It started, about ten years ago, with a few neighbors who wanted to take advantage of the coastline and do some rowing.

Now the Pelham Community Rowing Association (PCRA) is the only community rowing program in all of Westchester, and its competitive high school rowing team draws students from Mamaroneck High School, Pelham Memorial High School, Ursuline, Harrison High, Fordham Prep, The Masters School and Scarsdale High School and others.

They hit the fall’s largest regional regattas including Head of the Charles, Head of the Housatonic and Head of the Fish. PCRA took home the prestigious Joe Marfuggi Cup as the most outstanding youth program at the Head of the Riverfront Regatta in Hartford, according to spokeswoman Jean Ippolito.

She added that this year also marked PCRA’s most successful college recruiting and admission season to-date. Seniors gained early decision admittance to Harvard University, Dartmouth College, Williams College, Syracuse University, and University of Virginia, among others.

The New York State Scholastic Rowing Association (NYSSRA) awarded the Varsity Team the coveted Scholar Athlete designation for maintaining a team-wide grade-point average of 90% or above during the highly competitive fall season.

PCRA rows out of Glen Island State Park on the 1964 Olympic Time Trial Course that they share with the New York Athletic Club.

For more information about Pelham Community Rowing Association email jippolito.ny@gmail.com.

Shopping carts are rolling away. Cars are shaking. Hold onto your hats — and just about everything else.  The strong winds that blew into Westchester this morning, prompting a National Weather Service Wind Advisory, are expected to stick around at least through midnight.

The gusts could reach up to 50 miles per hour, according to the Weather Service, meaning travel could be hazardous.

Flight delays at area airports were already growing long by early afternoon.  Flights at La Guardia, for example, were running an hour and 40 minutes behind schedule at 1 p.m. The speed limit on area bridges, including the Tappan Zee, had reportedly been reduced.

Although the winds are expected to die down overnight, forecasters are calling for a weekend that feels like winter. The Weather Service forecast calls for sunny skies with a high of 37 on Saturday and just 29 on Sunday. Temperatures are expected to bounce back a bit on Monday, the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, to a high of 39.

Our Towns is theLoop’s weekly photo series on the places that help to define us.

Photos of Dobbs Ferry taken January, 2012. Click on thumbnails.

For those of us who can’t wait for Spring (uh…everyone…?), we’ve compiled a garden checklist to help combat winter blues, indoors and out.

Plan ahead
Now’s a great time to assess your garden. Perhaps you want to add some plantings or move things around. Some people keep a notebook or take photos during the growing season. These are really helpful when staring out at your snowy white canvas.

• Order seed starting kits, vegetable and flower seeds from catalogs, if you like starting from scratch.
• Start growing seeds. Some helpful tips here.
• Peruse magazines for gardens that you like, See how you can incorporate some of the ideas into your own property.

Heavy snow can break the branches of evergreens. Give plants a dusting off after a heavy snowfall.

Maintenance
You may be tiring of the snow cover that’s been hanging around since Christmas, but the snow is actually a protective, frosty blanket, insulating the plants below. During winter’s home stretch, we may get days that swing between warm(ish) and arctic. That will be the time to check on your newer plantings, making sure the warming and re-freezing has not heaved them above the soil line. If you see that’s starting to happen, try to push them back in and cover root zone with extra mulch.

• Prune away storm-damaged branches, which can tear the bark off shrubs and trees.
• After a heavy snow, take a broom and brush off the shrubs and tree branches that are bent under the snow’s weight.
• Take cuttings of forsythia, pussy willows, cherries for forcing indoors. Late February, early March is the time to prune most shrubs and trees, before they start to leaf out.

Indoors
Sun-loving houseplants are probably looking a little sad right now. Shorter days=sadder plants (and people!). Make sure they are in a southern-facing window.

• Houseplants grow more slowly during winter, so increase the time between waterings. The single biggest killer of houseplants is overwatering.
• Clean the large, smooth-leaved houseplants with a damp, soft cloth. Or give them a shower. They are probably a bit dusty by now, which interferes with photosynthesis.
• Inspect for insect pests. Browning leaves are a good indication you have spider mites. Look for fine spider webbing between the leaves or between the stem and leaves. The mites are easily killed by spraying them with a homemade soap solution. Simply add a teaspoon of dish liquid detergent to a 12 or 16 ounce spray bottle filled with water. Shake, then spray. The soap smothers their soft bodies. You may have to apply two or three times, whenever you see the webbing again.
• It’s a good time to repot plants, especially if it’s been more than a few years since the last transplating.  Plants do best in terra-cotta pots because the clay is porous, which allows for water and air exchange. If your old clay pots have a white, powdery mineral deposit on the outside, you can clean them by soaking the pots overnight in a solution of 1 gallon of water, 1 cup vinegar and 1 cup bleach. Or, remove as much as you can with a wire brush and then apply linseed oil. This will make the mineral deposits invisible.
• Go over your gardening contracts carefully. Many companies apply pesticides and herbicides. They are required to supply you with a materials data safety sheet for each product they apply. One note from this organic gardener: data sheets only cover the labeled, “active” ingredients. Ninety percent of most products are “inert” ingredients. The composition of inert ingredients are considered “proprietary information” and do not have to be disclosed. Many of these “inerts” are more dangerous than the labeled ingredients. Of course, you can always hire a landscape company that practices organic controls. Keeping your property in a natural balance is the best way to ensure a healthy environment.

Catherine Wachs is a Larchmont-based landscape designer. Her company, The Lazy Gardener, creates low-maintenance, high-style designs for residential and commercial properties.