It’s genius. It’s fashionable. And it’s cheap.

Green Eileen in Yonkers is an Eileen Fisher store -that opened in March- stocked with professionally cleaned, gently worn Eileen Fisher clothing at, in many cases, below half the original retail prices.

Phillipa Climaco holds a dress that retailed for $278, and was never worn. It's selling for $70.

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When was the last time you went to City Island? This gem is so great and so easy to get to.

And the City Island Nautical Museum wants you to know it is one of 40 historic sites in New York City, chosen from over 500 applicants, selected to compete for $3 million in grants to preserve the city’s historic buildings, icons and landmarks. The building, an old school, was constructed in 1897–98, was recently designated a New York City landmark and is on the National Register for Historic Places.

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Under the Cherry Blossoms (June Marie Sobrito posted to the Looppool on flickr)

‘Supermoon,’ Obscured by Clouds, Left Plenty to See
Those in New York  looking to take photographs of the so-called supermoon had to make do with other amusements under a cloudy sky on Saturday night.

More than 1,000 attend Sullivan family funeral in Carmel
More than 1,000 friends, neighbors, relatives and uniformed officers gathered at St. James the Apostle Church Saturday morning to pay their last respects to the Sullivan family, among them the sole survivor of the blaze that took the lives of his father, mother and two sisters.

Animal shelter faces theft, cruelty claims
Volunteers at the purportedly no-kill Westchester Shore Humane Society are accusing the animal shelter’s directors of cruelty, stealing from the charity, mismanagement and euthanizing hundreds of animals.

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A selection of Friday- Sunday events from theLoop Events Calendar:

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Several Killed as Minivan Plunges Near the Bronx Zoo
Seven people were killed after a vehicle went over the Bronx River Parkway on Sunday afternoon.[NY Times]

150 stroll to fight child abuse at Playland
Past a roller coaster, slides and other rides, scores of people walked around Playland Amusement Park on Sunday to raise money for child-abuse prevention services. [LoHud]

Yonkers blaze rages for hours, displaces at least 13, kills pets
A fire that raged at a multifamily dwelling for more than three hours Sunday displaced at least 13 residents and killed several pets. Two firefighters responding to the blaze at 76 Crotty Ave. [LoHud]

Westchester Dining | Eastchester: A Review of Burrata, in Eastchester
Since it is the name of a fresh, creamy cow’s milk cheese currently in vogue, Burrata seemed like a perfect name for a wood-fired pizzeria. [NY Times]

Photo: Jacqueline Silberbush

from the NY Post

MAMARONECK, WHITE PLAINS, CITY ISLAND–214 visits to a single Mamaroneck’s Toyo Sushi restaurant. On public money. Not to mention 95 visits to  Mamaroneck Diner, 58 t0 Lum Yen, 44 to Red Plum and 53 to Larchmont’s Nautilus Diner.

Last month, federal prosecutors said that “Bronxchester” ex- State Senator Pedro Espada and his family spent about $60,000 on sushi and lobster meals.

The New York Post broke it down, reporting,  “He billed his publicly funded health clinic about $103,000 for meals between 2005 and 2009, including more than $20,000 for a staggering 214 visits to a single sushi restaurant.”

Espada famously resided in Mamaroneck while representing the Bronx. And from the list above, it appears he only likes one Bronx restaurant, The Harbor, in City Island.

It’s genius. It’s fashionable. And it’s cheap.

Green Eileen in Yonkers is an Eileen Fisher store -that opened in March- stocked with professionally cleaned, gently worn Eileen Fisher clothing at, in many cases, below half the original retail prices.

Phillipa Climaco holds a dress that retailed for $278, and was never worn. It's selling for $70.

(more…)

Oh, please. The corruption trial against not-from-Mamaroneck Ex-State Sen.Pedro Espada continues. You may recall the Bronx ex-politician actually lives on Beechwood Drive in Mamaroneck.

Now prosecutors say Espada billed his non-profit Soundview clinic for the Beechwood Drive home’s picket fence and garage door, according to the Daily News.

Espada and son Pedro Gautier are charged with embezzling more than $500,000 from the federally funded clinic for personal expenses.

If you don’t know about Farm Share, you should.

Every week an over-stuffed box of organic vegetables and/or fruit and/or eggs arrives at your door from the Norwich Meadows Farm in Upstate New York, and you  help Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) to thrive.

Farm Share, run by the Brussel family of Larchmont, is available in Southern Westchester, Chappaqua, Mt. Kisco, Bedford, Manhattan, and Stamford and Greenwich, CT. and it’s time to sign up! Shares run 22 weeks from June to November.

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You know the Bread Factory in new Rochelle (soon to be renamed Sonny Orza’s Bread Factory) by the sign you can see from the the highway, southbound on I-95 (above).

But have you been?

Bunny Bread for Easter, wrapped around eggs

Their amazing, low priced offerings have been feeding generations of locals handmade pastries, bread, danishes ($1 each!), croissants and muffins since 1908 (before moving from Yonkers 12 years ago.)

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Two Larchmont teens were arrested after the beating of a third young man on St. Patrick’s Day in a New York City Theatre District bar, according to the New York Post.

Gerard McMullin, 17, and Bertram Spielvogel, 18, were charged with assault.

“The teens, who hail from Larchmont in Westchester County, got into a staredown with Ben Gold, 23, … Spielvogel grabbed a glass bottle and smashed Gold over the head,” according to the report.

McMullin joined the fray, pummeling Gold, according to the court records. Gold, of Haverstraw, was rushed to NYU Hospital, where he received stitches to close a head gash.

A Midtown North cop hauled the two teens into the station house,where, it turned out, the Commanding Officer is McMullin’s cousin.

McMullin was charged with misdemeanor assault, and Spielvogel felony assault.

New 18th Congressional District. Sound Shore area was in the 17th

Congressional redistricting has claimed its first victim.

Mark Rosen, a Larchmont Republican who had announced his intention to seek the Congressional seat now held by Democrat Rep. Nita Lowey, dropped out Wednesday.

“Given the redistricting that was just announced, I regret that I can no longer run the effective race we envisioned with Congresswoman Nita Lowey. My kids go to Murray Avenue School. This is our home. And, we are not moving. The redistricting has me living outside of Ms. Lowey’s district, and I regret that I must leave the race.”

He lives in Larchmont, which like other areas of Westchester County,  moves into Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel’s district.

Lowey is getting all of Rockland County, which Engel had mostly represented, as well as the Bronx.

Rosen will endorse Joe Carvin, Rye Town Supervisor,  who dropped out of a run for U.S. Senate against Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand last week.

On the State Senate side, Democrat George Latimer, current State Legislator, announced a run, which he told us will also be harder–to Democrats– due to redistricting:

“More Republicans in communities like Bronxville, Eastchester and Yonkers and Democrats in New Rochelle and White Plains were artfully carved out,” he told theLoop.

“This will be a much tougher seat to win than under Suzi (Oppenheimer)”

map courtesy Mark Rosen for Congress

Radio station WFUV reports on a new study that finds young adults like living in Westchester County almost as much as in the City.

This is due to the mix of nightlife, parks, schools and public transportation.

The Business Council of Westchester did the study.

“We may have expected that there was a real youth flight to New York City, but this suggests that Westchester competes strongly,” says Marsha Gordon of the Council.

more

Photo: Jacqueline Silberbush

Mamaroneck parade

Mamaroneck parade

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Lincoln Avenue, New Rochelle

2nd Avenue, NYC

Photos: Jacqueline Silberbush and Sandra Geroux

Samoa Cupcake

Have they hit you up yet? Girl Scouts are in the peak of their cookie selling season, those wide eyes imploring you to forget that the Thin Mints put 5 lbs. on you last year and you vowed never to buy anymore.

Still, there are those who can’t get enough. Gothamist can tell you where to get desserts made from Girl Scout cookies in Manhattan, below.

Chicagoist can show you how to make your own Thin Mints.

From Gothamist:

BR Guest, the hospitality group that operates Bill’s Bar & Burger and Wildwood Barbeque, has stocked up nearly 300 boxes of Thin Mints and Samoas to enhance their restaurants’ housemade cupcakes and shakes.

Starting Sunday, March 18th and continuing through Wednesday, April 18th, Wildwood will be serving the diabolical Samoa cupcake, pictured here, for $5. It’s made with German chocolate cake, chocolate fudge filling, and toasted coconut, and garnished with a Samoa Girl Scout cookie.

More of a Thin Mint fan? Head over to Bill’s Bar & Burger locations at Rock Center and the Meatpacking District for a Thin Mint Shake ($6.95). And if after all that you still haven’t gotten your fill of Girl Scout cookies, here’s how you can make your own.

Wildwood Barbeque is located at 225 Park Avenue South, (212) 533-2500

Bill’s Bar & Burger is serving the Thin Mint Shakes at 22 Ninth Avenue at West 13th Street, (212) 414-3003 and at 16 West 51st Street at 5th Avenue, (212)705-8510

A print of Edward Steichen’s extraordinary early photograph, The Pond—Moonlight, sold In February 2006, for what was then the highest price ever paid for a photograph at auction, $2.9 million.

The photograph was taken in Mamaroneck in 1904.

But where?

A New York Times piece quotes Mamaroneck Village historian Gloria Pritts saying it could be on or near what is now Hampshire Country Club.

Steichen took the photograph near the home of his friend, art critic Charles Caffin. The print appears to be a color photograph, but color photography was not available until 1907. Steichen created the impression of color by manually applying layers of light-sensitive gums to the paper. Only three known versions of the Pond-Moonlight are still in existence.

Does anyone know where the original photo could have been taken?

The police chase in Rye yesterday that caused three schools to be temporarily locked down, ended with the arrest of a suspect near Playland last night.

It started at 12:27 pm, say State Police, when a State Trooper driving north on I-95 near exit 19 spotted a  man speeding in a 2011 Dodge.

The driver, with a female passenger, was reportedly going too fast and changing lanes without signalling. When the trooper turned on his sirens, the driver revved it up and escaped off Exit 20 in Rye. The Trooper then lost sight of him, according to State Police Sgt. John Antinelli.

Rye City police set up a perimeter, and began chasing the suspect on local streets.

Antinelli says the trooper later spotted the car in a driveway on Oakland Beach Ave. The passenger, “an unwilling participant,” was still in the car. It was then that school officials decided on the temporary lock down, because Rye police believed he was running in the direction of the schools.

At 6:00 pm, Rye police received a call about an individual in a wooded area on Forest Avenue near Playland Market. Rye Police arrested 31 year old Julian Brown who had five outstanding New York City warrants on assault and drug charges.

Brown was charged with unlawful fleeing and traffic offenses and handed over to the New York City Police.

photo: Wikimedia commons

Aviation writers at a site called NYC Aviation is, not unexpectedly, is taking issue with Fox 5 TV’s investigation into alleged misbehavior by air traffic controllers at the Westchester County Airport.

They blame February Sweeps frenzy for the “over-the-top stories… all in the name of boosting ratings,” take issue with some of the specific facts presented, and most significantly, say the images of sleeping controllers may have been taken in an area of the tower being used as a temporary break room, because an elevator is out of order, where sleeping is permitted.

New York ranks among the lowest in the 50 States with women in political office. Women are still largely absent from corporate boards. Women still make 78 cents on the dollar compared to men. We know this, we’ve heard this over and over. How will this change?

New York Democratic Senator Kirstin Gillibrand has begun a call to action to American women, much like Rosie the Riveter a generation ago, to empower women to get off the sidelines and make the important political, economic and social decisions about issues that they care about, and that effect them: Off the Sidelines.

I was privileged to be at a meeting with her and a small group of  philanthropists, educators, non-profits, entrepreneurs, journalists and more to hear about the beginning of a year-long effort to raise the profile of this organization and, hopefully, change the world.

I encourage all women and the men that care about them to learn more about this effort.

News 12 coverage of Kujtim Nicaj story

Gothamist, WNBC and many others have pounced on the Rye Building Super story– the man who was busted at Rye Colony apartments for allegedly having sex with a tenant’s dog. Apparently he was caught on tape with the owner’s nanny cam.

An attorney for Kujtim Nicaj, who is married with two kids, maintains his innocence, says LoHud. Nicaj was charged with burglary and bestiality.

The victim, a Labrador Retriever, could not be reached for comment.

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.

Roses are red, violets are blue and roaches are just gross. But, hey, swath anything in chocolate and wrap it up all pretty for Valentine’s Day and it’s all good.

So why not go for the novelty this year and give your Valentine a roach – a giant hissing roach – of his or her very own courtesy of the Bronx Zoo?

For $10, you can name one of the zoo’s 58,000 Madagascar hissing cockroaches after whoever on your list won’t scream too loud. Up the outlay to $25, and Your Special Someone will also get hand-painted, artisanal chocolate roach delivered directly.

Even better: the money goes to help support the Wildlife Conservation Society in saving wildlife – even the ugly ones.

Photo: Julie Larsen Maher/Wildlife Conservation Society

If you like the funky waterfront atmosphere of City Island, this listing seems like a great deal for someone downsizing or just starting out. It’s an in old school converted to condos a few blocks from the water. And it’s (almost) halfway between Manhattan and Westchester.  This is being sold at auction, so hurry.

This and much more in theLoop Real Estate Marketplace.

Apparently 35 homeowners live in a special zone that’s both Pelham and the Bronx, with only the advantages of each. The listing for this house doesn’t even bother with minor details such as number of beds and baths. What the agent wants you to know is that you’ll pay New York City taxes instead of Westchester’s…and have Pelham Schools and a Pelham PO.

It’s two separate lots, one with a house, perhaps not in great shape given the lack of detail, plus a building lot with views of the Long Island Sound, and it’s all near Pelham Bay Park, which is still surprisingly wild.

This and much more in theLoop Real Estate Marketplace.

You may recall our conflicted feelings about the new M-8 rail cars on the Metro-North Red Line.

Your chances of riding a cleaner, more comfortable | more sterile, computer-voice   train between Connecticut and Grand Central just increased. Metro-North and the State of Connecticut added more new cars to the New Haven Line.

As of Monday, 78 new cars are operating on the line — enough to cover about 24% of regular weekday rides.  The new M-8 railcars will cover an even higher percent of weekend travelers.

It will be years, though, before the entire existing fleet is replaced.  There are a total of 380 new cars on order. More sticky floors to enjoy for years to come.

Rat Island as seen from City Island

You may have seen the New York Times piece about Rat Island… a hunk of rock just off City Island, “with views of New Rochelle,” that went on the auction block Sunday.

According to the New York Post, the new Rat Packer is Alex Schibli, a 71-year old retiree, who paid $160,000 for the island which was valued at $265,000. He has promised to leave the property intact.

“Some developers might build something on top of the island if they got their hands on it, but I believe it should be conserved, kept as is,” Mr. Schibli told The Post.

The City Island resident been picking up beer bottles on the lonesome rock for years. “Rat Island is a flat rock but it’s a very special rock, at least to me,” he reportedly explained.

Rat Island, by the way, apparently has no rats. Legend has it the name comes from escaped prisoners at Hart Island swimming across the channel.