WESTCHESTER COUNTY– Park it this summer- Passes for over 50 county parks go on sale today.
Passes are available at the Westchester County Center and the Parks Department on 450 Saw Mill River Road, Ardsley on Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the following locations:
Rye Playland
Dunwoodie and Sprain Lake Golf Course in Yonkers
Hudson Hills Golf Course in Ossining
Maple Moore Golf Course in White Plains
Saxon Woods Golf Course in Scarsdale
Ward Pound Ridge Reservation Golf Course in Cross River
Glen Island Park in New Rochelle (tickets go on sale here May 26)
Some of the County Parks include not only those above, but Tibbetts Brook Park in Yonkers, Saxon Woods Pool in White Plains and Willson’s Waves in Mount Vernon.
Beginning June 16 passes will be available daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Brook at Tibbetts Brook Park in Yonkers, Saxon Woods Pool in White Plains and Willson’s Waves in Mount Vernon.
WHITE PLAINS– Impress the person who thinks they know beer.
The Lazy Lounge offers two venues in one. One side, houses chill, quiet cocktail drinkers Lazy Boy Saloon,) the other is a beer tasting universe. I was blown away by the bottled beer list, which could double as a phone book.
NEW ROCHELLE– The Paine to Pain Trail Half Marathon is returning for its 5th consecutive year on October 14th, to be run on the Colonial Greenway. Registration is now open. The Greenway, dedicated in 2008, is a massive figure-8 with over 20 miles of trails, incorporating many Westchester communities that nestle Long Island Sound.
The “bestiality Super” was arraigned Tuesday on burglary and sexual misconduct charges after prosecutors said he illegally entered a tenant’s apartment Feb 8. and engaged in multiple sex acts with a 15-month-old Labroador Retriever. He was allegedly caught by the tenant’s “Nanny Cam” at the Rye Colony apartments.
Kujtim Nicaj, 43, of Rye pleaded not guilty to six counts of sexual misconduct and two counts of burglary, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
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.
A Grand Jury in White Plains has found no reason to indict White Plains police officers in connection with the shooting death of Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr. inside his apartment on Nov. 19, 2011.
Chamberlain, a 68-year-old retired county correction officer and former Marine, died after an hour long stand-off with cops. Tapes released today reportedly show he was acting erratically and had a knife.
WHITE PLAINS — You don’t need a road trip to find a classic American diner, unless that road is the Post Road in White Plains.
At 66½ Post Road a chrome and steel diner with a counter serves breakfast all night long, or a slice of apple pie, a lottery ticket and a pack of reds. A hamburger is $3.10.
She includes Augie’s Restaurant & Pub (2417 Boston Post Rd, Larchmont 914-834-3800 augiesitalian.com); Carlo’s Restaurant(668 Tuckahoe Rd, Yonkers 914-793-1458; carlosrestaurant.net); Francesco’s (600 Mamaroneck Ave, White Plains 914-946-3359); Giulio’s Restaurant (53 Park Hill Ave, Yonkers 914-375-1043); Gus’s Franklin Park Restaurant (126 Halstead Ave, Harrison 914-835-9804; gusseafood.com); Solano’s Lincoln Lounge (209 Stevens Ave, Mount Vernon 914-664-9747), (one of our favorites) and Sherwood’s Restaurant and Bar-B-Q (2136 Boston Post Rd, Larchmont 914-833-3317; sherwoodsrestaurant.com)
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.
At the Quick Cash on the Post Road in White Plains, customers receive a card that says,
Pawning is the world’s oldest form of banking. Quite simply, pawning an item for money is the same as taking a collateral loan. A person in need to money can bring items of value to a pawn broker, and the broker will assess the value of the items and give out a loan based on their value. The person pawning the item has a specific amount of time to pay the loan back or they lose the item. They can also pay the due interest, and extend the loan. In a person fails to pay back the loan the item becomes property of the pawn broker.
“Invest in Pleasure at rock bottom pricing! Affordable Financing NOW available! Sleek sophisticated residence offers walls of windows, top-of-the line kitchens,spa inspired baths & elegant spaces enriched by natural light & inspiring views. Amenities include Health Club with Steam & Sauna, Resident Lounge, Expansive Media Room, Business Conference Room, Children’s Playroom, Outdoor Terrace,24 hour concierge service & Jitney to train.”
This 3 Bedroom, 4 bathroom Condominium is going for $5,200,000.
Goldfinger at original NYW&B bridge over right-of-way, Bryant Ave. White Plains.
It’s not hard to find people around here that are fascinated with trains. Two of our favorite blogs, Trainjotting and IRidetheHarlemLine, write in the realm of Metro North.
But there is also much deep fascination with a local railroad that has ceased to exist, the New York, Westchester and Boston, or NYW&B.
railroad cut near Goldfinger's house (and in 1937 photo he holds, below)
“Scattered about Westchester and the Bronx are original, authentic pieces of a once glamorous and noteworthy railroad,” says New Rochelle’s Eliot Goldfinger.
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.
To herpetologists, a treasure trove; to others, something else…The New York Reptile Expo is back. The Convention Center in White Plains will be filled with reptiles of every shape and size.
April 22, 10am-4pm. Click here for directions. Adults: $10; Children over 7: $5.
Purchase College students, preachers clash over comments on homosexuality
Three street preachers on their way to Philadelphia took a detour to Purchase College, SUNY, on Friday, spending nearly five hours on the Great Lawn, bringing students their interpretation of the Bible’s views of homosexuality. Students called it something else: hate speech. [lohud]
update: DA Spokesman Lucian Chaflin takes issue with the stories posted by Gothamist and the New York Daily News, which we linked to, below, saying:
“The DA had nothing to do with naming the Police Officer – He works for the White Plains PD and he is their employee and their decision (and policy).”
Chaflin also says he gave the New York Daily News six examples on Friday of prosecutions of police by the DA’s office over the last 3-4 years.
“There is no case that the FBI looked into before the DA’s office acted - I have no idea what that alludes to or who claims that, (and) I didnt confirm anything about the Police Officer’s name on Thursday after the News ran a story – the White Plains PD did – through the Commissioner.
A reported 172,134 people have signed a petition urging the district attorney’s office to release audio and video of police’s Nov. 19 response to Chamberlain’s accidental trigger of his medical alert. The Chamberlain family says officers used a racial slur and expletives before forcing open the Winbrook Public Housing apartment door and shooting the 68-year-old former marine and corrections officer.
Area Director of Business Development
The Area Director of Business Development for Westchester is responsible for driving sales at two (2) Westchester County malls – The Westchester and The Galleria at White Plains, through our proprietary media assets, sponsorship programs, and brand events. The primary focus of this position will be on selling our media assets (Sky Banners, Spectaculars, Standees, Wallscapes, etc.) and space in the common area of these malls for events & sponsorships. The ideal individual should bring extensive media experience and relationships in out-of-home advertising, advertising agencies and clients in Westchester County, as well as build area mall opportunities for sponsorship and media revenue that can be sold regionally and nationally. Any interested candidates should contact me directly.
Paul Fiore | Regional Director of Business Development – Northeast Region
Simon Brand Ventures l Simon Property Group, Inc. | 390 Hackensack Ave. | Hackensack, NJ 07601 .201.518.3236 pfiore@simon.com
Account Director, RealAge team.
RealAge is now part of Sharecare and is now a top 10 site with Dr. Oz, Jeff Arnold, Harpo, Discovery etc behind us. We have two sales openings for accounts like AZ, Sanofi, GSK, J&J, BMS, Shire, Bayer, BI and others. As a reminder, all of our sales team works from home when not at client meetings so it’s a fantastic opportunity for Moms (or aspiring Moms!), or anyone with a long commute. Jen Willey, Sales VP 917-334-3653
Murphy Brothers Contracting, a local firm since 1979, now specializing in the “greening” homes, is having a Green Open House Tour on Saturday, March 31, from 10am to 2pm.
They call this “a rare opportunity to get an up-close-and-personal peek into an actual green renovation in progress.” Meet the pros involved and learn what they are doing.
Join them at the house at 64 Holbrooke Road, White Plains. And watch the progress on the owner’s blog.
When the eco-friendly renovation is complete, the owner will have 1,000 square feet of additional space, a more open floor plan that brings nature in, and enough green features to apply for LEED Platinum Certification, including energy-saving spray foam insulation, geothermal heating and cooling in place of oil heating, custom energy-efficient windows, solar panels, and sustainable landscaping.
Here’s a sad (not) shaggy dog story. Napoleon is a Boston Terrier in Larchmont that was misdiagnosed by a Veterinarian and had to have an eye removed. His owner, Michelle, is having a fundraiser at Selah Salon and Lounge in White Plains March 30 at 9:30 pm.
Extra proceeds, from silent auction, raffle items, and items up for purchase, after paying for his surgery, will be donated to the Boston Terrier rescue group.
Vegetarians and Vegans have more and more options when dining in restaurants in Westchester. Our friends at StacyKnows have compiled a list you should have if you don’t eat meat. And if you know any more, please add them in the comments section.
Thursday, March 22 from 6pm – 9pm Best Practices: The Do’s & Don’ts of Social Media[link] | Westchester Burger Company Rye Brook
275 South Ridge Street, Rye Brook
Presented by Westchester Business Connection. Appetizers included, cash bar. Networkin, A Great Social Media Education(Nothing Technical!!!) for “All levels of expertise.”. The event highlights feature: A presentation from Keith S. Chan from The Froogle Institute for Social Media. www.keithschan.com/about/ and www.FroogleInstitute.com
Thursday, March 22 from 6:30 – 8pm and Thursday, March 29 from 6:30 – 8pm Home Buyers’ Workshop: Two-Part Series | The Warner Library, Tarrytown
Thursday, March 22: Buying a Home:What You Need to Know
Thursday, March 29: Securing a Home Mortgage
Both workshops are FREE. Registration is requested. Please call Reference at 914-631-7734. The Westchester Housing Council will present tips and recommendations for first-time home buyers. Co-Sponsored by Housing Action Council and Key Bank
Friday, March 23, 10:30a.m. – 2:30 p.m KAPLAN testing service will offer a KAPLAN PRACTICE SAT Test | Warner Library, Tarrytown
for all interested students. Call the library at 914-631-7734 for registration information, or register at 1-800-KAP-TEST. Use Event Code:SKXY2332
Linda Woodward, a teacher at White Plains High School and school advisor Ricardo Vela write in:
The Midnight Run Club will be hosting the 3rd Annual Sleepout for the Homeless on Friday – Saturday, March 30 – 31, 2012. The Sleepout is a fundraising event where students from the high school solicit donations from friends, family, teachers and businesses in exchange for a commitment to spend the night sleeping outside in cardboard boxes as a simulation of some of the hardships of homelessness.
2) to raise awareness of the mostly hidden issues of homelessness in our community and in America more generally.
To date, Midnight Run has raised over $2500 all of which has been donated. This year, the event will also include the check presentation to Midnight Run and Grace Church Community Center which runs the Open Arms Shelter for the money we raised last year.
theLoop salutes them! We will post more photos after the Sleepout.
“The Kid with a Bike” Screening Jacob Burns Film Center March 23-29 ~Pleasantville~
SOURCE: http://www.burnsfilmcenter.org Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Rosetta, L’Enfant) are acclaimed for their intense portrayals of people at the gritty fringes of society. They reveal a more hopeful face in this new drama about a sensitive but uncontrollable 11-year-old and a woman who believes in him. Winner of a raft of festival honors, including [...]
The LOFT Open Mic Nite March 24 ~White Plains~
SOURCE: http://www.loftgaycenter.org Time: 6:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Cost: $10.00 includes snacks, finger foods, and beverages Each person or group will have seven minutes to do a stand-up comedy act, a song sung, played, or karaoke, a poem or story, a song or dance, just about anything. Come share yourself and your talent at the [...]
REI FREE Bike Maintenance Workshop March 27 ~Yonkers~
SOURCE: http://www.rei.com This class is an informative presentation that will teach you how to lube a chain, fix a flat tire in record time, and make other minor adjustments to your bicycle. No experience necessary! REI is located at Ridge Hill, 49 Fitzgerald Street in Yonkers. For complete class details visit http://www.rei.com.
Dance Theater of Harlem Ensemble at Paramount Center for the Arts Band March 30 ~Peekskill~
SOURCE: http://www.paramountcenter.org Tickets: $25.00 to $45.00 Dance Theater of Harlem Ensemble will host a lively program that featured a variety of short ballet performances and excerpts, giving the audience a behind-the-scenes look at the making of an artist, from the barre to the stage, and exposing them to the company’s “unique yet classic” brand of [...]
Louie Anderson Tarrytown Music Hall March 30
SOURCE: http://tickets.tarrytownmusichall.org Tickets: $34.50 to $99.50 (Meet & Greet) Louie Anderson is one of the most versatile and successful comedians working in Hollywood today, loved by the television audiences who never missed his nightly hit series “Family Feud” or his appearances on late night chat shows. He is adored by standing-room-only crowds in Las Vegas [...]
Hand-to-Mouth Players Call for One Act Plays Deadline April 16
Manuscripts should be twenty-five minutes, minimal staging and sets, with casts of fiver or less. The winning five plays will be performed August 24-26 in Montrose, New York. For complete details visit http://www.htmplayers.com.
It’s a treasure trove of all foods Asian, and a little Peruvian mixed in, tucked behind the stairs into a vast 20,000 sq ft space in the nondescript White Plains Mall that houses the DMV.
Kam-Sen Market offers everything Chinatown does, or even Queens, in terms of authentic groceries and supplies, hot food, dim sum, pastries and sushi. Vegetables, herbs, fish and spices, too. Aisles of dried noodles. Then there are sections of Latin American and Caribbean goods as well.
The meat section is not for the weak. The regular Peking Ducks and spare ribs are displayed with pork feet, tongues and live eels.
The New York Times wrote back in 2006, and it’s still true: “…shopping at Kam Sen is a cultural education, with its jumble of languages (mostly Asian, yes, but also Spanish, Caribbean patois and various African dialects) and faces. Just like the city.”
Kam Sen, 22 Barker Avenue, White Plains; (914) 428-4575
If you can’t stand paying $4.50 a gallon for gas, we put together this interactive listing of gas prices at stations throughout the area with the help of gasbuddy.com
You can even join gasbuddy to add your own gas price discoveries. As of this morning, White Plains, Scarsdale, New Rochelle and Brewster are the places to pump.
Many people first moving to the Mamaroneck School District, with about 5000 students in six schools, and coming from the Village of Larchmont, the Village of Mamaroneck and the Town of Mamaroneck, are surprised to find there are no traditional school bus routes.
Unlike most school districts in the County and the Country, children here do not ride school buses to and from their homes to school, unless they attend a private school within a certain distance. The latter provision comes under New York State law.
Historical reasons for this include the “neighborhood schools” concept, and practical reasons include the fact that families sending their children to private schools, even as far as Greenwich, still pay taxes to the Mamaroneck District and are entitled to some services.
Now, with the tax cap, according to the Lower Hudson Valley Council on School Superintendents, if New York State funded or reduced the mileage limits for private school out-of-district transportation from 15 to 5 miles, and allowed consolidation of services, it could save over $3.5 million in one year. The Mamaroneck School Board is also investigating cost savings related to completely outsourcing its transportation services.
Tuesday night, the Mamaroneck School Board discussed the idea of public transportation for kids at:
French American School (Upper School- Mamaroneck)
German School (White Plains)
Holy Child (Rye)
Iona Prep (New Rochelle)
Rye Country Day
Ursuline School (New Rochelle)
You can imagine the response from parents of the approximately 100 private and parochial school students in grades 6-12, who may soon be on Bee Line buses to school. In some cases, the commuting time is estimated at an hour or more.
The Mamaroneck Board will continue this discussion March 20 at 7:30 p.m. The full presentation can be viewed on the district’s website .
If you can’t stand paying $4.50 a gallon for gas, we put together this interactive listing of gas prices at stations throughout the area with the help of gasbuddy.com
You can even join gasbuddy to add your own gas price discoveries. As of this morning, White Plains, Scarsdale, New Rochelle and Brewster are the places to pump.
Have you been to Niko’s Greek Restaurant in White Plains? Chef George Kringas shares some of his secrets at his blog GreekCulinary.
Here is his recipe for Greek Meatballs, or Keftethes:
Keftethes are a staple for any Greek menu, and every YiaYia has their own secretly guarded recipe. Traditionally made with either lamb or beef, this choice is completely up to you to play around with. Lamb can be easily sub’d for the beef, or even mixed, just make sure that the fat content stays at around 80%.
INGREDIENTS:
3 lb Ground Beef
3 Eggs
1 medium Spanish Onion
3/4 cup Chopped Parsley
1/3 cup Chopped Mint
1/4 cup Chopped Garlic
1 cup Bread Crumbs…I use Progresso Seasoned at home…at the Restaurant just a plain bread crumb. If you make your own with dried old bread that would probably be best. (what my YiaYia used to do)
1 1/4 cups Milk
Salt and Pepper
The White Plains man who bought a Staten Island ferry, and then sold it on eBay is probably very glad he doesn’t own it now. The New York Times reports the ferry is leaking fast and listing at a dock in Newburgh. The future of the Herbert H. Lehman remains unknown.
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.
Mohegan Lake's Jessica Romero and Walter Hernandez and their new baby boy
Something about Leap Day brought Westchester babies out – literally – in numbers. White Plains Hospital and Hudson Valley Hospital Center in Cortlandt Manor each welcomed five babies to the world on Wednesday. That’s a record-setting number for Feb. 29 at HVHC and also unusually high for White Plains, where a set of twins was among the newcomers.
White Plains threw a birthday party for the kids – particularly nice since they won’t have another “real” one for four years.
Did you catch this story in White Plains? A civil rights lawsuit this week accuses Assistant Police Chief Anne FitzSimmons of throwing a chair at a police officer.
The officer, who is black, says FitzSimmons, who is white, was racially motivated. Officer Michael Hannon, an 11-year veteran of the Department is also suing the City of White Plains.
If you spend any time following #westchester on twitter, you may know the chatty girls at the Chat Shop. We think of it as a virtual talk-fest where no one yells and you can come and go as you please.
Readers have come up with a Westchester “bucket list,” each making a list of some of the local treats they’d like to experience before they well, you know.
The photos and video of the Air Traffic Controllers at Westchester County Airport asleep at the controls has Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand and County Exec Rob Astorino asking the FAA to investigate.
And speaking of surveillance video, that of David Kennedy’s scuffle with nurses at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt. Kisco was released. You can see Kennedy lift his knee and nurse go flying backwards. Kennedy, a son of Robert Kennedy, was arrested last week in connection with that incident, which took place in January.
A few things to pass on as we round the corner towards St. Patty’s Day.
Eastchester:
The Eastchester Irish American Social Club (EIASC) will sponsor Eastchester’s 8th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Sunday March 11, 2012. This year’s Grand Marshal will be Phil Denning, with Anna Phelan selected as Parade Honoree.
The 2012 parade begins at 3;00 at Immaculate Conception Church in Tuckahoe, marching north on Route 22 to the Lake Isle Country Club. This parade will feature twelve Pipe Bands, twenty Marching Bands and over 50 marching groups, including the Police and Fire Departments and a United States Army unit. For more information, please visit www.eastchesterirish.org
Mamaroneck: March 18 will be the “first ever” Sound Shore St. Patrick’s Day parade along Mamaroneck Avenue. Sponsors tell us, “The first annual Sound Shore St. Patrick’s Day Parade will celebrate Irish heritage, featuring musicians, dancers, local schools, police, firefighters, pipe bands and representatives of the area’s Irish community.” The Grand Marshall is Jim Killoran, Executive Director, Habitat for Humanity of Westchester.
St. Paddy’s Pub of Westchester Contest: Our friends at WestchesterHappening want to know where you will celebrate this greenest of holidays. Go ahead and enter their contest…it looks fun.
An Air Traffic Controller at the Westchester County Airport in White Plains tells Fox5 News, “I’m upset and extremely concerned with things taking place at Westchester tower.”
The station reports the unnamed source, who provided video and photographs, “documented many instances where fellow controllers had their eyes anywhere but on air traffic. We’re talking about sleeping, reading, texting.”
This cute colonial is in the Gedney Farms area. 4 BR and 4 Baths with refinished hardwood floors, arched doorways, double moldings, built in bookshelves and working fireplace.
20
COMMENTS