Sound Shore

Working to come up with $2 million in new revenue or cost reductions next year, officials have asked The Rye Golf Club to consider giving an additional $95,000 to the city, an idea the club is challenging.

Because private golf clubs actually lowered their fees in the last two years to keep and attract members, Rye Golf Club membership has not increased as anticipated, Rye Golf Commission member Frank Adimari said. The club is already preparing to raise member fees about 3 percent, he said.

“Besides the 3 percent, we would have to put an extra surcharge on the bottom of our application for approximately 2.5 percent  that would give us the 95,000 to give to the city,” he told the City Council at a budget meeting Monday.

The golf club, which is an enterprise fund, is owned by  the city but does not receive tax money and is operated by user fees. Adimari pointed out that the club already pays the city an estimated $420,000 a year for services such as garbage pickup, and shells out $440,000 a year to pay off restorations on Whitby Castle, the golf club restaurant and catering hall.

About every 70 seconds, someone in the U.S. develops Alzheimer’s disease. That rate is expected to rise to one person every 33 seconds by the middle of this century, experts say.

Which is why the Alzheimer’s Association is inviting residents to join its annual “Memory Walk” this Sunday at 9 a.m. at White Plains High School to raise research money and awareness.

“There has never been a greater need for the people of Westchester County to join in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease by participating in Memory Walk,” said Michele Muir, spokeswoman for the Alzheimer’s Association, Hudson Valley/Rockland/Westchester, NY Chapter.

As many as 5.3 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, and more than 22,000 live in Westchester.

In addition to the walk, the event, which is sponsored by Genworth Financial, will include food, music, entertainment and raffles.

For more information, visit the Alzheimer’s Association Web site HERE or call 914-253-6860.

Mayor Doug French emailed this newsletter called “Rye Perspectives with Mayor Douglas French.” Here’s what he has to tell residents:

Highland Hall Settlement

This week the City of Rye announced it reached agreement with the plaintiff 151 Purchase Street Associates in a lawsuit commenced by them back in 2007 on the City’s resolution for Emergency Tenant Protection Act (ETPA) at the Highland Hall Apartments. ETPA is not a permanent designation and can be removed based on the total unit vacancy rates. The agreement re-affirms ETPA for all 99 units at 131 Purchase Street and provides certainty for those tenants that ETPA cannot be challenged or lifted. The agreement also establishes a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the 151 Purchase Street building that is consistent with MOUs and terms of other buildings in Rye of 10 units or less. As part of the MOU, the 7 remaining tenants at 151 also have the right of first refusal to move into 131 Purchase Street for ETPA protection based on unit availability.

Beaver Swamp Proceedings
The City will have another meeting next week with the Town/Village of Harrison, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Administrative Law Judge conducting the proceeding. There is still disagreement on the estimated amount of flood storage that can be held on the site with the revised plans for the park. Our position is to clearly understand why the estimates vary greatly, and that this project represents a good opportunity to meet the objectives of both communities and residents in the surrounding area for parkland and flood mitigation. However, we need to make sure we understand the flood and environmental impacts up front so that the proper remedies can be addressed.

Crossing guard Pat Piraneo guides students and parents walking to Siwanoy Elementary School, Sept. 23, 2010 in Pelham Manor. Piraneo, who works for the Pelham Manor Police Station, has been crossing students at the intersection of Esplanade and Wolf’s Lane for about 12 years. With the traffic being her biggest challenge, Pat says she has eyes all around since it’s a four-way intersection. ( Tania Savayan / The Journal News )

Click here to see more photos of Crossing Guard Pat Piraneo.

Also, check back on the blog later to see a video of Pat during her morning routine crossing students.

Brookdale Court: A 14-year-old New Rochelle boy told police that he believed friends stole his XBox from his Brookdale Court home Monday afternoon. No one was arrested.
Brewster Terrace: Someone stole $40 from a 2007 Audi that was left unlocked on Brewster Terrace between 8 p.m. Sunday and 9 a.m. Monday.
Coligni Avenue: A New Rochelle man told his police that he was walking to his Coligni Avenue house at 12:59 p.m. Monday when a woman followed him and attacked him in an attempt to take his wallet. The man managed two wrestle himself away from the woman and got into his house.
Lathers Park: A 2006 Volvo parked on Lathers Park between 5:30 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m. Monday had $10 worth of quarters and a global positioning system stolen from it.
Harrison Street: Detectives are looking for a thief who tried to walk out of Stop and Shop at 28 Harrison St. with a shopping cart full of groceries he did not pay for at 12:14 p.m. Sunday. Store employees spotted the man and forced him back in the store with the shopping cart. The man then ran out of the supermarket and escaped in a red Chevrolet.
Perth Avenue: A 1995 Saab that was left parked and unlocked on Perth Avenue had $100 global positioning system stolen from it Saturday, police said.

Second grader, Carlyle Taylor enjoys spaghetti for lunch at Park Avenue School. Below, from left, kindergarteners Nafihs Mendosa, Sophia Kemensky, and Tiffany Martinez talk during lunch at Park Avenue School in Port Chester  Today’s lunch was chicken sandwich, half of an orange and peas and carrots. ( Carucha L. Meuse  / The Journal News )

Click here for an online gallery of lunch time at Park Avenue School.

And check back for a video.

Luigi Del Bianco was an Italian immigrant and stone carver who left his home in Port Chester to work on Mount Rushmore. He is not exactly a household name, even within the town, but fortunately he had a grandson who is well prepared to tell the story.

Lou Del Bianco is known for his portrayal of Abe Lincoln on the elementary school circuit. On Sunday, he impersonated his grandfather for a show at the Posillipo Center in Rye Brook. The show was the first in a three-part series on historical figures. This is one of the ways that the Town of Rye is celebrating its 350th anniversary this year.

Luigi Del Bianco moved to Port Chester in 1920. In 1933, he became the chief sculptor of Mount Rushmore, moving his family to South Dakota while he helped to blast and carve the faces of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln from the rock. For more of the story, click here.

Jonathan Kruk and Doug Carey will appear in the upcoming shows in three-part series called “HisStory.”

Here’s a photo from the first event: Lou, center, with his sisters Andrea Daur and Maria Del Bianco.

Diane Millstein of Mamaroneck, the developer at the center of a fight over a Rye historic site, died Sept. 25 after a long illness. She was 83.

Millstein, a city planner and developer, bought the 23-acre  Boston Post Road property for $1 million around 1980 with plans to build a cluster of homes.

The proposal sparked a 13-year battle with local preservationists, who wanted to save the childhood home of the first U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

The preservationists prevailed in 1992 when Westchester County purchased the land from Millstein for $11.3 million.

The 1838 mansion, built by Jay’s son, Peter Augustus, and the Carriage House, were given to the not-for-profit that is now the Jay Heritage Center.

Suzanne Clary, president of the Jay Heritage Center, calls Millstein “a pivotal figure” who spurred the movement to make the  site a National Historic Landmark

The mansion has been renovated and is now used for children’s programs, lectures, concerts and tours.

“She wanted to develop it and by her action of taking that stance, she prompted this opposition and also brought scrutiny to the whole process of how you preserve a site like that,” she said.

Millstein and her husband, Ira, eventually became supporters of the Jay Heritage Center, and in 2002, gave several thousand dollars for children’s programs, Clary said.

“They said they wre pleased to see that in the end the property was being used for educational programs, which was important to them,” Clary said.

Millstein is survived by her husband, Ira, two children, Elizabeth and James, and five grandchildren.

The Millstein home is open to friends today from 6 to 9 p.m. at 1240 Flagler Drive, Mamaroneck.

(Diane Millstein and her husband, Ira, at a Jay Heritage Center fundraiser at the Jay Mansion in 2002. Photo provided by Suzanne Clary)

Sound Shore Medical Center will honor its board of governors member Jeffrey Powers and doctors Stephen Trauzzi and Steven Zelicof at its 19th annual Gala – “A Celebration of Hope”. The hospital says it will also extend “special recognition” to James O’Connor, Senior Vice President of TransCare New York. The black tie event will be held Friday, Oct. 15 at the Hyatt Regency-Greenwich, Old Greenwich, Conn.

Powers, of Larchmont, is President of Powers Fasteners, Inc. and a hospital board member since 2006. Zelicof, of Scarsdale, is Chief of Orthopaedics and the Director of the Center for Arthritis and Total Joint Surgery. Trauzzi, also of Scarsdale, is Chief of Urology. and vice president of the hospital’s medical board.

The fifth annual Colin Leslie Walk for Celiac Disease will be held this Sunday, Oct 3, at Rye High School.

From the announcement: “Colin began this walk in 2006 when he was 14 years old and recently diagnosed with celiac disease. He wanted to raise funds in order to increase awareness of celiac disease so that others would receive the proper diagnosis. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that destroys the small intestine. Approximately 1 in every 133 Americans has celiac disease but amazingly only 3 % of the 3 million that have it are diagnosed. If left untreated, this disease can result in numerous complications including other autoimmune disorders, osteoporosis and even cancer.”

According to a press release, during the first four years of the event, $225,000 was raised for the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University. The event is from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. The walk itself begins at 10 a.m. and participants are walking from Rye High School, through the neighboring streets, and back to the High School. There is advance registration on line as well as many who register the day of, on-site. Organizers expect anywhere from 800-1000 attendees, including some who come just for a related gluten free vendor fair which is held in the high school gym.

For more information, the walk’s website is www.colinlesliewalkforceliacdisease.org