Sound Shore

Port Chester is getting a $30,000 tree-planting project under way, and taking requests on where to replace trees that were removed from right-of-way property.

The village has been criticized for taking out a few too many trees over the years, and priority is being given to such locations.

Requests from homeowners will be accepted through December. The plantings will take place in  spring. For info contact Elisa Sciarabba, assistant to the village manager, at (914) 305-2563 or esciarabba@portchesterny.com.

Residents would be asked to help care for the sapling and to submit a “signed watering agreement.” (Whereas trees require water in order to grow ….)

The College of New Rochelle Office of Mission and Identity will present a lecture by Rev. Leo J. O’Donovan, S.J. titled “The Holy Family’s Flight Into Egypt and Today’s Refugees” on Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. in Romita Auditorium in the Mooney Center on the Main Campus of the College. O’Donovan is president emeritus of Georgetown University, past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America, and a Trustee of The College of New Rochelle. He studied with Fr. Karl Rahner, S.J., at the University of Muenster and has written extensively about Rahner’s theology, including an introductory volume, A World of Grace.  He also writes art criticism.
The lecture is free and is open to the public.

MAMARONECK—With election results still up in the air, the Board of Trustees voted 3-2 Monday night to push back the date that the new board reorganizes, from Dec. 6 to Dec. 20.

The post-election organizational meeting is the first opportunity for the new board to make appointments to offices such as village prosecutor, special counsel and clerk treasurer. The board also will appoint people to the village’s boards of ethics, appeals and architectural review, as well as decide who replaces outgoing Planning Board Chairman Robert Galvin.

Mayor Norm Rosenblum and trustee Louis Santoro, both Republicans, as well as GOP-backed incumbent Marriane Ybarra, voted for the two-week postponement during an emergency meeting at the Regatta. Democratic incumbents Toni Ryan and John Hofstetter voted against it.

Rosenblum said the postponement will help ease the transition for the new board.

But Hofstetter said he saw no reason to delay the reorganization.

Three Democrats lead the Mamaroneck race, enough to form a new 3-2 majority on a board currently dominated by Republicans.

Final results in the trustee race have been delayed for weeks after GOP state Senate candidate Bob Cohen sued to stop the vote count over reports of troubles with the new electronic machines. Ballot-counting in the 37th state Senate district, where Cohen is running against Democratic incumbent Suzi Oppenheimer, began Nov. 23 and is expected to continue into this week.

The trustee race is affected because Mamaroneck village falls within the contested district.

The tax hike facing New Rochelle property owners would be reduced under budget ammendments the mayor and three Democratic council members plan to introduce tomorrow.

If approved, the changes to the 2011 budget draft would cut the expected city tax rate increase from 3.9 to 2.27 percent.

One amendment would raise parking fees at New Roc City from 75 cents an hour to $1 an hour. The measure, which would raise about $400,000 per year, would make parking at New Roc City more expensive than at the City Center in White
Plains.

“Given the range of options, I believe this is a more palatable approach than a general property increase,” Mayor Noam Bramson said Monday.

Another proposal is to finance $700,000 in projected certiorari payments for 2011, paying for them over the next five years instead of in one lump sum. While the move would drag the debt out over time, it would lessen its immediate impact on the budget.

“In an economy like this, there are few good options,” said Bramson. “We are determining the least-bad option.”

Bramson noted that interest rates are very low right now and said the city will keep half of the savings in a fund balance.

Other changes call for a higher PILOT payment from the city’s Marina in Echo Bay and creating a fund to raise money to help support community events such as the July 4th fireworks and Memorial Day parade. The city would be seeking $55,000 in private donations.

The council’s budget meeting will be at 5 p.m. at City Hall. A public hearing is scheduled for Dec. 7.

A 52-year-old New Rochelle man who was living at a home for special-needs adults was arrested for allegedly starting a mattress fire in his room because he did not like the accomodations, city police said.

Joseph Boan was complaining about the service at the New Rochelle Manor Home for Adults at 41 Lockwood Ave., at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday when he barricaded himself in his room and set the mattress ablaze, New Rochelle Detective Capt. Joseph Schaller said.

The small fire was quickly put out by New Rochelle firefighters.

Boan was taken to the Sound Shore Medical Center where he was treated for smoke inhalation and released. He was then arrested by New Rochelle police for second-degree arson, and first-degree reckless endangerment, both felonies.

No one other than Boan was injured in the fire.

A 54-year-old Mount Vernon woman is facing serious criminal charges after a New Rochelle woman returned home to her apartment and found her inside stealing money, city police said.

Lizette Rivera had $166.66 worth of change in her pockets that she looted from dresser draws in the 147 Union Ave. apartment, New Rochelle Detective Capt. Joseph Schaller said.

The 33-year-old New Rochelle woman returned home at 2:14 p.m. Saturday and found Rivera there, Schaller said. She held Rivera in her apartment until the police arrived and arrested her.

Rivera, of 105 S. Fulton Ave., was charged with second-degree burglary, a felony, and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, a felony.

Via Janet Younkin at Westchester Jewish Community Services:

Rhett Vahos, a student at Pelham Middle School, was recently recognized as a 2010 Outstanding Margaret’s Place Peer Leader at the Joe Torre Safe At Home 8th Annual Gala held recently at Chelsea Piers. Westchester Jewish Community Services administers “Margaret’s Place” safe rooms for the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation in several Westchester public schools including Pelham Middle School. At PMS Rhett has played an active role in anti-bullying efforts, giving classroom presentations on this important issue.

“Rhett has lived in five countries and his broad cultural experiences have heightened his awareness and sensitivity to differences among people and respect for differences,” says Sharon Charles, Margaret’s Place Coordinator at PMS. “He often came to Margaret’s Place seeking advice in solving conflicts, reducing fighting and increasing cohesion among his friends. Rhett consistently emulates respect and promotes peace among his classmates.”

Funds raised at the Gala will be used by the Torre Foundation to maintain and expand educational initiatives locally and nationally.

Photo: Sharon Charles, Coordinator of Margaret’s Place, a partnership of the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation and WJCS, with Pelham Middle School student Rhett Vahos, who was recognized as a 2010 Outstanding Margaret’s Place Peer Leader.

The Chamber of Commerce’s annual holiday lighting ceremony is at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Memorial Plaza. Here’s the poster with all of the details:

Our guest blogger, Lynda LaMonte Garmong, sent us this announcement of the new “SOMedia Social Networking Group” launch party:

Got blog? Got tweet? You’re SOMedia! Join the Culture Mom, the Drinking Diaries Bloggers and Larchmont Dish on Wednesday, December 1, 7 to 9 p.m. at Auray Gourmet for the SOMedia TweetUp Launch Party. All bloggers and tweeters from Southern Westchester are invited to attend this social media networking event. $10 Admission covers coffee, tea, and pastries. Auray Gourmet is located at 144 Larchmont Avenue in Larchmont.

The Mamaroneck public schools will begin holding bi-monthly “work sessions” from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month when evening meetings are not scheduled, the district has announced. The work sessions are in addition to the Board of Education’s regular, televised meetings held on the first and third Tuesday evenings of each month.

The informal public sessions, part of a pilot program, are designed to give board members the opportunity to discuss issues that do not require immediate action. On occasion, the board may go into executive session to discuss confidential matters out of the public eye, according to the district.

“The board is adding these open public meetings because we find we need more time to discuss district matters than allowed by the current bi-monthly meeting schedule,” said Board President Rick Marsico. “We are holding the work sessions in the morning to accommodate the schedules of board members whose employment would make it difficult to attend four evening board meetings each month.”