Sound Shore

The LeCount Square development project, seen as a key component of New Rochelle’s downtown revitalization efforts, has crumbled. The plan called for new stores, apartments, office space and a hotel to fill the block bound by Huguenot Street, Anderson Street, North Avenue and LeCount Place. We’ve got the full story right here.

The following letter has gone out to the alumni of St. Anthony of Padua School in West Harrison, saying the school is in danger of closing and donations are needed:

Dear Alumni of St. Anthony of Padua School of West Harrison, NY, family, and friends of alumni,

I am writing to reach out to all of you.  As many of you know, St. Anthony of Padua School is in danger of closing. There is still hope that it can be saved.

This was your school. There many life-long friends were made, as were many cherished childhood memories. There were teachers that touched our lives deeply. It is part of the community. CCD and many parish events, including the Festa take place in the school building and grounds. Currently, the school receives no support from the parish. If the building were rented or sold, these events could be a thing of the past or the parish may have to pay a large fee to use the grounds and building.

There is so much that would be lost. The children are learning in an academy like setting and scoring high on state and national tests. The teachers are highly qualified, dedicated and go beyond the call of duty. Don’t let Monsignor Boyle, our parents and relatives that sacrificed to build this school be done in vain. Principals, pastors, and school families come and go, but this building and the events and learning that take place our part of the community. Help this to be an enduring part of the community.

Please consider donating. Any donation would help. Please send to St. Anthony of Padua School, 45 Gainsborg Ave. West Harrison, NY 10604. May God bless you always!

Willett Avenue: Police said Lance LaLuna, 29 of Center Terrace, Stamford, Conn., was so intoxicated that he drove into a tow truck at Willett and Abendroth avenues at 4:32 a.m. Dec. 30. LaLuna was not injured, but was ticketed for misdemeanor driving while intoxicated.
Westchester Avenue: Police said Daniel McKillop, 29, punched a 25-year-old Port Chester man in the face so hard that he broke the man’s nose, cheekbone and eye socket. The assault happened inside Buffalo Wild Wings, 44 Westchester Ave., at 11:49 p.m. Dec. 29. The victim was treated at Greenwich Hospital. Police found McKillop early Dec. 30 in back of his of 8 Woodland Drive, Port Chester, home and charged him with misdemeanor assault.
Midland Avenue: A Mount Vernon taxi driver was stiffed his $30 fare when the man he drove from Mount Vernon to a Midland Avenue bar said he had to get the money from his boss and never came back at 10:30 p.m. Dec. 28.

PELHAM MANOR
Wolfs Lane: A 41-year-old Mount Vernon woman suffered neck pain and was taken to Sound Shore Medical Center after her car and a fire truck rushing to another accident collided at Colonial Avenue Dec. 20. Police said the truck had lights, sirens and its air horn going as it made a left turn, colliding with the passenger side of the woman’s car. No one was ticketed.
Pelham Parkway: Someone stole the passenger side-view mirror from a 2001 Chevrolet while it was parked at the Fairway Market lot for a half hour at 4 p.m. Dec. 24.
Pelham Parkway: Someone broke into the Verizon Wireless locker in BJ’s Wholesale Club and stole three phones, together valued at $1,710, between 10 p.m. Dec. 22 and 7 a.m. Dec. 23.
Pelham Parkway: A man tried to use what turned out to be a counterfeit $100 at the Fairway Market Dec. 28. The man wanted a police report because he said he had been paid in cash from his bartending job and wanted to be reimbursed by his boss. Police confiscated the bill.
Pelham Parkway: Someone broke into a man’s locker at Omni Health and Fitness late Dec. 29 and stole his wallet.
 
PELHAM VILLAGE
Walnut Avenue: Someone stole a $400 pair of Coach sunglasses from an unlocked 2008 Infinity between Dec. 23 and Dec. 24.

LARCHMONT
Deane Place: A Larchmont man is out $15,000 after a prospective employer sent what turned out to be a fraudulent check to him. After the man sent the money to Thailand on Dec. 22 as part of the business deal, a bank determined the check was a fake.
Helena Avenue:  Packages valued at $450 were reported stolen from a home’s front porch Dec. 18, the day after they were apparently delivered.
 
MAMARONECK TOWN
Kolbert Drive: Police said Dec. 27 that $100 was stolen from a home between Dec. 18 and 24.
Boston Post Road: Someone stole 15 Hewlitt Packard toner cartridges worth $4,000 from the 2444 Boston Post Road Staples around 7 p.m. Dec. 23.
 
MAMARONECK VILLAGE
Mamaroneck Avenue: A 24-year-old Mamaroneck man was assaulted by two men on the 600-block around 5 a.m. Dec. 25. The assailants fled in a car.

Port Chester parents can now register for online access to their children’s attendance records, report cards and class schedules via the school system’s home page. The information system, eSchoolPLUS Home Access Center, is still being set up. The information should go live by the next marking period in late January or early February, school board President Jim Taylor said.

The idea is to make it easier to communicate with teachers — particularly for parents who work odd hours.

“It will definitely be a lot more convenient for a parent, at midnight or whatever, to log on and get up to date,” Taylor said. “In my mind, it just brings us into the 21st Century, where people don’t work 9 to 5, and they need to find different ways to get information.”

(Photo: Sixth-grader Jaeson Ortega, center, listens as Principal Patrick Swift sits in on a table participating in “Mixup” during lunch at Port Chester Middle School in November. Mixup is a program that puts students with others they don’t know, aiming to break down cliques and promote new friendships. Carucha L. Meuse/The Journal News)

Reporter Rob Ryser and Leslie Korngold filed this story about burglaries in Rye:

RYE — Police are urging residents to safeguard their homes when stepping out and to keep an eye on the homes of their neighbors who are away after five houses in the two municipalities were broken into in one day.
No one was home when the burglaries occurred, police said.

The brazen daylight burglaries occurred while residents were out for as few as two hours at three of the homes  in Rye and the one in Port Chester on Greyrock North, according to police reports.

The four Rye burglaries happened Wednesday between 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Stuyvesant Avenue, Glendale Avenue, Locust Avenue, and Kirby Lane North, police said. Only one set off a security alarm.

The Port Chester burglary occurred between 9:45 a.m. and 3 p.m. Thousands of dollars in cash and jewelry were stolen. A rear laundry room door was kicked in, police said.

In Rye electronics and jewelry were stolen. Entry varied from pried open windows to forced doors.

Police in both jurisdictions are working together, Port Chester police said. Capt. John Telesca of Port Chester did not want to assume though that the same people are responsible for all the burglaries.

Rye  police encouraged residents to leave lights on and to set alarms. Police also asked neighbors to call 911 or the department’s main number at 914-967-1234 the moment they see something suspicious.

RYE — About 100 brave, semi-nude souls will jump in the frigid Long Island Sound at noon Saturday.

This New Year’s Day tradition at Oakland Beach is called “Ray’s Plunge,” a fundraiser to support the fight against ALS.

The only requirements for the plunge swim is no wetsuits and everyone should at least put their head under.

Donations of at least $20 are required to participate.

Craig Muraszewski didn’t feel like there was any place in Westchester where you could go to get a little bite to eat and enjoy a cocktail — and not feel like you’re in a restaurant. After all, when he goes out, he prefers to sit at the bar, rather than at a dining room table somewhere.

So he is opening Vintage 1891, a wine lounge, on Boston Post Road in Larchmont in about six weeks.

“It’s designed as a restaurant that’s for the community,” he says. “A place that you can feel you can bring your laptop and hang out or go for a great meal and a fantastic bottle of wine.”

The restaurant is “downtown meets country,” he says. And that means clean lines, custom-made wingback chairs, couches and two huge comunal tables. The building has its original skylights from 1880, so he restored those, and he added a fireplace with a big slate hearth. There are rich brown walls, hardwood floors and 14-foot ceilings. Muraszewski says it’s “open, airy and spacious.”

The food will be small plates — not tapas, he says, but small plates — and will focus on local, seasonal ingredients. The bar will use fresh juices and herbs and his bartenders will “really go back to the crafting of the cocktail.” (He says there will be a Larchmont Cocktail on the list, too.) The wine list will start out covering the major wine regions, and as work into smaller, more electic regions later.

Muraszewski was formerly the general manager at Plates in Larchmont. He also worked at Per Se for two years, the Four Seasons hotel and at Larchmont Avenue Oyster House. He hopes to be open in about six weeks.

The 411 is coming. Til then: 2098 Boston Post Road, Larchmont. 914-834-9463. vintage1891.com.