Sound Shore

Marines have been giving blood—in all sorts of ways—for more than 200 years. Joseph Mammana, a Marine Corps veteran from New Rochelle, has been giving his to the American Red Cross since 1974. Over that time, Mammana, 79, has donated 70 pints, about seven times the amount of blood an average man has running through his veins at any one time.
According to the Red Cross, one pint of blood saves three lives. By that reckoning, Mammana has saved 210 lives over the last 36 years.
“I have no medical problems whatsoever,” Mammana told the Red Cross after donating pint number 70 at American Legion Post 979, in Eastchester, on Dec. 22. “I have a good bill of health from my physician and I feel good. As long as I can give blood, I will continue.”
In case you don’t recall your elementary-school conversion exercises, there are eight pints in a gallon. That means Mammana has donated nearly nine gallons of blood.

If you saw the long lines here a few weeks ago, you’d swear they were giving away something for free. Well, they were.

Photos by Matthew Brown/TJN

HomeMade Pizza Company, founded in Chicago, was offering up free slices, presumably to get everyone hooked on their concept: You pick the toppings, they assemble the pizza, then you pop the uncooked pie in the oven when you get home.

MAMARONECK — The founding director of a charity that distributes furniture to needy families is the recipient of the town’s 2011 annual “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award,” town officials have announced.

Kate Bialo, president and executive director of the Furniture Sharehouse, will be honored at the town’s 24th annual MLK Jr. Award Ceremony at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 12, at Larchmont Avenue Church.

The award is given to a local who exemplifies Dr. King’s dream of equal rights and equal opportunity, according to Town Supervisor Valerie O’Keeffe.

Bialo, 55, of Larchmont, founded Furniture Sharehouse in 2007 after a massive flood devastated the area. The organization collects gently-used and new furniture from the public and redistributes it free to residents who are referred by social workers. To date, it has helped 351 families.

Mary Stanton, author of several books on the Civil Rights Movement, will be the keynote speaker at this year’s ceremony, entitled “From Selma to Sorrow — 45th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Voting March.”

There will also be a special recognition of James McDonald, who died suddenly on Sept. 5. McDonald led fundraising efforts to benefit a local food panty and anti-hunger campaigns, among other causes.

For more information, call O’Keeffe at (914)-381-7805.

PHOTO: Kate Bialo, president and executive director of the Furniture Sharehouse, is the recipient of the town’s 2011 annual “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award.”

Here are the changes in effect this week in Rye Brook’s sanitation schedule:

Collection for the week of 12/27-12/31 only:
• If your regular garbage day is Monday – your garbage will be collected Tuesday
• If your regular garbage day is Tuesday – your garbage will be collected Wednesday
• If your regular garbage day is Wednesday – your garbage will be collected Wednesday
• If your regular garbage day is Thursday – your garbage will be collected Thursday
• If your regular garbage day is Friday – your garbage will be collected Friday

Recycling
• If your regular recycle day is Wednesday – your recycling will be collected Wednesday
• If your regular recycle day is Thursday – your recycling will be collected Thursday
• If your regular recycle day is Friday – your recycling will be collected Friday

• No Bulk/ Green Waste Collection this week

The emergency—officially, at least—is over. New Rochelle has lifted its Snow Emergency for the city. (All that shoveling, however, may have your back in full-on crisis mode.) Alternate side of the street parking restrictions are suspended for the rest of the week throughout the city. From Jan. 1 through March 31, alternate side rules will be lifted for streets subject to regular winter suspensions. You can find a full list of those streets here. And while the emergency has passed, city work crews will continue working to remove snow. To report problems, call the DPW’s snow removal hotline at (914) 235-4029.

LARCHMONT — The village’s public library will begin the new year with a fresh face at the helm of its board of trustees.

Pamela Tillinghast Dubitsky, a lawyer and Larchmont Public Library trustee since 2008, will take over as board chairwoman Jan. 1. She replaces Miriam Curnin, who has served in the position since June 2006.

Dubitsky said she’s enthusiastic about her new role.

“In difficult economic times, communities depend more than usual on their local libraries, and yet those libraries of course have less funding,” Dubitsky said in a statement. “At the same time, technological changes — e-books, increasing access to and dependence on computers — require us to re-think the role of the library within a community.

Dubitsky said she looks forward to working with the current library board, the village and the Town of Mamaroneck, “to ensure that we continue providing outstanding service to our community and successfully deal with the challenges libraries are facing as well as the exciting opportunities those challenges create.”

Dubitsky has lived in Larchmont with her husband, Alex, and their two sons since 2004. The Boston, Mass., native received a bachelor’s degree from Bryn Mawr College and a law degree from Boston University School of Law. She practiced law for more than 10 years, both in major U.S. firms and as a consultant for The World Bank and United States Agency for International Development, among other agencies. She specialized primarily in environmental and commercial law in emerging markets.

PHOTO: Pamela Tillinghast Dubitsky will take over as chairwoman of the Larchmont Public Library Board of Trustees on Jan. 1.

New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson announced on his website Inauguration Ceremony plans for a pair of newly elected officials. On Jan. 1 City Judge-elect Susan Kettner and City Council Member-elect Jared Rice will be sworn in at the Main Council Chamber in New Rochelle City Hall. The ceremony begins at 1 p.m. New Year’s Day and is open to the public.

The storm has passed, but its effects continue to be felt. City officials announced Tuesday that alternate side of the street parking restrictions in New Rochelle are suspended for the remainder of the week. Additionally, the Hugh Doyle Senior Center is open during its regular hours. Check here for updates about closings, re-openings and cancellations.

bartaco (I had originally misspelled it as Bar Taco), a new taco restaurant and tequila bar, is now open in the spot where Ebb Tide was on the Byram River in Port Chester. Sasa Mahr-Batuz and Andy Pforzheimer, owners of Barcelona, the wine and tapas bar with six locations in Connecticut, are behind the new place.

The restaurant will have a beach-shack feel with wainscoting and light colors — not the typical Tex-Mex decor of bright colors, sombreros and serapes. “Very casual with a little bit of sophistication,” Mahr-Batuz told me earlier this year. “High quality of food, very affordable, great music.” The dining room will have big communal and individual tables made of ipe wood, and there will be a lounge seating area.

There will be two bars: one outside on the deck, which overlooks the river; and one inside. The menu will include made-from-scratch margaritas and authentic tacos. The partners recently returned from a research visit to Mexico City, and Mahr-Batuz says they learned a lot from the street vendors there.

The tacos will be 3 to 4 inches in size, cooked on the griddle and filled with all sorts of grilled and stewed meats, poultry and fish and traditional combinations such as al pastor, which is pork and pineapple cooked on a spit. The menu will also include soups, salads and sandwiches, and the restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner.

The web site has photos and a menu: bartacousa.com

Snow Emergency Update
Garbage Collection Schedule Amended

This week’s Sanitation Pickup Schedule has been revised as follows to accommodate the heavy volume of paper after the holidays:
Tuesday, December 28th – South End Garbage
Wednesday, December 29th – North End Garbage
Thursday, December 30th – South End Garbage & South End Paper Recyclables
Friday, December 31st – North End Garbage & North End Paper Recyclables

For emergencies or to report downed utility wires, please call 9-1-1. For non-emergency requests related to City services: during business hours, please call the City Manager’s office at 654-2140, and outside of business hours, please call the Police Desk at 654-2300. If you do not have electricity, please report your address to Con Edison at 1-800-75-CONED.

Residents are also reminded:

Avoid traveling unless necessary.

Shovel out fire hydrants

When shoveling out driveways or cars, please do not throw the snow back into the street.

Please be sure to check-in on neighbors who are senior citizens, handicapped or otherwise homebound.

The Hugh A. Doyle Senior Center will be closed on Monday, December 27.

For the latest information visit www.newrochelleny.com