Sound Shore

Ed Sullivan, one of Port Chester’s most famous sons, will be the subject of a special program Saturday at the Port Chester-Rye Brook public library at Haseco and Westchester Avenues.

The free program will feature highlights from his popular Sunday variety show and a behind-the-scenes look at the famous TV personality, who also wrote a celebrity column for The Port Chester Daily Item, a predecessor of The Journal News. The free program starts at 2 o’clock, and refreshments will be served.

Westchester’s best restaurant town, in this humble blogger’s opinion, is a village. Port Chester, that is. Personal favorites include Chavin, named for an ancient Andean civilization and featuring great ceviche and pollo a la brasa, Q, serving authentic midwest-style barbecue and Tarry Lodge, co-owned by, among others, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich, whose mom Lidia is one of my wife Meredith’s main inspirations, which is quite lucky for me and our kids. We also like the taquerías, Hubba for chili and Franks for apizza, as we spell it in Bridgeport, my hometown and another great restaurant destination, believe it or not.

This morning I came across yet another yummy spot while walking up Irving Avenue from the train station to the library, another location of The Bagel Emporium, apparently a sister shop to the one on the Post Road.

The shop, which opened Friday, features the usual assortment of coffees, bagels and a great variety of fresh spreads in a bright, welcoming space just behind the Post Office. Three stars, I’d say.

File photo at right: A rack of ribs, fries and collards at Q. I’m suddenly hungry.

The Bee Line Bus system’s hybrid buses, like the one boarding passengers in Port Chester in this file photo, may or may not save the planet, but they have one definite advantage for elderly and disabled passengers: they’re a heck of a lot easier to get on and off. Instead of the two deep steps on the standard buses, the new hybrids are nearly flush to the ground.

On the other hand, they also carry fewer people. The older buses can seat 44 with standing room for another 30. The new ones seat 40 and can handle 26 standing passengers. So, like much of life, it’s a trade off.

Doug Melvin, left, dressed as a Trojan dances with Goldie Solomon of Port Chester during the game between Haldane and Blind Brook at the Westchester County Center March 3, 2007 in this file photo. (Rory Glaeseman / The Journal News )

Spotted at the Port Chester-Rye Brook Library this morning, longtime civic booster and village gadfly Goldie Solomon was lobbying staffers to include the WLIW21 production, The Italian Americans, in the library’s collections.

Solomon said she has a copy of the series herself, and was planning on showing it today at the Port Chester Senior Center

While the library, a village treasure at Westchester and Haseco avenues, may not have that particular show, they do have an extensive multi-media collection on immigration, Italian and otherwise, and its continuing role in shaping the village’s history.

A few road-ragers couldn’t contain themselves this morning during an evacuation drill at Port Chester Middle School. Traffic on Westchester Avenue and S. Ridge Street was delayed while scores of kids crossed heading east.

After five minutes or so, a few started leaning on their horns, apparently wanting the Port Chester cop who was directing traffic to do something about it, though I’m not sure what.

From my spot on the #13 bus, I could see down into an Audi A6, the driver of which was straight-arming his horn, face angry, teeth clenched. Mercifully, as we wage our daily struggle to maintain a civilized society here in the early 21st century, he was outnumbered by about 50 to one.

Here’s a story that just moved on the Associated Press wire:

6 women arraigned in attack on karaoke singer

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — Six young Connecticut women have been arraigned on assault charges accusing them of beating up another woman because they didn’t like the way she was singing karaoke.
Five of the women were arraigned Wednesday in Stamford Superior Court, and the other appeared in court Monday.
Police say the attack on the 25-year-old woman from Port Chester, N.Y., happened on the night of Sept. 23 when she was singing a Spanish song at Bobby Valentine’s Sports Gallery Cafe in Stamford.
Authorities say the six women, all under the legal drinking age of 21, knocked the singer to the floor, punched her and pulled her hair. The victim suffered bruises and a chipped tooth.
The defendants are charged with third-degree assault and other crimes. They’re due back in court later this month.
——
The six are pictured in the photo below.

A more detailed version of the story appears here.

Here’s the victim, Leidy Alcantara.

Photos from The Daily News

This is a few days old, but is there any irony to be found in the news of Vice President Joe Biden’s motorcade temporarily shutting down traffic on the southbound Hutch during Monday’s afternoon rush hour?

The vice president headlined a $1,000-a-plate luncheon fundraiser, nary a lunch pail in sight, for freshman Rep. Jim Himes in Himes’ hometown of Greenwich before heading up to Fairfield to campaign for U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, who needs all the help he can get these days. On his way back to the airport, presumably, police cleared the Hutch by ordering cars off and blocking entrance ramps, so it was smooth sailing for the Veep and his entourage.

Now Biden, who has carefully crafted a working-class image despite his estimable wealth and decades inside the Beltway, needs to get around, no disputing that. And security is and should be the most important concern.

But the timing and resulting image are amusing nonetheless: Thousands of commuters, many of whom are actually in the working class if not actually working, delayed and inconvenienced during the height of rush hour so the vice president could make a quick getaway after a pair of purely partisan political events, one of them highly profitable for a fellow Democrat.

AP photo: Vice President Joe Biden, left, along with Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., center, and U.S. Rep Jim Himes, D-Conn., discuss how the Recovery Act investments are creating jobs and rebuilding Connecticut’s infrastructure in Fairfield Conn. Monday, Oct. 5, 2009.