Sound Shore

Rye police sent out an alert today about another possible use of an ATM skimmer:

The City of Rye Police Department is investigating the possible use of an ATM skimming device at Citibank located at 1040 Boston Post Road during the weekend of February 4 – 5, 2012. Customers who used the ATM at Citibank’s Rye Branch this weekend are advised to check their accounts and immediately report any unusual activity to their bank.

As a general precaution—despite the fact that ATM skimming devices have become more sophisticated with the passage of time, the best precaution is to cover the ATM keypad with your free hand while entering your PIN, so the numbers cannot be observed by cameras.

For more safety tips, see this earlier post.

The owner of a large commercial property in Port Chester is facing hundreds of code violations in the wake of a fire last month that was stopped before causing any major damage.

Village inspectors said they found 466 violations of building, zoning and fire codes at 200 William St., a 139,000-square-foot former factory-warehouse bordered by William, Oak and Smith streets. Assistant Village Manager Christopher Steers told village leaders in an email today:

In sum about 40 tenant spaces within the structure have been built out over the last several years without any permits and or C/O’s (certificates of occupancy) being issued. The multiple violations relate to permitting and C/O violations, prohibited uses, electrical hazards, egress violations, fire systems violations, and numerous other related violations. The most egregious violation relates to the sprinkler system being compromised due to the unlawful build outs. Further, a notice of violation was issued in April of 2011 for failure to obtain the required fire inspection.

The notice against the owner, listed as Independence Realty-Port Chester, orders compliance by obtaining the requisite permits or removing all work that was done unlawfully.

A water main break in Rye Brook this morning may be leaving customers in the area with little or no water pressure or discolored water. United Water Westchester crews are on the scene of the break on North Ridge Street near Crawford Park to make repairs. One lane is closed on North Ridge, Police Chief Gregory Austin said.

Information is available from United Water Westchester at 877 266 9101 or uwwccustomerservice@unitedwater.com.

For a second year, drug-sniffing dogs were brought into Port Chester High School today to check lockers, and again found no illegal substances.

“We want to make sure students realize this is a zero-tolerance environment and that drugs cannot be brought onto this campus,” Principal Mitchell Combs said in a news release.

In a letter sent to parents, he stressed that the district was trying to discourage drug abuse through the pre-emptive search along with education and counseling:

New York State Police with drug-sniffing dogs conducted searches of lockers at Port Chester High School this morning. Working in partnership with Rye Brook Police, Port Chester Police, and New York State Police, the district decided to bring the canine unit to our school as part of improved surveillance and enforcement by school administration and local police. The canine unit was used to inspect lockers and other locations where we believe drugs could have been hidden.

… We understand that students with substance abuse problems are in need of help, and our counselors stand ready to work with them; however, drugs and alcohol have no place in our schools, and so we took this proactive move.

 

 

The fire just after midnight Tuesday in a large commercial building in Port Chester would have been a lot worse if DJs from an entertainment network hadn’t been inside.

Alarms linked to the sprinkler system, which should have alerted the Fire Department automatically to the fire at 200 William St., were faulty, as were exterior alarms that should have sounded, according to Port Chester code enforcement officials. The sprinklers alone probably would not have stopped the blaze, Port Chester Fire Inspector Kevin Brennan said. Luckily, people at the entertainment network Zedalza called 911.

“Had they not been in the building, we probably would have lost the entire block,” Brennan said. The structure is a 139,000-square-foot former factory-warehouse bordered by William, Oak and Smith streets. It includes woodworking shops, a commercial photographer, the Zedalza radio station and other offices. The fire apparently resulted from self-combustion from a buildup of dust in sanding equipment at a businesses called Avanti, according to fire officials. Inspectors found  construction work had been done there without a permit, and issued a stop-work order. The fire damage was minimal, charring the floor beams, Brennan said. Inspections are continuing throughout the building.

Code-compliance work is continuing at two other large commercial properties in town where fires occurred: a set of businesses at Westchester Avenue and Main Street and and a retail parcel at North Main and Adee streets with apartments on the upper floors. Both properties are only partially re-occupied and have been cited for numerous electrical code violations.

Journal News columnist Phil Reisman follows up today on the mail carrier who helped an older couple escape their burning home in Rye Brook last week.

Jason Dang spoke humbly about his efforts at the Port Chester post office, where one of the WPA-era murals (pictured) acknowledge the mail carrier as part of the community work force.

Dang encountered 80-year-old Judy Uhry on Rock Ridge Drive as her husband, Gus, who uses a walker, was still inside the smoke-filled house.

Read the rest of the column here.

 

Here’s an alert from Rye police:

We are experiencing some coastal/tidal flooding of roadways in the Kirby Lane, Manursing Way, and Milton Road/Hewlett Avenue areas. Please use caution while traveling in those areas, do not drive into standing water, and plan alternate routes. We expect flooding to abate by about 1:00 P.M. as the tide recedes.

There is no danger of flooding in the Blind Brook watershed at this time; we are experiencing coastal flooding only, as a result of high tide.

 

Here is the prepared text of Rye Mayor Douglas French’s 2012 “State of the City” address given during Wednesday night’s council meeting. You can watch the video here (Item 3).

*

Good evening, it is an honor to once again stand before you as Mayor of the City of Rye to present the State of the City on this night and in this year – the year when the City celebrates its 70^th anniversary of becoming a City.

Mayor Platt, Rye’s first Mayor and whose portrait hangs in the Mayor’s Conference room said in his inaugural address, given less than one month after World War ll had been declared, said that the world “…was in troublesome times …had we known such times were coming I sometimes wonder whether we would have undertaken this course … In any event we have a job to do, we will carry on…”

70 years later, while the circumstances are far different, the same spirit now is called for all of us – for now is the time for the City to once again be pioneers and look forward, and not be historians and look back.  Government as we know it needs to continue to change and we need to lead it.

There is a basic pact when each of us moved to Rye – great schools, great services, great value.  That pact was threatened in 2011 as two forces – the prolonged economic recession and Mother Nature – put significant financial and emotional strain on the residents who make up our community.

Residents like the retired couple who have spent their lives in Rye and now on a fixed income can no longer afford the rapid rise of School, City and County property taxes. Residents like the working couple who need two incomes to be able to afford to live here – but one has lost their job and remains unemployed.

Or, residents like the working professional who is under-employed and has experienced a significant drop in their compensation and retirement plan; yet have incurred spikes in their healthcare coverage expenses.

Or residents whose homes have faced drops in property values based on market conditions or flood waters.

(more…)

John Gitlitz is being honored Wednesday with a Martin Luther King Jr. award for his efforts in Mamaroneck, helping to address the clash over immigrant laborers and their right to seek work from street corners. He is a familiar face locally on the board of the Hispanic Resource Center, which it established a dedicated hiring site for laborers in the wake of a federal lawsuit. In speaking to him this month I learned about Gitlitz’s primary pursuit over the years—to research and document a complex issue of conflict and justice in rural Peru.

Gitlitz is an associate professor of Latin American studies, immigration and human rights at Purchase College. In northern Peru, he explained, cattle are essentially a family’s bank account, an asset that can be sold for cash in case of emergency. Theft of cattle, therefore, is a serious threat. After a wave of cattle rustling in the ‘70s, peasants, facing inaction by police and an ineffective legal structure, organized their own system of justice—“the Peruvian equivalent of the Guardian Angels.” By 2000 there were 250,000 people involved in the patrols, he said.

Gitlitz is researching this alternative system of justice and the political and legal arguments over it. The issue intersects with human rights, indigenous rights, the exploitation of natural resources, and other areas of tension. He spoke recently at a gathering attended by Peruvian government officials on this issue of “informal justice.”

“It’s a small issue, but for a lot of people, an important one,” he said.

To explore his experiences in Peru – legal issues, profiles, patron saint festivals and the culinary use of guinea pigs – see his blog, Wandering the Andes.

New Rochelle
Pelham Road: A 56-year-old New Rochelle man found his 2011 Chevrolet Camaro on cinder blocks and all four tires and rims stolen, city police said. The car was parked in an underground garage of an apartment building on the 700 block of Pelham Road between the evening of Jan. 3 and the morning of Jan. 4. The tires and rims were valued at $5,000.
Disbrow Circle: A 73-year-old Florida woman told police that she left her car parked on Disbrow Circle between 1:35 p.m. and 1:45 p.m. Jan. 4 and someone stole prescription sunglasses valued at $250 from her 2009 Nissan Altima. The car was unlocked, police said.
Disbrow Circle: A 32-year-old New Rochelle woman told police that someone entered her 2011 GMC between 11:40 p.m. on Jan. 3 and 8 a.m. Jan. 4 and stole four ties and a box of chocolate.
Webster Avenue: Four 10-foot-long cast iron pipes worth $400 were stolen from a house on the 200 block of Webster Avenue, police said. The pipes were left on the side of the house between 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Jan. 3. The 61-year-old man who owns the house reported the theft to police.
Wilmot Road:  A 60-year-old Monsey man told police that he parked his 2006 Ford Taurus outside a Wilmot Road store to talk to a friend. He left the car running at about 7:35 p.m. Jan. 4. while he talked to his friend inside the store. When the man returned at 8 p.m. to the spot where he had parked, the car had been stolen.