Archive for the ‘waterfront’
Rye police report coastal flooding at high tide • 01.12.12
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.
People— and dogs — regain access to Playland Beach in off-season • 12.09.11
The beach at Playland will open again — to people and dogs — after being padlocked for the off-season.
Westchester County experimented with a dog beach but closed the beach altogether this year. A community of dog owners lobbied for access to the sand. County Legislator Judy Myers is circulating these new rules and guidelines:
(UPDATE: The new policy is in effect as of today through March 31, and is not limited to any specific hours, said Peter Tartaglia of Westchester County parks.)
*
As of Friday, December 16 from 7:00 a.m. until dusk, the Playland Beach will be open to humans and their canines, off-leash, until March 31, 2012.
CAVEATS:
1) ALL canines MUST remain ON-leash until their paws hit the sand; no canines may be off-leash on the boardwalk or other Playland environs.
2) ALL humans MUST pick up after their canines and NO waste may be left on the beach.
3) ANY canine (or human) must be immediately removed from the beach for ANY anti-social behavior (including leaving poop un-scooped).
Let’s all enjoy our beautiful natural resource … and let’s all remember to say thank you to our Playland Park employees.
Updated: Santa’s coming to town Thursday, via Port Chester fire truck • 12.05.11
Santa’s annual visit to Port Chester’s marina parking lot is Wednesday Thursday, when he’s scheduled to roll in on a fire truck at 5:30 p.m. in time for a tree lighting at 5:45.
Gifts for children, hot chocolate and music from the Port Chester High School brass ensemble are part of the event. G&S Investors and TD Bank are sponsors.
Playland gets haunted: ‘Scared by the Sound’ opens Friday • 10.05.11
Playland’s annual Halloween haunted house is opening again Friday. I can say from experience: These people are good. This place is scary.
“Scared by the Sound” by Dark Attractions LLC uses professional actors who pop out of nowhere, follow you around and generally creep you out. You move through a wine cellar, library and sanitarium inside a 10,000-square-foot installation.
Hours: 8-11 p.m. Fridays; 7-11 Saturdays; 7-10 Sundays, and 7-10 Halloween night, when the season ends.
A non-scary alternative for children 8 and under, “Hardly Haunted Matinees,” will be from noon to 4 p.m. Oct. 29 and 30.
Admission is $15 for adults, $11 for children under 12, and $5 for matinees.
9/11 memorial ceremony planned Sunday at Rye Town Park • 09.08.11
The beachfront pavilions at Rye Town Park, overlooking Long Island Sound, will be the site of a 9/11 Memorial Ceremony on Sunday morning.
The town ceremony begins at 8 a.m. American Legion Post 93 will present a wreath along with a Rifle Honor Guard and Bugler.
For other memorial events in Westchester at the 10th anniversary, click here.
Also on LoHud.com is a September 11 “Changed Forever” commemorative site and a profile of Rye resident Lynn McGuinn, whose husband, Frank, died in the World Trade Center attack.
Port Chester hears proposal for downtown apartment building • 08.15.11
Port Chester trustees heard a pitch tonight for a new five-story building – four upper floors of apartments and ground-floor retail space – in the middle of town at Westchester Avenue and North Main Street.
G&S Investors already has approval for a three-level retail building there as part of the sweeping mall development approved in 1999. Now the developer is asking for changes in the village zoning and urban renewal plans. G&S Partner Robert Weinberg and attorney Mark Weingarten said the 79-unit residential development would bring an “upscale” group of renters who would spend money downtown.
They took pains to describe the project as a luxury building that would appeal to professional couples, Manhattan commuters, empty nesters and “divorced spouses,” rather than families that would add new children to the school district. Back when the mall was approved, Weingarten said, residential development overall was frowned upon due to fears over low-income, subsidized apartments. He pointed to the success of “smart-growth” projects in White Plains that have brought more people downtown to support local shops and restaurants.
The project’s construction would be assisted by the village Industrial Development Agency.
Mayor Dennis Pilla and three trustees heard the initial pitch at tonight’s board meeting. Trustee Bart Didden, a downtown property owner who sued G&S over another development, recused himself from the discussion. There was no mention of another issue involving the mall development; how to pay for the collapse of the privately built bulkhead along the Byram River near the edge of the Costco parking lot.
Before any decisions are made, the proposal will go to the Planning Board for a review and recommendation.
Rye Playland report delayed • 07.29.11
A citizen’s group, which has been reviewing proposals for the historic Playland amusement park site, will not have its report finished by Aug. 1 as its members have hoped.
Peter Tartaglia, a spokesman for the county park, said today that the report likely won’t be completed until late August at the earliest. There has been no rush on the committee during this process, so the news isn’t really considered a setback, he said.
At a recent meeting, the committee indicated it would lean toward a hybrid approach of the dozen proposals, suggesting that certain aspects of some of them would work individually — as opposed to just giving a wholesale endorsement of a particular plan.
The plans were sought by County Executive Robert Astorino after years of losing money at the waterfront sight.
Police blotters from the Mamaronecks, New Rochelle, Pelhams, Port Chester, Rye and Rye Brook-drunk drivers, burglaries, robbery, untaxed cigarettes and more • 04.22.11
Badeau Place: A 64-year-old woman told police that she was in her home and heard a window in her living room shatter at 2:23 p.m. April 20. The women went into the living room and found a window broken. Someone had tossed a rock through it.
Oakdale Avenue: A 2008 Honda CRV parked in the driveway of an Oakdale Avenue home was broken into between 6 p.m. April 20 and 6 a.m. April 21. A $800 laptop computer, a $200 iPod and a $95 camera were stolen from the car.
Dillon Road: A portfolio of 40 drawings was stolen from an apartment in the 15 minutes the residence was left unattended at 10 a.m. April 20.
Shadow Lane: A resident discovered April 19 that $1,766 had been stolen from his Citibank account. His statement showed an unspecified number of unauthorized withdrawals between April 1 and 4. It was not yet known if they were made online or in person.
MAMARONECK VILLAGE
Mamaroneck Avenue: An 81-year-old village man may be the third victim of a man soliciting money to help a sick relative, police said April 21. The victim reported giving the man $50 April 18. On the 15 and 16, a 71-year-old woman gave $400 and a 55-year-old man gave $20 to a similar suspect.
Palmer Avenue: A accident on the 1000-block of Palmer Avenue resulted in three people from one car being taken to Sound Shore Medical Center April 18. The 63-year-old Florida driver experienced neck pain, his passengers, a man, 50, and a woman, 48, both of Mount Vernon, experienced chest and knee pain respectively. No one was injured in the other vehicle. No one was cited. The cars had made rear to front fender contact, police said.
East Boston Post Road: An unspecified traffic infraction led to two teens being caught with marijuana and alcohol, police said. The West Harrison woman driving and a Harrison man, both 18, were charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and underage possession of alcohol after the 1:11 a.m. stop April 19. Police did not release their names because of their age and because the charges are violations.
Mamaroneck Avenue: Failure to stop at a traffic control device resulted in a three car collision that sent four people to Sound Shore Medical Center just before 5 p.m. April 19. Police said a car driven by a 45-year-old White Plains man and a second car collided head-on sending the second car into a third car in front of 564 Mamaroneck Ave. The passengers in the White Plains man’s car, a 42-year-old woman suffered chest pains, and a 14-year-old boy had abrasions on his face and head. Both were from White Plains. A 53-year-old woman in the struck car experienced neck and back pain, and an 8-year-old girl had back pain. Both were taken to Sound Shore Medical Center. A 42-year-old man in the car refused medical attention despite experiencing neck pain. All three were from Mamaroneck village. The White Plains man was ticketed for failing to obey a traffic control device and for a rear passenger not wearing a seat belt.
Wagner Avenue: An iPod and a navigational system were stolen from an unlocked vehicle parked on the street from 11 p.m. April 18 to 11:30 a.m. April 19.
PELHAM MANOR
Pelham Parkway: A $277 box of vitamins and nutrients was stolen from the 847 Pelham Parkway GNC store at 12:30 p.m. April 18. A light-skinned black man in his 20s or 30s walked in, grabbed the box and walked out of the store heading toward Mount Vernon, police said.
PELHAM VILLAGE
Nyac Avenue: $10,000 in gold jewelry has been stolen from a home. The rings and earrings were first noticed missing April 1. The theft was reported April 20. There was no forced entry to the home or locked closet where the jewelry had been kept.
Fifth Avenue: Police accused Happy L. Dong, 40, of 315 Fifth Ave., Pelham, with having untaxed cartons of cigarettes for sale April 18. Police said Dong, driving a vehicle with Iowa registration, caught police’s attention when he made an abrupt turn into a driveway at 523 Fifth Ave. around 2 p.m. and could be seen handing a woman a package that turned out to be a carton of unstamped,untaxed cigarettes wrapped in newspaper, police said. Dong had a carton of Marlboro cigarettes, also untaxed, still in his vehicle police said. Police had charged Dong in September 2010 with selling untaxed cigarettes, but the case was reduced to a charge of disorderly conduct and Dong had to pay $1,500 in taxes. Police charged Dong with the misdemeanor possession of untaxed cigarette for sale. The woman had paid $65 for what would have been a $70 to $100 carton of Kool Kings, police said. She was not charged, but her cigarettes were confiscated.
PORT CHESTER
Purdy Avenue: Two men who had placed a Craig’s List ad to buy iPhones were robbed of $1,700 when they went to meet purported sellers at 2 p.m. April 20. The victims, 27 and 42, from Queens, N.Y., and Quincy, Mass., respectively, pulled up in front of public housing on Purdy Avenue to meet the sellers. Two men came over to the car with a large bag of phones. They wanted to deal in the car, but when they got in, one pulled a grey handgun on the buyers and demanded their money. The suspects fled with the money and the bag of phones toward Traverse Avenue. No one was injured. The thieves were described as a male white and male black in their 20s, about 5-foot 9 with medium builds. Police said if the phones in the bag were real, they would have been worth several thousand dollars. The incident was reported April 21.
Midland Avenue: A 2003 Acura was stolen from the Pathmark lot between 11 p.m. April 20 and 4:30 a.m. April 21.
Breckenridge, Woodland and Irenhyl Avenues: A passenger or driver-side tire was punctured/slashed on each of four cars parked on Breckenridge, Woodland and Irenhyl avenues between 8:45 p.m. April 20 and 8:30 a.m. April 21. The streets are within a few blocks of one another. Police are looking into whether the slashing of tires on three cars on Clermont Avenue April18 is related. All different types of cars were targeted.
Pearl Street: A third floor apartment was burglarized while a stay-at-home mom was out with her children between 2:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. April 21. Police said entry was made through a fire escape window. Four rings worth $2,300, a $180 gold chain, a $30 bottle of Tequila and $150 cash were stolen. Police said someone had probably been watching the place to know that no one was home.
RYE
Forest Avenue: Graffiti was discovered written in marker on a Rye Recreation building door at 10 a.m. April 20.
Midland Avenue: Graffiti was found written on Rye Recreation picnic tables and reported April 19.
RYE BROOK
King Street: Joseph A. Maselli, 21, of Armonk was charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated and unlicensed operation, a violation, after a rear-end collision with another car at 11:25 p.m. April 19 sent one person to Greenwich Hospital with neck pain, police said. The injured person was a passenger in the second car, a 30-year-old woman. A 21-year-old Mahopac man driving the second car was not injured. According to the police report, the parties differed on just how Maselli’s car came to rear end the other vehicle. Maselli said the Mahopac driver cut him off then braked; the other driver said he passed Maselli, who had pulled over and then accelerated into him
Port Chester Fest to put spotlight on cultural diversity May 21 • 04.21.11
Plans are coming together for another Port Chester Fest – a rare cross-cultural celebration that aims to show off the village’s remarkable diversity. This year’s event is May 21 at the Marina Parking Lot.
The Port Chester Council for Community Services announced the entertainment lineup today, along with the artists and community groups taking part. Check the website for details.
Keltic Dreams (photo at right), an Irish step-dance group made up of African-American and Hispanic children from the Bronx, is back again this year. The bill also includes Pablito y Su Avalancha, performing Uruguayan carnival and salsa music; Bolivian sensation Markax Laiku Bolivia, and Mario Tacca with traditional Italian music.
Last year, a Peruvian “scissor dancer” made quite an impression with the audience; see here.
Workshops will be led by Clay Art Center, ArtsWestchester and muralist Tova Snyder (who last year helped children create chalk drawings, below), along with the Campaign for the Westchester Children’s Museum.
Kayak the Byram? Resident floats an idea for Port Chester riverfront • 01.04.11
The Port Chester Board of Trustees is fielding many questions about the recent collapse of the sea wall along the Byram River behind Costco. Last night, a resident held up this Journal News photo of the wall and called it an embarrassment to the village.
Then he pitched an idea, as a way to fix Port Chester’s image: Why not include a kayak launch along the rebuilt riverfront? A nice, environmentally-friendly amenity that would attract local kayak clubs and draw customers to nearby stores and restaurants?
Mayor Dennis Pilla responded favorably and said such activities fit in with broader goals for the downtown. The village is contemplating a “waterfront improvement area” where property owners would support repair projects and new amenities.
The mayor passed on another resident’s question about the control and responsibility over the bulkhead: specifically, why Westchester County pays an $840,000-a-year sublease on the property to mall developer G&S. The developer provided the bulkhead as part of the mall. The answers are apparently complex, but as I wrote in a recent story:
Port Chester owns the bulkhead and leases it to G&S, the mall developers, for $1 a year. Westchester County subleases the area as part of a tax-incentive deal, and has paid the developer $840,000 a year under the 20-year lease.
G&S has said the work on the bulkhead was accepted by the village in 2002 and that Port Chester has been responsible for its upkeep.
Retaining walls along Port Chester’s waterfront were built in various stages. To the north of the mall and a rectangular inlet is a steel bulkhead, built by the village in 1994 to replace an old wooden one, village engineer Dolph Rotfeld said. A vinyl wall around the inlet itself was a joint project between the village and G&S, and the portion near Costco was provided by the developer.
Videos of Board of Trustees meetings can be seen on this website.
