The City Review-New Rochelle 9-19-2014

THE NewRochelleCityREVIEWSeptember 19 & September 26, 2014 | Vol. 2, Number 18 | www.cityreviewnr.com

chairs the parks subcommit-tee, said both potential opera-tors are “excellent operators with two excellent proposals” and highlighted the money that Central Amusement and Standard Amusements are willing to invest into Playland.

“They’re both ready to in-vest significant capital dollars immediately into the park, which is something the park desperately needs. No longer can we keep patching it with paint from year to year. You can’t continue to paint over chipping concrete and rotting wood,” Harckham said. “[The Board of Legislator’s] feeling

By CHRIS EBERHARTStaff Writer

The Westchester County Board of Legislators listened to Central Amusement’s and Standard Amusements’ pro-posals for Playland for two and a half hours on Sept. 4 with the hope of hiring an operator for the 2015 season.

The proposals from both companies are similar to the plans each brought forward in 2012 before the Rye-based nonprofit Sustainable Playland, Inc., was chosen by Republi-can County Executive Rob As-torino to run and renovate the iconic amusement park.

Sustainable Playland pulled

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By CHRIS EBERHARTStaff Writer

Westchester County did not submit a completed and accepted analysis of impedi-ments to the federal Depart-ment of Housing and Urban Development by a Sept. 15 deadline, which was a require-ment of the 2009 affordable housing settlement.

As a consequence, West-chester is now out $15.6 mil-lion in federal grant money.

The 2009 settlement, made between HUD and then Demo-cratic County Executive Andy Spano, required the county to build 750 units of affordable housing in Westchester over a seven-year period; complete source of income legislation—which bans discrimination against potential renters and home buyers based on their source of income—and com-plete an analysis of impedi-ments, which is a review of the barriers affecting the develop-ment of affordable housing.

The county is on pace to fulfill the 750 units require-ment.

Source of income legisla-tion was passed last year. The analysis of impediments was nearly complete, but was still missing the Huntington analy-sis, which determines if there is exclusionary zoning in a given area based on race.

The administration of cur-rent County Executive Rob Astorino, a Republican, sub-mitted eight analyses of im-pediments to HUD, all of which were rejected. HUD said the Huntington analyses that were submitted were in-complete.

Housing dealine passesAs per paragraph 32 of the

2009 settlement, the analysis of impediments “must be deemed acceptable by HUD,” and, since it has not been deemed accept-able, HUD said the county is not in compliance with the 2009 settlement and has withheld millions of dollars in federal grant money.

Earlier this year, the county lost a 2011 grant worth $7.2 million. Now the 2012, 2013 and 2014 grant money—worth a combined $15.6 million, ear-marked for affordable housing and revitalizing low-income neighborhoods—has been lost and reallocated by the federal government before the start of the new federal fiscal year, which starts on Oct. 1. Although the new fiscal year doesn’t begin until the first of October, the re-allocation process takes place in mid-September.

The deadline to send the analysis of impediments to HUD was Monday, Sept. 15, just one week after the county Board of Legislators received the last piece of the analysis of impediments—the Huntington analysis, which was complet-ed by court-appointed federal monitor Jim Johnson, an at-torney from Debevoise and Plimton who was tasked with overseeing implementation of the settlement, as a favor to the county after “productive and amicable” discussions with the Board of Legislators.

Two days later, chairman of the Board of Legislators Mike Kaplowitz, a Yorktown Democrat, called on Astorino to bundle Johnson’s analysis with the completed Berenson analysis—which determines

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PROPOSALS continued on page 10

its proposal in June of this year amidst a turf war with the City of Rye over environmental ju-risdiction, backlash from the amusement park’s neighbors, criticism from the Board of Legislators and one legisla-tor’s lawsuit challenging the validity of the asset manage-ment agreement that turned day-to-day stewardship of Playland over to SPI.

In the wake of SPI’s collapse, Astorino hired Dan Biederman, a renowned developer known largely for his redevelopment of Bryant Park in New York City, as a consultant to review Playland in its current configu-ration and produce a report due this November on how to best

utilize the amusement park and surrounding space.

The contract between Bie-derman and the county ad-ministration for $100,000 was approved by the Board of Ac-quisitions and Contracts by a 2 to 1 vote, with Board of Legis-lators chairman Mike Kaplow-itz, a Yorktown Democrat, as the lone dissenting vote.

The Board of Legislators, specifically the subcommittee Labor, Parks, Planning, and Housing, opted to move in a separate direction by reengag-ing the top two runners-up be-hind SPI—Central Amusement and Standard Amusements.

Legislator Peter Harck-ham, a Somers Democrat who

CAI, Standard Amusements pitch proposals

Take twoNew Rochelle held it’s second annual street fair. For more, see page 6. Photo/Alina Suriel

2 • The city review • September 19 & September 26, 2014

September 19 & September 26, 2014 • THE CITy REvIEw • 3

Westchester honors Sept. 11 victimsIn a solemn ceremony Thurs-

day night, Westchester County paid tribute to those who died in the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, including 111 Westches-ter residents and 12 former resi-dents. County Executive Rob Astorino presided over the 13th anniversary ceremony that took place at The Rising, the coun-

ty’s 9/11 memorial at Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla.

“Each year, we read the names of the brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, grandpar-ents, aunts, uncles, friends and neighbors that our county lost on 9/11,” Astorino said. “We start with William F. Abraha-mson and end with Joseph J.

Zuccula. Some were the peo-ple closest to us in the whole world. Others were people we never met. When we are done, the 123 names become our prayer of mourning, thanksgiv-ing and hope.”

“They say time heals, and it does,” Astorino continued. “But it can never completely

fill the emptiness left behind when good lives are cut short. There is no replacement for what can never be. For balls never thrown or caught. Grad-uations unattended. Weddings missed. An empty seat forever at the dinner table. Our prayer of the names is our way of say-ing we miss you and we will

always miss you. It is also our way of honoring you. Good lives cannot be forgotten—es-pecially when they are taken so tragically, so wantonly, so needlessly. In your memory, we build a legacy to the best inside of all of us.”

More than 500 family mem-bers and residents attended the

twilight ceremony. The ceremony was part of

various remembrance activi-ties throughout Westchester organized around the theme of using volunteerism as a way to honor those who died. Many of these events took place ear-lier in the day at the County Center. (Submitted)American flags and flower bouquets at the foot of the 9/11 Memorial at Kensico Dam.

A fresh wreathe adorns Kensico Dam on Thursday, Sept. 11 to pay tribute to the Westchester victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks. Photos/Bobby Begun


What’s going on...Italian heritage month at the library Our History.” He is currently working on a third

book.Toglia is a Fordham University graduate and

vice president of the Calitri American Cultural Group Inc. He is also a member of the Italian Genealogical Group and the Italian American Studies Association.

Vincent Ricciardi sings “Mario Lanza and Caruso Too”

Vincent Ricciardi sings “Mario Lanza and Caruso Too.” This event is from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18 in the Ossie Davis Theatre at 1 Library Plaza.

With the classical power of Andrea Bocelli, the pop styling of Josh Groban and the romanti-cism of Mario Lanza, and in the tradition of the great Enrico Caruso, Vincent Ricciardi has dazzled audiences in concert halls, theaters and night clubs throughout the Northeast. Now it’s New Rochelle’s turn to be swept away by his rich, powerful voice as he per-forms a program celebrating the great tenors of the 20th century and today.

The concert is made possible by the Friends of the New Rochelle Public Library. A donation of $2 at the door is suggested.

Each month, the library presents a number of live public performances in its Ossie Davis Theatre, an intimate, 138-seat venue. Draw-ing from the outstanding artists living and working in the New York Metropolitan area and the local community of New Rochelle, these performances include concerts of clas-

sical, jazz, folk, popular and world music, as well as dramatic and dance presentations. For more information on upcoming perfor-mances go to nrpl.org.

Bicycle Sundays

Bicycle Sundays has returned this Septem-ber. Bicycle Sundays on the Bronx River Park-way has two remaining Sundays, on Sept. 21 and 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

During Bicycle Sundays, a portion of the Bronx River Parkway is closed to cars for the exclusive use of bicyclists, joggers, walkers, and those with strollers. The course runs from the Westchester County Center in White Plains south towards Scarsdale Road in Yonkers. A to-tal of 13.1 miles round-trip.

There are various points of entry and exit along the way. Parking is available at the County Center lot in White Plains for a small fee of $5.

Bicycle Sundays is sponsored by Con-Edison and Friends of Westchester County Parks. It is presented by Westchester County Parks, with additional support provided by 100.7 WHUD radio station.

In the event of rain, the program will be can-celled. Call 995-4050 or go to the website at countycenter.biz

Westchester Sandbox Theatre

The Westchester Sandbox Theatre is calling all young actors and actresses. Registration for our fall semester of acting classes is now open.

The New Rochelle Public Library will pres-ent two special programs next month for Italian Heritage and Culture Month.

Calitrani Immigrants of America The Calitrani Immigrants of America will be

the topic of a free talk by historian Mario Toglia at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4. The village of Ca-litri is in the Avellino province of southern Italy. The lecture is the result of Toglia’s personal quest to discover his ancestors.

Toglia encourages the audience to become involved in the discovery of the facts relating to their own family’s immigrant history. He stress-es the importance of keeping the legacy alive and recording the historical chain of events for the generations that follow.

Toglia, a Brooklyn native, is the editor of two books, “They Came By Ship: The Stories of the Calitrani Immigrants in America” and “Preserving

Deadline for our What’s Going On section is every Thursday at 3 p.m. Though space is not guaranteed, we will do our best to

accommodate your listing. Please send all items to [email protected].

Gain confidence, learn new skills, and become a stronger performer in this class that uses impro-visation, monologues and scene work to create theatrical magic.

Classes take place on Wednesdays beginning on Sept. 24 and run through Nov. 19.

The theatre is located at 931c E. Boston Post Road in Mamaroneck. For more information, call 630-0804 or visit the site at wstshows.com.

Beach clean-up

Help pitch-in to beautify New York’s beaches at Marshlands. All tools will be provided. This begins at 10 a.m. and goes until 3 p.m.

For more info on these and other events at Westchester County Nature Centers, contact 968-5851 or go to parks.westchestergov.com.


This September, the Neu-berger Museum of Art at Pur-chase College will publish an impressive new tome, “When Modern was Contemporary: the Roy R. Neuberger Collec-tion,” providing new informa-tion on a remarkable moment in the history of the devel-opment of modern art in the United States.

The 276-page, fully-illus-trated, hardcover collection catalogue chronicles Roy R. Neuberger’s work as collector, donor and arts advocate. The book will be published in con-junction with the exhibition of the same name, now on view at the Neuberger Museum of Art, featuring many works that Mr. Neuberger purchased within a month to a year or two of their execution, reflect-ing his commitment to sup-port living artists working in the United States, particularly during the formative stages of their careers.

Mr. Neuberger was not only at the forefront of acquiring works by soon-to-be-canon-

ical artists—including Mil-ton Avery, Alexander Calder, Helen Frankenthaler, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Mark Roth-ko, and Charles Sheeler—but also by Romare Bearden, Forrest Bess, Kenzo Okada, Hedda Sterne, Rufino Tamayo and others who were less well-known or socially margin-alized in their lifetimes and whose work has only been giv-en the attention it deserves in relatively recent scholarship.

The collection reflects the diversity of Mr. Neuberger’s discerning eye and his inter-est in artists and styles that ex-tended beyond what was com-mercially popular during the era of their creation and have subsequently proved invalu-able to our understanding of this period of art and history.

“When Modern was Con-temporary” includes an in-troduction by Dr. Tracy Fitz-patrick, the museum’s chief curator and associate profes-sor of art history at Purchase College, SUNY, who also or-

ganized and edited the publi-cation, as well as short essays by additional scholars and re-searchers on 50 of the most important works in the Roy R. Neuberger Collection.

The Roy R. Neuberger Col-lection, the cornerstone of the Neuberger Museum’s per-manent collection, was built mainly between the early 1940s and 1960 and was con-sidered by many to be the most important private collection of contemporary American art in the world. The collection is strongest in materials that de-scribe the evolution of mod-ernism in the visual arts of North America.

The Neuberger Museum of Art opened its doors 40 years ago on the Purchase College campus as a cultural and in-tellectual center for modern, contemporary, and African art. It had been the dream of New York’s then governor, Nel-son A. Rockefeller, to build a world class art museum on the campus to enrich the life of the college and local community.

Neuberger publishes collection catalogue

The Neuberger Museum of Art publishes its first permanent collection catalogue, “When Modern was Contemporary: the Roy R. Neuberger Collection,” providing new information on a remarkable moment in the history of the development of modern art in the United States. Photo courtesy worldofwynne.com

Rockefeller turned to financier Roy R. Neuberger to donate part of his collection to estab-lish the museum’s holdings. In 1969, Neuberger donated more than 100 works from his extensive art collection, con-sidered by many to have been the most important private collection of contemporary American art in the world, and became the museum’s found-ing patron.

Over the years, Neuberger

continued to donate works from his collection to the mu-seum, now numbering more than 800, forming the core of its 7,000-piece collection.

Copies of book may be ob-tained from the museum shop at the Neuberger Museum of Art for $60. For further infor-mation, call 251-6131.

The Neuberger Museum of Art is an integral part of Pur-chase College. The museum is supported in part by the State

University of New York. Sup-port for the museum’s collec-tion, exhibitions, publications and education programs is provided by grants from pub-lic and private agencies, indi-vidual contributions, and the Friends of the Neuberger Mu-seum of Art’s members and board. The museum is located at 735 Anderson Hill Road in Purchase. You may con-tact the museum at 251-6100.(Submitted)


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The second annual New Rochelle Street Fair and Festival drew hundreds of people downtown to Main Street on Sunday, Sept. 7. The festival was presented by streetfairs.org in partner-ship with the City of New Rochelle, and admission was free. Approximately 85 ven-dors, artists and merchants provided guests with a diz-zying array of food and fun as men, women and children of all ages streamed down the thoroughfare to enjoy one of the last days before the official start of the fall season. -Photos and reporting by Alina Suriel

New Rochelle street fair draws fanfare

Jayden proudly shows off the t-shirt he won.

Odane Whilby performs a soothing set of music with his acoustic guitar.

Heather Huston of Fantabulous Faces turns a young girl into an exotic creature using only face paint.

Classic street fair booths had an assortment of food and drinks for sale.

Hot wheels in the classic car show drew attention from curious passersby.

Cinthya looks up for a moment in between selecting different colors of sand for a project at one of the craft booths.

A tent of colorful, Peruvian-inspired jewelry tempts guests to reach into their wallets.


By JOHN BRANDIStaff Writer

Pyrotechnics may soon light up the sky over Harrison, pend-ing officials’ approval.

The Harrison Town Council has unanimously approved a re-quest by CBS/EYE Productions to film a fireworks display on Wednesday, Sept. 17, after press time, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Old Oaks Country Club, 3100 Purchase St., as part of a new show called “Members Only.”

According to Town Clerk Jackie Greer, the fireworks re-quire paperwork, which the pro-duction company has yet to sub-mit as of press time. The display will also need Greer’s approval along with that of the fire mar-shal and police chief.

“Members Only” centers on an exclusive Connecticut coun-try club and focuses on the club’s elite members and the working-class employees who make the place tick, according to Dead-line Hollywood, an industry in-sider website. “Members Only” will star John Stamos of ABC’s “Full House” fame, and Natalie Zea, from FX’s “Justified” and FOX’s “The Following.”

Greer said the reason the Town Council heard the re-quest is it votes on all matters dealing with fireworks. Greer is then responsible for reviewing the paperwork that outlines the plan for the display, be it a film/television production or summer time events, like July 4. If things adhere to the town/village code, she makes a determination if the

New ABC pilot to film in Harrison

permit is granted. Greer said the production

company has requested to use the grounds for 10 days for film-ing beginning Monday, Sept. 8. There is an undisclosed rain date for the firework display in case Sept. 17 doesn’t pan out.

Greer said, with filming, things can change and the pro-duction company may not even record a fireworks scene. Right now, Greer said it was simply “a thought” until she receives pa-perwork detailing what the com-pany intends to do.

Greer said there’s a distinc-tion between film licenses and fireworks permits. The produc-tion company has already re-ceived a film license for insur-ance purposes.

“We’ve issued film licenses [to] a lot of movies through the years [in Harrison],” Greer said.

The clerk said the new HBO series “The Leftovers” asked for a film license to shoot in Har-rison earlier this year. A scene from “The Leftovers,” which is based on the 2011 bestsell-ing book by Tom Perotta, was filmed on March 14, 2014, at the Harrison police station located at 650 North St.

Tyler Demarest, events co-ordinator at Old Oaks Country Club, said the production com-pany is still in the process of try-ing to film the firework display.

“[The filming involves] us keeping in touch with EYE Productions, coordinating all fireworks stuff,” Demarest said. “[The actual fireworks are] something bigger than a Roman

candle; all large shells [are to be done] with virtual effects. The club is fine with this; [we’re] drafting a letter [saying the] club is fond of this and well informed of this.”

Harrison Police Chief An-thony Marraccini said efforts are already in place to ensure both residents and film crew are hap-py. He said a plan was put into effect about 15 years ago, when Marraccini was deputy police chief, to make sure a police pres-ence is on a film set, be it public or private property, to allow the process to run smoothly.

“Ever since then, not only have we found residents to be satisfied, we found film com-panies come to us satisfied with services, but we go to certain ex-tents to ensure filming is effort-less,” Marraccini said.

If the production company moves forward with the firework scene, Marraccini said, residents will be alerted through a letter from the production company. However, Marraccini said resi-dents can also subscribe, at no cost, to a community alert sys-tem to get updates through text messages. The website to sign up to those alerts is mycommu-nityalert.net.

“[We found] text messages were more reliable, especially in times of crisis, than phone calls,” Marraccini said.

Robert FitzSimmons, Harri-son building and plumbing in-spector, could not be reached as of press time.

CONTACT: [email protected]

Old Oaks Country Club, at 3100 Purchase St., will be used as a location for ABC’s new television pilot “Members Only.” Photo courtesy newyorkinsider


Clay Art celebrates open houseBy CHRIS PETROwSKI

Contributor

The Clay Art Center, as in art made from clay, is located on Beech Street in Port Ches-ter, behind the village’s south-end firehouse and right off Main Street. It has been there since 1957 and, despite being the largest and busiest ceram-ic facility in our area, it is not known far and wide.

According to Program Co-ordinator Dominque Mason, the center is, “still kind of a se-cret and we don’t want to be.”

The center’s annual open house on Saturday, Sept. 6, helped to get the word out to more people about what the center has to offer.

Accroding to the center’s vision statement, its purpose is “to kindle a passion for the ceramic arts and provide a community for that passion to flourish.”

The center’s staff accom-plishes this goal in many im-portant ways. The center offers exhibition programs to show the work of artists at various

points in their careers as well as the work of their students in an annual student exhibition entitled Rising Stars.

The center’s community arts outreach focuses on at-risk youth, seniors, underserved families and developmentally disabled adults, among others, and Clay Art is active in the Port Chester schools, bringing its passion to the village’s children.

The center also holds nu-merous community events, like the open house, which

helps spread the word to the general public.

For those who are already familiar with clay artists, the names of just a few who have been involved at the Port Ches-ter center are Viola Frey, Judith Schwartz, Leslie Ferrin and Mi-chael Frimkess. These artists have gone on to become profes-sors, curators and gallery own-ers, each highly respected in the art world.

The open house was abso-lutely free and open to all ages.

As always, there were demon-strations by the resident artists, hands-on activities for all age groups, tours of the facility and the opportunity to meet the teachers and staff.

This year, the event featured scheduled image lectures by resident artists Kelley Dona-hue, Lindsey Francis, Ron Gei-bel and Matthew Smith—who

will be teaching classes start-ing this fall—and Handle–Ma-nia, a demonstration of varied techniques for building handles for mugs and other sculptures.

Attendees will find a myr-iad of opportunities for learn-ing at all skill levels, includ-ing frequent, free community workshops for Port Chester residents as the center is a

nonprofit organization.According to Executive Di-

rector Leigh Taylor Mickelson, “Although we have been around since 1957, we have only been not-for-profit since 2007, and the decision to do that has es-sentially given Clay Art Center to the community.”

For more information, call 937-2047.


if there is exclusionary zoning in a given area based on socio-economic factors—along with the previously completed work done by the county and send it to HUD as a completed analysis of impediments before the deadline passes.

Astorino declined and out-lined his reasons why in a letter to Kaplowitz.

In the letter, Astorino said the Huntington report was in-complete, the Berenson report was inaccurate and incorporat-ing the monitor’s report would “completely undermine the principle of Home Rule since the county would be agreeing to turn over decision making on local zoning to a federal agency.”

The alternative route for Kaplowitz was to vote on and pass his proposed legislation that would send the informa-tion to HUD as a 17-member legislature, but he said didn’t have the 12 votes needed to override an anticipated veto from the county executive.

Kaplowitz said, “It was dis-appointing to lose the $15.6 million in 2012, ’13 and ’14 grant money, but there’s much more at stake with the overall 2009 settlement. We are work-ing to avoid the settlement from being reopened, which could mean we have to build more [than 750] units, and leave us open for fines and more inter-cepted federal money for not being in compliance.”

He said if the county doesn’t comply with the set-tlement, the county could lose approximately $540 million, which was an estimate from 2009 when the agreement was first signed.

To put things in perspective, Kaplowitz said, the county re-ceives $200 million in federal aid.

“If we lose that, ball game’s up at that point,” Kaplowitz said.

Legislator Catherine Borgia, an Ossining Democrat, blamed Astorino for putting the county in this situation.

“It’s a shame that we’ve reached this point where we’ve lost an incredible amount of aid that the people of Westches-ter deserve. The delay strategy and the uncooperative strategy of the Astorino administration has chosen to take over the years has had a direct finan-

HOUSING from page 1

cial impact on the county,” Borgia said. “And it’s based on stubbornness and pursuit of an ideology that doesn’t ben-efit the people of Westchester County.”

But legislative opinion about Astorino was split along party lines.

John Testa, a Cortlandt Re-publican, expressed his sup-port for the county executive.

“Astorino has done every-thing HUD has asked him to do with eight submissions of analyses of impediments. And each new submission was based on a request from the previous submission. So, when one submission was handed in, HUD would say ‘you’re missing this.’ [Astori-no] filled in that missing part and the next one would say ‘you’re missing this,’” Testa said. “The bar kept moving on the [Astorino] administration.”

Deadline or no deadline, the county and the munici-palities involved will have to address the monitor’s report, which indicates there are six municipalities—Harrison, Larchmont, North Castle, Rye Brook, Lewisboro and Pelham Manor—that have exclusion-ary zoning based on the Hun-tington test.

According to the monitor’s report, the municipalities with exclusionary zoning under the Huntington standard either “perpetuate clustering by re-stricting multifamily or two-family housing to districts that have disproportionately high minority household popula-tions” or “disparately impact the county minority household population by restricting the development of housing types most often used by minority residents.”

In a roundtable discussion with the Board of Legislators on Sept. 10, Johnson empha-sized this report was “evi-dence” of exclusionary zon-ing, not “findings,” and what’s

being presented is raw data without taking into account various zoning constraints or asking why the zoning code is configured as it is.

Johnson said the analysis of the data comes as part of step two, when the monitor talks with each municipality; this is just the beginning of the pro-cess. He said municipalities will have the opportunity to address him and “come for-ward with legitimate reasons that justify the current zoning provisions” with evidence to support their claims.

“If there are insurmount-able environmental issues in that the infrastructure can’t support multifamily housing in the area, that could be a rea-son,” Johnson said.

Johnson and municipalities have been in talks to rectify zon-ing concerns stemming from his first report, released in Septem-ber 2013, that analyzed zoning codes under the Berenson test. In last year’s report, seven munici-palities were identified—Harri-son, Pelham Manor, Croton-on-Hudson, Lewisboro, Ossining, Pound Ridge and the unincorpo-rated Town of Mamaroneck—to have exclusionary zoning based on the Berenson test.

Since the report was re-leased, municipalities have been working with the moni-tor to alter their zoning to al-low for more affordable hous-ing opportunities. Kaplowitz said all the municipalities have had discussions with the moni-tor with varying degrees of in-volvement.

The Town of Mamaroneck has been taken off the list of seven after altering its zoning code, and, according to the monitor’s report, Ossining and Pound Ridge “have made con-siderable progress in reform-ing their zoning codes to ex-pand opportunities for afford-able housing development.”


Federal housing monitor Jim Johnson, center, who is overseeing the 2009 affordable housing settlement between Westchester County and the federal government, met with county legislators on Sept. 10 to discuss his recently completed Huntington analysis. Photo/Chris Eberhart


is we don’t have to go back to square one and rethink the wheel with Mr. Biederman. These were both finalists [in the RFP process] for good reason. The board feels whatever happens in that park needs to start with the amuse-ment park first, and we don’t have to wait until 2016. Let’s pick someone for 2015.”

Kaplowitz said he believes both companies have the ideas and finical backing to improve Playland.

“I urge the county executive to work with us to finish the process of choosing an opera-tor so we can turn over opera-tions to one of these compa-nies in time for the 2015 sea-son at Playland,” he said.

But the Board of Legisla-tors has no authority to enter into any kind of lease or agree-ment with either company.

“We simply want to con-tinue our due diligence and dialogue with the other two fi-nalists. We as a board are quite concerned about the condition of Playland and recognized the need to move expeditiously, but we are not planning on en-acting legislation at this time,”

Harckham said.

Standard AmusmentsStandard Amusements is

a special purposes entity that is backed by Standard Gen-eral, a New York-based invest-ment firm founded by Nicho-las Singer and Soo Kim that Singer said is worth approxi-mately $1 billion. Jack Falfas, who has more than 40 years of experience in the amusements industry, is the CEO of Stan-dard Amusements.

As part of its Playland pro-posal, the company earmarked a $25 million commitment to the county—$6 million up-front and another $19 million for capital investments, most of which are for “mundane tasks” such as painting, wood replace-ment, pavement work and land-scaping, according to Singer.

“We want to restore Play-land to being the crown jewel of Westchester County family entertainment. That means not turning Playland into Great Adventure; it’s maintaining the park’s historical integrity. We’ve viewed this all along as a restoration project,” Singer said. “It’s a low-impact plan. We want to take what’s there

and fix it without doing any-thing too radical.”

Of the $19 million, Singer said approximately $15 mil-lion will be spent on capital improvements before the sec-ond season because “it’s im-portant to make a big splash.”

“The amusement park is the driver behind this asset…and with that in mind, we are focused on rehabilitating the amusement park,” Singer said. “A new operator gets one chance to say ‘We’re here, and we’re doing things differently and this place is going to be great.’ And if customers come and say it’s the same thing it has always been with one new ride, then they’re going to write you off.”

According to Standard Am- usements’ plan, there will be a facelift for the park that in-cludes removing chipped paint, sanding and repainting as well as improving the cleanliness of the facility. There would also be an infusion of new food ven-dors and new games.

As for Playland’s rides, Standard has a two-pronged strategy: refurbish old rides, such as the carousel and Drag-on Coaster, and add three new

rides including a double loop water slide worth $1.5 million to enhance the pool area, an in-teractive children’s water play element worth $2.2 million and a “unicoaster,” which sim-ulates a looping roller coaster but with a smaller footprint, worth $1.2 million.

Singer said, revenue cre-ated from the park first goes towards paying the operating costs, which Kaplowitz said has cost the county approxi-mately $14.5 million per year, then to the annual capital im-provements for the upcoming season, which Singer estimated to be between $1.5 million to $2.5 million per year, followed by a $5 million managing fee to Standard Amusements. Any remaining surplus, if there is any, goes to the county as part of the proposed agreement.

As part of the original plan, Standard Amusements includ-ed fields in the back corner of the parking lot near the isthmus by the Edith Reed Sanctuary, but, because of the backlash SPI received, Singer said those fields could be removed and the approximately $4 million that would’ve been spent on the fields would be reallocated somewhere else depending on what the community, county and City of Rye wanted to do.

PROPOSALS from page 10

Central Amusement InternationalCentral Amusement, which

is backed by Zamperla, an inter-national amusements company, is known mostly in the United States for its rejuvenation work on Coney Island.

Valeiro Farrari, the presi-dent of Central Amusements, said the company invested more than $40 million for new rides and capital works in Coney Island since 2010, al-though the original investment was just over $23 million. Far-rari said a similar thing can happen with Playland.

Central Amusement’s origi-nal investment is for $25 mil-lion, but “I’d bet it will end up double that,” Farrari said.

In general, Farrari said Cen-tral Amusement’s plan for Play-land is “going to have new res-taurants, it’s going to be open to the public [and] it’s going to be a year-round attraction” with shows during Halloween and Christmas as well as concerts when weather permits.

Although, conceptually, Cen-tral Amusement and Standard Amusements appear to have similar ideas for Playland, philosophically the two com-panies are different.

While Singer said Stan-dard Amusements is more fo-cused on rejuvenating the park

Although Standard Amusements president David Singer said the focus of their plan is to invest in capital improvements like painting and planting landscape, Standard Amusements is proposing three new rides including the above pictured double loop water slide. Photo courtesy Standard Amusements

through smaller improvements like painting and adding new landscaping, Farrari said the park doesn’t need as much aesthetic work.

“I think we don’t need much paint. The park looks pretty good to me. The flowers and trees look fantastic. You don’t have to do much,” Farrari said.

Instead, he said Central Am- usement will fix old rides and create new rides such as the “tallest pendulum ride in the world” or other new attrac-tions, to lure customers to the park and “put Playland back on the map.”

“The first thing I’ll do is work on the family attractions. Those rides are old and falling apart,” Farrari said. “We need to develop new rides to show-case in Rye Playland. People are going to want to come to Playland to see the rides.”

Although the plan is to add new rides, Farrari said large-scale cosmetic work, such as fixing the deteriorating towers and restoring the infrastruc-ture, will be done.

Joe Montalto, an advisor with Central Amusement, said the plan is to return a lot of in-frastructure to its original de-signs.

“What differs Playland from, let’s say, Coney Island is Play-land is a theme park, and the theme is an art-deco themed atmosphere, so you walk into the park and step back into the 1920s and 1930s. That’s very welcoming, so we want to pre-serve that,” Montalto said.

Farrari said he “disagreed 100 percent with the ‘big splash’” Singer spoke about.

Farrari said Central Amuse-ment would like to start in Jan-uary and make small improve-ments and make gradual in-creases in attendance each year.

“We’re here for the long haul; not two or three years,” Farrari said.


The “Air Race” ride is just one of many ideas Central Amusement has for new rides for Playland along with the possibility of the “tallest pendulum ride in the world,” according to Valeiro Farrari, president of Central Amusement.Photo courtesy Central Amusement


One more thing before I go

This will be the final edition of “Life As I Know It” and the last edition of the Review on which I will serve as deputy editor.

After two years with Home Town Media Group, the parent company of this newspaper, I am moving on to another op-portunity, but, before I go, I thought I’d use our last visit together in this space to make the one thing I’ve learned in my time here, above all oth-ers, perfectly clear in the hope someone within reach of these words will read them and take them to heart.

It’s never too late.Two years ago, I was in

a pretty bad place. I hadn’t worked a job outside my home in 12 years and the fiction ca-reer I’d left the workforce to pursue had stagnated practical-ly before it began. I didn’t like myself much anymore, cer-tainly didn’t like my life very much at all at that point, and felt more like a kept househu-sband than I did anything else. My choices and my failure to execute them put a strain on me, on my wife, on our mar-riage; everything.

That was the low point.The conversation in which

we decided I should return to work, in whatever capacity, was one of the most difficult I’ve ever had. Between you and I, reaching out in an at-tempt to get a reporter job with the Review was something I did basically as a formality. There’s no way, I thought, I’d ever get a shot in journalism, which was something I wanted to do, something everyone told me I was good at, as far back as high school, which, at that point, was 20 years earlier.

Twenty years.You have to prove yourself

to get a journalism job. No one tells you that in the want ad, but you do. I had to prove

myself to get that job report-ing on the Village and Town of Mamaroneck in Septem-ber 2012 by writing a news story concerning something about which I knew nothing, the county’s waste water treat-ment plant on the Boston Post Road in Mamaroneck.

I did it, though, and I got the job. And then things got exponentially harder.

We may have discussed this here once before, but journalism, when done cor-rectly, is something you have to do on the front lines, so to speak. You have to put your-self, whether physically or interpersonally, in a position to get what you need to write the best story and inform the public. That’s often uncom-fortable and, if you’re not used to it, it can be pretty daunting.

If you haven’t worked out-side your house in 12 years, or really in an office ever, it can seem impossible. And it did.

My first week or so on the job here as a reporter was the most difficult period of my life. I could not have been any further out of my com-fort zone than if I was a mis-sionary in Zimbabwe, which might have been preferable after I had trouble gathering man on the street quotes my second day.

In those early days I was never comfortable, I was never happy and I didn’t feel like I was me anymore.

And then I was comfort-able, and I was happy, and I wasn’t me anymore. I was someone better.

Proving myself as a re-porter, then as an editor, is the hardest, best thing I’ve ever done and I’m grateful to ev-eryone who made those op-portunities possible.

Here are three of them.First, Review publisher How-

ard Sturman, who twice in my two years here showed confi-dence in my value to the com-pany in the best way a publisher can. I thank him for that.

Second, former Editor-in-

Chief Mark Lungariello, who was the guy who gave me that opportunity to prove myself as a reporter and who, in doing so, picked me up off the scrap heap of the life I had and let me through the door to make the transition to this new one. I’ll always be grateful for that chance and I’m happy to call Mark my friend today.

Finally, I’ll mention current Review Editor-in-Chief Chris-tian Falcone. I have never worked harder or closer with anyone in my life and I think the victories we’ve had are some of the most rewarding I’ve ever experienced.

Chris and I will be the first two guys to tell you we are al-most nothing alike, but we’re both Yonkers guys, we both care deeply about your news-paper and we found enough common ground to establish a base we’ve expanded into the best working relationship I’ve ever had. Chris gave me enough room, and enough faith, to transform the deputy editor role with this company into something it has never been and it was my honor to work alongside him to put this newspaper into your hands for the last year and half.

I consider Chris my friend, and I’ll miss working with him.

And I’ll also miss you. Writing this column was fun, and I especially enjoyed com-municating with some of you directly when one of our visits here struck you for one reason or another. It was nice to know you were out there reading and I appreciated your time.

Two years ago, I was a would’ve-been writer with just about nothing to show for 12 years of his life. As I type these last few words to you, I’m a professional journalist on the way to a new opportu-nity in the field with one no-vella published and another on the way.

It’s not always easy, but it’s never too late.



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Homemade flan with caramel sauce, whipped cream and strawberries. Photos/Emily Giove

Cooking professionally since the age of 15, The 808 Bistro’s chef and owner Salvatore “Sal” Cucullo has spent a consider-able amount of his life inside the kitchen.

At his grandfather’s pizze-ria in the Bronx, Cucullo was making pizzas himself by age 11. The family business trans-formed into a traditional Italian restaurant in New Rochelle, where a young Cucullo was thrown into the mix one week-end when chefs were off-duty. Cucullo instantly recognized his passion for cooking and de-cided he wanted to pursue the art long term.

Cucullo knew, ultimately, he wanted his own restaurant. After formal training at the Culinary Institute of America and work at a handful of restau-rants, Cucullo compiled what he learned from each experi-ence to open The 808 Bistro in

Scarsdale in 2010. 808’s dedi-cated team is primarily com-prised of employees who have been involved since day one, including Cucullo’s mother Linda. The work atmosphere Cucullo has created has a vis-ible family feel, not unlike his grandfather’s eatery many years ago. Guests, too, are treated with the same above-and-beyond warmth.

The restaurant’s namesake is not simply its 808 Scars-dale Ave. address. For one, Cucullo’s grandmother always liked the number eight. Also, Cucullo said, 50 years ago, the building housed 808 Bar and Grill, which remained in existence for about 30 years. When cleaning and renovating the space, Cucullo uncovered an old photograph of this es-tablishment that is now hang-ing on the wall, purposefully near the bar.

He said the other panels hanging on walls all across the restaurant are for acoustical reasons.

In order to showcase his in-novative “Italian fusion” menu, Cucullo prepared small por-tions of several beloved dishes. My meal commenced with a chilled cucumber and pineapple gazpacho that was equal parts spicy and refreshing. To follow was a spinach salad with can-died walnuts, strawberries and fresh burrata. The creamy, un-questionably high-quality cheese elevated this salad to next-level delicious.

Crispy shrimp wontons with soy garlic aioli are a rela-tively new—and somewhat unexpected—appetizer I re-ally enjoyed. Duck spring rolls are another recent addition Cucullo is proud of, although I did not taste them in this visit.

To follow the wontons, I savored a pleasingly moist, breadless crab cake with a peach remoulade. I tasted Cu-cullo’s summer corn succotash on its own, which is usually served with his salmon. What looked like a small, simple bowl of veggies was a truly flavorful and tasty side dish.

The 808 Bistro: Family and tradition

It was a given I would sam-ple the renowned pistachio-crusted halibut, served with a tangerine buerre blanc and sautéed spinach. In my mul-tiple previous visits to 808, I had never been able to resist ordering Cucullo’s nana’s de-licious gnocchi, but I remem-ber dining with those who raved about the uniquely-pre-pared halibut. Needless to say, the white fish lived up to its hype. I loved the juxtaposition of the crunchy nuts with the almost translucent, flaky fish, and dipping every other bite in the citrus added a welcome tangy component.

Dessert was a sweet and sticky homemade flan with caramel sauce, whipped cream and strawberries.

Irresistible.As 808’s constantly chang-

ing menu reflects, Cucullo draws from a wide array of cuisines in his cooking. When the restaurant first opened, Cucullo changed up his offer-ings biweekly, but has since dialed down major updates so they coincide with the sea-sons—although regulars can take comfort in knowing cer-tain staples will never vanish. The cocktail menu is tweaked more frequently to feature a plethora of fresh, hand-mud-dled drinks. It is clear the same level of creativity applied to

Sous chef Pedro Luis Sosa, left, with head chef Salvatore “Sal” Cucullo.

Shrimp wonton with soy garlic aioli

Breadless crab cake with peach rémoulade Spinach salad with candied walnuts, strawberries and fresh burrata

Cucullo’s food is matched by the 808 bar.

In order to keep ahead of the culinary curve, Cucullo looks west to see what’s hap-pening in the California food scene, as the opposite coast is often a year or two ahead in that arena. He is also fre-quently inspired by the work of chefs at other restaurants and will try to put his own twist on dishes he encounters. I discovered he’s a big sushi eater and loves to dine out whenever possible, citing Su-shi Mike’s in Dobbs Ferry as a favorite spot.

If he had to choose his very final meal, though, it would be a classic slice of New York style pizza.

I’m with him there.

The 808 Bistro 808 Scarsdale Ave.

Scarsdale, N.y. the808bistro.com

Brought to you by SoWeTaste, a division of the Southern Westchester

Food & Wine Festival. Join us from Sept. 19 to 21 for a unique culinary celebration featuring the Tri-State

Area’s finest eats. @sowefoodfest;

www.sowefwf.com.

WEstcHEstErpAlAtEEmily Giove

14 • The city review • September 19 & September 26, 2014 SPORTS

Follow Mike Smith @LiveMike_Sports stats • recaps • commentary

Follow @cityreviewnr for Mike’s live, in-game action updates

To CoVER loCal spoRTs, you nEEd a

LIVE MIKE!

ArtsFest returns to New Ro, Pelham“ArtsFest” returns to New

Rochelle and Pelham on Saturday, Sept. 27 and Sunday, Sept. 28, with a full menu of art events and activities, from behind-the-scenes tours of art-ists’ studios—including the studio of world renowned 3D artist Charles Fazzino—and a free guided trolley ride around historic sites in downtown New Rochelle and Pelham, to a clas-sic car show, a film festival, a free concert and more.

Organized by the New Rochelle Council on the Arts, ArtsFest highlights the variety of arts and arts venues in New Rochelle and Pelham, providing both visitors and residents alike a window into the area’s rich cultural and artistic diversity. Among the hands-on activities planned are a community paint-ing party at Library Green guid-ed by Art Par-Tay, a hot metal

pour at the Pelham Art Center, LEGO Day at the Huguenot Children’s Library and the 3rd annual Lincoln Avenue Arts and Culture Festival, sponsored by Grow Lincoln Community Garden, with garden tours and demos, food and music. Participants will also have the chance to take in a movie—there’s a Sherlock Holmes film festival at the New Rochelle Public Library and screen-ings of two indie films at The Picture House in Pelham.

The weekend concludes with a free concert at Library Green at 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon featur-ing the Villalobos Brothers, a trio of virtuoso violinists, singer-song-writers, composers, arrangers and multi-talented instrumentalists who are known as one of the lead-ing ensembles of world music.

Making this year even more delicious, ArtsFest will be sand-

wiched between two New Rochelle Restaurant weeks, Sept. 22 to Sept. 26 and Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, featuring special menus at participating down-town restaurants. For a com-plete calendar of events visit newrochellearts.org.

ArtsFest is made pos-sible by “Patron Sponsors” Charles Fazzino and Mercedes Benz of New Rochelle; “Event Sponsors” Alvin and Friends Restaurant; the New Rochelle Business Improvement District; The College of New Rochelle; Iona College; trans-FORM Showroom and Gallery; “Community Sponsors” Cadillac; Dino DiFillippis DDS; the New Rochelle Fund for Educational Excellence; and Supporters: “Friends of the New Rochelle Public Library; AJ’s Burgers; Art Par-Tay; The Picture House; ArtsWestchester. (Submitted)

Follow us on Twitter@cityreviewnr

It’s just two weeks into the 2014 NFL season, and the question I find myself asking is this; when does hockey start?

It hasn’t been a good year for the NFL so far.

Between player scandals and questions about the integ-rity and competence of league officials, it’s enough to make any fan of the sport start to fo-cus on the on-field product, if only to drown out the distrac-tions.

But what happens to fans when the on-field product can’t provide any respite?

As a lifelong New York Gi-ants fan, I’ve seen my share of lean years. I lived through both the Danny Kanell and Dave Brown eras. But for whatev-er reason, there has been no stretch in Giant history that has had the ability to sap my enthusiasm for the NFL quite

A Giant disasterlike the current one.

This fall, for the second straight year, it looks like the Giants’ season might be effec-tively over before October. If Big Blue loses to the Texans on Sunday – which is a pretty good possibility – they would be the proud owners of an 0-3 record. With a tough three-game set against the Colts, Se-ahawks and 49ers coming up in a few weeks, this slow start will almost assuredly doom the Giants to another postsea-son on the golf course.

Now, I get it. The Giants recently won a

Super Bowl, their second in 10 years. By all laws of sports fandom, I should be allowing them a five-year grace pe-riod before I start complain-ing again. But I’m not asking for another trip to an NFC title game, here. I’m just ask-ing for the chance to still be watching meaningful football when my neighbors are begin-ning to think about decorating

for Halloween. And it’s not just the losing;

it’s how they’re losing. Offensive miscommunica-

tions. Breakdowns on special teams. Costly red zone turnovers.

The only area in which the Giants are consistently suc-cessful each week is in rais-ing my blood pressure.

At least last year, I had a playoff-bound fantasy team to hold my interest once the Giants were eliminated by Columbus Day.

This year? Not so much. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be so

concerned with my hand-picked team dropping the first two games of the season. But con-sidering I wasted my first-round pick on Adrian Peterson— who is likely done for the year after facing child abuse allegations last week, it seems like it’s time for me to pack it in.

It’s going to be a long fall, but I’ll still be parked on my couch, watching the Giants

spin their wheels for another year and waiting for the Rang-ers’ season-opener in October.

It could always be worse though. I could be rooting for the Jets.

The NFL season is only two weeks old, but sports editor Mike Smith is already looking ahead to next year. Photo courtesy NFL.com

Follow Mike on Twitter, @LiveMike_Sports

September 19 & September 26, 2014 • THE CITy REvIEw • 15SPORTS

New Rochelle RoundupGirls Swimming

9/12 New Rochelle d. Rye 93-77

In their first swim meet of the season, the Huguenots downed a worthy challenger in Rye, dominating the top spots in the relays to beat the Gar-nets by a convincing 16 points.

Christina Faust was part of the 400 and 200-meter free-style and the 200 medley relay squads that took first place in addition to winning two in-dividual races in the 200 and 500-meter freestyle event. Sa-mantha Neumann also won two individual races in addi-tion to her contributions in the relays, taking first in the 200 Individual Medley and 100-meter breaststroke.

The only two events in which the Huguenots did not come away with a first place finish were the 50 and 100 free-style races, which were won by Rye’s Jane Curran and Hannah Simmons, respectively.

Football9/13 New Rochelle d.

Ramapo 34-6New Rochelle stayed un-

beaten on Saturday, outclass-ing Ramapo with an explosive 34-point first half. The Hu-guenots stellar defense shut the Rams out until the second half.

Overshadowing the game, however, was the return of New Rochelle graduate and

NFL star Ray Rice who made his first public appearance since being suspended indefi-nitely by the NFL last Monday for his role in a domestic vio-lence incident.

Rice, who received a warm reception from the New Ro-chelle crowd, watched the first half of the game from the side-lines with his wife, daughter, and several of his former high school teammates.

Boys Soccer9/12 New Rochelle d.

Scarsdale 2-1New Rochelle netted a big

win against its league rival on Friday, beating visiting Scars-dale 2-1. The Huguenots drew first blood in the first half on a goal by Beni De La Rosa and increased the lead in the second half when Alejandro Oliveros collected a rebound and found the net. In the 61st

minute, the Raiders were able to get on the board with a goal by Jon Dorf, but the comeback attempt would fall short.

The Huguenots are current-ly 3-1 on the season.

Girls Soccer9/10 Scarsdale d. New Rochelle 2-1

Last week, Scarsdale edged a young New Rochelle squad 2-1 on the strength of two early goals by Zoe Epstein and Erin McDonald. The Huguenots mounted a challenge in the second half when Sophie Wolf found the net after a pass from Sabrina Salov, but it wouldn’t be enough to bury the Raiders.

The Huguenots will get an-other shot at Scarsdale on Fri-day, Sept. 19 when the Raiders travel to New Rochelle. They are also eyeing a tough Satur-day, Sept. 27 matchup with the Mamaroneck Tigers.

A New Rochelle swimmer competes in the backstroke against Harrison on Sept. 15. New Rochelle’s swim team is off to a good start in 2014. Photos/Bobby Begun

A Huguenot takes to the water against Harrison. The Huguenots have shown great skill in the relay events so far.

A Huguenot swimmer does the breaststroke on Sept. 15.


Documents

The City Review-New Rochelle 9-19-2014