When Village personnel heard about the oncoming storm and the possibility of record rainfalls and local flooding they realized that Scarsdale residents could need a storm shelter. DPW Superintendent Benny Salanitro contacted the local American Red Cross (ARC) on Friday to say that Scarsdale planned to establish a shelter at the Quaker Ridge Elementary School, and the Red Cross agreed to help. The Village provided this information to Westchester County’s Emergency Operations Center and included it in the Village’s storm preparation communications to residents. The Red Cross made 50 cots available, and these cots were picked up by the Scarsdale Highway Department and delivered to Quaker Ridge School on Saturday. The Red Cross promised to send representatives to staff the shelter along with food, water and supplies. For unknown reasons they failed to deliver staff or supplies, and on Saturday afternoon the Fire Department faced the possibility of not opening the shelter at all. That’s when the volunteer firefighters stepped in at the last minute and took control.

Scarsdale’s volunteer firefighters and career firefighters set up the cots in the shelter, opened the doors, and staffed it from 6pm Saturday until 1pm Sunday,

when the last evacuees left. This meant that several volunteers slept at the shelter, leaving their homes and families vulnerable to the storm. Since ARC failed to deliver food the Village was faced with a real dilemma, especially since most stores and restaurants were closed for the storm. The Scarsdale Fire Department donated water that was originally intended to be available to first responders and the Scarsdale PBA generously donated a tray of sandwiches that they had ordered in advance of the storm. Some of the volunteers went out and purchased bagels on Sunday morning, laying out their own money (they will be reimbursed by the Village), and volunteer Larry Price went to his house to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when a hungry young girl arrived at the shelter at 9 pm on Saturday night.

As Benny Salanitro put it “the volunteers did a yeoman’s job, and without them stepping up to the plate there would have been no shelter – period”. Thanks to their willingness to jump in 15 people were able to seek shelter from the storm, including eight Scarsdale residents.

(Pictured at top: Volunteer Firefighters Jeff Hill, Company #1 and Jeff Koslowsky, Company#3)

 

Here are some phone numbers and essential information to keep handy during the storm. Scarsdale residents can put their cars out of harms way, in the Freightway Garage off Garth Road in Scarsdale Village. FREE indoor parking is available there for local residents during the storm.

• The Scarsdale Village Emergency Services Department including Police, Fire, Public works and Utility personnel will be on duty during the storm to respond to emergencies. If you have an issue, call the storm hotline at 722-1150 after 7 pm on Saturday to report flooding, downed trees or debris that is blocking Village streets.
• Only call 911 in case of emergency
• If you have a power outage, call Con Edison at 1-800-75-CONED (1-800-752-6633)
• The Quaker Ridge Elementary School located at 125 Weaver Street will serve as the Village’s Emergency Shelter. The shelter will be opened if necessary for any residents displaced from their residence due to the storm. The Village will utilize its Emergency Notification System to announce an opening of the shelter.
• For updates, go to http://www.scarsdale.com

Greenburgh Residents:

• The Village non-emergency number is 682-5300
• For Con Edison power outage or gas and electrical service problems: call (800) 75-CONED and for NYSEG electricity power outages call (800) 572-1131 for NYSEG natural gas power outage : (800) 572-1121
• Updates will be posted on the Village website at http://www.greenburghny.com/
• Paul Feiner will accept phone calls at 478-1219. His office number is 993-1545 and his cell phone number 438-1343.

Other tips and information:

• Fill up pitchers of water from the sink today and store them in your refrigerator in case there are problems with the water supply.  Also consider filling up one of your bathtubs with water for use during the storm.
• Remove valuables from basements and areas of your home which may flood.
• There will be no Bee-Line Bus or ParaTransit service on Sunday. Normal operations will continue on Saturday, with the last routes going out at 6 p.m., except for ParaTransit medical trips, which will continue. Service will resume Monday if conditions allow.
• The Bronx River Parkway will be closed Saturday at 6 p.m. from the split with the Sprain Brook Parkway to Kensico Dam.
  

If you have storm photos or stories to share, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and we will post them.

 

 

The Procedure Committee invites eligible Scarsdale Residents to run for election on November 15 to the Citizen’s Nominating Committee (CNC), the non-partisan group that chooses candidates for major Village offices. This is one of two venues for citizens to participate in the electoral process in Scarsdale (the other being the School Board Nominating Committee Election). Once elected, the 10 new members of the CNC will join 20 sitting CNC members in four or five meetings to propose and choose individuals to run in the Village election next March for three Trustee positions and Mayor. These candidates run under the banner of the Scarsdale Non-Partisan Party, and since they usually run unopposed, by choosing them the CNC effectively chooses the Village government.

CNC members are expected to attend all meetings, to serve for three years (10 of the 30 members retire and are replaced each year), and to serve on the Procedure Committee for one year after their retirement from the CNC. CNC meeting dates for 2011-2012 will be Dec 4, Jan 8, Jan 22, Jan 25 and if necessary Jan 29. Note with the exception of Jan 25 (Wed), all meeting dates are on Sundays and scheduled to minimally interfere with holiday and other commitments.

Eligible CNC candidates have to be registered voters and to have lived in Scarsdale for at least two years. In addition, CNC candidates cannot be currently on the School Board Nominating or Administrative Committees, the Board of Education, the Board of Trustees or the Procedure Committee.

Candidates run for one of two CNC positions in their elementary school district. A minimum of two candidates are needed per position, 4 candidates per school district and a minimum total of 20 candidates to run for 10 CNC positions this year.

To run, candidates must file a nominating petition with 10 signatures of registered voters from their elementary school district, as well as a short biographical sketch. Forms for both are available as downloads from the Procedure committee website. They may also be obtained at the Scarsdale Library, Village Hall, from the Chair of the Procedure Committee (Michelle Lichtenberg, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 725-6545) or the Vice Chair (David Brodsky, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 725-8437).

The deadline for filing both forms is Sept 30; after this date, candidates for any school district will only be accepted if there are fewer than two candidates for that district. The nominating petitions must be filed as hardcopy with original signatures, while the biographical sketches must be filed as MS Word or text files, preferably as email attachments.

 

 

Kudos to Ellyn Kleinberg, owner of Scarsdale’s Gingerbread Kidz who recently contributed thousands of dollars of new children’s clothes to Pass It On Kid’s Kloset, a program of Westchester Jewish Community Services . Kid’s Kloset distributes new and gently-used children’s clothing and essentials to families in need throughout Westchester. An all-volunteer effort, Kid’s Kloset relies on donations that can be brought to WJCS, 845 North Broadway, White Plains from 9 AM – 4 PM or by appointment to Kid’s Kloset by contacting 761-0600 X715 or via email at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Pictured Here: Ellyn Kleingberg with Program Director Stephanie Roth and her daughter Kayla