December 23 & 30, 2016 | Vol. 4, Number 38 | www.cityreviewnr.com
Rye Brook sends gun law to Planning Board Barnes & Noble, at the corner of the Vernon Hills Shopping Center in Eastchester, is the first of the bookseller’s locations to serve beer, wine and entrees, complete with tableside service. For story, see page 6 Photo courtesy Barnes & Noble
Westchester County budget finalized, includes airport deal By JAMES PERO Staff Writer A $1.8 billion budget was passed by both the Westchester County Board of Legislators and County Executive Rob Astorino, a Republican, this week, even despite lawmakers trepidation over the inclusion of $15 million in tentative revenue from a deal privatizing the county airport. The 2017 budget, which was passed by the Board of Legislators on Monday by a slim margin of 10-7, and modifies a previous budget submitted to the legislative chamber by
Astorino last month, will retain the county executive’s proposed flat tax rate, but will also add four additional engineering positions to the county’s depleted Department of Public Works roster, in addition to injecting $1 million to the county’s Title XX child care program as a result of legislators’ amendments. After what was shaping up to be a dead-end deal, legislators also voted to include $15 million in projected revenue derived from a deal privatizing the management of Westchester County Airport on the condition that the plan undergo a
public bidding process. Previously, the $130 million, 40-year agreement, which was sent down to legislators on Nov. 3 by Astorino, a little more than a month before the budget’s final approval deadline, would have given the investment firm Oaktree Management the exclusive bid. After backlash from lawmakers across the board, however, the board voted unanimously to send out a request for proposals, RFP, that could possibly transfer the management of the county’s airport—which is being processed through an FAArun privatization program—to
another company. Current operator of the county’s airport, AVPorts, has already said it would have bid on the contract if there had been an opportunity to do so. “The feeling on our floor was that there might be real merit to participating in this FAA privatization program,” said Legislator Mary Jane Shimsky, a Hastings-on-Hudson Democrat, who had previously expressed doubt over the proposal’s efficacy. “And with putting the whole concept out to competitive bid, you could get BUDGET continued on page 8
By COREY STOCKTON Staff Writer After proposing a local law to regulate where gun stores would be permitted to open within the village, the Rye Brook Board of Trustees referred the draft legislation to the Planning Board for further input on Tuesday, Dec. 13. In its current form, the law would amend a section of village law to prevent commercial storage and display of firearms, ammunition and explosives within a certain distance from schools and religious buildings. The most recent draft of the law does not specify what that distance will be. According to Village Administrator Chris Bradbury, Rye Brook is seeking input from the Planning Board on whether the distance should be 400 feet or 500 feet. The law would give additional discretion to the village board to approve or deny the location of a gun store. “What we’ve tried to do is to create a law that regulates but doesn’t prohibit,” said Village Attorney Edward Beane, adding that it would be a violation of the Second Amendment to prohibit the sale of guns villagewide. But village attorneys may still need to revise the language of the law, as state and federal laws which regulate gun licensing and distribution could preempt the local law. The law was proposed as a proactive measure after a gun store in Harrison opened last month on Halstead Avenue less than 1,000 feet away from one of the town’s elementary schools and a local church, which prompted an online petition that has accumulated nearly 3,500 signatures as of press time.
Although the federal GunFree School Zones Act prohibits carrying a gun within 1,000 feet of a school unless the weapon is unloaded and stored in a locked case, a provision within the law allows gun shops to operate within the 1,000-foot zone. Harrison officials have said they are also considering legislation to regulate the location of gun retailers, although it is unclear whether that law would apply to the Halstead Avenue store, L&L Sports. However, according to Jonathan Kraut, an attorney for Harrison, there is currently no law related to gun shops in the works. Kraut referred to a U.S. circuit court ruling in May, which said that in order for a municipality to write a zoning ordinance that would restrict gun store locations, it would first have to demonstrate that a gun store would increase crime or place a burden on residents. Harrison officials have expressed their interest in addressing residents’ concerns, while also making note of how those laws have been challenged at the federal level. Earlier this month, Bradbury and Harrison Mayor Ron Belmont, a Republican, told the Review they planned to collaborate in considering legislation to restrict where gun shops could open. “We have had continuing discussions with Mayor Belmont and we continue to keep them up to date as we move along,” Bradbury told the Review, “and we expect that they will do the same in return.” Belmont could not be reached for comment as of press time. CONTACT: corey@hometwn.com
2 • THE CITY REVIEW • December 23 & 30, 2016
Happy Holidays!
From Home Town Media Group Publishers of
The Mamaroneck Review • The Harrison Review The Rye City Review • The Eastchester Review The City Review New Rochelle Howard P. Sturman, Publisher Christian Falcone, Associate Publisher, Editor-in-Chief Sibylla Chipaziwa, Assistant Editor
Design Team: Editorial Staff: Advertising Staff: Arthur Gedin Jim Grasso Andrew Dapolite
Mike Smith James Pero Corey Stockton Franco Fino
Lindsay Sturman Lynne Starr
December 23 & 30, 2016 • THE CITY REVIEW • 3
Astorino issues luring safety tips
Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, left, alongside Commissioner of Public Safety George Longworth, holds a press conference on Dec. 9 to issue safety tips for parents and their children about what to do in the event they encounter a predator. Photo courtesy Westchester County
Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino advanced his Safer Communities initiative on Dec. 9 when he issued safety tips for parents and their children about what to do in the event they encounter a predator. Sparked by recent incidents of child luring, Astorino, who was joined by Commissioner of Public Safety George Longworth and county police officers, coined the “3 Gs”: Get Loud, Get Away and Get Help. These three common sense steps to safety can prevent tragedies. “This week’s incidents, thankfully, did not result in any abductions,” Astorino said. “However, they serve as a re-
minder that we must be vigilant and never take our children’s safety for granted. For all the parents out there, as well as teachers and all caretakers, the most important thing you can do is to have this conversation with your kids.” Included among the suggested discussion points: • If anyone ever grabs you, yell and fight. • Yell “stranger” or “he’s not my dad.” Get the attention of other people near you. • Be suspicious if an adult you don’t know asks for your help. Common luring techniques are when a stranger asks a child for help in finding a lost
dog or help with finding someone or something in another location. • If you feel a car is following alongside you, walk in the opposite direction if it is safe to do so. • If you have a cell phone and feel unsafe, call 9-1-1 right away. • Always remember, the police are there to help you. Don’t hesitate to call them. The above tips and more suggestions for family discussions are available as part of the Safer Communities initiative on the county website, westchestergov.com/safer-communities. (Submitted)
We’re away!
The Review will not print Dec. 30. See you in 2017!
4 • THE CITY REVIEW • December 23 & 30, 2016
What’s going on... New Rochelle Public Library
The New Rochelle Public Library has reopened the Memorial Highway entrance, but the Lawton Street entrance is scheduled to be closed for construction and is expected to be completed by fall 2016. While construction is underway, the only wheelchair-accessible entrance will be the reopened Memorial Highway doors, which have a ramp leading down from street level. There will be additional wheelchair-designated parking spaces on Memorial Highway. The only book drop at the main library will also be located by this doorway. Patrons may also return books by using the book drop at the Hugh Doyle Center, located at 94 Davis Ave., or in front of the Huguenot Children’s Library, located on North Avenue in front of New Rochelle High School. Visit nrpl.org for information on these and other events and programs.
Holiday closings and library hours The New Rochelle Public Library and the Huguenot Children’s Library will close at noon on Saturday, Dec. 24 and will be closed all day on
Sunday, Dec. 25 and Monday, Dec. 26 for Christmas. The libraries will resume regular operating hours on Tuesday, Dec. 27. The libraries will close at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 31 for New Year’s Eve, and will be closed all day on Sunday, Jan. 1 and Monday, Jan. 2 for New Year’s. The libraries will resume regular operating hours on Tuesday, Jan. 3. Main library hours: Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesdays: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Huguenot Children’s Library hours: Mondays and Thursdays: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays: Closed.
Friends of the New Rochelle Public Library Book Sales The Friends of the New Rochelle Public Library will be holding a mini book sale on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the main library lobby. The book sales include popular novels, mysteries and nonfiction in hardcover and paperback, to children’s books, CDs and DVDs. Proceeds from these sales allow the Friends of the New Rochelle Public Library to provide funding for quality children and adult programming, and will help the library by contributing to various projects and improving service to the community. The Friends welcome prospective volunteers. The Friends of the New Rochelle Public Li-
brary will hold a special “A Buck-a-Bag” Book Sale on Friday, Jan. 6 and Saturday, Jan. 7 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the main library’s lobby. To prepare for the opening of their new bookstore, the sale will provide unprecedented opportunities for customers to purchase great numbers of books at rock-bottom prices, as the charge will be only $1 for each bag filled with books. The Friends will provide the generously sized bags. The high quality used books that will be available for purchase will include popular novels, mysteries and nonfiction in hardcover and paperback, children’s books, DVDs, and more.
Job Search Coaching Those who are searching for a job but don’t know where to start are welcome to drop in to see the job coach on Tuesdays anytime from 4:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. in the Handleman Business Opportunity Center on the second floor. The job coach will help people achieve their goals, one step at a time. Those dropping in to see the job coach should arrive with a pen, calendar, notebook and both a hard and digital copy of their resume, with a copy sent to the coach at btopjobreadinesscoach@gmail. com. This program is free and open to the public, and registration is not required.
Health Care Navigation Health care navigators will be able to meet with clients by appointment only on Wednesday, Dec. 28 from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the second floor Conference Room. Sessions will provide clients with information and assistance with the New York State Department of Health. These sessions are free and open to the public, and an appointment is necessary to be seen. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 813-5192.
Free vacation programs for children The main library and the Huguenot Children’s Library are offering a great variety of free programs for children in pre-K through grade five during the December vacation week. A “Toy Story” Film Marathon will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 28. The marathon features the three films in the popular series featuring the adventures of Andy’s beloved toys: 10:30 a.m. to noon: “Toy Story”; 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.: “Toy Story 2”; and 2:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.: “Toy Story 3.” The movies are suitable for all ages and will be shown in the Ossie Davis Theater of the main library. Bricks4Kidz LEGO Workshops on Thursday, Dec. 29, will be led by a LEGO master who guides children ages 5 and older in building cool Bricks4Kidz models. The first workshop will be held from 11 a.m. to noon in the lower level of the Huguenot Children’s Library. Registration is required for the HCL session; please call 632-8954. The second session will be held from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in the Meeting Room of the main library. Seating is at a first come-first served, beginning at 12:45 p.m. The workshops are made possible by the Partnership for the Huguenot Children’s Library and the Friends of the New Rochelle Public Library. A Magic and Comedy Show with Jim McClena-
han will take place on Friday, Dec. 30 from 2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. in the Ossie Davis Theater of the main library. One of the region’s most popular performers, Jim will be bringing to the stage all kinds of hilarious antics, clever magic tricks, and side-splitting fun for all ages. What a great way to wrap up 2016 and look forward to the start of a new year. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis to the 138-seat capacity of the theater. This program is made possible by the Friends of the New Rochelle Public Library.
Three Kings Day celebration A festive celebration of Three Kings Day at the New Rochelle Public Library will include a free live performance and refreshments on Friday, Jan. 6 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Families are invited to enjoy a performance by one of the most popular children’s entertainers in the region, Louie Miranda. The El Louie Show!, which will be held in the library’s Ossie Davis Theater, is guaranteed to have all ages of audience members dancing and singing along to the guitar-strumming, energetic musician, who weaves into the performance with the seasonal traditions of Central and South America. Following the hour-long performance, samples of locally-baked Rosca de Reyes (Three Kings bread) will be served to all. The Three Kings Day event is a BID Family Day, presented by the New Rochelle Downtown Business Improvement District in partnership with the public library, the city school district and the Department of Parks & Recreation. Programs are on a first-come, first-served basis to the capacity of library facilities.
Cook by the Cookbook Club The New Rochelle Public Library’s cookbook club, that explores the library’s excellent collection of cookbooks and online food-related resources, will continue its monthly sessions on Saturday, Jan. 7 at noon, in the main library’s Meeting Room. For this New Year’s session, the theme is “healthy dishes.” Participants will be sharing samples from a recipe they are trying for the first time, and that contains healthful ingredients. For more information and to register, please email Barbara Davis at bdavis@nrpl.org or call 632-8254.
BID events Ring in the New Year at Noon There’s no need for kids to stay up until midnight as New Roc’s master of ceremonies rings in the New Year early with a Times Square-inspired morning celebration and countdown to noon, complete with a thrilling balloon release of 3,000 festive, brightly-colored balloons. Revelers will gather in the atrium of New Roc City for the seventh annual Ring in the New Year at Noon on Saturday, Dec. 31 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Deadline for our What’s Going On section is every Thursday at noon. Though space is not guaranteed, we will do our best to accommodate your listing. Please send all items to news@hometwn.com.
Follow us on Twitter @ cityreviewnr
December 23 & 30, 2016 • THE CITY REVIEW • 5
Wegmans eyes Westchester County By FRANCO FINO Staff Writer The town/village of Harrison is seeking to approve a developer’s plan to replace an old office complex at 106-110 Corpo-
rate Park Drive with a Wegmans Food Market, which would be the first of its kind in Westchester County. Normandy Real Estate Partners, which owns an abundance of property on the “Plati-
num Mile” along the Interstate 287 corridor, and Wegmans, are proposing to construct approximately a 125,000-squarefoot, 2-story grocery store, which will also include a café area, at the Corporate
Park Drive location. Wegmans is a privately owned regional supermarket chain headquartered in Gates, New York, which is located near the city of Rochester. The company, which owns 92 stores across the mid-Atlantic and New England regions, is known for selling locally sourced food and has operated since its founding in Rochester in 1916. The proposed facility in Harrison would replace three existing underutilized office buildings on Corporate Park Drive, but not the EastRidge Enrichment Center and White Plains Daycare and Preschool, which is located at 109 Corporate Park Drive, at the rear of the property. The planned supermarket also comes on the heels of the approval of Harrison’s
first mixed-use facility at 103105 Corporate Park Drive. In September, the Town Council approved the construction of a 421-unit rental development and indoor parking garages known as the Residences at Corporate Park Drive. “This is all part of a long project that we began four years ago,” said Mayor Ron Belmont, a Republican, referring to one of his initiatives since taking office in 2012. “It’s amazing how much growth we’ve seen on Westchester Avenue since we began repurposing the land.” Despite the enthusiasm for the planned Wegmans grocery store, the town will have to approve a zoning change on Dec. 15, after press time, to allow the company to set up shop in the special business district of
town. “At this point, there is very little to it, but I think it would be a wonderful addition to our community,” said Harrison Councilwoman Marlane Amelio, a Republican. “From what I’ve heard, it’s a wonderful store that offers just a variety of great food products, and we’re looking forward to it.” Wegmans, in partnership with developer Steiner NYC, a Brooklyn-based firm, is planning to open a second location in the New York metropolitan area. The company is anticipating opening a supermarket along Brooklyn Navy Yard’s Admiral’s Row, which is located along the East River, in 2018. CONTACT: franco@hometwn.com
Like us on facebook Normandy Real Estate Partners and Wegmans Food Market are proposing to construct its first supermarket in Westchester County along the Platinum Mile in Harrison. Photo courtesy Wegmans.com
facebook.com/cityreviewnr
6 • THE CITY REVIEW • December 23 & 30, 2016 THE
CityREVIEW NewRochelle 170 Hamilton Ave., Suite 203 White Plains, N.Y. 10601 Tel: (914) 653-1000 Fax: (914) 653-5000
Publisher | Howard Sturman ext. 21, publisher@hometwn.com Executive Vice President | Ira Ellenthal ext. 31, irathal@hometwn.com Christian Falcone Associate Publisher | Editor-in-Chief ext. 19, chris@hometwn.com Sports Editor | Mike Smith ext. 22, sports@hometwn.com Assistant Editor | Sibylla Chipaziwa ext. 25, sibylla@hometwn.com Graphic Designer | Arthur Gedin Graphic Designer | Jim Grasso Advertising | Lynne Starr ext. 29, lynne@hometwn.com Advertising Coordinator | Sibylla Chipaziwa ext. 27, ads@hometwn.com Staff Writers James Pero, Corey Stockton, Franco Fino Staff Photographers Bobby Begun, Andrew Dapolite Columnist Lenore Skenazy
Barnes & Noble begins
an uncharted chapter By COREY STOCKTON Staff Writer In a time when brick and mortar bookstores are becoming a thing of the past, Barnes & Noble is refreshing its approach. The newest of more than 600 store locations, the Eastchester Barnes & Noble in the Vernon Hills Shopping Center at 680 White Plains Road—which opened its doors to the public on Nov. 23—is the first of a string of new concept stores to serve beer, wine and entrees to its customers. The bookstore chain is calling the new stores Barnes & Noble Kitchens. The Eastchester store is smaller than the average Barnes & Noble—22,000 square feet—but it includes a 3,000-square-foot outdoor patio with a gas-burning fire pit, a bocce court and a va-
riety of seating options, and a 2,600-square-foot kitchen offering breakfast, appetizers and full entrees from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. “The objective wasn’t—per se—to create a restaurant,” said Jaime Carey, president of development and the restaurant group at Barnes & Noble. “It was to create a bookstore environment that would be embraced by the community and enjoyed.” David Deason, vice president of development, added that there are several corners around the store for customers to take a book and a drink and “slip away.” Although the store has many sections, Kathie Bannon, the store’s manager, said it was designed to feel like a single, seamless space. Specific sections, like fiction and history, are left open rather than enclosed by bookshelves. “If you wanted to get
a goblet of wine from our wine selection, you can walk and browse,” she said. “You can even bring food [around the store].” But the menu is more similar to a short story than a novel. There are three breakfast options, three salads, four appetizers and six entrees, in addition to a small kids’ menu. Sheamus Feeley, the chef who designed the menu, said it was written to be brief. “You could even look at the menu and make that case that, hey, this is relatively ubiquitous,” he said. “And yes, it is. The key is to be able to do a handful of things very well.” On the reverse side of the menu are six locally sourced craft beers and more than 20 wines, which are served by the glass or by the bottle. The bar also serves a gamut of coffee drinks and teas.
Barnes & Noble at the corner of the Vernon Hills Shopping Center in Eastchester is the first of the bookseller’s locations to serve beer, wine and entrees, complete with tableside service. Photo/Corey Stockton
The store was designed to engage customers from the moment they walk in. A 600-squarefoot mural on a wall near the entrance—called the author wall— is a word search containing more than 80 authors’ names Barnes & Noble representatives also noted the large word-
Letters
The community’s opinion matters. If you have a view to express, write a letter to the editor by email to chris@hometwn.com. Please include a phone number and name for verification purposes.
Community Events
If you have an event you would like to share with the community, send it to news@hometwn.com.
Delivery
For home delivery or to subsribe, call (914) 653-1000 x27.
Classifieds & Legals
To post your notices or listings, call (914) 653-1000 x27.
Postmaster
Send address changes to: The City Review New Rochelle c/o HomeTown Media Group, 170 Hamilton Ave., Suite 203 White Plains, N.Y. 10601
Visit us online www.cityreviewnr.com
Follow us on Twitter, @cityreviewnr Like us on Facebook, facebook.com/cityreviewnr The City Review New Rochelle (permit #16661) is published by Home Town Media Group weekly for an annual subscription of $32. Application to mail at the peridcals postage rate is approved at Port Chester, N.Y., 10573. Periodicals postage paid at Port Chester and additional mailing offices.
The courtyard beside the store features an array of seating, including couches and tables for dining. There is also a gas-powered fire pit and a bocce ball court. Photo courtesy Barnes & Noble
ing on the walls to clearly identify the different sections of the store for easy navigation. And for customers who are looking for something specific, new technology can help them find it. Search kiosks built into the store can help customers find books using an interactive map; and customers can also use the devices to text message with store employees. Employees also carry portable point-of-sale systems for easy checkout. Deason added that the company was still playing with some of the technologies and learning how to optimize them. He told the Review that while the concept was new, if it is successful, Barnes & Noble may look to convert some of its existing stores into Barnes & Noble Kitchens. “I’m not in a hurry, because I need to know what works,” he said. The Eastchester location is the first of four Barnes & Noble Kitchen concept stores to open nationwide. The bookseller announced similar concept plans in Edina, Minnesota; Folsom, California; and Ashburn, Virginia. The store was formerly a Borders Booksellers before that company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011. The storefront had been vacant since. “The community was really craving and wanting to support another bookstore,” Deason said. Barnes & Noble gave them that, and then some. CONTACT: corey@hometwn.com
December 23 & 30, 2016 • THE CITY REVIEW • 7
8 • THE CITY REVIEW • December 23 & 30, 2016
NRPL presents exhibit of Holocaust survivors
BUDGET from page 1
After backlash from many legislators, a deal to privatize Westchester County Airport will move forward after a bipartisan decision to budget $15 million in prospective revenue. Photo courtesy westchestergov.com
a deal that is worthy of being signed off on.” The deal plans to extract revenue from the airport by charging a fee for its management while simultaneously—through the FAA’s program—altering a federal law that dictates that revenue from the airport be used for airport-related expenses. Through the program, the county would be allowed to funnel airport revenue into its operating budget. Though the money has been budgeted, Shimsky said any deal, and therefore revenue, is
interest debt. The county is already projecting a $30 million budget shortfall for its 2017 budget due to declining sales tax revenue, increasingly high health care costs, and lower gas and energy prices. Currently, of the 10 airports that applied to the FAA’s program since its introduction in 1996, only one—Luis Muñoz Marín airport in Puerto Rico— has completed the process and has since remained privatized. Even despite the county board’s unanimous decision
“And with putting the whole concept out to competitive bid, you could get a deal that is worthy of being signed off on .” – COUNTY LEGISLATOR MARY JANE SHIMSKY on privatizing Westchester Airport
still contingent upon a successful RFP process, necessary approvals from stakeholders in the airport—including 65 percent of the airlines operating there—and an expedient processing of the application by the FAA, which has in some cases dragged on for as long as 29 months. If that revenue doesn’t come to fruition, Shimsky explained, the money budgeted from the airport deal would likely have to come from the county’s cash reserves, which could have adverse impacts on the county’s AAA bond rating and therefore its ability to issue low-
to pursue the deal, both Shimsky and other Democratic legislators, many of which voted against the approval of the budget, have continued to express concern over what they describe as an “unbalanced” budget. “This budget puts the county’s finances at the edge of the cliff without any financial flexibility,” Democrats said in a joint statement this week. Among the chief concerns listed by the Democratic caucus are what they describe as an overly optimistic sales tax revenue of 3 percent in addi-
tion to negotiations regarding the county’s union contracts— all of which are expired this year—which could result in increased salaries and benefits. Lawmakers cut Astorino’s plans for an enhanced Kensico Dam from the budget; an extensive project to revamp the area was announced by the county executive back in October and would have poured upwards of $17 million into a revamped reflecting pool and skating rink. But one major amendment to the budget, prompted by the legislators’ review, will be four new engineering positions to the county’s Department of Public Works. These positions—through supervising construction sites and processing RFPs—will help tackle the $1.5 billion in capital project backlogs that include repairs to roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure. “[The budget adds] critical positions to our county police and engineering positions in the Department of Public Works to help address a major backlog of capital projects,” said Board of Legislators Chairman Michael Kaplowitz, a Yorktown Democrat. Nonprofits, some of which have been faced with significant budget cuts in 2016, will see a marginal increase of $210,000 for community-based organizations in the most recent county budget. CONTACT: james@hometwn.com
The New Rochelle Public Library will host the poignant exhibit of photographs by Seth Harrison, “L’dor Vador/From Generation to Generation,” from Sunday, Jan. 8 through Saturday, Jan. 28, in the main library’s Lumen Winter Gallery. The exhibition features 11 large-scale color digital photographs of Holocaust survivors and their descendants and an accompanying 12 1/2-minute video. The photographs originally accompanied a Journal News/ Lohud feature story about the impact of their parents’ and grandparents’ experiences on the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. The project asked: “How do you talk about the most painful and formative experiences imaginable when those experiences occurred before you were born?” It suggested that, “with the number of Holocaust survivors dwindling, that is one of the challenges facing their children and grandchildren as they take on the responsibility of reminding the world of the depths to which humanity is capable of descending.” All of the participating families were located with the assistance of the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center in White Plains, in particular its Generations Forward program, which helps second- and thirdgeneration survivors learn how to share their loved ones’ stories, as well as the Holocaust Museum and Center for Tolerance and Education in Suffern, New York. Harrison has been a photojournalist at The Journal News/ Lohud.com in Westchester County for the past 29 years. His body of work also includes documenting the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center; the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah; several presidential elections; Hurricane Sandy; the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut; coverage of five World Series; and the Boston Marathon bombing, where he covered the tragedy after crossing the finish line as a runner. The opening of the exhibit on Jan. 8 will include a concert, an introductory presentation and an exhibit reception. At 4 p.m., a concert by the multi-generational musicians of the members of the Westchester Klezmer Program will perform a concert of traditional Jewish dance mu-
One of Seth Harrison’s signature pieces which is part of the Holocaust exhibit at the New Rochelle Public Library. Pictured are Haina JustMichael, far right, with her sister and her father, who passed away just one year ago. He was about 96 in this picture, taken just a few months before he passed. He was one of 11 children; he and a sister were the only Just family survivors of the Holocaust. Photo courtesy Haina Just-Michael
sic in the library’s Ossie Davis Theater. Made possible by the Friends of NRPL, a donation of $2 for adults is suggested at the door. Immediately following the concert, at 4:45 p.m., Kathy Grosz-Zaltas will provide an introduction to the exhibit. The daughter of Holocaust survivors, Grosz-Zaltas tells their story to honor their lives and to have their story serve as a purposeful tool to look at bullying, injustice, anti-Semitism and bigotry in our world today. Her parents grew up in different parts of Czechoslovakia, enjoying happy, cultured and well-to-do lives. And then, suddenly, the Nazi era began to control their lives, destroying their families forever. Concentration camps, forced labor, death marches were their lot. Despite their hardships and loss, survival was their personal miracle. Grosz-Zaltas speaks about their lives after the war, along with their growing family
in America. She discusses what it is like to be part of the second generation. Grosz-Zaltas lives with her husband in Rye, with her family and grandchildren living close by. She was a foreign language teacher for 17 years in Westchester County. Currently, she and her family are the owners of Zaltas Gallery of Fine Jewelry, where she curates fine jewelry and diamonds as well as creates custom pieces for her clients. She is a member of Generations Forward, a group of secondand third-generation individuals sponsored by the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center of White Plains. An exhibit reception in the Lumen Winter Gallery will conclude the afternoon’s event, and will take place from 5:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Guests will have an opportunity to view the exhibit and meet photographer Harrison and some of the survivors. For more information, visit nrpl.org. (Submitted)
December 23 & 30, 2016 • THE CITY REVIEW • 9
‘Larchmont’: A father, a son, and a small town
A scene from the movie “Larchmont” featuring actor Brian A. Mason, who plays the role of a son who is questioning his choice to go to medical school upon returning home after graduating from college. Photo courtesy Ben Zuckert
By SIBYLLA CHIPAZIWA Assistant Editor With a population of 6,000 in an area just over 1 square mile, the village of Larchmont may not seem so small to its residents. However, “Larchmont,” a new indie film from two village natives, highlights just how quickly news can spread, and how inescapable that can be. Twenty-four-year-olds Ben Zuckert and Will Seife, both former Larchmont residents who now live in Brooklyn, co-produced the movie. “We were born [in Larchmont] and grew up there; we both went to Chatsworth, and then Hommocks and then Mamaroneck High School,” Seife said. “We actually grew up down the street from each other [in Larchmont Manor],” Zuckert added. “Larchmont” marks the duo’s first feature film, which was shot in various locations in Larchmont in the summer of 2015 in just 18 days with help from about 70 people—many of them local residents—in front and behind the camera. “The shoot was very exciting, but also very stressful,” Zuckert told the Review. “We had to make sure we got everything in those 18 days.”
Obstacles included working with actor union guidelines and labor rules. “It was a blind faith operation that it was going to work out,” Zuckert said. “We both lost a lot of weight.” Seife said, “We were both wearing a lot of different hats for the shoot.” Zuckert said he realized he wanted to shoot a movie in his “beautiful” hometown while he attended Tufts University. “Larchmont” focuses on the relationship between a recent college grad questioning his choice to continue on to medical school and a recently unemployed father. “[Larchmont] affects both of the characters’ stories; at least for the dad, who lost his job but doesn’t want his friends to know,” Zuckert added. “But because Larchmont is such a small town, word starts to get out quickly, and people start to approach him about it.” The son is affected by the village because not many people his age, between 22 and 30, live there, while his father has to deal with neighbors and friends wondering what he is doing with his life. “If we had taken this story and placed it somewhere else, it would have been a totally differ-
ent story with how these characters would’ve coped with these situations,” Seife said. “Larchmont” is an independent release; the company that released the film, Sugarsoap Productions, was founded in the fall of 2014 by Zuckert and Seife, a few months after the movie was conceptualized. The film simultaneously premiered on Oct. 22 at the Yonkers Film Festival, YoFiFest, and the Twin Cities Film Festival in Minneapolis. “It was really nice to have the premiere very close to Larchmont so we could get a lot of the cast [and crew] out, and people who are close to us,” Seife said of the Yonkers premiere. The Emelin Theatre in the village of Mamaroneck, in conjunction with the Center for Continuing Education’s Notable Neighbors series, will hold a screening on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. “People have been hearing about this [movie] or maybe saw us shooting around town,” Seife said. “We want to give a lot of opportunities for [local residents] to see it.” For more information, visit larchmontmovie.com. CONTACT: sibylla@hometwn.com
Parente holds Christmas party, toy drive Peter Parente, commander of VFW Post 439, a Marine, and president of United Veterans of New Rochelle, hosted his annual Parente Christmas party and Toys for Tots toy drive on Friday, Dec. 9 at the New Rochelle American Legion Hall. The party and toy drive were held to collect donations for children throughout Westchester County, in collaboration with the county Department of Social Services, DSS. There was lots of food, beer and wine, and entertainment in the form of band Undercover and vocal trio the American Bombshells. This year’s party was the biggest success to date in its 30-year history. Parente incorporated the toy drive about 10 years ago. Toys for Tots is a U.S. Marine Corps program that collects new, unwrapped toys from October through December each year, distributing them to less fortunate children in the community to bring Christmas cheer and hope, and to assist them to become “responsible, productive, patriotic citizens.” Parente used to send donated toys to Toys for Tots, which would distribute them to hun-
The American Bombshells performing at the annual Parente Christmas party and toy drive. From left, Ali Reeder, founder; Lydia Pusateri; and Rayna Bertash. Photos courtesy Jen Parente
dreds of organizations. One of them turned out to be the county DSS, and he was told to give them directly to Westchester. He also holds toy drives at his two gas stations in Mamaroneck and Old Greenwich, Connecticut. “Very generous friends and people I know have come [to the party]. We’ve had hundreds of toys,” Parenete said, adding
that he and his family continued their drive until Dec. 20. Parente also encouraged New Rochelle residents to hold their own toy drives, with him and his family offering to pick up the donations. “In all honesty, I’ll take [toys] even after [Dec. 25]; the toys that don’t make it to Christmas will be held for birthdays,” he said. -Reporting by Sibylla Chipaziwa
From left, Peter Parente poses with Rocco Giramita and his brother Michael. Also pictured is Peter Jr. and his cousin, Olivia.
10 • THE CITY REVIEW • December 23 & 30, 2016
Opinion-Editorial
The origins of Trump’s election victory By HOWARD HELLWINKEL It seems like 2009 was just the other day, when people became so outraged with the federal government in Washington that they took to the streets in protest. It started with the Troubled Asset Relief Program, TARP, the straw that broke the camel’s back. Local protest events by small groups spontaneously occurred. That year on the day tax returns are due, April 15, 2009, was a focal point for larger more coordinated events. Rick Santelli, a little-known financial reporter on CNBC, suggested that we hold a tea party on the shores of Lake Michigan. On Sept. 12, 2009, somewhere between 1 million and 2 million people came from across the country to protest in Washington. It was there that Matt Kibbe from Freedomworks said, “What we need is a hostile takeover of the Republican Party.”
On Tax Day 2010, protest rallies were once again held across the county. Americans protested excessive taxation, government regulation and the upcoming Obamacare legislation. That November, we gave the Republican Party control of the House with 63 new members. John Boehner, the new speaker of the House, said we only have half of one-third of the government. Nothing happened. In 2014, we gave the Republicans control of the Senate and still nothing happened. In 2015, we changed House speakers thanks to the freedom caucus, and again nothing happened. Government was still growing. Our personal liberties were still being trampled on. Politicians were still focused on getting re-elected and not listening to the people. The caldron was boiling. Tea Party and non-Tea Party people were part of the discontent. Out of this boiling
caldron came Donald Trump. He understood what the problem was and had tapped into the discontent. At the 2016 Republican National Convention, I came away from Trump’s acceptance speech feeling that I had just seen the hostile takeover of the Republican Party Kibbe said we needed. I did not see many members of the Republican establishment on stage. It was outsiders, businessmen and others, who understood the rank-and-file Republicans, up there on the stage. It all started with a few of us going out onto the streets. The movement grew. It began to include others who didn’t call themselves Tea Partiers but held the same beliefs. We never expected it would be Trump who would become our antiestablishment champion, but maybe we got what we need. The views expressed are those of Howard Hellwinkel.
Trump election is par for the course By CLIFFORD JACKSON The election of Donald Trump, as outrageous and offensive to many as it may be, is still an expression of this country’s violent, racist, misogynistic state and history of nativism. His rallies promoted that level of violence with the assaults of numerous anti-Trump protesters, as well as Trump himself saying about one protester, “I’d like to punch him right in the face.” Trump is “America,” and many people need to stop denying that. Trump is a racist, misogynist and is certainly xenophobic; but he is also an astute politician, that, in my belief, is not as extreme as all of his vile, hateful words and actions demonstrated during the campaign. What he knew was that all of the hatred and racism was a major part of the American electorate; he parlayed that, and that is one of the main reasons why he won. If he was as bad as his actions and words during the campaign, he would never have survived the polyglot of New York for 40 years, going back to his relationship with Roy Cohn, the infamous lawyer for Cosa Nostra in the 1970s. He is still morally repulsive on many levels, and his election to the presidency is the culmination of all the worst parts of America that have always existed, and there are volumes of historical data to support that statement. His election overwhelmingly was an expression of white power and white backlash that was exemplified with the more than 1,700 white supremacist and anti-militia groups—that have mushroomed during the last eight years as a direct re-
sponse to the election of President Barack Obama—who supported Trump. This includes a Ku Klux Klan-planned Trump victory celebration that will be commencing next month in North Carolina. Hillary Clinton called them “deplorables”; she was right about that, but she and Trump were wrong about America’s so-called “greatness,” because these types of people have manifested themselves throughout American history and have been a dominant force engaging in murder, mayhem and lynchings of all kinds, and the victims have primarily been African-Americans and people of color. This aspect of America’s sanguinary history was relayed in many of the policies that Trump was strident about. One example is Trump’s xenophobia and antiimmigrant hatred, calling Mexican illegal immigrants “rapists and drug dealers,” and his threat to deport 11 million is reminiscent of “Operation Wetback,” a brutally racist American policy of the 1950s that was labeled after the hundreds of thousands of Mexicans who were deported during that time frame. His describing the black community and its schools as terrible and without hope is nothing but an expression of the American racist tradition that white communities across the country have used to define blacks in order to segregate and dehumanize them, producing all of the fallout from that criminalization, helping to create the “ghettos,” and economic and social blight in those communities. Trump’s violent modus operandi when it comes to women, as far as his saying “I grab them by the p----,” is an American tra-
dition of not just misogyny, but being an owner of women and their bodies that have allowed thousands of women who have been raped and beaten to have their heinous crimes not taken seriously many times by law enforcement or the communitiesat-large. One of the main reasons, especially in the past, why many rapes were never reported was due to the stigma, and the difficulty in trying to prove it in a court of law. All of the bombastic and outrageous statements of Trump clearly showed, as Bill Maher and others have said, that those who he attracted were not very educated. But has that not been the problem with white mob rule and the concomitant violence throughout the history of this country? At the same time, these people should be given credit they did come out to vote, unlike Clinton’s base, especially in the African-American communities that did not. They will be paying a price for that. This election was not a mandate for Trump by any stretch of the imagination; he lost the popular vote to Clinton by more than 1 million votes, and we see daily the thousands who are protesting in the streets against his presidency. However, this election was a watershed as far as really defining what America is all about. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “America is a sick society based upon militarism, materialism and violence.” The election of Trump makes those prophetic words of Dr. King so salient today. Clifford Jackson is a resident of Larchmont. The views expressed are his own.
City of New Rochelle’s
Official Newspaper
December 23 & 30, 2016 • THE CITY REVIEW • 11
New Rochelle Home Sales Listings provided by the office of Westchester County Clerk Timothy C. Idoni Photos courtesy Zillow.com, Trulia.com, Hotpads.com, Spotproperty.com & Maps.google.com
2 Tall Spruce Loop $1,100,000 Sale Date: 9/29/16
3 Harbor Lane $1,400,000 Sale Date: 11/16/16
6 Kenwood Drive $850,000 Sale Date: 9/28/16
10 Vaughn Avenue $729,000 Sale Date: 8/11/16
15 Carlisle Road $770,000 Sale Date: 9/12/16
16 Madison Street $753,000 Sale Date: 9/29/16
18 Lester Place $1,410,000 Sale Date: 10/25/16
26 Lafayette Avenue $1,050,000 Sale Date: 11/14/16
29 Aberfoyle Road $685,000 Sale Date: 8/15/16
32 Park Avenue $1,028,648 Sale Date: 9/8/16
33 Jerome Avenue $1,475,000 Sale Date: 10/24/16
60 Woodlawn Avenue $1,299,000 Sale Date: 10/28/16
110 Ramona Court $720,000 Sale Date: 10/5/16
131 Sprague Road, Scarsdale $747,000 Sale Date: 9/16/16
201 Taymil Road $750,000 Sale Date: 9/26/16
707 Weaver Street, Larchmont $2,126,472 Sale Date: 11/8/16
12 • THE CITY REVIEW • December 23 & 30, 2016
The Classifieds • Advertising that gets results OUR RATES:
UP TO 4 LINES $42.50 for 2 weeks minimum. Each Additional Line $2.00
AUTO DONATIONS Donate your car to Wheels For Wishes, benefiting Make-A-Wish. We offer free towing and your donation is 100% tax deductible. Call 914-468-4999 Today! Donate your car to Wheels For Wishes, benefiting Make-A-Wish. We offer free towing and your donation is 100% tax deductible. Call 315-400-0797 Today!
COLLECTABLES TO P C A S H PA I D I N S TA N T LY F O R COLLECTIBLES! -WE BUY Baseball Cards, Autographs, Records, Silver Coins, Golf Items, Art, Jewelry, Comics Etc., Call Jim Today @ 914-310-5153 CA$H BUYER, Old Comic Books 10c to 35c covers, also Guns, Gold Coins. I travel to you and Buy EVERYTHING YOU have! Call Brian 1-800-617-3551
MISCELLANEOUS SAWMILLS from only $4397.00- MAKE & SAVE MONEY with your own bandmill- Cut lumber any dimension. In stock ready to ship! FREE Info/DVD:, www.NorwoodSawmills.com 1-800-578-1363 Ext.300N
WANTED TO BUY Original illustration art done for magazine, book, pulp, paperback and comic covers and interiors, ads, calendars, posters, pinups, sci-fi, westerns, etc. Also antique paper: maps, posters collections of photos, postcards, autographs, etc. Finder’s fees paid. Contact Matthew at Mwi0729@aol.com or 914-588-9359.
HOW TO REACH US:
(914) 653-1000 x27 Fax: 653-5000 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING: 170 Hamilton Ave., Suite 203, White Plains N.Y. 10601
DEADLINE:
Placement, correction or cancellation of an ad may be phoned in any time before noon on Monday for publication
December 23 & 30, 2016 • THE CITY REVIEW • 13
To live or die trying RHYMES WITH CRAZY Lenore Skenazy
Meet Bear, a handsome Great Pyrenees mix, about 3 years old and 86 pounds. This gentle giant is very sweet, laid back and completely housebroken. He prefers the company of female dogs, and due to his size, would be best in a home without small children. He will make a great companion to a very lucky family! Bear is neutered, vaccinated, dewormed and microchipped. Make him part of your family for an adoption donation of $300 to Pet Rescue. To meet Bear, call 834-6955 or visit NY-PetRescue.org. (Submitted)
A few years ago, a firefighter in Sacramento, California, Mike DeBartoli, noticed his hands cramping up. He figured it was a symptom of the job. But when the cramps got worse, he went to his doctor and heard the three letters no one wants to hear: ALS. DeBartoli has Lou Gehrig’s disease, a disease that robs the body of its ability to function and is always fatal. Unless... DeBartoli heard that there were some new drugs in the pipeline that could possibly slow his disease. He volunteered— begged—to be one of the guinea pigs in a clinical trial, but was turned down, in one case because he was taking other medicines for blood pressure and depression, and in another case because he was, ironically, too sick. When drug companies are testing their new treatments, their candidate profiles are so specific that most people who have the disease don’t actually qualify. In fact, only 3 percent of people desperate to get into clinical trials ever do. Which brings us to our topic today: The Right to Try. The Right to Try is a law that allows people who are terminally ill to try a drug that is promising but has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. “Patients who face imminent death ought to have the option to be able to try these new drugs, even if we don’t know they’re going to work, or what the side effects will be, [or] the exact dosage,” says Christina
Sandefur, executive vice president of the Goldwater Institute, which supports the initiative. This sounds like it would be a popular law, and in many states it is: In the last three years, 32 states have passed the Right to Try, usually with enthusiastic bipartisan support. California passed it last year, unanimously. But in New York, a Right to Try bill, proposed by Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal and Sen. Kemp Hannon, did not get out of committee. Let’s see what that means for the people of New York state. When a person is terminally ill, the clock is ticking. Yes, they can apply to the FDA for a compassionate exemption, but this is so complicated and so few make it through, it’s like applying to be an astronaut. For starters, there’s a daunting amount of paperwork that must be filed by the patient’s doctor. It takes about 100 hours to gather all the information and fill out all the forms—in other words, more than two weeks of a doctor’s time devoted just to one patient. Then the request has to go through a lengthy approval process, when ever hour is critical. “There have been examples of patients that are trying to get these exceptions and sometimes they’re finally granted, but too late,” says Sandefur. The patient is underground. The reason the FDA makes access to these unproven drugs so difficult can probably be traced to the agency’s founding. It began in 1902 after a Diphtheria drug proved ineffective. Well, actually, it proved worse than that. It was fatal. Clearly America needed someone to certify the safety of our drug supply, and thus the FDA was born.
Then, in the 1960s, a drug widely prescribed to pregnant women in Europe was blocked by an FDA doctor here, Frances Oldham Kelsey, who’d heard of its side effects. The drug was Thalidomide, which caused serious birth defects, and thanks to Kelsey many American children were spared its devastation. It’s wonderful that the FDA was on the ball. But that episode of well-warranted precaution seems to have led to an agency so ultra-cautious that today it is preventing people from taking experimental drugs that may kill them—even though they’re going to die anyway. The potentially dangerous drugs are also the only potential lifesavers. The way the Right to Try is written, the only people who’d be allowed to take as-yet-unapproved drugs are those with no other hope. The drug would have to have passed at least the first stage of testing at the FDA. But then, instead of a patient starting the bureaucratic nightmare of applying to the FDA for a rare compassionate exemption (the FDA grants about 1,000 a year—even as more than 500,000 people die of cancer), all it would take is the doctor, patient and drug company agreeing to start the regimen. The FDA would not have veto power. DeBartoli, the fireman with ALS, put it this way in an interview with the Goldwater Institute: “I don’t know who the FDA thinks they are protecting.” The drugs in the pipeline might not save DeBartoli, but he deserves the right to try. Not just the right to die. CONTACT: lskenazy@yahoo.com
SPORTS
14 • THE CITY REVIEW • December 23 & 30, 2016
Protecting the shield LIVE MIKE Mike Smith
If I’ve had one problem with the NFL this year, it’s been all the inconsistency. But I’m not talking about the New York Giants’ hide-and-seek offense, or inconsistency in the quality of play—after all, the Thursday night games have been consistently terrible. I’m talking about the decisions made by officials—both on the field and in the league office. The games this past weekend really shined a light on some of the inexplicable decisions made by the NFL, both in terms of flags thrown and fines levied. The story, perhaps, that got the most airtime was probably the penalization—and subsequent lack of a fine—for Zeke Elliot’s “Salvation Army” celebration. In case you missed it, Elliot, Dallas’ phenomenal rookie running back, scored a touchdown
against Tampa Bay and, in a particularly inspired post-score bit, ran over to a large Salvation Army kettle on the sidelines and hopped inside it. As with all celebrations involving a prop, the stunt was immediately flagged and most viewers assumed that Elliot would be fined by the league for his antics. But the NFL, after some deliberation, decreed that the running back’s antics would not affect his wallet, deeming that it simply brought more exposure to the Salvation Army charity that has some affiliation with the league—and with Elliot’s Cowboys. Now, I don’t care that Elliot wasn’t fined. I have no problem with NFL players showing a little creativity when it comes to touchdown celebrations, and I think the league would be better off if they allowed players to show off their personality some more. But this is the same league that fined Giants wideout Odell Beckham Jr. for gesturing as if he were taking a picture of team-
mate Victor Cruz after a touchdown, something Beckham pointed out on Twitter. “That’s funny that there’s no fine for that,” Beckham tweeted. “I could only imagine if I was the one to do it.” And he’s not the only player who thinks that the league is selective in enforcing some of its rules. On Monday night, Cam Newton, who probably takes more of a beating than any other quarterback in the NFL not named Ben Roethlisberger, was hit in the head by a Redskins defender as he slid, feet first on the field, a play distinctly verboten under today’s NFL rules. There was no flag on the hit, however, but Newton—who has repeatedly complained about officials allowing him to be targeted illegally—was penalized for tossing the ball at the player who took the cheap shot. I can only imagine Newton’s frustration a quarter later, as a completely legal hit on his Redskins’ counterpart drew a flag and
TO COVER LOCAL SPORTS, YOU NEED A
LIVE MIKE! Follow Mike Smith @LiveMike_Sports stats • recaps • commentary Follow @cityreviewnr for Mike’s live, in-game action updates
Over the last few seasons, the NFL has come under fire for its perceived selectivity in enforcing its own rules. Sports Editor Mike Smith believes that maybe the league’s lack of transparency is hurting its bottom line. Photo courtesy NFL.com
extended a drive for Washington. These are just the latest in a long line of inexplicable decisions made by the league.
Many—mostly Pats fans—believe that the Giants, who were just found guilty of illegal walkietalkie use during their game two
weeks ago against Dallas, got off lightly with a small fine and a downgraded fourth-round pick for their transgressions. Some players, like the Jets’ Sheldon Richardson, are able to lead police on a high speed chase, fail drug tests and face only a fourgame suspension, while others, like the Bills’ Seantrel Henderson, has to miss 10 games for a second failed drug test—even though it has been well documented that Henderson uses marijuana to treat his Crohn’s disease. Viewing numbers for football have been down this season, and the league is scrambling to find out why. In my mind, it’s not the oversaturation of games during the week, a lack of compelling prime time match-ups, or a dearth of star power that is hurting the league. I think that fans are starting to realize that the NFL is less concerned with adjudicating fair punishments and more concerned with “protecting the shield.” Now if they could only figure out what that meant.
Follow Mike on Twitter @LiveMike_Sports
2016 at a glance
SPORTS
December 23 & 30, 2016 • THE CITY REVIEW • 15
By MIKE SMITH Sports Editor As the end of 2016 looms, it’s only natural to look back at the year that was. In regards to the last 12 months in New Rochelle, there was certainly no shortage of important stories in the sports world. The biggest story of the year, undoubtedly, was the performance of the Huguenot boys’ soccer team. Under the tutelage of head coach Jarohan Garcia, the soccer program enjoyed its most successful season in 30 years, winning the Class AA state title at Middletown High School on Nov. 12. But while the destination was historic, their path to the championship was certainly not an easy one. The Huguenots had to claw their way through the Section I tournament, winning backto-back games against Mamaroneck—who was ranked as the top team in New York state—and fellow league rival Scarsdale in penalty kicks just to keep their season alive. Upon reaching the state semifinals, they faced another daunt-
Harwan Alzuabidi celebrates a goal in the New York State Championship game on Nov. 12. The Huguenots beat Fairport 2-1 to win the program’s first state title since 1986. Photo/Bobby Begun
ing test, a 3-0 deficit against a powerful team from Calhoun, which they erased with a second half explosion and a game-winning overtime goal by Harwan Alzuabidi.
By any standards, the 2-1 win over Fairport the next day—the biggest win for the program in years—seemed to be an ordinary affair. But the soccer team wasn’t
Jared Baron breaks through the line against Scarsdale in the Section I championship. The Huguenots have won two straight section titles. Photo/Mike Smith
From left, Carl Frampton poses with Champs Boxing Club owner Ryan O’Leary and Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino in July. Photo/Bobby Begun
the only champion in the fall season, as the Huguenot football team, which has long been the pride of Section I, ran through Class AA with a perfect record, beating Scarsdale 41-13 to win their second-straight section title. Despite falling short of a trip to the Carrier Dome—the Huguenots lost two weeks later in the state semifinals to eventual state champion Troy—there is no reason to think that New Rochelle, with a glut of returning stars next year, won’t contend for a state title once again. Last winter, it was New Rochelle’s cheerleaders who were front and center, placing third at nationals in Orlando, Florida. In addition to the city’s success on the high school level, New Rochelle also rose to prominence in the international boxing community, as Irish super lightweight Carl Frampton spent three weeks training at Champs Boxing Club on South Division Street prior to his July 30 title fight with Leo Santa Cruz. Westchester County honored the Belfast native, declaring July 12 to be Carl Frampton Appreciation Day, and the pugilist would go on to capture the belt with a stunning win over Santa Cruz at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
New Rochelle soccer coach Jarohan Garcia, left, celebrates New Rochelle’s state title win. Photo/Mike Smith
So now, as we look ahead to 2017, it’s only natural to take a moment to think about the year that was, and everything else
that lies ahead for New Rochelle’s sports community. CONTACT: sports@hometwn.com
16 • THE CITY REVIEW • December 23 & 30, 2016