Forum
Focus
February 2020
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Message to Our Membership
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Dear Neighbors,
I enjoyed seeing so many of you at Winterfest 2020 this weekend. We had well over 100 people stop by throughout the night. The decorations were festive, the dinner was superb, the desserts were sublime, the live music was enchanting, and the company and conversation were beyond compare. My heartiest thanks to
Linda Blair
, chair of the Special Events Committee, and
BK Munguia
for her tireless work, as well as to everyone who contributed desserts, musical talent, home brewed beer, time, energy, and good humor.
You know what? Let's do it again next year.
Tim Foley
President, Scarsdale Forum
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February Membership Meeting
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We invite you to join us on
Thursday, February 13
, to hear
Mayor Marc Samwick
discuss issues currently facing the Village of Scarsdale, including next year's budget, the Freightway project, and more. The event will take place at the Scarsdale Woman's Club (37 Drake Road).
Refreshments will be available at 7:30 pm and the program will begin at 8:00 pm; all members of the public are welcome.
RSVP here.
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Sunday Speaker Series: Engaging Youth in Community Resilience Planning
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The final event in this season's Sunday Speaker Series will be
Sunday, March 1
at 3:00 pm at the Scarsdale Woman's Club (37 Drake Road), and will feature a talk with former Scarsdale High School teacher and renowned educator
Maggie Favretti
.
Maggie was one of four U.S. educators recruited by the School Superintendent Association to assist Puerto Rico's Secretary of Education Julia Keleher in reopening schools and re-envisioning curriculum in the wake of disaster. She will discuss her experiences using design thinking to empower the youth and communities of Puerto Rico to fully engage in planning for recovery and resilience in the face of anticipated future extreme weather events due to climate change. (Pictured above: Maggie, at left, in Puerto Rico with fellow educators.)
All members of the public are welcome to attend.
RSVP here.
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The Downtown Revitalization Committee just released a report urging improvements to Boniface Circle, the "gateway" to the Scarsdale Village Center, framed by the iconic Harwood Building, and opposite Chase Park.
Boniface Circle has become overgrown and cluttered (as illustrated in the photos below), and the committee recommends incremental steps in transforming this small park into a welcoming green space for people to gather, perhaps sit at small cafe tables and chairs, enjoy a coffee or snack, chat with friends, or play a game of chess.
Specifically, it suggests that village staff trim shrubs and trees, and that a professional landscape architect be hired to design the best use of the space. The committee has offered assistance in developing an RFP for a landscape architect and researching outdoor furniture appropriate for year-round use. Other proposed elements requiring additional research are installing attractive safety barriers to protect users from vehicular traffic
, possibly relocating the World War II memorial to the Memorial Garden on Mamaroneck Road, and establishing an alternative holiday tree in Chase Park.
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Municipal Services
After two previous traffic safety reports and a recent social media campaign gauging residents' concerns about traffic on local roads, the Municipal Services Committee just released its latest report, which recommends actions to promote motorist, pedestrian, and cyclist safety.
Specifically, the committee recommends that Scarsdale Village:
- Lower the maximum allowable area speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph on all local roads as permitted by New York State;
- Allocate appropriate resources to increase enforcement, and implement strategies/improvements in signals, signage, and road infrastructure; and
- Conduct a "Safety in Scarsdale," "Driving the Dale," or similar campaign to communicate the importance of traffic safety on village roads.
The document, “Update to Scarsdale Forum 2015 and 2018 Traffic Reports,” is available
here.
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Fiscal Affairs Scarsdale
Members of the Fiscal Affairs Scarsdale Committee attended the village's "first pass" budget meeting in January and now are studying its 2020-21 budget workpapers. They also will attend the various February and March public budget meetings as they prepare for the committee's report on Scarsdale's tentative fiscal plan (which will be filed on March 20).
There's still plenty of time for committee members to weigh in on village spending and potential cost savings opportunities. If you're interested in sharing your thoughts or contributing to the group's efforts, email
Anne Hintermeister, the committee chair at
ahintermeister@gmail.com
.
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Summer Art Festival Coming
To Scarsdale
After two years of planning, the Scarsdale Arts Council will host the
Scarsdale Summer Art Festival 2020
from mid-July through the first part of August.
The festival will feature a high-quality, juried art show, an exhibition of student art, and a variety of other events to be announced shortly. Local artists, as well as those from surrounding counties and states, will be invited to submit proposals for works in a variety of media to be showcased via a special prospectus that also will be distributed widely in the community.
The festival will be made possible though the work of many volunteers, primarily docents who will serve on-site, assisting attendees in navigating the exhibits and managing exhibition spaces in the village center. If you are interested in lending a hand, contact
Ed Morgan, president of the Scarsdale Arts Council at
eamlaw@optonline.net.
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Scarsdale Forum Inc.
Scarsdale Forum Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to community education through discussion and analysis of issues relevant to Scarsdale residents.
Since 1904, it has contributed meaningfully to village affairs through written reports, public speaker events and committee discussions. Membership is available to all Scarsdale and Mamaroneck Strip residents, regardless of citizenship status.
Forum Focus
generally is distributed to Scarsdale Forum members in the first week of each month. Story ideas should be sent to
communications@scarsdaleforum.com
one week prior
to be included in the coming issue.
Media Contact
Diane Greenwald
Forum Focus Editor
Laura Halligan
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