Scam Alert

Local business in the Village of Tarrytown and the City of Rye was recently scammed. A person presenting themselves as the Fire Inspector from those Communities appeared and demanded cash to pay a Village inspection fee, which was paid to them. No municpal employee will never ask for or accept cash or other payment in the field. This kind of scam and other similar scams could happen to anyone – a homeowner or a business owner – and could also happen in the instance of someone posing as a representative from a utility like Con Edison or Verizon, a Federal agency such as FEMA or the Small Business Administration (SBA) or some other company or organization.

To avoid being scammed, please keep the following tips in mind:
· Always ask for official identification.
· No Village employee will ever ask for payment, especially of cash, in the field. All documents and payments should be submitted at Village Hall and by check made out to the Village of Elmsford.
· Do not give out personal or confidential information such as your birthday, social security number, bank account number, or other personal or confidential information.
· If anyone attempts to demand cash or other payment from you on behalf of the Village of Elmsford, or another community, please call your Police Department to report criminal activity.
· If you have surveillance cameras, please retain and preserve the information and share it with the Police Department to assist in the investigation.
· Do not allow anyone to coax, coerce or bully you into buying or paying for something you do not want and/or did not ask for.
· For help with dangerous or possible criminal activities, please call your Police Department.

This message was provided by the Village of Elmsford.

Westchester County Household Recycling Day Event At Playland

 WESTCHESTER COUNTY HOUSEHOLD RECYCLING DAY EVENT

AT PLAYLAND PARK

Saturday, November 14th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

 

(White Plains, NY) – Westchester County’s Department of Environmental Facilities (DEF) will be conducting a Household Recycling Day (HRD) event on Saturday, November 14th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Playland Park in Rye. New COVID-19 precautions are in place to allow DEF to once again host these events for County residents. Residents are asked to place items in their trunk or hatchback, remain in their vehicles, and wear masks while in the drop-off area.

 

In 2019, DEF hosted four HRD Events throughout the County and residents delivered more than 307,000 pounds of household waste and 91,000 pounds of documents for shredding.

 

In addition to properly labelled household chemicals, tires, scrap metal, electronics, appliances, and other special wastes found in a typical household, residents can bring documents for shredding and expired or unwanted medications for disposal to the November 14th HRD Event.

 

Generally, the following items are accepted for safe disposal or recycling:

 

Properly labelled household chemicals, such as:

o   Household cleaning products

o   Most automotive fluids (antifreeze, brake fluid, gasoline, but not motor oil)

o   Flammable liquids (kerosene, butane, lighter fluid, turpentine)

o   Metal, jewellery, and furniture polishes and waxes; wood preservatives

o   Fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, herbicides

o   Photographic and swimming pool chemicals

 

·         Batteries – only vehicle, rechargeable, or button cell

·         Fluorescent light bulbs & CFLs

·         Fire extinguishers

·         BBQ propane tanks (up to 20 lbs.)

·         Mercury containing devices (thermometers and thermostats)

·         Electronic waste (TVs, computer monitors and towers)

·         Expired or unwanted medications, both OTC and prescription

·         Personal documents for shredding (limit of four (4) file-size boxes per household)

·         Tires

 

Items that will not be accepted and should not be brought to the Household Recycling Day include paint (both latex and oil), non-rechargeable alkaline and carbon zinc batteries (they can be safely discarded in the trash), motor oil, smoke detectors, cell phones, explosives (flares, fireworks, ammunition), construction debris and hypodermic needles. Also, waste from businesses, schools, or other institutions will not be accepted.

 

The City of Rye will simultaneously be hosting its annual Zero Waste Day. Several non-profit and charity organizations will be on hand to collect additional items from residents: 

· Furniture Sharehouse: gently-used furniture- please see details on their website

· Mount Vernon Animal Shelter: pet food, bedding and towels

·  Linking Handlebars: gently-used bicycles

· Rye Kicks It Forward: soccer gear

·  Rye City Lions Club: prescription eyeglasses

 

For more information on what to bring to this event, visit www.westchestergov.com/recycling or call (914) 813-5425.

 

Thanks to the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Conservation for providing the Playland site for this event.

 

If you are unable to attend the HRD Event, you can still dispose of your hard-to-get-rid-of household waste by making a convenient appointment for the County’s Household-Material Recycling Facility (H-MRF), 15 Woods Road, Valhalla.  The H-MRF is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. by appointment, and accepts the same items that are accepted at the HRD events. For more information about the H-MRF or to make an appointment, visit 

https://environment.westchestergov.com/facilities/h-mrf or call (914) 813-5425.

 

For more information on Westchester County environmental programs and events follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/WestchesterCountyDEF

Senior Housing and the Comprehensive Plan

Here’s something we don’t hear about every day, or ever see happening in Greenburgh. The City of Rye has elected to change zoning for a commercial property into residential in the hopes of repurposing vacant or unused office space in their community. Specifically, construction is slated to start on a 122-unit senior home in a former office building at 120 Old Post Road after the city's Planning Commission completes a site plan review. According to Republican Rye City Councilman Richard Mecca, “…there’s a market for this kind of property.”

The kind of property he’s discussing is the construction of a 122-unit senior housing facility that would provide luxury residential housing for seniors. The office building in question has been unoccupied since 2009. Once completed, the over-55 residents would be able to choose from one and two bedroom apartments. The current building would be razed and a new 245,000 square feet building would be constructed, roughly 3 times the size of the current building. While we question the increased size as necessary, we’re sure the developers have claimed the usual reasons, focusing on their profitability only working with this size building. We’re also sure if challenged, they have another number they are willing to scale it down to.

In Greenburgh, however, we’ve seen the new Comprehensive Plan adopted. Critics, including ABG, point out that it is more of a political document/statement and an encapsulation of what the Town currently has as opposed to providing a blueprint and true plan for the future of our Town. After 8 long years of preparation, public forums and road shows, the document falls flat on its face, allowing Mr Feiner and his Board similar carte blanche with zoning changes throughout the Unincorporated Town. This failing will be evident tomorrow night when the Town Board adopts a change to zoning specific to the Manhattan Avenue area to eliminate the existing HUD housing and build bigger buildings with mix-use retail space at ground level. It’s easy to perceive the Town Board as doing spot-zoning but they will apply this as a Town-wide endeavor to skirt that issue.

The one bright light throughout Mr Feiner’s constant onslaught to allow commercial enterprises in residential areas has been neighborhood pushback. At the former Frank’s Nursery property on Dobbs Ferry Road, Mr Feiner tried to convince residents to accept an 8-story, 83-foot sports bubble in their residential neighborhood on that property. By banding together, they were able to push back with one mantra: keep the zoning residential and build residential housing of any type at that location!

The GameOn 365 owners, who had been encouraged in private meetings with Mr Feiner and his Board  not to worry about the zoning as they would name themselves the lead agency and push the zoning change through, moved their plans to the Visioli golf driving range property next door. What Mr Feiner and crew hadn’t counted on was the resolve and intelligence of the residents. Using the Town’s own laws, they held fast and got every neighbor adjacent to the property to object to the usage. Subsequently, after Mr Feiner played his games with the property and losing more money for the Town, movement on creating a new senior assisted living facility has begun.

To that end, there will be a Public Hearing/Discussion on the proposed CHS Assisted Living Facility at the Planning Board on Wed. Oct. 19th. The meeting starts at 8:00pm. Residents of the Town are urged to attend to see and hear what the plans are for this new facility. This is a story of David beating Goliath. Right now, however, we applaud the City of Rye for taking a positive step in creating housing from commercial property and wished we could see similar thinking in our Town. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.