Community Back Our Neighbors Compassion to School Captain for Immigrants Schools Make America Local scholar making a Changes for Well known Dobbs di erence helping the New Year Ferry veteran not Hispanic community. slowing down at 81. PAGE 5 PAGE 12-13 PAGE 30 Special Back to School Issue Your Community Newspaper Since 2006 SEPTEMBER 2019 | VOL. XIV NO. 9 Tarrytown • Sleepy Hollow • Irvington • Scarborough-on-Hudson • Ardsley-on-Hudson • Dobbs Ferry thehudsonindependent.com Business Fall Opening Set for Bridge Ramp Stepping Up Photo By: Barrett Seaman Photo By: Barrett Sleepy Hollow dance studio by Robert Kimmel the fall” to queries. reaches milestone. During the bridge construction, Story» Page 18 otorists driving south on ramp E, as labeled by the ruway Broadway in Tarrytown Authority, was used for equipment Mwill nd it easier to access access, staging, workers parking, the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge be- and ultimately the building of new ginning this fall. e long-closed retaining walls for the area. Use of ramp on South Broadway to the the space for those purposes, it re- bridge will be reopened, according lated, would keep other roadways to the New York ruway Author- from being congested. Neighbor- ity. ing the ramp, construction at the Sports Eventually the orange cones and the snarled traffi c (left) will disap- e ramp has been closed since Tarrytown landing area is also be- pear, allowing direct access to the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. March 2014 to help facilitate the ing completed on a storage build- Football Previews construction of the new Cuomo ing and visitors’ pavilion placed have dubbed the “jug handle” places them eastbound on Route High school teams pumped to Bridge and removal of the old Tap- within a plaza. route to get across the bridge. 119. Driving almost a quarter kick o season. pan Zee span. e Authority is re- From the time of its closure in at access requires motorists mile, they then take a ramp lead- Story» Page 22 luctant to provide the exact date of 2014, drivers on South Broadway to bear right just past the closed ing onto 1-87 northbound/ I-287 its reopening, responding only, “in have had to navigate what many ramp onto a loop which then MORE» on page 9 Tourism Photo By: Margaret Fox Photograpy Photo By: Margaret Private Central SEPTEMBER QUIZ Park What do you know Landscape restoration at Lyndhurst has begun. about Washington Story» Page 28 Irving? Test your skills as you engage in our new monthly quiz. PAGE 34 In the What’s Happening PAID PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE U.S. Calendar Listing PERMIT NO. 971 PERMIT NO. WHITE PLAINS, NY WHITE PLAINS, Money of Events Sleepy Hollow Mayor Ken Wray is all smiles accepting $250,000 state grant for Devries Park. NYC Comedy in the IRV, Sat. Story» Page 2 9/21 at 7:30 p.m., hosted by Ophira Eisenberg. Story» Page 32-33 Ongoing Concern about Hudson River Sturgeons by Char Weigel he Hudson River Valley is renowned for its history. One could say it is swimming in it – Washington slept here, British spy Major TJohn André was captured here. e rivertowns are alive with an- cient history as well. e sturgeons of the Hudson River are the seventh A&E oldest species on earth, unchanged for 200 million years. ey are sym- bols of the Hudson estuary, their bony image displayed on signs dotting Fun Stuff local highways. Once so populous that 18th century residents stayed o New production company de- the river when it was full of huge, spawning sturgeons, these living fossils Scientists working with stur- buts in Irvington. are now protected under the Endangered MORE» on page 6 geons. Credit: Jon Lipscomb Story» Page 35 Sleepy Hollow Receives $250,000 to Restore Devries Park by Rick Pezzullo Harckham, who was joined by State Sen- will enjoy, it is part of a larger plan to link gional destination by developing trails that ate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cous- key historical and community sites, which will link historical sites, recreational facili- Devries Park in the Village of Sleepy ins, announced the awarding of the State will draw in tourism and boost the local ties and local neighborhoods. Hollow will undergo extensive restora- Aid to Municipalities grant last month in economy.” “By connecting Kykuit, Sleepy Hollow tions, thanks to a $250,000 grant secured the village. “Our local parks are the lifeblood of our Cemetery, Philipsburg Manor, Rockefell- by State Senator Peter Harckham (D/40th “I’m always eager to support our munici- communities. I’m happy to join Senator er State Preserve, Old Croton Aqueduct, Senate District). palities’ critical community projects, par- Harckham as he announces funding to re- RiverWalk, the Lighthouse, Downtown The planned restorations at the park ticularly spaces that allow the community store and develop Sleepy Hollow’s Devries Sleepy Hollow, two Metro North train include clearing and restoring overgrown to come together, and the restoration of Park trails so that the community and visi- stations and the future Sleepy Hollow trails, pruning trees to open up the view Devries Park is one of those projects that tors have easy access to historical sites, the Common together, we will finally realize to the Pocantico River, adding signage, re- will benefit everyone in Sleepy Hollow,” Pocantico River and recreational facilities,” our collective goal of providing all Sleepy moving brush, restoring/adding benches Harckham said. “Not only will it create Stewart-Cousins added. Hollow residents with access to both the and improving athletic fields and picnic new trails and vistas, and upgrade recre- Sleepy Hollow Mayor Ken Way said the Pocantico and Hudson rivers,” Wray said. areas. ational areas that community members funding was crucial in helping create a re- 2 The Hudson Independent September 2019 www.thehudsonindependent.com Mail Delivery to Tarrytown IRVINGTON Apartment Complex Suspended FALL 2019 EVENTS by Robert Kimmel Offi ce on North Broadway. “We apolo- gize for the inconvenience this may cause A United States Postal Service policy that and hope you understand our position,” it is designed to keep postal carriers from added. harm had harsh consequences late last One resident of the complex, Sheryl Co- NYC month for residents of a Tarrytown resi- hen, said she had been without mail deliv- dential complex. ery for about two years because of a similar Some 200 tenants of the Sleepy Hollow problem involving a carrier delivering mail COMEDY Garden apartments at 177 White Plains to a neighbor several doors away. She said IN THE IRV Road were notifi ed by the Tarrytown Post that the dogs she has seen in the apart- HOSTED BY Offi ce that their mail had been suspended. ments’ area were “walked by the owners on Th e reason: a postman had been bitten by a leashes. I never witnessed a problem.” Co- dog in their complex. Parts of the 15-build- hen noted that each apartment had a mail OPHIRA ing apartment complex have been dealing slot, and that there were no communal with the same problem over the past two mailbox locations. She said she was seeking years. help from Congresswoman Nita Lowey to EISENBERG Suspending service is an action a local have mail delivery restored. (HOST OF NPR’S “ASK ME ANOTHER”) post offi ce can make when it believes its Samson Management, which supervises employees are endangered at a delivery lo- the property, wrote to tenants that it hoped WITH ANDY PITZ AND cation. “When delivering mail or packages, to meet with the Tarrytown postal authori- MOODY MCCARTHY to your complex, several of our carriers have ties, “in the near future….to fi nd out what TICKETS 35 had incidents with dogs, (pitbulls), living steps are necessary to have service restored.” PRESENTING SPONSOR: in your complex,” read the letter from the Th e USPS reports nationwide, “dog at- ERIC BERNSTEIN, COMPASS OF DOBBS FERRY post offi ce, signed by its Postmaster, Tyee- tacks and bites together as the most promi- sha Th omas and Supervisor, Ronald Russo. nent threat to carriers. Last year, 5,714 09/21 AT 7:30PM Th e letter cited the latest incident as Postal Service employees were victimized having taken place on August 14 “with by dogs.” a pitbull, when one of our carriers was de- USPS instituted National Dog Bite Pre- livering mail. Due to this issue, no mail or vention Week in April, “As a public service packages will be delivered to the complex.” campaign that off ers safety tips and empha- IRVINGTONTHEATER.COM It continued that residents would have to sizes the need for increased owner respon- pick up their mail at the Tarrytown Post sibility in the prevention of dog attacks.” THEATER EXCEPTIONAL WILSON PARK HOME 10 River Terrace, Tarrytown | $799,000 | 3,125 SQ FT Beautiful flow and spacious, well proportioned rooms in this 4 Bedroom, 3 Bath, Center Hall Colonial, located on a quiet cul-de-sac in the desirable Wilson Park neighborhood of Tarrytown. Amenities of this fine home include hardwood flooring, central air, hard wired generator, wood burning fireplace, family room & suite with separate entry, laundry & mudroom, 2 car garage & full basement. Valerie Kopelman Licensed RE Associate Broker m: 914.261.6609 e: [email protected] e: [email protected] w: valeriekopelman.juliabfee.com IRVINGTON BROKERAGE | 46 MAIN STREET | 914.295.3500 Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated. www.thehudsonindependent.com September 2019 Th e Hudson Independent 3 An Irvington Couple’s Troubling Encounter with Police by Barrett Seaman fi ling of a Notice of Claim against the vil- senger’s side and went around.” Still in her summons Liberatore wrote was riddled lage and its police force, a legal prelude to pajamas, she says she thought that when the with errors—including an inaccurate de- When a midnight call from their daughter a lawsuit.