Health, Dining, Living Arts, Leisure, History BeeBee Summer 2020 The Neighborhood Buzz Local Rivertowns The Armour-Stiner A Labor of Love (Octagon) House Pollinator PATHWAYS Giving Nature Ways to Grow MEET THEDoreen MERCHANT Bartolini ARDSLEY SALON MEETDavid THE ARTIST StayCATIONING Rabinowitz in the Rivertowns PHOTOGRAPHER FOCUS ON ARDSLEY, NEW YORK JAMES J. MULVEY JR. TEAM AT HOULIHAN LAWRENCE ARDSLEY REAL ESTATE OFFICE MOBILE: 914.447.6422 [email protected] LocalBee BeeBee SUMMER 2020 PUBLISHER Alan Greenwald LocalThe Neighborhood Buzz DESIGN DIRECTOR LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER Rose Candido Providing a Positive Message for the Community . MANAGING EDITOR Much has happened in the world since the first issue of Bee Local—The Neighborhood Buzz. Ana Erlic A global pandemic, businesses and schools closed, millions unemployed, young and old demonstrating for long-overdue change, and a feeling of both despair and hope. It can be COPY EDITOR challenging to stay positive in such trying times, but a positive message is what our communities Sharon Lynn Bear, Ph.D. need right now. Here are some things that give us hope. CONTRIBUTING Our technology is serving us well in this crisis. With Zoom meetings, virtual schooling, and tele- WRITERS med appointments, we are doing what we need to do. And although weddings, graduations, bar and bat mitzvahs, confirmations, and other important functions were canceled, we found ways to Patrice E. Athanasidy celebrate with intimate at-home ceremonies or Zoomed celebrations with many virtual guests, Clara Tóth, Ph.D. drive-by motorcades, and posted signs. Henrietta Toth Essential workers went to work each day, risking exposure to COVID-19, so that the community could stay safe and healthy. Governor Andrew M. Cuomo provided compassionate and ADVERTISING pragmatic leadership. His daily briefings, with PowerPoints full of charts, facts, and advice, as Alan Greenwald well his personal stories (meatballs and boyfriends) were a source of truth and, importantly, comfort. Under his responsible leadership, New York was quick to close down, pull together the FRONT COVER IMAGE public and private hospital system, and monitor the health of its residents. New York is now Kevin Blazy testing more people than any country, let alone any state, our hospitalizations are stable, and we have the lowest rate of transmission in the country. Not only have we flattened the curve, but we A publication of have bent it—down to an infection rate that is below 1 percent. ABD50, LLC P.O. Box 477 The Rivertowns, like the rest of New York, were greatly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Ardsley, NY 10502 Members of my ambulance corps, Ardsley-Secor Volunteer Ambulance Corps (ASVAC), (914) 391-1254 had to overcome their concerns about their own health to respond to calls for potentially www.beelocalbuzz.net COVID-19– infected community members. I was concerned as well, but I wanted to do [email protected] whatever I could, and I responded to as many ambulance calls as possible, particularly because these individuals are members of our community. With the proper use of personal protective Printed locally by equipment (PPE), consistent cleaning and disinfecting of the ambulance, and, most of all, strong Jam Printing, Elmsford, NY leadership by its officers, ASVAC persevered through this storm as will the Rivertowns. Suggestions, comments, or Wearing a mask in public, maintaining social distance, and consistently washing our hands have have something you would become an important part of our new daily routines. It is vital that, as a community, we remain like to contribute? vigilant in keeping COVID-19 under control. There is, however, a positive takeaway from the Please contact COVID-19 pandemic: It showed how our communities are interconnected and how important [email protected] it is to work together for the common good and to stay positive. In the words of our governor, let’s stay New York Tough: Smart, United, Disciplined, and Correction: Loving. In the Spring issue of Bee Local, we reported on a wonderful purveyor of locally sourced honey, Let It Be Apiaries (letitbehoney.com). Alan Greenwald Christine Lehner’s name was NEXT ISSUE Fall 2020 Features: spelled incorrectly. We • Washington Irving and his Neighbors • The Legend of Sleepy Hollow apologize for the error. • Suffragette Movement in the Rivertowns • Focus On Irvington and much more Summer 2020 / Bee Local / #3 LocalBee SUMMER 2020 CONTENTS LETTER03 FROM THE PUBLISHER By Alan Greenwald Providing a Positive Message for the Community . FEATURES 05 FOCUS ON Ardsley, New York 16 By Henrietta Toth A small village with a big-hearted sense DEPARTMENTS of community marked by inclusivity and 22 volunteerism. To Your Health Don’t Get Sunburned This Summer 26 By Clara Tóth, Ph.D. 12 Meet the Merchant An Interview with Doreen Bartolini, Ardlsey Salon 28 By Henrietta Toth Meet the Artist Hastings’ resident, David Rabinowitz, talks 12 about his photography POLLINATOR PATHWAYS 30 By Henrietta Toth Giving Nature Ways to Grow Did You Know? By Patrice E. Athanasidy . that a ferry once crossed the Hudson How to create landscapes that are friendly River at Dobbs Ferry? to native plants and pollinators of the 31 By Henrietta Toth region. 16 22 A LABOR OF LOVE STAYCATIONING The Armour-Stiner IN THE RIVERTOWNS (Octagon) House By Clara Tóth, Ph.D. By Henrietta Toth Ideas for what to do and where to An architectural masterpiece from the go locally this summer. Rivertowns’ storied past now welcomes visitors. 30 4 / Bee Local / Summer 2020 LocalBee Focus New On Ardsley York By Henrietta Toth f the five Rivertowns within the Town of Greenburgh, Ardsley Ois the farthest from the Hudson River and the smallest, with about 4,500 residents over more than one square mile. The village’s small size belies its big-hearted sense of community marked by inclusivity and volunteerism. THE EARLY DAYS Originally called Ashford, as early as 1841, the village later became known as Ardsley with the establishment of its post office in 1883. The name change came about because there was already an Ashford Post Office in New York State. According to local lore, Ardsley took its new name from Ardsley Towers, the estate of Cyrus West Field, of Atlantic telegraph cable fame, which extended to the Sprain Brook. Ashford Avenue, the major thoroughfare, was once simply called the road to Dobbs Ferry. It developed from a Native American trail that connected the Hudson River with Long Island Sound. Summer 2020 / Bee Local / 5 LocalBee McDowell Park Ardsley Fire Department DeCicco & Sons - Ardsley Rt. 9A South 6 / Bee Local / Summer 2020 LocalBee ARDSLEY VILLAGE FACTS Incorporated 1896 Mayor Hon. Nancy Kaboolian Mayor Hon. Andy DiJusto Deputy Mayor/Trustee Population 4,589 Median Age 48.3 Density 3,486 per square mile Land 1.32 square miles Elevation 210 feet Schools Concord Road Elementary School Ardsley Middle School Ardsley High School Lyceum Kennedy French American School (private) Attractions Revolutionary War Heritage Trail South County Trailway V.E. Macy Park Louis M. Pascone Park (Source: City-Data.com) The other major route that expanded Army units occupied the area around from the community’s earliest days is Saw Ardsley High School and the colonial-era Mill River Road or Route 9A. Ardsley’s Joseph Appleby farm on Secor Road early inhabitants were Weckquaesgeek (later the site of WFAS radio) where members of the Mohican tribe who remains from their camp and military discovered good hunting ground in the drills, including a cannon ball, have been area. American Indian artifacts were found. Ovens for baking bread, which discovered during the construction of General Rochambeau’s French troops Ardsley Middle School in 1968. used, have been uncovered at the nearby Colonial settlement followed with Sunningdale Country Club. Revolutionary farms and businesses, including village War Heritage Trail interpretive signs blacksmiths and a sawmill and gristmill mark the route that the combined forces Riviera Bakehouse along the Saw Mill River. Three pickle took through Ardsley on their way to farms operated in the mid-nineteenth victory at Yorktown, Virginia. Perhaps a century. The Putnam Railroad came more amazing archeological find were the through in the late nineteenth century bones of either a young mastodon or helping to take Ardsley from a farming woolly mammoth dug up in 1974 during community to a suburb. A post-World work at a property on Huntley Drive. War II building boom established the In 1914, fire swept through the village village as a commuter belt of New York center, necessitating much of it being City. rebuilt. Downtown Ardsley was more permanently altered when the Saw Mill CHANGES River Parkway and New York State Historic and transformative events Thruway cut through the village in the affected the landscape of Ardsley. In the 1930s and 1950s, respectively. summer of 1781, some 9,000 Longstanding buildings were demolished Revolutionary War troops encamped on or moved. Two motels opened in the the rolling farmlands that stretched from village to accommodate travelers along Firefighter Memorial Dobbs Ferry to Edgemont. Continental the new highways, which put an end to Summer 2020 / Bee Local / 7 LocalBee ANNUAL EVENTS • Ardsley Fire Department Carnival • Food Truck Friday • Ice Cream Social • Spring Egg Hunt • Summer Concert Series Check the village website, www.ardsleyvillage.com, for current information on events. Ardsley Village Hall 8 / Bee Local / Summer 2020 LocalBee the railroad in 1958. In 1992, fire destroyed the popular Water Wheel Inn, now the site of the Waterwheel Condominiums. Renovate, AROUND TOWN Addyman Square has historically marked the village’s business Remodel, district. As Ardsley grew into a suburban community, and highways bisected its downtown, shops and restaurants expanded to strip Revive malls along Route 9A. There are long-time favorites like Riviera Bakehouse and newer ones like Ardsley Diner, plus several ethnic restaurants such as Calcutta Wrap & Roll and Fiesta Mexico.