Harrison Review 11-21-2014

November 21, 2014 | Vol. 2, Number 46 | www.harrisonreview.com

Harrison REVIEWTHE

be a two-month joint inves-tigation which saw Harrison law enforcement working with the Westchester County District Attorney’s Organized Crime Division and the Spe-cial Investigation Squad of Bergen County, N. J., to inves-tigate this incident’s connec-tion to burglaries committed throughout Westchester and Putnam counties, Long Island and Connecticut.

Harrison Police Chief An-thony Marraccini was proud

By ALINA SURIELStaff Writer

The future of 241-247 Hal-stead Ave. is now uncertain after owners of the property withdrew their application to construct a mixed-use building over concerns of the proposed height of the structure.

The applicant has been re-questing seven variances for the property, the biggest of which would require the zon-ing board to allow for the con-struction of a fifth-story, ex-ceeding the allowable four sto-ries as per town zoning code.

After zoning board mem-bers said they were not inclined to grant the height variance at the board’s Nov. 13 meeting, Harrison Real Estate Group, LLC, decided to withdraw its entire project application.

The project, as proposed, called for 19 residential units sitting above three brand new commercial storefronts on the ground floor.

The height of the building was the most contentious is-sue of an application debated before the zoning board for several months. Plans for the project called for a five-story structure, and some of the oth-er variances were issues relat-ed to the irregular height, such as a variance to provide extra parking spaces to accommo-date the expected increase in cars resulting from extra units.

Every board member who shared their opinion at the Nov. 13 meeting expressed concerns over how allowing this project could set a prec-edent which might encourage other developments in down-town Harrison to seek the same exception.

“I think it would encour-age the development of simi-lar buildings of that height,” said Mark Fisher, chairman

Height halts Halstead planof the zoning board. “So I am concerned that our doing that would kind of open up the door of future development of adjacent properties and change the character of that neighborhood. While that may be a desirable thing to do, I don’t think it’s something that we should be doing.”

Fisher added that such an allowance should be made by an amendment to the zoning code.

Downtown Harrison, and in particular the Halstead Avenue corridor, has seen increased development activity with the release of last year’s master plan, which states that the town seeks to promote economic de-velopment opportunities in the central business district.

Considered one of the cor-nerstones of the downtown’s revitalization is the impend-ing construction by Avalon-Bay of a mixed-use commer-cial and residential complex at the 3.3-acre space currently occupied by two parking lots at the Metro-North station that will include 27,000 feet of ground floor retail space and 143 residential units. David Gross, the project ar-chitect for 241-247 Halstead Ave., told the Review that having to withdraw their ap-plication was a major setback which could jeopardize the entire project. Lawyers for the development team have said in previous zoning board meet-ings that they would recon-sider whether or not to build at all if they did not get the five-story height variance, as the profit from a smaller build-ing would not give them a suf-ficient enough financial return on their investment.

“We need to evaluate our entire project in lieu of this

HALSTEAD continued on page 9BURGLARY continued on page 8

when Angelo Carzoglio, of Broome Street in New York City, and Rafael Sanchez, of W. 143 St. in Harlem, were ap-prehended on the Hutchinson River Parkway on Oct. 21 af-ter allegedly fleeing from their latest home burglary. The two men had a stolen safe and a pillowcase containing jewelry swiped from Fairfield in their possession when they were detained.

Surveillance, which police had already taken of Carzoglio, revealed he had been burglar-izing homes throughout New

York and Connecticut with San-chez and an additional member of the ring, Marie Nikgjonaj of Valentine Avenue in the Bronx.

Officers arrested Nikgjonaj following the arrest of Carzo-glio and Sanchez.

Police investigation on the group began after a home in the Purchase Estates cul-de-sac in the Purchase area of Harrison was found burglar-ized on Sept. 22. Video evi-dence obtained after this inci-dent and license plate reading technology used by Harrison police triggered what would

Police shut down tri-state burglary ringBy ALINA SURIEL

Staff Writer

It’s not so great to be in Harrison if you’re a criminal.

Harrison police busted members of a seven-member burglary ring with suspected ties to over 25 burglaries in the tri-state area after apprehend-ing two of the alleged thieves following a heist in nearby Fairfield, Conn.

According to the Harrison Police Department, a two-month crime spree attributed to the group began to unravel

Harrison High School baseball players participate in a candlelight vigil for teammate Andrew Gurgitano, 16, who died suddenly on Nov. 8. The following day, the Huskies’ soccer program held a charity game to raise funds for the family of resident Reyda LaMadrid, 47, who was killed in a car accident on Nov. 3. For story, see page 16. Photo/Bobby Begun

Harrison remembers

2 • THE HARRISON REVIEW • November 21, 2014

November 21, 2014 • THE HARRISON REVIEW • 3

Residential parking system under consideration By JOHN BRANDI

Staff Writer

Harrison will consider des-ignating certain streets to estab-lish a boundary for a new resi-dential parking permit system.

Town officials approved a public hearing on the new lo-cal law that is set for Dec. 4, to allow residents to comment on the parking system slated for streets that bisect both sides of the Harrison Metro-North tracks. The law, if enacted, will be entered as Chapter 193 in the town code and it seeks to discourage non-residents from clogging up the residen-tial neighborhood.

It will try to alleviate “traf-fic hazards, congestion, and air and noise pollution,” ac-cording to an outline of the law.

Mayor Ron Belmont, a Re-publican, said at the Nov. 6 Town Council meeting, where the local law was introduced, his office has received an “over-whelming” amount of calls re-questing such an agreement.

Residential streets off the

main roads of Halstead and Harrison avenues, are inundat-ed with the parking of vehicles owned by non-residents, the town has found. To remedy this, the town is looking to es-tablish a permit system, where an application can be filed with the town clerk and a driv-er’s license plate and vehicle identification numbers will be maintained on file at the mu-nicipal building.

An undisclosed fee will be charged to the resident for the “2 x 2 permit” and that amount is at the discretion of the Town Council. The permit will have to be renewed annually, expir-ing on Jan. 31 of each year, according to the outline. The

fees collected will go into a general fund, but the purpose of this money is undisclosed.

Still, non-residents aren’t completely shut off from the law, as there is a provision that will allow at least 20 percent of all parking within the permit areas available to them. How-ever, these non-resident spots will have a 90 minute limit.

If enacted, the permit system guidelines will run Monday through Friday, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Town officials also wish to avoid stepping on retail-ers’ toes, as a permit won’t be required on streets where the adjacent property is zoned for commercial/retail use.

Still, Harrison resident Rob-

ert Porto said he believes the law interferes with peoples’ liberties by making them pay for parking on residential streets, and that the law “should be dead right

now.” Porto accused the Town Council of stepping over the line on parking matters.

Councilman Stephen Mal-fitano and Village Attorney

Jonathan Kraut could not be reached for comment as of press time.

CONTACT: [email protected]

Harrison is considering a new local law that will designate an area for a residential parking system that will require residents to purchase a permit. Photo courtesy townofharrison.com

Town officials are proposing a new local law to require residents of Harrison to purchase parking permits to park on side roads. File photo


What’s going on...5pm. The program on Nov. 22 contrasts three works by Mozart - his Quintet in A Major for Clarinet, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, the Quartet in A Major for Flute, Violin, Viola, and Cello, and Duo No. 2 in B-flat Major for Violin and Viola - with Sebastian Currier’s 2013 work Parallel Worlds for Flute, Two Violins, Viola and Cello.

Featuring: Tara Helen O’Connor on the Flute, David Shifrin on the Clarinet, Ani Ka-vafian on the Violin, Arnaud Sussmann on the Violin, Yura Lee on the Viola, Paul Neubauer on the Viola, Mihai Marcia on the Cello.

The Four Seasons On, Saturday, Dec. 6 at 5 p.m.Vivaldi’s best-known work, The Four Sea-

sons, will be heard in its brilliant entirety, with four stellar CMS violinists sharing the spotlight. Baroque treasures by Geminiani, Albinoni, and Telemann round out the collection.

These performances are a part of our Cham-ber Music Series.

Also in this series:Decoda | Feb. 15, 3 p.m.Jack Quartet | April 12, 3 p.m.Conservatory Chamber Players| May 10, 3 p.m.

JCC Holiday BoutiqueHoliday Boutique at the JCC of Harrison

130 Union Ave. Harrison, New York 10528Sunday Dec. 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Just

in time for the holidays. Great selection of merchandise, including designer children’s clothing, women’s apparel, fine art, jewelry, scarves, gloves, leather goods, personalized children’s items, exercise clothing, women’s sweaters and outerwear, personalized statio-nery, olive oil, merengue cookies, handbags, and judaica and accessories. Don’t forget your shopping list.

Clay Art CenterHoliday-themed mini classes

for all levelsIn November and December 2014, Clay Art

Center will be offering weekly holiday-themed mini classes for all levels. Topics include mak-ing menorahs, candlesticks, orna-ments and jewelry for gifts and home decor. Offered weekly in November and December, this is a great class for ages 14 and up. Participants have fun and get their hands dirty while exploring their inner artist and making gifts for loved ones.

Mini classes include Menorahs, Forever Ornaments, Candlesticks and Pendant Bead Jewelry, currently running until Dec. 13. Interested participants can find a full list-ing on our website. People are encouraged to stop by to find out more, take a tour and meet our teaching artists and residents. The goal of our classes is to offer a new way to express and engage in self discovery in a welcoming and supportive environment.

The Clay Arts Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to kindle passion for the ceramic arts and to nurture a community in which that pas-sion flourishes. Guided by a strong belief in the power of the arts to touch and enrich lives, for more than 50 years the center has offered a stimulating space for studio prac-tice, solo and group exhibitions in its gal-lery, artist residencies, and clay classes and workshops for adults and children. The center has a very active community arts program and outreach to underserved com-munities throughout Westchester County. It is located at 40 Beech St. in Port Chester and offers year round, day and evening classes and workshops for adults and chil-dren, artist studios, a gallery with chang-ing exhibitions and a pottery shop featuring handmade ceramic objects. The gallery and shop are open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Rye Meeting House

Impact of storm activity on vegetation Talk on “Impact of Storm Activity on Veg-

etation” to be Held at Rye Meeting HouseNaturalist Alison Beall will lead a walking

demonstration on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 3 p.m. on the Meeting House and Bird Homestead properties called, “The Impact of Storm Ac-tivity on Vegetation.” Based on the effects of immersion in salt water on the plants, shrubs and trees at the Meeting House and Bird Homestead during Hurricane Sandy, the walk will serve as a guide to planting in the coastal plain. Learn which plants suffered most, which survived, and which new plants came in on the tides and thrived. The native coastal salt marsh plants will also be denti-fied and their special requirements discussed. This program is part of the Bird Homestead nonprofit’s ongoing lecture series, “After the Storm: Toward a More Resilient Shore-line.” The project is funded in part by a grant from the John E. Streb Fund for New York of the National Trust for Historic Pres-ervation. Ms. Beall is the Curator Emerita of Marshlands Conservancy. She spent 35 years in Rye as an environmental educator for both adults and children and oversee-

ing stewardship of the Marshlands Conser-vancy. Admission is free. Donations will be gratefully accepted. Meet at the Rye Meet-ing House, 624 Milton Road, across from the Dock Deli, at 3 p.m. For further infor-mation, contact 967-0099 or [email protected] with subject line vegetation.

Red Cross blood donation opportunities

Harrison library events

Deadline for our What’s Going On section is every Thursday at 3 p.m. Though space is not guaranteed, we will do our best to accommodate your listing. Please send

all items to [email protected].

Due to current renovations to the Harrison Public Library, library programs will take place at separate locations. Childrens pro-grams are now being held at the Harrison Jewish Community Center located at 130 Union Ave., in Harrison, a bit past the LMK Middle School parking lot. Enter through the back, you must go up and down stairs. Other children programs are being held at the Harrison Senior Center located at 216 Halstead Ave., in Harrison. Street parking available, there are no stairs at this location.

Children’s programs Children’s programs will continue at the

Jewish Community Center of Harrison, 130 Union Ave.

Mondays-9:30 a.m. Rockin’ Tots for ages one to three

10:30 a.m. Parachute Play Time for ages two to five

Tuesdays-9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. Wiggle and Giggle with Dawny Dew for ages one to five. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

Purchase College PAC Join the PAC as the nation’s premier rep-

ertory company for chamber music brings its trademarks to the Recital Hall. Extraordinary quality, beautifully crafted programs, remark-able young musicians playing alongside world-renowned artists.

Mozart and Currier Mozart and Currier, on Saturday, Nov. 22 at

The American Red Cross asks eligible donors to give something that means some-thing this season , a lifesaving blook donation. Blood donations often decline this time of year when donors get busy with holiday fes-tivities and travel. Severe winter weather and seasonal illnesses, like the flu, can also have a serious impact on blook donations, but the need for blood remains steady. On average, the Red Cross must collect 15,000 blood prod-ucts every day for patients across the cournty.

Eligible donors with all types are need-ed, especially those with O negative, A negative and B negative. To learn more about donating blood and to schedule an apointment, download the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767). The next blood donation happening in West-chester will take place on Dec. 13 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Mamaroneck Elk’s Lodge 1457, 417 East Post Road and in White Plains at Acadia Realty Trust, 1311 Mamaroneck Ave. in White Plains on Dec. 15 at 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.

New York Dance

Holiday Vocal/Dance ConcertOn Dec.6 at Halstead Bar and Grill in Har-

rison the New York Dance is having a Holiday Vocal and Dance concert at 3 p.m. the grill is located at 7 Purdy St. in Harrison, contact via phone at 835-8335.

Dancing for Hope On Dec.7 New York Dance is Dancing for

Hope at NYU in NYC—a chariy event for the Slice of Hope Charity. This event is tak-ing place at the Eisner and Lubin Auditorium at NYU Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Sq. South, New York.


Yandrasevich pleads guiltyBy CHRISTIAN FALCONE and CHRIS EBERHARTHarrison Review Staff

Scott Yandrasevich, the for-mer general manager of the Rye Golf Club, pleaded guilty in White Plains court on Nov. 6 to grand larceny and fal-sifying records; he will now serve one year in Westchester County jail.

Yandrasevich, 50, accepted the plea deal just days before he was set to stand trial in con-nection with allegations that he stole approximately $343,120 over a six-year period from members of the city-run golf club through several shell staff-ing companies, most notably RM Staffing, that he set up. The former general manager is also required to pay restitution to Rye for $271,120 of the money that he defrauded from the club and its members by his sentenc-ing, which is expected to be sometime in April 2015. If he cannot pay the money back in time, Yandrasevich will serve a longer sentence of one to three years in state prison but also still owe the money.

Kerry Lawrence, Yan-drasevich’s attorney, had been opposed to a plea bargain in the months leading up to the trial but said after his client pleaded guilty, “When faced with the potential consequenc-es of going to trial, Mr. Yan-drasevich decided to resolve the case.

“Mr. Yandrasevich gave his heart and soul to Rye Golf Club while he was gen-eral manager, and his tire-less, outstanding, innovative work there brought the club to a standard it had never reached before. He is glad to put this episode behind him,” Lawrence said in a released statement to the media.

Yandrasevich was arrested after turning himself in to the Westchester County District Attorney’s office in November 2013 and was later arraigned on an indictment of 10 felony counts of falsifying records and one felony count of grand

larceny in the second degree. At his arraignment, he pleaded not guilty to all charges. Yan-drasevich was facing up to 15 years in state prison, if con-victed in a trial.

Yandrasevich’s guilty plea last week included just two of the 10 counts of falsifying records.

Rye City Mayor Joe Sack, a Republican, said through the city’s investigation, they knew Yandrasevich was guilty of stealing.

“So this is certainly vindica-tion for us,” Sack, who was a councilman when the golf club scandal first unfolded in the summer months of 2012, said. “The restitution amount is wel-come, but it’s only a portion of what he stole. We will continue to pursue all of our legal rem-edies including recovering on our insurance claim in order to be made whole.”

While Rye waits to receive $271,120 from Yandrasevich, City Attorney Kristen Wilson said the city took out an insur-ance claim in August 2013 for $2.4 million and continues to await the insurance company’s review of that claim.

Lucian Chalfen, spokes-man for the district attor-ney’s office, said the restitu-tion payment that DA’s office

Scott Yandrasevich, the former manager of Rye Golf Club, pleaded guilty on Nov. 6 to grand larceny and falsifying records and will serve a year in Westchester County jail. Yandrasevich, who now lives in Danbury, Conn., is also ordered to pay approximately $271,000 in restitution to the City of Rye. File Photo

ordered has to be traced and proven beyond a reasonable doubt, which is why Yan-drasevich’s restitution to Rye is significantly lower than the city’s insurance claim. As for the difference between the initial $343,120 that the dis-trict attorney’s office claimed that Yandrasevich stole and the $271,120 he is ordered to repay, Chalfen said it is be-cause “it is unclear what ser-vices were rendered.”

In October 2012, Rye commissioned its own in-vestigation into the ques-tionable financial irregu-larities that had surfaced at the club. The investigation was completed in February 2013, and a report was issued claiming Scott Yandrasev-ich had stolen “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Yandrasevich used the mon-ey to purchase, among other things, two boats and a house for his mother in North Caro-lina, according to the report.

The report also implicated Yandrasevich’s wife, Anna, who acted as the “bookkeep-er” and “office manager” at RM Staffing. While in that capacity, Anna Yandrasevich received a salary from RM Staffing of nearly $175,000 between November 2009 and September 2012 as well as other payments total-ing $70,000. By May 2012, months prior to the scandal surfacing, Anna Yandrasevich was taking home biweekly checks of more than $4,000 from RM Staffing payroll.

However, Chalfen said, to his knowledge, Yandrasevich’s wife was not part of the district attorney’s probe.

Scott Yandrasevich, who was hired by the city to run the golf club back in 2002, resigned from his position with the club in January 2013 following an internal investigation by the city that exposed the financial scan-dal. He relocated his family to Danbury, Conn.

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HarrisonTHE

REVIEWParker announces countywide plastic bag ban

By JACKSON CHENStaff Writer

Westchester County Leg-islator Catherine Parker an-nounced a new bill she is sponsoring that proposes to limit the use of plastic bags and Styrofoam containers by retailers in Westchester.

Parker, a Rye Democrat, in-troduced the bill, which is be-ing co-sponsored by four other Democratic county legislators, including Majority Leader Catherine Borgia, of Ossining, during a Nov. 12 press confer-ence at the Mamaroneck Town Center.

“Judging from the preva-lence of plastic bags and poly-styrene objects as litter and garbage in our environment, this legislation is long over-due,” Parker said. “When it comes to doing the right thing in terms of safeguard-ing our environment and nat-ural resources for future gen-erations, there should be no

second guessing.”The bill, which remains in

the preliminary draft stage, proposes to regulate retailer and food establishment use of plastic bags and polystyrene containers, more commonly known as Styrofoam. Instead, retailers would be required to provide reusable or recyclable paper bags to customers as checkout bags. The new law, if adopted, would also restrict businesses that use Styrofoam as any form of loose fill pack-aging, like packing peanuts that cushion fragile shipments. However, the restrictions in the bill don’t include plastic produce bags, garment bags or large-sized garbage bags. In the proposed bill, violators would be liable for up to $500 after a hearing.

Several communities in the county have already enacted plastic bag bans, including Rye, when Parker was a coun-cilwoman on a majority Re-publican City Council.

In 2011, Rye was the first community in Westchester to ban the distribution of plastic bags. In the years following, the Village of Mamaroneck adopted its local ban in 2012 and the Village of Larchmont followed suit in 2013.

According to Parker, the lo-cal legislations of these com-munities would be able to work in conjunction with the county legislation, as most of it is similar.

But for some municipali-ties, a plastic bag ban is seen as too imposing. In Tuckahoe, Trustee Stephen Quigley, a Democrat, sponsored a plas-tic bag ban that was ultimately voted down by a Republican-led Village Board of Trust-ees last year. Quigley said he supports Parker’s bill as an idea and it should, in theory, accomplish what he was at-tempting in Tuckahoe.

“Alternatives to plastic bags are essential to sustainabil-ity because we have a huge amount of waste with these bags,” Quigley said. “The bio-degradability is for hundreds of years and they’re petroleum-based products.”

The trustee added that even if his bill in Tuckahoe had passed, it would not have accounted for the litter that could potentially have come from neighboring communities.

“I think a countywide re-striction is probably better for everybody because our com-munities blend into each other,” Quigley said.

Tuckahoe wasn’t the only

community that was met with resistance with its local laws re-garding plastic bag bans. Hast-ings-on-Hudson is currently facing a lawsuit to overturn its ban on plastic bags that was filed by the Food Indus-try Alliance, a statewide trade association that represents the grocery industry. Parker said that the board should tackle a regional solution instead of “municipalities coming up with their own legislations and then having to defend it.”

County Legislator MaryJane Shimsky, a Hastings-on-Hud-son Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill, said the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson is work-ing to figure out how to defend against the suit.

“Countywide government is perfect, instead of passing it 8,000 people at a time, we can pass it one million people at a time,” Shimsky said. “That is not only better for the envi-ronment and our local govern-ments, but at the same time, it’s easier for the supermar-kets because you have less of a patchwork quilt of legisla-tion to work with.”

Much like Hastings, the Town of Mamaroneck was threatened with legal action when its board proposed a plastic bag ban. The pending lawsuit caused the town to withdraw the proposal.

“It didn’t make sense for the Town of Mamaroneck and my town board didn’t have the stomach to take on the super-market industry on its own in a lawsuit,” said Mamaroneck Town Supervisor Nancy Seligson, a Democrat. “That’s why it makes sense for the county to address this issue and take the action.”

Shimsky said she expects people to come in to voice their concerns of the bill,

which would prompt discus-sion among the Westchester County Board of Legislators, which must ultimately approve the legislation before sending it to the county executive’s of-fice for his approval. Parker added that she would meet with representatives from the grocery and plastic bag indus-try to understand the effects of the proposed bill on them.

County Legislator James Maisano, a New Rochelle Re-publican who serves as vice chairman of the Westchester County Board of Legislators, said there are many pros and cons to look at.

“I’m open-minded and happy to consider it, but I do know there [are] some issues I’m concerned about,” Mai-sano said.

According to Maisano, legislators dealt with a simi-lar bill a few years ago which ultimately didn’t get past an environment and energy sub-committee of the board. That bill was squashed due to pub-lic health concerns of the re-usable bags from salmonella and since the majority of the county’s plastic bag garbage is incinerated debunking claims that the bags end up in land-fills, he said.

The new bill is currently being drafted by the county’s Law Department and there is no estimation as to when it will move forward, according to Parker.

“We will bring in all the stakeholders and we will have a thorough review before it leaves the committee,” she said. “My belief is that this [bill] will prevail.”

The Food Industry Alliance declined comment until the bill was completed.


Westchester County Legislator Catherine Parker, a Rye Democrat, announces a new bill she is sponsoring that proposes banning plastic bags throughout the county.

Various Westchester legislators and local elected officials were on hand at the Mamaroneck Town Center on Wednesday, Nov. 12, for the announcement of proposed legislation that would ban plastic bags. Photos/Bobby Begun

Approximately 50 students from Mamaroneck High School attend the press conference in a show of support for a plastic bag ban.


Rye Neck policies may deter immigrantsBy MARISSA PENN

Staff Writer

Seven local school districts, including Rye Neck, may be preventing immigrant children from enrolling at school by re-quiring them to produce birth certificates or social security numbers, thereby divulging their immigrant status, accord-ing to the New York Civil Lib-erties Union.

The seven school districts in Westchester County are among 85 school districts in New York State that have been cited by the NYCLU in a report released on Oct. 30. This is the second report by the NYCLU, following one conducted in 2010, which yielded 139 offending districts statewide.

“This time we found that a lot of them were making part of their requirements either a birth certificate with a raised seal or an original birth certifi-cate, so that was to prove the originality of the document,” said Guisela Marroquin, a NYCLU community organizer

who lives in Mamaroneck. Rye Neck was one of those

offending districts, which was asking for birth certificates at enrollment, according to Mar-roquin.

At Rye Neck, students from the elementary, middle and high schools in the district are being affected as it is their current policy to ask for birth certificates at enrollment, ac-cording to NYCLU’s report. The school district, which is made up of 1,558 students, of which 17 percent are La-tino, maintains a growing La-tino population, according to Dolores Ayaso, an attendance and registration officer in Rye Neck.

Contrary to the NYCLU’s report, Rye Neck Superinten-dent, Dr. Peter Mustich denied allegations of discrimination on the basis of citizenship.

“We have never prevented an immigrant from entering our schools based on the fact that they do not have a birth certificate,” Rye Neck Super-intendent Mustich said, “and we will be correcting anything

in our process that is wrong.”The other six schools dis-

tricts in Westchester County, which were cited by the NY-CLU for their discriminatory practices, are Blind Brook, Croton-Harmon, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings-on-Hudson, Pelham and Somers.

In 1982, with the ruling in Plyler v. Doe, the Supreme Court ruled that states violated the 14th Amendment when they denied undocumented children the same educational opportu-nity that they provided to citi-zens, regardless of their stand-ing as U.S. citizens. On top of which, New York State Educa-tion Law further guarantees a free public education to youth older than five and younger than 21 who have not earned a high school diploma.

“The New York State Educa-tional Department has said you may ask for a birth certificate but it should not be a require-ment because it begins a fear-ful relationship between the parent and the school, which is what we’re really trying to dis-courage here, at Rye Neck and

elsewhere,” Marroquin said.Although state public schools

may inquire about a student’s age and address, they break the law if they ask for a student or parent’s immigration status, require a birth certificate as proof of a child’s age or other-wise impose requirements that would prevent a child’s ability to attend the school.

In New York, many immi-grant children are unable to attend school despite efforts by their relatives and parents to enroll them because of these unlawful, arduous im-migration barriers, according to Marroquin. The NYCLU found that 73 school districts, including 25 in the New York City metro area with high im-migrant populations, require

birth certificates for enroll-ment. Nineteen of the 25 re-quire “original” birth certifi-cates; 22 school districts ask for the students’ date of entry into the United States at enrollment; 10 school districts, including Dobbs Ferry, asked for a social security card for enrollment; six districts asked students whether they were “migrant workers” at enrollment and nine districts asked students whether or not they were U.S. citizens at en-rollment.

The NYCLU’s survey dem-onstrates that the state Educa-tion Department has failed to enforce its own guidelines re-garding immigrant student en-rollment, despite being aware of the problem for years since the NYCLU’s 2010 findings,

according to Marroquin.“You may ask different

questions for different pur-poses, but you absolutely may not do it at enrollment. We are advising the State Education Department that these require-ments are still listed in such a way that is intimidating for immigrant families,” Marro-quin said.

The NYCLU has issued a letter this week to the state Education Department and the state attorney general urging the creation of a model univer-sal enrollment form and list of permissible evidentiary docu-ments, which was a recom-mendation that the NYCLU first made in 2010.


The Rye Neck school district was recently cited by the New York Civil Liberties Union due to its policy of asking for birth certificates at enrollment, which may be prohibiting immigrant children from enrolling in the district. File photo


BURGLARY from page 1Tragedy, veterans and tree lighting

I begin this column with great sadness concerning the untimely passing of Harrison High School student Andrew Gurgitano. Andrew was cher-ished by many, and I hope that those who knew and loved him can draw strength from the sense of community we have in Harrison. Because Andrew was such a good person, this tragedy represents a loss not just for his family, friends and teammates, but for the entire school system and the Town/Village of Harrison. We must try to find solace in celebrating Andrews’s short but meaning-ful life and in remembering better times.

Last week, I had the hon-or of walking with Harrison veterans at our annual Veter-ans Day Parade. Our military members, both past and pres-ent, deserve recognition for their courage and commitment to our nation’s safety and se-curity. They have selflessly dedicated their lives to serving our country and defending the freedom and values we cher-ish. The parade and ceremony was a wonderful way to show appreciation to our veterans, and their families, and it was a privilege to be included.

I would like to take this time to recognize the Interfaith Con-gregational Laymen’s Committee,

ICLC, of Harrison. Each year, the ICLC hosts a community Thanksgiving service consist-ing of readings, student com-positions, music, singing and benedictions. Non-perishable food offerings are collected for the Harrison Food Pantry. It’s a wonderful annual event, held at St. Anthony of Padua Church in West Harrison, and I look forward to attending each holiday season. In addition to the host church, participating Harrison congregations are All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Congregation Emanu-el of Westchester, Greek Orthodox Church of Our Savior, Jewish Community Center of Har-rison, Memorial Community Church, Purchase Friends and St. Gregory the Great. The ICLC is an interfaith fellow-ship of lay representatives of these congregations. For more information on ICLC, call Lola Geiger at 939-7066.

Although Thanksgiving is still a week away, it’s never too early to mark your calen-dar for the annual West Har-rison Christmas Tree Lighting and Holiday Celebration. This year, the celebration will take place on Friday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. with a rain date of Sun-day, Dec. 7 at 5 p.m. Refresh-ments will be served follow-ing the festivities, at the West Harrison Senior Center. There will be singing and entertain-ment so I hope to see lots of friends and familiar faces at this great event.

If you visit Town Hall, you may notice orange mesh bar-ricades in front of the play-ground at Ma Riis Park. As reported in one of my previous columns, perimeter fencing is being installed to add an ap-pealing aesthetic as well as to protect children who use the park. The color of the brick will compliment the façade of the library and the Town Hall building and should require very little maintenance. I look forward to seeing the finished product as we strive to improve our municipal campus.

In closing, I would like to congratulate Morgan Stanley’s Purchase facility for its recent installation of energy fuel cells. I recently attended the ribbon cutting ceremony and celebrated the installation of fuel cells that will supply power to the build-ing. This is the latest in a series of initiatives to improve the fa-cility’s energy efficiency and re-siliency. The fuel cells will sup-ply approximately 250 kilowatts of environmentally sustainable constant baseload power to the building, as well as grid-inde-pendent electricity to power the building during grid outages.

The next “Lunch with the Mayor” is on Friday, Dec. 5. I will be at Cobble Stone located at 620 Anderson Hill Road in Purchase. I will be at this lo-cation from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. and look forward to meeting with residents and talking about issues facing our community.

of his department’s involve-ment in catching such prolific criminals.

“What a premier case this was,” Marraccini said. “It’s re-ally a service to our commu-nity and other communities.”

According to Harrison po-lice, the group broke into af-fluent homes while they ap-peared to be unoccupied in the early hours of the morning. The suspects would then make their way into the master bed-rooms of these residences to steal jewelry, safes and other property, which they would transport out of the house in pillowcases also stolen from the victims.

The burglars would dispose of the stolen merchandise by selling it at a premium to Da-vid Tadjijev, the operator of a jewelry business in New York City’s diamond district. Tadji-jev was later revealed to be the primary organizer and master-mind behind the group, rent-ing out cars for the burglars to use which would eventually be traced back to him with license plate readers, most notably in the theft which started the in-vestigation in Purchase Estates.

The group is also believed to have stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewel-ry from a home in the Forest Lake area of West Harrison, and may have connections to a burglary in Wendover in Rye last December.

While authorities were in the process of investigating the burglaries committed in Westchester, they uncovered a second arm of the organized crime group operating out of Bergen County who had also supplied Tadjijev with stolen jewels. Jamelle Singletary,

Manhattan Diamond district merchant David Tadjijev, pictured, is named by Harrison police as the ringleader of a seven-member burglary ring which targeted communities from Putnam County to Long Island. Photo courtesy Harrison police

Lawal Erskine and Jamaal Sermon, all of Teaneck, N.J., were arrested on Thursday, Nov. 6 after Harrison police were informed by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s office that the three had planned to meet the diamond dealer at his apartment in Astoria, Queens, for payment in exchange for handing off merchandise sto-len from two burglaries in their home state. Singletary and Erskine went ahead into Tadjijev’s apartment, while Sermon waited for them inside their vehicle. It was then that Harrison police proceeded to arrest all four of the men.

According to Harrison po-lice, Carzoglio, Sanchez and Nikgjonaj are currently being held in Westchester County Jail after having been charged with possession of stolen property.

Tadjijev, Singletary, Erskine and Sermon are at the same facility with charges of being fugitive from justice warrants, and are awaiting extradition to New Jersey. Additional charges are expected to be filed as the investigation is still ongoing.



conclusion,” Gross told the Review. “Selling it is still a possibility. They took away our profit margin. How can we build it? It’s very iffy now. We’re very disappointed.”

Lucille Held, a Harrison res-ident for more than 56 years, objected to the developer’s

reasoning of requesting a vari-ance in order to guarantee a fi-nancial return on the property.

“Since when is it the re-sponsibility of any board or any group to make sure that if someone purchases a piece of property that they can get the maximum amount of money out

of it,” Held asked. “Because it won’t make as much money as a four story is not our problem.”

As of press time, the Harri-son Real Estate Group has not yet stated how it plans to move forward with the project.


HALSTEAD from page 1

This rendering shows the five-story proposal for 241-247 Halstead Ave., which drew skepticism from the Zoning Board of Appeals because of town zoning regulations which mandate no more than four story developments. File photo.

WORD ON THE STREETWhat’s bothering you today?

-Photos and reporting by Marissa Penn

Bronxville

Collected

on Pondfield Road

“We need to stop raising rents and support local

businesses.”

Hils Shepley, 58, Yonkers

“The weather-it’s rainy.”

Celia Gonzalez, 51, Yonkers

“The parking situation— the town decided to convert

public spots to resident spots... they’re denying

shoppers a place to park.”

Steve Singer, 60, Bronxville



Team effort at new wellness center

By JOHN BRANDIStaff Writer

A new medical practice is breathing new life into a former Citibank building in Harrison.

NY Health & Wellness will officially open Dec. 1 and its mission is to give residents of the surrounding commu-nity a chance to meet with a medical team, clustered together, to improve their physical and emotional well-being. The 6,000-square-foot facility is moving onto the fourth floor of the 450 Ma-maroneck Ave. complex, and its neighbors will also be new medical practices, ranging from an acupuncturist to an ophthalmologist.

This will be the center’s second location, with the first one located in Manhattan.

Mitch Suss, NY Health & Wellness founder and chief executive officer, said the center integrates a functional medicine model, meaning it combines both holistic and conventional methods.

“We do believe in drugs, and Dr. [Timothy] Morley, [lead doctor] will write a pre-scription, but only when it’s absolutely necessary, when you have [a] disease like can-cer,” Suss said.

However, the chief execu-tive officer said the center’s primary message is about pre-vention. Suss calls the cen-ter’s design “very Zen-like” to create a peaceful aura for patients.

“It should be almost like a spa effect,” Suss said.

Bringing in top profes-sionals, like Morley, to the

11 room clinic, Suss said he is looking to maximize a pa-tient’s treatment plan. How-ever, he said patients will still have a choice if they want to see the team, consisting of a nutritionist, fitness expert and psychotherapist, “a la carte” or bundled together.

Morley said that state of medicine today is a “symp-toms management system” and that it falls short on allevi-ating the true cause of illness. What he, and his team of spe-cialists, is looking to do is to treat the underlying cause in a “whole body approach.”

Suss said the clinic, to im-prove wellness, will look closely at trying to regulate the body’s hormones, which he said is like “the premium gas-oline for your body.” If there’s a hormonal imbalance, then it will affect every metabolic phase of a patient’s health, ac-cording to the founder.

Though not to limit those who can benefit from the treat-ment, Suss said the target de-mographic is perimenopausal women around 30 to 40 years old, postmenopausal women 40 to 65 years old and an-dropausal men, or those ex-periencing low testosterone levels.

Treatment will focus on “natural hormone optimiza-tion,” or achieving a balance through supplementation and nutrition, weight loss manage-ment, nutritional testing and detoxification, Suss told the Review. Suss said similar hor-mone structures, called bioi-denticals, can be administered in the form of injections and creams for hormone replace-ment. Suss said these can be

derived from yams, which share a hormone sequence similar to humans.

Suss said he decided on Harrison because it’s “cen-trally located to all the opulent towns.” However, he said he believes that insurance cover-age will catch up and start sub-sidizing hormone replacement and these types of non-clinical treatments “within five years.”

The announcement for this center comes on the heels of other medical facilities pop-ping up across Harrison. In-tegraMed America, a fertility and vein care facility, recent-ly leased a 28,282-square-foot space at The Centre at Purchase and Harrison’s Ex-ecutive Medical Park is see-ing development activity with construction finishing on an 85,000-square-foot WEST-MED Medical Group build-ing on Westchester Avenue.

Suss said he’s not wor-ried about the competition because his center is “one of a kind” with hormone op-timization. He also said that other medical practices in-ternally won’t be stepping on each other’s toes as there’s a non-competing clause in the contracts.

The chief executive offi-cer said he sees NY Health & Wellness expanding into a franchise, with one in ev-ery major city. He already has plans to open a third location on Long Island, and to expand the one in Harrison to across the hall, to a vacant room cur-rently under construction that served as a set for “The Wolf of Wall Street.”


A new health and wellness center, located at 450 Mamaroneck Ave., is coming to Harrison in December. Photo/John Brandi



Police kill aggressive coyoteOn the morning of Nov.

10, Village of Mamaroneck police shot and killed a coy-ote that had wandered into a residential neighborhood and was found on Stanley Avenue. No injuries were reported, but police said the animal had ex-hibited “aggressive behavior,” before it was put down.

In this idyllic suburb, locals are not typically concerned with coyotes, but in the past several years, there has been a rise in coyote sightings and attacks. That was evidenced in Rye, when back in 2010 two children were attacked by coy-otes in a span of four days.

Coyotes are now a part of the landscape, according to Mayor Norman Rosenblum, Republican. Over the past few years, there has been a rise in coyote sightings in the area due to food shortages and land development and expan-sion, according to the mayor. He said, however, that coyotes have been around “forever” and that the human population has to find ways to deal with the situation proactively.

PROTOCOLS FOR DEALING WITH COYOTES

Be loud

•Be aggressive

•Act in a manner to scare

coyotes away •

Contain garbage •

Do not feed birds •

Supervise small pets, children outside

“If you have small children or small dogs, don’t leave them alone in the yard,” Rosenblum said. “Use common sense.”

Village officials are asking residents to keep lids on gar-bage cans and to not feed birds because birds attract coyotes.

Mostly, coyotes are non-ag-gressive and do not approach humans. But according to the mayor, if one does approach a human, it is important to make noise, throw a rock or stick, to let it know that you are not prey. There have been no at-tacks to date that the mayor has heard of in the Village of Mamaroneck.

“What the police officer and ranger did was absolutely what they had to do for them-selves in the situation and for the community because this particular coyote was aggres-sive and dangerous,” the mayor said.

According to Village of Mamaroneck police Detective Sandy DiRuzza, this was the first and only incident involv-ing a coyote in Mamaroneck this year and precautions for

residents to take have been posted on the village’s website, village.mamaroneck.ny.us.-Reporting by Marissa Penn

Hello, my name is July, and everyone says I’m a sweet and cuddly, bouncy puppy. At just seven months old, I’m very curious and active but also very attentive and just learning how to be a dog. I’m so lucky to have volunteers teaching me to walk on a leash without pulling and jumping up and how to sit on command. I was so scared when I was abandoned on a busy boulevard in Queens and luckily Pet Rescue saved me, as I was next on Animal Care and Control’s euthanasia list. I show my thanks every day with loads of kisses. I get along well with older kids and other dogs and I just love being petted and hugged. I’m about 40 pounds and think I’m a mastiff/pit mix. My professional evaluation gives me an excellent behavior rating. I easily give up my food or toys if taken away and show no aggression. I am spayed, vaccinated, dewormed, heartworm tested and even micro-chipped. I’m hoping you will pay $250 to make be part of your home. To find out more about me, please contact Larchmont Pet Rescue at 834-6955 or on the web at NY-PetRescue.org.(Submitted)

Federal ruling may impact affordable housingBy CHRIS EBERHART

Staff Writer

A federal district judge’s recent ruling in Washington D.C. and a pending Supreme Court case could completely change the complexion of the affordable housing saga in Westchester County.

Both are taking aim at dis-parate impact liability, which is defined as when a “defen-dant can be held liable for dis-crimination for a race-neutral policy that statistically dis-advantages a specific minor-ity group even if that negative ‘impact’ was neither foreseen nor intended,” according to Judicial Watch, a nonprofit, nonpartisan education group that’s devoted to promoting transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and law.

In Westchester County, dis-parate impact has been used in the federal monitor’s analyses to show evidence of exclu-sionary zoning in Westches-ter municipalities based on socio-economic factors and race, respectively. Under one analysis, the Berenson analy-sis, seven municipalities in the county were deemed as having exclusionary zoning; under the other analysis, the Huntington analysis, six municipalities were identified.

The latest report, complet-ed on Sept. 8 by the federal-appointed housing monitor Jim Johnson, it analyzes the “discriminatory impact,” or disparate impact, but “does not make findings with re-spect to whether any munici-pality drafted its zoning code with the intent to discriminate against minorities.”

But U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said in a Nov. 3 decision that plaintiffs must show intent, or disparate treat-ment, and arguments for dis-parate impact liability “appear to be nothing more than wish-ful thinking on steroids.”

“This is yet another exam-ple of an administrative agen-cy trying desperately to write into law that which Congress never intended to sanction,” Leon wrote in his decision against disparate impact. “It is nothing less than an artful mis-interpretation of Congress’s intent.”

Gustavo Velasquez, assistant

secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, said the federal department of Hous-ing and Urban Development, HUD, is reviewing the ruling and is “considering its options on an appeal.”

In Westchester, County Ex-ecutive Rob Astorino, a Re-publican, has been at odds with HUD over the implementation of a 2009 affordable housing settlement, between his prede-cessor then Democratic Coun-ty Executive Andy Spano and HUD. The agreement was for the county to build 750 units over a seven-year period, com-plete an analysis of impedi-ments, which is a review of the barriers that prevent afford-able housing, and promote fair housing practices.

The build out in Westches-ter is ahead of schedule and legislation that promotes fair housing was passed. All that remains is the analysis of im-pediments, which has been the source of contention between Astorino and HUD.

Ned McCormack, spokes-person for Astorino, said Le-on’s ruling supports Astorino’s narrative that HUD is over-reaching in its authority.

“[This decision is] signifi-cant for the 2009 settlement and throws into question why HUD turned down the coun-ty’s eight analyses of impedi-ments,” McCormack said. “HUD says [the county] has exclusionary zoning based on data, but the judge is saying you need to prove intent which the county has been saying all along…Clearly, HUD is trying to expand the law and has been in Westchester.”

In his decision, Leon refers to HUD’s 1968 Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimi-nation in the sale, rental or fi-nancing of dwellings and in other housing-related activi-ties on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, famil-ial status or national origin. In

February 2013, HUD formal-ized the use of the disparate impact standard under the Fair Housing Act.

This was subsequently used in discriminatory cases against mortgage lending institu-tions—including Wells Fargo in 2012, when the bank paid a $175 million settlement af-ter the Department of Justice accused the bank of discrimi-nating against minority bor-rowers, and Bank of America in 2011, when the bank paid $335 million to settle a simi-lar case.

Robert Popper, a senior at-torney for the nonpartisan Ju-dicial Watch, said Leon was “rightfully unsparing in his decision” and called the ruling a “welcomed decision.”

“The court properly identi-fied the fact that HUD was try-ing to draft disparate impact standard into statute,” Popper said. “[Disparate impact] can still serve to show intent, and that’s how it originally was de-signed, but it has morphed into a surrogate for intent, even if there clearly is none.”

Disparate impact liability will be further scrutinized in the coming months when the U.S. Supreme Court hears the final appeal of a Texas court case—Texas Department of Housing and Community Af-fairs v. the Inclusive Commu-nities Project, a Dallas-based group advocating integrated housing. The Inclusive Com-munities Project sued Texas officials under the Fair Hous-ing Act for allocating a dispro-portionate number of federal low-income housing tax cred-its to minority neighborhoods.

This will be the third time the Supreme Court has ac-cepted a disparate impact li-ability case. The previous two—Magner v. Gallagher in 2012 and Township of Mt. Holly v. Mt. Holly Gardens Citizens in Action, Inc., in 2013—were settled before the case was heard by the Su-preme Court.

Chairman of the Westches-ter County Board of Leg-islators Mike Kaplowitz, a Yorktown Democrat, had no comment when reached oth-er than to say the county at-torneys are reviewing Judge Leon’s decision.


Judge Richard Leon


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LEGAL NOTICESNOTICE TO BIDDERS

The Harrison Central School District hereby invites the submission of sealed bids for the following:RFB #14/15-28SMARTBoards, Projectors and AccessoriesBids shall be submitted in sealed envelopes marked “RFB #14/15-28: SMARTBoards, Projectors and Accessories” on the outside. Bids will be received until 2:15 p.m., Tuesday, December 9, 2014 by the Purchasing Agent (or his duly designated representative), Harrison Central School District, Business Office, 50 Union Avenue, Harrison, NY 10528; (914) 630-3011; Fax: (914) 835-2715, at which time and place all bids will be publicly opened and read. Specifications and bid forms may be ob-tained at www.empirestatebidsystem.com or from the district Business Office beginning Friday, November 21, 2014. The Harrison Central School District is not responsible for bids opened prior to the bid opening if bid number and opening date do not appear on the envelope. Bids opened prior to the date and time indicated are invalid. The bidder as-sumes the risk of any delay in the mail, or in the handling of the mail by employees of the Harrison Central School District, as well as improper hand delivery.The Harrison Central School District reserves the right to waive any informalities in the bids, or to reject all bids, or to accept any bid which in the opinion of the Board will be to their best interest.By order of the Board of EducationGene George Purchasing AgentDated: November 21, 2014

NOTICE TO BIDDERSThe Harrison Central School District hereby invites the submission of sealed bids for the following:RFB #14/15-27Stringed InstrumentsBids shall be submitted in sealed enve-lopes marked “RFB #14/15-27: Stringed Instruments” on the outside. Bids will be received until 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, December 9, 2014 by the Purchasing Agent (or his duly designated representative), Harrison Central School District, Business Office, 50 Union Avenue, Harrison, NY 10528; (914) 630-3011; Fax: (914) 835-2715, at which time and place all bids will be publicly opened and read. Specifications and bid forms may be obtained at www.em-pirestatebidsystem.com or from the district Business Office beginning Thursday, November 20, 2014. The Harrison Central School District is not responsible for bids opened prior to the bid opening if bid num-ber and opening date do not appear on the envelope. Bids opened prior to the date and time indicated are invalid. The bidder assumes the risk of any delay in the mail, or in the handling of the mail by employees of the Harrison Central School District, as well as improper hand delivery.The Harrison Central School District reserves the right to waive any informalities in the bids, or to reject all bids, or to accept any bid which in the opinion of the Board will be to their best interest.By order of the Board of EducationGene George Purchasing AgentDated: November 20, 2014

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November 21, 2014 • THE HARRISON REVIEW • 15SPORTS

For the first time in about as long as I can remember, I won’t be making my way up to the Carrier Dome this year.

It has become something of an autumn tradition for me over the years; hitting the road early the day after Thanks-giving, making the four-hour drive up NY-17 to Syracuse and stalking the sidelines of the iconic venue as Section I’s top teams took to the gridiron to battle for a state title.

This year, however, Section I won’t be sending any teams up north after a quarterfinal sweep at the hands of burgeon-ing Section IX powers.

Five classes, five teams, and five losses this weekend ended our area’s hopes of claiming a state titlist, as our neighbors to the north continued to close the gap between the two sec-

A section sweeptions. But unlike some local fans, I’m not ready to proclaim that the sky is falling.

Not yet, anyhow. Over the last few years,

Section I’s dominance over Section IX—our geographic opponent in all quarterfinal games—has certainly been eroding. In the first 15 years of the state tournament—from 1993 to 2008—Section I squads posted an impres-sive record over their Section IX counterparts, going a com-bined 51-11 and outscoring their opponents by a whop-ping margin. In the last few years, save a 2010 Section I sweep, that simply hasn’t been the case. Since 2011, Section IX has gone 14-5 against our local squads, cul-minating with last weekend’s whitewashing.

So what does this mean? Are we beginning to fall be-hind the rest of the state in the football arms race?

I don’t think so.

Neither does heralded Rye coach Dino Garr, whose Gar-nets lost a 21-17 heartbreaker against powerhouse Cornwall on Nov. 15.

“I can only speak for what happened in our game,” Garr told the Review. “But I don’t think this means that Section I is in dire straights.”

I’m inclined to agree. Like many other things,

athletic dominance is a cycli-cal thing. We see it happen on the micro level right here in the section. Oftentimes, even historically dominant pro-grams go through dry spells. Why can’t the same be true for our section as a whole?

It’s not that we haven’t been sending some fantastic teams to the state playoffs. This year’s Rye squad—with its record setting offense and stingy defense—might be one of the most talented teams I’ve seen in my time here. Teams like Woodlands and Tuckahoe, two smaller

Chester’s Angel Suarez finds a hole in the state quarterfinal game against Tuckahoe on Nov. 15. Suarez carried the ball 41 times on the day as Chester beat Tuckahoe—one of five victories by onetime Section I doormats on the weekend. Photo/Mike Smith

programs whose seasons were marked with a certain tenac-ity and resilience, simply ran into two tough customers in Millbrook and Chester, two Section IX squads that seem

destined to make an appear-ance in Syracuse this year.

So chalk it up to bad breaks, tough luck or a good run of talent up north. Just don’t count Section I out.

You never know when things are going to turn around.

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16 • THE HARRISON REVIEW • November 21, 2014 SPORTSSports aids healing process

By MIKE SMITHSports Editor

The Harrison athletic com-munity banded together last week to support two families devastated by recent tragedy. With a candlelight vigil on Thursday, Nov. 13 and char-ity soccer game the following day, Harrison High School students helped to reaffirm the healing power of sports and its ability to bring people together in times of need.

Twice over the last two weeks, Harrison’s community has had reason to grieve.

On Nov. 3, resident Reyda LaMadrid, 47, a mother of three, was killed in the early morning hours when her ve-hicle was struck by a drunk driver traveling the wrong way on South Lexington Avenue in White Plains. Five days later, on Nov. 8, the community was hit hard again when 16-year-old Harrison High School ju-nior Andrew Gurgitano died suddenly in his sleep.

Given the ties that both families had to Harrison’s Athletic Department—Gurgi-tano pitched on the Huskies’ varsity baseball team while LaMadrid’s son, Joseph Lopez is a member of the JV soccer team—it seemed only natural

to turn to the world of sports to make sense of the losses.

On Friday, Nov. 14, the Harrison soccer program held its annual Maroon and White scrimmage with the two sides comprised of players from the JV and Varsity squads. This year, all funds raised by the $5 admission tickets and the con-cessions being sold were given directly to the Lopez family to help defray the costs of medi-cal bills and the funeral.

According to varsity coach

Matt Pringle, the idea to turn the annual scrimmage into a fundraiser seemed like an ob-vious decision.

“Right when we heard, the wheels started turning,” said Pringle. “We started thinking about how we could help Joe, how we could support the fam-ily, and it just seemed like the perfect way to do that.”

The previous night, students, faculty and residents took to the high school baseball field to take part in a candlelight

Harrison baseball, softball and volleyball athletes crowd around the pitcher’s mound on Nov. 13. Speakers offered words of comfort to Gurgitano’s friends and family. Photos/Bobby Begun

On Nov. 13, a candlelight vigil was held on Harrison’s baseball field in memory of Andrew Gurgitano. Gurgitano, 16, died suddenly on Nov. 8.

vigil in remembrance of Gur-gitano that was hosted by the Huskies’ baseball, softball and volleyball teams. As onlook-ers gathered around the infield, those who knew Gurgitano best offered their memories on the pitcher’s mound where the southpaw hurler starred for the Harrison team last spring.

Dean McCarthy, Gurgita-no’s classmate and teammate, said that as the community struggled to cope with the loss, they should find comfort in the

way the town rallied together in a time of crisis.

“The only positive thing I can personally take away from this situation is the unity,” Mc-Carthy said. “There has been so much love between the stu-dent body and the whole Har-rison community that brings so much warmth to his family’s hearts, it just shows us how strong we are when we stay to-gether as a family.”


Two Harrison soccer players meet on the pitch during a Nov. 14 scrimmage to raise money for the family of JV player Joseph Lopez. On Nov. 3, Lopez’s mother, Reyda LaMadrid, was killed by an alleged drunk driver.

The flag at McGillicuddy Stadium flies at half-mast during a moment of silence prior to a Nov. 14 soccer game. Photos/Mike Smith


Lifestyles of Westchester County/NOVEMBER 2014 VOL.15 NO.108

INSIDE WESTCHESTER COUNTYINSI

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Avoiding the Christmas Credit CrunchHow to effectively manage credit this holiday season

Page-turning PresentsGreat gifts for people who love to read

2014Holiday toys predictions




How to send gifts to faraway friends and family

Travel gifts can make for unexpected and unique holiday gifts.

Travel gifts wrapped and ready for holiday giving

The holiday season is a time to share

happy experiences with friends and family. But reconnecting with loved ones come the holidays is not always possible, especially when family and friends are spread out across the country, if not the globe. Even though these people may not be close geographically, they’re still close in our hearts and, therefore, still on our holiday shopping lists.

Some issues arise when sending gifts to faraway friends and family. Distance necessitates shipping gifts or making travel arrangements. To make that process less complicated, consider these suggestions.

Package gifts wisely. When shipping gifts, exercise caution to ensure the item arrives on time and in one piece. The holiday season is one of the busiest times of the year for the shipping industry, and packages may endure a few bumps along the way. For fragile items, use extra packing peanuts, newspaper or other protective wrapping material. Choose

the right size package so the gift does not move around much inside of the box. If the gift is expensive, insure the package in the event it gets lost or damaged. Also, you may want to spend a little more money to have the shipment tracked and a confirmation sent when the package is delivered. This can offer some peace of mind during a hectic time of year.

Take advantage of free shipping offers. Many retailers offer discounts on shipping rates during the holiday season. Shop at retailers that offer such discounts, as shipping costs can be exorbitant depending on the sizes of the packages being sent. In addition, online retailers may allow you to ship the gift directly to its recipient, which can help you ensure the gift gets to its destination on time.

Give gift cards and certificates. Gift cards are an easy item to ship, and can be sent within the regular mail for the cost of a stamp. Certain retailers may have digital gift cards or certificates that allow buyers to email a special

code to the gift recipient, who can then redeem the code for a purchase credit. This is a convenient, fast and inexpensive way to send holiday wishes.

Don’t forget about inspections and customs procedures. Items shipped out of the country may be delayed by customs inspectors at their ultimate destination. Assume that certain packages may be opened or detained, and ship such packages early so the gifts still arrive on time. Packages that look unusual or like they’re hiding something may be prone to inspection more so than others. Be honest about declarations of value and what is contained in the package. Also, realize certain items, like fruits, vegetables, plants, or seeds, may be prohibited. Learn the international shipping rules for your gift’s destination prior to sending anything.

Distant family members and friends may be out of sight but certainly not out of mind come the holidays. When it comes to sending gifts, ship smart.

Certain gifts are standard fare come the holidays. Adults often receive clothing while kids typically get toys. But shoppers who want to employ the element of surprise this season may want to consider travel-related gifts to put smiles on the faces of their loved ones.

Many people cannot afford to travel. Gifting travel enables couples or families who may not have the means to get away to hit the road in style.

When giving the gift of travel, shoppers should consider gift certificates or vouchers that can be applied to flights or lodging. Many travel businesses and websites now offer gift registry services that make it easy for shoppers to pay for getaways for their loved ones. Some travel agencies also incentivize travel gifts by offering coupons or discounts to shoppers who purchase travel packages for friends or family members.

Those on the lookout

for travel-inspired gifts can explore the following options.

Airline gift certificates: A gift certificate makes it easy for travelers to book their own flights at their leisure. These certificates typically can be applied to any flight the airline offers and may even be transferable.

Frequent flier miles: Find out if your frequent flyer miles can be deposited directly into your loved one’s account. Later on he or she can redeem the miles for a desired flight.

Luggage: Frequent travelers may appreciate new luggage. Monogrammed tags can help make luggage easy to identify at luggage carousels in crowded airports.

Small ship voyages: Some cruise lines offer working vacations, where passengers participate in some of the responsibilities aboard the ship. These voyages are ideal for someone who enjoys being active and a part of the travel experience.

Scuba lessons: Travel enthusiasts who frequently jet off to tropical locales may want to learn to scuba dive, which means they must be certified after taking lessons. Foot the bill for those lessons so their next water adventure is complete.

Traveler’s checks: Sometimes the best gift is the simplest one. Traveler’s checks may seem like an outdated notion in the era of credit cards, but they’re still available. Banks and credit card companies are the best place to find traveler’s checks. These checks are safer than bringing cash along on a trip because they provide travelers with protected purchasing power for the duration of their trips. Prepaid gift cards also can be used for travel. Just confirm that the card is accepted by retailers at your loved one’s travel destination.

Travel gifts can bring smiles to the faces of your loved ones. These unique gifts are a novelty that’s not often found tucked under the tree.


2014 HOLIDAY TOY PREDICTIONS

Parents often find themselves waiting in long lines to snag the hottest toys for children’s holiday gifts. Shoppers arrive at retail stores in droves to grab the newest video game consoles or must-have dolls or action figures.

From Cabbage Patch Dolls of the 1980s to the Elmo craze of the 1990s, every generation seems to have its own “must-have” holiday gift. This year, holiday shoppers may want to start shopping early if they hope to land any of the following items that figure to be this year’s hot toys.

“Frozen”-themed toys: Mega-retailer Walmart predicts that toys inspired by the smash hit film “Frozen” will continue to be hot commodities this holiday season. To meet demand, the retailer already is stocking up on the popular characters and other products banking on the popularity of the film. If the special girl in your life is still enamored with all things “Frozen,” it’s a smart

bet to start your holiday buying early this year.

“Hunger Games” athletic items: Fans of the “Hunger Games” trilogy, be it the books, movies or both, are familiar with lead character Katniss’ prowess with a bow and arrow. Bows inspired by the movie are in demand and will appeal to both girls and boys testing their archery skills.

Beats by Dr. Dre: Music-lovers still consider these headphones must-have items. They’re especially prevalent among the teen market. Available in a variety of colors, users can coordinate their Beats headphones with their clothing or accessories.

Lego Minecraft: It was only a matter of time before Lego got in on the action of one of the hottest games to sweep the Internet and video game console world. Minecraft is a digital building game

that has enthralled gamers of all ages. Now Minecraft enthusiasts can recreate on-screen worlds in tangible Lego versions.

Xeno: Xeno is a “friend-toy” that is neither robot nor doll, but an interactive pet. Made from nontoxic elastic material and including eight sensors, the creature is a moving, reacting companion. Xeno even can dance to music. And parents will love that Xeno does not need to be taken for walks.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: On the heels of summer blockbuster inspired by these gifted turtles, fans of the weapon-swinging shelled warriors will certainly want to surround themselves with all things turtle, so expect to see plenty of movie-inspired gifts on store shelves this season.

The holiday season is on the horizon, and it’s never too early to begin shopping for the toys and games experts predict will be this year’s must-have items.


Eco-friendly gift ideas for ‘green’ giving

Music lessons and other gifts of service do not require a great deal of natural resources, making them ideal eco-friendly gifts.

Giving eco-friendly gifts is now easier than ever before. As more and more people are conscious of reducing their impact on the planet, the demand for environmentally conscious products and services has grown.

Choosing earth-friendly gifts is not only generous, but gift-givers also can rest assured they’re doing their part to safeguard natural resources for future generations. The following are some gift ideas for the eco-conscious people on your holiday shopping list.

Locally made productsLocally made products

make great holiday gifts. Such gifts are not produced halfway around the world, meaning they don’t contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and global

warming like products that need to be flown or driven across the globe. Craft fairs and artisan shops are good sources for locally made gifts, which also are a great way to support businesses in your community.

Gifts of serviceA massage or music

or tutoring sessions are examples of gifts of service. These gifts do not require much use of natural resources, and recipients find their personal nature very thoughtful. Gifts of service also can include tasks you do yourself for the gift recipient, rather than paying another person to handle. For example, teach a senior member of your family how to navigate their new smartphone or agree to help them shop for groceries.

Recycled goodsWhen many people think

of recycling, they tend to picture piles of discarded plastic bottles, glass jars and aluminum cans. While the end product of many of these recycled pieces is new cans, bottles and jars, recycled materials also can be turned into new and unique pieces. Trivets and spoon rests made from recycled and melted wine bottles make for clever and attractive gifts. Recycled fire extinguishers have been turned into vases, and you can even find bike parts that have been used to make wind chimes and belts if you know where to shop.

Natural giftsNatural gifts are among

the most environmentally friendly ones you can give. Foodies may appreciate

an herb-growing kit that enables them to experiment with freshly picked basil or thyme in the kitchen, while tree-growing kits and flower seed packets are nice stocking stuffers for budding gardeners. Offer to purchase a living Christmas tree for a relative, so that he or she can plant the evergreen after the holidays

have come and gone.

AntiquesNew, shiny gifts are

not the only ones that have appeal. Gifting a sentimental piece of family history is an earth-friendly way to share the holidays. Pass down a cherished piece of jewelry or, if you do not have anything

in your own collection, browse antique shops for items that have interesting histories.

The holiday season is often a time of excess, but giving doesn’t have to be detrimental to the environment. Givers can seek out earth-friendly gifts and share even more this time of year.


As the cost of living continues to rise, holiday shopping also has become much more expensive in recent years, and it can be easy for shoppers to overextend themselves financially come the holiday season.

According to a recent Gallup poll, the average American plans to spend around $790 per holiday season, although many go above and beyond that amount. Starting off the new year in debt is a recipe for stress, which can have negative repercussions for the rest of the year.

In addition to overspending during the holiday season, many people stretch themselves thin on Valentine’s Day, birthdays, and Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. One way to make shopping more manageable is to establish spending limits that dictate how much each family member can spend on each gift he or she buys.

It is important to exercise tact when approaching the subject of gift limits.

How to establish gift spending limits

Holiday spending limits can help individuals avoid overspending come the holiday season.

The Dining Lab at Monroe, home to great meals and the State Champs

Discuss the topic with friends and family members with whom you usually exchange gifts long before the holiday season. Agree on a reasonable amount of money each person will spend on gifts. If necessary, ask everyone to write down a figure and then determine the average, using that figure as your spending limit.

Establishing a spending limit makes it easier for every family to afford their holiday purchases. If there are six people on your shopping list and you’re spending $50 per person,

you know to allocate $300 for gifts. Saving and budgeting can be adjusted accordingly.

When no such limit is established, you may go overboard to compensate, even if you cannot afford to do so.

Another way to save money is to suggest giving the gift of experiences rather than tangible and potentially costly gifts. For example, take a loved one out for dinner or suggest going on vacation together to make better use of your collective funds. A well-timed extended family vacation in lieu of gift exchanges may alleviate the stress of the holiday season, much of which can be traced to holiday spending.

Establishing a gift-giving strategy and budget for each person to work with can make for a more peaceful holiday season by freeing up time to spend with loved ones and placing the focus on family instead of shopping.

Anyone who has enjoyed a meal at the Dining Lab Restaurant at Monroe College knows the food is tops. So, it turns out, are the students preparing it. On Nov.1, the Monroe Culinary Team was crowned 2015 State Champions at the American Culinary Federation, ACF, New York State Championships. Monroe squared off against the state’s culinary elite and managed to earn five gold medals in a competition that judged overall teamwork on culinary skills and menu production. The victory was especially satisfying for the Monroe squad, a mix of three veteran seniors and two underclassmen, who had come so close in recent years. The team now turns its attention to

the ACF Regionals in Buffalo next month, where they try to earn the right to represent New York in the national culinary competition.

Less than a week after being crowned state champs, the culinary team was back in competition in New York City at the 146th annual Salon of Culinary Art Competition. This event, organized by the prestigious Société Culinaire Philanthropique, pairs a Monroe confectionary and savory team in the preparation of a magnificent culinary table. The confectionary team displayed awe-inspiriting chocolate sculptures, sugar showpieces and cakes. The savory team accented the table with gorgeous platters

of meat, seafood and poultry and other table sculptures. Weeks of preparation paid off as Monroe was awarded the grand prize for buffet presentation. The confectionary team was also honored as “best of show” for its extraordinary sugar sculpture, and Monroe took home its third Marc Sarrazin Cup in four years.

The Monroe students now return to campus to continue honing their professional skills by serving real customers in the Monroe Dining Lab Restaurant in New Rochelle. A three-course price fixed menu of Contemporary American cuisine is just $25. Reservations can be made at [email protected] or by calling 740-6421.


Effectively manage your credit this holiday seasonSpending is synonymous

with the holiday season. According to the U.S. Census Monthly Retail Trade Survey, spending rose throughout the holiday season in 2013, when consumers spent more than $300 billion in the month of December alone.

If spending and the holiday season go hand-in-hand, so, too, does January and the financial hangover that results from having spent so much in November and December. Many consumers find themselves in considerable debt come the new year, having decided to put many of their holiday purchases on plastic when the season was in full swing. But just because the holidays are a season of spending does not mean the first months of the new year need to be an exercise in extricating yourself from

but they’re not as valuable if you overspend and end up paying substantial interest charges.

Avoid retailer credit cards. Retailer credit cards also entice shoppers with deals. When purchasing items in-store, customers often are asked if they would like to earn a percentage off of their purchase by signing up for a retailer credit card. Such discounts may fall anywhere between 10 and 20 percent, a deal that many men and women may find too tempting to resist. However, retailer credit cards often come with much higher interest rates than standard credit cards. Unless you know you can pay off the balance immediately, decline the offer to sign up for a retailer credit card, opting instead to pay for your items with cash or a preexisting card that carries a much lower interest rate.

Use only one card. Using multiple cards when

making holiday purchases is a great way to lose track of how much you have spent. Even though the Internet makes it easy to check balances on all of your cards multiple times per day, managing credit is still easier if you only need to log in to a single account to monitor your holiday spending. Make a daily effort to monitor that spending, as it’s free to view your balance online and such monitoring can greatly reduce the likelihood that you will overspend.

Don’t exceed your credit limit. One of the biggest yet most preventable mistakes consumers make come the holiday season is exceeding their credit limits. Exceeding your credit limit not only means you will have a rough month of January when the bills come due, but such a mistake also has a more long-term effect, as your credit score suffers anytime

you exceed your limit.

Know your interest rates. Though it’s best to only use a credit card when you know you can repay the balance in full when the bill arrives, some consumers simply must carry a balance. In such instances, know the interest rate held by a particular card before you swipe that card to make a purchase. Some cards hold variable interest rates, which means the interest charged back in June may be far lower than the interest you will be charged in January. Before using any of your credit cards, determine which one holds the lowest interest rate and use that one when making holiday purchases.

Though spending might be synonymous with the holiday season, consumers need not accept credit card debt as a harsh reality of January. Taking steps to manage credit effectively when holiday shopping can make January a more enjoyable time of year.

debt. The following are a few ways shoppers can effectively manage their credit this holiday season.

Don’t use credit just to earn bonuses. One way to fall into significant debt is to justify your use of credit cards as a great way to earn miles, points or cash-back bonuses. While such

rewards can be appealing, if you’re afraid that you will overspend this holiday season if you put everything on plastic, then don’t do so just so you can earn bonuses. Credit cards should only be used when you have enough money to pay off a balance in its entirety before you incur any interest charges. Those rewards might be tempting,


Great gifts for people who love to read

Many people love to read, and such people do not often cause headaches for holiday shoppers. Readers typically are easy to shop for come the holiday season, when shoppers stuck on what to get a friend or family member can always fall back on a book or two if they know their loved one likes to get lost in a good book.

But books aren’t the only gifts shoppers can give the readers on their lists this holiday season. The following are a few gift ideas no book lover can balk at.

E-reader: Before buying an e-reader, shoppers may want to first learn where the intended recipient of this thoughtful gift stands on the book versus e-reader debate. Some book lovers feel a sentimental attachment to traditional books, while others love the versatility of e-readers, many of which serve as tablets that allow users to peruse the Internet, play games and, of course, read books. If your friend or family member does not have an aversion to e-readers, then this might make the ideal gift. The price of e-readers varies depending on their

capabilities, but you can expect to spend anywhere from $50 to several hundred dollars depending on which model you ultimately choose.

Storage: For those readers who prefer traditional books, a new bookshelf can help them store their favorite titles. Books take up a lot of space, and avid readers tend to buy many new books each year, so homeowners and apartment dwellers alike will no doubt appreciate the extra space to store their collections. But even e-reader enthusiasts may find their storage filling up faster than they might have liked. To remedy that problem, holiday shoppers can buy a Wi-Drive with ample extra storage space so readers who keep both books and movies on their e-readers and tablets have plenty of extra space to store all of those new books they plan to read in the coming year.

Decorative bookends: Those who have a passion for books and home décor might appreciate a unique set of handcrafted bookends to store the books they

keep on their desks or those they keep out as decorative accents that guests can enjoy when visiting. Such gifts will please your friends or family members who have a flare for interior decorating while also appealing to their love of literature.

Book club membership: A membership to a Book of the Month Club may be right up the alleys of those readers who read too fast to join a local reading group or simply don’t have the time to devote to a community book club. Such memberships often sell classic titles and the latest bestsellers at a fraction of the cost of the publisher-established prices, and members typically can order as many books as they would like. This can be a great way for readers to find new titles and keep the books coming in without breaking the bank.

Avid readers are passionate about their books, and holiday shoppers can feed those passions by giving their favorite readers gifts that indulge their love of literature this holiday season.

One of the best steaks in NYC and Westchester

There are more than

24,000 restaurants in New York City. But there are only 100 coveted spots on Zagat’s list of “Top 100 NYC Restaurants.” Benjamin Steakhouse beat out all but 14 restaurants in the city on this year’s list, coming in at No.15.

So what does this have to do with Westchester? Well, not only do we have our very own Benjamin Steakhouse right here, and we don’t have to go anywhere near the West Side Highway to access it, one might even say that Westchester influenced Zagat’s list.

We named Benjamin Steakhouse Westchester the “Best Steakhouse” and “Best Rib Eye,” Westchester Magazine, as well as “The Best of Westchester” two years in a row, for 2013 and 2014.

Owners Benjamin

Prelvukaj and Ben Sinanaj, along with Chef Arturo McLeod, aren’t dedicated to keeping up with food trends; they’re dedicated to doing what they do, the best way they know how to do it. So it’s no surprise they credit much of their success to the signature flavor they achieve by dry-aging their six different cuts of steak for 28 days in special aging boxes. They’re also committed to using only the best USDA prime beef.

Located in Hartsdale, Benjamin Steakhouse Westchester is offering a prix fixe specialty Thanksgiving menu, for those who do not want to cook or host,

but are in search of the perfect place to celebrate the holiday with their loved ones in Westchester County. The traditional

menu features puree of pumpkin soup, traditional turkey with stuffing, roasted yams, potatoes au gratin and cranberry relish. The fireplace, a centerpiece of Benjamin Steakhouse, lends itself to a cozy Thanksgiving feast. The restaurant also offers private rooms for your next event or family holiday celebration. These newly renovated spaces can host from 10 to 300 guests—perfect for any occasion.

Benjamin Steakhouse Westchester is located at 610 West Hartsdale Road White Plains, New York, 10607. Call (914) 428-6868 to make a reservation or to reserve your next event.


Gifts to keep kids engagedHow to save on high-tech gifts

Select gifts that will have a longer shelf life, guaranteeing more opportunities for play.

Shoppers can employ several strategies to save money on gadgets this holiday season

Gadgets are among the most popular gifts come the holiday season. In 2013, CreditDonkey.com surveyed shoppers to determine what they planned to give during the holidays, and electronics were second only to gift cards among the most popular gifts to give. Sixty-three percent of respondents cited their intentions to give electronics, while the survey also found that 76 percent of people planned to request electronics as holiday gifts.

Gadgets figure to be popular gifts again this holiday season. Unwrapping the latest tablet or a big-screen television can be exciting, but electronics can be expensive. Those who plan to give their loved ones the latest gadgetry should be happy to learn there are ways to do so that don’t require breaking the bank.

Scale back. Oftentimes people are buying more computer or data than they actually need. For example, when buying computers, it’s tempting to go for those that boast the most memory, but that extra memory is only useful to those people who truly need it. A less expensive model that suits your loved one’s genuine needs will make for an impressive and more practical gift.

Determine necessity. Some gadgets are more a desire than a necessity. Decide if a particular device will be an asset to your loved one or just another trendy item that soon will be gathering dust. Look for devices that your loved one will make the most of. If the purchase is not warranted, save your money and look for something else.

Consider refurbished items. Don’t shy away from refurbished items, as the discounts can be steep. Refurbished items are often just items that were returned to the store because they’re not needed or because the item was malfunctioning. Returned items are factory-tested and then repackaged. Opt for refurbished items that carry a manufacturer-backed warranty for greater peace of mind.

Consider open box items. Just because packaging is dented or torn does not mean the merchandise inside is damaged. Purchasing a product that’s not inside a pristine box can sometimes yield a 10 to 15 percent discount at retailers that offer open-box specials. Just verify that all cords, manuals and other accessories are inside the box before leaving the store.

Peruse previous generation models. Manufacturers release a new version of their devices seemingly every year. That doesn’t mean last year’s phone, video game console or computer is any less effective than the updated version. Models from previous years likely won’t be much different from the latest models, but they do figure to be considerably less expensive.

Look for coupon codes. When researching products, search for coupon codes for desired electronics and retailers. Web-based retailers may post coupon codes that add up to significant savings. Just ensure that the total cost after taxes and shipping fees are calculated makes the purchase worth your while.

Skip the warranty. Extended warranties often cost more money than potential repairs. In addition, after a few year’s time, your loved one may be looking to upgrade his or her gadget anyway, making the extended warranty an unnecessary expense.

Gadgets make for popular yet expensive holiday gifts. But holiday shoppers can save money on electronics by employing a few savings strategies.

Store aisles are filled this time of year with every must-have gift retailers can advertise. Children often plead and beg for the hottest toys weeks ahead of the holidays, hoping to find their requests wrapped up come the big day.

But once the gift wrap is torn away and kids have played with their presents for a day, some already grow bored with their new belongings and cast them aside. Certain toys are not engaging enough to warrant extended periods of play — no matter what the advertisements boast.

No gift-giver wants to spend money on a present only to have it collecting dust days later. With that said, employing these strategies can help anyone select a gift that will continue to inspire and excite children long after the holiday season has come and gone.

Don’t believe the hype. It’s easy to fall hook, line and sinker for ultra-popular

trendy gifts. While such gifts may have popular appeal, that does not mean they’re a perfect fit for your child. When shopping for youngsters come the holiday season, choose a gift because your child will truly enjoy it and not because it’s the trendy item of the year.

Focus on the play factor. Too often shoppers get caught up in toys’ appearances. Instead, think about how the toys will work with imaginative play. The more a child can envision himself doing with a particular toy, the more likely he or she will exhibit a continued interest in that toy.

Look for minimal bells and whistles. Kids often find toys that leave more room for imagination more interesting than toys that are loaded with gadgets. Children prefer to make up their own stories and create modes of play that are more about what they like rather

than the “right” way to play or win.

Choose gifts that grow. Shoppers want to select gifts that are age-appropriate for children so they will be safe during play time. But shoppers also should look for toys and activities that can be modified and grow with the child as he or she ages. A game that gets progressively harder through levels or a toy set that can be supplemented as kids grow older may make good gifts. Musical instruments also can grow with a child, as the instruments become easier to master with practice.

Figure out the child’s interests. Toys that cater specifically to a child’s interests will be the most warmly received. It may take going the extra mile to find a gift that matches a child’s interest rather than picking up the first trendy gift you see, but the results will be well worth it.


How to simplify the process of returning gifts

Returns are an inconvenient reality of the holiday season. Whether you’re returning clothes that don’t fit or big-ticket items that don’t suit your lifestyle, the idea of making those returns is unlikely to inspire enthusiasm. However, the following are a few ways to simplify the process of returning gifts so it goes as quickly and as smoothly as possible.

• Gingerly open packages. Much of the frustration associated with returning gifts can be traced to returning the items in boxes that were torn apart when opening the gifts. Before tearing into a package or removing tags from any clothing, consider the gift and if you think you might want to return it. Some stores will not allow returns unless packaging

is completely intact, while some clothing retailers will only accept returns that include the original tags. So examine all gifts before you go tearing into any packaging so your initial excitement may impede your ability to return ultimately unwanted gifts.

Don’t delay a return. Men and women who wait to return an item may be making things more difficult on themselves. Some stores only allow returns for a predetermined number of days after the product is purchased, while others may not offer cash back after that period has expired. If you know you want to return a gift, do so soon after receiving the gift to minimize the headaches that come from procrastinating with regard to returning gifts.

Bring the original receipt. When possible, bring the original receipt instead of just the gift receipt. Returns made with only a gift receipt may only be eligible for store credit or a retailer may not give you full credit for the amount spent on the gift. In the latter case, without the actual receipt, you likely won’t know how much store credit you deserve or how much cash back you can expect.

Know the return policy before visiting the store. Return lines can be long, and no one wants to finally make it to the front of the line only to be told an item must be returned via the mail or that returns are subject to fees they don’t want to pay. Save yourself the time and frustration of a failed return by researching the retailer’s return policy before you head out to return any items.


Give the gift of indulgence this holiday season

Did you know?Though there is no official data that declares the best-selling holiday toy

for children of all-time, it’s fair to assume the lovable “Sesame Street” figure Elmo is high on the list of most popular holiday toys. Much of that

popularity can be traced to the introduction of Tickle Me Elmo in 1996. Though not the first Elmo doll, Tickle Me Elmo became the must-have gift of 1996, when parents searched far and wide for the doll that laughed when users tickled its stomach. During the holiday season of 1996, many people paid far beyond market price just so their children could wake up on Christmas or Chanukah and have a Tickle Me Elmo doll to call their own. Since 1996, Elmo has been reincarnated many times over, and each Elmo doll seems to inspire its own craze come the holiday season. Released in 1998, Walk ‘N’ Talk Elmo was a popular children’s gift, as was Rock ‘N’ Roll Elmo (1999), Tickle Me Elmo Surprise (2001), Chicken Dance Elmo (2002), and SHOUT Elmo (2005). In 2006, Mattel®, the company that produces the Elmo dolls, announced a special commemorative Elmo to mark the 10-year anniversary of the introduction of Tickle Me Elmo. That, too, sparked a buying frenzy, as some reports indicated private sellers were selling the latest Elmo, known as TMX Elmo, for thousands of dollars.

The holiday season is rife with tradition. Families have their own unique traditions, whether it’s gathering at Grandma’s to enjoy a holiday meal or singing carols together around the neighborhood with friends who live nearby.

One tradition that seems to have made it into many families’ holiday celebrations is indulging in delicious baked goods. Desserts are a big part of the holiday season, when many people relax restrictions on their diets to enjoy some of their favorite cookies and cakes. While such delicacies are often served

at dinnertime, homemade baked goods also make great gifts come the holiday season. Whether a friend or family member is a fully devoted foodie or simply a person who loves a decadent dessert, gifting homecooked baked goods is a great way to show your loved ones just how much you appreciate them. This holiday season, give the gift of decadence by cooking up the following recipe for “Sticky Chocolate Gingerbread” courtesy of Maxine Clark’s “Chocolate: Deliciously Indulgent Recipes for Chocolate Lovers” (Ryland, Peters & Small).

Sticky Chocolate GingerbreadMakes an 8-inch cake

21⁄3 cups dark molasses6 ounces dark chocolate (60 to 70

percent cocoa solids), grated13⁄4 cups all-purpose flour2 teaspoons ground ginger5 ounces whole pieces preserved

stem ginger, drained and roughly chopped

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

1⁄2 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, sifted (to remove lumps)

2 medium eggs, beaten1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda2 tablespoons milk, warmed A pinch of salt Extra-large crystallized ginger

pieces, to scatter (optional) A deep 8-inch square cake pan or

8 x 6 x 3-inch oval cake panPreheat the oven to 325 F. Grease and

line the base and sides of the cake pan with nonstick parchment paper.

Put the molasses in a pan and heat

gently until hot, but do not allow it to boil. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir until melted.

Sift the flour, ground ginger and salt together in a bowl. Add the stem ginger and toss it around in the flour until every piece is coated.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, then the molasses and chocolate mixture and finally the flour mixture. Dissolve the baking soda in the milk and gradually beat this into the batter.

Pour into the prepared cake pan, scatter with the crystallized ginger, if using, and bake for 45 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 F and bake for another 30 minutes. (If using the oval pan, cook for about 45 minutes at the higher temperature, then about 1 hour at the lower temperature, as it will be deeper.) A metal skewer inserted into the center should come out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and let cool completely. When cold, store in an airtight container for at least a couple of days to mature and become sticky. Don’t worry if it sinks a bit in the middle — this is normal.

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Harrison Review 11-21-2014