Mamaroneck Review 2-27-2015

February 27, 2015 | Vol. 3, Number 8 | www.mamaroneckreview.com

Mamaroneck REVIEWTHE

lice called for supplementary services from the Westchester County Police Bomb Squad, which used trained dogs to sniff the area and screen for possible threats.

Students were escorted back to their classes at around 1 p.m., after authorities deter-mined the threat to have been a false alarm.

“Safety of students and staff is always a top priority, so as a precautionary measure the police and the administration determined that it was neces-sary to evacuate the building,” Debbie Manetta, a Mama-

roneck school district spokes-woman, said.

During the brief evacuation, the school’s entire population of approximately 1,400 stu-dents and staff members left the Hommocks building, lo-cated at 130 Hommocks Road in Larchmont, to walk a little more than a half-mile down to the auditorium at Mama-roneck High School.

Hommocks school Princi-pal Seth Weitzman addressed the student population to speak of the seriousness and poten-tial consequences of the stunt. Criminal charges could be

filed once a suspect is named, but the extent of those charges will depend on the age of the person found responsible, ac-cording to Mamaroneck Town Police Lt. Robert Koziak.

Extra safety precautions will be taken at the school with regards to unsupervised access to the restroom facili-ties, including sign-in sheets for each use and adult aides stationed outside to periodi-cally check the interior secu-rity of the room.

Weitzman applauded the

HOMMOCKS continued on page 13

vOided continued on page 11

Bomb threat leads to Hommocks school evacuation

Mayor’s appointments voided

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By AlinA SurielStaff Writer

Hommocks Middle School faced a terrifying case of deja vu on Monday, after police re-sponded to a second potential bomb threat in just a two week span.

Administrators in the school called the Mamaroneck Town Police Department on Monday morning at 10.39 a.m., after finding faintly scrawled graffi-ti in the girl’s bathroom refer-encing a possible bomb threat taking place within the school. Upon arrival to the school, po-

JACKSOn CHenStaff Writer

Partially settling a six-month long public debate about mayoral authority, two members of the Village of Mamaroneck’s various boards and commissions have had their appointments rescinded, while the status of two land use appointments awaits an-other opinion from the state.

As a result, the seats of Nancy Wasserman, of the Har-bor and Coastal Zone Manage-ment Commission, and Jenni-fer Cohen, of the Board of Ar-chitectural Review, are now up for grabs.

The voiding of the two ap-pointments, which was af-firmed by the Democratic ma-jority of the Village Board of Trustees during a Feb. 17 work session, was a result of the New York State Department of State confirming a previous opinion that said that Repub-lican Mayor Norman Rosen-blum needed approval from a majority of the board to fill such vacancies.

Rosenblum and Trustee Lou Santoro, a Republican, disagreed with the opinion, but were outvoted by the Democrats.

Since some of the mayor’s appointments did not follow village code, there are now openings on the Board of Ar-chitectural Review and Harbor and Coastal Zone Manage-ment Commission. Trustee Leon Potok, a Democrat, said the village board is now seek-ing applicants for those boards to nominate and approve of.

Initially, it was suspected that all four volunteer ap-pointments in question could be re-appointed by the village board. However, doubts have now been raised as to whether or not the appointments of Len Violi to the Zoning Board of Appeals and John Verni to the Planning Board are invalid.

According to Potok, while the Zoning and Planning board appointments initially needed approval from the Board of Trustees under state law, that law was amended in 1996 to allow for mayoral appoint-ment without board approval.

Therefore, the village board is now waiting for an opin-ion from the state to confirm whether that law applies in this case, which would result in those two appointments be-ing valid.

The authority over volun-teer appointments traces back to when Rosenblum appointed Wasserman, a local real estate broker, to the harbor coast-al commission back in July 2014. The appointment was done to fill the vacancy on the commission left by Nick Alli-son who resigned, due to time commitments, in July 2014. At the time, Rosenblum and Vil-lage Attorney Charles Gold-berger cited state law, which they argued superseded village rules, and felt the appointment did not require Board of Trust-ees approval because Wasser-man was simply filling in for Allison’s term for the harbor coastal commission that was due to expire in December

The Town/Village of Harrison was rocked last week after a resident shot and killed his two teenage daughters before turning the gun on himself. For story, see page 10. Photo/Andrew Dapolite

Why?

2 • THe MAMArOneCK review • February 27, 2015

February 27, 2015 • THe MAMArOneCK review • 3

Boston Post Road townhouses plannedBy AlinA Suriel

Staff Writer

Amidst the implementation of various re-zoning initiatives aimed at increasing develop-ment in other areas of the Vil-lage of Mamaroneck, a unit with seven attached townhous-es is set to be built in a vacant lot on West Boston Post Road.

The lot, located at 532 W. Boston Post Road, has been vacant since 2008 and had pre-viously been occupied for 30 years by defunct diner Magu-ire’s Restaurant. The 29,000 square-foot property was pur-chased by Phillip’s Harbor Development LLC in Decem-ber 2014.

The developer is planning to construct multiple town-houses, each with three bed-rooms, while the development as a whole is intended to ap-peal to empty nesters that have no children. The proposed site plan was created by Papp Ar-chitects of White Plains.

This isn’t the first time someone has tried to develop the property but each time such a proposal was met with fierce backlash from neighbor-ing residents.

According to Paul Noto, an attorney representing the proj-ect, the site was approved for development under a differ-ent firm in 2006 for a 15-unit townhouse plan which never came to fruition. The applica-tion for the current proposal also mentions an approved 2008 plan which would have seen 19 units built on the property.

Philip Fruchter of Papp Ar-chitects told the Review that the latest development propos-al will avoid some of the criti-cisms of the previous plans because it is a smaller project with more open space.

“We think it will integrate much better into the neighbor-hood and adjacent properties,” Fruchter said.

The Phillip’s Harbor project was first seen by the village Planning Board on Dec. 10, 2014. The proposal was due to appear at the Feb. 11 meeting to address questions raised in December, but the presenta-tion was rescheduled and will likely take place on March 11, according to Michael Rosen, managing partner of Phillip’s Harbor Development.

The structure’s height and elevation is of special concern because of the lot’s proximity to Harbor Island Park and the Long Island Sound. The space is located across the street from the 44-acre park.

Regulating the height of potential new structures along Boston Post Road is of impor-tance, so much so, that it was mentioned as a priority in the village’s 2012 updated Com-prehensive Plan, with the old Maguire’s lot specifically cit-ed as an example of the target-ed area. As such, last spring, a Harbor Island Park Scenic Overlay District was adopted into village code to limit the height of new development along that road and preserve the existing scenic character of surrounding residential ar-eas. This law limits the maxi-mum height of any develop-ment in the district to 38 feet. The townhouses proposal projects a height of 37 feet.

While the project’s el-evation is among one of the biggest issues raised by the Planning Board and mem-bers of the community, other concerns include possible flooding and other potential daily effects, such as parking. Rosen said he believes that despite initial contentions the project will ultimately be a good fit for the neighborhood.

“The people I’ve spoken to are very happy they’re going to have something there. But anything new scares people,” Rosen said. “There was a lot of thought put into what could

go there.”On-site parking will be pro-

vided in the form of a two car garage under each townhouse, with an additional seven park-ing spaces to be located on the property behind the residenc-es. These amenities, along with a small open-air patio with evergreen landscap-ing, will be accessed through a driveway on Delancey Avenue.

Landscaping will be fea-tured prominently in the de-sign aesthetic of the project, and Rosen told the Review that was done to create a visual ef-fect of continuous green space from Harbor Island Park.

“It will help blend in,” Rosen said in referring to the effect the planned design and greenery will have on the property.

There will be 35 feet of green space between the pe-destrian walkway and the front wall of townhouses, as well as a four-foot ornamental fence behind a wall of tall hedges to give a sense of privacy to the front lawns. Additionally, the corner of Delancey Avenue and West Boston Post Road is planned to be heavily planted with shrubbery to lessen the visual impact of the driveway entrance.

The project is zoning com-pliant and does not require any variances.

Village Planner Bob Galvin could not be reached for com-ment as of press time.

COnTACT: [email protected]

This long vacant lot on Boston Post Road is the site of a proposed complex containing seven townhouses. Previous plans to build there have been unsuccessful due to neighborhood backlash. Photo courtesy Google


What’s going on...Mamaroneck Public Library and tips to help you find a job and design the

work/life balance of your dreams. Mary Olson-Menzel is one of the most successful and

sought-after executive search professionals in the New York Metropolitan area.

The art of dressing for work In today’s workplace, how we present our-

selves can demonstrate our level of profes-sionalism and can even draw attention to how dedicated we are to our job. Regardless of your profession or lifestyle, being well-dressed says a lot about you and dressing well can be a pow-erful tool in helping you achieve a new level of confidence in the workplace. Join Tonia Tagi-laferro, on Monday, March 23 at 8 p.m., as she shows you how to look and feel your very best every day. Ms. Tagliaferro is the owner of The Art of Dressing Boutique in Mamaroneck. For more information about Tonia Tagliaferro and the Art of Dressing Boutique, visit the website at artofdressing.net.

New movie matineeOn Wednesday, March 25 at 11 a.m., and 2:30

p.m., and on Thursday, March 26 at 6:30 p.m., Larchmont library will be screening “Birdman.” Winner of the 2015 Academy Award for Best Picture, “Birdman” is a black comedy that tells the story of an actor, played by Michael Keaton, famous for portraying an iconic superhero, as he struggles to mount a Broadway play. In the days leading up to opening night, he battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career

and himself. This movie is rated R.

Golf and tennis preseasonSport-related injuries have reached an all-

time high. What our culture has accepted as standard exercise does little to prepare our bod-ies for the lengthening, change in direction and repetitive motions that our favorite sports re-quire. Join health professionals, Sean Fitzpat-rick and Cory Schwarzkopf on Saturday, March 28 at 9:30 a.m., as they show you how to be smart about preparing for the things you love to do.

Sheldrake spin-a-thon fundraiserOn Saturday, Feb. 28, Sheldrake is joining

forces with Larchmont’s L Train Cycling Studio to host the first-ever Sheldrake spin-a-thon fund-raiser. Bikes are available throughout the day, starting at 11:30 a.m, for 30-minute spin classes. The event also features a complimentary juice bar and treats, available after each session. Exciting raffle prizes and eco-friendly give-a-ways.

Reserve your bike today. Spots are limited. Session 1: 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.Session 2: 12:15 p.m. to 12:45 p.m.Session 3: 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.Session 4: 1:45 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.Session 5: 2:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.Register online at nycharities.org.Cost is $40 per person per session; $75 per

person for double back-to-back sessions. Raffle tickets are available for $5 a ticket. Proceeds support educational programming and activities at Sheldrake Environmental Center.

L Train Cycling Studio is located at 2005 Palmer Ave., in Larchmont.

Mamaroneck Artists Guild

oil. “Urban Perspectives,” paintings looking out, up and down on the urban landscape re-veal unique views of familiar places through the eyes of Schneider.

Raskin’s “Enter/Exit” is an intimate study of the inner workings of mid-century Schlage doorknobs and “Flower Shadows,” is Bau-nok’s digital photographic series on vellum.

Gallery hours are Tuesday through Satur-day from noon to 5 p.m. Admission to the gal-lery is free. Established in 1953 by seven local artists, the Mamaroneck Artists Guild is the oldest artist cooperative maintaining its own gallery in Westchester County.

Pelham Picture House

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

all items to [email protected].

BabytimeBooks, rhythms and rhymes for 6 to 24

months old with a caregiver. This event is for pre-schoolers, Jan. 13 to March 10 from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Larchmont Public Library

Moms going back to work On Monday, March 23 at 7 p.m., join Mary

Olson-Menzel, managing director of Executive Search and Development, for practical advice

The Mamaroneck Artists Guild exhibits the paintings and photographs of four local artists in “Perspectives from the Eyes of Four Artists,” open now until Saturday, Feb. 28. These four artists join forces to present their perspectives of the world through their own individual and unique vision.

Paintings by Jane Black, of Bedford, and Marion Schneider, of Larchmont, will hang alongside the photographs of Ruth Raskin, of Scarsdale, and Rita Baunok, of South Salem, in this powerful four-woman exhibi-tion of new works.

Black exhibits beautiful realistic works in

Acting classTwo-week intensive, Wednesdays, March 18

and March 25; 10 a.m. to noon.Gain an understanding of how to create char-

acters and approach a script through method acting, improvisation and learning skills for stage and film. If you have always wanted to act, strengthen your public speaking skills or need to brush up on your audition skills, this class is for you. Come ready to move—this is a physi-cal and creative workout. This course is open to actors of all levels.

Since 1921, the Picture House has served as a cultural center and community hub and is the oldest, continuously running movie theater in Westchester County. Today, after an extensive renovation and the addition of state-of-the-art technology, the Picture House shows the best in new, independent and classic cinema and pro-vides students of all ages with the opportunity to learn about the art, science and business of film. In a world where you can carry a movie screen in your pocket, the Picture House preserves the sense of community, wonder and engagement that has existed since the formation of the first theaters. The Picture House is located at 175 Wolfs Lane, thepicturehouse.org, [email protected], 738-3161. The Picture Hou- se is a community-based, mission-driven, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.


Thanks to the fire departmentTo the Editor, I want to publicly express my thanks and appreciation to the Town of Mamaroneck Fire Depart-

ment under the leadership of Fire Chief Noah Goldberg. On Feb. 11, we had a fire in an apartment at the Hommocks Houses, at the corner of Weaver Street and Post Road. The quick well-orchestrated response of the fire department was able to contain the fire to the apartment. They were also able to rescue the elderly woman in the apartment and she is fine without injury.

We are very fortunate to have such a capable fire department which prevented this from causing a great deal more damage and dislocation in this 54-unit complex.

I also want to give thanks to the tenants at Hommocks who have been most cooperative during this event.

Richard Cherry, Chairperson, Town of Mamaroneck Housing Authority

Children’s group submits county FOILTo the Editor,In her capacity as chairperson of the Campaign for Kids, a coalition of more than 50 non-prof-

it organizations and individuals concerned with creating and sustaining strong community-based youth development programs for Westchester youth, Cora Greenberg, executive director of West-chester Children’s Association, has submitted a FOIL records request to Westchester County.

The request was prompted by a prolonged selection process in which the county delayed notifi-cation by more than a month to the programs that applied. The concern by members of Campaign for Kids was the impact the county’s procrastination had on the many families who rely on after school tutoring, and leadership programs to keep their children safely and productively occupied. Some programs were forced to suspend activities, reduce the number of young people served and furlough or even lay off staff. In addition, funding was discontinued for a number of programs that had been successfully serving youth over many years, and these decisions have not been adequately explained.

Among the many items requested are:• A list of all agencies that applied for Youth Bureau funding and the programs they proposed.• A written explanation of the criteria that was used to review and evaluate proposals, especially if these differed from the criteria published in the Youth Bureau’s 2014 RFP.• For each program request: Community to be served, target population, the need to be ad dressed and proposed interventions/activities.

Joan Grangenois-Thomas,Westchester Children’s Association

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We do not accept unsolicited Op-Ed submis-sions, film reviews, or food reviews.


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Jay Heritage Center restores gardensBy MAriSSA Penn

Staff Writer

The Jay Heritage Center re-cently raised $1.35 million for a restoration of its public gar-dens, work that is already in the preliminary stages.

According to Suzanne Clary, interim director of the center, last June a proposal was submitted for a $500,000 grant from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

The center, the childhood home of John Jay, one of the country’s founding fathers who served in every branch of government and helped to author the Federalist papers, is nestled amid lush greenery on Boston Post Road in Rye. The center also received sev-eral generous donations last December from private do-nors and fundraisers, totaling $500,000 at its Hearth & Earth Luncheon, which the state Regional Economic Develop-ment Council grant matched.

The remaining $350,000 in funding for the restoration proj-ect came from private donors.

The center was one of 118 organizations in the mid-Hud-son region of New York, the only in Westchester County, to be awarded funding from the Regional Economic De-velopment Council, as part of a program launched by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, in 2011 to better serve non-profits and promote tourism in New York.

“We are very excited,” Clary said about restoring the gardens. “We have 1.5 acres of gardens defined by these sunk-en stone walls dating back to 1822 to work with.”

Peter Tartaglia, deputy com missioner of Westchester County

Hudson, N.Y. According to Clary, the proj-

ect will take anywhere from three to five years to complete. Presently, the center is in the process of building a 3-D model of what the gardens will look like.

The gardens, which will be broken up into separate rooms, as Clary referred to them, will be used for educational pro-grams to teach “everybody from five year olds to 50 year olds” about horticulture and history.

The first section of the gar-dens will contain a parterre garden, one that consists of planting beds in symmetri-cal patterns that are separated by, and connected by, gravel pathways.

“It will tell the story of the Jay family and their slaves that worked in the gardens,” she said, “because the gar-dens themselves date back to the 1700s and we even know the names of the people that worked in the gardens.”

According to Clary, the first section will be named “Mary’s garden” because there were “many Mary’s that worked at the Jay estate,” including Mary Rutherford Jay, Jay’s great, great granddaughter, and a slave referred to as “old Mary.”

The second room or section of the gardens is being built around an “old, dilapidated swimming pool,” according to Clary.

“It is going to be restored and repurposed as a reflect-ing pool, which will be shal-lower and may include aquatic

plants,” she said. There will also be a medi-

tation garden with an arrange-ment of plants, purposefully selected to reflect the same meditative style.

The executive director of the center said the Van Nor-dens—a Guilded Age couple that was very active in phi-lanthropy and social reform—which this section of the gar-den will be dedicated to, was very interested in Chinese cul-ture and the theme of the area will reflect that interest.

The third section will fea-ture a 100-foot-long arbor, a garden feature made of wood that forms a shaded walkway, to provide shade. Plans are to plant roses on top of the arbor.

The center plans to offer photography classes in the gardens and potentially grow fruits and vegetables, teaching students about horticulture.

“I think it is going to be an incredible destination both locally and outside of Rye,” Clary said. “Schools will be able to take field trips, in-corporating the gardens into school science programs and the gardens will also be a place where older residents that live in apartments or no longer have yards can enjoy the tran-quil environment.”

John Baker, the director of conservation at Westches-ter County Parks, Recreation and Conservation could not be reached for comment as of press time.


stages of planning with ar-chitectural firm, Nelson Byrd Woltz, which has worked on notable historic sites such as the Olana mansion, the home and studio of eminent painter Frederic Edwin Church, in

Parks, which owns 10 percent of the Jay Heritage Center’s prop-erty, was also excited about the project. “We think it will bring a lot to the county and are very happy about it,” he said.

The center is in its initial

Grace Talcott Van Norden in the gardens circa 1905.

The future site of one section of the Jay Estate’s garden as planned will be called “Grace’s Garden.” Here, an abandoned swimming pool will be transformed into a reflecting pool surrounded by a garden. An anonymous donor has agreed to match all individual and corporate donations for this space of up to $200,000.

The site of one section of the garden, which is still enclosed by an original stone wall dating back to 1822.

An archival photo of boxwood parterre at the Jay Estate on Boston Post Road in Rye. Restoration of this area, will also help tell the story of John Jay’s great, great granddaughter Mary Rutherford Jay, who grew up on the estate and was inspired by the gardens there to become one of America’s earliest landscape architects.

The Jay Heritage Center is planning to restore its gardens and to build a beautiful 100-foot-long rose arbor to shade part of the area. Photos courtesy Jay Heritage Center



The Larchmont Spelling Bee is back The Friends of the Larch-

mont Public Library will pres-ent its third annual spelling bee for adults and teens on Sunday, April 19, commencing at 4 p.m. The spelling bee will be held in the Social Hall at Larchmont Temple, 75 Larchmont Ave. Admission is free for spectators and refreshments will be avail-able at 3:30 p.m.

Last year the Larchmont Spelling Bee attracted 20 teams whose members included gov-ernment officials, lawyers, business owners, high school students and spelling bee en-thusiasts. The Bee also attracted hundreds of spectators.

“Based on the tremendous re-sponse the Bee has been gener-ating, people should begin sign-ing up their teams right away,” said Ellie Fredston, organizer of the spelling bee and Friends of the Larchmont Public Library board member. She also added, “The Bee provides an after-noon of fun whether you’re a participant or a spectator.”

Lou Young, Larchmont res-ident and CBS-TV news per-sonality, will once again serve

as Master of Ceremonies. The judges for this year’s Bee are Nancy Seligson, Mama-roneck Town supervisor; Anne McAndrews, Village of Larch-mont mayor; and George Lat-imer, New York State senator.

The three-person team en-try fee for adults is $60. There is no charge for teen teams, whose members must be high-school students. Winners in both the adult and teen catego-

ries will win grand prizes.For entry forms and play-

ing rules visit friendsoflarch-montlibrary.org. The deadline for all entries is April 1. All proceeds from the spelling bee go toward programming at the Larchmont Public Library. The 3rd Annual Larchmont Spelling Bee is sponsored by Houlihan Lawrence and Ray Catena Lexus of Larchmont. (Submitted)

Feb. 2At 9:28 a.m., a resident came in to police headquarters to report a previous accident on West Boston Post Road which had happened on Jan. 29. There were no injuries, information was exchanged by both drivers at the time of the accident, but a police report had not been filed.

Officers were sent to New Street at 10:06 a.m. to investigate a report of a private snow plow pushing snow into the street. Upon arrival, the offending party said he would clean up the street.

Feb. 4An 86-year-old female pedestrian was struck by a vehicle at 1:31 p.m., on West Boston Post Road. She was conscious when responders arrived on the scene. After being treated by Mamaroneck emergency medical personnel, she was taken to a hospital complaining of pain.

At 10:03 p.m., a woman reported a larceny after someone had cashed checks in her name without her permission. She had misplaced the checks before the incident. There are no suspects at this time.

Police were called to Halstead Avenue at 8 p.m., after reports of a hit-and-run motor vehicle accident. Upon arrival, the complainant declined to press charges. There were no injuries.

Feb. 7On East Boston Post Road, police were called at 6:29 a.m. to investigate an attempted burglary after a resident reported seeing footprints in the snow around his house and his screen broken out. Complainant was advised to stay out of his house until police arrived. Officers later determined that no entry was made into the home and no items were missing.

Police received a call from New York State police about a possible assault on East Boston Post Road at 9:34 a.m. The incident was determined to be a case of harassment and the victim did not wish to press charges. There were no injuries.

Feb. 8Officers were called to Halstead Avenue at 12:40 p.m. after a 911 call reported a fight in progress at that location. The caller was alleging that he had been struck in the face. Although there was minor physical contact, no injuries were reported.

Feb. 9An assault was reported on Mamaroneck

Avenue at 2:24 p.m. An injury to the person’s nose was reported at the scene, and a 45-year-old male from Port Chester was taken to a nearby hospital. Both parties declined to file charges.

A larceny was reported after a complainant discovered discrepancies in funds deposited in business bank accounts.

Feb. 10Officers were called to Halstead Avenue at 6:06 p.m. after a female complainant reported that her phone had been stolen roughly one hour earlier. The party later became uncooperative and refused to file a police report.

Feb. 14At 3:04 a.m., police arrived on Mamaroneck Avenue after a 911 call which reported a fight in progress. Both parties were gone when officers arrived at the scene.

A 20-year-old male resident of Mamaroneck Village was arrested with unlawful possession of marijuana during a routine traffic stop. He was released with a court appearance ticket.

Feb. 15At 11:40 p.m., in Harbor Island Park an officer issued a court summons to a person who was in the park after hours.

Feb. 17A call was received at 2:37 a.m., about a white truck which went into a drive through on West Boston Post Road, struck a building and then fled the scene. The caller had made note of the car’s license plate and that the driver was going eastbound on Boston Post Road. When police canvassed the area they did not find the vehicle.

Feb. 18An accident involving one vehicle was reported on Mamaroneck Avenue at 7:53 a.m. Emergency medical services responded to the scene and one person was taken to the hospital complaining of neck pain. The Mamaroneck Village Department of Public Works was notified of icy conditions at the scene of the accident.

Units were sent to the scene of a hit-and-run at 12:52 p.m., in the parking lot of the A&P supermarket on Mamaroneck Avenue after a woman complained that someone had hit her parked car. There were no injuries.

Collected from the Village of Mamaroneck Police Headquarters on Thursday, Feb.19 at 7 p.m.

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STEM opportunities grow for MamaroneckBy JAneT K. O’COnnell

On Tuesday, Feb.10, the Larchmont-Mamaroneck Lo-cal Summit hosted an exciting program on STEM Initiatives in the Mamaroneck School District. The headlines re-port that American students are falling behind their coun-terparts in other countries in terms of science and technol-ogy, but the local summit’s program was encouraging and optimistic. Because of STEM initiatives, there is hope for our students and in turn our economy. STEM stands for Science Technology Engi-neering and Math.

Margaret Käufer, president and founding member of the STEM Alliance of Larch-mont-Mamaroneck, said at its simplest STEM is the in-terface of learning across the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and math. STEM is an approach to learning that looks for ques-tions, answers and problem solving—out of the box think-ing that can be applied to real world problems.

Joining Käufer was Ma-maroneck Schools Superin-tendent Dr. Robert Shaps. Shaps believes passionately in the importance of STEM in equipping students with 21st century skills and teaching them to be confident, critical thinkers.

An “A” for art is often added to STEM, so that it be-comes STEAM.

“Making” and “maker spac-es” are important so that our youth return to skills as hand workers and makers of things, to enable them to move away from simply being consum-ers toward being creators of things that we need for our world. “Creative design” re-fers to the interface of art and design with engineering. The idea that when you take cre-ative elements and put them towards design you end up with innovation.

Manufacturing is critical, but we also need ways to re-spond rapidly, and that is most often done in fabrication spaces, which are spaces that allow you to think, “Why isn’t this device working? What should we do to create a bet-ter screw or valve?” There-by, creating an immediate

solution through rapid proto-typing. Lastly, there are com-puter science terms such as, robotics, coding, gaming and app development.

STEM initiatives seek to increase curiosity, employ-ability, job growth and social equality. Children are insatia-bly curious, but curiosity de-clines rapidly as children age. STEM education nurtures cre-ativity. It validates the cultural context of youth, because they are using science and technol-ogy in their daily lives, and it makes learning relevant.

Over the past 10 years, growth in STEM jobs was three times that in non-STEM jobs. Eighty percent of the fastest growing jobs in the United States are in STEM fields. Unfortunately, our chil-dren are not necessarily well prepared for those job oppor-tunities. Right now there are jobs available but no one to fill them. There is a real im-perative to have training for the jobs that are there. If we can attract industry, then we will have a stronger economy.

You are less likely to expe-rience joblessness, if you have STEM skills, and you will command 26 percent higher wages than people working in non-STEM fields. This will be the difference between the haves and the have-nots. The question we must ask is, “Are we really giving people the access that they need for so-cial equality?” Seventy-five percent of all college students are women and students of color and under-represented minorities, but they represent only 45 percent of STEM de-grees, a massive disparity.

The STEM Alliance is working as a network to con-nect our community to STEM inquiry as a means to solving problems and to foster inno-vation. The STEM Alliance seeks funding and partners for more programs. More infor-mation about the STEM Al-liance in Larchmont and Ma-maroneck can be found on its website, lmstemalliance.com.

Shaps said that the collab-oration between the Mama-roneck School District and the STEM Alliance is wonderful. The district’s policy now is to prepare students for a world that is changing and to give them tools for critical thinking

and collaboration. Students must graduate prepared for an unknown future with the abil-ity to think quickly. Since we do not know the jobs of the fu-ture, we must prepare students to be critical thinkers and to be adaptable.

Three years ago, the high school had no computer cours-es. Now more than 125 stu-dents are taking some form of computer class and there is an Advanced Placement comput-er science course, as well as, an advanced robotics course. Some of the projects that stu-dents at the high school have been involved with are:

Three students patented a program to help football quar-terbacks determine which re-ceiver is open. Football teams are buying this program.

Last year, 60 students par-ticipated in a Carnegie Mel-lon cybersecurity competition to solve a real life problem. Mamaroneck High School stu-dents finished in the top 10 per-cent, competing against thou-sands of students from across the country and out-performing many science magnet schools.

This year, 70 students are participating in another com-petition against peers from all over the world. Right now they are in the second round and still in the top 10 percent and they may travel to Florida in May for the finals.

This year, the high school launched its first robotics team. The team has taken part in two regional competitions, involv-ing many students.

Things are also happening at Hommocks Middle School and in the elementary schools to capture the imagination and curiosity that Käufer de-scribed as so essential in the changing world. At Hom-mocks, students are building and programming 3-D print-ers and becoming adept at us-ing Rhino software. The entire district recently participated in an Hour of Code. Each week 75 middle schoolers take part in after school activities that involve STEM initiatives, and going forward, they will work with drones and vinyl cutters. The district is considering a four-year design program to work across disciplines. “We are just getting started. Hands-on STEM learning at all levels K-12 lays the foundation for

more advanced work in col-lege and beyond. A lot is hap-pening, and a lot more is going to happen. It is hard to keep up!” concludes Shaps.

During the question and an-swer session, the superinten-dent was asked if the district

is considering making STEM-related courses a requirement for graduation. He said that the district is working on insuring that all students have access to this area. Soon they will intro-duce coding as a fourth lan-guage in addition to French,

Spanish and Chinese. He add-ed that engineering is critical to our students, and the high school now has an engineering course and is considering add-ing another one.

Janet K. O’Connell is a member of the local summit.

Margaret Kaufer, president of the STEM Alliance, joins Mamaroneck Schools Superintendent Dr. Robert Shaps for the Larchmont-Mamaroneck Local Summit to discuss STEM initiatives within the school district. Photo courtesy Linnet Tse


A retired White Plains police officer allegedly killed his two teen daughters Saturday before taking his own life in an incident which has left Harrison police officials baffled. A makeshift memorial was created at the Harrison High School locker of one of the victims, senior Alissa Hochman. Photo/Alina Suriel

Killings stun HarrisonBy JOHn BrAndi

Staff Writer

A retired White Plains po-lice officer shot dead his two, teenage daughters and then himself, in his Harrison home last weekend, in a shocking in-cident that authorities are still trying to piece together.

The news has since sent rip-ples through the Harrison com-munity with Police Chief An-thony Marraccini calling the incident “not comprehensible.”

A call was placed to police by Alissa Hochman’s boy-friend at around 3:36 p.m., on Saturday, Feb. 21, after he was asked to check on the fam-ily and discovered the body of Glenn Hochman.

Police arrived to the Adel-phi Avenue home at around 3:50 p.m., where they found three bodies inside, accord-ing to Marraccini, who held a press conference on Monday detailing the tragedy. The bod-ies were identified as Mr. Ho-chman, 52, and his daughters Alissa, 17, and Deanna, 13.

Samantha Hochman, 22, and her mother Anamarie DiP-ietro-Hochman, 50, were both on a preplanned trip to Mohe-gan Sun in Connecticut for the weekend and couldn’t contact the rest of the family, leading to the boyfriend visiting the home.

Authorities believe Hoch-man killed the teens each with a single gun shot wound to the head. The retired cop then turned his .40 caliber glock handgun on himself. Since there appeared to be no strug-gle, Marraccini said, it points to the fact that the teens were killed while they slept some-time during the early morning hours of Feb. 21. Authorities say Hochman also killed the family’s three dogs.

At the crime scene, police found a five-to-six page suicide note, and although Marraccini could not fully disclose what was written in the letter, he did indicate that Hochman wrote the “two girls were taken away,” which the chief said “indicates a motive” for the killings.

The incident was preceded by a verbal dispute the couple had the day before over an $80 cell phone bill. Though no physical violence was reported, DiPietro-Hochman went down to the police station to just have the incident documented, ac-

cording to Marraccini. Authori-ties also claim that last month, the couple had talked about the possibility of separating.

On Monday, Marraccini said the couple’s martial problems have not been ruled out.

Marraccini said the typed letter, which authorities believe was drafted at approximately 2 a.m. Saturday after the killing of the two teens, gave instruc-tions for what Mrs. Hochman “needed to do to get things in order for the family.”

“The note was really one page, the rest of it was pretty much instructions on what to do [with] financial informa-tion,” Marraccini said.

Harrison Mayor Ron Bel-mont said he personally knew the family. He urged commu-nity members to seek help that the town is providing, such as interfaith support, during this “difficult time.”

“I encourage all those who knew and loved Alissa and Deanna to draw strength from the sense of unity we have here in town,” the mayor said. “I hope that we can celebrate their lives and remember, with fondness, the impact they had on us all.”

Meanwhile, Hochman had just retired from the White Plains police force and, ac-cording to White Plains Public Safety Commissioner David Chong, he never showed signs of mental illness or anger on the job. Hochman even won his department’s life-saving award

last year for keeping an unre-sponsive man alive until para-medics arrived.

“The White Plains Police Department is shocked and horrified by the news of this unfathomable tragedy,” Chong said in a released statement. “We can only pray for the entire Hochman family.”

Harrison High School Prin-cipal Steven Siciliano said the community would come to-gether around this tragedy and that grief counseling has been set up to address any student or faculty concern. Alissa was a senior at the high school.

“Our hearts are broken again and yet we know our Harrison community will rally in support of the family,” Siciliano said.

This marks the third tragedy to strike the community in re-cent months.

Harrison resident Reyda La-Madrid, 47, was riding in the backseat of her SUV in White Plains on Nov. 3, 2014 with her husband when a White Plains firefighter, driving against traf-fic, crashed into her car, killing her instantly. And just days lat-er, Harrison High School junior Andrew Gurgitano, 16, died in his home on Nov. 8, 2014, after what county medical officials determined was a rare sponta-neous stroke.

Marraccini said the police in-vestigation related to the Hoch-man case remains ongoing.



2014.Disagreeing with the ap-

pointment’s validity, Potok sought an initial opinion from the state department about the mayor’s authority to fill va-cancies. In addition to Was-serman, Rosenblum’s appoint-ments of Cohen, Verni and Violi were also in question. In the first opinion from the state department’s deputy counsel, William Sharp, he wrote, “I think the Board of Trustees alone has the power to fill va-cancies on the HCZMC due to resignation.”

On Feb. 5, the village re-ceived a second opinion from Sharp, which clarified his opinions from his first cor-respondence on the questions the board had. In regards to the mayor’s authority to fill vacancies, Sharp wrote, “such authority does not reside in the mayor, since Mamaroneck fol-lows the village manager form of government…the authority to fill vacancies in those cer-tain offices lies with the vil-lage Board of Trustees.”

In receiving Sharp’s most re-cent opinion, the Democrats on

vOided from page 1

the village board felt there was enough support that proved that two of Rosenblum’s ap-pointments were invalid. A proposed law that was also aimed to adjust the village code to match state law’s stip-ulations for mayoral authority fizzled because the state de-partment’s opinion supported the current language of the vil-lage code.

Even now, Rosenblum still disagrees with the state de-partment and believes that the

Two recent appointments have been rescinded as the Democrats of the Village of Mamaroneck Board of Trustees have made a decision regarding Mayor Norman Rosenblum’s authority to fill vacancies on some of the village’s volunteer boards and commissions. The village is still waiting for an opinion from the attorney general on how to proceed with the village’s two land use boards. File photo

board is making a “truly parti-san move” and playing “petty politics” in affirming that the appointments are null.

When asked about the may-or’s appointments, Potok told the Review that “he was going beyond his legal authority.” Po-tok added that the new nomina-tions and appointments process will be done in conformance with the law, where as the for-mer appointments were not.

Wasserman said she hasn’t been contacted by anyone in terms of her position on the harbor coastal commission. Meanwhile, Verni said he hasn’t heard anything from village officials in terms of his position on the Planning Board.

“The mayor asked me to serve and I’m willing to serve,” Verni said, adding that he wasn’t concerned with the petty politics of the village. “If the village board Democrats decide otherwise, that’s up to them.”

Verni added that he was ap-pointed in December of last year and has not yet had the chance to join the Planning Board for a meeting.


Malcolm X was ahead of his timeBy CliFF JACKSOn

James Baldwin said, “To be black and relatively conscious in America, was to be in a con-stant state of rage.”

That exemplified Malcolm X and his understanding of how racist, brutal and evil United States history truly is. Feb. 21, 2015 was the 50th anniversary of the assassina-tion of El Hajj Malik Shabazz, Malcolm X. He lashed out, in a stentorian fashion, against the hypocrisy, racism and brutal nature of this country in a way that no man or woman before him or after him ever did. As Sonia Sanchez, the famous poet and human rights activ-ist said, “He said everything that we were thinking and ex-periencing here in America. He did it in a manly way, not behind closed doors, but for everyone to see. He took on America for us.”

Biographer Peter Goldman said, “When he spoke it was a declaration of an act of war.”

Malcolm X came from a family that had a great deal of pride in being black, indoctri-nated with the philosophy of self determination and inde-pendence from Marcus Gar-vey and the “Back to Africa” movement. Indeed his father and mother attended meetings of the United Negro Improve-ment Association headed by Garvey. That was sui generis for that time, because in Amer-ica the daily brutality, lynch-ings, mutilations and sheer bar-barism that whites exhibited upon blacks in every sector of life, north and south, left very little room for “black pride” or

Opinion-Editorial

the acceptance of the humanity of black people in this country. His father was lynched by the Klu Klux Klan in 1931 in Mich-igan. Michigan at that time had a Klan membership that was larger than Mississippi. From that, his family was torn apart by the white social welfare sys-tem and racism in general, as many black families are to this day by the overt and subliminal messages of “white supremacy” that governs their daily lives.

Once he was exposed to the teachings of the “Nation of Is-lam,” an organization created to counteract the emasculating and denuding nature of Amer-ica on the black man, he at-tacked all of the hypocrisy and contradictions that manifested every day in America. He said, “How can you have the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution passed 100 years ago and say you are living in a democracy, and 100 years later you still cannot vote, you are brutalized daily and are sub-jected to a vicious cycle of dis-ease, poverty and death.”

The denial of the human-ity of black people has been worldwide by the “white west-ern world.” Malcolm X af-firmed the humanity of black people telling them that their history, language and very be-ing had been destroyed. Pro-fessor John Henrike Clark said, “Malcolm made us feel whole again.” James Bald-win said, “He corroborated our reality.” He railed against the “uncle toms” and modern day negro Republicans that we see today in Benjamin Carson, Allen West and here in West-chester with Deneen Borelli.

He knew that their sickness was a by-product of 500 years of “white supremacy” that precipitates their ingratiating behavior towards whites and their lack of identity.

Malcolm X said, “Black people and people of color are not minorities, but part of the worldwide majority.” He went to Selma, Ala., on Feb. 4 1965 at the invitation of SNCC and met and spoke in front of Coretta Scott King. where he talked about taking the United States before the United Na-tions for its “violation of the human rights of 22 million ne-groes here in America.”

Malcolm X had a perspi-cacious sense about how sick and uncivilized the American social order was. What people did not listen to when he was alive, we are experiencing to-day, because the destruction of the black family is directly at-tributable to the denial of our humanity and “white suprem-acy.” He also was prescient in understanding, like Dr. King that capitalism is a brutal sys-tem that destroys millions of lives for the benefit of the few. We see that today, with the so-called “third world” which is a by-product of the evils of racism, colonialism and capi-talism. We also see it as far as the quality of life for mil-lions across this country that is decaying and deteriorating everyday spiritually, emotion-ally and physically because of the quest for money. Long live the spirit of El Hajj Malik El Shabazz, Malcolm X.

Cliff Jackson is a resident of Larchmont. The views ex-pressed are his.


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CapriceWinter will soon be waking springbut hesitates to whisper of the season,knowing spring will lift her head,fling off his ermine robe,once again place blossoms at his feetand flee to place her hand in summer’s.

Mary Louise Cox, poet laureate of the Town and Village of Mamaroneck

swift and orderly manner in which his staff dealt with the incident in a statement later emailed to parents at the school.

“I could not be more pleased with the profession-alism of Hommocks staff and their boundless dedication to the welfare of our students,” the principal said.

The incident is still under investigation and police de-

clined to release any informa-tion related to possible sus-pects at this time.

This is the second time the Westchester County Bomb Squad has been called to Hommocks.

On Feb. 10, another piece of graffiti referencing a bomb was observed by a student in the boys’ bathroom. Although town police assessed that there

was no imminent threat, class did not resume that day and all after school and evening ac-tivities were cancelled while the county bomb squad did a complete safety sweep of t he building.

Authorities declined to dis-close whether the two inci-dents are believed to be related.


HOMMOCKS from page 1 County wins housing appellate case By CHriS eBerHArT

Staff Writer

The county executive’s claims that HUD “acted in an arbitrary and capricious man-ner” in rejecting all eight of Westchester County submis-sions to obtain HUD-adminis-tered grant money can no lon-ger be ignored.

On Feb. 18, a federal ap-peals court overturned a lower court’s decision that had said the U.S. Department of Hous-ing and Urban Development’s rejections of the county’s analyses of possible zoning discrimination in its munici-palities and subsequent with-holding of grant money for fair housing are not subject to judicial review.

The ruling allows the coun-ty and Republican Westchester County Executive Rob Astori-no to pursue its case to recap-ture $752,844 in 2011 federal grant money, which is what’s left of the $7.4 million from the 2011 community develop-ment block grant funding that was administered to the county by HUD. The money is geared towards building affordable housing and revitalizing low-income neighborhoods.

According to the judge’s ruling, “HUD did not have the right to reject the county’s housing strategy or withhold funding on the basis of land use controls [and] zoning or-dinances ... that may affect the development of affordable housing in the jurisdiction.”

Astorino called the deci-sion a “major victory for due process against an aggres-sively overreaching federal bureaucracy.”

“Just like everyone else, HUD has to follow the law,” Astorino said in a released statement. “In this case, HUD was making up its own rules. That’s not right and the court has now made it very clear that

actions by HUD are subject to judicial review.”

Although this decision is considered a win by many elected officials in Westchester County because it guarantees their day in court, it does not recover the remaining $6.65 million in 2011 grant money, which HUD has already real-located to other jurisdictions.

The county originally lost the grant money in 2013 be-cause HUD claimed it was not in compliance with a 2009 af-fordable housing settlement agreed to by the federal de-partment and former West-chester County Executive Andy Spano, a Democrat.

The settlement was the byproduct of a 2006 lawsuit brought forward by the Anti-Discrimination Center of Met-ro New York that alleged the county had filed false certifi-cations with HUD for millions of dollars in grants. As part of the settlement, Westchester agreed to build 750 affordable housing units over a seven-year period, complete source of income legislation—which bans discrimination against potential renters and home-buyers based on their source of income—and complete an analysis of impediments, which is a review of the barri-ers affecting the development of affordable housing.

To date, the county has passed a source of income leg-islation and is on pace to ful-fill the 750 unit mark on time. But the one sticking point has remained HUD’s unwill-ingness to accept any of the eight analyses of impediments submitted by the Astorino administration.

In its defense, HUD point-ed to paragraph 32 of the 2009 settlement—which said the analysis of impediments must be deemed acceptable by HUD—in rejecting the eight analyses of impediments

Federal judge, Pierre Leval, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, overturned a lower court’s ruling that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s withholding of federal grant money to Westchester County was not subject to judicial review.

between 2010 and 2013. Be-cause all the submissions were rejected, the county was considered not in compliance with the settlement and HUD withheld a 2011 federal grant worth $7.4 million as well as $15.6 million worth of grant money from 2012, 2013 and 2014.

The county officially lost the 2011 grant money in 2013, which led to a lawsuit by the Astorino administration. That suit was dismissed in a ruling by federal Judge Denise Cote back in 2013. However, Cote’s decision was the one over-turned in court on Feb. 18.

However, the appellate court’s decision said para-graph 32 of the 2009 settle-ment does not affect whether the county’s lawsuit is subject to judicial review, but it may impact the final outcome of the case, but that will be deter-mined by the district court.


Body found behind Port Chester school

On the morning of Friday, Feb. 20, the body of a 32-year-old Rye man was found be-hind Corpus Christi-Holy Ro-sary School in Port Chester.

Port Chester police identi-fied the dead man as Emery Stewart of 95 Maple Ave., in Rye. The police found his body, partially clothed, behind the elementary school, at 7:27 a.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:31 a.m.

Some of the man’s clothes were found near the body, ac-cording to Port Chester police.

Police are investigating whether he had taken off his clothes due to hypothermia, a dangerous drop in body tem-

perature where core body tem-perature drops below what is required for normal bodily functioning. It is caused by ex-posure to the cold for prolonged periods of time.

Twenty to 50 percent of hy-pothermia deaths are associated with paradoxical undressing, which typically occurs during moderate to severe hypother-mia, as the person becomes dis-oriented, confused, and com-bative. They may begin dis-carding their clothing, which, in turn, increases the rate of heat loss. Police are investigating whether Stewart’s death was the result of hypothermia and therefore whether he removed

his clothing himself.Hypothermia is a dangerous

drop in body temperature where core body temperature drops be-low what is required for normal bodily functioning. It is caused by exposure to the cold for a prolonged period of time.

The region saw record-breaking cold temperatures last week, which reached a low of 3 degrees.

Port Chester police, the Westchester County medical examiner and the Westches-ter County District Attor-ney’s office are working to-gether in the investigation of this incident. -Reporting by Marissa Penn

A man was found dead behind this elementary school in Port Chester on Feb. 20. Police in Port Chester believe the death may have been related to the frigid cold temperatures. Photo/Marissa Penn

On Monday, Town of Mamaroneck police and the Westchester Bomb Squad were called to Hommocks Middle School to investigate a second bomb scare in the last two weeks. Photo courtesy Mamaroneck school district

14 • THe MAMArOneCK review • February 27, 2015 SPORTS

Cruz shines locallyBy MiKe SMiTHSports Editor

On Feb. 20, Port Chester native Bryant “Pee Wee” Cruz had a homecoming of sorts, when the local pugilist head-lined his first ever fight card in Westchester. Throngs of fans turned out to see the unde-feated junior lightweight keep his perfect record intact, earn-ing a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Jorge Pazos at the Westchester Hilton to improve to 14-0 on his career.

The fight was no cake-walk, however as the rugged Pazos caught Cruz with a vicious right hook late in the second round of the eight-round bout, dropping him for just the sec-ond time in his pro career. Cruz beat the count, shook off the cobwebs and came back in the third round to out-box Pa-zos until the final bell rung.

“I went back to the cor-ner and I told [my trainer] it was my bad, I just got caught with my hands down trying to trade,” Cruz said. “I recovered

and went back to boxing for the rest of the fight. Lesson learned.”

According to Cruz’s trainer, Ryan O’Leary, Pazos, who came into the fight with a 14-7 record was selected because of his pedigree and ability to go deep into fights. Although the Mexican fighter was able to tag Cruz with a good shot, O’Leary said, the fight served as a learning experience for the rising star.

“When you’ve got a guy coming out of Mexico, you know he probably has like 6,000 rounds of sparring,” O’Leary said. “We knew he was going to be tough. But once Pee Wee started boxing, he was masterful.”

One of Cruz’s biggest take-aways from the evening might not have been anything that had to do with his opponent, however. The slick-boxing Cruz said after the fight that dealing with a rabid home fan base—like the one he fought in front of on Friday—comes with its own set of challenges.

“Especially fighting in my hometown, I have to learn that you can’t always just go for the knockout to impress people; you have to stay smart and set up my punches,” he said. “But it was definitely great getting the chance to showcase my skills in front of my hometown fans.”

Cruz wasn’t the only area-fighter with a rowdy fan base on Friday night, as fellow Champs Boxing Club stable-mate Alex Vanasse, a Carmel product, made his professional debut in a light-heavyweight bout against Richard Bal-lard. Like Cruz, Vanasse was dropped early in the fight, but the unseasoned slugger battled back to earn a TKO victory in the fourth round.

“I saw [Vanasse] upstate at some amateur shows and you could tell the kid was crude but was so strong and had a great punch,” O’Leary said. “He got caught with his hands down, a rookie mistake, but he fought through it.”

COnTACT: [email protected] “Pee Wee” Cruz tags Jorge Pazos with a right hand on Feb. 20 at the Westchester Hilton. Cruz won a unanimous decision to bring his pro record to 14-0. Photos/Bobby Begun

humanize himself and win his way into the good graces of Yankee fans, backfired ter-ribly, becoming yet another blunder in the minds of the New York fan base.

That’s why I’ll be rooting

for him this spring. I’d love nothing more than for him to come out of the gates red hot, belting homers and causing Yankee fans to begrudgingly give him the respect they nev-er gave him in the past.

For all his faults, his biggest crime was one he had no con-trol over.

He was never Derek Jeter.

Follow Mike on Twitter @LiveMike_Sports

I never thought I’d say these words, but here it is; I’m an A-Rod defender.

Before I go too far down this road, let me say right up front that I’m no fan of the Yankee third baseman. He’s a cheater and a liar, and worse than that—at least in my Red Sox-crazy mind—he’s a Yankee.

But I’ll be damned if I don’t feel bad for him right now.

This week, A-Rod is down in Tampa, Fla., getting ready for the start of spring train-ing after serving a year-long suspension for PED-use, and nobody, not Yankee fans, not Yankee brass, seems to want him around.

Yankee fans are open-ly rooting for him to fail. The front office, some have opined, is hoping that he won’t be able to physically perform,

Rethinking A-Rodsaving the Yanks a fortune on incentivized milestones and perhaps praying the insurance policy will pay out the remain-ing money they owe the aging slugger.

For some reason, though, the idea of A-Rod as this tragic figure, an embattled superstar looking for one last chance at re-demption, makes even the most strident Yankee-hater I know (me) want to root for the guy.

Rodriguez has done some bad stuff. But more egregious than his flagrant violations of the MLB’s rules has been his reaction to the accusations. In-stead of clamming up and ac-cepting the inevitable suspen-sion like the 13 other players named in the MLB investiga-tion of Biogenesis, he took the “scorched earth” route, suing just about anyone who dared to presume he was a cheater.

There have been other play-ers who have forcefully denied accusations of their wrong-doing. Some lied in front of Congress, some, like Sammy

Sosa, conveniently forgot that they were conversant in Eng-lish. Others, like Ryan Braun, acted exactly the way that A-Rod did, going after those they deemed “responsible” for pos-itive tests.

But Braun will hear cheers in Milwaukee, Mark McG-wire is now a respected hitting coach in Los Angeles and even Barry Bonds comes home to warm receptions in the San Francisco area.

Not A-Rod though. He’ll essentially be play-

ing 162 games on the road this season.

Part of that is his doing, sure. But A-Rod’s never been a beloved player anywhere he’s been. He always struck me, for all his talent and all his money, as a clueless guy, un-able to endear himself to fans and frustrated that his prodi-gious talent was never enough to earn him the adoration that he felt he deserved.

Even his handwritten apol-ogy, an effort on his part to

Alex Rodriguez is set to begin spring training this week and while many Yankee fans want nothing more to do with the aging slugger, Sports Editor Mike Smith is hoping A-Rod can return to form this year. Photo courtesy Wikipedia.com

February 27, 2015 • THe MAMArOneCK review • 15SPORTSTitans ice Garnets

By MiKe SMiTHSports Editor

What should have been a banner win for the Rye Town/Harrison hockey program was marred by a late-game skir-mish, as the Titans advanced to the second round of the Division II playoffs with a re-sounding 5-2 over rival Rye.

In the process, the Titans also lost three key players for their upcoming playoff contest.

With 2.4 seconds left in regulation and the game all but decided, Rye skaters initi-ated a scuffle with the Titans that prompted a long delibera-tion by referees, who opted to call a halt to the game once order had been restored. Four Rye players and three Titans were ejected and the three Rye Town/Harrison skaters have been deemed ineligible for the team’s quarterfinal game against Pearl River on Feb. 25, after press time.

“I don’t know if I agree with the calls that were made on the ice,” Titans coach Jason Head said. “But unfortunately I’m not a ref. I’m only a coach so, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Prior to the scuffle, the night was a good one for the Titans.

Rye Town/Harrison ben-efitted from a terrific perfor-mance by junior goalie Joey Livornese, who tallied 24

saves in the game, including a few spectacular stops that kept Rye off the scoreboard for the better part of the first two periods. Rye’s first goal came in the 14th minute of the second period, after the Titans had already amassed a three-goal lead.

“[Livornese] was huge and he’s stood on his head in situ-ations like that throughout the whole season,” Head said. “Making saves like that and being able to clear it out of the

Rye Town/Harrison’s Doug Harrison takes the puck across the blue line against Rye on Feb. 23. The Titans beat Rye 5-2 to advance to the Division II quarterfinals.

Titans goalie Joey Livornese waits during pregame introductions on Feb. 23. Livornese made 24 saves in the Titans’ first-round playoff win over Rye. Photos/Mike Smith

zone and go the other way was a huge pick me up.”

Sam Adler, Joe Juliano, Mitchell Milbauer, Jackson Schultz and Jake Carnavalla all found the net for the Ti-tans who had a 4-1 lead until Rye’s Rocco Macri came out of the box and took a long pass the length of the ice to narrow the lead to 4-2 with just 6:46 left to play.

“When he came out of the box I yelled all even, but with the crowd noise it fell on deaf ears,” Head said. “We tried to get back in time but he made a great play to put it over Joey.”

But that would be as close as Rye would get.

Following the late-game fracas, Rye’s Billy Haynes, Aidan Lavelle, Pat Curran and Derek Mullane were all sent off the ice. For Rye Town/Harrison, Juliano, Schultz and Max Picker were also thrown out of the game and will now serve costly suspensions when the Titans take on Pearl River.

Head remained hopeful that hockey officials will take a look at what transpired and possi-bly lift the ban before the team takes the ice on Wednesday.

“I have all the faith in our ADs to be in contact with Sec-tion I and try to fix the prob-lem,” the head coach said. “It’s a different situation when one team has nothing left to play for, and even though I don’t

know what was in the other team’s heads there, I know my guys were only trying to pro-tect themselves.”

If the suspensions stand, he added, the Titans will simply

take the ice against Pearl Riv-er, hoping that other players will get a chance to shine.

“It will take a big effort,” the coach said, “but all year long it’s been ‘next man up.’

We’ve battled injuries, guys going away and everyone has stepped up tremendously. I ex-pect us to step up big again.”


Rye players swarm Titans’ forward Jackson Schultz during a late-game donnybrook on Feb. 23. Seven players were ejected following the skirmish.

Mitchell Milbauer wins the faceoff for Rye Town/Harrison. Milbauer scored a late-game empty-netter to seal the Titans’ 5-2 win.


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Mamaroneck Review 2-27-2015