Yorktown and Cortlandt region

Considering I’ve traveled far and wide to see moe. (though certainly not as far and wide as some people I know…), it feels pretty weird to be gearing up to see them right here in Westchester. But weird in a reallllly good way, of course! This band is one of my favorites; and they never fail to put on an amazing show.

Here’s the details about tonight:

What: moe. plays the Paramount Center for the Arts in Peekskill.
When: 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Where: 1008 Brown St., Peekskill, 914-739-2333.
Tickets: $32.50, can be purchased online from www.paramountcenter.org.

Believe it or not, this band has been around for 20 years already. That should attest to the talent these boys bring to the stage. But don’t take me word for it. Come see and hear for yourself! Also, check out an article I wrote for The Journal News about moe.’s musical legacy and loyal following for some more background about the band.

Assemblywoman Sandy Galef (D-Ossining) is sponsoring a forum on the ways that senior citizens can stay in their own homes longer.
The concept, “Aging in Place,” will be studied from a variety of perspectives on Thursday, July 8th from 9 a.m. – 12 noon. The event will be held at Cortlandt Town Hall, 1 Heady Street, Cortlandt Manor.
According to a press release from Galef’s office:
“Guests for the 2010 Senior Forum include Hannah Gross from the Westchester County Livable Community Connections, who will present some of the ways local groups are making a difference in keeping seniors active in their localities. In addition, Meryle Richman, owner of Physical Therapy in Briarcliff and Jefferson Valley, will show seniors some easy chair yoga stretches, because physical activity is crucial to keeping bodies and minds sharp and strong. Michael Olender, Associate State Director of AARP, will discuss how State and Federal legislation, including Federal health care reform, will impact seniors. Lastly, Dr. Craig Hametz, a Board Certified Cardiologist from Hudson Valley Hospital Center, will offer ways to keep hearts healthy.”

Peekskill police are asking people attending the city’s annual Fourth of July fireworks festivities to use mass transit.

The event will kick off at 7:30 p.m. at Riverfront Green with a performance by Peter Spink and his band. The Peekskill Fire Department will host the fireworks display after the concert.

Read more about the event here.

On the hook for nearly $700,000 in overdue property taxes and penalties, the developers of the luxury Trump Park Residences hope to convince town officials to lift the 55-and-over age restriction on buyers at the 141-unit complex.

The Town Board balked at the idea initially, but a representative of Cappelli Enterprises of Valhalla said he hopes to renew the effort in coming days.

“The bottom line is this,” Cappelli vice president Joe Apicella said. “We’ve explored every possible avenue for the adaptive reuse of that site, and what we’ve concluded is that the only thing that can save that project and make it viable once again is to remove the age restriction.

Officials, so far, are not receptive to that argument

“I think we would like to see some of the tax money on this,” Supervisor Susan Siegel said

Cappelli contends the property is overassessed, given that only 24 units — less than 20 percent — have sold in the three years since it opened. But that is a separate matter, said Siegel

“This really has nothing to do with the assessment,” she said. “They have filed a certiorari (legal challenge), but this has nothing to do with that.”

Cappelli owes the town $614,999 in town, county, school and other property taxes on unsold units there, along with $74,000 in penalties. The town must make up for any unpaid taxes it collects for other municipalities and entities, including the Lakeland school district and Westchester County.

The fear among some officials is that removing the age restriction will open units to families with school-age children, increasing the burden on the school district without increasing tax revenues proportionally.

The town rezoned the property in December 2000, at Cappelli’s request, from a classification allowing office buildings to one that would permit assisted living senior housing for residents 55 and older. Subsequent requests for changes led to the current restrictions.

The fear among officials is that lifting the age restriction will drive up school district enrollment.

Apicella said he and Louis Cappelli would meet with the Town Board directly to address their concerns about the idea.

“If we do that, we feel strongly that we can preserve that property and make it effective again and marketable,” he said. “In this unusually poor economy, that’s the only thing that can work.”

Some Trump Park Residences homeowners have told The Journal News they would be happy to see the restriction lifted and the complex opened to families. Officials say they’ve heard from other residents who strongly oppose the idea.

File photos: Cappelli Enterprises Vice President Joseph Apicella; Donald Trump, who lent his name to the project to help boost sales.

Check out today’s story on the Ossining Public Library’s budget vote Tuesday night.

The more than $3.8 million budget passed by 580 to 311 votes. The same budget was rejected by voters on May 18.

Read more about this story here.

From Doris Kinney:

Croton: Annual Garden Tour. Self-directed auto tour of vegetable and flower gardens, flower displays and a hillside slope of grasses. Horticulturalist John Grant will guide visitors through the Pierre Van Cortlandt School vegetable garden, a student project which he supervised and is sponsored by Croton Harmon Education Foundation.

To insure reservations and tickets, call Laurie Salzberg at 914-271-5871, Laura Seitz at 914-271-3265 or Carol Shanesy 914-271-7645. Tour maps to guide participants to the sites, along with any remaining tickets, will be available July 11, from 12:15-1:30 p.m. at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, 6 Old Post Road North. 12:30-5 p.m. Jane E. Lytle Memorial Arboretum,  $20; Early Bird Special two for $35.

Peekskill High School held its graduation ceremonies June 27.

Read on for the full list of graduates or click here to view the Peekskill photo gallery.

Looking for your friends? You can view the graduation lists or photo galleries for all local high schools and colleges by clicking on these links!

Congrats to all!

(Photo courtesy of Joe Larese/The Journal News.)

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Former Yorktown Supervisor Don Peters has been named head of the Yorktown Democratic Committee.

Peters, who served a single term and was defeated in November by current Supervisor Susan Siegel, succeeds Patricia Mulligan as party chair.

He credited Mulligan with overseeing a rebuilding of the party organization, increasing the number of district leaders and modernizing the level of voter feedback and outreach employed by the committee.

“I just want to keep our Democratic party strong and build it,” said Peters.  “It’s going to involve a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of work.”

The transition was made at a committee meeting at the Jefferson Valley Mall Monday night. Mulligan notified party officials or her intention to step down to devote more time to her daughter’s impending college search, her law practice and the party’s long-term voter turnout efforts.

First Vice Chairman Ron Stokes and Second Vice Chairman Brendan Tully, a candidate for state Assembly, passed on the position, which then fell to Peters. He plans to run for a full term as party chairman in September.

Mulligan succeeded Joseph Apicella, himself a former supervisor candidate who led the party for more than a decade.

Democrats went from holding two townwide offices during his tenure to securing a 4-1 Town Board majority, the Town Clerk’s position and endorsing the Highway Superintendent. That success was reversed to a great extent in 2009, however, when Republicans took the Supervisor’s office and an effective Town Board majority. (Conservative Nick Bianco was elected with Republican backing.)

That race reflected a wider trend that has been since echoed elsewhere, Mulligan said, citing Republican Scott Brown winning the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s seat and locally in GOP gains on the county legislature. She said Peters is well suited to lead the party going forward, having endured that “tsunami” election and staying closely involved in local politics.

“The benefits in this transition are many because Don is intimately familiar with Yorktown, its issues and challenges and proved himself quite the leader during difficult economic times,” Mulligan said.

She will remain a district leader. Peters said he intended since the election to keep a hand in the local political scene.

“I was brought up in Yorktown, and my blood runs green for Yorktown,” he said.

Photo: Peters and Mulligan at Peter Pratt’s Inn on Election Night, Nov. 3, 2009. (Carucha L. Meuse/The Journal News)

When people learn that “Troilus and Cressida” — one of the three plays in the 2010 Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival — is a love story set in the Trojan War, expectations might build.

But don’t expect to see huge battle scenes on the lawn beyond the festival’s tent.

This is Shakespeare, not Homer, says Terrence O’Brien, the artistic director at the festival, now in its 24th season.

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Longtime Yorktown Parks Superintendent Brian Slavin, whose 32-year tenure saw the development of numerous programs and among the most extensive swim complexes in Westchester County, died at his home in Sleepy Hollow Monday. He was 70.

Slavin, a North Tarrytown native who served in the U.S. Navy and was present at the Gulf of Tonkin incident, was a recipient of the National Defense Service Medal, the Viet Nam Service Medal and the Navy Unit Commendation. He was among the first graduating class at Sleepy Hollow High School in 1958. He graduated from Lehman College and joined the fledgeling Parks & Recreation Department in 1970.

Among his accomplishments were establishing hiking trails at Turkey Mountain, helping to create the Lions Club summer concert series and serving on the board of Nor-West Regional Services for more than a quarter century. He received the prestigious Peter J. Mayer Award for Merit for lifetime achievement in recreation in 2002. The pools complex at Shrub Oak Park was named for him on his retirement.

“I really got blindsided by that,” Slavin said at the time. “It made all the blood and sweat worth it.”

He is survived by his wife Peggy; a brother, Kevin and wife Rita of Yorktown; step-children Mary Beth and Jeff Schreier of Katonah; Anne Daly of Tarrytown and John and Regina Daly of Ossining; and three step-grandchildren, Kathleen and Michael Blair of South Grafton, Mass., and Kara and Megan Schreier of Katonah.

Services are being handled by Coffey Funeral Home, 91 N. Broadway, Tarrytown. Visitation are today from 7-9 p.m. and Wednesday from 2-4 and from 7-9 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Thursday at 10 a.m. at St. Teresa of Avila Church in Sleepy Hollow with interment to follow at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.