Hello Hartsdale Community,
The leaves are starting to fall and Halloween is right around the corner, so it’s almost time for us to get together and show some spooky-spirit at Hartsdale Halloween events. But for now, we have a number of important updates to share on upcoming events and town elections.
ELECTED OFFICIALS ROUNDTABLE
Get Involved – Hear from our State, County and Town elected representatives.
We received a lot of positive feedback on The First HNA Roundtable in September with officials from the GCSD BOE and Hartsdale Board of Fire Commissioners went great. If you haven’t seen the Roundtable, you can watch anytime on the HNA YouTube Channel.
Our next Virtual Round Table featuring elected representatives for Hartsdale in Town, County and State Government will be held Monday November 1st at 8:00pm. Come learn about their roles, what they are doing for Hartsdale, and ways you can get involved in local volunteer boards and committees.
The session will be hosted by Eric Zinger, President of HNA Executive Board and will feature:
Tom Abinanti – New York State Assembly, District 92
Paul Feiner – Greenburgh Town Supervisor
MaryJane Shimsky – County Board of Legislators, District 12
Question you’d like to ask the group? Please send in advance by October 31st to: info@hartsdaleneighbors.org.
How to Join the Zoom Meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86719150869?pwd=dU1vQ0xVWFJvaS8vUUdnZkxlTFE2dz09
Meeting ID: 867 1915 0869 Passcode: HNA10530
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Meeting ID: 867 1915 0869
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SAFETY IS EVERYONE’S CONCERN
Safety Improvements For The Hartsdale Avenue Corridor and Four Corners
Engineering and planning consultant AKRF, hired back in 2019, presented a long-awaited study on pedestrian and traffic along the Hartsdale Avenue Corridor to the town on September 20th. They suggested many changes to the area, including changes to traffic signals with an Adaptive Traffic Control System (ATCS) for the Four Corners, reconfiguring parking, additional bump outs, sidewalks for pedestrians, removing certain traffic lights, and changing portions of roads to one-way traffic. Additional parts of the overall study on area flooding and Four Corners redevelopment are scheduled to be released next month.
In order to help fund these and other recommended improvements, the Town has applied for a $5M TAP grant and committed $2.3M in local funding. HNA supports the application for the grant, but also believes there is a need to undertake meaningful measures to obtain resident and business input into the study recommendations. The area needs a wholistic approach to traffic and pedestrian safety improvements, area flooding and Four Corners redevelopment in light of significant flooding from 50 years of flooding, including Hurricane Ida.
Additional context and more information on projects already underway can be found on the TOG website.
Bronx River Parkway Wrong Way Driving Taskforce Helping Hartsdale
The Bronx River Parkway (BRP) Wrong Way Task Force was formed by County Executive George Latimer in 2020 to review all entrance and exit ramps to reduce wrong way driving incidents. The BRP is the only highway owned and maintained by Westchester County.
Elements such entrances and exits, signage, traffic lights, and other items that direct drivers are being reviewed by the task force through in-person visits to each of the entrances and exits, as well as working with the County police to review data.
After a brief pause due to COVID-19, the Committee toured every entrance and exit. At the same time, the County moved forward with signage and roadway markings. More than 104 new signs were installed on the Parkway and additional pavement arrows placed on dozens of entrances and exit ramps, including Greenburgh and White Plains exits that Hartsdale residents frequently use.
Year-to-date 2021, as of August 17, three wrong way driver motor vehicle incidents occurred, none of which resulted in an accident. That indicates a large improvement over 2019 and 2020, each of which had 12 reported incidents.
911 calls have been instrumental in alerting the police so that investigations can be made, summons issued and DWI arrests made; please call immediately noting as accurate a location as you can provide.
The task force is made up of elected officials and Westchester County residents, including HNA Safety Committee Chairperson and TOG Safety Committee member, Patrice Ingrassia.
A final Task Force report of recommendations for BRP improvements will be submitted after the work is completed.Other Westchester parkways also have this problem. Year-to-date 2021, as of August 17, 26 wrong way driver emergency calls were made along the entire County parkway system (Hutchinson River Parkway, Bronx River Parkway (BRP), Saw Mill River Parkway and Cross County Parkway), with four motor vehicle accidents.
Please send any observations and signage suggestions related to wrong way driving on the BRP to info@hartsdaleneighbors.org. Please specify the entrance or exit ramp needing review.
THE FUTURE IS IN OUR SCHOOLS
VOTE YES on December 14th to support GCSD Infrastructure Repairs
There will be a special election Dec 14th to establish a new Capital Reserves Fund. Creating this fund will NOT raise your taxes. This fund will act as a savings account for the district to set aside any money left at the end of the fiscal year, and to put those savings toward capital projects that don’t fall under “repairs.” This fund is in addition to the recently-approved Repair Reserve, which is solely designated to repair existing units. The district will also be able to transfer money already in the Repair Reserve into a Capitol Reserve to fund some of the designated projects including the roof of Highview Elementary School on Central Avenue and window unit upgrades at RJ Bailey School on Hillside Avenue.
Without a Capital Reserve fund, NY State Education Department cannot approve the much-needed updates to the schools’ infrastructure.
VOTE YES on December 14th, so money from the Repair Reserve can be moved into a Capital Reserve and fund much needed projects in our schools.
OTHER NEWS
Hartsdale Fire District Budget and Election
The Hartsdale Fire District (HFD) is governed by a five-member Board of Commissioners elected by residents of the district. The HFD operates independently of the Town with its own district borders, elections, and board. Board members serve five-year terms and one board seat comes due every year. This year there are two open seats starting in January, one for a five-year term, and one for a one-year term to complete the term of the late Peter Woods who passed away in January of this year. Elections will be held on December 14th at Station #1 on Central Ave.
The Board of Commissioners has released the Proposed 2022 Fire District Budget and will be holding a budget hearing for public input at 8PM on Tuesday, October 19th at Station #2 on West Hartsdale Ave. The proposed budget is for $13.5M of which $12.8M will be raised from property taxes and the remaining $700k from a budget surplus and other revenues. The proposed budget amounts to a 2.8% increase from the 2021 adopted budget, but remains below the tax cap. The proposed budget can be found in its entirety on the Hartsdale Fire Department website.
Redistricting from 2020 Census
Redistricting is now in the hands of the NYS Assembly and it looks as if there could be some changes for Hartsdale with our representation in Congress and the NY State Assembly. For more information on redistricting and what it means for us check out The Manor Woods Blog.
2022 Greenburgh Town Budget
The 2022 Town of Greenburgh Proposed Budget will be out by October 30th and Town Supervisor Paul Feiner has already indicated that he intends to ask for no increase in property tax. You can read more of Supervisor Feiner’s message, and we will share additional details on the budget later in the month.
Hurricane Ida
If you suffered un-insured damage in your home from the storm, you may be able to get assistance from FEMA. The last day to file is November 5th. You can get more information on steps to follow and how to apply on the TOG website.
Halloween Happenings
Hartsdale families, including our pups will be showing some spooky spirit and celebrating Halloween in style this year. Enjoy great family fun, food and entertainment at Spooktoberfest and TDYCC Halloween Carnival. Paint spooky scenes on windows at the annual Halloween Window Painting in “Hartsdale Village.” Dress up your dog for HOWL-O-WEEN. More details including dates, locations and how to register for these and more events can be found at Greenburgh Parks & Recreation.
Have a Safe and Spooktacular Halloween.
HNA MEMBER INFORMATION
The Hartsdale Neighbors Association (HNA) is a group of passionate volunteers who are driven to improve our community. We foster neighborhood engagement and community-based problem solving, enhance civic awareness and provide a vehicle for community-based efforts. If you’d like to be more involved with HNA and join the Executive Board, one of our committees or other efforts, please contact us at info@hartsdaleneighbors.org.
IMPORTANT DATES
Window Painting Application Deadline – October 15th
Spooktoberfest – October 16th
Board of Education Meeting on Goal Setting – October 16th
Hartsdale Fire District Budget Hearing and Special Meeting – October 19th
BOE Regular Meeting – October 19th
Greenburgh Town Board – October 27th
Halloween Window Painting – October 23rd
Halloween Carnival at Theodore D. Young Community Center – October 29th
Howl-O-Ween – October 30th
HNA Roundtable – November 1st
FEMA Filing Deadline for Hurricane IDA – November 5th
Greenburgh Town Board – November 10th
BOE Regular Meeting – November 16th
Hartsdale Fire District Election – December 14th
GCSD Special Budget Vote – December 14th