December 13, 2002

NO NEED FOR ANOTHER CVS

While I'm sure the community will be relieved when the former Grand Union building is renovated, I am still distressed at the thought of yet another CVS in our midst, particularly when the village is without a full service supermarket. Adding eggs and butter to their inventory does not mitigate the problem. There will be a total of five CVS locations within the Town of Mamaroneck when it is built; clearly this one is not needed.

Also, our village central business district will be anchored by a chain store that will adversely impact the local businesses that have served our community for years. Are we to wind up with nothing but CVS's and Super Stop and Shops?

I know I am not the only one who objects to the taking of the Grand Union space by CVS. I hope I am not the only one who will refuse to shop there.

Kinnan O'Connell
Larchmont, NY

November 13, 2002

DAVIDS ISLAND: CRITICAL JUNCTURE

In a letter to the Sound Report (10/4/02), John Verni excoriates the sale of Davids Island to the County for a park and blames it on political kowtowing to the most extreme of environmentalists. If not for the extreme environmentalists we would be dealing with a nuclear power plant on the island or 55-story towers with a heliport, a 500-boat marina and a bridge longer than the Brooklyn Bridge from Glen Island Park to Davids Island. The extremists who fought some of these projects include Suzi Oppenheimer, Ron Tocci, George Latimer, Paul Noto, Steve Tenore, Jim Maisano,Frances Sternhagen, Joanne Woodward and 40 organizations located around Long Island Sound, not to mention most of the residents of the south end of New Rochelle.

Davids Island belonged to the people of the United States as Fort Slocum before it was gifted to New Rochelle. Were it economically viable to put a small development on Davids Island, I believe it would have happened in the past 40 years.

Long Island Sound provides untold recreational opportunities for thousands upon thousands of citizens. Davids Island lies in the narrowest, most stressed area of Long Island Sound. We have seen fish kills and closed beaches summer after summer. The pressure of development in Westchester, the Bronx, Long Island and Connecticut is surely one of the major causes of water pollution in the Sound.

As time goes by, acquisition of Davids Island will become more expensive, and once developed it will be lost to the public forever. The residents of southern Westchester, the area with the greatest concentration of population in our county, are now at a critical juncture. There is a proposal on the table to save the last major piece of waterfront property in the middle of Long Island Sound for all the citizens in the region, for their children and their children’s children. This proposal should be implemented.

Marlene Kolbert
Trustee, Village of Larchmont

October 18, 2002

A MUST SEE MOVIE!

"Bowling for Columbine" produced and directed by Michael Moore of "Roger and Me" is a must see documentary about guns in America. Funny, satirical, informative, timely, provacative are some of the words I would use about this film. A friend and I went to Lincoln Square cinema to catch the opening weekend and were not disappointed. Read the reviews or not but do see this movie!

p.s. The movie is now showing at the Scarsdale Fine Arts.

Sandy Constabile
Larchmont, NY

October 11, 2002

TEEN DRINKING ARTICLE HELPFUL

Thank you for the fair, very informative article on teen drinking and the RADAR meeting. It is helpful to have it so quickly after the meeting and hopefully add to the momentum.

Cecilia Absher
Larchmont, New York

September 23, 2002

TRUSTEE LIKES GAZETTE FORUMS

To the Editors:

As a Village Trustee, I want to thank you for raising some of the leading issues of the day in Larchmont and giving residents an opportunity to voice their opinions. I find it extremely helpful and informative to read the views of local residents.

Marlene Kolbert

September 3, 2002

DAVIDS ISLAND HURDLES REMAIN

Davids Island's eventual transformation to a park will be a unique resource for the entire Sound Shore area. However the same hurdles remain as were there when the defeated (thankfully) major development schemes were put forward. That is, how to get people (potential public park-goers) onto and off of the Island efficiently, and what to do when they get there. The lure of going to such a park hangs upon its ease of access, and its attractions. Parking for a ferry would require a facility land-side, and a bridge presents many environmental hurdles to be overcome during the construction.

Le'ts get these questions answered early in the process to kindle the public's attraction to this future paradise!

James Fleming
Larchmont

RESIDENTS OF 10543 INTERESTED IN LARCHMONT TOO

Your website newsletter is very well conceived and well written. You are to be commended for your efforts as I'm sure this a major undertaking!! Just wanted to let you know that residents of the 10543 zip code who spend a lot of time in 10538, frequenting the many businesses and more on a regular basis, are also very interested in your local news as it affects us, too.

Carolyn Pomeranz
Mamaroneck

July 18, 2002

TOWN NEEDS A BETTER POOL COMPLEX

I find it interesting that the community is now waking up to the problems of the Hommocks Pool. To me, even when this pool is open and functioning, it is still a pathetic recreational facility for an "affluent" community like the Town of Mamaroneck. When you compare it to the summer swim facilities of other Southern Westchester communities like Scarsdale, Rye, and Eastchester, it is clear that we are getting a New York City type of pool for our considerable tax dollars.

Even with the efforts of diligent and well-meaning folks who have worked with the Town government on "improvements" in the pool facility, it is still an unappealing recreational spot: concrete, little or no shade on what grass is available, close to the Larchmont composting site, and the lockers are horrible. I don't even know how our kids can tolerate them for Physical Education, let alone having us use them. They are not clean, and there is absolutely no privacy.

Saxon Woods Pool, a county facility, is far and away better in virtually every respect. The pool is appealing to children and adults, for both leisure and lap swimming, there is shade, and the locker rooms have private dressing room/shower stalls.

What the town needs to address is abandoning Hommocks entirely and developing a recreational complex, including a pool, that is worthy of the patronage of town residents.

Adrienne Weiss-Harrison, M.D.
Larchmont

KUDOS FOR LARCHMONT GAZETTE

July 9, 2002

Great website! Good luck to you on the Gazette, we could definitely use a local forum for news, etc. Having lived in Larchmont all of my life, I'm pretty proud of our community and feel that it has much to offer.

Meg Mirabella

July 5, 2002

Thanks so much for your efforts and for creating The Gazette. It's crucial to have a forum that is on-partisan, non-denominational, and not driven by profit!

Our children have also found it instructive, especially as they swelter in this July heat awaiting news on the Hommocks pool.

Juliet Lesser & Robert Roy Larchmont

June 28, 2002

Great web site!

Judy Spikes
Larchmont

June 24, 2002

The Larchmont Gazette is great! At last a newspaper that really reflects the feel of the Village and the Town. Keep up the good work.

Elliott Sclar
Larchmont

December 6, 2002

EVERY TOWN NEEDS A GAZETTE

Although I do not reside in Larchmont, I heard about your online publication at a Westchester Municipal Officials dinner and wanted to write to you to let you know that I think that your Gazette is terrific. It's informative, interesting and I'll read it regularly.

Keep up the great work. Every community needs its own version of the Larchmont Gazette.

Paul Feiner
Greenburgh Town Supervisor
Greenburgh, NY

FIRST RAG-A-MUFFIN PARADE MEMORABLE

Thank you for putting up my daughter's photo in the Gazette (Little Lamb, Front Page). Her name is Natalia. She has just turned 16 months.

Yesterday, we went to our first Rag-A-Muffin parade. For Natalia, it was
her first parade ever and first Halloween. You have given us a beautiful souvenir for her baby book. We have shared your newsletter with all of our friends in New York, around the country, and Europe. We had a wonderful time, especially her.

We appreciate the town of Larchmont and the Firehouse for providing events, such as the one yesterday,which fill our family's life with joy and fun memories.

Coral A. Matar
Larchmont, New York

October 30. 2002

TO TRAFFIC OFFICERS: HAVE A HEART!

Suggestion to Larchmont Traffic Enforcement Agents: Dismissal time in front of Discovering Me Nursery School on Palmer Ave. in Larchmont is a busy one. Perhaps your time would be better spent assisting us moms with small children in crossing Palmer Ave. to legal parking spaces rather than lying in wait to ticket us for parking illegally for two minutes at the hydrant while we pick up our kids.

Please note I usually park legally and I have not received a ticket, but I see how frustrating this situation is for mothers, especially those carrying babies while trying to pick up other siblings.

My suggestion is based on observations made on Wed., Oct. 30, so maybe the end-of-the-month ticket quotas still needed to be met, but I feel our children are more important that ticket revenues. I know it's your job, but have a heart!

Susan Sweeney
Larchmont, NY

October 21, 2002

VILLAGE PAINT OPENING 10/23

Just a note to let you know where we are at this point.

Although our basement is not fully functional, we will be open for business on Wednesday, October 23, 2002. Our phones will be fully operational and all of our staff will be back from the Mamaroneck store. A grand reopening is planned at some point when we catch our breath.

However we miss all of you (our customers) very much and are looking forward to seeing you again.

Danny Goetze
Owner, Village Paint

October 14, 2002

BUY LOCAL!

I was dismayed to see that the Listening Materials store is closing (see October 3 article). They were always helpful there, and could get any item, in most cases within a day. Another victim of internet purchasing? I don't know.

Local retail stores need local customers to purchase things to survive. Perhaps next time, when you are planning to buy something for the house, or for entertainment, you might check whether a local store has it and consider buying it there.You will get it as quickly, (if not more quickly.) It helps everyone, and it helps keep storefronts full and active, which is better for Larchmont Village. Larchmont's restaurants are thriving, and there used to be so few. We need to keep the retail stores healthy as well.

The idea: buy local!

Jim Fleming,
Larchmont, NY

October 10, 2002

CALL SCHUMER WITH YOUR VIEWS ON IRAQ

Senator Chuck Schumer's office is taking a "tally" of constituents' positions on the resolution granting power to the President to go to war with Iraq. At this point, he plans to vote in favor. Is it worth a phone call to express your opinion? Maybe we can speak against this craziness.

Schumer's # 212-486-4430
Clinton's # 212-688-6262

Dr. Jacqueline Hornor Plumez
Larchmont, NY

October 11, 2002

ANOTHER VOTE AGAINST WAR

Thank you for the phone numbers for Senators Schumer and Clinton (see previous letter). Yes it is worth a call. And one only hopes that Schumer-Who-Has-Turned- Out-To-Be-A-
Wimp-Against-Bush has read Senator Byrd's strongly reasoned Op-Ed piece in the NY Times.

Marge Burman
Larchmont, New York

October 10, 2002

WAR WITH IRAQ: "WRONG"

War with Iraq, at least on the terms demanded by Mr Bush, is WRONG. It will produce scenes on Muslim TV news that will inspire thousands of recruits for Al Qaeda and Hamas. This Defense Department is unable to bring security to Afghanistan. It will certainly not be able to bring security to a defeated Iraq.

Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, et al, are naive and are leading the country into very dangerous paths. DO NOT PASS THE BUSH RESOLUTION!

John and Charlotte Stadler
- registered voters and parents of draft-age sons
Larchmont, NY

August 15, 2002

MEMORIES OF LARCHMONT

Your article about the Larchmont Ave. Church was of interest, as a classmate (MHS '54) and friend, David McGuire, is the son of Floyd McGuire who was the minister at LAPC for many years. It brings back strong memories to read stories of my childhood home. A letter about traffic at Vanderburg and Wendt evoked memories of stick-ball games on Wendt with virtually no cars to interrupt the game. My home for 24 years was on Larchmont Ave., 3 doors up from Vanderburg.

James M Horkheimer
Penfield, NY

August 1, 2002

CURRENT AND LOCAL NEWS

I just wanted to let you know how wonderful it is to get local news in a timely fashion. I look forward to reading your daily accounts.

The photos really enhance the content. Keep it up!

Leigh Levitt
Mamaroneck

July 26, 2002

MORE KUDOS FOR GAZETTE

July 26 issue is a wonderful example of how local news can be reported. Congratulations.

Tom Stuart
Larchmont

July 26, 2002

FRUSTRATED WITH LEAF-BLOWER NOISE

Firstly, congratulations on your Larchmont Gazette. It is great!

Secondly, I am concerned about the use of leaf blowers during the period when they are not supposed to be used. A few years ago, the Village of Larchmont passed a law that for a certain number of weeks during the summmer, leaf blowers would not be allowed in an effort to abate noise.
I now have become the "leaf blower control warden"!

It seems that every day, I either tell the contract gardners directly or call the police. I cannot understand if some of the gardners are unaware of the law or they just think they can get away with it. I would like someone on the Village Board to look into this and maybe the police could be more vigilant. We have such a beautiful Village to enjoy, particularly in the summer when it is supposed to be quiet.

Jenny Carter
1 Willow Ave.
Larchmont

July 26, 2002

DANGEROUS INTERSECTION

re: Vanderburg & Wendt

It would be reassuring, great for the health of the citizens of Larchmont, as well as good for the coffers of the Village if on any Saturday -- during any hour between 10a-5p -- the traffic police observed this corner. My guess is that they would find this hour to be very profitable.

It is unfortunate that it is almost guaranteed an accident will happen at this spot every few weeks or months and there seems to be nothing that we can do today to prevent it. Whether it is a 4-way stop sign or constant ticketing or some other idea, something must be done soon or we as a Village are ultimately going to be liable for inaction.

Rich Golden
Wendt Ave.
Larchmont

July 18, 2002

I-95 NOISE: IS SOMETHING BEING DONE?

Thanks for your tireless efforts on this great website!

This letter concerns the considerable traffic noise from I-95. I live in the Patricia Gardens Apartments, which are about 75 yards from the north-bound side of I-95. The noise was never more than an annoyance, until a sound barrier wall was constructed on the south-bound side a few years ago. Now, the noise is amplified as it bounces off that wall. In order to sleep at night I must wear earplugs, close windows and run a fan.

Are there plans to construct a wall on this side of the freeway? The Metro North tracks ARE very close on this side, but I think a wall or partial wall could still be built.

I also recall some talk of a new method to reduce tire noise by scoring the road surface. I wonder if the late-night roadwork currently going on could be this new resurfacing. Thanks for any information you may have.

Elaine Profilet, Larchmont

July 3, 2002

UPSET OVER POOL CLOSING

Thank you for your article about the closing of the large Hommocks Pool. It has been difficult to get information about the pool situation and your article provided some much needed communication.

I am extremely disturbed that the pool has been closed again. Our community has vast resources - the skills and experience of our residents and the significant funding for Hommocks are but two. In this light, it is inexplicable that we cannot maintain our modest pool complex sufficiently to keep the large pool open throughout the year and especially during the summer when we need it most.