The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Inside Press

Rob Thomas to Perform at Open Door’s Biannual Concert in October

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What:   A Special, Intimate Concert with Rob Thomas   rob thomas

Presented by the Open Door Foundation to benefit Open Door Family Medical Centers

Who: Performer: Rob Thomas

Emcee: Jimmy Fink, on air personality at 107.1 The Peak

Honorees: Girish Navani, CEO and co-Founder of eClinical Works

Isabel E. Beshar, Community Volunteer & Rhodes Scholar from Rye, NY

 

Where:  The Performing Arts Center at Purchase College

735 Anderson Hill Road

Purchase, NY 10577

When: Thursday, October 9, 2014

6:30pm: VIP Cocktail Reception

8:30pm: Concert

Concert Chair:   Sue Greene Fuirst (Chappaqua)

Tickets:                Tickets are available exclusively online at: http://opendoormedical.org/robthomas

Ticket Price:       $400 – Individual, includes cocktail reception and concert

$1,500 – Double Date Package includes 4 VIP Cocktail reception and concert tickets

$1,000 – VIP Roadie includes 1 VIP cocktail reception and concert ticket and 1 backstage pass to meet Rob Thomas following the performance

$5,000 – VIP Party Package includes 6 VIP cocktail reception and concert tickets and 6 backstage passes to meet Rob Thomas following the performance

$50-$175 – Concert Only

Information:      Cristina Sanjuas, (914) 502-1414 or csanjuas@odmfc.org  or visit http://www.opendoormedical.org/robthomas.

 

Presenting Sponsor:     eClinicalWorks

Lead Media Sponsor:    107.1The Peak

Participating Sponsors:  Hudson Health Plan; BioReference Laboratories

Supporting Sponsors:    Monroe College; claim remedy; Heckman Consulting Group, LLC; Levitt-Fuirst Insurance; Cohanzick Management, LLC; Mogil Organization; Diamond Properties; Bessemer Trust

About Open Door Family Medical Centers

Open Door, winner of the 2012 New York Nonprofit Excellence Award, has received the highest Recognition as a Patient-Centered Medical Home™ (PPC-PCMH™) from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). This ranking distinguishes them from medical practices across the nation as less than 12% are presently eligible to achieve this advanced standing. For more than 40 years, the federally qualified community health center has served a multi-cultural community and has provided top quality medical, dental care and social services to the Westchester community, particularly the economically disadvantaged. Open Door has four centers in Westchester located in Ossining, Port Chester, Mt. Kisco and Sleepy Hollow. In addition, Open Door operates five school-based health centers in Port Chester at The Edison Elementary School, Park Avenue School, the John F. Kennedy Elementary School, Port Chester Middle School and Port Chester High School. In 2013, 49,470 patients were treated at Open Door, making 210,615 patient visits.  In the same year, 15,235 youth, 19 years-old and under, were treated.  In 2012 Open Door, with partners New York Medical College and Phelps Memorial Hospital Center, launched the NYMC Phelps Family Medicine Residency Program along with a Dental Residency Program. The Family Medicine Residency is the first accredited family medicine residency to be established in New York State since 1995. In February 2013 Open Door opened an office in Brewster, NY, the first community health center in Putnam County. Funding for Open Door Family Medical Centers comes from local, state and federal grants as well as private foundations and individuals.

Chin Up, Mom and Dad!

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helmetWhy Bicycle Helmet Safety is for Every Family Member

By Lydia Evans, MD

“Do as I say, not as I do” is an idiom that’s fodder for endless sarcastic remarks. It is clear that one of the most effective teaching tools parents have is modeling behavior. So I am totally flummoxed when I ride my bike on our beautiful local bike trails and see families out for a weekend ride.Why flummoxed? Because children, dutifully wearing their helmets, ride along wheeling and squealing, with their helmet-less parents trailing behind.

New York State requires helmets for riders under 14, but sadly, no such requirement exists for adults.

While statistics vary slightly depending on the source (U.S. Dept, of Transportation, NY State & the CDC), pedal cyclists deaths nationally range from 625-825 annually; over 500,000 injured require emergency medical attention. The vast majority of deaths (85-90%) occur in individuals 16 and older. In 2009, 91% of bicyclists killed were not wearing helmets. The most serious injuries amongst these victims were to the head. The estimated cost of caring for the injured, unhelmeted cyclists is $2.3 billion annually.

So what happens when you hit your unprotected head? While the skull is fairly strong and hard, the brain is soft (almost jello-like), and floats in cerebral spinal fluid. Inside the skull are many sharp ridges and edges.

When the head is hit, injury occurs as the brain is propelled back and forth against these protuberances (even if the skull itself is not fractured). The end result? Bruising and bleeding in the brain, and destruction of irreplaceable nerve cells.

I have ridden bicycles since childhood (yep, the classic picture of my poor father running alongside, holding onto the back of my seat until I finally “got it.”) I have suffered my share of road rash, but my helmeted head has remained unscathed. Bicycle falls are not just from motor vehicle collisions. An unseen small stone, wet leaves, or a tiny surface crack can send you and your bike flying. It only takes a second of inattention (“Oh, look at the deer,” and “What did you say, honey?”) and bang, you are on the ground.

So why doesn’t everyone wear a helmet? Some adults tell me that they “know how to ride” and won’t fall on the motorless bike path. Any experienced cyclist will tell you that this is a fallacy. I believe the main problem is that helmets can initially seem a little annoying. So is wearing a seatbelt or using sunscreen.But these minor inconveniences can all save your life. So please buckle up! This time…under your chin.

Dr. Lydia Evans has a private practice, specializing in both cosmetic and medical dermatology, in Chappaqua. Her last biking trip was with her husband through the back roads of southern Spain.

Sen. Latimer to Address Senior Citizen Questions

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New York State Senator

George Latimer to Host Q&A Discussion with Senior Citizens

WHEN:    Tuesday, August 12 at 2:30pm

WHERE:        The Bristal at Armonk

90 Business Park Drive, Armonk

WHO:             New York State Senator George Latimer (D-37)

WHAT:           New York State Senator George Latimer will host a Q&A discussion on key state legislation issues facing senior citizens in Westchester County.

 

Honoring “Gabby” Gabriel Rosenfeld

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By Grace Bennett

Gabby with Eric and wife Louise.
Gabby with his son Eric and wife Louise.

A village turned out for a service Sunday at Chappaqua’s Temple Beth El to honor the much beloved and colorful  “Gabby” Gabriel Rosenfeld.  New Senior Rabbi Jonathan Jaffe led the service and offered a moving tribute to one of the Temple’s founding members, lamenting only that he wished he could have met Gabby. So many came to pay tribute, yes, to his legacy of military and civic service (see end of article)–but even more so to his charitable nature, inquisitiveness and, most of all, his sense of humor (since his high school days); in Gabby’s case, a true talent too.

It was something he used, his son Eric Rosenfeld noted, to effectively diffuse tension in different situations, for example, in his role on the New Castle Zoning Board for 30 years (that service gives him the distinction of being the longest serving public official in the history of New Castle).

Additional family members, including Gabby and Louise’s daughters Leslie and Alison, and daughter in law Sally, shared a variety of special memories.  Eric also read a letter honoring him from Secretary Hillary Clinton in which she recalled her privilege to have pinned him with a French Legion of Honor medal, awarded for his service in World War II.

Clinton expressed her regrets for not being able to attend and said she was writing with a “heavy heart.”  “Gabby was a remarkable man and Great American,” Sec. Clinton wrote.  “I consider myself lucky to have known him and always looked forward to our chats on Memorial Day. Gabby’s love of country, devotion to his fellow veterans and service to our country exemplifies precisely what is meant by the “Greatest Generation.”

Clinton had also called Gabby at the hospital in his last days, Eric said, and the two engaged in a warm, personal conversation.

Gabby with son Eric and daughter in law Sally at the 2012 New Castle Memorial Day parade.

Congresswoman Nita Lowey arrived to honor Gabby, and pay her respects to the family, at the outset directing her comments to Louise, saying, “Everywhere it was Gabby and Louise, Louise and Gabby.”  She spoke further with affection about a community member and an “ardent Democrat” who won’t soon be forgotten.

As portrayed in an obituary in the New York Times, Gabby’s legacy was felt in his service “on the Boards of Northern Westchester Hospital, Katonah Museum of Art, A-Home, Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center, Neighbor’s Link, and the Chappaqua Women’s Shelter.”  He was “a  long time supporter of the League of Women Voters and New Castle Democrats.  Kind, funny, WWII combat vet, Purple Heart, Bronze Star, French Legion of Honor, ardent Democrat, Chappaqua, Chappaqua, Chappaqua, community service, Memorial Day Parade, motorcycle sidecar-ist, boat modeler, landscaper, Erasmus Hall, Cornell, chocolate, Adventurer’s Club, Naval Order of the United States, Cautioneer, Rotary President and two-time Paul Harris Award winner, funeral director, stockbroker, business manager of The New York Cosmos, Bahamas, Westchester Municipal Planning Federation, National Maritime Historical Society, New Castle Historical Society, Southwest Harbor, corn, great laugh, noodles, people, fried clams, dogs, family, inspiration and influence to many. ”

0 plus year Chairman of the New Castle Zoning Board of Appeals. On the Boards of Northern Westchester Hospital, Katonah Museum of Art, A-Home, Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center, Neighbor’s Link, Chappaqua Women’s Shelter. Long time supporter of the League of Women Voters and New Castle Democrats. Kind, funny, WWII combat vet, Purple Heart, Bronze Star, French Legion of Honor, ardent Democrat, Chappaqua, Chappaqua, Chappaqua, community service, Memorial Day Parade, motorcycle sidecar-ist, boat modeler, landscaper, Erasmus Hall, Cornell, chocolate, Adventurer’s Club, Naval Order of the United States, Cautioneer, Rotary President and two-time Paul Harris Award winner, funeral director, stockbroker, business manager of The New York Cosmos, Bahamas, Westchester Municipal Planning Federation, National Maritime Historical Society, New Castle Historical Society, Southwest Harbor, corn, great laugh, noodles, people, fried clams, dogs, family, inspiration and influence to many. Services will be held at 1pm on Sunday, – See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=gabriel-i-rosenfeld&pid=172023732#sthash.6aw6YJcr.dpuf

Debate Ensues over Proposed Mosque on Pines Bridge Road

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By Eileen Gallagher

A packed house and several public comment sign-up sheets foreshadowed a long Wednesday night for the zoning board.

At issue was the application of the Upper Westchester Muslim Society for a Special Use Permit to build a mosque at 130 Pines Bridge Road. According to Jennifer Gray, town counsel, the UWMS needs planning board permits as well.

The zoning board members, namely Gerry Golub, Anthony Giardina, Harvey Boneparth, Howard Dubs, and chairman Kenneth Cooper, listened as attorney Michael Zarin spoke on behalf of UWMS, delineating project changes from the draft to the final environmental impact statements (DEIS and FEIS, respectively).

According to Zarin, they have reduced proposed onsite parking, doubled landscaping setbacks, and increased the number of plantings on the gorunds. They also plan to cap the number of people attending high holy days by issuing tickets to their members. He concluded by requesting that the board close the public hearing.

Hussein Elzoghby of the UWMS Board of Trustees described the current warehouse type facility in Thornwood currently serving as the house of worship for the community, and how funds were collected in 2004 to purchase the property in question on Pines Bridge Road. He stressed that the project “will meet a real need for our community” for worship, prayer space, and an Islamic school. It is his hope that “our house of worship will stand beside the other houses of worship in New Castle.”

Members on both sides of the project then took turns pleading their case before the board. While Gray had to remind two of the speakers to “keep comments with respect to the project,” one resident apologized for “inappropriate comments from residents.” He continued, “We welcome you into our community, but we do not welcome your development.”

The majority of the objections were from residents of the neighboring area, especially those of the Stillwater Lake Homeowners Association. Citing increased traffic, potential noise, environmental impacts from removing large numbers of trees, and stormwater runoff, residents reiterated their belief that the project is inappropriate for the area. In addition, those who wished to have the public hearing kept open until the next meeting of the board in September pointed out that many people are away for the summer, and are unable to appear or properly prepare their objections to what was submitted in the application.

Members of UWMS, as well as some New Castle residents, spoke in favor of the mosque. The chairman of the UWMS Board of Trustees, Ali Jarved, pleaded with the board, “Please give us a chance, we will be good neighbors.”

After deliberations, all but one of the zoning board members voted to keep the public hearing extended until the September meeting on Monday, September 22, with Boneparth dissenting.