Armonk Cover Stories

Assemblyman Buchwald on Albany, the Minimum Wage and Raising a Family in Westchester

June 3, 2016 by The Inside Press

By Andrew Vitelli

The man who represents New York’s 93rd Assembly District entered politics in 2009, with the economy at rock bottom and Americans’ trust in government in a dive that lasts until today. Assemblyman David Buchwald, a Democrat whose district spans from Harrison in the south to Westchester’s border with Putnam in the north and includes both North Castle and New Castle, has found that people’s faith in government to accomplish even the simplest task is close to zero.

“Unfortunately today, a lot of folks have such low expectations for government that even to get a phone call or email returned either surprises them or pleases them,” Buchwald, elected to the Assembly in 2012, said in an interview with the Inside Press at his Mount Kisco office. “My goal is not just to be responsive but also to help address the underlying issues that folks are contacting me about.”

Part of restoring trust, Buchwald says, is just being responsive to citizens’ concerns. He points to an Armonk woman who was having trouble with her Medicaid due to a computer glitch and a Harrison man who wanted more attention paid to the POW flag.

“There’s no better feeling in the world than to take a problem that a constituent felt was intractable before they contacted me and to use the authority of my office to solve that problem,” he says. “I truly take to heart the mantra, which I repeat all the time at my office, that I have 133,000 bosses.”

But Buchwald, a White Plains resident, understands restoring trust in government will require more than just constituent services. In recent years, New York State has been plagued by corruption, with many of Albany’s most powerful figures of yesteryear going to the big house for violating the public’s trust. Five years ago, Senator Vincent Leibell, whose district overlapped with parts of Buchwald’s current district, was convicted of felony corruption charges. Most recently, former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was sentenced to 12 years in prison for corruption. Since his first year in office, Buchwald has been pushing for a constitutional amendment to strip government officials of their pensions if they are convicted of a felony relating to their role in government. A previous bill, which was passed in 2011, achieved this only for officials who took office after that point.

“There, unfortunately, are a handful of folks who over time haven’t lived up to their end of the oath of office that they took,” Buchwald explains. “And my view is that those corrupt officials should not be automatically entitled to their taxpayer-funded pension.”

Changing the state’s constitution is a tall task–it must pass both the Assembly and the Senate twice, in consecutive terms, before going before the voters. So far the two chambers have been unable to agree on the language. There’s been some opposition to the bill from organized labor out of fear that any changes to pension rules could set a dangerous precedent. “My view is the exact opposite,” Buchwald asserts. “My view is that as long as New Yorkers continue to read articles about corrupt officials sitting in jail collecting their state pensions, that is what erodes support for public pensions.”

Now in his fourth year in office Buchwald, one of Albany’s youngest lawmakers at 37 years old, holds a joint degree in law and public policy. Buchwald would seem ill-suited for today’s anger and braggadocio-filled politics; he often appears more comfortable explaining the nuance of his position than delivering soundbites, and even his criticism of his legislations’ opponents is measured and at times sympathetic. If there’s one thing he seems to disdain, it’s empty rhetoric and those who employ it.

At the Gra in School on New York Primary Day: David Buchwald with Hillary Clinton. Ann Styles Brochstein/Hillary NOW Photo — At the Grafflin School on New York Primary Day: David Buchwald with Hillary Clinton.
Ann Styles Brochstein/Hillary NOW Photo

Buchwald’s Road to Politics

Buchwald, who grew up in Larchmont, recalls being Mamaroneck High School’s senior class senator in 1996, the year he graduated. It would be nearly another decade and a half before he’d make another run at elected office, but Buchwald says his interest in public policy dates back to his childhood.

“I just thoroughly enjoyed reading the newspaper and observing the world around me,” Buchwald remembers. “And growing up in a family where your professional life is made most meaningful when you are serving the public at large or those in need of support. That’s something I took to heart from a young age.”

Buchwald comes from a family of legal minds; his mother, Naomi Reice Buchwald, is a federal judge in the Southern District of New York while his father, Don, is a former assistant United States attorney. David went to Yale as a physics major but by sophomore year knew a career in physics wasn’t in his future.

“I never found a particular branch of physics that I was interested in devoting my life to,” Buchwald says. “And that’s really what you need to do in order to go on to graduate school.”

Buchwald began actively moving towards public policy, first working for NERA, an economic consulting firm in White Plains, before returning to school. He studied public policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, earning an MA and a law degree from Harvard Law School in a joint four-year program with the goal of becoming a practicing lawyer.

Buchwald came out of law school as a tax attorney, practicing at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Buchwald said it was after graduate school that he began getting involved in area non-profits and going to local Democratic Party meetings, campaigning on behalf of other candidates. Up to this point, Buchwald had not envisioned himself running for office, but warmed quickly to the idea when the opportunity arose. “It was very natural when some folks in White Plains approached me to run for our city’s Common Council,” Buchwald says. “I very gladly took up that challenge.”

Tumultuous Times in White Plains

Buchwald was one of three candidates, all Democrats, elected to the council in 2009, beating two Republicans in a city with more than twice as many Democrats as Republicans. His first year turned out to be a tumultuous one for the city. Adam Bradley, the mayor at the time, was arrested on domestic violence charges in February 2010, fewer than two months after Buchwald had been sworn in. Bradley resigned a year later, though he was eventually exonerated in court. Buchwald said the city government was “left in limbo” in the year between Bradley’s arrest and his conviction (which was later overturned).

“I thought it was very important that White Plains turn the page,” Buchwald said. Tom Roach was appointed to fill the vacancy and remains the mayor today. While the fallout from Bradley’s arrest was, in Buchwald’s words, “not a challenge one could have expected from the outset of my tenure,” the city was also one of many dealing with the fallout of the global financial crisis.

“The challenge that every local government had at that time as we were going through the Great Recession was how to preserve high-quality services while not undermining the long-term fiscal health of the city,” Buchwald says. He also noted that the city increased the hours of the library during the heart of the recession after learning that library usage was up. Bike lanes were installed on many city streets. Perhaps most significantly, the city rezoned several of its office properties to allow mixed-use development and draw in a wider range of businesses.

“I always found [Buchwald] to be somebody that you could work together with on something and come out with a good outcome. I appreciate that kind of person,” Mayor Roach told Inside Armonk. “When you’re talking to somebody who is intelligent, who cares, who does the work, it’s always a pleasure, and David very much fits into all those categories.”

In 2012, Buchwald announced his run for the assembly. The 93rd Assembly District, with newly drawn borders, leaned strongly though not overwhelmingly Democratic. Buchwald was taking on incumbent Republican Robert Castelli, a former New York State Police Officer who had won a special election after the seat was vacated by Adam Bradley (who left the position for his ill-fated stint as White Plains mayor). Castelli was the first Republican in a generation to hold the seat in Albany and was re-elected in November 2010.

“I felt, on a number of levels, that there was a need for change in the district,” Buchwald recalls. “My predecessor, though a good man, was out of step with Westchester values and I thought I had a skill set that might appeal to voters.”

Castelli had been well-liked across the district, but Buchwald criticized the Republican for his vote against legalizing gay marriage and for voting against gun control legislation. Spurred in part by the increased turnout of a presidential election in a county where President Obama beat Mitt Romney by more than 20 points, Buchwald won with 53 percent of the vote in one of Westchester’s most closely-watched elections. “Between it being a redistricting year and a presidential year, both put me at a disadvantage,” Castelli told Inside Armonk, looking back at the election. “Had it been an off year, not a presidential year, and had it not been gerrymandered, I’m pretty that sure I would have won it.”

Buchwald ran unopposed for re-election in 2014, and announced last month that he will seek a third term. While the Republicans hadn’t settled on a candidate to oppose Buchwald as this edition went to press, Westchester GOP Chair Doug Colety said he was in the process of interviewing candidates and that the Republicans would definitely have an opponent for Buchwald this election.

Conventional thinking holds that, with Chappaqua resident Hillary Clinton leading the ticket as the Democratic presidential candidate (which looked almost certain as we went to press), any Republican running in the district will have an uphill battle. Colety, however, believes that with the right candidate and enough resources, anything is possible.

“Nobody knows what turnout is going to be,” Colety explains. “I think everything is in play.”

In the Assembly

Buchwald said he ran for the assembly in large part because the position, unlike the White Plains Common Council, allowed him to serve full-time in elected office. “The state assembly job is one that I thoroughly enjoy, and that’s both because of the work that I get to do as a legislator up in Albany but all the more because of the work I get to do here in the district,” says Buchwald. “At the heart of that is solving constituent issues.”

But while helping a constituent access Medicaid, or even cracking down on corrupt officials, may be seen as a clear positive, lawmaking is filled also with difficult votes. The state’s budget, passed this spring and signed by Governor Cuomo, included a gradual minimum wage hike to $15 an hour. Buchwald, who ran in part on raising the minimum wage from its rate at the time of $7.25 an hour (it’s now $9), supported the minimum wage hike, saying it will be a great help to many lower-income families.

“I think that, overall, it will be a net positive and most of all it will help many hard-working residents of New York State that should be encouraged based on the value of their labor,” Buchwald explains. “On some level, it will stimulate spending, because now more families will have more resources. But there’s also the argument that it could inhibit job growth.”

Among those making that argument is the Business Council of Westchester, which put out a press release detailing uneasiness within the county’s business community over the debated $15 wage floor. According to the council, nearly two-thirds of businesses surveyed oppose the plan, with 37 percent saying it would cause layoffs and 15 percent saying they’d be forced to shut their doors.

“When you say, ‘increase the minimum wage,’ it sounds great, but you have to look at the consequences,” said John Ravitz, the council’s Executive Vice President and COO. “It’s going to have a direct effect on businesses throughout the state.”

Buchwald said he had heard from opponents of the hike, but that the majority of his constituents supported it. He noted that the minimum wage jump would take place over six years in Westchester, and that budget officials will analyze the effects and can suspend scheduled hikes if need be.

“I’d say the feedback I’ve gotten has overall been quite positive,” Buchwald said. “Overall, it has yet to be seen what the net effect is going to be, though I believe it’s going to be positive because there will be more demand for goods and services produced by businesses in Westchester.”

Ravitz, for his part, said the Business Council has a strong relationship with the assemblyman and that Buchwald was also receptive to the group’s concerns.

“We’re not always going to agree,” Ravitz said. “We made sure that Assemblyman Buchwald and all the members of the assembly from Westchester knew our position on the minimum wage.”

Raising a Family in Westchester

On March 1, 2014, Buchwald married Lara Samet, a litigation attorney who had clerked for Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald, David’s mother. “Lara and I hit it off right from the start,” Buchwald recalls. “She knew a lot more about me early on because she had essentially had lunch with my mom every day for a year. The more I learned about Lara, the more fascinated I was.”

A year later, David and Lara welcomed their daughter, Anna, who just celebrated her first birthday. Buchwald said he is motivated by having a daughter who will eventually attend public school in New York State.

“The fact that the state has stepped up and righted some of the past practices that shortchanged Westchester’s public schools I think is a tremendous accomplishment,” Buchwald said. He pointed specifically to increases in state aid to the Chappaqua and Byram Hills School Districts during the time he has spent in office. “For all of our children, we have to make sure that we have the best education possible in New York State.”

Though Buchwald is a White Plains resident, he says he loves visiting both Armonk and Chappaqua. He points to state funding used to repave Route 117 and Route 133 in Chappaqua, and to a new pedestrian crosswalk in Armonk. He has attended events in both communities, including the Armonk Lions Club Fol-De-Rol Ceremony and Frosty Day and the Chappaqua Rotary’s Community Day and Memorial Day Parade.

David at Grafflin waiting for Hill — David Buchwald with a group of constituents including members of “Chappaqua Friends of Hill”

“Both Armonk and Chappaqua are little slices of Americana, and getting to be supportive of both communities is very, very easy, because the people in both places are down to earth and want to see what’s best for their neighbors,” he says. “My job is to help further that vision.”

Recently in White Plains: David Buchwald–with his wife and daughter beside him–announcing a third-term run for the Assembly. — Recently in White Plains: David Buchwald–with his wife and daughter beside him–announcing a third-term run
for the Assembly.

Chappaqua and Armonk are both located near the middle of Buchwald’s 93rd Assembly District (his district office is just north of the hamlets, in Mount Kisco). While the territory he represents is diverse, the assemblyman believes that what his constituents have in common outweighs their differences.

“This is a fantastic slice of New York State to represent. I go from 40-story skyscrapers in White Plains to horse farms in Bedford and North Salem,” Buchwald says.

“Each community has its unique characteristics that make it special, but overall we have a shared vision of the need for investments in education, in our transportation infrastructure and in keeping taxes under control so that people and businesses can thrive here in Westchester.”

Andrew Vitelli is the editor of Inside Armonk magazine.

Ruth Reichl Shares her Dining Adventures at the North Castle Public Library

June 3, 2016 by The Inside Press

By Grace Bennett

Ruth Reichl generously shared her adventures, insights and wisdom about dining out–and about life, in general–with an audience hungry to learn as much about Reichl and her career as possible during a sold out, early May event at the North Castle Public Library.

The celebrated restaurant critic, former Gourmet magazine Editor-in-Chief, Food Network host, restaurant owner, and of course, best-selling author regaled the audience with an array of anecdotes–particularly those surrounding her legendary disguises/characters as ‘beautiful Chloe,’ or “wild Brenda” or “Stella, the raunchy blonde who wore too tight clothes.” The goal, of course, was to never be detected as a critic and to capture the restaurant experience honestly–the good, the bad, and the ugly.

“I liked to take her (Stella) out to the fancy Upper East Side restaurants,” Reichl related, conveying her elf-like mischief but also her basic mission to serve the reader, not the restaurant–two key elements of a signature style over decades as a restaurant critic.

“Is it wild or is it boned,” Stella asked the (snooty) waiter about the salmon that arrived.

“It’s wild,” he answered her. “It comes from about where you come from: Coney Island.”

Following Reichl’s talk at the North Castle Public Library, an animated audience question and answer period was moderated by Chef Eric Gabrynowicz of Restaurant North

The waiter’s remarks ended up in her review.

“There’s an unwritten contract between the restaurant and the dining customer,” Reichl explained. “You agree to pay for a meal and they agree to give you great food and make you feel like a special, privileged person–regardless of where you are from.”

By her talk’s end, and in answers to audience questions after, Reichl continued to depict a remarkable career now in full blossom with her newest title, 136 Recipes that Saved my Life. Reichl was also introduced by Nori Fromm, board member of the Friends of the North Castle Public Library, as “the most important woman in the world of food in the last 50 years.” To which she immediately offered: “My 25-year-old self would have laughed hysterically at that. My husband and I lived on a commune in Berkeley,” she related, eliciting just the first round of hearty laughter in the filled-to-capacity library auditorium.

Her first break was with San Francisco’s New West magazine, whose editor she had both cooked and written for. He told her, “You are a much better writer than you are a cook, but you know food.” He asked her to try her first restaurant review. “My first thought was: free food!” said Reichl. “The idea that they’d give me money for a meal was real exciting.”

Ruth went on her first assignment accompanied by several members of her commune. “I quickly learned that as a critic the worst thing that can happen is to have your friends trying to help you,” she giggled, poking fun (kindly) at some of the absurd comments friends make. She played around with the experience, however, and described an ‘epiphany’ which led her to write the review as a kind of ‘film noire script.’ “It was not a restaurant review in the classic sense,” Reichl said.

After she handed it in, she said she panicked. “I went into a tailspin, and called the editor to tell him to disregard it and that the real review was coming. There was silence on the phone. ‘I already read it, Ruth,’ he told me, ‘and it’s fantastic. You have the job–but I want you to continue to stretch the form.”

And truly, that’s just what Ruth has been doing ever since with her unique wit and with what would strike anyone familiar with her writing as undeniable confidence.

The lesson she shared: “When in doubt, take a chance.” Her fans are glad she did.

Grace Bennett is the Publisher and Editor of Inside Armonk and Inside Chappaqua who remembers thoroughly enjoying Ruth Reichl reviews over the years. For Reichl’s full bio, visit ruthreichl.com

A Chance to Dine with a Culinary Icon

(L-R) Nori Fromm, Hilary Chavkin, Debbie Heidecorn, Ruth Reichl and Gloria Meisel

Members of the Friends of the North Castle Public Library’s Speaker’s Committee had a wonderful opportunity to enjoy some light appetizers with Ruth Reichl at Restaurant North, prior to her appearance at the Library, related Speaker Committee Chair Debbie Heidecorn. “Her warmth radiated with all of us and she was totally engaging, candid and gracious,” said Heidecorn. “It felt like any casual dinner with one of your best girlfriends!

“While expressing her delight over the squid pasta she showed us some great pictures she had taken with her phone of beautifully plated food; she is truly down-to-earth… it was a meal to remember for us.”

Committee member Hilary Chavkin related that Ruth spoke of her childhood to them, “how she loved to cook as a young child with her aunt, and how her mother was not the best of cooks, as well as her stint in a cooperative restaurant in Berkeley. She also lived in a commune in San Francisco and learned to “dumpster dive!” She has had an amazing career and has always been able to recreate herself.”

Board member Nori Fromm on stage with Reichl at the Friends of the North Castle Public Library May 4 event.

Board member Nori Fromm, who had introduced both Reichl and North’s Chef Eric Gabrynowicz at the event, said they learned from Reichl that her life had taken a “different turn” after studying Art History in college. “She said that although she has written extensively about food she does like to cook and often cooks for her husband after a day of writing at their home in upstate New York.”

Reichl also has a keen interest in food sustainability, Fromm added. “I was impressed during the Q&A period when she spoke about food, sustainability and how people can bring about change in food preparation, as was the case with McDonalds.”

And finally: “She was so gracious after the event and signed the cookbooks that were not sold,” said Fromm. “They are on sale at the Village Book Store in Pleasantville.”

For upcoming programming for the Friends of the North Castle Public Library, visit: friendsncpl.org.

–Grace Bennett

A Boy Scout is Man’s Best Friend’s Best Friend

June 3, 2016 by The Inside Press

Boy Scouts Kyle and Ryan construct PVC frames.

Article and Photos By David Streich

Jack Kiernan, a 15-year-old Boy Scout from Troop One Mount Kisco (T1MK) came up with a brainstorm idea for his Eagle Scout Service Project, and that idea has literally gone to the dogs.

It was Jack’s idea and plan to construct 100 elevated nylon dog beds to be donated to local animal shelters, including Adopt-a-Dog in Armonk and the SPCA of Westchester in Briarcliff Manor.

An Eagle Scout Service Project says a lot about the scout who embarks on his journey; it is a reflection of the scout as a youth leader. Jack has been a scout for nine of his 15 years, but he has grown up around four-legged friends his entire life. His first family pet was a pup named Lucky, who was adopted from an animal shelter. Buster soon followed, and then came Zelda, an adopted German Shepard. Jack instinctively knew that his service project would involve helping animals in shelters, and improve the quality of life for dogs awaiting adoption.

Online research led him to develop the ambitious project of constructing 100 elevated dog beds using PVC pipe and 1000 denier nylon. He chose nylon because it is very easily washable. Jack raised almost $2,000 from members of the community and a pancake breakfast fundraiser to pay for supplies.

Cub Scout Rocky learns how to use power tools properly.

Beds like these sell for more than $100 retail but Jack was able to build them for under $15 each by obtaining materials at good prices from generous local suppliers and by ordering in bulk. Even with several different size constructions, there was almost no scrap material because Jack planned very carefully. After all, Jack was following the Boy Scout motto: Be Prepared. The rest of the funds went towards tools and food to feed the volunteer troops.

One of the rules of an Eagle Scout Service Project is that a scout cannot do it alone. It is a requirement for the young man to give leadership to others. Jack was able to recruit more than 45 volunteers from the community–of all ages and abilities, including Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts and Venture Scouts, as well as their siblings and families–who worked more than 200 hours over three weekends to complete the task.

Boy Scout Jack Kiernan delivers 100 dog beds to local animal shelters.

Jack was very proud and humbled to be able to deliver and donate the 100 dog beds to the shelters a few weeks ago. “Animal shelters have very limited financial resources,” Jack noted. “Some of the benefits that a dog bed offers include insulating a dog from the floor in both the winter and summer, and these beds help to cushion joints and bones, especially for older, arthritic, or overweight dogs. Also very importantly, shelters that offer dog beds can provide a dog with its own private space and sense of security.”

There are a few more steps that Jack Kiernan needs to take in order to become a full-fledged Eagle Scout, but for now, as a Life Scout, there is a patch on his uniform that features the symbol of a heart. According to the Boy Scouts of America organization, historically, the heart was a symbol of health and fitness, but it also represents the spirit of caring and giving that is behind the Eagle Scout service project. Service to other people is what Scouting is really all about. And in Jack’s case, the others whom he served just so happen to be man’s best friend.

Great job, Jack, and thank you for your vision!

David Streich is the proud father of Boy Scout Clever and Cub Scout Rocket, both of whom volunteered for Jack’s project and helped build five dog beds.

Adopt-A-Best Friend

June 3, 2016 by The Inside Press

By Heather Skolnick

We’ve all heard the adage about how a dog is Man’s Best Friend, but really, in today’s age, shouldn’t it really be amended to be Everyone’s Best Friend? As a dog owner myself, I know I believe it. And this community is certainly a great one to raise a canine child, with its abundance of parks and trails for our four-legged friends to run around and play.

While there are many options for a family to find a dog (or cat!), one terrific, local option to consider is Adopt-A-Dog, a recognized charitable organization based in Armonk. The organization’s stated mission is to “Save, Socialize and Secure Loving Homes for Unwanted or Abandoned Dogs and Cats,” according to their website.

With so many unwanted pets, adopting from Adopt-A-Dog is a wonderful way to bring a pet into your family. Adopt-A-Dog just celebrated its 35th anniversary at the end of April. In their 35 years, over 13,500 animals have been saved and placed in loving homes. That’s an incredible number of animals who found forever homes thanks to Adopt-A-Dog’s wonderful efforts. This amazing statistic can be attributed to three friends who saw a need in their community to address the growing number of dogs in need of a home.

Executive Director Kristen Rice explained the organization in these words: “The dogs here have lost their homes, their families, and their world. These poor animals don’t know where their families are, or why there were put in this situation. That’s why we go above and beyond to accommodate the needs of every animal entering our shelter. We focus on all aspects of our animal’s quality of life to ensure a smooth transition into an adoptive home.” And they sure do.

Local resident Felice Erlich brought a new pet into her home about two-and-a-half years ago from Adopt-A-Dog. Her family’s experience with the organization started when she and her daughter began volunteering.

That is when they saw first-hand how amazing and loving the staff were to the animals. Felice said of the staff, “They were very clearly doing what they loved.” Felice and her family ultimately took home Dali, a two-year-old dog who had recently undergone surgery. Felice remembers, “The staff was so dedicated that they even insisted on her staying on at the shelter for one more week after her surgery so that they could be sure she was ready to ‘go home.’” Felice’s daughter was so moved by her own experience with Adopt-A-Dog that she began her own fundraising campaign called ‘Sarah’s Blanket.’ She makes pet blankets with all the proceeds going directly to Adopt-A-Dog.

There are many ways to be involved with this wonderful organization. First, of course, if you are looking to add a pet to your family, please consider Adopt-A-Dog. Fostering a pet is another option. This shorter term commitment can be for a puppy or kitten to an older dog or cat. Sponsoring a pet financially is a great choice if you want to support the organization but are not ready to add a pet to your family. Or, volunteer! Time can be spent with the animals or in other ways. Adopt-A-Dog also has an Amazon Wishlist–items can be purchased directly through Amazon and will help support Adopt-A-Dog’s needs. Adopt-A-Dog is a wonderful asset to our community. People come from both near and far to find their new best friends right here in Armonk!

Heather and her husband became New Castle residents nine years ago, at which time canine child Freddie joined their family. Since then, a daughter and twin sons followed suit. When Heather isn’t spending time with her family (including Freddie!), she works for a footwear company.

At Westmoreland, an Escape from Civilization (But Not from North Castle)

June 3, 2016 by The Inside Press

Article and Photos By Andrew Vitelli

It’s hard to hide 640 acres–roughly a square mile–in the woods of northern Westchester. But Westmoreland Sanctuary, located on the borders of North Castle, Bedford and Mount Kisco, is as close to a hidden gem as Westchester nature lovers can hope to find in their neck of the woods.

“It’s not well known,” Ann Paul, the director of the sanctuary, explains. “We don’t have a huge budget or bandwidth to promote a lot of our programming.”

Westmoreland, established as a not-for-profit nature center and wildlife preserve in 1957, isn’t completely undiscovered; there are approximately 30,000 visitors per year to the nature center or on the 7.5 miles of trails which wind around the property. But walking through Westmoreland’s woods gives the visitor a closeness to nature hard to find on some of the area’s more popular trails.

“You have a lot of wooded area, so you have extended, mature forests,” Ms. Paul, who grew up in the Bedford area, says. “We’re not well-groomed. It’s a lot more rugged than some of the other parks.”

At Westmoreland, you may not get the soaring views of the Hudson River or Bear Mountain Bridge that hikers a bit north experience. But the trails, surrounded by thick forest, offer a sense of wilderness that is hard to find elsewhere. Even a short trek into one of the sanctuary’s dozen or so trails feels like an escape from the world around.

“It gives you that wonderful feeling that you’re farther than you actually are from civilization,” explains Steve Ricker, the Director of Conservation and Wildlife Management. “We try to keep our trails away from the edges, too, so you do still get that deep forest wilderness feeling.”

Westmoreland Sanctuary was established in 1957, by Helen Frick, a millionaire philanthropist and the daughter of steel magnate Henry Clay Frick. Some of the property’s most interesting artifacts are much older; two graveyards on the site date as far back as the 1600s, while the building which now houses the nature center and museum is a reconstructed pre-revolution church.

“It’s one of the few buildings that were not burned during the burning of Bedford in 1776 during the Revolutionary War,” Ms. Paul notes.

Westmoreland features the picturesque Bechtel Lake (see above), just a short walk from the parking lot, as well as Lost Pond, which is deeper into the woods. A range of wildlife can be found in these woods, including a variety of birds (including wild turkeys), turtles, frogs, and snakes (this reporter survived two garter snake sightings during a brief walk along the Easy Loop trail). Even bobcats, coyotes and a bear have been spotted roaming the sanctuary. For solo or groups of hikers, the Westmoreland Sanctuary offers trails of varying lengths and difficulties, while the nature center gives hikers a starting point with clean bathrooms and trail maps. But Westmoreland Sanctuary is much more than a series of trails. The sanctuary hosts programming, events, and classes for all ages, part of their mission of connecting children, parents, and the citizenry at large with the world around them.

“In the society we’re in today, a lot of people don’t have this time to come outside and they don’t know what’s safe or not safe,” Stephen Sciame, the sanctuary’s director of education, says. “So if they feel too scared to come out here themselves, they’re not going to bring their kids.”

Westmoreland has an environmental education program that dates back 30 years, developed in conjunction with New York State standards. It’s staff, though small (there are three full-time workers and a part-time bookkeeper), consists of experts with deep backgrounds in their fields. Westmoreland sees around 10,000 students each year, offering summer camps and after-school programs and working with schools and scout groups to bring children to Westmoreland. The sanctuary also hosts birthday parties, and sometimes takes its show on the road to science fairs and community events.

In July, Westmoreland will host an interactive production of The Wizard of Oz, which will allow the entire audience to walk through the sanctuary’s own Yellow Brick Road and meet their favorite characters (auditions were taking place as this magazine went to press). Other programming and events planned for this summer include a Nature Immersion Camp, a Wilderness Survival Camp, and orienteering meets (for an up-to-date list of what’s going on, visit westmorelandsanctuary.org).

“The idea here for our mission is to get the kids outside,” says Ms. Paul. “For those kids who would not typically get outside and would not typically spend time in the outdoors and in the woods, we’re encouraging their interest in here.”

Westmoreland is looking to expand its adult education programs. Parents who bring their kids, Sciame notes, often know less than their children about the outdoors.

“Nature has a little bit of that fear factor nowadays,” Sciame, an Eagle Scout with a Master’s Degree in Education, acknowledges. He hopes to channel the interest generated among reality T.V. watchers by shows like Man vs. Wild and Naked and Afraid to get fans of these shows to the sanctuary to learn their own survival skills (visitors will not, he clarifies, be naked).

“We’ve been using the hype that’s been generated by society to create survival-based programs, learn a little bit about natural navigation, learn about what edible foods and medicinal foods are out there, and do a quick public program on that,” he says.

Westmoreland, a public charity, is always free to visitors (though donations are accepted). While it spans three towns, it’s not affiliated with any of them. There are 14 members on its Board of Directors, on which Ms. Paul served for 15 years before becoming director.

For the staff at Westmoreland, reaching as many people as possible and exposing them to all the sanctuary and the outdoors has to offer is the ultimate goal. Ricker, who has worked at Westmoreland for 20 years, even makes an annual trip to the Children’s Center of Bedford Hills Correctional Facility with the sanctuary’s animal ambassadors.

“I want people to come and be accepted for who they are, and I don’t know that everyplace you go around here that’s true,” Ms. Paul explains. “I want people to come and do what they want.”

Andrew Vitelli is the editor of Inside Armonk magazine and also an avid, occasional hiker.

Armonk Cover Stories