The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

New Castle News

Kristen Browde Leads “Stronger New Castle” as Team Aims to Capture Town Board Seats

by

Kristen Browde Leads Ticket kicking off Historic Run for Town Supervisor

Ivy Pool and Gail Markels Seek Town Board Seats

Town Justice Noah Sorkin in Re-election bid too

New Castle Democratic Committee at Annual Fundraiser Celebrates New Slate; also Honors Up2 Us Group and Greeley Tribune Student Editors

Article and Photos by Grace Bennett

(L-R): Stronger New Castle Candidates Kristen Browde (for Town Supervisor), Gail Markels and Ivy Pool for town board seats, with Jerry Curran, co-chair, New Castle Democratic Committee  

Chappaqua, April  11— Each of three candidates in a new all-Democrat slate calling themselves “Stronger New Castle” expressed a promise to bring greater transparency and change to New Castle.

With  a unifying theme in place, Kristen Browde, running for Town Supervisor, together with Ivy Pool and Gail Markels for Town Board, on April 5, announced their respective campaigns for elective office serving New Castle. In an expression of Democratic unity, Browde stated outside Chappaqua’s Town Hall: “I’m going to be a Democrat who up and down the line will support Democrats.”

Browde, a resident of New Castle since 2004, is a divorce attorney and former Emmy-winning reporter and television news anchor at CBS News (where she worked for 17 years). She also brings a historical significance, along with national interest to a town supervisor run–as a transgender individual seeking public office in New Castle. 

Two-term incumbent Robert Greenstein currently holds the seat here in the hometown to a President and twice nominated presidential candidate and Secretary of State.   

Her candidacy, Browde said, “has nothing to do with being transgender or not,” she stated in her remarks, adding that each candidate brings to the table “what they are qualified to do and what they are motivated to do.” Her own work in town has included serving on both the Chappaqua Central School District’s Financial Advisory Committee and the Town’s Inclusion and Diversity Committee.

Browde added that while she is running on her qualifications, she is also not shying away from being open about her life as transgender, adding that she feels “a special honor and responsibility to those who came before us, citing Stonewall and how she “stands shoulder to shoulder” with those who have been harassed, “by being visible and not hiding my past.”

Browde’s professional background as an attorney and journalist includes being a member of the Board of Trustees of the AFTRA pension fund, a member of the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York and as a founding member of the Transgender Bar Association.  

Browde stated that (as far as she knows), she is one of only eight other transgender individuals running for public office across the country, and that she is the first to be endorsed in New York by a major party.

National media immediately took notice. The Daily News picked up the story the night before the official announcement and a CBS reporter and cameraman were among regional and national media covering the official race announcement outside Town Hall.

Standing with members of Up2Us (the formerly Chappaqua Friends of Hillary group–of which Browde, Pool and Markels are all members) and with Karen La Porta and Jerry Curran, co-chairs of the New Castle Democratic Committee (NCDC) which nominated the three-candidate team, Browde said that like so many in New Castle, she was “stunned and disappointed at what happened on January 29th’” when, she said, so many expected Hillary Clinton to be sworn in as President.

In a question/answer period with reporters following her remarks, Browde said she looked forward to welcoming new residents when they arrive to live in affordable housing in Chappaqua at new multiple unit housing at the Hunts Lane site (that stirred so much controversy in town, but which is, on course).

“When the families are moved in, we will make them feel welcome and make them feel safe here,” she said.  Browde has a son at the Seven Bridges Middle School (and a second studying abroad).

Browde also expressed concern about how the town was addressing climate change issues, recalling the impact of Hurricane Sandy in town. “Sandy threw us for a loop,” she said, “and this town has done virtually nothing to be more prepared if there’s another Sandy.”

Some background: Robert Greenstein, a registered Democrat, won a second term in 2015, by a little over 300 votes, in his run against challenger Victoria Alzapiedi, the New Castle Democratic Committee nominee. Democrats Jeremy Saland and Hala Makowska won two open town board seats beating out Republican candidates Seth Chodosh and Eileen Gallagher, members of the “Team New Castle” ticket (together with Greenstein, a registered Democrat). Saland and Makowska are not up for re-election.

Markels and Pool seek the seats currently held by town board members Lisa Katz and Adam Brodsky, whose terms officially end this year.  Greenstein, Katz and Brodsky of “Team New Castle” have not formally announced their bid for re-election, but are expected to do so later this spring.

Stonger New Castle Campaign manager Carol Evans, former publisher of Working Mother Magazine and founder of Executive Women for Hillary, now called Executive Women for Her, told the Inside Press that she is inspired by the three new candidates nominated by the NCDC.

She described Pool as “a young mom with tremendous professional experience working for several terms in the administrations of former New York City Mayor Bloomberg” and Gail Markels as “an entrepreneur with extensive experience in government who will know how to negotiate effectively on behalf of New Castle.” 

 Pool, who has a six- and eight-year old at Grafflin, said she knows “how to take a project from a good idea to a finished project,” and that after the 2016 election she felt “a strong sense of responsibility to step up.”

Markels, who raised two children in the Chappaqua schools, promised to help promote an “open and transparent town government,” and that she “can’t wait to hit the trail and make New Castle blue.”

Full bios of the three candidates can be found at www.StrongerNewCastle.org

Town Justice Noah Sorkin announcing his run

In addition to the new team slate, Town Justice Noah Sorkin, also announced a bid for re-election, saying that he would work hard to “safeguard the rights of individuals coming through the town.” County Legislator Michael Kaplowitz, up for re-election as well, praised the new team for a “very positive, very energetic  kickoff.”

New Castle Democratic Committee Annual Dinner 2017

Later the same evening, over cocktails and dinner, all three candidates had an additional chance to speak at the annual meeting and fundraiser the NCDC held at Crabtree’s Kittle House.

 Along with endorsing the new team ticket, the NCDC honored Chappaqua’s UP2Us board: founder Dawn Greenberg, Randee Glazer, Steven Goldenberg, Jason Lichtenthal, Julie Gaughran, Francesca Hagadus, Iris Lauchaud, Kelly Leonard, Kristin Lore, Holly McCall, Lori Morton, Beth Sauerhaft and Marie Short. 

Jerry Curran stated that the efforts of Up2Us were “colossal” and called it a  “truly grass roots  group.”

“They envision an America in which individuals are represented fairly and treated with kindness, respect and dignity,” said Curran. “They seek to empower and support all Americans by driving political and social change to build a brighter future for us all.”

 Greenberg said the group started out with 12 members (it has grown to 3,738 on Facebook), and that they will remain active in a growing resistance movement that has sprung up all over the country.

She indicated her group was going to be active bringing Democrats to office on the local, regional, and national level.  “Astorino, watch out. We are coming for you,” she said, in reference to County Executive Rob Astorino, whose seat is also up for grabs.  “We are going to come out hard and strong… We are not going to stop until we get our country back.”

Dawn Greenberg speaking on behalf of the UP2Us board. (L-R) and with Steven Goldenberg, Marie Short, Randee Glazer, Jason Lichtenthal and Geri Shapiro

 Greenberg took the opportunity to also honor Geri Shapiro, a former campaign manager for Secretary Clinton in a second successful run for U.S. Senate. Shapiro now works on behalf of U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Shapiro, for her part, recalled the Clintons arrival in New Castle and honored the memory of both Town Supervisor Marion Sinek and Maureen Keating (who she called ‘a force of nature’) in helping to welcome the Clintons to the community.

Oscar Flores with Geri Shapiro

Shapiro praised the Up2Us group, expressing appreciation for the friends she has made. She also honored Oscar Flores who worked with the Clintons in the White House, and continued to in Chappaqua. “He is such an important part of this community and all of our lives,” Shapiro stated.  “Oscar’s response is always the same, “I’ll take care of it.” And that usually means “the sun will come out tomorrow.” Oscar rose to the podium to thank Geri.

Finally, also honored, were a group of Horace Greeley high school students–Amanda Cronin, Claire Hotchkin, Billy Perlmutter and Meaghan Townsend–for their editorial work at the Greeley Tribune, and for ‘breaking tradition’ in endorsing Hillary Clinton during the Election.

The New Castle Democratic Committee program journal for the evening included a signed tribute from Hillary Rodham Clinton.

 

Greeley Tribune staffers after accepting their citations.
Kristen Browde

Grace Bennett is Publisher and Editor of the Inside Press which aims to follow Election 2017 in New Castle.

 

Jane Silverman, Up2Us; Carol Evans and Catherine Wilson, Executive Women for Her and Up2Us; and Reginald Lafayette, Westchester County Democrats.

 

Browde with (l-r) Up2Us members Jason Lichtenthal, Lori Morton and Jane Silverman

 

Browde with Corrine Pena of Up2Us

The Fourth Estate: Covering the Trump Administration

by

By Janie Rosman   Photos by Arjun Nadkarni

Left of Main Street Panel (L-R): Kate Stone Lombardi, Helen Jonsen, Peter Katz and Kristen Prata Browde. Moderating, Grace Bennett

Donald Trump’s administration has become expert at diverting negative attention from itself, requiring journalists to be extra vigilant when covering the 45th president.

News professionals offered suggestions about “Separating Fact From Fiction: The Role of the Media in Trump’s America” during a panel discussion hosted by the activist Chappaqua group Left of Main Street (LOMS) Friday night.

Moderated by Inside Press Inc. Publisher and Editor Grace Bennett, the lively and often chilling discussion among panelists—attorney Kristen Prata Browde, a veteran news reporter and anchor; Helen Jonsen, whose broadcast and digital credits include Forbes, WPIX, Fox5, NBC, Working Mother, FIOS1 and international outlets; Westchester County Business Journal editor Peter Katz and Kate Stone Lombardi, who has been a reporter for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, TIME, Readers Digest and other national publications—reinforced that media must double-down on its efforts to cover the 45th president.

Left of Main Street (LOMS) founders and committee members joining the panelists at the conclusion of the Town Hall forum in Chappaqua. (R-L): Committee members Jennifer Sugar Frawley, Beth Hahn and LOMS founders Cynthia Metcalf and Ann Styles Brochstein. LOMS which originated as a Chappaqua-based group advocating for Hillary Clinton, is now “an activist group advocating for progressive ideas, candidates & legislation,” Brochstein explained to the audience gathered.  “After the election we cried for a couple of days and then dusted ourselves off & decided to move forward,” she said.

 

 

Since the election, media has been accused of “not doing its job” and of helping Donald Trump get elected, Bennett said in opening the discussion. Trump’s attempts to silence the press by calling it dishonest, dismissing reports as “fake news” and silencing reporters compound the Fourth Estate’s responsibilities. The panelists jumped right in.

 “You have to keep in mind that Trump is an actor,” Katz said. “At the moment he happens to be acting the role of president, and he has surrounded himself with others who are very skilled at manipulation.”

 “We shouldn’t be loved by people we ask questions of,” Browde said. “That’s what a healthy press does. We’re channeling the questions of the public and holding them (politicians) accountable.”

News delivery changed: social media is available via cell phones, Twitter, and it influences how much the public sees, she said. A comment that once stayed on the cutting room floor is what Trump uses to his benefit.

“Most reporters aren’t intimidated by Trump when he comes after them,” Lombardi said. “I think they double down when he does. To me the danger is not that reporters get nervous; it’s that he keeps suggesting they are telling lies.”

 If reporters don’t feel the companies they work for are backing them, then they’ll back off when facing difficult situations rather than risk losing their jobs, Browde said.

 “Keep in mind that the media is big business,” Katz reminded. “Networks own stations, and stations remain on the air by virtue of the renewal of their FCC (Federal Communications Commission) licenses.”

Democratization of media means someone with a Twitter handle can be “the press,” Browde added. It also created niche media. “We’re narrow-casting options to narrower audiences. Those who watch a conservative news station and read a conservative newspaper get “something very different than you do.”

 Not only that, Jonsen added, people are surrounding themselves with others who agree with them and blocking social media news feeds of people who disagree with them.

This begs the question, What are reputable media sources? Katz suggested watching news stations whose views oppose their own will make the public better news consumers. In most newsrooms he worked in, reporters and editors left their personal viewpoints at the door, “and being impartial was sacrosanct.”

 “We (reporters) were trained not to have political beliefs and to get a balanced story,” Lombardi recalled. While reporters have their own beliefs and opinions, she said, “That’s human bias and is very different from editorial slant. It’s important to distinguish between a newspaper’s slant and the quality of its journalism.

 The difficulty with filling 24 hours a day with news is that there’s no news filter, no editor, no time to fact-check, which allows Trump to speak all things, said Katz.

 Browde agreed the media pandered to Trump the celebrity and didn’t take him seriously.

  “There’s no one around to counter alternative facts” of campaign coverage,’ she said. Because of finances, “we’ve lost a serious amount of the substance. The direct connection between the president’s thumbs and us is now a nanosecond. There is no filter, there is no gatekeeper, (and) it’s created a reactionary press.”

It also changes the public’s relationship to the president, who can Tweet something in 140 characters without anyone fact-checking. Katz agreed, adding this is the first White House to use social media as a main form of communication.

 “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd challenged Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway for citing “alternative facts” and refusing to answer his questions, and American Urban Radio Networks reporter April Ryan stood her ground when Trump asked her to arrange a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus.

If Trump’s disrespect for journalists is bad, then his disregard for the judiciary is worse. “Unfortunately, I think he’s parroting Adolf Hitler,” Katz said. “There’s a real hazard.”

 “That is the point,” Jonsen said. “The first (act) for a dictator, a Nazi regime, is to shut down a free press. So the press needs to be that much more aggressive and call this administration out at every turn.”

 “I think the media is savvy in not following the latest Tweet and is keeping their eyes on the story,” Lombardi said. “You have to be careful as a news consumer about what you’re looking at. The way mainstream media defends itself is by continuing to put out a really good product.”

Janie Rosman has been published in print and online media, including the Journal News, Westchester Magazine, Today’s Caregiver, Inside Chappaqua Magazine, Rockland County Times, Rivertown Magazine and Westchester Parent. She chronicles the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project at Kaleidoscope Eyes (www.nykeypad.wordpress.com)

Mental Illness Not a Life Sentence, MHA of Westchester President Tells Rotary Gathering

by

By Grace Bennett

Chappaqua, February 27–When it comes to understanding mental health, Michael Lombardi, Chappaqua resident and President of the Mental Health Association (MHA)of Westchester, makes one thing clear: as a society, we’ve come a long way. But there’s still much work to be done, too.

Michael Lombardi, president, Mental Health Association of Westchester

Speaking to a group of Rotary Club of Chappaqua members, Lombardi recalled an old and unhealthy secrecy surrounding serious mental illnesses in both children and adults. He spoke of how alcoholism was rarely acknowledged too. Even in more close minded times, he noted, the MHA was ahead of the curve responding to the needs of the community. ADD including working with the schools to help kids with classroom behavioral problems decades ago.

 “Do any of you remember the expression: ‘Children are meant to be seen and not heard’?” he asked those gathered for the club’s weekly Monday lunch–held this time at Quaker Tavern as renovations were underway at its usual meeting place at Crabtree’s Kittle House.

 The MHA of Westchester today serves 20,000 individuals a year in nine Westchester locations with plans to expand outside of Westchester too, according to Lombardi.  “We’ve tried to address the myth that serious mental illness is a life sentence; it’s not a way to label an individual.” 

 He said MHA staff is “past treating symptoms,” in working with their clients, and that they recognize that recovery from most mental illness “is best managed at home or in a community setting.” The goal now is to reintegrate an individual into the community following hospitalization as soon as possible. 

Lombardi outlined an array of services that MHA offers its clients such as the ‘Westchester Recovery Network’ which, employing ‘peer support,’ helps clients transition from long-term hospitalization, and ‘On Track, New York,’ which helps youth experiencing psychotic episodes. “Intervening earlier leads to healthier lives even in those with serious conditions,” he said.

 Lombardi also mentioned programming initiatives which have included recent forums addressing suicide, depression and substance abuse. For more information about the MHA, visit mhawestchester.org, or follow their programming news on Facebook.

March 5: Think Fit for Kids Returns to Club Fit to Fight Pediatric Brain Cancer

by

Briarcliff Manor— Brain tumors don’t take a winter break, and neither will Think Fit for Kids. On Sunday, March 5th, from 2 – 4 p.m., Think Fit For Kids will return to Club Fit for the 7th Annual event to raise funds and awareness about the #1 cause of cancer-related death in children. Changing the outcome for pediatric brain cancer patients by funding research for more effective treatments is the priority of this family fun afternoon. And this year, all event expenses are covered by a generous benefactor so that 100% of participant raised funds will go directly to research.

If you have participated in this event in the past, you know first-hand what an incredible day of fun and hope this event provides for the entire community.  A perfect way to spend a cold Sunday afternoon for family members of ALL AGES, Think Fit For Kids is open to the public.  (Please see the invitation below for schedule details.)

Pediatric brain cancer is the #1 cause of cancer-related death in children, but research to find more effective treatments continues to receive little funding through government agencies. 

Since its inception in 2011, Think Fit For Kids has raised OVER $1.3 MILLION and has funded two state-of-the-art research projects including a promising epigenetic study at Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as a Phase 1 Immunotherapy Clinical Trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.  Because of the generous support of donors, corporations, local merchants, and an entire community that comes together for a common goal: to eradicate brain tumors in children, Think Fit For Kids 2017 stands to raise $250,000 to fund another clinical trial later this spring. According to event chairperson, Kim Gilman,

“Falling short of this fundraising goal is simply unacceptable as pediatric brain cancer research funding has fallen behind so many other disease types on the National Institutes of Health’s radar. Without support from groups like A Kids’ Brain Tumor Cure, the outcome for children battling brain cancer is bleak.”

With Club Fit’s generous donation of the venue, as well as numerous local merchants providing food and entertainment, the afternoon is slated for fun-fit activities and delicious snacks, along with a stocked silent auction and musical entertainment.  Bring family, friends, and colleagues to celebrate the success of the first 6 years and help ensure that the 7th Annual event raises the bar on fun and FUNdraising!  Please visit thinkfitforkids.org and register/donate today.  Because all children should have the opportunity to fight for their dreams not for their lives.