New Castle News

By Eileen Gallagher

During the town board meeting of Jan 14, the main topic was once again the master plan. Supervisor Rob Greenstein mentioned as part of his report that the town is considering hiring Pace to facilitate the next phases of the process.

This Tuesday, January 20, Pace will be presenting a proposal at the town board work session. Per Jill Shapiro, town administrator, they will be discussing a variety of strategies for the town, including, but not limited to, TOD (transit oriented development), which is a mixed use residential and commercial area designed to be walkable and highly accessible to public transportation.

Based on public outreach, Pace feels that the town should consider TOD as part of the master plan update, but they weren’t initially hired for that, per Shapiro.

Greenstein admitted that the board needs to do a better job of communicating to residents, saying that the master plan process has not stopped despite a slowdown in updates. “The public is not involved in every step of the process.”

Town attorney Nick Ward-Willis added, “There will be public hearings when the Master Plan Steering Committee proposes a plan.”

Resident John Ehrlich informed the board of the passing of longtime resident Penny Vane on December 27.

“She was an active contributor to so many projects,” Ehrlich continued, citing her involvement with the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, the Strawberry Festival, the former skating rink on South Greeley Avenue, and a popular soup bowl project making and selling ceramic bowls, proceeds of which went to feed the homeless.

By Dawn Evans Greenberg

How do you become the reigning KENKEN champion and the 6th-ranked SCRABBLE® player in North America, all at age 14? The answer is “Board Vision” — the ability to view the entirety of the SCRABBLE board or the KenKen puzzle as you solve it. It’s a rare ability for anyone, but 14-year-old Mack Meller of Bedford NY, has it in spades.

At last weekend’s 5th annual KenKen Tournament at the Chappaqua Library, Mack solved the difficult final round 8×8 puzzle in 6 minutes + 38 seconds to win the championship. He won over two-time defending champion Martin Eiger, as well as 120 other contestants from as far away as California.

KenKen is a math and logic puzzle created by Tetsuya Miyamoto, a math teacher in Japan, and now owned by Pleasantville-based Nextoy. KenKen puzzles feature grids ranging in size from 3×3 to 9×9 of equations to be solved. Its fans include Will Shortz and Martha Stewart. KenKen, meaning wisdom in Japanese, can be enjoyed by all ages. It is syndicated in the New York Times and many other newspapers worldwide. Daily puzzles can be found at www.kenkenpuzzle.com.

Mack and his dad began solving KenKen puzzles together five years ago. They like to compete over the New York Times daily puzzle and against each other at the annual tournament. This year Mack prepared for his 4th KenKen Tournament by practicing on the KenKen website. What does Mack like so much about KenKen? “I like the practically infinite variations on puzzles, that you have to think steps in advance, the math of course, and especially that moment when you figure out the last box after which everything falls into place.”

Mack is a self-directed teenager who seems to navigate both his classes (multivariable calculus is a favorite) and the world of competitive SCRABBLE with ease. He is in ninth-grade and a student at Stanford University Online High School. His SCRABBLE ranking was achieved through many weekend tournaments around the country, as well as daily study and practice games with tournament competitors who have become friends. When he isn’t studying, he spends time playing tennis, bird-watching, and volunteering at the Community Center of Northern Westchester.

While Mack is equally adept with words and numbers, his true passion is for math. He says it’s too early to pick a career path, but he’s certain it will have something to do with math or physics. No doubt that the logic and strategic thinking he’s honed from both KenKen and SCRABBLE will help him continue to excel.

By Eileen Gallagher

The majority of the town board voted last night to approve retail at Chappaqua Crossing, the former home of Reader’s Digest. Supervisor Rob Greenstein and board members Adam Brodsky, Jason Chapin, and Elise Mottel voted “aye” while Lisa Katz voted against the three resolutions on the table.

Though retail uses have been approved in the current “research and office business district”, there will still be opportunities for the public to voice their concerns and opinions in 2015. According to town attorney Nick Ward-Willis, there are a number of steps remaining in this process. For instance, the placement of retail within the campus has yet to be decided.

Each member of the board read prepared statements ahead of the vote. Katz, the sole “nay” voter, expressed her concern about the size of the project. Katz described weighing very carefully the pros and cons of the development for the town and questioned the sum of the benefits that have been praised by others. Not convinced that tax revenues from Summit Greenfield’s property will be substantial, she pointed out the potential decrease in taxes from homeowners and downtown businesses whose assessments she opined would likely go down. Per Katz, the concessions made by the developer do not assuage the additional traffic burden on the town as well as the change in its nature.

Greenstein called this process “the longest and most controversial application in the town’s history.” Describing the “idle, vacant” property and the town’s tax base being 91% residential and only 3% commercial, he expressed his belief that voting to approve retail is the “best possible decision for ALL residents.” Greenstein continued, “Kicking the can down the road is not an option.”

Chapin agreed with Greenstein as to the nature of the vote, calling it the most comprehensive and controversial matter in his seven years on the board. Describing how the town went “far beyond what is required by law” in having at least 20 public hearings, he applauded the town boards, attorneys, and staff who all played an important role, per Chapin. “Change causes fear and uncertainty,” said Chapin, acknowledging that some of his friends and neighbors would be disappointed in the decision.

Mottel expressed her belief in the importance of a commercial tax base and the intention of the board to “ensure the required mitigations are met.” She remains concerned that despite enhancing the tax base, some traffic issues remain unmitigated.

Brodsky described “wrestling the entire year” with this matter, trying to balance the interests of the entire community and realizing that “some are more directly affected than others.”

Greenstein listed concessions by Summit Greenfield, including contributing $1.5 million to the town for recreation and business hamlet improvements, $600k to improve the Horace Greeley High School entrance on Roaring Brook Road, four parcels which would help create a buffer for neighboring homes, the Wallace auditorium, a free jitney for travel between the crossing and the downtown, and covering the town’s consulting fees.

Greenstein summed up the majority decision of the board; “We put aside our differences and acted in the best interests of the town.”

By Beth Besen

The Northern Westchester Artists Guild is thrilled to host their first art show, this coming Sunday December 7th from 1-4:30 p.m. at the New Castle Community Center. Come see and support works by a group of local artists whose goal is to have art be a part of the fabric of our community! There is no entry fee. Works are available for purchase. A percentage of the proceeds go back to the artists guild. Light snacks will be served.

Beth Besen is the Executive Editor of Inside Chappaqua and Inside Armonk magazines.