With Town Supervisor Joe Rende at the helm, North Castle is thriving.
Born and raised in Westchester County, North Castle Town Supervisor Rende ran his family’s home heating oil business until 1989, served as a Trustee and Deputy Mayor in Port Chester, and worked for the Westchester County Government in the mid-1990’s to the early 2000’s. He’s lived in North Castle for almost 15 years. With his background in business and his deep understanding of the Westchester political landscape, he’s been able to make a meaningful impact as Town Supervisor since taking office in January 2024. Rende’s committed to impacting positive change throughout North Castle, and he’s taken over and taken on various projects that will improve the community.
“We’ve really become a destination for restaurants and for shopping in the town square,” Rende says enthusiastically. So, it’s not surprising that one of most highly anticipated projects in North Castle is the opening of the new restaurant, Wren of the Woods at 12 Maple Street. “The building has been vacant for quite a while,” notes Rende, who says that the architectural review board approved plans for a renovation and an addition on the building. Armonk residents are enthusiastically supporting this project, which will enhance Armonk’s social scene while adding to the already diverse restaurant offerings in town. Wren of the Woods is planning a farm to table menu and hopes to draw a younger crowd by staying open a little later on certain nights and weekends.
To make room for the larger crowds heading to Armonk, the parking lot around the North Castle Public Library is being renovated and expanded. The land surrounding the current parking lot was owned by Verizon. The town of North Castle purchased additional land and put together a plan to expand parking in this area a while ago. Rende fast-tracked the plan, completing the engineering, putting the project out to bid and launching the construction project. Construction is currently underway, and the project should be completed this spring. In this first phase of this project, there will be approximately 60 new parking spaces.
“Increased parking is going to help the library, the business community, and local restaurants. It’s going to make it easier to access everything Armonk has to offer,” says Rende. The next phase of this project will include a redesign of a larger area along the west side of Main Street. The plan is to also make additional improvements to the Kent Place parking lot. Ultimately, the goal is to double the number of parking spaces in Armonk proper.
Besides enhancing businesses and building new restaurants around town, Rende is also overseeing the construction of new condominiums, projects that were planned and approved before he took office. The first project, the Lumberyard Project at the end of Bedford Road, will offer the community 20 condominium units. This project includes 18 market rate units and two affordable housing units, complying with Westchester’s affordable housing guidelines. On the Mariani site, the town received approval to build 34 new condominiums. While the demolition of the grounds is complete, there is no start date for this project. The condominiums on the Mariani lot will be taxed as individual homes, providing a greater financial benefit to the community and the Byram Hills School District.
To further benefit the community, Rende is making re-configuring and expanding the administrative offices a priority. “I feel a sense of urgency to complete this renovation. The police department is working under poor conditions and there’s no room to increase the number of police personnel. The configuration and size of the courtroom doesn’t meet state requirements,” says Rende.
When he first came into office, he recognized that the Town of North Castle had various departments operating out of different buildings. It was difficult for a town administrator to manage town operations when everything was so spread out. “From a management standpoint, it becomes somewhat of a hinderance,” explains Rende, who suggests that the current space is cramped and isn’t serving the public well. Since there’s little room to expand at the current location, Rende is looking into alternatives, including 333 Main Street, and conferring with architects to figure out if this space can be appropriately retrofitted to accommodate all administrative offices.
Looking forward, Rende hopes to find or build a proper facility for the town’s highway department. “All of our expensive machinery is housed outdoors now.” Mechanics are working on equipment outdoors in environments that aren’t ideal. Plus, the town is spending money to replace unfixable equipment since the storage conditions have shortened the lifespan of these extremely pricey necessities. “This has been discussed for over 20 years now, and the can’s been kicked down the road, with everyone suggesting that we address it someday. That someday is now,” asserts Rende, whose plan to modernize North Castle’s resources and revolutionize the town is now in motion.
“My favorite local place to get away is Rockwood Hall on Phelps Way in Sleepy Hollow. It is the grounds of an old Gilded Age mansion. There are miles of hiking trails, the old stone foundation of the mansion and amazing Hudson River views. I enjoy going for sunset hikes with my husband, catching up with my college son over an am walk, but my favorite visit was seeing fireworks over the Hudson on the 4th with my youngest son.”
“Being raised in several countries, my ‘town’ could be several places including Tokyo. I have lived in Chappaqua for the past 17 years, the place I’ve stayed put the longest and now consider home. Flights to New York thus feel like coming home. Spending some moments on Haneda airport’s rooftop observation deck prior to boarding fills me with joy, relief and optimism. Its ambience awakens joyful memories of my childhood airplane obsession. Spotting the plane for my flight to New York gives me a sense of relief and parked within reach from the deck – a sign of peaceful society – makes me feel optimistic that freedom from fear is indeed possible”
“There are so many areas in Town that are spirit-lifting, but two that stand out are Whippoorwill Park and Glazier Arboretum. It is not an exaggeration to say that we have spent parts of almost every day with our dogs in one of those two incredible preserves! They are five minutes from our home but allow for a total escape into nature, for both active exercise and peaceful contemplation.”
“I love Rockwood Hall in Mt Pleasant on the Hudson. It has the ruins of William Rockefeller’s majestic house and beautiful special trees. When you walk the property you feel transported to the Gilded Age. The beauty of the 1,000-acre park is that anyone can walk or enjoy the ruins of the house and the nature surrounding you. I remember my children rolling down the grassy hill on a warm summer day.”
It doesn’t take a resident of North Castle to recognize its largest and most iconic landmark – a roughly 12 by 40-foot metallic eagle. To this day, we still hear “turn right or turn left at the Eagle” as common directions for motorists driving on Route 22. This local legend of a monument was first constructed nearly fifty years ago to celebrate America’s bicentennial in 1976 and is finally receiving the structural reinforcement it needs and deserves.