The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

New Castle

‘A New Beginning’

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(L-R): Town Justice Noah Sorkin, Town Councilwoman Ivy Pool, Town Supervisor Robert Greenstein and Town Councilwoman Lisa Katz
PHOTO BY HANNAH ROSENBERG

Members of the New Castle community gathered for a very special and monumental night for all, including myself. The event was the swearing in ceremony of Rob Greenstein (who I want to state up front is my dad but I will call him Rob for this article!) as Town Supervisor, Lisa Katz as Deputy Supervisor, Ivy Pool as Town Councilwoman and Noah Sorkin as Town Justice.

The venue was the beautiful Chappaqua Performing Arts Center which supported a tremendous crowd and turned out to be an ideal location to hold the swearing-in ceremony. President William Jefferson Clinton was the honored guest and many New Castle residents were excited for a chance to see him either both before and/or during the ceremony. Some of the other honored guests were Pat Keegan and Mike Alter on behalf of Congresswoman Nita Lowey, Peter Harckham on behalf of Governor Andrew Cuomo, Michael Jefferson on behalf of Senator Terrence Murphy’s office, Assemblyman David Buchwald and Westchester County Legislator Mike Kaplowitz.

Town Justice Doug Kraus opened the ceremony asking the packed crowd to rise for the presentation of the Color Guard. A group of local boy scouts then led the Pledge of Allegiance followed by Greeley student, Elena Cantor, singing a beautiful moving rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.”

The Oath of Office requires elected officials to perform to the best of their ability, noted President Bill Clinton, who also reminded us that they are human beings and often make mistakes.

Town Justice Doug Kraus thanked our neighbor and keynote speaker President Clinton for joining us. Judge Kraus also commended Adam Brodsky for his dedicated service and work for the town the last four years. In addition, Judge Kraus noted three responsibilities as residents of New Castle, stating that “we are all responsible for the success of our Government.” He mentioned that responsible citizens of a Democracy should have: …the duty to be informed, the duty to be involved and the duty to be reasonable.” He emphasized that “the last thing we should want to do is go after our elected officials when they work with the other side.”

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On Taking Greater Personal Responsibility

All of the members of the crowd waited patiently for President Clinton to rise to the podium. Adam Brodsky had the honor of introducing him and noted that in each of President Clinton’s inaugural addresses, he emphasized the need to take greater personal responsibility for our neighbors and our community. He mentioned that the Clintons attend many New Castle events and are often spotted in local stores in the town of Chappaqua. Brodsky then proceeded to introduce the 42nd President of the United States.

President Bill Clinton on stage at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center addressing hundreds of attendees and the panel of town hall officials soon to be sworn in, and guest dignitaries.
PHOTO BY HANNAH ROSENBERG

It was then President Clinton’s turn! President Clinton jokingly pointed out that he has lived in Chappaqua longer than any person being sworn in and stated that Chappaqua has been the longest place he has ever lived. He mentioned that he enjoys swearing-in ceremonies since they happen early in the year, which means it is a new beginning for the community. He relayed that the Oath of Office requires elected officials to perform to the best of their ability but also reminded us that they are human beings and often make mistakes.

Clinton continued: “When trying to do your best every day we wake up and inside our heart is like a scale–on one side of the scale there are ways that make us darker–on the other side there are ways to make us lighter. The balance is slighter different every day. If given the privilege of public service, put another rock on the lighter side every day.” He added that he is grateful when people take the risk to run in local elections. These people have chosen as Teddy Roosevelt once famously said, “to get into the arena.” He said we should thank them for being willing to run, and thank their opponents for being willing to run as well. He then lastly said, “Let’s get this show on the road.”

First to be sworn in was Town Justice Noah Sorkin. Judge Sorkin and his wife, Stephanie, have lived in New Castle for 27 years, sending their two children, Dana and Matthew through the local public schools. Judge Sorkin is beginning his sixth year as one of our local judges. Judge Sorkin said it was a “privilege and honor to serve as one of the Town Justices.” He thanked residents for their confidence and support noting that being a Judge “has been an amazing journey of public service.”

He thanked the Court personnel and staff, as well as the Town Prosecutors. He also acknowledged his mentors and role models County Judges Zuckerman and Kraus.

Newest member of the Town Board Ivy Pool together with Brownie Troop 1024. PHOTO BY LORI GOWEN MORTON

Newly elected Town councilwoman Ivy Pool came next. Ivy and her husband, Christian Edstrom, have lived in New Castle since 2010. They have two children, Mattias, 9, and Alexandra, 7, who attend Grafflin Elementary School. Ivy thanked everyone “for coming out to celebrate our Democracy, our community and our future.”

She thanked the New Castle Democratic Committee and Up2Us. In the aftermath of 2016 elections, Ivy felt called to run for public office. Ivy noted that “through consensus and collaboration that we can have a more effective Town Government.” By working together, “we will do great things for this town.”

Ivy promised to work hard every day. She acknowledged all of the young people in the audience, including the Girl Scouts from Group Troop 1024. She hopes that her election inspires those young people to run for public office.

Deputy supervisor Lisa Katz was then sworn in. Lisa has called Chappaqua home for the past 12 years with her husband, Steven, and their two children, Arden and Spencer. Lisa was elected and began to serve as New Castle Town Council Member in 2014. With this re-election, she begins her fifth year in office. Lisa vowed to continue to develop the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center into a regional arts and cultural destination. She thanked the New Castle Republican Party for “standing behind us and eschewing party politics.” Lisa stated “we are all in this together bound by our collective dreams to make New Castle a stronger, more vibrant and united community.”   

And last to be sworn in was Town Supervisor Rob Greenstein. Rob noted that “this really is the largest inauguration crowd in New Castle history” and thanked President Clinton for his role in bringing residents out. Rob has lived in Chappaqua for 14 years with my mom, Cindy, and my brothers Daniel and Mason.

Rob became the Town Supervisor in 2014. This is his third term. Rob congratulated Ivy for joining the town’s “collaborative government and working to make the community a better place to live and raise a family.” He also congratulated Lisa for leading the efforts to create the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center. Rob reminded us that our greatest resource is our residents. He thanked town attorneys, Keane and Beane, the police department, town employees and department heads. He thanked Adam Brodsky “whose vision and leadership will indeed result in an incredibly improved Chappaqua hamlet.”

He thanked Town Administrator Jill Shapiro for helping him over the last four years. Rob also thanked the New Castle Republican leaders for supporting a Democrat–three times–without regard to his political affiliation. Rob noted that we are a small town “but that doesn’t stop us from having big ambitions. He added: “We will continue to speak out about fairness, respect and tolerance.”

It was a truly special night for the community (and for my family), and I will always remember it.

Additional photos by Hannah Rosenberg, a junior at Horace Greeley High School, are within a social media album on our Facebook page, Inside Chappaqua and Inside Armonk Magazines.

Getting to Know Gray Williams: Town Historian Extraordinaire

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Gray and Ike Kuzio, Town Superintdendent of Recreation & Parks at Millwood’s 200 Year Anniversary celebration PHOTO BY ROB GREENSTEIN
Town Historian Gray Williams is a master at painting a vivid picture of history. Quaker, Haight, Sarles, Kipp, Pines Bridge, Greeley, Commodore–the names of these local roads impart a legacy of almost three centuries of history. Other names around town–Stone Road, Hardscrabble Road, Stony Hills, Turner Swamp, Roaring Brook–suggest that the countryside, while perhaps full of natural beauty, was not entirely ideal for agriculture.

Gray’s principal duty as town historian is to serve as chair of the town’s Landmarks Advisory Committee, established in 1990. Jill Shapiro, Town Administrator, says his presentations on properties recommended for landmark status are legendary. “They are so well researched but not dry. He always finds a spark–something interesting and unique–about a property or its former residents that makes it special.”

The Town Historian and the committee, all unpaid volunteers, also makes recommendations whenever an application for significant alteration of a landmark comes before the Architectural Review Board, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, or the Building Department so that the historical significance of the site will be taken into account. Some New Castle landmarks are also listed inside the National Register of Historic Places.

Much of Gray’s work as an historian is devoted to writing. His most recent publication is a short illustrated history, Horace Greeley and the Greeley Family in Chappaqua. In addition to research reports, histories of landmarks and exhibitions at the Horace Greeley House and Museum, Gray has a special interest in the eight graveyards in New Castle–the Quaker graveyard, Fair Ridge Cemetery, and six abandoned family burying grounds. While preparing for the recent 150th Anniversary Tour of Fair Ridge Cemetery, Ken White, Jr. a former New Castle Historical Society (NCHS) trustee and current docent, recalls, “In the true spirit of Tom Sawyer, Gray presented me with my own scrub brush and spray bottle to start on a row of headstones and also convinced me that this endeavor was really great fun.”

Gray, an ex-officio trustee of the NCHS and a trustee of the Westchester County Historical Society, states, “The monuments in these graveyards embody the history of Chappaqua from the time it was first settled.” Ken adds, “Almost all of the town’s abandoned cemeteries now lie within private property and have long been neglected. Gray is the consummate statesman in negotiating for access and managing care. Some of the graveyards are on steep hillsides and are badly overgrown, but Gray also is undaunted by bees, brambles or a challenging climb.”

Gray grew up in Chappaqua and, with his wife, Marian, raised a family here. His neighbors have enjoyed the pleasure of Gray’s sense of humor and his intellectual spark. Jamie Comstock, a current NCHS trustee, says “When I moved to Marcourt Drive in the early 90s, Gray and Marian threw a wonderful party to introduce me to my other neighbors. I have valued his warmth and kindness over the years more than I can say. Running into him around town always gives me the same kind of feeling as suddenly remembering there is ice cream in my freezer – such a pleasure!”

Until the 20th century, New Castle was primarily an agricultural town, with grist and saw mills, cider and vinegar works, a shoe factory, and a pickle factory supplementing its dairy farms and apple orchards. Given our town’s origins, Town Supervisor Rob Greenstein says, “It is beyond dispute that in order to know where we are going, we must know where we’ve been. Gray’s endeavors in searching for and memorializing our Town’s history benefits us all.”

Kids love to probe Gray’s vast knowledge of the homes and neighborhoods of New Castle and learn about their own houses. And Gray never disappoints with his stories during the Q &A following the middle school presentations, when kids ask about where they live.

For example, Pierce Drive (right on the border of Chappaqua and Pleasantville) is named for the farm of a Quaker farmer, Moses Pierce, who operated a station on the Underground Railroad before the Civil War. Gray says of Pierce’s farm, “Perhaps this stop was right before the Jay Homestead in Bedford, which is also believed to have sheltered escaping slaves. The Jay family, from John Jay on, steadfastly opposed slavery.” The Pierces were members of the Quaker Meeting, whose meetinghouse was built in 1754, making it the oldest recorded building in Chappaqua. The Quakers who settled here embraced not only non-violence but also the equality of all human beings, regardless of race or sex. From as early as 1775, the Quakers denounced slavery though few went so far as Moses Pierce in defying the law for their beliefs. He and his wife, Esther, together with several others of their family, are buried in the Quaker graveyard.

Along with all of the other NCHS volunteers and the Landmarks Advisory Committee, Gray has preserved and interpreted local historic artifacts, documents, and stories to truly serve broad cultural and heritage goals in our community and beyond. Gray’s professional life as a writer and editor comes through in quality and details of the captions he writes for the rooms and objects at the Horace Greeley House. Suzanne Keay, a current trustee of the NCHS says, “At a recent lecture at the Horace Greeley House about runaway slaves in the mid-Hudson Valley, Gray seemed to know the names of almost every family mentioned by the lecturer. I don’t know what we’d do without Gray and his deep knowledge and dedication.”

NCHS is dependent on volunteers and membership to support its programming and activities, such as the annual Tree Lighting and Carols and the Victorian Valentine Tea Party. Georgia Frasch, NCHS Trustee, thoroughly enjoys going to scout potential old homes with Gray for the annual “Castles of New Castles” house tours. “I learn so much. Gray has spent countless hours looking at foundations and crawl spaces, all to preserve the rich history that has made this town so special. The names–Haight, Taylor, Washburn, Bristol, Quinby–are people who lived here and gave their properties a distinct sense of time and place. We love showing homes that demonstrate how our present is rooted in our past.”

It may be hard to imagine that our suburban homes were once heavily forested hills and valleys occupied by local Wappinger tribes whose totem was the Enchanted Wolf. Gray’s publications, stories and anecdotes keep us remembering and respecting our unique hamlet’s 300 years of significant events, persons, businesses and buildings.

Chappaqua: Where is This?

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Think you know the nooks and crannies of your town? See how many of these images you can identify. Joseph Fleisher, a rising sophomore at Horace Greeley High School, who has a passion for photography, set out to find interesting objects and places unique to New Castle. Please download our November Inside Chappaqua edition where you will find the answer key on page 47.

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All About the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival on October 14!

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Notes from the Festival’s Founder!

For one glorious day each fall, authors, readers and their families flock to downtown Chappaqua for the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival (CCBF). Founded by a group of volunteers in 2013, the festival is now considered the preeminent children’s book festival in the tri-state area.

More than 90 children’s book authors and illustrators from as far away as Maryland fill the daylong festival with laughter, excitement and fun for children of all ages. Authors take the time for conversation and inspiration, to demonstrate the art of illustration and to read aloud favorite books in the adjacent St. Mary the Virgin’s garden. Attendees can expect festival favorites such as Rosemary Wells and Jane Yolen to return plus new authors such as Betsy and Ted Lewin and Roxie Munro.

Illustration by Sujean Rim

Families can find additional activities from book making to balloon animals to a Gaga pit in the family fun area. Food trucks and the Great Chappaqua Bake Sale provide many lunch options and scrumptious dessert and treats.

Since it’s inception The Great Chappaqua Bake Sale has raised more than $130,000 for Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign and has connected children with more than 1.3 million meals. “It’s hard to believe this will be our eighth year working to raise monies to fund school and summer meals programs for kids in New York State. The Great Chappaqua Bake Sale community of supporters and volunteers make this event successful each year and we are particularly inspired by the many children who devote their time and passion to helping children in need,” noted Alison Spiegel, one of the Bake Sale founders.

A portion of the proceeds from the CCBF go to JCY-WCP literacy programs in schools throughout Westchester. The fifth annual CCBF is on Saturday, October 14th, from 10-4 pm. Admission is free. Cash and credit cards are accepted for book and food purchases. Free parking all day available at the nearby Chappaqua Metro-North train station.

For information on sponsorship and volunteering, visit www.ccbfestival.org or visit us on Facebook at Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival.

This Just In…New Not to Be Missed Authors


Betsy and Ted Lewin – Author and/or Illustrator of almost 200 children’s books plus recipients of numerous awards including the Caldecott Honor Book Medal and the NY Times Best Illustrated Award


Julie Fogliano – Author of beloved books including When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons and Old Dog Baby Baby


Roxie Munro – Author/Illustrator of more than 40 nonfiction and concept books for children using “gamification” to encourage reading, learning and engagement; NY Times Best Illustrated Award recipient


Stephen Savage – Author and Illustrator of 9 books for children, including the NY Times bestselling picture book Polar Bear Night, written by Lauren Thompson and creator of the Where’s Walrus? books, Supertruck and Little Tug

Musical Duo: The Kennedys Set to Grace the Stage at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center

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For more than two decades, husband and wife team Pete and Maura Kennedy have performed on stages in the U.S. and the U.K., as a folk/pop duo and as members of Nanci Griffith’s Blue Moon Orchestra. Now for the first time ever the show will be one of the inaugural events in a special benefit concert at the new Chappaqua Performing Arts Center (ChappPAC), formerly known as the Wallace Auditorium on the Reader’s Digest campus. The benefit concert titled “Life is Large” at 8 p.m. on Friday, September 22 will raise funds for the Axial Theater, a professional theater company founded in 1999 that is a member of the Westchester Arts Organization. Axial Theater presents contemporary theatrical hits, timeless stage classics and original works in addition to hosting a bi-monthly Sunday Writers Series for play development.

The Kennedys have released over a dozen CDs, are longtime core artists on metropolitan New York’s jazz radio station WFUV and were named Artists-in-Residence at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Their original music has been described as uplifting, encouraging and empowering, and their choice of covers is emblematic of their love for the classic songwriting of Buddy Holly, The Beatles and Bob Dylan. Long time New York City residents, they are regulars at the Clearwater Festival in Croton-on Hudson and have played legendary venues including Carnegie Hall, the Beacon Theater and the now defunct Bottom Line.

Tickets for The Kennedys’ Axial Theater benefit are $45 and can be purchased online by searching for “Axial Theater” at brownpapertickets.com. ChappPAC will play host to a variety of cultural events in its inaugural season through December including children’s concerts, jazz performances and family movies.

The Chappaqua Performing Arts Center is located at 480 North Bedford Road. Ample free parking is available.