My Rye

“Inches Matter” According to Rye Flood Action Committee

The message the Rye Flood Action Committee (RFAC) will bring to the Rye Brook public hearing on Kip Konigsberg’s Bowman Avenue development proposal tomorrow (Tuesday, June 26 at 7:30 pm, 938 King Street, Rye Brook Village Hall) is clear:

Inches matter—holding back inches of water on the Bowman Avenue property.

The last hearing in Rye Brook on June 12th was adjourned with no action taken and Rye Brook Mayor Rand saying he would not rush into anything. Developer Konigsberg is still gunning for his final permits figuring he goes ahead—flooding be damned!—or he has an even better bargaining chip in his potential land sale to Westchester County, Rye Brook and Rye.

Word is Rye Brook and Rye City met last week. County legislator Judy Myers reported it was a “productive meeting”. Apparently the county’s real estate negotiator has contacted developer Konigsberg for a second time and he is still saying he will wait for his approvals and then negotiate.

Westchester County announced at its recent flood summit that they will spend $10 million a year on mitigation for the next five years. County legislator Myers and Rye Mayor Steve Otis have been appointed to the task force that will identify and follow through with the projects.

Sal's Pizza to Add Gelato Bar and Italian Ices

Anyone who lives in Rye and knows pizza knows Sal's Pizza in Mamaroneck (if you think Pizza 2000 is good, this writer just changed your life). Sal's patrons also have enduring admiration for the faux gray brick and orange laminate interior and the gruff (read: authentic) attitude of the counter staff.

With the constant being no change at all for twenty plus years, Sal's fans will be surprised to know the venerable pizza joint is opening a gelato and Italian ice bar next door in "a couple weeks". A quick look through the window shows tiled floors, glass display cases and wooden counters. If the gelato tastes as good as the pizza we won't mind the fancy digs. But faux gray brick and orange laminate would have been fine with us.

Bender on Park Avenue

The Rye police department responded to a two vehicle collision at the intersection of Park Avenue and Florence Avenue shortly after 11am this morning. Vehicles are known to travel at high speeds on Park Avenue--in excess of the 30 MPH speed limit. Residents have complained to the city in the past about speeding and the police department occasionally places a portable speed monitoring device on Park Avenue.

Speaking of vehicles and preventing collisions or something worse, the city staff never presented the revision of the new STOP sign policy to residents for comment or to the city council for consideration as expected on June 13th. As soon as the City responds to our inquiry on a new date, we'll share it with MyRye.com readers.

Will Flood of Development Proposals Be Dammed Tuesday?

This Tuesday evening is a big night for two real estate development projects in the 11th hour of approvals and both are all about water.

First stop is 7pm at the Rye City Planning Commission at city council hearing room of Rye City Hall. On the agenda is the final subdivision and wetlands permit for the Durland Center on Stuyvesant Avenue. This is the final step in robbing the children of Rye access to the Durland Scout Center with its pool and waterfront access onto Milton Harbor so a developer can build a multi-million dollar home. Read this comment on MyRye.com from the daughter of the Durland caretaker to see what we are all about to lose.

Second stop is 7:30pm at Village Hall in Rye Brook (938 King Street) for what could be the final smackdown on the four acre Bowman Avenue property owned by developer Kip Konigsberg's K&M Realty.  Carolina Johnson of the Rye Flood Action Committee (RFAC) and a Mendota Avenue resident of Indian Village reports this is last public hearing before Rye Brook may grant site plan approval for Konigsberg's development:

"County officials have approached the developer to negotiate purchasing the land and they are starting to talk. If he gets the permits his price will be hard to meet. We must be there to show how many people would benefit from using that land to expand our water retention upstream. We'll be standing along with Rye Brook residents with a unified message but we need all of you to come."

According to the Rye Brook Westmore News, Rye City has tried to acquire the four acre property in the past. The city owns the adjacent 34 acres:

"(Rye Mayor) Otis said Rye City has had an interest in buying the property for the last three years and there was a plan being worked on by which the county and Village of Rye Brook would purchase the property and do flood mitigation infrastructure improvements including a flood gate. The city was also willing to open up access to land the city owns in the area—34 acres including 2/3 of the pond and land around the Bowman Avenue dam—for a nature trail."

The Bowman Avenue property is sandwiched between the Rye Ridge Shopping Center and Interstate 287 as you can see from this aerial map. Interested readers can view the final environmental impact statement for the K&M Realty Bowman Avenue development prepared by Armonk's John Meyer Consulting. 

It's My Way or the Flyway at Edith Read Sanctuary

Tucked away behind the Playland amusement park is Rye's Edith Read Sanctuary. The 179 acre park, administered by the Westchester County Parks conservation division, is on the shore of the Long Island Sound and along a migratory flyway. The property includes half a mile of shore line and an 85 acre lake and is noted as an "Important Bird Area" by the Audubon Society of New York.

Many say this is one of the best birding spots in Westchester County and The Hudson River Audubon Society of Westchester reports one can see loons, grebes, Long-tailed Duck, Common Goldeneye, Scoters and Northern Gannet and if you are lucky rare birds such as Snow Bunting, Snowy Owl, Barrows Goldeneye, Red-necked Grebe and Eared Grebe.

The park is named after Rye's own Edith Read, who died in April 2006 at the age of 102. Read was a force in environmental conservation across Westchester and New York State. In addition to working on the preservation of her eponymous park, she worked on the protection of the 47 acre Rye Nature Center and a wetland area on Beaver Swamp Brook called Parcels A and B. She also served on the Rye Landmark Committee, where she helped to preserve the John Jay property.

To reach the property, enter the Playland parking lot and drive all the way down. At the very end of the lot on the right, you will see signs for Edith Read and you may see a sign that says do not enter. Enter. Drive all the way down, past a pedestrian entrance to Playland and you will see parking on the right and further down on the left there is another parking area in front of the interpretive center and closer to the woodland trails. The shoreline is quickly and easily accessible if you have younger children that may not want more than a short hike.

(ABOVE) Video shows part of the half mile of publicly accessible Long Island Sound shoreline at Edith Read Sanctuary and park in Rye, NY.

20 Months Later, Katrina Still Rules New Orleans Even at Jazz Fest

I'm waiting for a local band to start singing about Rye's Blind Brook and the 100 year storm on April 15th. Until then, you'll have to settle for Harry Connick, Jr. and the J. Monque'D Blues Band talking and singing about Hurricane Katrina at the New Orleans Jazz Fest. For a place where--20 months after Katrina--there is still no electricity or sewer available in half the City and where the post Katrina population stands at half of the 500,000 residents who lived there before the levees collapsed, they still know how to put on a Big Easy smile and entertain guests with great aplomb.

Just like we should be patronizing Rye merchants such as Parker's and Ruby's as they rebound from Rye's own disaster, think about booking your next vacation to the Crescent City.

(ABOVE) J. Monque 'D Blues Band Sings at New Orleans Jazz Fest on Hurricane Katrina: J. Monque 'D and his band from Baton Rouge sings about Hurricane Katrina at the Southern Comfort Blue Tent at lunchtime on Sunday, May 6, 2007. J. Monque 'D sings the "FEMA Blues": "I got a blue plastic tarp covering my house where my roof used to be..."

(ABOVE) Harry Connick, Jr. at New Orleans Jazz Fest on Hurricane Katrina: Harry Connick says a few words about Hurricane Katrina and his commitment to rebuild New Orleans before closing out New Orleans Jazz Festival on Sunday, May 6, 2007 @7pm at the Acura Stage, Fairgrounds in New Orleans, Louisiana. Harry Connick was raised in New Orleans and his father, Harry Connick, Sr. was a well know district attorney in the city.

Be sure and look at all our stories on New Orleans.