Eastchester REVIEW County board votes to cede control of Rye Playland SORRY THE
May 6, 2016 | Vol. 4, Number 19 | www.eastchesterreview.com
The village of Bronxville has decided to backtrack from a recent increase in parking meter hours after hearing complaints from residents and merchants. For story, see page 8. File photo
By JAMES PERO Staff Writer
Bronxville Farmers Market opens under new management By COREY STOCKTON Staff Writer Pascale Le Draoulec said she witnessed the rise of the farm-totable movement when she was a newspaper reporter and restaurant critic for the New York Daily News from 2001 to 2007. Now, she’s on the other side of the table. Le Draoulec, who has been managing three farmers markets in Westchester County, now also runs the Bronxville Farmers Market, replacing Mary Liz Mulligan, who retired at the end of 2015. The market, co-sponsored by the village of Bronxville and the Chamber of Commerce, opens
on Saturday, May 7 for its 15th season. Thirty-five vendors are expected to set up booths. This also marks the market’s first year without Mulligan, who thinks the market is in good hands with her successor. “We have the same mission, which is to help the farming industry in New York state,” she said. Le Draoulec said her markets in Irvington, Hastings-onHudson and Chappaqua are each unique to their own communities, and she wants her newest market to be representative of Bronxville’s small village feel. However, she plans to add her own personal touch to the market. Le Draoulec is arranging live music for the opening week-
end, and plans to have live entertainment for each subsequent week. This is partially in an effort to create an atmosphere that feels more like an agora and less like a supermarket. “What I’ve always heard and what vendors always tell me about Bronxville shoppers,” Le Draoulec said, “[is] they’re always in a hurry. They come and buy and they leave.” She said she wants to try to slow it down so vendors in Bronxville get more exposure and customers enjoy a wholesome experience. Part of the experience Le Draoulec aims to create is a family-friendly market. “I want families to shop the market to-
gether,” she said. To inspire that, she orchestrates activities for children. She said she wants her markets to help kids learn about real food and how it tastes. “I love the idea of bringing kids into the mix, getting them off their devices for a little while,” she said. Le Draoulec said she also aims to bring the community together. She designs her markets with a “dinner party philosophy” in mind. She hopes friends will meet at the market, make dinner plans and find every ingredient on site. “We’re bringing it all to you and you just have to buy it and take it home and do very market continued on page 9
A roller coaster ride between the management company Standard Amusements and Westchester County came to a close on Monday night after the county Board of Legislators voted overwhelmingly to move forward with a 30-year agreement transferring control of Rye Playland. “I cannot be more thankful to County Executive [Rob] Astorino and the Westchester Board of Legislators for their vote of confidence,” said co-founder of Standard Amusements Nicholas Singer, who sat in the audience as the votes were cast. “This is a wonderful day for Westchester.” On May 2, the Board of Legislators approved the agreement—which has undergone several transformations since its introduction in June 2015— committing the county and its taxpayers to $32 million in capital improvements for the ailing amusement park. The final vote passed by a margin of 13-4. While many legislators from both sides of the political aisle accepted the agreement, touting its pragmatism, Democratic legislators Catherine Parker of Rye, Ken Jenkins of Yonkers, Catherine Borgia of Ossining and Alfreda Williams of White Plains outright rejected it. “When you have a partner, that means you’re sharing in the risk, and sharing in the reward,” Jenkins said at Monday’s meeting. “But if we want to sit here and try to suggest this is a partnership arrangement; our partner is putting up $5 million in four
months, we’re putting up $32 million, tonight… I don’t know what you call that.” The ratified agreement will see Standard expand on its initial investment of $5 million, which will go toward new rides, and eventually invest another $27 million of its own money into the park over the course of a 5-year period. For now, the county will continue to co-manage the park with Standard, and according to county administration officials, the company will take over full control of the park’s management after 50 percent of the county’s agreed to capital investments have been made. Tentatively, the administration has set a date for transition for Nov. 1, 2018. According to the agreement, when the county has expended 50 percent of the $32 million in proposed capital projects, they will also begin sharing 8 percent of Standard’s profits; a number that will incrementally rise to 12 percent by the deal’s end. Projects outlined in the deal include rehabilitation of the park’s shoreline, infrastructure and new rides. Some members of the Democratic caucus have repeatedly warned against the agreement’s lack of profit sharing throughout deliberations, however. “If Standard wants to have a good public-private partnership with the county, they should go back and think about what they could offer,” Parker told the Review last week. A former, more expensive
INSIDE Sports Field Day in Eastchester Story on page 15.
playland continued on page 5