Eastchester REVIEW THE
August 26, 2016 | Vol. 4, Number 35 | www.eastchesterreview.com
Area residents gather to stem opiate use By COREY STOCKTON Staff Writer
OVERHAUL Earlier this month, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino announced that an engineering firm has been selected to oversee various capital projects at Rye Playland, including improvements to rides and infrastructure as well as the potential redevelopment of the historic pool. For more, see page 9. File photo
Bronxville to complete 2-year LED installation downtown By COREY STOCKTON Staff Writer The village of Bronxville expects to finish outfitting the entire downtown area with LED light fixtures—a project that began in 2014—by early September. Village Administrator Jim Palmer said the final leg of the project includes installing 10 teardrop-style light fixtures and 40 14-foot lighting structures throughout downtown. He add-
ed that the teardrop lights, which would be installed over the village’s main crosswalks, would be considerably higher than the 14-foot posts, as crosswalks had been among the most poorly lit areas downtown. By the end of the project, the village will have installed LED technology in each of its 157 downtown streetlights. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, light-emitting diodes, LEDs, use less than 30 percent of the energy used by
traditional incandescent bulbs and have up to 25 times the life expectancy. LED lights are targeted and directional; they don’t waste energy by emitting light and heat in all directions. Palmer told the Review that the old fixtures used too much wattage and did not adequately illuminate the areas for which they were intended, adding that many of them were old and dingy. Those lamp posts, along with the lighting technologies, were replaced.
However, not all lamp posts are new, as some downtown light fixtures have been retrofitted. Palmer said that many of the globe-style light fixtures on the west side of the village were retrofitted with LED lighting. But when the lamp posts were replaced, Palmer said, “The village spent a significant amount of time picking out the pole and the fixture and color to try to maintain consistency.” The fixture installation was LED continued on page 5
A resident-led group in Eastchester has joined forces with police in the town and its constituent villages—Tuckahoe and Bronxville—to establish avenues to educate opiate and heroin users and their families on methods to curb and prevent overdose and addiction. The group’s foremost intention, according to Eastchester Supervisor Anthony Colavita, a Republican, is to offer drug addicts and their families a compilation of the best resources and information available. He added that the group—which has not yet been named—is still in its infancy, but that some of the resources they discussed included websites, links and online lectures. “Our initial perspective was going to be for parents,” Colavita said. “How to tell your child is a user; what to do if you suspect they’re using.” The supervisor added that making these tools available online was a major concern for the group because it would allow drug users and their families to anonymously find help without the fear of stigma. According to Colavita, the group was organized by an area resident, whom he kept anonymous for privacy reasons. Timothy Bonci, chief of the Eastchester Police Department, said the resident contacted him after the most recent overdose in the town in July.
Last month, a 24-yearold Eastchester man, whose name was not released by police, died after overdosing on what was reported by police as an unidentified drug labeled “LOCO,” which was likely sold as counterfeit heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine or opiates. “No community is immune; that’s one thing we all know,” Colavita said. “And by no means are we sticking our heads in the sand and saying, ‘We don’t have a problem here.’” Heroin and opiate-related abuse and overdose have been a growing concern nationwide, but have been a particular focal point in New York state. According to statistics from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, the frequency of heroin-related deaths in New York increased by 144 percent from 2005 to 2014, the last year that data has been made available. In the same timeframe, prescription opioid deaths increased by 43 percent within the state. In June, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, signed legislation to combat the heroin and opioid crisis. The legislation limits the amount of opioid pills that can be prescribed at one time, requires the state commissioner of health to report county level statistics on overdose and overdose reversals, and allows more trained professionals to administer DRUGS continued on page 11
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