RyeCity REVIEW THE
August 12, 2016 | Vol. 4, Number 33 | www.ryecityreview.com
2 proposals to revamp Rye Town Park restaurant By FRANCO FINO Staff Writer
Sea of tranquility Yoga instructor Debbie Bisaccia is bringing support to Westchester veterans with mental illness through the use of stand-up paddleboarding. Bisaccia kicked off her efforts this summer with an event at the Wainwright House in Rye. For story, see page 6. Photo courtesy Debbie Bisaccia
DiNapoli: Mid-Hudson region economy shows strength By SIBYLLA CHIPAZIWA Editorial Assistant The mid-Hudson region is showing economic strength following the recession, but its high cost of living and doing business could obstruct future growth, according to an economic profile released by the Office of the New
York State Comptroller. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a released statement that while the region’s closeness to New York City has helped the economy, it “needs to carefully manage its ongoing need for services and infrastructure improvements given the already high cost of living.”
The mid-Hudson region is made up of the counties of Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Ulster and Sullivan, with a total of 198 municipalities. The biggest highlight of the report is the annual regionwide unemployment rate dropping from 7.6 percent in 2012 to 4.7
percent in 2015. Further, according to the state Department of Labor, the unemployment rate for June 2016 has improved with the mid-Hudson region’s rate averaging out to just below 4 percent, which is lower than the state’s 4.7 percent for the same month. ECONOMY continued on page 9
The Rye Town Park Commission has received two proposals to oversee and manage the park’s restaurant, snack and concession stands, according to park officials. Restaurant proposals, which were due by Aug. 8 following a request for proposals sent out in late June, were submitted by Angelo Liberatore, an operating partner of the Fort Pond Bay Company—which operates Half Moon and Harvest on Hudson in Westchester County, and East by Northeast and The Stone Lion Inn in Montauk—and Sam Chernin and John Ambrose of Seaside Johnnies, Rye Town Park’s current restaurant tenant. While the restaurant, which overlooks Oakland Beach and the Long Island Sound, has become a mainstay for some—it is open seasonally from April until September each year—the current lease agreement with Seaside Johnnies expires at the end of 2016. “I have no reason to think that [Seaside Johnnies] won’t be awarded the contract given the fact that we have been here for 17 years and have vastly improved the park and beach,” Ambrose told the Review. According to the request for proposals, the park commission is seeking to enter into a 10-year license agreement with a private
company under the provision that it renovates and updates the restaurant. The Rye Town Park Commission—which consists of representatives from the city and town of Rye, and the villages of Port Chester, Rye Brook and the Rye Neck section of the village of Mamaroneck—is responsible for setting policy at the park and governing its operations. The park has been around since the early 1900s and includes pavilions, a beach, a duck pond and service facilities; it’s located at 95 Dearborn Ave., off of Forest Avenue in the city of Rye. Although some renovations were done to the restaurant area in 1999, prior to Seaside Johnnies first opening in 2000, whichever company, including Seaside Johnnies, signs a new agreement would be required to improve outdoor lighting, restrooms, heating, cooling and plumbing. Kitchen updates would be mandated as well. According to Rye Town Supervisor Gary Zuckerman, a Democrat and member of the commission, a Westchester County Department of Health inspector recently determined that the restaurant is up to code. “It’s fair to say both applicants are proposing substantial renovations to the restaurant,” Zuckerman said. “Since we only RESTAURANT continued on page 8
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