RyeCity REVIEW THE
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July 24, 2020 | Vol. 8, Number 31 | www.thecityreview.com
As residents and visitors look for safe, fun and delicious options to go out in the wake of Covid-19, Westchester County’s Office of Tourism & Film has created two webpages putting a range of outdoor dining and ice cream options at the tip of your fingers. For more, see page 6. Photo/Antonio Sessa
Westchester County police seize 2 kilos of fentanyl Westchester County police arrested a Connecticut man on a felony drug charge and seized more than two kilos of fentanyl during a traffic stop last week. Orlando Garcia, 42, of Wolcott Street in Waterbury, Connecticut, was charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the first degree following a traffic stop on the Saw Mill River Parkway in Mount Pleasant on July 22. He was also charged with Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Vehicle in the third degree, a misdemeanor. The incident began shortly after 5 p.m. when Garcia was stopped for traffic violations as he drove southbound on the Saw Mill near
county police headquarters in Hawthorne. Garcia was taken into custody when a computer check revealed that his license was suspended and that he had an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court to answer a charge of Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs, a misdemeanor. During subsequent investigation, including the use of narcotics detection canine Philly, officers located a sealed cardboard box in the vehicle containing 4.3 pounds of a substance believed to be fentanyl. Garcia was arraigned in Mount Pleasant Town Court and remanded to the Westchester County Jail in Valhalla. (Submitted)
On July 22, Westchester County police arrested a Orlando Garcia, of Connecticut, on a felony drug charge and seized more than two kilos of fentanyl during a traffic stop.
IHM, Archdiocese file cross claims against Gaynor By MIKE SMITH Sports Editor Over the last two weeks, both the Archdiocese of New York and the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Scarsdale have sought to distance themselves from Edwin Gaynor, the former teacher at the center of an ongoing sexual abuse lawsuit. Since July 15, the Archdiocese and IHM have filed cross claims contending that Gaynor alone should bear full responsibility in the current Child Victims Act suit, and that any financial judgment against the Archdiocese or IHM should fall directly on him. All three parties are co-defendants in the case. “If plaintiff recovers herein, it will be by virtue of the intentional, reckless, careless, negligent, grossly negligent, wanton, willful, malicious, or criminal conduct of defendant Edwin Gaynor and not of IHM, for which IHM demands judgment for contribution and indemnification for any judgment,” reads the claim filed by lawyers for the Scarsdale church. Since November of last year, 21 accusers have come forward with allegations of abuse against Gaynor, now 85, who worked in some capacity for at least three different Westchester parishes from 1959 to 1986. The Archdiocese and IHM—along with Holy Rosary in Hawthorne— are named as co-defendants for their negligence pertaining to Gaynor’s continued employment and their failure to protect children from sexual abuse. Claims by both the Archdiocese and IHM say that any finding for the plaintiffs should be interpreted as a result of Gaynor’s misconduct and not as a result of any wrongdoing or inaction by the other two co-defendants. But the recent filings do not address the allegations of several accusers, who claim
in their lawsuits that church and school officials were repeatedly made aware of Gaynor’s behavior. Six of the 21 accusers contend that either they or their parents alerted school officials about the abuse, only to have their claims dismissed by parish leadership. One anonymous plaintiff claimed he told the Holy Rosary Monsignor about the abuse in 1971, only to be forced to perform three hours of prayer and write “God Loves Me” on a chalkboard 100 times as penance. Another plaintiff, David Fox, recalls telling IHM Msgr. John J. Caldwell, only to be called a “liar” and removed from Caldwell’s office. Dan O’Hare, who replaced Gaynor as the IHM basketball coach and gym teacher around 1967, confirmed in a sworn deposition that he was made aware by a parish priest that Gaynor was removed from his position because he had improperly touched a student. Despite this information, O’Hare admitted that Gaynor’s dismissal was never further addressed by anyone at IHM, even as Gaynor would return to the Scarsdale campus at least once per year in his new capacity as the basketball coach at Holy Rosary. Gaynor would also return to coach at IHM at some point in the 1980s. The co-defendants’ new claims follow numerous failed attempts to limit Gaynor’s involvement in the proceedings. Previously, motions had been filed to strike Gaynor’s written testimony—admitting guilt in two of the cases—from the record, and force him to undergo a competency hearing before being deposed. To date, Gaynor has refused legal counsel representation. CLAIMS continued on 4