WAG Magazine, November 2021

L BUSINESS & LIFESTYLES A C LO

“ YOU’RE ONLY AS OLD AS YOU FEEL.”

— Queen Elizabeth II

Celebrating senior life

JUDGED A

TOP

MAGAZINE

IN NEW YORK STATE 2014, 2015, 2016 2018, 2019

WESTCHESTER & FAIRFIELD LIFE

NOVEMBER 2021 | WAGMAG.COM

FULL TABLE

full heart

Thanksgiving has always been about the tradition of coming together and memorable meals. This year—more than ever—is about the celebration of family and friends, and the joy that togetherness brings.

thankful

THURSDAYS Visit us any THURSDAY IN NOVEMBER to experience redefined senior living. We’ll send you home with a seasonal holiday treat so you can savor the decadent flavors of The Club at Briarcliff Manor.

RSVP AT 914-306-8793 TODAY!

INDEPENDENT LIVING | ASSISTED LIVING | MEMORY CARE 25 SCARBOROUGH ROAD | BRIARCLIFF MANOR, NY 10510 | THECLUBBCM.COM

We are proud to be a happy, healthy and safe community. We are committed to the safety and well-being of our residents and their families. Following the FDA approval of the vaccine, be assured that Senior Lifestyle mandates that all our employees are vaccinated to minimize risk of infection.

To learn more about our best practices, visit seniorlifestyle.com/about/covid-19/

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CONTENTS N OVEM B ER 202 1

8 12 14 18 22 26 32 36 40 44 46 50 54 56 58 60 64

Gracious senior living Fairfield’s myriad senior living communities Helping people age in place Assisted living for those who need it – or just want it Thriving at Wartburg Aging graciously at Waterstone of Westchester A jewel of a store What’s new at The Westchester Retail therapy Coping with lung cancer ‘Smooth’ passage Renaissance man, modern restaurant Downsizing your home Going, going, gone Growing older and wiser Eldercare and the black family The new ‘Liquid Chefs’

THIS PAGE The honor bench dedicated to Marcia Horowitz’s memory, just north of Pilla Landing, overlooking the Hudson River in Tarrytown.

Waterstone of Westchester

SENIOR LIVING

BEYOND EXPECTATIONS

OPENING EARLY 2022 At Waterstone communities, we’re taking senior living to new levels of elegance, engagement and care. Explore our active luxury rental communities where you won’t just live. You’ll thrive. You won’t just come home. You’ll arrive.

WaterstoneWAG.com | 475.441.6845

White Plains | 914.368.7003

Stamford | 475.441.6845

Independent Living I Supportive Care Services by VNS Westchester

Independent Living | Assisted Living Memory Care by Bridges®

WAGGERS T H E TA L E N T B E H I N D O U R PA G E S

Dee DelBello

Dan Viteri

PUBLISHER dee@westfairinc.com

CO-PUBLISHER/CREATIVE dviteri@westfairinc.com

EDITORIAL JENA A. BUTTERFIELD

PHIL HALL

Erin Real MANAGING EDITOR ereal@westfairinc.com

Georgette Gouveia EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ggouveia@westfairinc.com

LAURA JOSEPH MOGIL

ART Dan Viteri CREATIVE DIRECTOR dviteri@westfairinc.com DEBBI K. KICKHAM

WILLIAM D. KICKHAM

BRIDGET MCCUSKER

Sarafina Pavlak GRAPHIC DESIGNER spavlak@westfairinc.com

PHOTOGRAPHY John Rizzo, Bob Rozycki

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Gina Gouveia, Phil Hall, Peter Katz, Debbi K. Kickham, Christina Losapio Doug Paulding, Giovanni Roselli, Bob Rozycki, Gregg Shapiro, Barbara Barton Sloane, Jeremy Wayne, Cami Weinstein, Katie Banser-Whittle

FATIME MURIQI

DOUG PAULDING

JOHN RIZZO

PRINT/DIGITAL SALES Anne Jordan Duffy ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/SALES anne@westfairinc.com Barbara Hanlon, Marcia Pflug MARKETING PARTNERS

GIOVANNI ROSELLI

BARBARA BARTON SLOANE

JEREMY WAYNE

MARKETING/EVENTS Fatime Muriqi EVENTS & MARKETING DIRECTOR fmuriqi@westfairinc.com

Marcia Pflug SPONSORS DIRECTOR mpflug@wfpromote.com

CIRCULATION CAMI WEINSTEIN

Daniella Volpacchio ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER dvolpacchio@westfairinc.com

KATIE BANSER-WHITTLE

Gregory Sahagian ADVISER

WHAT IS WAG?

Billy Losapio ADVISER

Irene Corsaro ADVISER

Some readers think WAG stands for “Westchester and Greenwich.” We certainly cover both. But mostly, a WAG is a wit and that’s how we think of ourselves, serving up piquant stories and photos to set your own tongues wagging.

HEADQUARTERS A division of Westfair Communications Inc., 701 Westchester Ave., White Plains, NY 10604 Telephone: 914-694-3600 | Facsimile: 914-694-3699 Website: wagmag.com | Email: ggouveia@westfairinc.com All news, comments, opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations in WAG are those of the authors and do not constitute opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations of the publication, its publisher and its editorial staff.

No portion of WAG may be reproduced without permission.WAG is distributed at select locations, mailed directly and is available at $24 a year for home or office delivery. To subscribe, call 914-694-3600, ext. 3020. All advertising inquiries should be directed to Anne Jordan at 914-694-3600, ext. 3032 or email anne@westfairinc.com. Advertisements are subject to review by the publisher and acceptance for WAG does not constitute an endorsement of the product or service. WAG (Issn: 1931-6364) is published monthly and is owned and published by Westfair Communications Inc. Dee DelBello, CEO, dee@westfairinc.com

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EDITOR’S LETTER

BY GEORGET TE GOUVEIA

With 90 being the new 80, 80 the new 70 and 70 the new 60, etc. — see the indomitable Queen Elizabeth II, trending as always with Season Four of “The Crown” set to be released on DVD Nov. 2 and Season Five now filming — people want to live as fully as they can as long as they can. Sometimes, that requires assistance in the form of quality care, whose variety in Westchester and Fairfield counties we explore in this our caregiving issue. Peter visits The Bristal, with upscale locations in White Plains and Armonk. Bridget encounters The Osborn, a gracious, 56-acre Neo-Georgian campus in Rye. Jena considers the Wartburg in Mount Vernon, known for its artistic engagement of seniors and the surrounding community. Jeremy previews the tony Waterstone of Westchester, scheduled to open in White Plains early next year.

In Fairfield, Phil offers a selection of 20 senior living locales, from Atria Ridgefield to Waveny in New Canaan. He also plumbs the history of Assisted Living Home Care Services Inc., celebrating 25 years of helping people age in place in Connecticut.

Aging in place is always what Black families have done, out of a multigenerational tradition and a wariness of institutions that have not been representative of, affordable for or straightforward with them. But that is changing — somewhat — as Blacks balance family, careers and caretaking. Abbe Udochi, CEO of Concierge Healthcare Consulting LLC in New Rochelle, joins us for a guest article that reminds us that Blacks are not monolithic any more than white, Hispanic, Asian or Native Americans are. Just as there is diversity among groups, there is diversity within groups.

Sadly, not everyone will live to see his or her golden years. Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the United States (after heart disease), and lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among American men and women. (November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month.) We talk with Aviva C. Berkowitz, M.D., and Mark D. Hurwitz, M.D., both of New York Medical College and Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, about the special requirements for treating lung cancer. And we speak with lawyer Richard S. Cohen, whose wife, Rubenstein publicist Marcia Horowitz, died of pancreatic cancer as the pandemic was breaking in the U.S. last year.

His subsequent memoir, “The Smooth River:

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Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to HMS Ocean in Devonport, England on March 20, 2015 to preside over the rededication of the ship. Photograph by Joel Rouse/ Ministry of Defence.

While Her Majesty, 95, has had to curtail her schedule of in-person events, including the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow and a trip to Northern Ireland, after an overnight hospital stay, she’s resumed her duties, conducting audiences on Zoom. She’s one of many seniors who remain on the job in their golden years. Betty White, 99, has had the longest career in TV, spanning eight decades. Naturalist David Attenborough, 95, is still making documentaries and advocating for environmental reform. Tony Bennett, also 95, set a Guiness World Record for oldest person to release an album when “Love for Sale,” another collaboration with Lady Gaga, debuted Oct. 1. (This despite his having Alzheimer’s.)

Why should the nonagenarians have all the fun?

Westchester resident Ralph Lauren, 82, has reopened Manhattan’s Polo Bar and released three fashion collections while remaining Covid-careful. And Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., 80, remains a controversial face of America’s war on Covid-19.

Finding Inspiration and Exquisite Beauty During Terminal Illness” (Smooth River Inc.) tells the story of how he helped her achieve her goal of living completely until she died.

Elsewhere we lighten up with Jeremy’s take on senior shopping — as many independent living complexes offer shopping excursions as part of their activities — and his looks at D’Errico Jewelry, in a distinctive Swiss chalet-style building on Central Avenue in the Scarsdale zip code; and The Westchester in White Plains, which despite the rise of online shopping and the pandemic, continues to provide us all with some retail therapy as new stores come in.

Jeremy also visits Bistro 12 in Tarrytown,

graced with co-owner Luis Miguel Rodrigues’ vibrant canvases. Cami helps seniors downsize, while Katie tells them how to market some of those treasures they’re ready to part with. Doug discusses what he calls the new “liquid chefs,” who are concocting cocktails just as their counterparts in the kitchen are creating great food recipes.

It’s our hope that our beloved Waggers can offer not only a guide for those seeking care but a respite for caregivers, who need a little TLC themselves. It’s something I know a good deal about — having cared for my aunt, Mary R. Violino, while she died of the effects of her dementia, even as I plunged into a new chapter in my career at Westfair Communications Inc., WAG’s parent company, and rebuilt our house, damaged in the nor’easter of March 2010. My aunt, the love of my life, passed away on Groundhog Day, Feb. 2, 2011.

This is a subject I’ve either alluded to or written about many times over the years, including in these pages, so I won’t repeat myself. But what I will offer those going through similar challenges is this: Caring for my aunt was the most difficult thing I have ever done and the accomplishment I’m proudest of.

To caregivers, I say: Take a breath and a break — when you can, if you can. Enlist any and all the help you can get. Pace yourself — the first advice that WAG’s publisher, Dee DelBello, ever gave me. Caregiving can engender all kinds of resentments. Forgive those you care for. Forgive yourself.

But above all, endure. You’ll be glad you did.

A 2020 YWCA White Plains & Central Westchester Visionary Award winner and a 2018 Folio Women in Media Award Winner, Georgette Gouveia is the author of “Burying the Dead,” “Daimon: A Novel of Alexander the Great” and "Seamless Sky" (JMS Books), as well as “The Penalty for Holding,” a 2018 Lambda Literary Award finalist (JMS Books), and “Water Music” (Greenleaf Book Group). They’re part of her series of novels, “The Games Men Play,” also the name of the sports/culture blog she writes.

Her short story “The Glass Door” was published by JMS and part of “Together apART: Creating During COVID” at ArtsWestchester in White Plains. Her new story, “After Hopper,” is now available from JMS Books. For more, visit thegamesmenplay.com.

Lifestyle

“I am fortunate to live an active but beautifully protected lifestyle in an elegant and first-class community.”

Bobbi H., Edgehill Resident

Gourmet style

High style

Where life meets style To learn more, call 475.242.0704 or visit EdgehillCommunity.com 122 Palmers Hill Road | Stamford, CT

Active style

H

Gracious senior living

BY BRIDGET MCCUSKER

Set on 56 acres in Rye, The Osborn is a fivestar senior living complex founded in 1908 when Miriam Osborn left a portion of her estate to ensure ongoing support and care for senior women. The original Neo-Georgian residence, the main building, is nearly the same as it was when it was first built, although it now includes men, who were allowed into the community in the 1990s.

Nowadays, prospective residents considering The Osborn have a wealth of options, including one- two- or three-bedroom apartments, garden homes, assisted living arrangements, a memory care facility and short- and long-term rehabilitation facilities all on the same campus.

The Osborn has 435 full-time residents and about 40 to 50 short-term rehabilitation patients at any given time. Of the full-time residents, about 188 live independently in the apartments or garden homes, with the additional 97 rental units in the main building made up of 80% assisted living arrangements and 20% independent residential units.

The Osborn’s 84-bed Medicare-certified skilled nursing facility provides both shortand long-term care to on- and off-campus residents. Home care is also offered to residents on campus, with around 75 engaging in those services within their independent units.

Another 75 to 80 receive home care in and around Westchester and Fairfield counties through Osborn Home Care, which provides nursing and companion services to those who wish to age in place.

Regardless of the different types of care offered, The Osborn maintains an ethos of keeping its residents connected to the community.

“I think one of the things that we do that’s important is that we keep people active and engaged and connected,” said Richard Sgaglio, vice president of marketing and development for The Osborn. “A lot of people who move to retirement or senior living communities decide that they want to be involved with something.”

According to Sgaglio, there are many options for residents to stay engaged mentally and physically, including events like concerts, theatrical and dance performances, talks from best-selling authors, art exhibits and cocktail hours.

A program with Manhattanville College in Purchase offers residents the chance to audit classes on the Manhattanville campus or attend lectures from professors on the Osborn campus itself — a verdant space of walkways and gardens that enables residents to engage with the environment and participate in outdoor activities, key in Covid times.

“One of the things that sets us apart from many of the other communities is that 56 acres,” said Christa Picciano Daniello, vice president of sales for The Osborn. “It really makes a huge difference for people to have

The Osborn’s 56-acre Neo-Georgian campus, once part of the estate of founder Miriam Osborn, and its environmental programs help set it apart from other senior living complexes. Photographs courtesy The Osborn.

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Residents engage in plein air painting.

expansive grounds where you can really be outside and take in the beauty of the campus, and there’s not a lot of places that have that, so it’s very special to us.”

The campus is an accredited arboretum, a status it was awarded in 2020, with more than 1,000 trees of 116 different species. Representatives from Rye Nature Center help residents stay in touch with the outdoors at The Osborn, holding events that include expert-led nature walks, tree mapping, tree planting and even tapping for maple syrup.

“When it comes to retirement, I think psychologically, it’s hard for people because they’re leaving their home that they’ve been in for 60 years, their memories and they’re looking at it as a last move, whereas it’s really not. It’s like the next step, the next chapter in life,” said Daniello. “And if you’ve planned right, it can be a really exciting chapter. We had a resident who had just moved in about a month ago, and she said, ‘This is the next chapter, the next exciting chapter of my life.’

That’s exactly how we want people to feel.

And that came directly from a resident moving in, and a week after that we got a call from her and her family thanking us, because she has never been so busy. (Her daughter) said, ‘Unfortunately I can’t get a hold of my mom because she’s been so busy, and I couldn’t be (happier) to say that.’ So those are the things that make you feel really good.”

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Daniello and Sgaglio pointed out another draw of The Osborn — confidence that the facility will be there and deliver as promised throughout a resident’s life, which, these days, can extend longer than ever before.

The Osborn has an A Fitch rating, putting it in the top 3% of facilities from a financial security standpoint, a rarity for senior living communities today, according to Sgaglio.

“We’ve been here for 114 years. We’re not going anywhere,” said Sgaglio. “We’ve been a leader that continues to change with the times but also shows the financial security that people should be looking for.

“A lot of these multisite, corporate senior living facilities that are popping up all over, they’re in a much different financial model,” he added. “They’re about their shareholders and trying to make money, and we’re not.

We’re not for profit, so everything we do centers on the services that we provide to seniors.

So it’s not about us having money that’s invested to our shareholders. We don’t have any. We invest it back into our programs and services and our own financial plan. That’s the difference between going to a senior living community that is for profit versus not for profit.

We are mission-driven; we’re not financially driven.”

Being focused on one site has also proved a great benefit for both leaders of the organization and The Osborn’s residents.

“We don’t need to run through a million different channels (to make a decision),” said Daniello. “For instance … when Covid happened, you might have to go through a bunch of channels to approve changes. But we’re really able to be nimble and involve the residents in a lot of our decision-making because we are a single site….It allows us to really be innovative, to make quick changes and to really keep this campus up to date and beautiful, because we’re focused on it and that’s our only focus.”

According to Sgaglio and Daniello, many residents said they felt safer at The Osborn during the pandemic than they would have felt anywhere else, likely due to the level of care they feel from the staff who work with them every day.

“If you ask our residents what they love the most about The Osborn, many will say it’s the people,” said Daniello. “Our staff is amazing and really care about our residents. They know their names and their likes and dislikes.

Residents often comment that The Osborn staff is like their extended family. There is nothing we won’t go the extra mile for. You will never hear, ‘That’s not my job,’ because our philosophy is it’s all our job. Whether we can do it, or we make sure the person who can do it gets it done, we will get it done.”

For more, visit theosborn.org.

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Fairfield’s myriad senior living communities

BY PHIL HALL

Senior living housing in Fairfield County is as diverse as the county itself, running the gamut from luxurious residential communities to affordable residences for lower-income elders. Some seniors have no problems with independent accommodations while others require varying levels of assistance.

Here is a list of 20 senior living communities across Fairfield County. Some are part of regional or national chains, while others are locally owned and operated.

Combined, they address the health, income and lifestyle needs of the county’s older population.

ATRIA RIDGEFIELD

55 Old Quarry Road, Ridgefield 203-403-0990 | atriaseniorliving.com Atria operates a group of senior residential communities that offers assisted living, independent living and memory care. In addition to Ridgefield, Atria’s Fairfield County presence includes communities in Darien and Stamford.

BRIDGEPORT ELDERLY APARTMENTS

2400 North Ave., Bridgeport 203-338-0573 | bridgeportelderlybc.com Bridgeport Elderly Apartments is comprised of 85 one-bedroom apartments for those who are age 62 or older and/or disabled. Residents have year-round access to a community room and to a courtyard in the warmer months. A full-time resident services coordinator is available to assist residents.

BROOKDALE WILTON

96 Danbury Road, Wilton 203-761-8999 | brookdale.com The Brookdale communities provide assisted living as well as memory care services for seniors with forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. The company has eight Connecticut locations, with the Wilton community its sole presence in Fairfield County.

THE CASCADES ASSISTED LIVING COMMUNITY

13 Parklawn Drive, Bethel 203-830-7390 | cascadesassistedliving.com Located adjacent to Bethel Health Care, this 42unit complex — an affiliate of National Health Care Associates — offers assisted living and independent living opportunities. Residents can select from studio, one-bedroom or two-bedroom apartments, each of which has a kitchenette and a handicap-accessible bathroom. A dining room, fitness center and outdoor patio areas are available.

DANBURY COMMONS

51 Main St., Danbury 203-743-4757 | ownersaffordable.com Danbury Commons provides one- and two-bedroom apartments for the elderly (age 62-plus). This is a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) subsidized property, with the rent and deposit based on income.

EDGEHILL

122 Palmer Hill Road, Stamford 203-204-8449 | edgehillcommunity.com Edgehill is a luxury retirement community for those 62 and over, specializing in independent living, assisted living, memory care and rehabilitative services.

GLADHAVEN CLUB

10 Bishop Drive S., Greenwich 914-939-5842 | gladhavenclub.org Located on the Westchester County-Connecticut border, this family-run, senior independent living residence provides personal care for those who need “just a

little more.” Gladhaven Club is based in a Victorian mansion with authentic period furnishings collected by the owner, Susan Roche. There are nine single and three double rooms with shared or private walk-in baths or showers.

KINGSWAY SENIOR HOUSING

152 Westport Ave., Norwalk 203-847-7027 | kingswayseniorhousing.org Kingsway Senior Housing offers safe, affordable housing to low-income elders age 62 and up. The facility has efficiency-style (smaller than a studio) and one-bedroom apartments, with 22 newly renovated apartments designed and constructed to the most modern standards in handicap accessibility. According to Kingsway’s management, “We are a faith-based community that encourages all residents to live and to age with purpose, dignity and meaning.”

THE LINDEN AT BROOKFIELD

291 Federal Road, Brookfield 203-742-1547 | leisurecare.com/our-communities/ linden-brookfield/ Fairfield County’s newest senior living community, The Linden at Brookfield is scheduled to open in January. This location will be the first Fairfield County location in the Leisure Care Retirement Communities group and will offer personalized independent living, assisted living and memory care services.

MAPLEWOOD AT SOUTHPORT

917 Mill Hill Terrace, Southport 203-418-2202 | maplewoodseniorliving.com This community provides assisted living, independent living and memory care. Maplewood’s Fairfield County communities can also be found in Bethel, Danbury, Darien, East Norwalk and Newtown.

MEADOW RIDGE

100 Redding Road, Redding 203-544-7777 | meadowridge.com This development is part of the Benchmark Senior Living group, offering residents experiences that include active assisted living, independent living, memory care, skilled nursing and respite. In addition to the Redding community, Benchmark has Fairfield County locations in Fairfield, Ridgefield, Shelton, Stamford and Trumbull.

THE RESIDENCE AT SUMMER STREET

14 Second St., Stamford 203-883-1510 | lcbseniorliving.com This community offers assisted living, independent living and memory care. Te Stamford development is part of the LCB Senior Living group, which also has a Fairfield County presence in Darien and Westport.

RIVER VALLEY RETIREMENT COMMUNITY

101 Oakview Drive, Trumbull 203-816-0280 | rlcommunities.com/connecticut/ river-valley-retirement/ This retirement community for those age 55-plus is promoted as being “home to those who relish living

Meadow Ridge in Redding, one of the many senior care facilities in Fairfield County, offers a variety of living experiences. Courtesy Benchmark Senior Living.

a luxurious lifestyle, complete with 24/7 service, resort-style dining, and lavish accommodations.”

The development is the sole Fairfield County location within the Resort Lifestyle Communities group of independent living complexes.

SIMEON VILLAGE

28 Simeon Road, Bethel 203-743-2508 | rms-companies.com/property/ simeon-village/ Owned and operated by the RMS Cos., this 8-acre development offers independent, affordable living for families and individuals over 55. Off-street parking, laundry facilities and 24-hour maintenance are provided.

SPRING VILLAGE AT STRATFORD

6911 Main St., Stratford 203-380-0006 | springvillagestratford.com Spring Village at Stratford is an assisted living community that offers memory and medical care.

It is part of the Woodbine Senior Living group of assisted living developments, which also includes a community in Danbury.

SULLIVAN MCKINNEY ELDER HOUSING

224 Meadowbrook Road, Fairfield 203-259-1991 | ehm.newsam.org/sullivan-mckinney-elder-housing-ehm/ Sullivan McKinney is a 40-unit affordable housing community designed to serve elderly households as defined by the HUD Section 202/8 definitions. All of the units include an electric stove and refrigerator, a full bathroom with tub and shower, individual thermostat controls and cable TV outlets. It is owned and operated by the New Samaritan Corp., a nonprofit provider of affordable senior housing services.

SUNRISE OF STAMFORD

251 Turn of River Road, Stamford 203-968-8393 | sunriseseniorliving.com This is one of two Sunrise communities in the Stamford area offering a variety of care, including assisted living, short-term stays and care for dementia patients.

SUNSHINE SENIOR RESIDENCE

43 Old Logging Road, Stamford 203-517-0440 | sunshineseniorresidence.com The Sunshine Senior Residence group operates five assisted living communities in lower Fairfield County, including this location. The communities are on the smaller side to enable more personalized care, which includes assistance in bathing, personal hygiene, housekeeping, laundry, meal preparation and daily interaction with engaging activities.

THE WATERMARK AT 3030 PARK

3030 Park Ave, Bridgeport 203-374-5611 | 3030park.watermarkcommunities.com The Watermark at 3030 Park is a Continuing Care Retirement Community on a 14-acre campus. It offers independent living and a new state-of-the-art health center featuring private assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing suites.

WAVENY

3 Farm Road, New Canaan 203-594-5200 | waveny.org The Waveny group offers a selection of eldercare choices, ranging from residential options and outpatient programs to community-based services, all customized to meet the varied needs and preferences of older adults and their families.

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Helping people age in place STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH

BY PHIL HALL

In September, Assisted Living Home Care Services Inc. observed its 25th anniversary in business by relocating to a new headquarters complex in Cheshire, Connecticut. According to Chief Operating Officer (COO) Mario D’Aquila, the family-owned senior home care company switched from its longtime setting in Meriden, Connecticut, because “we were expanding our business operations and we really ran out of space. We decided to move to a location where we'd have more options to expand our business for future growth, and Cheshire was the town to do that.”

In this interview with WAG, D’Aquila looks back on Assisted Living Services’ first quarter-century and the more recent challenges it faced by providing eldercare amid a global health crisis.

Congratulations on your 25th anniversary in business. A lot of companies don't last that long. What has been the secret of your success?

“You may want to fact check me on this, but 96% of all businesses fail in the first 10 years — which is astonishing to me, since we have been in business for 25 years.

“I think what got us to this point is the company culture — hiring the right people, keeping people longer and really appreciating staff. Really, it's all about the people — especially if you have good people working for you — and that's the reason why we moved into this for so long.”

What has the past year and a half been like for your company in dealing with the pandemic?

“It’s been a challenge — and that's such an obvious answer, but it’s been a challenge.

However, we've gotten through it by acting quickly and using data to make decisions. It's been a better year for us in 2021, because the vaccines helped us a lot, as well as Covid safety and knowledge. That really helped.”

Were you able to grow the business during the pandemic, or did business decline?

“I wouldn’t say we decreased, but we definitely had a plateau in business right at the beginning, in March and April. Of course, people were nervous to have others in their homes.

However, shortly thereafter, business began to increase with more people wanting to age in place, as opposed to going to a facility like a nursing home.

“Actually, the nursing homes had a really rough year in 2020, because of the fact that congregated living caused a lot of difficulties with Covid. So, people were opting to stay at home, which was part of the reason for why we grew towards the end of 2020 and all the way into 2021, where we're still growing steadily.”

What is on the company’s agenda for 2022?

“In 2022, we're going to be focused on growing our Fairfield County presence even more.

We are in the midst of moving our branch office from the town of Fairfield to Westport, because we also need more space to grow. And

“I THINK WHAT GOT US TO BE TO THIS POINT IS THE COMPANY CULTURE — HIRING THE RIGHT PEOPLE, KEEPING PEOPLE LONGER AND REALLY APPRECIATING STAFF. REALLY, IT'S ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE — ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE GOOD PEOPLE WORKING FOR YOU — AND THAT'S THE REASON WHY WE MOVED INTO THIS FOR SO LONG.”

the Westport office is going to help us be able to serve more of the southern part of Fairfield County easier.

“We're also going to focus on acquisitions of other homecare agencies and businesses similar to us.

A lot of people want to get out of home care right now because of the increasing regulations. However, we're willing to take the challenge and to acquire companies and help them grow.”

For somebody who was looking for the type of services that you offer, why would they want to choose your company as opposed to your competition?

“That's a great question, and I'm going to revert back to how we started the conversation — with our staff.

To have a staff that has been with us for years and years is very important, especially when it comes to health care. And here's why: When somebody is having a person in their home caring for their loved one, they're going to want to know that person has the skills and the duration of time committed to that profession, as well as the commitment to a company.

“On Oct. 14, we invited all of our staff who hit milestones — three years, five years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years — to come and celebrate with us. And we have a few staff that have been here for 20 years. They've been here for a long time and we treated them well — and, in return, they treat the customer well.

And what about yourself? What do you get out of this line of work?

“There are many things that makes this job great, but I think one of them is that it really hits close to home. When I was a child, my grea grandfather had Alzheimer's and we had a caregiver for him — and I always remember her. Ultimately, he did pass, but we were always able to visit him (at) home.

“And what's nice about what we're doing now: I get to kind of relive that kind of moment when I see our clients and our caregivers. And we’re able to help your parent or your grandparents stay home, just like my great-grandfather did. It's nice to have a full circle to really give back to all our clients with our caregivers.”

For more, visit assistedlivingct.com.

Mario D’Aquila, COO of Assisted Living Home Care Services Inc. NOVEMBER 2021 WAGMAG.COM

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Elevate your social calendar.

At Meadow Ridge, you can enjoy engaging

When you are ready to wind down, relax

activities and stimulating lifelong learning

in one of our luxurious apartment homes,

programs with friends every day. Venture

experience gourmet cuisine in our restaurants

beyond the borders of our 136-acre campus

and enjoy peace of mind knowing you have

and you will find shopping, restaurants,

access to world-class care if you need it.

culture, arts and entertainment. The choice is yours.

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Live an elevated life at Meadow Ridge.

To find out more, call 475-889-7120 or visit MeadowRidge.com 100 Redding Road, Redding, CT, 06896 Find us on

17 NOVEMBER 2021 WAGMAG.COM Independent Living | Assisted Living | Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation | Managed by Benchmark Senior Living

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Assisted living for those who need it – or just want it

BY PETER KATZ

The Bristal Assisted Living has 23 communities in the tristate area, including White Plains and Armonk. Ultimate Care Management, a division of Engel Burman, provides oversight and guidance for the communities, with each led by an executive director who is supported by a team that includes directors of community relations, case management, wellness, recreation and more. Besides opening communities on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and in Bethpage on Long Island, The Bristal is set to begin construction on its first location in Florida in 2022.

Recently, Maryellen McKeon, senior vice president of operations for Ultimate Care Management, took some time to answer our questions: 1. Tell us a little about the history of The Bristal.

“Our first community opened in East Meadow in 2000 and from there grew to 23 communities across Long Island, Westchester, Manhattan and northern New Jersey. Each community offers a unique atmosphere but delivers the same excellent care that residents and their families have come to depend on.”

2. Who is The Bristal designed for?

“The Bristal Assisted Living is for seniors who can live on their own but either choose not to or require a little assistance each day.

Residents in an assisted living community don’t require the medical attention that nursing homes provide but might need help with common daily activities like bathing, dressing or use assistance with managing medications.

The Bristal offers individualized care plans, which are adjusted as needs change — allowing residents to age in place.”

3. How can moving to The Bristal benefit not only seniors but their families?

“Residents are often relieved at the freedom they experience after moving to The Bristal. Daily chores like cooking and housekeeping are no longer a worry, which frees them to spend their time as they wish. There are numerous activities, including cultural programs, lectures and community outings that are both enriching and engaging. Families are provided with peace of mind knowing that their loved one is in a safe environment with a caring, compassionate team ready to provide assistance when needed. There are different types of physicians, a lab and pharmacy and even an X-ray company that come to The Bristal as a courtesy to their patients, thus eliminating the need for family to make appointments and take residents out for these services.”

4. What kinds of services are offered?

“The Bristal offers numerous upscale amenities that include three gourmet meals per day, daily housekeeping service, weekly linen service, an on-site cinema and hair salon and scheduled transportation to local stores, museums, restaurants and more. Help with everyday tasks like bathing, dressing and medication management is also available when needed. Each of The Bristal communities has a private neighborhood called Reflec-

The Bristal White Plains’ common areas. Photographs courtesy The Bristal.

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The Bristal Armonk.

tions — a highly customized and individually paced memory care program that specializes in helping aging adults manage Alzheimer’s disease and other memory-related cognitive disorders.”

5. Describe a typical day.

“Every day is different at The Bristal, which is one of the things residents love most. There is a daily calendar of activities scheduled all throughout the day. From morning exercise classes each day to movies in the cinema or an afternoon game of mahjong or bingo, there’s something for everyone. In addition to the daily programs, there could be a trip to a local farm stand for seasonal produce and flowers or there might be a lecture delivered by a local expert on a topic selected by residents. We offer a wide variety of activities on any given day led by our director of recreation, and residents are free to participate in as many as they wish.”

6. What about the food?

“The Bristal recognizes the important role that food plays in our residents’ physical and mental well-being. Our food services teams create gourmet meals using locally sourced ingredients whenever possible. From fluffy omelets to melt-in-your-mouth brisket, our teams deliver meals that are meant to be savored while talking with friends. Our registered dietician works with our director of food services at each community to ensure that our meals are both nutritious and delicious.

We also support special diets like gluten-free, no-added-salt and heart-healthy. For residents

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that have difficulty chewing or swallowing we offer mechanically altered diets. Our food services team members have received extensive training to ensure residents on mechanically altered diets have the same dining experience as other residents.”

7. What have your tenants told you they like most about The Bristal?

“Residents choose The Bristal because of the luxury lifestyle we offer and the close proximity to family and friends. However, they are often surprised at how seriously we take their needs and preferences into consideration. The Bristal believes that we are at our best when every individual is given the opportunity to shine. Whether it is forming a knitting group to make hats for premature infants or starting a photography club, our team members encourage and support residents as they pursue the things they enjoy most.”

8. How did Covid affect operations?

“From the beginning of the pandemic, The Bristal worked closely with the state and local departments of health along with implementing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines to help ensure resident and staff safety. As you can imagine, many services required adjusting — including dining and recreation. Our team members rose to the challenge, thinking of creative ways to maintain a high level of service while adhering to newly implemented safety protocols. They are truly extraordinary, and the pandemic reinforced just how lucky we are to have them.”

9. What lessons have you learned and which have been rolled into post-Covid policies?

“The Bristal has infection control policies and procedures that have always been in place. The Covid-19 pandemic brought with it a new set of challenges, so our established procedures were revised to include guidance and directives issued by the CDC and state Department of Health specific to this new disease. One of the most important things that this pandemic revealed, though, was the dedication and commitment of our outstanding staff. They are truly the unsung heroes. The team worked tirelessly and selflessly, answering the call to assist others without the need for fanfare. They responded to crisis with quiet determination that the task at hand might incur risk but their actions would benefit the residents they serve. It’s an honor for me to take every possible opportunity to commend their quiet heroism.”

10. What does The Bristal see for its future and the future of the aging process in America?

“As more individuals are living longer, the need for senior living communities continues to grow. A recent report from the Administration for Community Living estimates that a majority of adults 65 years and older have nearly a 70% chance of needing some type of long-term care. Assisted living communities like The Bristal are critical in providing a safe environment that allows seniors to thrive during the golden years.”

ADVANCING HEART CARE. HERE. This is the health network that brings you a heart network.

Here you will find techniques, technology and talent — everything your heart needs at any age — without leaving the Hudson Valley.

■ Technology to stop a heart attack in its tracks, including a new catheterization and electrophysiology lab at HealthAlliance Hospital in Kingston – the first in Ulster County. Our diagnostic cath lab at MidHudson Regional Hospital re-opens soon in Poughkeepsie.

■ Emergency departments equipped with sophisticated imaging technology to quickly identify and manage emergencies, including at hospitals Bon Secours Community in Port Jervis, St. Anthony Community in Warwick, and Margaretville Hospital.

■ Minimally-invasive bypass surgery for blocked arteries as well as valve procedures, including transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla and Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern.

■ Full range of care for infants, children and teens for acquired and congenital heart diseases, based at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital. We also treat conditions diagnosed before birth.

■ An organ transplant program, based at Westchester Medical Center, that is ranked in the world’s top quarter for the number of annual heart transplants. Innovations such as “beating heart” technology, make more hearts viable for transplant, so more people can receive a new heart sooner.

When you need to Advance Heart Care.

You can do it Here.

To learn more about services, consultations, and clinical trials, visit wmchealth.org/heartcare

The arts are a big part of life at Wartburg in Mount Vernon. Photographs 22 Wartburg.

WAGMAG.COM NOVEMBER 2021 courtesy

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Thriving at Wartburg

BY JENA A. BUTTERFIELD

Tucked away behind a residential neighborhood in Mount Vernon, life abounds on a bucolic campus with a storied past.

Wartburg is an innovative senior facility at the forefront of intergenerational living. It offers assisted and independent living residences (including pet friendly accommodations) as well as nursing home, palliative and hospice care.

There are short-term inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation facilities with a real-life apartment and a car where people practice daily routines like unloading a dishwasher or navigating a bathtub or vehicle. There are both medically based or companion homecare services, adult day care and support groups for caregivers. Wartburg is also in the process of building a memory-care center.

“We are considered a continuum of care,” Rose Cappa-Rotunno, vice president of institutional advancement, says of the full spectrum of services available at Wartburg. The multilayered environment contributes to a vibrant campus, but there’s also a special magic that is unique to this facility. It comes from a host of caring people who are bucking convention and thinking outside the box.

Wartburg has, it seems, always been in the caring business. The verdant 34-acre woodland campus was founded in 1866 as The Wartburg Orphans’ Farm School, a home for orphaned children of the Civil War. In response to the changing needs of its aging orphan residents more than 30 years after its founding, Wartburg (named for the castle in Germany where religious reformer Martin Luther once sought refuge) increased its services and began housing seniors. By 1969, Wartburg was the first institution in Westchester County to provide three levels of elder care — independent, intermediate and nursing home. Over time, Wartburg has morphed into the senior facility it is today, one focused on creativity and community.

“We want to make Wartburg feel like a center for music and art,” says Cappa-Rotunno.

“It’s so, so beautiful here. People say ‘Wow, I didn’t know this was back here.’ We want to encourage people to come use the campus.”

The expansive grounds inspire creative programming, helping to entice the community at large. To that end, the team at Wartburg set out to create "community days" that take full advantage of the property’s natural grandeur.

When summer hits, the syncopated drumbeats and soulful sounds of “Jazz in June” emanate from a stage set up on the property. For “Music Under the Stars,” doo-wop tunes provide the soundtrack for a classic car show. At the Coffee House Music Festival, people sip java and take in a concert of alternative rock and indie music. During Music on the Meadow, community members, many sprawled out on picnic blankets, mingle with residents.

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Photographs courtesy Wartburg.

And at the annual Fall Festival, children play, local vendors sell their wares and the farmers’ market is full of pumpkins.

The festivals reflect a history steeped in music and performance as well as caring. At the end of the 19th century, Wartburg founded the Boys’ Band, which over the next several decades went on to perform concerts throughout the Northeast. (It would eventually include girls.) Since 2017, Wartburg has partnered with the nonprofit Institute for Music and Neurological Function (IMNF), which conducts research, education and training programs using music therapy for people with a wide range of neurological conditions.

Wartburg was featured on PBS’ “The Visionaries” series, hosted by actor Sam Waterson (“Law and Order”) in an episode that exhalted the facility’s concept of creative aging.

“They have discovered something truly awe-inspiring,” Waterson said in his introduction. “It is this: Joy is a byproduct of the creative process. If you do something new — paint, dance, even something as simple as beating on a drum, those vibrations fill the room and they feel like joy.”

Launched in 2009, Wartburg’s internationally recognized Council for Creative Aging & Lifelong Learning Program — the focus of “The

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Visionaries’” episode — was created to offer more art-based therapies for residents on all spectrums of cognitive and physical abilities.

A network of enthusiastic volunteer professionals head programs on everything from music and dance therapy to quilting, writing, painting, ceramics and oral histories. There’s a free, community-based choir, puppetry with students from Sarah Lawrence College in neighboring Yonkers and African-drumming sessions led by skilled musicians.

Wartburg will also be collaborating with local artists to create rotating exhibits in the nursing home for an array of visual stimulation as well as a chance for the artists to exhibit and sell their work.

All of these efforts contribute to a festive, life-affirming atmosphere, full of artists and community members, college students and children.

During the pandemic, while indoor programs that rely heavily on outsiders are on brief hiatus, the beauty of the campus has been used more than ever. Residents head outdoors for music programs, barbecues and outdoor painting sessions.

In the early days of Wartburg, the vast grounds also included farmland where fresh produce and dairy were sourced for nutritious meals. To honor that vestige of the past

and take advantage of the land, Wartburg is in the process of obtaining funding for a community garden not only to create fresh produce but to draw in volunteers. “There’s always been something growing here,” Cappa-Rotunno says.

Residents of Wartburg may even get a chance to rub elbows with celebrities.

“We have had the campus used in several productions,” including the recent CBS series “Madam Secretary.” (Wartburg has also been scouted by the network’s “FBI: Most Wanted.”) “I think having activities like that makes it exciting to live here,” Cappa-Rotunno adds.

To reinforce the intergenerational living model, Wartburg has forged partnerships with youth organizations like the Youth Shelter Program of Westchester Inc. and collaborates with a number of institutions of higher learning. Besides Sarah Lawrence, these include Mercy College, Monroe College and Westchester Community College.

It all adds up to the wider community’s commitment to life and joy as it cares for its elders.

“And If you happen to outlive your resources, we don’t kick you out,” Cappa-Rotunno says. “It is our mission to take care of the people entrusted to us.”

For more, visit wartburg.org.

Orthopedic precision.

ON DISPLAY IN THE ART STUDIO.

You’re looking at the result of a recent wrist surgery performed by an ONS fellowship trained hand surgeon. The procedure wasn’t based only on the mechanics of the hand, but on the patient’s own input. It’s orthopedic medicine that adapts to your lifestyle. Not the other way around.

A more personal road to recovery.

CONVENIENT LOCATIONS

FAIRFIELD & WESTCHESTER COUNTIES ONDMD.com | In network with all major insurances.

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Aging graciously at Waterstone of Westchester

BY JEREMY WAYNE

The covers are almost off at Waterstone, the swanky new senior independent living community in White Plains, which is slated to open early in 2022.

Designed for those age 62 and over, the six-story Waterstone is a luxury hotel-style community, sitting on almost three acres along Bloomingdale Road, within walking distance of downtown shopping and restaurants. Whole Foods Market and The Cheesecake Factory will be pretty much on the doorstep, and The Westchester, White Plains’ posh shopping mall (page36,) is little more than five minutes’ easy saunter away, so that – with the notable exception of an easily “walkable” pharmacy – there will be ample shopping and dining opportunities for most of Waterstone’s lucky residents.

An exterior rendering of Waterstone of Westchester.

Courtesy Elkus, Manfredi Architects Ldt., Boston.

With 132 beautifully appointed apartments, residents will also enjoy a full array of exceptional amenities, including a movie theater, fitness center, indoor pool, lobby bar, art studio and salon. Waterstone will also boast an on-site concierge, along with covered parking and a chauffeured black-car service. And on the dining front, in addition to all the many local restaurants, residents can look forward to high-end cuisine served in a variety of on-site outlets, prepared by professional chefs fully in tune with the culinary zeitgeist of farm to table and local, seasonal ingredients.

John Martin, principal at Elkus Manfredi Architects Ltd., the Boston firm that designed Waterstone of Westchester, says that “the project aimed to meet the needs of the growing number of seniors who want to remain local.”

It’s the latest independent senior living community created by Epoch Senior Living, National Development, a leader in the field. Originating and still based in Massachusetts — the first community, in Wellesley, opened in 2012 — Epoch now operates 12 senior living communities with four more under development.

The Westchester County site is the company’s first independent senior living community in New York state.

Epoch President and CEO Larry Gerber was a former CEO of Berkshire Group, which specializes in multifamily and health-care properties. His other business was Harborside Healthcare, a nursing home company. In a recent phone conversation, Gerber explained how a long process of “creeping incrementalism” dovetailed neatly into building and operating senior living communities — quite literally for the next generation.

In the late 1990s, Gerber said, assisted living was an emerging business. Gerber recognized that it was a “fabulous product,” one that helped seniors live more independent, dignified, high-quality lives, in many cases at lower costs than people were paying in traditional, full-nursing facilities. “I realized that people should be in the least medical, least institutionalized setting where they can (still) live safely and comfortably.”

The other key factor — a cornerstone of Waterstone and an increasing number of senior communities — is the rental model. In typical retirement communities, incoming residents pay an entrance fee, which in Westchester, for instance, might easily be $1 million or more, and which usually means selling your principal property. The investment is in reality a long-term loan, said Gerber, which ties up a lot of capital, doesn’t bear interest and often re-

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quires the resale of the unit for its repayment.

Rental agreements, by contrast, are subject only to 60 days’ notice, so if you don’t love Waterstone — though it’s hard to imagine at this point what’s not to love — it’s easy to pick up and leave. (Put another way, “you’re not going to lose $100,000 and wait a year to get it back,” Gerber said.)

Back at the site itself, apartments will offer multiple floor plan designs and feature highend finishes. Units include designer kitchens with stainless steel appliances, well-appointed bathrooms, tile floors and walk-in showers, individually controlled heating and cooling systems, spacious walk-in closets and a washer/ dryer. The beautiful common areas, designed to feel like a luxury, five-star hotel, will open onto a landscaped terrace and provide for social interaction with residents and visitors.

Another plus for Waterstone is its partnership with the neighboring Visiting Nurse Services in Westchester Inc. (VNS), which provides nursing care on an as-needs basis and which will have an office situated within the complex to offer services to residents. A whole range of amenities, including postoperative care and physical therapy, will therefore be available right in the building, with private care aid available from another company with its office downstairs. In this way, residents can enjoy independent living (as opposed to full-service assisted living,) for as long as pos-

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WITH 132 BEAUTIFULLY APPOINTED APARTMENTS, RESIDENTS WILL ALSO ENJOY A FULL ARRAY OF EXCEPTIONAL AMENITIES, INCLUDING A MOVIE THEATER, FITNESS CENTER, INDOOR POOL, LOBBY BAR, ART STUDIO AND SALON. WATERSTONE WILL ALSO BOAST AN ON-SITE CONCIERGE, ALONG WITH COVERED PARKING AND A CHAUFFEURED BLACKCAR SERVICE.

A view of Waterstone of Westchester, as seen from Bloomingdale Road, White Plains. Courtesy Elkus, Manfredi Architects Ldt., Boston.

sible, paying only for those services they may require.

But at the end of the day, it’s social interaction that is key, Gerber said, adding that numerous studies have shown that social isolation facilitates a decline in mental capability.

“We talk about the care and the great meals we’re providing, but we don’t talk enough about lifestyle and the psychological benefits.”

He passionately believes that companionship is the most important thing that Waterstone offers. “As you age, your options become fewer,” he said. “First, you give up driving at night and then you don’t drive at all. Friends move away — or pass away. You say to yourself, ‘I’m going to stay in my house. It’s where I raised my children,’ and then gradually you become more and more isolated.”

At Waterstone, Gerber said, residents can go out to dinner every single night without making complicated plans or having to get into a car, they can go shopping or to a doctor’s appointment and they can have Waterstone drive them.

“Having friends and activities and something to do every day is huge in terms of psychological well-being,” said Gerber, who added that “helping people get the best out of their later years” is what drives him. “It’s so much better than staying in your house and watching television.”

For more, visit waterstonesl.com.

Since 1992, Hospice of Westchester and our staff, with their exceptional skill and extraordinary care, have guided our patients and their families along their most important journey by providing physical, emotional, medical and spiritual end-of-life care.

Compassionate services are offered to children and adults diagnosed with any life-limiting illness wherever they reside– in their private residence, in a skilled nursing facility, or an assisted living facility. We offer bereavement services to family members and caregivers for up to 13 months following the loss of their loved one. Our programs can bring significant relief to our patients and their families for months, not just weeks or days. We often hear people say they wish they would have called us sooner… so we are glad you’re learning about us now.

“At Hospice, our focus shifted from trying to extend Mom’s life to trying to ensure that it was as comfortable and dignified as possible for as long as possible.”

“I find having reflexology sessions weekly relaxes me from my feet to the top of my head.”

“Losing our son, Michael, so soon after his birth was an extremely painful experience for my husband and me. We were fortunate to have the support and care from Hospice of Westchester.”

“By having my husband at home, I could be with him all the time. Our children, our grandchildren, our friends could visit at any time. It was a very special time for us to be able to be with him.”

Hospice of Westchester 1025 Westchester Avenue • Suite 200 • White Plains, NY 10604 914-682-1484 • www.hospiceofwestchester.org NOVEMBER 2021

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Post-Hospitalization, Why You May Need Sub-Acute Care The experts at United Hebrew of New Rochelle’s 5-Star short-stay rehabilitation facility explain. Here’s what you need to know, and why it’s important to do your research now.

What if you have been hospitalized for an extended period of time due to surgery, illness or injury and are ready to be discharged, but are not fully recovered?

Now what?

Increasingly, surgeons, physicians and rehabilitation experts are recommending you stay in a sub-acute care facility. Why? Whether you are recovering from a fall, medical condition, surgery or severe injury, this type of care post-hospitalization is recognized as an important step in the journey to recovery.

Since the terms “sub-acute” and “acute care” are still gaining awareness, many patients and family members are unsure of the level of care they need after they’ve been discharged from the hospital. Typically offered in licensed skilled nursing facilities, sub-acute care offers you complete inpatient care if you have experienced a variety of conditions: a cardiac episode or stroke, joint replacement surgery, a brain or spinal cord injury, or severe Covid-19. Not only does it promote healing and self-care once you can safely return home, it also helps prevent hospital readmission.

A BRIDGE FROM HOSPITAL TO HOME Long-term hospitalization can be challenging for most people, especially older adults. According to Kelsey Treveloni, DPT, a physical therapist at United Hebrew of New Rochelle’s short-term rehabilitation center, “Older adults are usually considered at risk of falls when they are hospitalized based on their age, medications they may be taking, or having a previous history of falls. As a result, they are essentially immobilized for a long period of time, which can cause functional decline.”

So, sub-acute care serves as an important bridge between a hospital stay and the return to home. For older adults, it helps them regain function and mobility to prevent a fall or injury going forward.

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“We find that there’s a lot of confusion about what’s better — sub-acute or acute care, which is often provided at a hospital.

With acute care, the therapy regimen is typically three hours every day, versus two 45-minute therapy blocks in sub-acute care with rest periods in between.”

So, while a “more-is-better” mentality might lead some to assume that acute care is the best route, that is not the case for older adults. “Sub-acute care offers the same quality of therapy, but the different frequency helps older adults tolerate the therapy better, which is very important in recovery,” says Treveloni.

In addition to licensed physical, occupational and speech therapists who provide therapy to increase strength and functioning, sub-acute facilities offer advanced medical services, including wound management, pain management and respiratory care.

FINDING A HIGH-QUALITY CARE FACILITY Key industry rankings, such as a 5-Star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and “High Performing” status from U.S. News & World Report, are important indicators of a facility’s quality.

United Hebrew of New Rochelle has earned both. It’s also wise to ask around for recommendations. “Word of mouth can be

very useful in helping you find a facility you can trust,” says Treveloni.

It’s important to look for a facility which employs its own full-time therapists and has a reputation for excellence.

“Some facilities contract with therapists, or have per diem staff,” notes Treveloni.

“But having a dedicated team offers continuity that’s essential for high-quality care. At United Hebrew of New Rochelle, for example, we employ full-time therapists, we know our residents and their whole plan of care very well. In addition, our therapists are trained by Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, and we’re ranked among the best facilities in the nation. So, not only are we skilled in dealing with an elderly population, we have the expertise that comes from being trained at a world-class facility.”

For more information on sub-acute care or short-term rehabilitation, feel free to reach out to our experts at United Hebrew. “The choice for sub-acute care or short-term rehabilitation is usually one that’s made quickly, due to an unforeseen hospitalization,” notes Treveloni. “So doing your homework now to understand your best options for quality care, close to home, is important.”

United Hebrew is located at 391 Pelham Road in New Rochelle. Contact us at 914632-2804 or uhgc.org.

CONGRATULATIONS

Skilled Burke Therapists and State-of-the-Art Equipment Set Us Apart.

Welcome to United Hebrew, the most comprehensive senior care campus in Westchester County. Here you’ll find innovative and high-tech solutions for your loved one’s needs, along with a compassionate and highly-trained staff, nationally recognized for quality care.

Westchester’s first choice for short-term rehab and senior care. Take a Tour Today.

uhgc.org 914-632-2804

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Richard and Sal D’Errico.

Photographs by Rick Daley.

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A jewel of a store

BY JEREMY WAYNE

Richard and Sal D’Errico started their careers selling jewelry from their shared bedroom in their parents’ house in the Bronx, until one day their mother said enough was enough and told them they would have to find a place of their own.

They did — across the street, a single-family house, which the family bought and split into two apartments, with a jewelry store in the converted garage for the boys.

That was nearly 40 years ago. Today, their business is well-established, in the alpine chalet-like store and workshop that has become something of a landmark on Central Avenue in the Scarsdale zip code. WAG recently caught up with the brothers to learn more about their adventures in the jewelry trade and how the business is looking today.

After working for a manufacturer in New York City, where they learned their skills, their bedroom boutique and then the garage store, Richard and Sal opened a larger jewelry store in a strip mall in Pelham in 1988. They developed their “while-you-wait” and “while-youwatch” service, which still continues today. Sal says, “people really started to like us. Richard became the master mechanic and master designer, putting the jewelry together, and I was better at finance and with people. That’s really how our ‘marriage’ began.”

But the store was in a strip mall and despite the upscale sign, the good lighting and the attractive window display, the drab location no longer chimed with the sparkling product. Their aim was to move further north and find somewhere where they could build a free-standing store and studio, a site with its own parking lot, where customers could stay as long as they wanted. “The parking was important. I can’t tell you how many customers’ parking tickets I paid,” Sal says with a grin.

They opened their Central Avenue store — with abundant free parking — in 1998, building it from scratch on an empty lot. Thinking about what style of building they wanted, the one thing they knew for certain was that it had to stand out from the rest. “Every building seemed to be brick or stucco and they all looked the same,” Sal says. “We wanted something that would look ‘hand-made,’ just like the jewelry. As it turned out, we ended up with a really big jewelry box and now we make the jewelry inside it.”

Richard likens the actual making of jewelry to building a house, with seven distinct trades going into the process. Just inside D’Errico’s door sits Anton Deblauwe, the designer. “Anton’s job,” Richard says, “is to get what’s in the customer’s mind on to a piece of paper.” Of course, the customer doesn’t always know what’s in his or her mind, but Anton, with his

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D’Errico’s Jewelry, interior.

sketches, graphics and models, is there to help.

Once the design is on paper, it goes to the 3D printer, an invaluable addition to the process since the firm bought it around four years ago. Then the design is cast in metal in a process called lost-wax casting. Next, the cast goes to the goldsmith, who files, cleans and details the casting and sends it on to the finishing room, where the piece is pre-polished. It then goes to the setter for the stone to be placed and lastly gets a final polish – all ready if it’s an engagement ring, for the bride’s big day. At the back of the building, meanwhile, is the gem-lab, Sal’s domain, where he introduces new clients to the complex world of diamonds. Usually, when engagement ring customers come in, Sal says, it’s the largest amount of money they’ve ever spent on an item of jewelry. Instead of setting out rings and stones and overwhelming them in the front of the store, Sal likes to step up to them quietly.

“I ask if I can steal them for five minutes and I bring them back here — make them feel nice and comfortable out of the showroom — and give them a crash course.”

With no jewelry around, he runs through the four Cs (the essential qualities to look for in a diamond, namely cut, color, clarity and carat — or weight). “I give them a little one-on-one diamond education and explain why one diamond might be prettier, why one might cost more, and it really helps them make a better decision. By the time we get out of this room,

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after 15 or 20 minutes, we’re all on a first-name basis. We’ve built a rapport.”

Gay couples too, of course, buy wedding jewelry. Sal says that guys tend to go for wedding bands more than for stones, although by no means exclusively. Female couples, he says, often like both — an engagement ring and a wedding band. “Well, we love that,” he says with a smile.

Since D’Errico’s is a full-service jeweler, more than half their customers come in just for service and repairs, and that’s fine, too.

“We do simple things like a watch battery, all the way up to ‘fabulous’,” Sal says. And while D’Errico’s specializes in wedding jewelry, it makes all other kinds of jewelry, too. The store runs the gamut, from silver, to colored gemstones to high-end fashion jewelry.

D’Errico’s also does a lot of repurposing.

Unfashionable pieces that may have been inherited from a parent or grandparent can be transformed — keeping both the gemstones and the metal — into a lighter piece or pieces that speak more to the customer and the times. “Kids today want to wear jewelry and enjoy it, not keep it in a safe-deposit box,” Sal says.

Such is D’Errico’s reputation that customers come from all over — from Yonkers and the Bronx to the River Towns to northern Westchester. Now those up-county and in Fairfield County have their own D’Errico’s.

The brothers opened their smaller Mount

Kisco store in 2008.

Back in the gem-lab, Sal further elaborates: “We learned on the bench, behind the scenes — how to make, how to melt, how to make the metal flow and how to set the gemstones. But the customer service — I think that came from our parents. They taught us how to be kind and how to be polite. I always say you have two ears and one mouth, so you should listen more than you talk.”

He also mentions that the business has weathered the pandemic well, as people are still getting married but have been travelling less overseas or on expensive trips. They also haven’t even been going in to New York City and have been shopping locally. The highend jewelry business in general has proved surprisingly resilient to the internet since, as Sal points out, “it’s very difficult to buy a gemstone on a computer.” He says customers need to appreciate the true look and size and feel of a piece.

It’s hard to argue with that. And with Richard and Sal D’Errico’s sunny dispositions at the fore, and the almost palpably happy vibe you feel on entering their premises, it’s not hard to fathom why new customers keep discovering the stores and old ones keep coming back.

Perhaps Sal sums it up best: “If you’re in a jewelry store, life’s not so bad,” he says.

For more, visit derricojewelry.com

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W

What’s new at The Westchester

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY JEREMY WAYNE

Bricks-and-mortar retail stores, we’re told, are in a dreadful state.

But while a number of stores remain shuttered, some permanently, at The Westchester in White Plains — doublewhammy victims of the unstoppable rise of internet shopping and the advent of Covid-19 — it’s by no means all doom and gloom at the luxe mall. Indeed, just the reverse.

WAG recently caught up with Maria Gregorius, The Westchester’s dynamic incoming director of marketing, to see why The Westchester is hot to trot.

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What’s the atmosphere in The Westchester right now? Are shoppers shopping with confidence or is it just the intrepid few?

“People crave connecting in real life, especially considering the pandemic, and find joy in discovering the new and different. It’s great to see shoppers out and about discovering the new and exciting retailers we’ve recently added to the center.”

Is shopping a markedly different experience for the shopper now than it was pre-Covid? If so, how?

“Many of our retailers are now offering curbside pickup, which provides a very convenient option for our shoppers. We’ve reopened Play, our children’s play area, and the Connect lounge, which provides entertainment with a large television screen, lounge seating, charging stations and meeting tables. Savor Food Hall has stayed open, and we find that many of our shoppers enjoy sitting out on the patio while eating meals.”

Any special protocols to mention (such as, does The Westchester, or do the individual stores, have a common mask policy)?

“Some retailers are restricting the number of shoppers in their store to maintain a safe social distance.”

Many stores are shuttered or have sadly closed for good. Was it Covid that did them in or were other market forces at work?

“Some stores have closed but what’s great is that it has given other retailers the opportunity to open and we’ve had a lot of exciting activity at the center and will continue to throughout the next year.”

Obviously, you don't have favorites, but please share with readers three new or newish stores you’re really excited about.

“We’ve had many exciting, new stores recently open. Judith Ripka (gold and sterling silver jewelry) opened this past summer.

Forever 21 (leading fashion retailer) and Direct Kicks (a locally owned premium sneaker boutique) opened in September — and Neuhaus Belgian Chocolate. And Moose Knuckles (innovative outerwear for the coldest temperatures) has opened within the past few days.”

Enticing offerings at The Westchester include Judith Ripka, Moose Knuckles, Neuhaus Chocolates, Bang and Shake Shack, the last two being in the Savor Food Hall.

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What’s new or exciting at the food court?

“The newest addition to Savor Food Hall is Shake Shack, which has been very popular.

Shake Shack serves delicious and high-quality burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, frozen custard, shakes, fries and more. Our other food offerings in Savor Food Hall include Bang, Melt Shop, The Little Beet and Bluestone Lane.”

What exciting new initiatives can we expect in the next 12 months, Covid-permitting?

“For the holiday season, we will have a brand-new, elegant Santa set that includes a gorgeous LED walk-in ornament with seven beautifully decorated trees, over a dozen gift boxes, rolls of synthetic snow and Santa’s bench, which will provide for a wonderful photo experience. Santa arrives on Nov. 12.”

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“PEOPLE CRAVE CONNECTING IN REAL LIFE, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE PANDEMIC, AND FIND JOY IN DISCOVERING THE NEW AND DIFFERENT. IT’S GREAT TO SEE SHOPPERS OUT AND ABOUT DISCOVERING THE NEW AND EXCITING RETAILERS WE’VE RECENTLY ADDED TO THE CENTER.” ­— Maria Gregorius

Lastly, can you tell us about some stores what will be launching soon?

“Of course. Sunglass Hut opened their newly built flagship store on Oct. 22. Fabletics (high-quality fitness apparel) will open in early November. Aerie (activewear, underwear and swimwear) is coming in early November. Levi’s will open in mid-November and Therabody (a wellness brand, which makes incredible ‘percussive massage guns’) will open in early December.

Lastly, there’s Arhaus, a purveyor of luxury furnishings with a global perspective opening next year, and we look forward to that opening.”

For more, visit simon.com/mall/ the-westchester. And for more on The Westchester’s Covid policies, visit healthsafetyfirst.splashthat.com/localhomepages.

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WESTFAIRONLINE.COM

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Clockwise from top, Bloomingdale’s White Plains. The Ambassador Scarsdale. Photographs by Jeremy Wayne.

Atria Rye Brook.NOVEMBER Courtesy Atria2021 Rye Brook.

WAGMAG.COM

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Retail therapy

BY JENA A. BUTTERFIELD

A visit to Trader Joe’s, T.J. Maxx and Marshalls might be a typical afternoon’s circuit on the regular Thursday shopping trips for residents of The Ambassador Scarsdale, a senior living community on the Scarsdale / White Plains border. They are discerning shoppers – the orchids at Trader Joe’s are currently a must-buy among the group – and all of them, it seems, have an eye for a bargain. Lord & Taylor in Eastchester was a great favorite before its sad demise. The parking and accessibility made it easy terrain for older people.

“Bloomingdale’s is a popular destination, too” says Beth Olli, director of lifestyle and activities at The Ambassador. “And of course, we go to CVS, because everybody always needs to go to the drugstore.”

Unlike bridge or Scrabble, or doing that Duolingo course in Russian you’d always promised yourself you’d do on retirement, shopping requires no special aptitude or pre-learned skill. But as a legitimate pastime, involving planning, imagination and possibly thrift, it has no better practitioners than our beloved seniors. They, after all, have the necessary time — shopping, let’s face it, is best enjoyed at a leisurely pace — and they also have the patience.

Still, there are challenges and patience works both ways. Some older people, Olli points out, have issues with dexterity (getting coins out of their purse, for instance) and understanding is often required to have a happy exchange between shopper and cashiers.

What is certain is that the term “retail therapy” can hold special meaning for seniors, who — with the time on their hands and the means in their pockets — may derive some benefit from shopping beyond the mere acquisition of goods. Just seeing other people in a store and interacting with a sales assistant, no matter how briefly, can be a boon to a senior who may otherwise talk to few people and actually see even fewer in the course of a normal day.

At Atria Rye Brook, one of four Atria senior communities in Westchester County (there are also two in Fairfield County,) the “People Belong Together” tagline informs a whole range of exciting activities, which keep residents engaged, fulfilled and in the moment.

And while visits to such diverse venues as Yankee Stadium or the Neuberger Museum of Art — or walking the grounds of the Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens at PepsiCo in Purchase — are always popular, shopping as an activity in its own right remains high on the agenda.

Atria schedules thrice-weekly trips in its 14-seat Atria bus to stores like Bloomingdale’s White Plains and Balducci’s, as well as regular visits to CVS, Trader Joe’s and Wegmans, which has a Helping Hands brigade and offers to escort any customer to his or her vehicle.

And apart from the scheduled “group” outings, Atria will also drive residents on request to their own medical appointments, say, or their favorites stores, or the hair and nail salon, within a 15-mile radius of each facility.

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It’s a setup that actually beats living at home, says Atria’s Community Sales Director Joan Brustman, “unless you happen to have a chef, a caregiver and an activity director.” She might add “chauffeur” and “personal shopper” to that list.

At The Club at Briarcliff Manor, which describes itself as a senior community “built to fit Westchester’s lifestyle and aesthetic,” shopping activities are tailored to match the needs and preferences of its different tiers of residents. That might mean slightly more sophisticated visits to local farmers’ markets, or shopping in upscale stores in New York City for its independent and assisted living residents, with more manageable, less physically demanding, small-group outings for its memory care residents and temporary respite care guests.

Although special store opening hours for seniors that we saw at the start of the pandemic (for example, at Whole Foods) have been largely discontinued, of even greater value might be actual senior discounts at big and not-so-big name stores. Shop at any branch of Kohl’s on a Wednesday and, if you are age 60 or older, you can claim a 15% reduction simply by showing your ID at the check-out. (No irritating coupons to print out, either.) If you’re at least 55 and hold a store account, Walgreen’s offers a 20% discount on in-store merchandise as well as cash rewards, with discount days

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BUT AS A LEGITIMATE PASTIME, INVOLVING PLANNING, IMAGINATION AND POSSIBLY THRIFT, (SHOPPING) HAS NO BETTER PRACTITIONERS OF THE ART THAN OUR BELOVED SENIORS. THEY, AFTER ALL, HAVE THE NECESSARY TIME — SHOPPING, LET’S FACE IT, IS BEST ENJOYED AT A LEISURELY PACE — AND THEY ALSO HAVE THE PATIENCE. varying according to the store. And organizations like AARP and AMAC (Association of Mature American Citizens) offer considerable discounts both online and at their brick-andmortar stores across the board.

By the way, don’t write-off seniors as technophobes just yet. A survey of 1,100 seniors carried out earlier this year by the seniors’ discount online site, dealnews.com, revealed that given a choice, 58% of respondents over 60 were more likely to shop online. And — in a piece of good news for one Jeff Bezos — 94% of these internet shoppers actually preferred to shop on Amazon, beating out the dedicat-

The Ambassador Scardsdale.

ed websites of stores like Home Depot, Target and Costco. Less surprisingly, 62% of seniors state that they plan to avoid stores that look crowded.

Back at The Ambassador Scarsdale, by contrast, where admittedly the demographic may be somewhat older, they are taking special requests. One resident fancies a trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond; others favor the Christmas Tree Shops, where they can buy inexpensive gifts for their children and grandchildren (and presumably, great-grandchildren.)

But will our bricks-and-mortar stores survive, or must they inevitably go the way of Lord & Taylor? Well, if seniors have anything to do with it, they will. It is estimated there are 75 million over 65 year olds in the United States, and while inevitably our senior population — with older millennials already approaching 40 — will soon all be fully tech-savvy with online shopping as their norm, you still can’t have a meaningful conversation with a virtual assistant or check the feel of a two-ply cashmere cardigan through a computer screen.

With age comes wisdom and it may just be that in our busy lives we have forgotten the joy of real shopping. What many folks see as a chore in youth and middle age, may just be, well, a treat in store.

For more, visit theambassadorscarsdale. com; atriaseniorliving.com; and seniorlifestyle.com.

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C

Coping with lung cancer

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month and not a moment too soon. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among men and women in the United States, taking the lives of about 150,000 people each year. About 541,000 Americans have been diagnosed with lung cancer at some point in their lives and roughly half as many new cases develop yearly.

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What makes lung cancer particularly virulent is that only 16 percent of cases are diagnosed at an early stage. By the time many lung cancers are diagnosed, they are resistant to — or become resistant to — chemotherapy.

Lung cancer is primarily a disease of old age, men and particularly Black men. According to the American Lung Association, more Black men and women are likely to develop and die from lung cancer than other racial or ethnic groups, even though they smoke, the leading cause of lung cancer, less than whites. (This may have much to do with the poor quality of care Blacks have traditionally received from the medical community.)

More men are diagnosed with the disease, but more women live with it. (The five-year survival rate is 18.6 %.) Over the last 42 years, lung cancer deaths have decreased for men but increased for women. However, lung cancer deaths have peaked for both sexes and are decreasing. The use of low-dose CT scanning in early detection as well as new treatments, including immunotherapy and targeted radiation, offer hope.

Recently, we asked two experts to give us a primer on the disease and the special caregiving it requires.

Mark Hurwitz M.D., FASTRO, FACRO, is the chairman of the Department of Radiation Medicine in the New York Medical College (NYMC) School of Medicine (SOM) and director of radiation medicine at Westchester Medical Center (WMC), both of which are in Valhalla.

Board-certified in radiation oncology, Hurwitz obtained his medical degree from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and served as resident and chief resident in radiation oncology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Before assuming his posts at the medical college and medical center last July, Hurwitz served as enterprise quality and safety officer for the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center — Jefferson Health at Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia; professor and vice chair for quality, safety and performance excellence for the Department of Radiation Oncology; director of thermal medicine; and medical residency program director.

Prior to that he was director of regional program development for the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center at Harvard Medical School. Hurwitz has led several groundbreaking trials for the National Cancer Institute and is the author of more than 100 research journal publications, books and chapters.

Aviva C. Berkowitz, M.D., is a clinical assistant

Aviva Berkowitz, M.D. Mark Hurwitz, M.D. Photographs courtesy New York Medical College.

professor in the Department of Radiation Medicine at New York Medical College and Westchester Medical Center Health. She is a graduate of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx. Berkowitz interned in internal medicine at Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital and was chief resident in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

First, what are the types of lung cancer?

AB: “Lung Cancer can be divided into two main types. Non small cell lung cancer accounts for 80% and small-cell lung cancer, a more aggressive type, approximately 20%.”

What are its symptoms?

MH: “Symptoms of lung cancer can vary widely. Patients may have no symptoms, which occurs more commonly in early stage cancers, or they may experience cough, shortness of breath, wheezing, loss of appetite or weight loss.”

Much has been reported over the years on the link between lung cancer and smoking. What are its other causes?

AB: “Other causes of lung cancer, in addition to smoking, are family history; chronic lung conditions, such as pulmonary fibrosis; exposure to radon, which is an odorless, colorless gas released naturally from the earth; asbestos; and other occupational exposures, such as silica, arsenic, diesel exhaust and soot. Locally, we have seen the unfortunate effects of some of these cancer-causing agents due to 9/11.”

We understand that 10 to 15% of lung cancer sufferers are nonsmokers. Are these people whose cancer has metastasized from other places?

AB: “That is one possibility as the lungs are a common spot for metastases to develop for

several other cancers. However, some patients despite being nonsmokers develop primary cancer in the lung.”

What role does secondhand smoke play?

AB: “Secondhand smoke, while it may not be harmful to quite the same degree as direct smoking, is also damaging and causes lung cancer.”

What are the treatments used in lung cancer and what is the survival rate?

AB: “Early stage lung cancer is often treated with local treatments, such as surgery or radiation therapy and many patients are cured.

Locally advanced lung cancer, or lung cancer which has spread to nearby lymph nodes but not beyond the chest, is typically treated with a combination of radiation therapy and chemotherapy, followed by immunotherapy, a type of treatment which mobilizes the body’s own immune system to fight cancer. Survival averages about 3 years, although with new therapies an increasing number of patients can be cured.

Advanced, or metastatic, lung cancer is mainly treated with chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy, with radiation used to relieve symptoms such as bone pain or shortness of breath caused by a tumor pressing on the airways.

Survival may vary widely, but in these patients with metastatic disease is often around one to two years.”

Are there new treatments on the horizon that give you hope in the fight against lung cancer?

MH: “Exciting strides have been made in treating lung cancer, including immunotherapy and breakthroughs in radiation delivery. In addition, in some cases, new therapies can target a specific genetic mutation in an individual’s cancer. In regard to radiation therapy, we are now able to precisely target early stage lung tumors with high doses of radiation given over a

few days as opposed to several weeks. Studies have shown these high-dose treatments can be very effective and safe in the hands of an experienced team and in some cases may be an alternative to surgery.”

November is also WAG's caregiving issue.

Cancer poses special challenges for sufferers and their caregivers alike. Does lung cancer require a particular type of care?

MH: “Because of the multiple types of treatment involved, lung cancer therapy is often demanding and best addressed by a multidisciplinary team devoted to treating lung cancer.

We are fortunate to have dedicated experts such as Dr. Berkowitz at Westchester Medical Center, including not only in radiation oncology but also in medical oncology and thoracic surgery, who work together to ensure patients receive the best care possible. To achieve this goal, involvement of nurses, dieticians and social workers is also essential. Treatment can sometimes feel overwhelming and having caregiver support is crucial to helping the patient through the experience.

What advice would you offer to lung cancer sufferers and their caregivers?

AB: “Do not be afraid to raise questions and concerns to your care providers. The best care for each patient occurs when the patient and caregiver are involved in the treatment decisions and communicate their values and goals.

It is also important that caregivers allow themselves to take some time to rest and regroup so they do not become overwhelmed. As noted by Dr. Hurwitz, seek out a multidisciplinary team who you trust to provide not only treatment but also are there to support you and promote your well-being.”

For more, visit nymc.edu and westchestermedicalcenter.org.

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Marcia Horowitz and her husband, Richard S. Cohen.

Courtesy Richard S. Cohen.

WAGMAG.COM NOVEMBER 2021

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‘Smooth’ passage

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

On Sept. 3, 2019, the bottom fell out of Richard S. Cohen and Marcia Horowitz’s world. That summer, she had experienced stomach pains and in August had a blood test and a CT scan. On Sept. 3, Cohen met her in a Manhattan coffee shop and together the couple “took that horrid walk you take when the doctor is about to deliver bad news.”

The doctor never looked them in the eye, Cohen says: Horowitz had Stage IV pancreatic cancer.

The third most common cause of death from cancer in the United States, pancreatic cancer kills approximately 48,000 people in the United States and about 430,000 globally each year.

As with lung cancer (see Page 46) and ovarian cancer, it is insidious: By the time you experience its symptoms, it has usually metastasized.

For those who are diagnosed early, the average survival time is three to three and a half years.

(Former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lived for 11 years after being diagnosed with early-stage pancreatic cancer, succumbing to its complications on Sept. 18 of last year at age 87. Mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, diagnosed with localized pancreatic cancer in 2005 at age 71, is still with us.) Those with Stage IV pancreatic cancer live on average about a year. (Former “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek died on Nov. 8 of last year at age 80 after a 20-month battle with Stage IV pancreatic cancer.)

“For three days, we were in free fall,” says Cohen, a Scarsdale resident who writes about their experience in the new memoir “The Smooth River: Finding Inspiration and Exquisite Beauty During Terminal Illness” (Smooth River Inc.).

“On the third day we met with an oncologist and realized we were not alone….We found buoyancy. We remembered who we were.”

Who they were was a high-powered couple.

A press aide to former New York City Mayor Abraham Beam, Horowitz spent 41 years at Rubenstein — a public relations and crisis management firm in Manhattan, founded in 1954 by Howard J. Rubenstein, well-known for such high-profiled clients as the late New York Yankees’ owner George M. Steinbrenner and businessman, art collector and Greenwich Polo Club founder Peter M. Brant Sr. Horowitz’s clients ranged from philanthropies and healthcare systems to celebrities and CEOs. “She always found the calm in the storm,” Cohen says, “reducing complicated subject matter to resonate with the press.”

Trained as a corporate lawyer, he is a merger and acquisitions adviser for medical technology companies, based in Tarrytown.

“I, too, needed to create structure,” says Cohen, who took comfort in speaking to others with the disease, including Trebek.

Mostly, though, the couple took their cues from the 67-year-old Horowitz herself. The woman who had smoothed the way for so many “didn’t want to see her life as a tragedy.”

They were at a fork in the road.

“One fork, you get subsumed by the circum-

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The honor bench dedicated to Marcia Horowitz’s memory, just north of Pilla Landing, overlooking the Hudson River in Tarrytown.

stances,” Cohen says. “The other brings clarity.”

Choosing clarity, they “hoped for the best but prepared for the worst” — learning everything they could about the disease and developing a medical plan and a life plan.

“The medical plan consisted of a standard of care, chemotherapy treatments and unconventional, investigative drugs under a doctor’s supervision,” he says.

He praises Horowitz’s oncologist, “who treated the entire patient, offering palliative care, including pain management, treating her well-being and making her comfortable.

“Too often, doctors are afraid to discuss the end of life as it makes them think they’ve failed their patients,” Cohen says, echoing one of the themes in Atul Gawande, M.D.’s book “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End.” Good doctors, Cohen adds, treat the whole person, not just the condition, balancing hope and realism as they “gently prepare” terminal patients for the end. Cohen singles out the staff at New-York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, which provided her primary care, as well as that of New-York Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville, which addressed Horowitz’s more immediate needs, including chemotherapy, hydration issues and any emergencies.

The couple’s life plan was larger, encompassing the medical plan. They spent time with family, including their two sons, one of whom is married and now has two children. The pair, who had been hosted on a June-July 2019 trip to Isra-

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el by a Palestinian woman — “a Ph.D. and mother of four,” Cohen says — established Marcia’s Light Foundation to build bridges between groups, such as Muslim and Jewish students; and supported El Centro Hispano in The Church of St. Bernard in White Plains, which named an early childhood program after them; and Mentoring in Medicine, to help underserved minorities gain access to health-care careers.

“Marcia also loved water,” Cohen says. They bought a fixer-upper near Clearwater, Florida, and took walks on Indian Rocks Beach. Closer to home, the two ambled the Scenic Hudson RiverWalk Park in Tarrytown, located on a stretch of a former asphalt plant overlooking the Hudson River that commands views of the Manhattan skyline and Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse. At Pilla Landing or Pilla Point, they noticed some boulders, and Cohen suggested to Tarrytown officials a bench honoring his wife, which is situated north of the landing in what is now an area for honor benches.

“There are weddings there and incredible sunsets,” Cohen says. “You can see the skyline and a gorgeous lighthouse to the north.”

Because Horowitz did not want to turn their home into a hospital, they made few adjustments to it, he says, adding a chairlift, grab bars and a walker. With the exception of four days when they had home health aides, Cohen, who kept working part time, cared for his wife himself, even learning to do her hair.

They tied up loose legal and familial ends.

“We left no stone unturned,” Cohen says. And that included talking about cancer and death.

At first, he says he wanted to avoid this. But then he remembered a quote from Fred (Mr.) Rogers: “Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable.”

“I had to become a better listener,” Cohen says. “So, for one hour every afternoon in our sun room, we talked about everything she wanted to talk about. That freed Marcia up to talk to friends, to watch Netflix.”

They had planned on Horowitz passing at home. But pancreatic cancer brings extremely low blood pressure, fainting, internal bleeding, the need for transfusions and the inability to hold food down. At Lawrence Hospital, she was admitted to Room 413, which became a place of low lights, Broadway music and family visits, with Cohen sleeping on a futon. When he woke on the morning of Feb. 10 last year, Horowitz wasn’t responding — which wasn’t that unusual. But then the nurse checked her and there were no vital signs.

“It was organic, natural,” he says. “She looked like she was sleeping.”

After her passing, Cohen took advantage of Cancercare’s free counseling and bereavement services. He visits the bench near Pilla Landing and her grave at Sharon Gardens in Valhalla.

“I realized this is her home now.”

Sharon Gardens is a place where he can cry and retreat when life seems cloudy.

“But I leave clear-eyed,” he says. “She’s still advising me. It helps me keep the big picture.”

For more, visit smoothriver.org.

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PLATINUM 2021

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Renaissance man, modern restaurant

BY JEREMY WAYNE

By the time Portuguese-born artist Luis Miguel Rodrigues – co-owner of Tarrytown’s well-established Portuguese / Mediterranean restaurant, Bistro 12 – first moved to Yonkers in 1984, the 24-year-old had already had seven shows in his native Madeira.

“At my very first show, I sold all 25 paintings,” the slender, blue-eyed, bespectacled Rodrigues told me over a recent weekday lunch in the restaurant, which incidentally comes in at number one of all 59 listed restaurants in Tarrytown on TripAdvisor. “But maybe that’s because they were so cheap.”

Rodrigues, who goes by his second name, Miguel, spent his first 12 years living in the country illegally, eking out a living with his art. At first only doing copies of famous paintings, he would exhibit in restaurants — he has shown at more than 20 different venues in all, he reckons — where his paintings would be snapped up by eager diners. Whereas Europeans would only hang original work, reflected Rodrigues, Americans, at least in those days, were only too happy to buy well-executed copies.

Gradually, though, over time, he moved to “original” works himself, frequently revising his style, while still evoking Old Masters, Impressionist and Surrealist paintings in his canvases. Looking at a fearsomely impressive selection of his work online — the struggling artist with barely a cent to his name now has an LLC, he proudly tells me — I fancied I was able to spot elements from artists as diverse as Dürer, Pissarro, Seurat and Dalí, with a bit of Pre-Raphaelite Romanticism in the mix.

Unusual, perhaps, for an artist, Rodrigues tends to paint at night — aided by appropriate studio lighting, of course — although he likes to draw out of doors. He is also a printer and produces limited editions of his work, using the latest print technology.

All this talk of art, though, makes you hungry, and as a loaf of superb, still warm sourdough (from the Ossining Bakery, run by Rodrigues’s friend Antonio “Tony” Martins) is dropped at the table, along with slabs of cold, white butter and a small flagon of top-quality olive oil, our thoughts turn to lunch.

Bistro 12’s menu, which is the same at lunch as at dinner, is long, mainly Italian, but with more than a nod to Portugal. Appetizers include linguine with clams, penne alle vodka, tagliatelle with a long-cooked Bolognese or rich confit duck, as well as a carb-free eggplant Parmigiano. To follow, if you are still in an Italian frame of mind, you might opt for a generous, thick-cut grilled veal chop or grilled calf’s liver with caramelized onion and crispy bacon.

Luis Miguel Rodgrigues’ “Soneca.”

Photograph by Luis Miguel Rodrigues.

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Luis Miguel Rodrigues.

Bistro 12 interior.

But it’s the Portuguese-leaning dishes that really pique my interest, well-made, no-cornerscut classics like caldo verde, a wonderful hot broth with potatoes, collard greens and chouriço (chiorizo,) amêijoas à bulhāo pato (steamed clams in olive oil and wine) and shrimp Lisboeta, brandy infused shrimp with a mildly spiced tomato sauce.

Other starters to consider, and which we enjoy together, include intensely creamy burrata with shaved black truffle, sitting atop a sliced heirloom tomato and a velvety-smooth, deep-flavored lobster bisque.

For a main course, I would recommend the Portuguese-style Nazaré, a fillet of salt-cod, coated in egg and flour and fried, named for Portugal’s most picturesque fishing village (which Rodrigues has also painted). From the choice of meat dishes, a rustic and authentically Portuguese-sounding braised rabbit with white wine and forest mushrooms might be the way to go.

Still a hold-out restaurant for tablecloths and linen napery, there is an air of old-fashioned civility about Bistro 12, where the service is utterly charming and the atmosphere enhanced by Rodrigues’s sometimes “chocolate-box,” often thought-provoking art on the walls.

Most of the art, by the way, is for sale, though there are some paintings that Rodrigues says he’s unwilling to part with. He leases them instead, he tells me — although from the arrangement he describes, I think he means “lends” to

friends, surely a most uncommercial practice for a professional artist — “so that one day they will go back to my grandsons.” This generosity seems to be a mark of the man. As for actual buyers, although understandably reticent about his patrons, he does reveal that tourists visiting Tarrytown have taken his work off to such farflung places as The Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom, while locally he has sold paintings to the saxophonist David Sanborn and Judith “Judge Judy” Blum. He also takes commissions.

While his art is always on display at Bistro 12, recent exhibit venues outside of the restaurant include the “Armonk Outdoor Art Show,” the Portuguese Club of Yonkers (in the city where he still lives) and the women’s clubs of Bronxville and Scarsdale.

Our entrées now cleared, Rodrigues suggests a look at Bistro 12’s dessert menu. Tempting indeed, but beaten by what we’ve already eaten, I decline, promising instead to return at a later date for a slice of ricotta and pistachio cake or the seductive-sounding limoncello and mascarpone cake. I’d be excited, too, for a taste of the Portuguese molotoff pudding (or pudim, as the Portuguese call it) — a confection of meringue, almonds and caramel, which Rodrigues himself makes for the restaurant.

A self-taught chef, Luis Miguel Rodrigues’ entrée into the restaurant world came in the mid-1990s, when an acquaintance, Ron Rosen, opened Polpo, the Portuguese restaurant in Greenwich. Rodrigues joined as a waiter but

Rosen quickly promoted him to captain and he learned to cook and bake by observing the kitchen brigade along the way. Then in 2012, his Portuguese friend, José Pereira — formerly with the highly regarded Caravela restaurant on Tarrytown’s North Broadway — approached him with a view to opening a restaurant of their own and, in 2012, Bistro 12 was born. It would be a permanent showcase, for Rodrigues’s art, too.

And it doesn’t stop with art and cooking, either. Stop by Bistro 12 in the evening to drink at the bar or eat, and chances are you’ll be serenaded by Rodrigues, who strums the ukulele (or, more correctly, the Madeiran cavaqhino) and sings with the purity of a choirboy. He particularly enjoys the blues and the intensity of Portuguese fado.

A true Renaissance man and a family man, one who dotes upon his grown son and two grandchildren, Rodrigues is also an accomplished car mechanic and a talented photographer. He becomes positively misty-eyed when telling me about his beloved Hasselblad and Minolta. I also gather he plays a great game of tennis, although he’s far too modest to mention this himself.

Best of all as an avocation for a prolific artist, Rodrigues frames all his pictures himself, though where he finds the time to do so is anybody’s guess.

For Bistro 12 reservations, visit bistro12.net.

And for more on Luis Miguel Rodrigues, visit miguelart.net.

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Downsizing your home

BY CAMI WEINSTEIN

L

ately it seems everyone is moving, either out of cities or into cities.

With all this movement, it’s clear that a lot of “boomers” and elderly folks especially are moving and downsizing. As young families are moving into family homes, older empty nesters are moving out of them.

Moving is stressful under the best circumstances and it is better to move in your 60s than in your 80s. Most people are stronger in their 60’s and it’s not such a jolt to them both physically and emotionally. It takes endurance to move, especially if you are a collector or are coming from a large home moving to a much smaller one. It can be an overwhelming task to go through just the paperwork alone that we collect over the years. Then comes the monumental task of getting rid of all of the things you no longer need or want.

When you are ready to downsize, try selecting the pieces of furniture that you don’t want to part with under any circumstances and want to bring to your new environment. Keep in mind that moving can also be a fresh start, and you’ll design and decorate your space in a manner more in tune with your new lifestyle.

Take stock of the rest of the pieces and offer them to children, relatives’ kids or friends. You would be surprised how many pieces of furniture and decorative accessories are happily taken in by your family and friends. Certain items that you have hold memories for them also. Other pieces are beyond consideration and should be auctioned or donated.

If you are going from a four- or five- bedroom home to a much smaller one- or twobedroom situation, there is a lot of getting rid of to do. Hire someone to help you go through the items you wish to eliminate going forward.

Consider renting a storage unit (or two) at

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First rule of downsizing: Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

least for a little while, particularly if you need to move quickly. You may be moving to a completely new location or part of the country and putting your items in storage is a safe way to keep them until you are sure about which pieces will remain in your possession.

Don’t keep items in storage too long or you’ll quickly realize you could have paid for them many times over.

Downsizing can be cathartic and a pleasant emotional release. No longer burdened by “things,” you can go out and enjoy your new life. When looking for a new place, cities offer elders a lot of stimulation. Consider a town or city where everything is within walking distance. Not only will you increase your physical exercise but you will have easy access to food shopping, restaurants, medical care, entertainment and social activities.

If you move to a city, having a doorman when you are older is great, especially if you live alone as he or she can accept deliveries and help you with packages. The doorman can also keep an eye out for you.

There are also many new multitier living arrangements in which you are not in a nursing home but can have independent living

arrangements. These include amenities such as provided meals, cleaning services, transportation and a schedule of cultural events.

As you continue to grow even older, you can transition to a full-scale nursing home situation should the need arise.

There are many different types of downsizing arrangements that can be done, from completely independent to more comprehensive situations. Before you move take stock of your finances and health capabilities so that you can choose the best situation for you. Often if your family lives far away, you may choose to live closer to them. Some people may choose to live closer to friends and stay in an area that is more familiar to them. Your family can help provide input and some of your friends may even want to make similar arrangements so that you can all continue to live independently. Do the necessary legwork so that you are comfortable in whatever living arrangements you make.

Lastly, enjoy this new chapter in your life.

Use your time wisely while you are still healthy to continue living your most active life.

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Going, going, gone

BY KATIE BANSER-WHITTLE

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he time comes for all of us to think about the future of a lifetime’s accumulation of possessions. We hope that the senior members of your family have made (and written down) their decisions about heirlooms to be passed on to specific individuals — great-grandfather’s gold watch, the wedding present Tiffany lamp and so on.

There may also be items of value and interest and even sizable specialized collections that relatives can’t integrate into their own homes. Maybe you have inherited or acquired antiques and collectibles that you want to liquidate. Perhaps the accumulated value in these belongings might be best used in providing for retirement or future caregiving needs.

Whatever the reason, when it’s time to move on, literally and/or figuratively, it’s in everyone’s best interests to get a knowledgeable, objective opinion of the monetary value of personal property. A carefully selected auction house can provide accurate, up-to-the-minute valuation and help unlock that value through the auction process.

Skinner Inc. — a Boston-based full-service auction house with several regional East Coast offices (including one in White Plains) and an international following — has decades of experience in helping clients to maximize the financial potential of their treasures.

It’s easy to start with a free online evalua-

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Skinner Inc. stands ready to cart off your unwanted treasures for sale – and cash in your pocket. Courtesy Skinner Inc.

tion of a few items that you believe may have exceptional value. There are complete instructions and helpful tips about the process at skinnerinc.com. Click on “Selling” at the top of the home page. Skinner’s website also has information about regularly scheduled virtual and in-person valuation days. These take place by appointment at convenient locations in New York, Massachusetts, Maine and Florida. One will be held in Westchester County on Wednesday, November 17.

In either case, you will get an expert verbal estimate of auction value. This is not an appraisal, which is not necessary for auction purposes. (A formal appraisal is a written report usually required only for insurance, tax or estate planning.) You’ll also be notified if your items(s) have sufficient value and are a suitable fit for an upcoming auction.

If a large collection or an entire estate is involved, an in-depth expert valuation is in order. At Skinner, this involves a home visit by one or more specialists. The process begins with an email or call to me as Skinner’s New York regional director. The more information you can provide about the property in question (estimated age, provenance, names of artists or makers, bills of sale and other documents, etc.), the better you can be matched with an appraiser or appraisers who have extensive experience assessing the type of material you own.

Eldercare is an increasingly important issue, both for seniors and their families. There are many excellent options, but the costs can be high. One way to meet those costs is to unlock the value of possessions that no longer meet present needs and, by doing so, provide for future ones. For many kinds of personal property, auction can provide a safe, dignified and profitable path forward.

As LaGina Austin, Skinner’s director of appraisals and auction services notes, both the auction house and the consignor have a shared goal — to achieve maximum value with minimum stress and uncertainty.

The prospect of parting with treasured possessions can provoke anxiety. It also presents exciting possibilities. The emphasis is on the latter at Skinner, with 20 specialty departments including the fine and decorative arts, jewelry, modern design, musical instruments, science and technology, wine and many others.

When the time comes to consider your own or a family members’ eldercare or downsizing requirements, you will want an auction partner that’s small enough to be attentive and responsive to client needs but large enough to attract attention and bidders in the global marketplace. At Skinner Inc. you will find answers to your questions.

For more, contact Katie at kwhittle@skinnerinc.com or 212-787-1114.

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Growing older – and wiser

BY GIOVANNI ROSELLI

“The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.”

– Muhammed Ali As much as I’ve taught clients over the years regarding health and wellness, I’ve learned just as much from them in other aspects of life. While working with many clients 65 years and older, and some well into their 80s, I have had quite the interesting conversations to say the least. These conversations put many things in a certain perspective for me, and this dialogue makes me realize how precious time is and what is truly important.

There are lessons I take from each and every client I work with. Here are three life lessons I’ve learned from a wide range of clientele, including successful business executives, working parents and professional athletes.

1. Know your history It is amazing to me how some of my clients have the innate ability to give a full, detailed history of specific colleagues, events and their given profession.

How well do you know the history of your business or industry? Those who have a rich appreciation, understanding and knowledge of their businesses show their love and passion for them. This inevitably assists them in their endeavors. As the old expression goes, the goal is to “love what you do.”

2. Keep your eye on the prize How many of us really and truly dedicate the time and energy to discover what it takes to become one of the best? How many people out there have laser focus and unwavering drive? How many of us put it out there and say: “I’m going to be the next ____”?

I think one of the most respectful ways to honor our parents is to grow up and live a life of happiness, having a reputation to be proud of. However, no matter the age, a parent’s job is never over as many clients have reminded me over the years.

3. Be business-savvy No matter what line of work you are in you need to have some level of professional acumen and competence. Know: • Your rights; • Who can help you when needed; • How not to get taken advantage of; • When to speak up for yourself; and • How to put yourself in the best situation possible.

This way, you can take care of yourself and your family the best way possible.

How many of us really know our industry? If you’re part of a union, do you know all of your rights (and perks)? Do you use them to their fullest extent? If you’re a business owner, have you studied the laws and bylaws that can potentially help you (especially in recent times)?

How many of us have been guilty in the past of having said something along these lines:

Giovanni Roselli. Courtesy Roselli Health & Fitness.

• “I didn’t know I could do that”; • “I had no idea that the contract has that clause in it”; • “Why didn’t anyone tell me that before?”

• “I really should have said something.”

Remember: Movement Is medicine As readers of this column know, I’m someone who is very much into quotes. I

often “have a quote for that” when a client brings up some type of situation, event, etc.

One quote that many have really taken a liking to is, “You may have to get old, but you don’t have to feel old.” I’m happy to know that I have a small part in helping my clients age gracefully into their golden years.

Reach Giovanni at Gio@GiovanniRoselli.com.

I THINK ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTFUL WAYS TO HONOR OUR PARENTS IS TO GROW UP AND LIVE A LIFE OF HAPPINESS, HAVING A REPUTATION TO BE PROUD OF. HOWEVER, NO MATTER THE AGE, A PARENT’S JOB IS NEVER OVER AS MANY CLIENTS HAVE REMINDED ME OVER THE YEARS.

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Eldercare and the Black family

BY ABBE UDOCHI

“Caregiver”: The word — especially if divided into its components. “care” and “giving” — has a comforting connotation, painting a portrait of someone who provides support to another person in need. The role itself long predates its increasingly common usage in our lexicon over the past 50 or so years with some dictionaries placing its introduction circa 1972.

It is a role that has long held special significance for Black Americans, for whom caregiving is regarded as both an inherent duty and a privilege, one far more often embraced than shunned.

An AARP study, “Caregiving in the United States 2020,” notes that while the African American (family) caregiver often feels that there was no choice but to take on this role, “the majority find a sense of purpose or meaning in that role— more so than non-Hispanic white or Asian caregivers.”

Still, it is a privilege that extols a price. A fact sheet accompanying the AARP report, “The ‘Typical’ African American Caregiver,” notes that Black-family caregivers provide more than 30 hours of care a week of a type that is “more…high intensity” than that of non-Hispanic whites or Asians. Furthermore, the Black-family caregiver is employed full-time and the caregiving can cause work, earnings or both to suffer.

The African American family’s reliance on unpaid family caregivers is inextricably linked to a distrust of external institutions, a distrust born of centuries of racism.

That racial biases have resulted in inequality in health care is amply documented. Just two examples are the lack of proper pain management for Blacks and decreased access to emergency care.

Last year, The New York Times reported (“The Striking Racial Divide in How Covid-19 Has Hit Nursing Homes,” May 21,2020) that the disproportionate number of Covid deaths among Blacks and Latinos only multiplied for the elderly and that nursing homes — with large numbers of Blacks and Latinos-have been twice as likely to get hit by the coronavirus as those where the population is overwhelmingly white.”

Despite these sobering statistics, is there a shift in attitudes among Black families, both children and elders? Definitely yes. Just as clearly no.

The parent, for one thing, may not choose to move in with the adult child. Today there is an assortment of living situations and financing options for seniors. There are 55-plus communities, independent living residences and assisted living communities, some of which offer activities ranging from exercise to entertainment, others that simply provide opportunities for meal plans and social interaction with peers. Furthermore, residences specifically designed for seniors will most likely offer such features as single-floor living, no-step entry, walk-in tubs, accessible kitchens and extra wide halls and doorways to equip wheelchairs.

While financing is complex and challenging, many seniors find help through long-term care insurance, Medicaid — both for those with mini-

Abbe Udochi, CEO of Concierge Healthcare Consulting.

Courtesy Marty Umans Photography.

"THE AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILY’S RELIANCE ON UNPAID FAMILY CAREGIVERS IS INEXTRICABLY LINKED TO A DISTRUST OF EXTERNAL INSTITUTIONS, A DISTRUST BORN OF CENTURIES OF RACISM. THAT RACIAL BIASES HAVE RESULTED IN INEQUALITY IN HEALTH CARE IS AMPLY DOCUMENTED. JUST TWO EXAMPLES ARE THE LACK OF PROPER PAIN MANAGEMENT FOR BLACKS AND DECREASED ACCESS TO EMERGENCY CARE." — Abbe Udochi

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mal funds and persons who are able to shelter their income in a trust — and veterans’ aid.

Yet, while these options are welcomed by some, they are soundly — or hesitatingly — rejected by others.

We spoke with several persons of color, a mix of individuals wrestling with eldercare choices as well as those recalling situations from the recent past. The spectrum of views indicates that Blacks should never be viewed as a monolithic culture. Yet certain shared values did emerge — a deep respect for one’s elders, a strong sense of family ties and an awareness that racial bias remains real and consequential.

DONNA

Donna James, retired, helped situate her mother in an assisted living facility an easy mile-long walk from her house in Ossining.

Though Donna offered to have her move in with her, her mother wanted to stay as independent as possible. She even drove until she was 81. From the start, Donna was her caregiver, stopping by before and after work every day. Her mother died four years ago at age 83.

“It was her choice not to move in with me.

She wanted her own space. She always said, ‘God bless the child that has her own.’ This was a perfect arrangement as I had my own quiet place and she had hers.”

Donna concedes that, “Caregiving isn’t eas,y” but adds that “I did it unconditionally. I think it is a cultural choice. I was the caregiver for my grandmother and a great aunt as well.”

JOHN AND BECKY

The 78-year-old mother of John Edwards, formerly a New Rochelle resident, never considered moving in with her son, an editor at Bloomberg, and his wife, Rebecca (Becky), the chief communications officer at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). When John’s

mother sold her apartment in Manhattan last year, she decided to move to Miami Beach.

Before his mother finalized the move, John and Becky researched assisted living facilities in Florida. Says Becky, “We thought an assisted living community with graduated care options would be ideal because of the medical support on-site. Since another move wouldn’t be required, we felt it would be perfect for the longer term.”

However, the lack of diversity at assisted living facilities became a concern. “We never felt confident that the care communities we were evaluating had a considerable Black population, which was disappointing,” says Becky, As John’s mother is enjoying the warmer climate and social interaction, for now all are glad of her decision though they acknowledge that at some point everything may have to be reevaluated.

MICHELLE

Michelle Lawrence, an IT professional, lives with her 84-year-old mother in Westchester and cares for her whenever she is not at work.

If the need occurs, such as when her mother had a recent heart attack, she will take time off under the Family Leave Act. Noting her Jamaican heritage, Michelle says, “We do not put our elderly in nursing homes. We care for them as best we can at home and enlist other family members, if need be, to assist.”

She has set up cameras and connected her “mum” to Life Alert so she can watch her and communicate remotely.

Michelle says, “Most blacks of the diaspora were too busy trying to figure out how to survive in a society that made no room for them.

Having every family member around you was a comfort … Sometimes it was a challenge, but it was one we were willing to work through, especially with our history of slavery where

Donna James (right) and her mother, the late Etta Marie Jones. Photograph by James G. Jones.

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families were often separated. To place our elderly in those facilities is akin to closing and placing a priceless book upon a shelf somewhere else — not in our homes.”

LYNN

Lynn Godfrey of New Rochelle, the chief marketing officer of a health-care nonprofit, is a member of the so-called “sandwich generation,” balancing the needs of a 17-year-old daughter, who requires frequent college visits, with those of her 90-year-old mother, who moved in with the family once she started to show signs of dementia. Now, says Lynn, “Her cognitive issues have progressed to the point where she needs a higher level of care than I can sustain on a daily basis.”

Cultural norms play a significant role. Says Lynn, “African American families have traditionally relied on strong community networks — friends, church, extended family- to provide support for eldercare. Growing up in the ’70s through ’80s, both sets of my grandparents lived with us at one time or another and the idea of placing a parent in a ‘home’ was not embraced or considered the norm.”

Covid concerns have placed the search temporarily on hold.

Says Lynn, “My mother wouldn’t be in the best position to advocate for herself due to her dementia.””Lynn wonders too if the lack of diversity among assisted living residents might make her mother feel less “at home,” though she notes that a recent two-week stay at a Westchester facility worked out well. For now, Lynn is taking “baby steps,” increasing the amount of home health care as she seeks the best long-term solution.

Clearly, those we spoke with continue to believe that the younger generation has a responsibility to return the dedication and love they were given from their parents and other relatives. Yet today that love can take many forms based on values, resources, beliefs and lifestyle choices. It may go beyond the traditional paradigm to include everything from enlisting paid home health care to accepting the elder’s choice to live independently and “age in place” as long as possible to recognizing that moving the relative to a desirable facility is in the person’s best interest. And it is also love that at times will rebound to the traditional mode. As long as a concerned family member evaluates each situation thoroughly and rejects any “one size fits all” solution, the best situation eventually can be found. It is a search that requires diligence and even greater patience. Plus care. And giving.

Abbe Udochi is CEO of Concierge Healthcare Consulting, a geriatric care management practice based in New Rochelle that serves Westchester County and New York City. For more, visit concierge-care.com.

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The new ‘Liquid Chefs’ STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH

BY DOUG PAULDING

T

he drinks world is made up of essentially four groups — the beer drinkers; the wine lovers; spirits tasters, neat or on the rocks; and cocktail drinkers.

Having been a bartender on Nantucket in the late 1970s and a writer and reviewer today, I professionally dabble in all of these categories. In each of these groupings, the options today are staggering. A well-stocked beer store will likely have hundreds, if not thousands, of labels, including micro brews many have never heard of. And it’s similar with wine options with wine regions worldwide offering up unique and indigenous grape varieties grown properly and vinified with skill to make an attractive and tasty wine. With the world of spirits, old, known houses of distillation are still making the products that made them famous but have also added flavors and barrel aging times as well as concepts to offer up fresh, new ideas.

As a bartender, I used the “Mr. Boston Official Bartender’s Guide” as a recipe bible. Within a few weeks, I knew 90% of the drinks I was likely be called on to make. But every now and then I would have to open the guide and use it to measure out ingredients for someone’s unique request. My brother, Chris Paulding, was a bartender and then bar manager in a Park City, Utah, bar, pouring mostly draft beers and what he calls “and” drinks — gin and tonic, seven and seven, rum and coke, etc. Then something seismic happened in the drinks industry. A group of charismatic, curious and innovative mixologists emerged, creating a new position I call “the Liquid

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Distiller Francesco Nonino has teamed up with Elliot Clarke to create a drink featuring L’Aperitivo Nonino. Our own Doug Paulding says it didn’t disappoint.

Chef.” They search for fresh ingredients and new ideas, combine them, then taste and test their own concepts. I have tasted Manhattans that substituted Sandeman’s Port for the vermouth. These Liquid Chefs muddle fruit, herbs and spices to create cocktails that are brimming with locally sourced freshness and symbiotic flavors and textures.

Yesterday I got to e-meet via Zoom Francesca Nonino, a sixth-generation family member and aide-de- camp distiller of Nonino Grappa and L’Aperitivo Nonino, a lovely cocktail mixer. The Nonino distillery is in Percoto between the cities of Venice and Trieste in northeast Italy. She teamed up with Elliot Clarke to create a drink featuring L’Aperitivo Nonino and it didn’t disappoint. Clarke, known as the “Apartment Bartender” (apartmentbartender. com) is that creative and charismatic Liquid Chef. His website is loaded with drink ingredients, concepts and recipes and is seasonally adjusted, focusing on the freshest ingredients.

Elliot loves to communicate and will answer questions and help guide you on his website.

L’Aperitivo Nonino is crafted from 100% natural ingredients. The base wine is made from fermented Concord grapes, which are then distilled. The family recipe of botanicals creates a soft and pleasant Chartreuse-like flavor and texture. At 42 proof, it can be used as a perfect party starter-guest welcome. The ingredients and some bartender tools arrived

the previous day. The recipe is as follows: • 2 ounces L’Aperitivo Nonino Botanical Drink • ½ ounce fresh lemon juice • 1 muddled fig • 2 ounces sparkling wine Slice the fig into quarters, add L’Aperitivo Nonino and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker and muddle up the fig to release flavors. Add ice to chill. Strain this into a stemmed glass with ice and top with sparkling wine. (We used Prosecco.) Garnish with a sprig of thyme, a slice of lemon and a slice of fig.

It’s not a complicated recipe, but the flavors combine to create a delicious welcome drink.

The figgy, fruity flavors are enhanced and carried by the lemon juice, creating a seamless blend of tastes and textures. Adding the sparkling wine is largely textural, and the mouthfeel fizziness creates a luscious flavor dance on the tongue.

In Italy and all over Europe, these village botanical family recipes are easy to find — embracing virtually every flavor in the rainbow, from fresh fruit to dark licorice to brooding medicinal flavors. L’Aperitivo Nonino is vibrant and fresh and can be a start to many drink recipes. As with creative home cooking where you veer from a recipe to create your own, this recipe concept is only limited by your imagination. Dream big and experiment.

Write me at doug@dougpaulding.com.

GreenwichReindeerFestival.com

NOVEMBER 26–DECEMBER 24, Sam Bridge Nursery & Greenhouses, 437 North Street, Greenwich, Mon–Sat 8:30am–6pm PHOTOS WITH SANTA (Families & Pets)

WE’RE BACK! November 26, 12pm–6pm

Monday–Friday, 12pm–6pm, Saturday, 9am–6pm Christmas Eve, 9am–3pm Closed Sundays

SANTA AND HIS REINDEER ARRIVE Please visit GreenwichReindeerFestival.com for more details

Reindeer Festival Hosted By

Presenting Sponsor

Reindeer Sponsors

Santa’s Workshop Sponsor

To Benefit

Premier Media Sponsors

NURSERY & GREENHOUSES, LLC EST. 1930

Media Sponsors

Community Partner

Created & Produced By

WestchesterParent NYMetroParents.com

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THROUGH NOV. 14 Stamford’s Curtain Call Theatre presents a new dark comedy by Mark Smith, directed by Rob Nichols, “The Viewing Room.” Set in a Holyoke, Massachusetts, funeral home, the play centers around a stern patriarch who has recently passed away before he’s had a chance to make amends with his dysfunctional family. It’s a story filled with laughs – and the timeless themes of reconciliation and family. 8 p.m. Thursdays to Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. 1349 Newfield Ave.; 203-461-6358, curtaincallinc.com.

THROUGH JAN. 8 “When Caged Birds Sing,” a Human Rights Teaching exhibit created by Westport-based artist Ann Weiner, was acquired for MoCA Westport’s permanent collection in February and is now on view. The exhibit features eight life-size sculptures representing current women’s rights activists who suffered and survived abuse because of their gender and who continue to advocate for the rights of others at risk. Noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays through Sundays, noon to 7 p.m. Thursdays. 19 Newtown Turnpike; 203-2227070, mocawestport.org.

NOV. 2 THROUGH 20 Westport Country Playhouse presents “Doubt: A Parable,” winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. Sister Aloysius, a school principal with a mandate to uphold tradition, is certain something’s terribly wrong about the relationship between a young parish priest and a troubled boy. But beneath her moral crusade to reveal the horrible truth lies a chasm of doubt, where the choices we make can reverberate beyond our imagining. Also streams online Nov. 11 through 21.

Times vary, Tuesdays through Sundays. 25 Powers Court; 203-227-4177, westportplayhouse.org.

NOV. 4 Emelin Theatre presents a live concert with Amy Helm. The singer-songwriter will perform a mix of Americana, country, blues and gospel music. 8 p.m., 153 Library Lane, Mamaroneck; emelin.org

NOV. 4 AND 9 The Short Cuts Film Festival continues with its presentation of selections from the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival – five narrative films on Nov. 4, and four documentaries, including selections from The SXSW Festival, Nov. 18. Films are shown in Westport Library’s Trefz Forum and are also live-streamed.

Screenings are followed by live interviews with selected film directors by series producer Nancy Diamond. 7 p.m., 20 Jesup Road; 203-293-8729, jibproductions.org/shortcuts.

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Nov. 6 through 20, “Annual Monothon Benefit Auction” at Norwalk's Center for Contemporary Printmaking.

NOV. 4 THROUGH 14 Katonah Classic Stage presents “Oleanna,” a live production that explores and upends concepts of power, privilege, consent and political correctness.

Times vary, Bedford Historical Hall, 608 Old Post Road; katonahclassicstage.com

NOV. 6 The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum hosts the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra’s newly formed RSO Quartet as it performs chamber music selected for an exhibit of works by Hugo McCloud, “from where i stand.” The musicians will elaborate on the connections between the music and the art during the performance, which includes works by William Grant Still, Antonín Dvořák, Samuel Barber, and Kenji Bunch. 6 p.m. 258 Main St, Ridgefield; 203-438-4519, thealdrich.org.

NOV. 6 THROUGH 20 Original prints — donated for the “Annual Monothon Benefit Auction,” held for Norwalk’s Center for Contemporary Printmaking — will be on display in the center’s Grace Ross Shanley Gallery (as well as on the GiveSmart Auction Page). The auction will be held online Nov. 17 through 20. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. 299 West Ave.; 203-899-7999, contemprints.org.

NOV. 10 Downtown Music at Grace presents “Chamber Music with the Phil,” during which the Westchester Philharmonic String Quartet will perform Haydn’s String Quartet in D minor, Op. 74, No. 2 (“Quinten”), Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 12 and more. Noon. dtmusic.org Spend an evening with singer-songwriter Paul Anka.

The show includes Anka favorites “Diana,” “Puppy Love” and “Put Your Head on My Shoulder,” as well as some of his favorite Sinatra classics ,such as “My Way,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” “New York, New York” and more. 8 p.m. The Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 E. Ridge Road, 203-438-5795; ridgefieldplayhouse.org.

Fairfield University’s Quick Center for the Arts presents “Claudia Hart: Through a Different Lens” online. Multimedia artist Hart is a pioneer, bringing advanced simulations technologies to the contemporary art world, developing “post photography” through her personal art practice, critical writing, curating and pedagogy. This talk will take place inside a world she built on the Mozilla Hubs, an open-source social virtual reality platform. Registration required. 7 p.m. 203-254-4010, quickcenter.fairfield.edu

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Nov. 11 through March 12: From "ECO" at Bridgeport's Ursa Gallery.

NOV. 11 THROUGH 14

NOV. 12 THROUGH 14

The Bridgeport Art Trail is back, live and in-person, with the theme of “Reinvention and Discovery.”

Visitors can discover art citywide, touring five open-studio sites and many arts venues. Arts experiences include the super-sized drawings of Rick Shaefer, using imagery rooted in centuries of Western art history; the art and storytelling of Iyaba Ibo Mandingo; the Latin/Bluegrass fusion of Ricardo Reyes; and the poetry of Shanna Melton. The trail includes live music and outdoor projections of music videos and visual art. Opening night parties and open houses ar 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.; 203-334-7748, bridgeport-art-trail.org

Stamford’s Loft Artists Association hosts its annual Open Studios, highlighting the group’s creativity and bringing the opportunity for the entire community to experience professional artists working in their studios and exhibiting artwork in state-of-the-art galleries. Meet the artists and get a glimpse into the life of a working artist in a collaborative and professional environment. 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Fridays, noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. 575 Pacific St.; 203-247-2027, loftartists.org.

NOV. 11 THROUGH MARCH 12 Bridgeport’s Ursa Gallery presents “ECO,” an exhibit of work by the world’s first art community solely focused on climate change and the socioeconomic disruptions that attach to this global crisis. The show features work by more than 50 artists from the United States, Finland, Argentina, France, Italy, Greece, Africa and the United Kingdom. Hours vary. The Arcade Mall, 1001 Main St.; 917-331-5338, ursa.gallery.

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NOV. 13 Walkabout Clearwater Coffeehouse presents a live performance of Betty and the Baby Boomers.

The group performs soriginal songs and traditional American roots and classic folk music. 7:30 p.m., 250 Bryant Ave., White Plains; walkaboutchorus.org/ music/contact.php

NOV. 13 THROUGH 21 The Play Group Theatre presents Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” one of the Bard’s classic comedies

based on mistaken identities. 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., 1 N. Broadway, #111, White Plains; playgroup.org

NOV. 19 Hoff Barthelson Music School presents a faculty performance that will feature an eclectic program of classical and jazz favorites. 7:30 p.m., 25 School Lane, Scarsdale; hbms.org

NOV. 26 Hudson River Museum presents a performance with the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers. One of the oldest resident Native American dance companies in New York, Thunderbird performs social dances in the museum’s courtyard. 3 p.m., 511 Warburton Ave., Yonkers; hrm.org Presented by ArtsWestchester (artswestchester. org) and the Fairfield County Cultural Alliance (culturalalliancefc.org).

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Visit exceptionaleveryday.org/heartdisease or scan the QR code with your phone to take the quiz.

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