Westchester and Fairfield County Business Journals 062220

TRUSTED JOURNALISM AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

JUNE 22, 2020 VOL. 56, No. 25

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Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, center, tours Greenwich Avenue on June 1 with Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo, left, and state Rep. Livvy Floren.

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RAIL REHAB

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GOING VERTICAL

‘You have to put public health first’ LT. GOV. BYSIEWICZ ENCOURAGED BY RECOVERY EFFORTS SO FAR

BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com

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ll things considered, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz says she is pleased with how Connecticut’s public health and economic recovery efforts are going so far.

Noting that the Lamont administration is continuing to have regular conversations with a host of business sectors, and that several local long-term recovery committees are already hard at work, Bysiewicz told the Business Journal that “We are doing so well with respect to our recovery —

and I think we should all be very proud of that.”

Not that she’s being a Pollyanna. “We’re really facing three crises right now — the public health emergency, an economic catastrophe and the racial injustice crisis,” she said, adding that there is a lot of work to be done in » HEALTH

Take a look at the hundreds of businesses and organizations in the region

GET THE 2020 BOOK OF BUSINESS LISTS TODAY!

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NURSING HOMES FACE SCRUTINY OVER HANDLING OF COVID-19 GOP LAWMAKERS QUESTION LAMONT’S TRANSPARENCY

BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com

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s cases of COVID19 continue to decline and Connecticut goes about reopening its economy, a significant amount of attention is now being focused on how the state’s nursing homes and longterm care facilities performed — or, according to some, underperformed — during the height of the crisis.

While Gov. Ned Lamont continues to tout what his administration

did to mitigate the virus’ spread in those facilities, and has issued a call for an independent, third-party review of what took place, several Republicans, including state Sen. Kevin Kelly (R-Stratford), believes that the review must include an analysis of the state’s response.

“Quite frankly, this review should have started in March or April,” Kelly told the Business Journal.

Nationally, more than 45,500 residents and staff have died from coronavirus outbreaks at nursing homes and other long» NURSING

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Firm is unlocking creativity in prisons MAIN OFFICE TELEPHONE 914-694-3600 OFFICE FAX 914-694-3699 EDITORIAL EMAIL bobr@westfairinc.com WRITE TO 701 Westchester Ave., Suite 100J White Plains, N.Y. 10604-3407 Publisher Dee DelBello Managing Editor Bob Rozycki Associate Publisher Anne Jordan Group Associate Publisher Dan Viteri NEWS Senior Enterprise Editor • Phil Hall Copy and Video Editor • Peter Katz Bureau Chief • Kevin Zimmerman Senior Reporter • Bill Heltzel, Reporters Georgette Gouveia, Peter Katz Research Coordinator • Luis Flores

Kris Ruby, Vincent Bragg and Marcus Glover

BY PETER KATZ pkatz@westfairinc.com

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rison is hardly thought of as a breeding ground for advertising and marketing creativity, yet viewers of June 11 webinar presented

by Westfair Communications learned the story of just such a phenomenon.

Moderator Kris Ruby of the Kris Ruby Media Group based in White Plains interviewed two guests who provided insights about how creativity can be unleashed when people are given opportunities and encouragement.

Vincent Bragg, a co-founder and CEO of ConCreates, told how the creative agency founded by ex-convicts works directly with clients or as an extension of an existing ad agency to develop ideas for reaching otherwise overlooked audiences.

Bragg came up with the idea for ConCreates while he was incarcerated for drug dealing. He started thinking about how he could help eliminate the stigma and change the narrative associated with how society views people with criminal histories and how they view themselves.

The organization is located in

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Palmdale, California.

Also appearing was Marcus Glover, a Westchester native whose career includes 15 years in the advertising business as an executive and creative director for several agencies.

He also is the founding partner of the private equity firm M. Glover Capital and board chair of Defy Ventures. Glover seeks to bring about change through social-impact investment and criminal justice reform. M. Glover Capital is a bond-backed private equity firm providing strategic growth capital to middle-market enterprises, as well as investments in high-growth real estate projects.

Ruby set the stage by pointing out that some advertisers attempt to make impressions as activists for various causes designed to benefit society but then fail to follow through with meaningful action after they’ve taken public positions on social media or elsewhere.

“The interesting thing, especially coming from incarceration, is to really kind of look at brands who have this kind of built-in to the fabric of their company,” Bragg said. “You have these brands actually making these claims, so, ‘Hey, we stand with the FCBJ

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black community.’ I feel as if it’s impossible to really stand with the black community when we’re actually incarcerated at five times the rate of any other race.”

Bragg said that most companies do not have a plan of action to actually do something about the claims they make of being socially aware and active.

Bragg did credit ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s with standing for criminal reform.

“It’s a part of the fabric of their company,” he said.

Glover said that many people are, for the first time, discovering what it means to be anti-racist and what the term “white privilege” means.

“Although we know black people are 13% of the population, we are 30% of the incarcerated and more. The majority of people behind bars are not violent felons,” Glover said. “It burns my soul that we uphold such liberal values and believe in an unbiased society yet there’s this little poison at the bottom of job applications and PPP loan applications called the black box which is, ‘Do you have a prior felony.’ And, if you check ‘yes,’ then your application is immediately thrown out.”

“These are words that are

thrown around and many people are hearing these things for the first time,” Glover said.

“We all grew up walking the same streets and yet we can have such different experiences. Part of this whole period that we’re in is really learning what it means to be in someone else’s shoes.”

Glover said that the most effective brands are those that know how to speak to peoples’ uniqueness. “Brands are really not by-in-large doing a really great job of understanding these issues of systemic racism, over-policing in communities of color and the effects of privilege on communities of color,” he said.

Glover praised Jack Dorsey, the CEO of both Twitter and mobile payments company Square, pointing out that he is making changes in his organization such as treating Juneteenth, June 19, as it if is a national holiday. Juneteenth is marked by African Americans as the day plantation slavery ended. Glover also said that he hears that makeup and beauty brands are overlooking their black and brown customers and still are not “getting it” even in this moment of adversity and crisis. » CREATIVITY

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ART & PRODUCTION Creative Director Dan Viteri Art Director Sebastián Flores ADVERTISING SALES Manager • Anne Jordan Metro Sales & Custom Publishing Director Barbara Hanlon Account Managers Marcia Pflug Events Sales & Development • Marcia Pflug Marketing & Events Director • Fatime Muriqi AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT & CIRCULATION Circulation Manager • Sylvia Sikoutris Telemarketing • Brianne Smith ADMINISTRATION Contracted CFO Services Adornetto & Company L.L.C. Human Resources & Payroll Services APS PAYROLL

Westchester County Business Journal (USPS# 7100) Fairfield County Business Journal (USPS# 5830) is published Weekly, 52 times a year by Westfair Communications, Inc., 701 Westchester Ave., White Plains, NY 10604. Periodicals Postage rates paid at White Plains, NY, USA 10610.

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A MEMBER OF

Sometimes we have to do more.

This time, a lot more.

Sometimes the urgency of a better future compels you to act. We are in such a moment, when a global pandemic, a cry for racial justice and a feeling of hopelessness challenge each community.

In the face of this, Bank of America has committed to investing $1 billion over the next four years to build on our long-standing work to drive economic opportunity and equality in communities of color.

It will power small businesses, help connect workers to new skills and job opportunities, improve medical response capacity and access to health care, and support affordable housing.

This bolsters our recent commitment of an additional $100 million to support nonprofit partners and $250 million to support Community Development Financial and Minority Depository Institutions, addressing impacts from the coronavirus that disproportionately affect black and brown communities.

My teammates and I here in Southern Connecticut commit to the important work that lies before all of us. We share the sense of urgency gripping the nation, and we welcome the promise of achieving great things together.

Bill Tommins Southern Connecticut Market President

To learn more, please visit bankofamerica.com/community.

Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. © 2020 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.

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JUNE 22, 2020

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Faces & Places Boys & Girls Club of Mount Vernon virtual gala fundraiser a success

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he Boys & Girls Club of Mount Vernon hosted its annual gala on a virtual platform June 8 that was originally scheduled for March and was postponed due to the pandemic.

The event raised more than $560,000 in support of the club, which was founded in 1912 as the Boys Club of Mount Vernon. The program featured honorees, including Pat Simone, founder of Simone Development Cos., with the Lifetime Achievement Award (Posthumous); Robert P. Weisz, president and CEO, RPW Group with the Leadership Award; April Horton, External Affairs and Government Affairs, Verizon with the Corporate Citizen Award; and Jack McArdle, vice president, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. with the Alumni Honoree award.

The Youth of the Year Award was presented to Jhaydan DeVaughn, who received a $1,000 scholarship and will be eligible for additional scholarships from the regional competition in New York State and the national award later this year.

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1. Fred Schwam, vice president, Boys & Girls Club of Mount Vernon Board of Directors; Mel Campos, chief professional officer, Boys & Girls Club of Mount Vernon Shawyn Patterson-Howard, Mount 2. Vernon Mayor Jhaydan DeVaughn, Boys & Girls Club of 3. Mount Vernon Youth of the Year Joe Simone, president, Simone 4. Development Cos. Laura R. Lavan, Boys & Girls Club of Mount 5. Vernon Board of Directors, Gala Committee co-chair Lowes Moore Jr., former executive 6. director, consultant, Boys & Girls Club of Mount Vernon

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Bragg said that there are about 3,200 brands that benefit from prison labor. He said the prisoners typically are paid 17 cents per hour. He said there’s an inherent conflict if a business says it supports the black community while at the same time profiting through the use of prison laborers, most of whom are black.

“Here in California, these individuals fight fires,” Bragg said. “Those are incarcerated people fighting those fires and then when they get out of prison they can’t even be firemen.”

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Here in California, these individuals fight fires,” Bragg said. “Those are incarcerated people fighting those fires and then when they get out of prison they can’t even be firemen.

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Glover said that some of the masks now being worn by people seeking to protect against COVID-19 have been made by prison labor. “If you’ve ever set foot in a state office building, if you’ve ever gone to a DMV, seen the countertops, the desks, the chairs, the cabinets, it’s all prison labor. That is all made by the hands of incarcerated people. That’s not IKEA furniture.”

Bragg said that it’s the belief of ConCreates that creativity without opportunity leads to criminality. The organization seeks to channel into lawful activities the kind of creativity

that a bank robber or drug dealer uses to create their schemes. When ConCreates has a client looking for a marketing plan, for example, it will send a brief to the people in its network who, in turn, submit their ideas for consideration.

Bragg said that after a concept is accepted, ConCreates wants to be in a position to help with the execution.

“I can’t just give you an idea and tell you go out and run with it and not expect you to get in trouble,” Bragg said. “I need to be the person that is overseeing and actually seeing that the brand is executing and

delivering on their promise.”

“We know that in America, 95% of people will release out of jail. They don’t serve until their last breath,” Glover said.

“So, 95% of the 2.5 million people behind bars will release out. Yet, 70% of them are likely to go back for one of two reasons — either lack of stable housing or lack of a job. One of the things that we’re asking for is open hiring practices, bringing into the economy people who have served their debt to society. Give them a second chance and in some cases the first legitimate chance they’ve ever had.”

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JUNE 22, 2020

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each area.

Bysiewicz announced on April 29 that the state, working with the Connecticut Council of Small Towns, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and the state Council of Governments, was putting together the local longterm recovery committees in an effort she is chairing.

Each municipality’s mayor or first selectman will appoint someone to lead their committee, with that person in turn drawing from municipal officials, community-based organizations, nonprofit providers, philanthropic partners, and faith organizations to ensure the needs of their residents are met, not just during the height of the current crisis, but for the long term.

“It’s a fluid effort,” Bysiewicz said of the progress being made.

“The idea is similar to what we did during the recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Maria and other disasters — very grassroots and diverse approaches to meet each community’s needs.”

Diversity has become something of a governmental watchword in the wake of the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, the lieutenant governor acknowledged.

“It’s not just about meeting the general community’s needs, but the different needs within a given community,” she said.

“We cannot recover unless we are all part of that recovery effort.

“The local recovery committees, especially if they’re diverse and inclusive, can address a number of inequalities — in health care, education, economically and when it comes to systemic racism,” Bysiewicz said.

“One positive aspect of the COVID pandemic has been seeing how generous individuals and companies have been,” the lieutenant governor said. “They’ve stepped up and made donations to a number of food-share programs and the Connecticut Food Bank.” She noted that during a recent visit to Norwalk, there were over 1,500 cars waiting in line to get a week’s worth of food.

Some municipalities such as Stamford already have their committees up and running,

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JUNE 22, 2020

Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz with Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling and Norwalk Chief of Economic Development Jessica Casey touring Norwalk’s Washington Street on May 27.

It’s not just about meeting the general community’s needs, but the different needs within a given community. We cannot recover unless we are all part of that recovery effort. ­­— Susan Bysiewicz

while others are still in the organizational stage.

Bysiewicz has also taken several town tours to get a firsthand view of how businesses — especially restaurants — are going about reopening.

She said she was especially impressed by Norwalk’s closing off parking spots to allow more room for outdoor dining along Washington Street, and Greenwich’s closing off parts of its fabled Greenwich Avenue to vehicular traffic.

The lieutenant governor’s tour of the latter with Greenwich FCBJ

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First Selectman Fred Camillo found “Servers and customers who … wearing masks, tables six feet apart, certifications from the state (attesting they had met public safety guidelines) posted.

It was a beautiful day, and there were lots of people outside.”

Similar results were observed in Waterbury and her hometown, Middletown, she said. “People are beginning to get their confidence back.”

Both Bysiewicz and Gov. Ned Lamont have taken advantage of outdoor dining, she said.

“It was great to have a pizza

outside” in Middletown.

Even with the governor’s decision to move up the second phase of Connecticut’s reopening from June 20 to June 17, Bysiewicz cautioned that, “We’re still putting public health first. In Texas, which reopened on Memorial Day, they’ve had a 42% increase in COVID-19 cases, and they’ve seen a new surge in Georgia as well.

“We’re doing our best to understand the economic pressures out there,” she said, “but you have to put public health first.”

CENSUS EFFORTS ON TARGET

Bysiewicz is also overseeing the state’s census efforts and is encouraged by the response so far. While the national self-response rate stands at 60.9%, Fairfield County has recorded a 64.5% response rate, more or less in line with the statewide figure of 64.6%. Leading the way are Darien (74.9%), Fairfield (74.5%), Westport (72.2%) and New Canaan (71%).

Connecticut remains the leader among the seven New

England states, Bysiewicz noted.

She also predicted that the state will realize its self-imposed goal of 69.5% — the same figure as 2010’s census — by Aug. 11.

That is the date when the U.S. Census Bureau will deploy thousands of “enumerators,” who collect household and demographic information by canvassing their assigned areas.

Earlier this month, Bysiewicz announced that the U.S. Census Bureau is restarting the hand delivery of census paper questionnaires to households with P.O. boxes — an effort that was curtailed after just three days on March 18 in the face of the pandemic — to further increase participation.

Participation “is so important to businesses on a number of levels,” Bysiewicz said, “whether it’s a small business, a mom and pop operation or a Fortune 500 company. Companies look at census data to determine where to locate a retail operation or a new branch.”

In addition, there is significant money at play, she said.

Last year the state received $11 billion from 55 different federal programs based upon 2010 census data.

That data is also used to determine funding for highway construction, Medicare/Medicaid, and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits, among other items, Bysiewicz said. The state estimates that Connecticut will lose about $2,900 for each person undercounted in the census — a cumulative $29,000 until the next census in 2030.

The lieutenant governor also took pains to stress that reluctance by some residents to participate due to privacy concerns should easily be overcome.

“The Supreme Court ruled last year that the census cannot include questions about whether you’re a U.S. citizen or not,” she said. “The form only takes a few minutes to fill out — basically your name, the number of people in your home as of April 1, their ages and genders, dates of birth, ethnicity and whether you own or rent your home.”

Violators of privacy provisions can face a fine of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to 10 years, she added.

“They’re not very detailed questions — but filling the questionnaires out is very important,” Bysiewicz said.

Metro-North in high speed for COVID-19 recovery

BY PETER KATZ

off-peak hours. We call that discretionary travel. You don’t really have people taking the train to go to a restaurant or go to a show anymore. They’re just not during those off-hours.”

During the slowdown due to the pandemic, Rinaldi said work has continued on the project to develop direct service for Metro-North riders into Penn Station as well as on station rehabilitation projects, such as the one in White Plains, which is the rail line’s third-busiest station after Grand Central Terminal and Stamford.

The White Plains project is estimated to cost from $92 million to $94 million and is part of a $135 million cap-

pkatz@westfairinc.com

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etro-North Railroad President Catherine Rinaldi said the trains are seeing a slow increase in ridership since restarting in the wake of the COVID-19 shutdown during which ridership had dropped by about 95%.

“When the Mid-Hudson reopened two weeks ago and now the city is starting to reopen our ridership is clawing its way back. But even after all of that we’re still down 90%,” Rinaldi said. “That 5% is not nothing. We’re happy to see things are moving in the other direction, but you can’t sugarcoat the fact that our ridership is still down 90%.”

In a video conference with Westchester County Executive George Latimer, Rinaldi said that for the past month the railroad has been on a daily cycle for disinfecting its trains, a change from the every-three-days cycle that initially was put into place.

“We’ve changed technologies, too.

We’re not wiping down as much. We’re using sprayers; we’re looking at all kinds of innovative technologies to try to be able to keep the trains cleaner longer and make sure that they’re as disinfected as they can be,” Rinaldi said. “Part of getting the other 90% to come back is giving people the confidence that they’re going to have a safe experience.”

Rinaldi said that although the railroad cut back to hourly service when the outbreak was raging in the metro region, they now are adding trains.

“We’ve been layering some additional trains in just as we see demand,” Rinaldi said. “One of the things we’re keeping an especially close eye on is the reverse peak. One of the things we have that really distinguishes Metro-North is we have a lot of people get on the train at stations in the city in the morning, stations like Fordham, Woodlawn, whatever, and they’re traveling north or traveling east to job opportunities in White Plains or New Rochelle or across the state line in Greenwich or Stamford.

We’ve seen that ridership pick up quite a bit.”

Rinaldi said that June 14 schedule changes were designed to significantly increasing peak-hour service.

“That’s when people are traveling, going to work. We’re adding a significant increase — 115% increase over the hourly schedule, that’s really focused on the AM peak and PM peak so people can get to and from work safely,” Rinaldi said. “We’re basically leaving the rest of the schedule alone because we’re not really seeing a lot of people ride

A northbound train enters the White Plains station that is undergoing $92 million in upgrades. Photo by Peter Katz.

» METRO-NORTH

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JUNE 22, 2020

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term care facilities — about 40% of the country’s roughly 116,000 virus-related deaths, according to a running count by the Associated Press.

Even given that their patient population is among the most vulnerable to COVID-19, and that residents live in close quarters, the fact that nursing home residents make up less than 1% of the U.S. population makes those numbers especially troubling.

As of June 10, Connecticut’s nursing homes had recorded 8,669 confirmed COVID cases and 2,106 deaths, with another 542 classified as “probable.” As of June 9, its assisted living facilities had recorded 1,051 positive cases and 285 deaths, with another 64 listed as “probable.” If the probable cases are not included, the cumulative 2,391 deaths represent nearly 57% of the state’s total; including the probable cases raises that figure to over 71%.

Throughout the crisis, Lamont’s response to the worsening situation at those facilities was criticized as agonizingly slow, as his administration wrestled with questions about turning certain nursing homes into “conversion” facilities — either all COVID-positive or COVIDnegative populations — along with what seemed a never-ending lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff.

In April, the state’s COO Josh Geballe confirmed that the state would begin inspections of all such facilities to confirm whether they were in compliance with the latest guidelines from the Department of Public Health (DPH) and the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

By the end of that month medical professional members of the Connecticut National Guard were helping with that effort.

But even that action was hampered by a decision to allow some “on-site visits” to take place via FaceTime, leading to the filing of a grievance by New England Health Care Employees Union, SEIU 1199, which represents 6,000 workers in 30% of the state’s nursing homes.

Mandatory testing of all residents and staff also got out to a rough start, with reports that the latter had to wait longer to be tested at several facilities.

Not all the blame lies with the state, however, with a pair of Fairfield County facilities among

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JUNE 22, 2020

Kevin Kelly

three that have recently been fined. The 120-bed RegalCare at Southport was fined a total of $3,000 for improper distribution and use of PPE — RegalCare is appealing both the citations and fines. The 161-bed Bethel Health Care Center was fined $2,520 for similar mishandling of PPE and for keeping a recovered coronavirus patient in its COVID-positive ward for several days beyond the three recommended by the CDC. On June 8, Lamont ordered an independent, third-party review to be conducted of the preparation and response to the pandemic inside of Connecticut’s nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The review, which the governor said he wants completed before autumn to prepare for a potential second wave, will incorporate a top-tobottom analysis of all elements of the pandemic and how it was addressed in those facilities.

During the governor’s daily briefing on June 16, Geballe said the third party — which has yet to be named — would be expected to deliver interim recommendations and other feedback by mid-August, with its final report due by the end of September.

The Lamont administration is soliciting proposals from third-party experts to conduct the review. Before it begins, the administration plans to meet with legislative leaders to develop a scope that ensures the review provides the state with meaningful information that can best improve the safety of patients and staff in these facilities.

Lamont also noted that the Connecticut DPH took several steps to contain outbreaks in those facilities, including: • Becoming one of the first states FCBJ

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to discontinue visitation in early March; • Establishing dedicated COVIDrecovery facilities to prevent COVID-positive patients from re-entering nursing homes; • Delivering millions of units of PPE through the state’s mutual aid program; • Providing a $125 million financial aid package for nursing homes to support staff payment, infection control, PPE costs and other pandemic-related expenses; and • Establishing a new category of worker, the Temporary Nurse Aide, to assist with staffing shortages.

“We must take this opportunity to learn from the pandemic and the experience of our nursing homes to ensure we are using the best available science and quality improvement techniques to protect these residents,” acting DPH Commissioner Deidre Gifford said. “We must study the epidemiology, protocols, staffing and overall preparedness of all our facilities to provide clarity and understanding of what happened over the course of this pandemic.”

NURSING HOME ASSOCIATIONS APPROVE

Connecticut’s two nursing home associations — LeadingAge Connecticut and the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities and the Connecticut Center for Assisted Living (CAHCF/CCAL) — issued a statement welcoming Lamont’s move.

“We must gain clarity and understanding of what happened over the course of this pandemic,” the organizations wrote. “It is essential that we thoroughly evaluate our state’s response in a nonbiased and inclusive way so

as to learn from the science and help to prepare for a potential second wave of the virus.

“The state’s experience is part of a national pandemic and in such, our preparation and response were influenced not only by our state’s efforts, but also by the federal response,” they continued. “As such, the nursing home associations recommend that the analysis include the role of the changing CDC’s guidance, the inadequate PPE supply and the delay in testing.”

However, Kelly, the ranking Republican of the legislature’s Aging Committee, said he believes the state has seriously fumbled the ball.

“He (Lamont) prohibited family members from going in to nursing homes, but allowed staff — many of whom work at additional facilities — to go in and out,” Kelly said. “Why didn’t testing take place then?”

Kelly also objects to the movement of residents between facilities as the health crisis grew.

“Most of these individuals have diminished capacity,” he said. “When you start shuffling a dementia patient around, it becomes a very stressful situation and they can lose further capacity.

They’re already in a frail condition, so you’re just setting them up for more COVID-related problems.”

‘THIS GOVERNOR DOESN’T LIKE TRANSPARENCY’

The PPE issue also weighs on the senator’s mind. “When did the state get it? Did they ever change their approach to trying to get it? What were, and are, the procurement policies of the state of Connecticut?”

Underlying it all, Kelly said, is what he views as Lamont’s lack of transparency. The administration’s hiring of the Boston Consulting Group — “they don’t even live in Connecticut,” Kelly said — which will be paid up to $2 million to augment the work of the Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group, is just one example.

Outgoing Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano (R-North Haven) blasted that news, maintaining the group had been “hired in the dark to be the state’s ‘control tower’ on one of the most significant issues ever to face our state,” and lamented Lamont’s lack of transparency,” accusing Lamont of implementing a “strategy of ignoring the people, and perhaps even his staff, and working with high paid consultants

behind the scenes.”

Kelly, who acknowledged his interest in succeeding Fasano as Republican leader, also cited the Partnership for Connecticut — the multimillion-dollar private-public initiative between the state and Ray and Barbara Dalio, which was recently disbanded among questions over its transparency — and the Reopen Connecticut group itself as evidence of Lamont’s preference for working around the legislature.

“The Reopen Connecticut Group was made up of 50 individuals whose opinions he valued,” Kelly said. “I’m the ranking member of the Aging Committee and we weren’t called in.”

The advisory group was exempted from Freedom of Information laws, a move that Carol Platt Liebau, president of The Yankee Group, called a “damaging mistake. …Hiding the information and decision-making process that inform the advisory group’s recommendations from those it affects most is insulting, counterproductive and treats the people of Connecticut like subjects rather than citizens.”

“The governor is expected to collaborate with the legislative leaders,” Kelly said. “Like it or not, this is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. This governor doesn’t like transparency or Freedom of Information rules.”

Kelly sent a letter to Lamont on June 10 listing his objections and imploring the independent review to include an analysis of the state’s response.

“Just as nursing homes and assisted living facilities had an obligation to do everything in their power to protect residents, the state had an equal if not greater role to ensure that Connecticut’s vulnerable elderly residents were protected,” he wrote.

“This investigation cannot be about making one party a scapegoat,” he continued. “It needs to be a truly comprehensive review of all those who had a responsibility to protect the state’s most vulnerable residents so that we can make sure what happened over the last few months never happens again.”

Asked if he had heard back from the governor, Kelly laughed drily.

“I haven’t received any invitation to come and meet with him, or a phone call or a letter,” he said.

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Metro-North—

ital project for station improvements.

“I was over there about 10 days ago now and, you can’t sugarcoat that either; it’s a mess. But it’s a mess because there’s so much going on,” she said. “Under the circumstances it’s almost a good thing we have fewer riders because you have fewer people being impacted by how extensive the station renovation project is in White Plains, but that’s going to be done by the end of the year.”

The project adds an elevator within the main entrance for customers to reach the new side platform. Included are two stairs that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and have radiant heat flooring for snow and ice control. Other ADA-compliant features are being upgraded at the station, such as railings, platform guardrails and signs. A new public address system is also in the works.

The top to bottom station transformation includes refurbishment and functional upgrades to its main entrance and three others — Main Street, Hamilton Avenue and Mott Street. Security cameras will be positioned throughout the station. Other upgrades include new platform canopies with wood ceilings, LED lighting, USB chargers, Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity, digital screens displaying train information, new ticket vending machines and new benches. There is to be an expanded, glass-enclosed waiting area, new interior station wall panels, new ceiling tiles and fixtures, a remodeled ticket office, an improved food vendor space and refurbished bathrooms.

Rinaldi said that Metro-North has full positive train (PTC) control in operation on the Harlem and Hudson lines at this point. PTC is technology that slows down or stops a train to prevent accidents such as derailments due to speeding, collisions and running through switches that have not been properly set.

The coverage includes all trains along the Hudson Line’s 74 miles from Grand Central to Poughkeepsie and the Harlem Line’s 82 miles from Grand Central to Wassaic.

The system uses a network of computers on board trains and along the tracks that are in communication with a central control hub. The network shares data on rail conditions in real time and can take control of a train if the engineer allows the train to exceed the speed limit, fails to make a needed speed change, doesn’t slow down or stop if there’s a conflict with another train or if an unsafe condition is ahead.

Every stretch of track has a predetermined safe speed limit.

“We’re now focused on the New

The White Plains project is estimated to cost from $92 million to $94 million and is part of a $135 million capital project for station improvements.

Haven Line,” Rinaldi said. “A month or so ago we cut in a segment from the Bronx up to around Greenwich and now we’re focused on the rest of the New Haven Line. It’s been a bit of a challenge because of COVID-19.”

She said that there were disruptions in the supply chain with an inability to get some needed equipment due to the closing of some factories. She also said that testing of the installations was affected due to the need to comply with social distancing and other safety practices. She expressed confidence that PTC will be fully installed by the end of the year.

Rinaldi told Latimer that her colleagues at other transit systems around

the country have found that their systems experienced the same dramatic declines in ridership when businesses were shut down and now, like MetroNorth, they are working to entice people back.

“That’s certainly a universal experience,” Rinaldi said. “We’ve also had the ability to collaborate with other properties and see what they’re doing in terms of cleaning and innovative technologies, that sort of thing. So, there’s a lot of sharing, learning going on. This is not anything we’ve ever seen before. If there’s another wave in the fall, how can we be better prepared? I think there’s a lot of learning that needs to happen.”

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JUNE 22, 2020

9

Vertical farming takes root in Hudson Valley

BY PHIL HALL phall@westfairinc.com

A

mong the more disturbing aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic involved food costs and supplies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported a 2.6% increase in food prices nationwide from March to April, marking the largest monthly increase in 46 years.

These increases have been fueled by disruptions in the supply chain due to worker illnesses in processing plants.

For restaurants and food retailers, not being able to access materials or being charged higher-than-normal exacerbates an already acute problem of trying to maintain revenue streams during the pandemic. However, a pair of regional businesses have begun using agricultural technology from the Israeli company Vertical Field that takes the farm-to-table concept and turns it into a container-to-table approach.

“The way it works is that we take a container, just the standard shipping container,” explained Sam Miner, Vertical Field’s U.S. launch manager. “And the main thing that we do is we put these modules on the wall that have irrigation lines behind it. We simply fill those modules with soil and we put in the right lighting equipment.

John Lekic, chef and owner of Poughkeepsie’s Farmers & Chefs restaurant, poses in front of his Vertical Field container used for growing greens and herbs. Photo courtesy Vertical Field.

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And once you put plants in there, they just grow fairly simple.”

Vertical Field launched in Israel in 2006 as an agricultural supply solution for the nation’s urban markets. Miner stated the firm began as a “green wall company” that took the horizontal aspect of rooftop gardens and switched it on its side. The company now has 400 projects around the world, including a massive installation in Vietnam that Miner described as being “tremendous, like a football field.”

This spring, Vertical Field made its way into the U.S. market through a pair of Hudson Valley installations. John Lekic, chef and owner of Poughkeepsie’s Farmers & Chefs restaurant, learned about the technology at a Culinary Institute of America symposium in late 2019 and was intrigued about operating his own food source.

“We were planning to bring in the container in March and we actually brought in a container days after the emergency thing was declared in New York,” he said.

“It was a perfect timing. Ten days later, we planted our first crop, mostly salad greens, and in the middle of May we already had to harvest. We are going to have a third one this week.”

Lekic praised the technology for allowing several harvests per week, noting the ability to “harvest them the day of serving.”

He also praised the user-friendly aspect of the 20-foot containers.

“It’s super easy to maintain,” he said.

“Once the container is set up and the mechanism is in place, you have an app that does the irrigation and controls the temperature and the humidity. It’s not really complicated — after you do it once or twice, the planting and everything else becomes really easy to maintain. It does

not require a lot of time.”

Lekic is now growing herbs and leafy vegetables in the containers, adding “it’s still a playground for us.”

Another Hudson Valley business that has Vertical Field’s technology in place is the Evergreen kosher supermarket in Monsey, which installed its containers at the end of May. Menachem Lubinsky, president of Brooklyn-based Lubicom Business Consulting and marketing director for Evergreen, praised the product for creating a speedy supply of produce.

“If something takes normally three months to grow, the technology can accelerate that to three weeks,” he said.

“A restaurant or a supermarket can be in control of their supply.”

Lubinsky said he reached out to Vertical Field following news reports during the pandemic of truckers not being able to deliver goods and farms destroying crops because they suddenly had no outlets for selling. Besides selling the harvested crops, Evergreen is planning to make the containers a visitors’ attraction.

“The customer will be able to see the process of how it grows, because one of the walls of the container is glass,” he said. “It’s kind of like an educational experience just for a family to go over to see how this whole process grows.

And there’s a very large kosher constituency there who are concerned about consuming insects. This eliminates that concern because of the way it grows — it is insect-free.”

Lubinsky said that Vertical Field is planning to build on its technology to accommodate the growing of a wider variety of items, including strawberries and vegetables.

CONTRIBUTING WRITER | By Robert G. Brody Part four in a five-part series

A look at the ban-the-box-law

B

ack in June 2016, Connecticut passed a ban-the-box law, which took effect Jan. 1, 2017. Since that day, Connecticut employers have been prohibited from inquiring about a prospective employee’s prior arrests, criminal charges or convictions on an initial employment application. Have you heard of this law? If not, make sure you do.

THE STATUTE

Employers covered under Connecticut’s ban-the-box law (named “An Act Concerning Fair Chance Employment”) are defined as “any person engaged in business who has one or more employees.” This is a very broad definition. Covered employers are prohibited from inquiring into applicants’ prior arrests, criminal charges or convictions on initial employment applications. There are, however, a few exceptions.

An employer may inquire into a person’s criminal history if the employer is required to do so by state or federal law, or if a security, fidelity or an equivalent bond is required for the position.

Unlike other ban-the-box laws we are seeing being passed across the country, Connecticut does not appear to prohibit these questions with regard to independent contractors. Also unlike these similar laws, Connecticut employers are generally free to inquire into an applicant’s criminal history after the initial

application stage, such as at the time of interview. Other states “banning-the-box” tend to explicitly require employers to wait until a specified point in the hiring process before inquiring about an applicant’s criminal history.

The important thing in Connecticut is to recognize that pesky little “have you ever been convicted of a crime” box on the application. If you have it, your application is likely unlawful.

THE TAKEAWAY

Employers who are just now learning of this law should review their application materials to ensure they do not contain any prohibited criminal history questions. Oftentimes, it’s a small box that might otherwise be easy to miss.

The same is true for advertisements that require clean criminal backgrounds. And, while you might not have gotten caught yet, the Connecticut Labor Commissioner has been tasked with handling complaints of aggrieved individuals under this law. So, just because you haven’t had an issue yet, doesn’t mean you won’t. Get rid of the box!

Robert G. Brody is the founder and managing member of Brody and Associates LLC, a management-side labor, employment and benefits law firm with offices in Westport. He can be reached at rbrody@brodyandassociates. com or by telephone at 203-454-0560.

NEWS NOON

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The Destructive Business Toll from Sandy

By Jeffrey Citron The factory floor and sales showroom were silent.

Workers were staying home. Revenues had disappeared.

But it was not the COVID-19 epidemic.

It was the Madelaine Chocolate Company after Superstorm Sandy flooded its waterfront Queens factory and headquarters with over4 feet of seawater, destroying millions of dollars of machinery and hundreds of thousands of pounds of merchandise.

When the flood waters receded, Madelaine’s owners discovered more than $50 million in damage.

The elite candy maker - which private labels under numerous brands - for renowned resorts, restaurants, retailers and such entities as the Disney Company, was faced with an enormous crisis, not too distant from the Covid19 impact many regional businesses have absorbed.

Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP (DHC), which represented Madelaine for more than 35 years, quickly developed a comprehensive legal and government relations strategy to help rebuild and reopen.

Drawing on our experience with both law and government, we assisted Madelaine to secure $13.2 million in hurricane relief aid on the federal, state and local levels, $6 million in state tax credits, a $250,000 grant from National Grid, and $18 million in federal SBA loans.

With these in place, and a lot of hard work, Madelaine was able to resume business operations and restore hundreds of quality New York jobs.

Today, the COVID-19 epidemic confronts businesses with a broad range of uncertainties and challenges, from accessing Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) grants, SBA loans, to renegotiating leases and preparing for a safe and also financially secure resumption of business.

For almost 50 years, DHC has employed its unique combination of legal and government experience to help companies emerge stronger.

As DHC expands into Westchester, Rockland, Orange and Fairfield Counties with its new White Plains office, we are poised to assist in bringing your business back to full capacity.

Jeffrey Citron is co-managing partner of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP. He has extensive experience assisting companies to secure financing, grants and other benefits for capital projects and serves as general counsel for prominent businesses.

Reach him at CIT@DHCLegal.com

New York City ▪ Washington D.C. ▪ White Plains ▪ Albany 212.557.7200 ▪ DHCLegal.com FCBJ

WCBJ

JUNE 22, 2020

11

Beyond Biz WHEN WE FIRST HEARD ABOUT THE TAILORED HOME — a most unusual home design store in Greenwich — we thought we had missed our moment. This belonged in our March “Visionary Designs” issue, not our April animal issue, we thought.

Were we ever wrong. Perched atop Greenwich Avenue opposite Pickwick Plaza, The Tailored Home makes the most of this maximalist moment in home design by housing a bewitching menagerie amid chinoiserie wallpapers; voluptuous furnishings in jewel colors; and white teapots, Asian soup bowls, pillows and pumpkin-shaped ottomans (“erottomans,” as co-owner Scott Falciglia calls them) with sensual blackline drawings of swimming or copulating nudes that recall Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.

Against this riotous backdrop, seated monkeys support steel candelabra. A headless dog in ceramic cream becomes a stand for a matching watering can.

A seated canine in an Egyptian-style headdress offers a votive. Flamingos stalk off plates or swim across rectangular pillows shaped like butterflies. The 12 animals that make up the Chinese zodiac stand at attention in groups that suggest chess sets. Golden cows roller skate, balancing votives. Horses carrying Byzantine-like figures fly across one print while dragons face off on another.

Why all the animals, apart from the

CLASS MENAGERIE

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA PHOTOGRAPHS BY BOB ROZYCKI.

One of many charming Chinese zodiac sets at The Tailored Home.

A bunny peers out from a plate at The Tailored Home.

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idea that the three-floor shop is quirky and wildly creative?

“We think they’re joyous,” says Falciglia, who owns the 2-year-old store with Jhon (pronounced John) Ortiz, along with a 5-year-old Tailored Home in Westport and a studio workshop in Norwalk that crafts furniture and window treatments. It’s all part of a business that offers a full range of interior design services.

The pair are partners in life as well, complementary and yet similar, with overlapping talents and interests.

“I was in textiles and retail and got into the idea of building furniture,” says Ortiz, who was born in Venezuela, raised in Colombia and came to this area via Florida. “So I started to take design classes and studied in Paris, Milan and Fairfield University.”

“I’m from New Fairfield,” Falciglia says, “and attended Fairfield University, where I studied international business, and worked in finance for 12 years.”

About 8 years ago, Falciglia met Ortiz, who was living in Norwalk. The two moved in together and soon found their basement had become a furniture workshop. (Today they live in Westport with their Yellow Labrador Retriever Spanky and Persian cat Baby.) The couple incorporated their business in 2014.

While it would seem that Ortiz does all the design — as per The Tailored Home website, which says “Interior design by Jhon Ortiz” — and Falciglia handles the business end, the two share the yin-yang of interior design. Falciglia says Ortiz has a good business brain, while he contributes his aesthetic sense and helps with design.

The two have a team of about a dozen who craft the furnishings in Norwalk, adhering, they say, to the highest standards in craftsmanship and materials.

“Only high-end furniture is being made in the U.S.,” Ortiz notes. And they are part of that trend. “We use real glue, dowels and joints,” Falciglia adds.

They also repair and reupholster furniture, while accessories are sourced from vendors they find in Paris and Milan — as well as closer to home. The Tailored Home carries candles from sister-in-law Natalia Falciglia’s Poured Love company in Brooklyn, which has such arresting scents as Leather and Sweet Bourbon.

The pair’s aesthetic dovetails with a moment in which color, texture, pattern and stuff are back in interior design.

Falciglia sees this as a reaction to a momentous time in world history.

“People are trying to shake up what we’re going through in civilization,” he says.

The Tailored Home is doing just that.

For more, visit thetailoredhomect.com.

Beyond Biz

ONE OF A KIND

manages with his sister Carrie.

What is the secret to keeping a familyrun operation in business for so long? Deane modestly denies himself main credit for the company’s longevity.

“Deane’s success is team driven,” he says. “Taking on a kitchen renovation is very cumbersome and overwhelming. When working with Deane, we surround your project with a team of professionals that are with you every step of the way. Our designers guide you through space planning, cabinet design and material selections. Our project design manager engineers the designs and our field supervisor manages the field conditions and the installation of your project.”

Deane and his team work on approximately 100 projects per year, with clients in Westchester and Fairfield counties. No two endeavors are ever identical.

“These projects are all in different stages — ranging from preliminary design, production or installation. A realistic timeline for planning your project would allow for approximately six weeks for the upfront design phase, three months for cabinet production and four to six weeks for the completion of installation. These time frames vary based on the scope of work for each project.”

Deane does not force ideas on clients but instead encourages them to share magazines, photographs, Pinterest boards and Houzz idea books that inspire possible design concepts.

While the aesthetic aspects of the design are important, so are the financial. He advises clients to have a realistic budget that will cover the various parts of the project.

As for the current trends that shape his ongoing work, Deane states that “hints of color and organic textured woods will continue to be integrated into our designs for 2020. Painted white and light gray cabinetry will dominate the primary finishes with pops of colors and textured woods. These colors are usually presented in islands, open shelf cabinetry or even on custom hoods. Additionally, the use of textured woods creates an organic vibe that is very currently popular.”

But that’s not to say Deane is ready to accept all inquiries. Some prospective clients have to be politely turned away.

“Occasionally, there are projects that are on an extremely tight timeline,” he says. “Due to the customization of our designs and highend nature of our products, their delivery takes time. Therefore, clients need to make a decision if they want to invest in this process or selected stock products that are readily available.

Ultimately, we want all our clients to love the finished result, so we are always sentient about meeting expectations and delivering a quality experience.”

For more, visit deaneinc.com.

BY PHIL HALL

WHEN WAG LAST CHECKED IN WITH PETER DEANE, principal of the family-owned design firm Deane Inc., in March 2016, he had just returned from the annual Kitchen and Bath Industry Show in Las Vegas with insight into potential trends, including breakthroughs in smart home technology such as touchactivated and pedal-controlled faucets that dispensed sparkling water alongside chilled drinking water and featured their own insystem water filters.

“At the touch of a button, our clients can turn on the lights to a specific setting to create an appropriate ambience while turning on their music and raising their window blinds,” he said at the time.

Fast forward to today and smart home technology is a staple in Deane’s work rather than a fanciful trend shining in a trade show expo hall. Deane’s company has been at the forefront of incorporating these systems into its designs.

“The biggest value our clients see in integrating smart technology into their kitchens is within their appliances where manufacturers can diagnose their products off-site to determine service requirements,” he says. “The trend we are noticing from our clients is their desire to escape the pervasiveness of technology and devices and spend their time in their kitchens cooking and enjoying time with their family and friends.”

Four years ago, Deane also called into view new design trends promoting sustainability through the use of reclaimed woods combined with textured hard plastic, as well as man-made countertops that challenged metal-based versions for resiliency. Today, Deane is still keeping an eye on emerging design trends. But he is also cognizant of not rushing to embrace design trends that will quickly go out of date.

“Designing a kitchen within the architectural integrity of the home is one way to combat the ‘I don’t want a trendy kitchen’ pushback,” he advises. “However, more important is working with your kitchen designer to create a space that is suitable for your family’s lifestyle and fits your aesthetic.”

Deane Inc. was originally founded in Pound Ridge in 1961 by Raymond Girard, Deane’s grandfather. Deane’s father, Peter M. Deane, came on board in 1965 and the company opened its first Connecticut showroom in Darien. Deane worked for a general contractor in Breckenridge, Colorado, and later at a cabinetry shop in New Holland, Pennsylvania, before coming into the family business, which now consists of Stamford and New Canaan showrooms that he co-

Beyond Biz, the Westchester and Fairfield County Business Journals’ new section of lifestyle offerings

Peter Deane. Courtesy Deane Inc.

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JUNE 22, 2020

13

UConn president aims for a return to almost-normal on campus

BY PHIL HALL phall@westfairinc.com

U

niversity of Connecticut President Thomas C. Katsouleas had just come from his first in-person meeting with his leadership team at the Storrs campus since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closing of the school facilities.

“It felt very good to be back in, though it’s going to take some getting used to wearing the masks,” said Katsouleas in an upcoming video interview produced for the Westfair Communications YouTube channel.

Katsouleas became UConn’s 16th president last August, but since the pandemic began he found his routine altered into what he described as “emergency and crisis management on a pretty daily basis.”

The impact has already affected him.

“It occurred to me that I kind of aged four months and then four years,” he said.

“I don’t feel like a first-year president anymore. I feel like a seasoned and tested veteran.”

Katsouleas reported that UConn will be keeping its original calendar of resum-

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ing classes on Aug. 31, but academic life will look very different.

“We will be bringing students back into the residence halls in a reduced density, beginning the middle of August,” he said.

“We haven’t worked out the details of this, but it’s a phased-in return so that we can perform the testing of every student who’s returning and every student-facing staff member as well.”

The fall semester will offer a mix of in-person and online education, but the school will go exclusively online after the Thanksgiving break. Katsouleas said sending students to travel home for the holiday and then having them return adds “considerably more risk to the strategy of keeping students and staff safe and healthy.” He added the online-exclusive time will only be limited to the “last two weeks of instruction and finals.”

Katsouleas expressed confidence that UConn’s online education was equal in quality to classroom instructions.

“We were one of the earliest to give notice to our faculty to prepare for the eventuality of being online,” he said. “We gave our faculty two weeks’ notice — with some of our peers, it was only two days.

And at the time that we asked the faculty

WCBJ

Thomas C. Katsouleas

to begin preparing, it was really a hypothetical — no one really expected that we were going to be pulling the trigger on that.

“Fortunately,” he added, “we had a significant history of online instruction across all of our schools and departments — we had that expertise to draw upon, we knew a lot about synchronous and asynchronous pedagogies and which worked in different types of classes and different size classes.”

Katsouleas added that U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy asked him if “the experience of going online would represent a step towards the end of residential colleges.”

Katsouleas told the senator it was just the opposite.

“What we’ve heard from students is they got the knowledge that they needed to pass the course. But it’s not what they were seeking from a residential college experience and they can’t wait to get back.

And we’re seeing that in our fall applications, which are considerably up, and our messages from our parents and our students is: ‘Are you going to be back in person? That’s what I’m looking for.’”

Of course, one aspect of the UConn experience that cannot be transferred online is its nationally renown athletics program. Katsouleas stated the school is planning to bring its student athletes back to the campus in the early summer, with the goal of returning to play while keeping pandemic-abatement protocols in place.

“We don’t know what fall sports will look like,” he said. “We do know we’re working toward resuming them.

And we’re making pretty good progress.

There are a couple of milestones we had to achieve before the football players

could come back July 1, and we haven’t checked off every box yet. But between now and July 1, I’ looks like we will. They will get started and it won’t look the same, but we’ll just have to take it from there and see what happens.”

Katsouleas also observed the tumult created in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody, noting that UConn is committed to reaffirming its commitment to diversity. The school hosted a virtual town hall conducted by its African American cultural center and attended by several hundred people to bring insight to questions of racial inequality and civil rights.

He acknowledged that UConn needs to do a better job in being part of the solution to a more inclusive society.

“We also need to reflect on our own practices and address structural racism that exists in any predominantly white institution with a long history — and be introspective and reflective on what more we can do,” he said.

“I hope we can also provide leadership on a national level. We’ve been talking with deans about developing additional degree programs for a master’s in public safety that would train the next generation of police leaders in more advanced practices that are evidence-based and researchbased, that are effective and not racist.

“The University of New Haven has a program in police and fire safety and there might be a possible partnership there,” he said. “And we’re working with our legislative leaders about how we could partner on any particular legislation, or if our law school could help work with them to do something that would bring about more rapid change.”

RECOVERY WILLIAM P. HARRINGTON

BELINDA S. MILES

DAVID LEWING

LOUIS R. CAPPELLI

THROUGH EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP THE ARC OF THE MORAL UNIVERSE IS LONG, BUT IT BENDS TOWARD JUSTICE — Martin Luther King Jr. JEFFREY A. FLAKS

BRAD SOMMA

BRENDAN NAUGHTON

FAIRFIELD COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL • WESTCHESTER COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL • JUNE 22, 2020

June 16, 2020 “Let Facts Be Submitted To A Candid World” It’s time for a candid conversation.

Leadership is spawned from crisis and necessity. True leaders simply lead. They are selfless and courageous, empathic and humble. They acknowledge their flaws and solicit the wisdom of others. Their moral compass is the common good. They seek neither credit nor platitudes. Their reward is the success and well-being of those who have placed their trust in them.

Our country and our region are confronting two daunting challenges: The COVID-19 Pandemic has killed or sickened family and friends, crippled our local and national economies and plunged individuals and families into the chaos of fiscal uncertainty and pervasive fear. Horrific homicidal misconduct of certain police officers has exposed, yet again, the festering social wounds of racism in our country and the resultant plight and suffering of Americans of color. These are common enemies that we as Americans must fight and overcome together.

I emphasize “we” because our Nation’s founding documents are based upon inclusive pronouns that contemplate a collective effort to defend and honor one another and the God-given Constitutional rights of every American. Unfortunately, on both sides of the aisle our political discourse has devolved into the constant use of divisive personal and partisan invective. This pits Americans against each other. This is not leadership. It is self-serving, toxic rhetoric that has exacerbated our problems, fomented unnecessary and otherwise avoidable social discord, and accomplished nothing other than to tear at the fabric of our country.

This is a defining moment for our Nation; an opportunity for thoughtful dialogue and needed reform. I have great faith in our country. Americans believe in redemption. As Americans, we were born for this time, for these challenges, and for this defining moment of change. We have among us leaders in healthcare and the sciences, who will develop the COVID-19 vaccine and identify breakthroughs in treatment – oftentimes, while risking their own health and safety. We also have among us political, community and law enforcement leaders who will hazard forward fearlessly to identify injustice where it exists, build a consensus for change, and eradicate the infection of racism and ignorance. We will do it together. It will not be easy. Nothing worthwhile ever is. But it is our time to lead this country forward.

How? I offer for your consideration the words of the Declaration of Independence. As a prelude to identifying the colonists’ grievances against King George, Thomas Jefferson wrote that “…let facts be submitted to a candid world.” In that same hope, I offer what I believe we all must do as leaders. We must listen to one another without bias, and sincerely attempt to understand differing perspectives, grievances and fears. We must be patient, agree to disagree without insult or the all too predictable dismissive allegations of ignorance, intolerance or bigotry. We must understand that inevitable disagreements are merely navigable rapids, not insurmountable impediments. We must respect the humanity and validity of every American voice. We must support every person’s right to pursue the hopes and dreams that only can be realized in America.

We must reject the generic vilification of law enforcement or any other group and the wanton destruction of life, livelihoods and personal property. Such conduct generates only mistrust and social and political instability, antithetical to the interests of all Americans. America’s greatness can only be realized with the humble receptivity to the perspectives and experiences of all of our neighbors.

In the end, leadership, while difficult, is quite simple. Treat people the way you want to be treated. In the words of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “[t]he arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

It is our time. Let’s lead.

S2 • RECOVERY, THROUGH EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP • JUNE 22, 2020

William P. Harrington Chairman

JUNE 22, 2020 • RECOVERY, THROUGH EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP • S3

S4 • RECOVERY, THROUGH EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP • JUNE 22, 2020

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT & DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT SERVICES

C REATING QUALI T Y URBAN LIFEST YLES , BUILDING STRONGER COMMUNI TIES .

THE CAPPELLI ORGANIZATION AND ITS AFFILIATES FULLER DEVELOPMENT COMPANY AND LRC CONSTRUCTION WOULD LIKE TO TAKE A MOMENT TO THANK ALL OF THE DEDICATED ESSENTIAL WORKERS WHO ARE KEEPING OUR COMMUNITY SAFE AND FUNCTIONING.

WE SEE YOU. WE APPRECIATE YOU. THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS.

www.cappelli-inc.com CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT • GENERAL CONTRACTING • PROJECT DEVELOPMENT

JUNE 22, 2020 • RECOVERY, THROUGH EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP • S5

The past three months have been nothing short of surreal. As both business owners and individuals, we’re up at night with the same thoughts you’re probably having: How can we keep our employees safe and engaged? Are we getting our clients what they need? How can we support our communities? What will re-entry look like? How much longer can I juggle work and family at this pace? Will my loved ones be OK? What will the future hold?

It’s impossible for any of us to have all the answers, but as we sought them in good faith, we found direction in one of our guiding principles: “Adapting when challenged by forces outside of our control, but always staying true to our core values.”

The past three months have been nothing short of surreal. As both business owners and individuals, we’re up at night those with the samelong thoughts you’re having: can we keep our We established values before anyprobably of us could have How imagined today’s circumstances, The three months have been nothing short of surreal.

As both business owners and individuals, employees safe and engaged?

Are we getting our clients what they need?

How can weand support past three months have been nothing short of surreal.

As both business owners individuals, andpast yet our promise to “Redefine Possible” has never been more relevant.

Throughout both the we’re up at night with the same thoughts you’re probably having: How can we keep our our communities?

What will re-entry look like?

How much longer can I juggle work and family at we’re up at night with the same thoughts you’re probably having: How can we keep our storms and fair weather of our 134-year history, we’ve served our clients and communities employees safe and engaged? wewe getting clients what need?

HowWe canhave we support this pace? Will my loved ones beAre OK? What willour the future hold? employees safe and engaged?

Are our clients what they need?

How can we support resourcefully and authentically, rooted ingetting trust, with an eye onthey what’s next. every our communities?

What will re-entry look like?

How much longer can I juggle work and family at at ourimpossible communities?

What will re-entry look like?

How much longer can I juggle work andwe family confidence that this approach will all move us through this most recent storm, and toward recovery— It’s for any of us to have the answers, but as we sought them in good faith, this Will loved ones bebeOK? What willwill thethe future hold? this pace? pace?

Willmy loved ones OK? What future hold? together. found direction inmy one of our guiding principles: “Adapting when challenged by forces outside of It’s impossible for any of us to have all the answers, but as we sought them in good faith,faith, we we our control, but for always toall ourthe core values.”but as we sought It’s impossible any staying ofnetwork us totrue have answers, in good On behalf of our entire of advisors, we consider it a privilegethem to support you, your found direction in one of our guiding principles: “Adapting when challenged by forces outside of found direction in onefamilies. of ourlong guiding principles: challenged forces outside of businesses, andalways your We established those values us“Adapting could havewhen imagined today’sby circumstances, our control, but staying truebefore to ourany coreofvalues.” our control, but always staying true to ourhas core values.” and yet our promise to “Redefine Possible” never been more relevant. Throughout both the Thank you for your trust and confidence.

We established those values long before any of us couldserved have imagined circumstances, storms and fair weather of our 134-year history, we’ve our clientstoday’s and communities We established those values long before any of us could have imagined today’s circumstances, and yet our promise to “Redefine Possible” has never relevant. both the resourcefully and authentically, rooted in trust, with anbeen eye more on what’s next.Throughout We have every Brendan Naughton and Brad Somma and yet our promise to “Redefine Possible” has never been more relevant.

Throughout both the storms and that fair weather of ourwill 134-year served our storm, clients and and toward communities confidence this approach move ushistory, throughwe’ve this most recent recovery— Managing Partners, Charter Oak Financial storms and fair of ourrooted 134-year history, we’ve ournext. clients communities resourcefully andweather authentically, in trust, with an eye served on what’s Weand have every together. resourcefully and authentically, rooted in trust, with an eye on what’s next.

We have every confidence that this approach will move us through this most recent storm, and toward recovery— On behalf ofthat ourthis entire networkwill of advisors, consider a privilege to support yourrecovery— confidence approach move us we through this itmost recent storm, and you, toward together. businesses, together. and your families.

On behalf of our entire network of advisors, we consider it a privilege to support you, your Thank you for trust and confidence.

On behalf of your our entire network of advisors, we consider it a privilege to support you, your businesses, and your families. businesses, and yourand families.

Brendan Bradconfidence.

Somma Thank youNaughton for your trust and Managing Partners, Charter Oak Financial Thank you for your trust and confidence.

Brendan Naughton and Brad Somma Managing Partners, Charter Oak Financial Brendan Naughton and Brad Somma Managing Partners, Charter Oak Financial

Securities, investment advisory and financial planning services offered through qualified registered representatives of MML Investors Services, LLC. Member SiPC. Supervisory Office: 501 Merritt 7, 5th Floor; Norwalk, CT 06851. Tel: (203) 359-5300.

CRN202206-265886

Securities, investment advisory and financial planning services offered through qualified registered representatives of MML Investors Services, LLC. Member SiPC. Supervisory Office: 501 Merritt 7, 5th Floor; Norwalk, CT 06851. Tel: (203) 359-5300.

CRN202206-265886 Securities, investment advisory and financial planning services offered through qualified registered representatives of MML Investors Services, LLC. Member SiPC. Supervisory Office: 501 Merritt 7, 5th Floor; Norwalk, CT 06851. Tel: (203) 359-5300.

CRN202206-265886

Securities, investment advisory•and S6 • RECOVERY, THROUGH EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP JUNEfinancial 22, 2020planning services offered through qualified registered representatives of MML

Investors Services, LLC. Member SiPC. Supervisory Office: 501 Merritt 7, 5th Floor; Norwalk, CT 06851. Tel: (203) 359-5300.

CRN202206-265886

With continued caution, Connecticut is watchfully emerging from this phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even the most hardest-hit areas in Fairfield and Hartford Counties appear to be recovering, and the state is moving forward with its phased-in approach to re-opening.

At Hartford HealthCare, we have been moving deliberately and safely to provide more access to needed services. Importantly, we are also easing visitor restrictions that we put in place at the start of the pandemic.

In this note to you, I’d like to focus on four areas: Visitors, safety, your health and our response.

VISITORS

Hartford HealthCare is the first health system in the northeast and metropolitan NY to begin to welcome back visitors for our patients in our hospitals and outpatient areas.

Restricting visitors was one of the very first — and one of the most difficult — decisions we made to stop the spread of the virus and protect our patients, colleagues and communities. Now, with fewer patients hospitalized due to COVID-19, and screening processes well in place for anyone entering our healthcare facilities, we are confident we can safely phase in visitation across our system of care.

To ensure safety, and because each of our facilities has a unique layout, visitor policies may differ. But two goals are the same across Hartford HealthCare: a focus on safety and the desire to enable the emotional support that visitation offers our patients and their loved ones. For more information about visiting hours and safety guidelines, please visit here.

SAFETY

Your safety is our highest concern. Everywhere throughout Hartford HealthCare, we’ve taken extra precautions so you will be safe and can feel confident when you, or someone you know, receives care at any of more than 300 locations.

Our colleagues, led by clinical and infection prevention experts, have re-thought every aspect of your experience, so we can provide the utmost protection. This means: • Safer environments: Rigorous and frequent cleaning for all high-touch surfaces. Areas have been rearranged to allow for physical distancing, and hand sanitizers are readily available.

• Safer scheduling: We’ll save you time by asking you to complete pre-visit questionnaires beforehand in MyChartPLUS, and we’ll ask about your health and any symptoms you might be experiencing.

• Safer care: All Hartford HealthCare colleagues are screened for symptoms and undergo temperature checks every day. Colleagues, patients and visitors are required to wear facemasks.

Safety and healing are why we’re here. Please learn more about our enhanced safety practices at HartfordHealthCare.org/safety.

YOUR HEALTH

Please, do not delay care when you or your loved one needs it.

Every day, my colleagues are distressed to care for patients who put off their treatment out of fear during the pandemic, only to see their conditions worsen. A nurse recently told me of a stroke patient who delayed coming to the emergency department. This patient most likely would have had full functionality had he arrived at the onset of stroke. Now, he may now have a permanent disability. Sadly, this is not an isolated case.

Whether you need urgent care, an emergency department visit, a primary care or specialist appointment, or treatment for any health issue, including behavioral health — we are here, we are safe and we are ready to care for you.

Call your doctor’s office, or call 855.300.6933 to connect with a Hartford HealthCare Medical Group provider. For virtual visits, click here.

OUR RESPONSE

I’m immensely proud of my Hartford HealthCare colleagues — 30,000 individuals who have stood together on the frontlines and behind the scenes throughout this crisis. Never have I seen such determination, dedication, inspiration and innovation.

Thank you for your support of their amazing efforts. Our community’s outpouring of comments, donations and signs of gratitude make us proud beyond words. We are profoundly moved.

IN CLOSING

We know this is an unsettling time and I want to assure you that Hartford HealthCare is here for you.

• Our Community Care Center provides a 24-hour hotline that can answer your questions and offer emotional support. Call 833.621.0600.

• Here are other ways to stay safe and informed: Our Website Virtual Visit Information COVID-19 Testing Symptom Screener Our Health News Hub At Hartford HealthCare, we work to earn your trust every day. It is our great privilege to serve you — at this time, and always.

Jeffrey Flaks President and Chief Executive Officer Hartford HealthCare

S8 • RECOVERY, THROUGH EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP • JUNE 22, 2020

A Sign of Heartfelt Gratitude.

There are heroes on the front lines, every day, during this unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. They are the healthcare workers throughout Connecticut and beyond—and the people who support them—who selflessly care for our community 24/7, while caring for their families and themselves.

We cannot thank them enough. But as a small sign of our overwhelming gratitude, we hope you’ll join us in displaying the heart above on your front door or window to let these healthcare heroes know how much they are appreciated. Take a photo and share the picture with us on social media #HeartsForHealthcareWorkers.

For updates and more information about COVID-19: n

Visit HartfordHealthCare.org/Coronavirus

n

Text COVID19 to 31996 for text alerts

n

Call our 24/7 COVID-19 hotline at 860.972.8100

14260 HHC COVID Thank You heart ad 10x11.5.indd 1

6/17/20 12:46 PM

JUNE 22, 2020 • RECOVERY, THROUGH EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP • S9

Dear Westfair Business Community, I have never been prouder to be a banker and member of the banking industry. As the healthcare industry continues to serve our community in the battle against COVID-19, our industry praises their efforts and is doing our part to battle its economic impact. Unlike the 2008 financial crisis when banks were part of the problem, today we are part of the solution.

We are stronger, better capitalized, and more liquid, and we stand prepared to support our employees, our clients, and our communities in managing through these difficult times. We are working tirelessly for you, and we appreciate the trust you place in us.

Helping our clients and communities thrive The past few months have been truly trying for all of us, but KeyBank’s commitment to the financial wellness of our clients and communities has not wavered. Even as we pivoted many of our teammates to work from home and put strict safety and social distancing measures in place in our branches to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus, our teams remained on the job for you.

Together we have: •

Kept the majority of our Westchester and Fairfield County branches open and accessible by appointment and through our drive-up throughout the pandemic and we are now working to safely reopen our branch lobbies to customers. We also remain available 24/7 online, via ATMs, and by phone and mobile banking.

•

Put relief programs in place for clients experiencing financial hardship, including payment deferrals, fee and penalty waivers.

•

Helped both clients and non-clients receive the full value of their government-issued stimulus benefit by waiving negative account balances, overdraft fees, and check cashing fees.

•

Worked tirelessly to process nearly 40,000 SBA/Paycheck Protection Program loans for businesses and nonprofits to date – including thousands of applications from businesses throughout Westchester and Fairfield County that will help them keep workers in their jobs. In total, 90% of our lending went to small businesses across the country, with approximately 24% of them located in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. We are continuing to accept PPP applications for businesses in need, and are helping clients who have already received PPP funding apply for loan forgiveness.

•

Directed $1 million to COVID relief efforts across our footprint, including support to United Ways in Westchester and Greenwich, along with other chapters throughout the Hudson Valley and the Community Foundation of Fairfield County.

KeyBank Foundation also shifted an additional $5 million in commitments to projects that help our most vulnerable populations impacted by COVID.

•

Raised an additional $1.9 million in employee giving and corporate matches company-wide to support hundreds of local nonprofits meaningful to our teammates.

•

Reaffirm our legacy as a company built on a foundation that values diversity, equity and inclusivity in our customers, teammates, and community, and uses our voice and actions to demand a just and equitable community for all.

Ready for tomorrow KeyBank is proud to be here for you today, and as we work together to reopen our state and country, we are ready to help you tomorrow. We appreciate the trust you place in us and we are committed to your financial wellness. With roots that extend back to 1825, Key has a long and strong history that has seen us prevail through many challenging times – and we have always been there for our clients, for our colleagues, and for our communities. We pledge to continue that legacy.

Sincerely,

David Lewing KeyBank Market President Hudson Valley/Metro New York

S10 • RECOVERY, THROUGH EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP • JUNE 22, 2020

ready for tomorrow Since 1825, we’ve built our business on knowing the communities we serve inside and out. We’re not surprised to see you pulling together to help our neighbors, but we are inspired by it. And as neighbors ourselves, we’re right here with you.

We’re helping to make sure the future is still bright for the people, small businesses, local restaurants, and non-profits that help our communities thrive.

$18 Million

Key’s philanthropic commitment for COVID-19 response in our most vulnerable communities.

$1.9 Million

Donated to more than 1,200 area nonprofits through our 2:1 COVID-19 Response Employee Matching Gift program.

$270 Thousand+

Given back to our communities through #KeyBankAssists, surprising 2,640 families with gift cards to local restaurants and thanking more than 50 essential worker and first responder teams with gift cards, supporting 12 charities and 60 small businesses.

$8

Billion+

In loans secured for nearly 40,000 small businesses that employ 3.2 million people nationwide through the Paycheck Protection Program.

As of 6/10/2020.

Tomorrow will come, and when it does, we want everyone to be ready to hit the ground running. key.com/ReadyForTomorrow

Key.com is a federally registered service mark of KeyCorp. ©2020 KeyCorp. KeyBank is Member FDIC. 200522-808742

JUNE 22, 2020 • RECOVERY, THROUGH EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP • S11

Belinda S. Miles, Ed. D, President

From the founding of the first community college in 1901, through world wars, civil unrest and economic depressions, the mission of community colleges to provide access to opportunity has remained resilient and become more relevant with each successive generation. Today as we envision re-emergence from a global pandemic and unprecedented economic shutdown, we are working together to keep our students enrolled and to let them know that they can continue toward their academic and career goals – even under conditions that no one anticipated. Our responsibility to provide high quality academic opportunities for our students is unwavering. Daily, we continue to adapt and endure.

Our students constitute a wide breadth of our community – more than 24,000 each year. Among our students are first responders who risk their lives at work each day, high school students getting a strong start to their college careers, career changers learning new skills, recently displaced workers looking for new opportunities, parents tackling the demands of working and homeschooling, those seeking critical licensures for in-demand careers like nursing and respiratory therapists, and others striving to transfer into four-year institutions. Community college also serves as an attractive option for many with bachelor’s degrees seeking to advance in the workforce with new skills training or certifications.

Students choose us because we serve the distinctive and vital mission of community colleges to provide affordable access to high-quality education and training. We are higher education’s “open door” institutions welcoming and supporting all students. We provide the first two-years of college study for those planning to transfer and are a bridge to well-paying careers for others. We are a place to learn close to home which is important to many during tumultuous times or while facing financial hardship.

But we know that the college’s reach goes well beyond our students, alumni, faculty, and community partners to businesses and industries that need our support to manage shifting industry conditions and trends. The COVID-19 crisis is not simply a catalyst to a new “normal.” Rather, it is a force that is accelerating our adaptations and prompting our re-emergence toward innovative business models.

Many of the automation and process objectives we hoped to achieve in our recently developed 3-5 year strategic plan were achieved in just 3-5 weeks! As with many organizations, we deployed resources in entirely new ways, leveraged technology for learning and service delivery, and continually monitored progress so we can pivot in new directions when needed. At the same time, we learned how to return to our campuses with new safeguards and improved practices to protect the health and safety of our community.

Westchester Community College is working towards a post-pandemic economic recovery by bringing research and development, workforce education, and industry into new partnerships that foster equitable economic development and a workforce prepared to contribute to the growth of advanced technology sectors. Learn more about us. As ever, we are #WCCHereForYou! Respectfully, Dr. Belinda S. Miles President Westchester Community College

S12 • RECOVERY, THROUGH EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP • JUNE 22, 2020

A Brighter Tomorrow.

Westchester Community College empowers students to realize their full potential and follow their dreams.

The road to personal success begins here at WCC.

#WCCHereForYou sunywcc.edu JUNE 22, 2020 • RECOVERY, THROUGH EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP • S13

What Is Your Life’s Blueprint AN EXCERPT FROM THE ESTATE OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

“

I want to ask you a question, and that is: What is your life’s blueprint?

Whenever a building is constructed, you usually have an architect who draws a blueprint, and that blueprint serves as the pattern, as the guide, and a building is not well erected without a good, solid blueprint.

Now each of you is in the process of building the structure of your lives, and the question is whether you have a proper, a solid and a sound blueprint.

I want to suggest some of the things that should begin your life’s blueprint. Number one in your life’s blueprint, should be a deep belief in your own dignity, your worth and your own somebodiness. Don’t allow anybody to make you feel that you’re nobody. Always feel that you count. Always feel that you have worth, and always feel that your life has ultimate significance.

Secondly, in your life’s blueprint you must have as the basic principle the determination to achieve excellence in your various fields of endeavor. You’re going to be deciding as the days, as the years unfold what you will do in life - what your life’s work will be. Set out to do it well . . .

Be the best of whatever you are.

“ If you are ready to lead.

Be the best leader you can be.

We’ll help.

That’s been the goal of our Leadership Westchester program over the last 3 decades: to provide the tools to be a more effective leader; to examine examples from the past, like Dr. King, for insight into what’s behind great, authentic leadership; and to draw strength from one’s own dynamic community as you set off on a 9-month endeavor to focus on your life’s mission with clarity and purpose.

Apply today to take part in the 2021 Class of Leadership Westchester at

volunteernewyork.org/leadership

APPLICATION DEADLINE: JULY 31, 2020 LEADERSHIP WESTCHESTER IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY M&T BANK, SL GREEN REALTY CORP. & WESTCHESTER LIBRARY SYSTEM

S14 • RECOVERY, THROUGH EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP • JUNE 22, 2020

CONTRIBUTING WRITER | By Norman G. Grill

W

Preparing a winning business plan

hether you’re seeking financing for an existing business, starting a company or considering entering a new market, a solid business plan is likely to be critical to your success. Not only will the plan clarify your business vision, it will help you to gain a thorough understanding of what resources (financial and human) you will need to reach your objectives.

Before preparing your plan, evaluate your business and personal goals.

Consider the reasons you want to start a business or expand your existing one and your financing needs. Whatever the reasons, it is important to determine the “why.”

Next, consider what technical skills and experience you have, whether you have marketable hobbies or interests, what competition you might encounter, how you would market your products or services, and how much time you will need to run a successful business (likely more than you expect).

Finally, if you are starting a new business, figure out how best to get started.

Most people choose one of three options: beginning from scratch, purchasing an existing business or operating a franchise. Each has pros and cons, and only you can decide which suits you.

INTRODUCTION AND MISSION STATEMENT

In the introductory section of your business plan, make sure you write a detailed description of your business and its goals, as well as ownership structure.

You can also list skills and experience that you or your business partners bring to the business. Finally, include a discussion of what advantages you and your business have over your competition.

PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND MARKETS

In this section, describe the location and size of your business, as well as your products and/or services. Identify your target market and customer demand for your product or service and develop a marketing plan. Discuss the advantages of your product or service and your pricing strategy.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

This section is where you discuss the financial aspects of your business — and where the advice of a financial professional is vital. The following financial

elements of your business need to be considered in detail: • Source and amount of initial equity capital.

• Monthly operating budget for the first year.

• Expected return on investment and a monthly cash flow for the first year.

• Projected income statements and balance sheets for a two-year period.

• A discussion of your break-even point.

• Explanation of your personal balance sheet and method of compensation.

• Who will maintain your accounting records and how they will be kept.

• Provide “what if” statements that address alternative approaches to problems that may arise.

BUSINESS OPERATIONS

The business operations section outlines how the business will be managed on a day-to-day basis and covers hiring and personnel procedures (human resources), insurance and lease or rent agreements, and any other pertinent issues that could

affect your business operations. In this section, you should also specify any equipment necessary to produce your product or services as well as how the product or service will be produced and delivered.

CONCLUDING STATEMENT

The concluding statement should summarize your business goals and objectives and express your commitment to the success of your business.

This has been a general discussion of a complex process and should not be considered specific advice. Because starting or expanding a business requires significant financial management expertise, consider retaining the assistance of an experienced financial professional.

Norm Grill, CPA, (N.Grill@GRILL1. com) is managing partner of Grill & Partners LLC (www.GRILL1.com), certified public accountants and consultants to closely held companies and high-net-worth individuals, with offices in Fairfield and Darien, 254-3880.

PRE-BUSINESS CHECKLIST

The final step before developing your plan is to create a pre-business checklist that might include: • Business legal structure • Accounting or bookkeeping system • Insurance coverage • Equipment and supplies • Compensation • Financing • Business location • Business name Based on your initial answers to the items listed above, your next step is to formulate a focused, well-researched written business plan that outlines your business mission and goals, how you intend to achieve your goals, products or services to be provided and a detailed analysis of your market. Last, but by no means least, it must include a formal financial plan.

PREPARING AN EFFECTIVE BUSINESS PLAN

Now, let’s take a look at the components of an effective business plan. This is a general discussion. Any plan you prepare will need to be adapted to your specific business, ideally with the help of a financial professional.

FCBJ

WCBJ

JUNE 22, 2020

15

National News U.S. Supreme Court extends civil rights job protections to LGBT workers

BY PHIL HALL phall@westfairinc.com

T

he U.S. Supreme Court decided by a 6-3 vote on June 15 that LGBT workers are protected from job discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Title VII offers protection for employees against discrimination based on race, color, national origin,

A view from an earlier LGBT Pride March in New York City. File photo by Angela Signor

FREE WEBINAR

REOPENING EDUCATION The Path Forward

THURSDAY, JUNE 25 • 2 P.M. REGISTER AT:

https://westfaironline.com/reopening-education-webinar/

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION:

• How to select and afford the best educational experience • What resources exist to help students in need of additional financial assistance to complete their education or training • What returning to campus looks like for students • The challenges schools and schools face/faced moving from in-person to online learning • What are skills businesses are looking for in employees and leadership

PANELISTS

MODERATOR

GILDA BONANNO Professional Speaker and Consultant

GEOFFREY BRACKETT Executive Vice President Marist College

Financial Advisor Essex Financial – Southport CT

PRESENTED BY:

SPONSORS

16

JUNE 22, 2020

FCBJ

WCBJ

SEAN FLYNN

SAM SAVAGE

Associate Head of School and Dean of Faculty | The Masters School

sex and religion. The legislation was never updated by Congress to specifically cite sexual orientation or gender identity among the protected demographics.

Twenty-one states have their own laws prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, while seven others extend that protection only to public employees.

In writing for the court majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch stated, “An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids.”

Gorsuch was joined in the majority

by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

Justice Samuel Alito, who was joined

by Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas, wrote as a dissent, “The court tries to convince readers that it is merely enforcing the terms of the statute, but that is preposterous. Even as understood today, the concept of discrimination because of ‘sex’ is different from discrimination because of ‘sexual orientation’ or ‘gender identity.’”

The court’s decision was based on two cases: one involving a pair of lawsuits from gay men who claimed they were fired because of their sexual orientation and another from a transgender woman who said she was fired for embracing her gender identity in her work.

New York Attorney General Letitia James lauded the court’s decision. Last year, James co-led a coalition of 22 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief with the Supreme Court arguing that federal anti-discrimination laws protect LGBTQ+ individuals in the workplace.

“Who you love or how you identify should have no impact on your employment,” James said in statement.

“Today’s decision is a victory for millions of individuals who now can rest assured that they will not be fired or disciplined simply for being themselves. While we should celebrate this victory, the struggle is not over, so we will continue to fight for equal rights in every aspect of life for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers and Americans nationwide because no one should every be singled out or discriminated against in this country — not for their race, their ethnicity, their religion, their gender identity, their sexual orientation, or any other reason.”

FOCUS ON

HOSPITALITY WESTCHESTER AND FAIRFIELD COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNALS

W

Suite Talk: Mark VanStekelenburg, managing director of CBRE Hotels’ Consulting

hen the COVID-19 pandemic began to metastasize, the hotel industry saw its viability evaporate almost overnight. But as states begin to reopen their economies and Americans are eager to resume a pre-pandemic degree of normalcy, where does the hotel industry go from here?

In this edition of Suite Talk, Business Journal Senior Enterprise Editor Phil Hall speaks with Mark VanStekelenburg, managing director of CBRE Hotels’ Consulting, on the state of the hotel industry.

We’re four months into the pandemic. How is the hotel industry holding up?

“We are starting to see some green shoots. The hotel market bottomed out at about 21% occupancy back in April. Since then, we’ve continued to see some

growth, but this is the most drastically impacted year of hotel performance since we’ve been tracking the industry since the early 1900s.

“At this stage, our forecast is about a 52% RevPar (revenue per available room) decline for 2020.

And that is significantly greater than what we saw in 2001 and after the great financial crisis.”

Other industries, most notably retail and restaurants, have been scarred during these past few months with announcements of bankruptcies and location closings. Has anyone in the hotel industry declared bankruptcy or started proceedings to go out of business?

“We’ve seen very little of that. The mantra within the hotel industry has been ‘Let’s figure out what we’re dealing

with.’ For the time being, everyone appears to be largely working together to address various forms of forbearance and the ability to tap into public programs in order to keep the hotel asset viable.

“Still, the pressure continues to mount as this continues to drag on. But, so far within the hotel industry, the amount of default has been relatively low because of the amount of forbearance that is happening.”

Where do you see the hotel industry going for the second half of the year, as the states are reopening their economies and people might start thinking about summer or autumn vacations?

“We’re forecasting a delayed recovery. Leisure demand is driving the initial recovery as

Mark VanStekelenburg

» HOTELS

FCBJ

WCBJ

JUNE 22, 2020

18

17

Focus On Hospitality 17

ing with limited or no food and beverage, for example.”

Hotels—

restrictions continue to ease around the country. We are continuing to see that ramp up until additional measures are put in place that allow hotels to go back up to full occupancy — or a cure or vaccine is identified.

“The hotel industry will continue to be heavily challenged over and above just the rooms product. You have a lot of full-service hotels and luxury hotels and convention hotels that have significant nonroom areas of their hotel. Those typically are not as profitable or don’t contribute as much to profit as the rooms. It’s similar to the challenges the restaurant world is facing and we think that that will add to some delayed recovery.

“The other revenues and operations at hotels are still very much to be determined — whether many of the hotels that were temporarily closed will start reopening or will reopen-

Pthis is the most drastically impacted year of hotel performance since we’ve been tracking the industry since the early 1900s.

But doesn’t that dilute the appeal of going to a hotel if there is no food or beverage service?

“We’ve seen creative ways to combat that. Hotels are tapping into delivery networks and bringing the food to the guest room. We’ve also seen creative ways of in-room dining, where you almost have restaurants set up in the guest room. Again, obviously, that depends on the size of the guest room.

“As for hotels with multiple restaurants and significant banquet space and nightclubs, it remains to be seen still how and when those will fully reopen — especially for hotels that thrive on dense events with loud music and a lot of things going on. There isn’t an avenue yet to do that right now.”

In your opinion, who do you think is going to come out

of this in a stronger position: the big hotel chains or the boutique hotels?

“I think it depends — and sorry for that answer, but every hotel company and every independent hotel is a unique situation. It all depends on how much of the operation was shut down and what the reopening looks like.

At the end of the day, liquidity is king. So, the better-capitalized hotel companies are going to be in a position to provide the services that they were providing.”

What does this situation do for cities that rely very heavily on the hotel industry for its economy? I’m thinking of New York, Orlando, San Diego and Las Vegas, which attract both massive convention business activity as well as an equally impressive number of tourists. Do you think that the current situation is going to force these cities to maybe rethink putting too

much emphasis on tourism and business travel as a main source of their economies?

“I think certainly in the short- to mid-term there may be some pain in those areas. I think any city that relies significantly on convention and large groups will be more challenged.

With many of these cities, international demand plays a significant role — they can contribute up to 50% or more of the rooms.

That’ll be a significant hole to fill until international travel comes back and until large conventions come back.

“We are still seeing some activity in the latter part of this year for that and haven’t seen any significant wave of cancellations for 2021. But the first part of this year and into the summer, just about everything has been deferred to either later this year or next year. We have seen some outright cancellations, but typically everything is in a deferral.”

IT’S A NEW WORLD AND NOW, MORE THAN EVER, YOU NEED TRUTHFUL NEWS. As your longtime source for business news, the Westchester and Fairfield County Business Journals have expanded their coverage to keep you up-to-date on COVID-19. Don’t miss out on breaking news about the virus, as well as the latest on local businesses, real estate, the courts and more.

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JUNE 22, 2020

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Focus On Hospitality

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CONTRIBUTING WRITER | By By Tonya Inman

Safety check-in: Enhanced protocols for meeting with confidence

s the Hudson Valley and the region reopen, we know it will not be business as usual. Our community has faced myriad challenges over these past few months, but together we have demonstrated remarkable resilience. We’re moving ahead and looking forward to seeing our colleagues again.

We are all preparing for the adjustments to new norms and new ways of thinking about how we work and live. In the hospitality industry, we must be particularly nimble to accommodate new travel standards and expectations. Our guests must be assured of their safety, so they can focus on why they’re here — business meetings, staycations, weddings — and not worry about their well-being while they’re here.

MEETING WITH CONFIDENCE

Networking has always been

an integral part of Westchester County’s business community and we’ve heard from so many of our colleagues eager to “meet” again.

Most of us have become adept at virtual meetings, but long for that personal connection. And, while the conventional handshake may be on hold, the sense of camaraderie need not be. When business professionals meet here at the Crowne Plaza White Plains, we want to ensure they meet with confidence.

Our team has been working behind the scenes to enhance our guests’ experience with innovative science-led protocols and service measures. We have partnered with industry-leading experts Cleveland Clinic, Ecolab and Diversey and launched a global “Clean Promise” with strengthened measures to give guests greater confidence and our staff extra

protection. We have appointed “Clean Champions” to build upon our stringent protocols and focus on our guests and staff to help everyone navigate the new environment and ensure the highest standards of safety.

We are all still adapting and as businesses prepare for more physical meetings and events, we know there will be concerns and needs to reschedule. To help ease those concerns, we have created a “Meet with Confidence” program that allows guests to confidently book future groups up to 50 rooms per night, meetings and events with zero cancellation fees or attrition fees.

Another aspect to our “Meet with Confidence” program incorporates a new standard of how we handle meetings. We know our business colleagues have a lot more on their minds these days, so to give them peace of mind we’ve introduced new

social distancing guidelines for check-ins, events and meals. This program expands our safety best practices with additional protocols and measures to reflect the advice of the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local public health authorities in markets worldwide.

Guests can expect to see evolved procedures in every area of the hotel, which may include: • Reception: Reduced contact at check-in, touchless transactions, front-desk screens, sanitizer stations and sanitized key cards.

• Guest rooms: Visible verification of sanitized items (e.g., glassware, remote control), reduction of in-room furnishings/high-touch items, new laundry protocols and use of new technology.

• Public spaces and facilities: Additional deep cleaning

of high-touch surfaces, social distancing, “last cleaned” charts and best practices for pools, fitness centers and lounges.

• Food and beverage: New standards and service approach to buffets, banquets, room service and catering.

We understand that now, more than ever, living and working require adaptability. At the Crowne Plaza White Plains, safety always has been our priority and while many things have changed in the world, we stand firm in our commitment to our guests and our staff. We are all eager to move forward and we recognize how critical it is to do so in a manner that ensures everyone’s safety and well-being.

Tonya Inman is the director of sales and marketing at the Crowne Plaza White Plains, an IHG hotel. Reach her at Tonya.

Inman@ihg.com.

Fresh, Clean, Uncomplicated.

All the little things that make your travelers Stay Smart®

We’re proud to introduce our new Holiday Inn Express® hotel! We wish to assist with your guest room needs while visiting the area. We offer an exceptional experience with our guests in mind. We provide what you want and need to rest, recharge, and visit with your closest friends and family. All rooms will include our Express Start Breakfast, Complimentary Wi-Fi, Business Center, Fitness Center and an Indoor Pool. Our hotel offers a competitive rate structure whether here for business or leisure.

Call our hotel directly today for your reservations and mention our Good Neighbor Rate code “ILKO3” for a discounted rate!

All discounts are based on availability. See you soon.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Peekskill 2 John Walsh Blvd Peekskill, NY 10566 Phone: 914-743-5700 www.hiexpress.com/peekskillny

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JUNE 22, 2020

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Good Things

Westchester and Fairfield Counties

CARVER CENTER RECEIVES GRANT FROM IMPACT100 Port Chester Carver Center was awarded a core mission grant of $30,000 from IMPACT100 Westchester, the women’s collective giving organization. The final decision on the amount of the grant was announced at its June 2 virtual annual member meeting. Carver Center was a finalist and one of the 12 award winners selected by the organization.

“Through this core mission grant from Impact100, Carver Center will be able to meet the growing need in our Port Chester community for food and resources in the upcoming weeks and months and it will also allow us to adequately staff the center to meet this demand,” said Anne Bradner, CEO, Carver Center.

In addition to emergency food relief, the grant will support Carver Center’s efforts to maintain the essential ties to the community through its Teen Center, which continues to provide individualized support to teens through Zoom video sessions, including fitness activities, leadership development and mentoring. Staff members of the Carver After School Program (CAP) serving elementary students are working to develop enrichment content for students and families in a virtual environment.

DUTCHESS COUNTY EXECUTIVE’S ARTS AWARDEES

Arts Mid-Hudson is requesting nominations from Dutchess County residents and businesses for the 34th annual Dutchess County Executive’s Arts Awards.

Arts Mid-Hudson, founded in 1964, is a nonprofit arts service organization dedicated to strengthening and supporting artists and arts organizations in the mid-Hudson Valley region.

The 11 award categories are: Arts Organization, Business/Corporation, Arts in Education, Individual Artist, Art in Public Places, Patron, Special Citation, Artivist, Volunteer, ThinkDIFFERENTLY and Student with Exceptional Promise in the Arts.

Nominations must be submitted by 11:59 p.m., Sunday, July 19. Recipients will be selected by an awards panel comprised of professionals in the field.

Nomination forms and full descriptions of the categories can be accessed at https:// tinyurl.com/2020-DC-ArtsAwards and will require (a) the nominee›s name, address, phone, artistic discipline and nomination category; (b) name, address and phone; and (c) a narrative on why the nominee deserves the award. For additional information, call 845-454-3222 or e-mail artsawards@ artsmidhudson.org.

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JUNE 22, 2020

ALS RECOGNIZES 20 HOMECARE HEROES

From left: Sharon Corriveau, director of Assisted Living Services- Fairfield office, Sharon D’Aquila, co-founder of Assisted Living Services and caregiver Selena Brown.

Assisted Living Services Inc (ALS)in Fairfield is honoring 20 home caregivers by awarding each of them with a $1,000 bonus for their efforts caring for Connecticut seniors during this challenging time. Starting in February 2020, the family-owned homecare agency redesigned its monthly $5,000 Platinum Caregiver Award as the Homecare Hero Award in order to recognize more outstanding employees.

“It was already incredibly difficult to choose just one staff member per month for our award program and we wanted to give more caregivers the opportunity for a financial reward as they displayed incredible dedication to our clients from the

very start of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Mario D’Aquila, chief operating officer of ALS, which in addition to its office in Fairfield has offices in Cheshire and Clinton.

D’Aquila explained the five monthly winners for February, March, April and May were chosen after clients were called at random by Homecare Pulse, a third-party survey company, to measure ALS customer satisfaction. The client or family member was able to rate ALS services and the quality of care provided.

Clients had the opportunity to mention caregivers that went “above and beyond” and “exceeded expectations” for the quality of care that was given to them or their loved one. ALS also considered caregivers

for this award that had taken on additional cases and helped out the company during this time of need.

“The new award is to thank our essential caregivers for making a positive difference in our seniors’ lives,” said D’Aquila.

The Platinum Caregiver Award program resumes this month. In addition to the monetary bonus, honorees receive a crystal statue and a certificate of merit.

ALS employs more than 400 caregivers across the state, all of whom are insured, bonded and supervised. Newly hired employees undergo a national criminal background check and eVerify. ALS is currently accepting applications for daily and live-in caregivers.

TOP-PRODUCING AGENT NAMED MANAGER OF RYE OFFICE Houlihan Lawrence in Rye Brook has announced the appointment of Susanna Cronin as the new manager of its Rye brokerage. Cronin, who has more than two decades of experience in residential real estate, has lived in Rye for the past 25 years and has an intimate knowledge of the Sound Shore communities.

A top-producing agent, Cronin received the 2019 Platinum Award from Houlihan Lawrence, the International President’s Circle and International Sterling Society awards for top producers. She also has expertise in international moves. Born in Ireland, she’s lived in Paris, Saint-Nazaire, Geneva, London, Dublin and Amsterdam. She is fluent in French and is a Global Ambassador for Trinity College in Dublin.

Locally, she is a presenter and editor of Rye TV. Prior to entering real estate, Cronin was a commodities trader. She has both a master’s and bachelor’s degree from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and a diploma in international trading from the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers in Paris, France.

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Susanna Cronin

FCA PARTNERS WITH FOOD RESCUE US — FAIRFIELD COUNTY

Because many people have been out of work for several months due to Covid-19, their families are now facing an additional challenge — food insecurity.

Family & Children’s Agency (FCA) in Norwalk has seen the impact of this increased need in the clients it serves. Several families have confided to their FCA worker that the adults in the household split one meal to make sure the children have enough food. In an effort to address this growing issue, FCA has partnered with Food Rescue US — Fairfield County.

Support from 4-CT, Food Rescue US — Fairfield County has developed a Restaurant Meal Program and is coordinating with area restaurants to purchase meal,s which will be delivered to neighbors in need. FCA’s first delivery included 200 barbecue chicken and macaroni and cheese dinners from Bobby Q’s.

Food Rescue US — Fairfield County is continuing to onboard new restaurant partners for their Restaurant Meal Program and are providing more than 20,000 individual meals a month to food insecure individuals and families “Families were over the moon,” said FCA’s Director of Child and Family Development and Adoption Mary Kate Locke. “These are hardworking families that are unable to work right now — they don’t qualify for public assistance or food stamps….”

Family & Children’s Agency is a nonprofit human services organization with programs for community members of all ages. The organization serves more than 13,000 people every year.

SALVATION ARMY

RECEIVES 4-CT GRANT

The Salvation Army’s Southern New England Division has been awarded a grant from the 4-CT Statewide Covid-19 Relief Fund in the amount of $304,500. The grant will allow The Salvation Army to provide 85,000-plus meals to meet continued food needs in hard-toreach, rural areas in eastern and northwestern Connecticut.

“We are deeply grateful for our new partnership with the 4-CT Statewide Covid-19 Relief Fund and all of their partners,” said Major Gregory Hartshorn, divisional commander of The Salvation Army’s Southern New England Division. “Securing a steady supply of food has been a priority for us since the beginning.…”

4-CT is a charitable fund that was created in response to the Covid-19 crisis in Connecticut. Its goal is to help Connecticut residents by connecting donors with the most urgent needs across the state — with 100% of every donation directed to crisis needs.

In the United States, one in six people lives in poverty and more than 550,000 are counted as homeless.

PERMANENT COVID-19 UNIT IN GREENWICH HOSPITAL

MANHATTANVILLE COLLEGE ALUMNUS AWARDED FULBRIGHT

Eileen Egan

NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PHELPS HOSPITAL NORTHWELL HEALTH Former interim (acting) Executive Director Eileen Egan, RN, JD, will lead Phelps Hospital Northwell Health as its permanent executive director, effective immediately. When Westchester County became New York’s epicenter of Covid-19 a few months ago, Egan demonstrated grace under pressure and her response was immeasurably valuable to dealing with a significant patient surge while keeping patients and team members safe.

Egan first joined Phelps in 1981 as a charge nurse in the intensive care/critical care and medical/surgical units. She has been a clinician, administrator and team leader throughout her tenure, which included 17 years as a nurse in the emergency department. She paused for a while from nursing and pursued a career in law, returning to Phelps in 2006, succeeding in positions with progressive responsibilities.

Most recently, she was vice president of administration. She also served as director of quality assurance and risk management, corporate compliance officer, chief of the corporate compliance committee and assistant vice president.

Egan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from The College of New Rochelle, and received her Juris Doctorate from Pace University School of Law. Located in Sleepy Hollow, Phelps Hospital, part of Northwell Health, is a full-service 238-bed acute care community facility.

Information for these features has been submitted by the subjects or their delegates.

The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board has awarded Purchase, New York-based Manhattanville College alumnus Michael Caslin III ’80, founder and president of the Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship (GCSEN) in Kingston, a fellowship to be a visiting Fulbright professor in Ireland. It is one of the first Fulbright awards offered in recognition for a distinguished career in thought leadership and social venture activation related to social entrepreneurship.

As a Fulbright Fellow, Caslin was invited to the Letterkenny School of Technology’s School of Business in Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland, where he will lecture on innovation and leadership in social entrepreneurship, research and publication of case studies of social ventures, revitalizing social entrepreneurship curricula and contributing to the development of the Regional Social Entrepreneurship Centre for County Donegal.

“I am humbled, grateful and inspired by the opportunity provided by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board to return to Ireland and give back to the land of my ancestors,” Caslin said.

For his Fulbright lectures and re-

Michael Caslin III

search in Ireland, Caslin said that he will build upon GCSEN’s “4P” global initiative— People, Profit, Planet and Place.

Caslin currently lectures at SUNY New Paltz School of Business and Saint Peter’s University Business School in New Jersey.

As co-founder and CEO for 20 years of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Caslin was instrumental in propelling that organization’s engagement of over 1.8 million students and more than 4,000 teachers, while raising over $100 million in funding.

CON EDISON DONATES GRANT

PCSB BANK DONATES $20,000 TO THE NAACP

Jane Solnick, Con Edison director of Westchester regional and community affairs.

The Green Business Partnership (GBP) in Rye Brook, a membership organization that helps businesses become sustainable and achieve green certification, has received a $25,000 grant from Con Edison. The funds will be used to expand membership in the GBP, to provide technical assistance and coaching to member organizations so they may achieve green certification and to update the online dashboard businesses used to walk them through the certification process.

“Sustainability is always a team effort and we’re so grateful to have Westchester’s

primary energy provider as a longtime supporter of the partnership and our efforts to help the business community go green,”said, Dani Glaser, program director of the Green Business Partnership.

Any for profit or nonprofit organization that leases or owns commercial or industrial space can join the Green Business Partnership and use its online toolkit and propriety greenhouse gas emissions tool to earn an official green certification and track and reduce emissions. More than 150 businesses and nonprofits are members and 59 have achieved certification

Greenwich Hospital recently received an anonymous donation to establish up to a 30-bed, dedicated, state-of-the-art unit for patients with Covid-19 or other infectious diseases. The new unit will geographically cohort patients with Covid-19 to minimize infection transmission to staff and other patients in the hospital.

The unit will include designated rooms, which will enable staff to carefully put on and remove protective gear.

Recognizing the unprecedented challenges Greenwich Hospital frontline workers face during the Covid-19 pandemic, the anonymous donors said, “The protection and wellness of the front-line staff and their families is key to successful patient care and to the safety of the broader population of patients and caregivers at Greenwich Hospital. We hope this gift helps our greater community for many years.”

The anonymous gift will be used for the construction of the specialized and isolated changing spaces for staff working in the COVID-19 dedicated unit as well as purchase of specialty PAPR suits and supplies. The project will be among the top priorities for the hospital.

since the GBP launched its official accreditation in 2014. These organizations use their certification to save money, increase competitiveness and recruit and engage employees.

“Con Edison welcomes the opportunity to assist the Green Business Partnership and to work together toward attaining our clean energy future. Sustainability is anchored upon the economy and society as well as the environment and in today’s world it means more than ever,” said Jane Solnick, Con Edison director of Westchester regional and community affairs.

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PCSB Bank in Yorktown Heights has announced a donation of $20,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund (LDF), America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Through litigation, advocacy and public education, it seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans.

Joseph D. Roberto, chairman, president and CEO of PCSB Bank, said, “We are angered, pained and saddened over the senseless death of George Floyd and the victims of racial injustice before him. We support the nationwide outcry for social justice reform and accountability in the hope that substantial, lasting change can be achieved. Our communities are hurting and we are here to provide support with our voices as well as actions.”

The PCSB Bank leadership group and employees of its 15 branches in four New York state counties are pledging to continue to help foster equality and fight against racial injustice. As a community-focused bank, PCSB will continue a long-standing tradition of an unwavering commitment to utilize its time and resources to help improve the lives of people throughout the lower Hudson Valley.

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Good Things KEEPING WESTCHESTER COOL, COVERED AND FED MISSION®, the innovator of instant cooling technology, is a new partner of Elmsford-based Feeding Westchester, the county’s leading nonprofit, hunger-relief organization. In partnership with Allstar Innovations, MISSION® has made a $250,000 donation that will help Feeding Westchester provide more than one million meals to families in need during the Covid-19 crisis.

“MISSION® was founded on the basic principle of empowering people to do more of the things they love to do,” said MISSION® co-founder Chris Valletta. “We believe that people in every community should be able to rely on each other to provide solidarity, strength and support when it’s needed most. Our company is headquartered in Westchester County.

This is our community and Feeding Westchester is our food bank. We’re honored to support them in this critical time.”

Scott Boilen, Allstar’s CEO and member of Feeding Westchester’s board of directors, said, “The partnership between MISSION and Allstar has been a great success — but what has been equally gratifying is witnessing the two companies partner together with local food banks to help feed the Westchester County community….”

“We have so many loyal corporate partners here in Westchester County and MISSION® is one of the newest to join our team,” Feeding Westchester Vice President Matt Honeycutt said.

“Generous gifts like this one are needed now more than ever. Right now, we are spending $850,000 a month to purchase food during the crisis. We normally spend less than half of that in an entire year. In this critical moment in time, every partner and ever dollar counts.”

Founded in 2009 by a group of world-class athletes, including Serena Williams, Drew Brees and Dwyane Wade, and backed by Connecticut -based DCF Partners, MISSION® is pioneering instant cooling innovations to help individuals lead active lifestyles so that they can do more and enjoy more in the heat. With thoughtful design and state of the art technology, MISSION® has developed a broad portfolio of instant cooling gear, which includes cooling hats, cooling neck gaiters, cooling towels and more.

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JUNE 22, 2020

Westchester and Fairfield Counties JENNINGS: AN AMERICAN BEST RESTORED BEACH

Town of Fairfield’s South Benson Dredging & Beach Nourishment project is the first on-site repurpose of dredged material project of substantial size for a Connecticut municipality.

The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) recently announced that Fairfield’s Jennings Beach is a winner of the America’s 2020 Best Restored Beaches Award. The award comes following the more than 27,000 cubic yards of sand that was hydraulically pumped onto the beach this past winter as part of a maintenance dredging project for the adjacent South Benson Marina.

The national award highlights the crucial role that beach restoration projects like this play to local recreation, economies, ecosystems and shoreline protection.

“This year’s Best Restored Beach winners represent a wide variety of beach types that offer unique and varied attributes. I congratulate the winners for their hard work and for the beautiful beaches they have protected and enhanced,” said

ASBPA President Tony Pratt. “For more than 50 years, beach restoration has been the preferred method of shore protection in coastal communities. Beach restoration is the process of placing beach-quality sand on dwindling beaches to reverse or offset the effects of erosion.”

As the South Benson Marina entrance channel was shoaling into the point where safe vessel transit to and from the marina was limited during periods of low water, the town of Fairfield contracted RACE Coastal Engineering (RACE) of Stratford to develop and implement a dredging strategy.

With the close proximity of the channel to Jennings Beach, RACE recognized a “win-win” opportunity to reuse the dredged material to restore and nourish the beach while at the same time clearing

the channel for safe navigation.

For the work to be permitted, the dredge material needed to meet both chemical analytical testing requirements and be compatible with that of the native beach sand characteristics. Following receipt of acceptable sediment testing results and specific, documented steps to protect habitats and ecosystems, the dredging and beach nourishment project was approved by the state and federal regulatory agencies during the summer of 2019.

Celebrating 20 years, RACE Coastal Engineering provides coastal, structural, geotechnical and regulatory consultation and design to residents, recreational facilities, municipalities and commercial properties throughout the Northeast and beyond.

KATONAH RESIDENT SAYS THANK YOU When Mary Connor of Katonah recognized that supermarket workers contributed as much time and effort during the Coronavirus as many first responders, she created a large greeting card for hand signatures to thank the team at the Bedford Hills Shop-Rite. She had passerbys sign while walking on Maple Avenue toward Cross River Reservoir, at the Katonah Gazebo and she went door-to-door to gather as many signatures as she could.

“I wanted to have something personal and meaningful as many families in the area, like mine, were raised with meals we prepared courtesy of weekly grocery shopping at this store,” said Connor. “I’ve been a weekly customer for 35 years and I never, ever considered the behind-thescenes effort that gets our groceries on the shelf.” Connor said.

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Mary Connor and the hand-signed thank you card for Bedford Shop-Rite employees.

Dante Hudson

COMMUNITY LEADER NAMED TO OPEN DOOR FOUNDATION BOARD “We were drawn to Dante’s passion and deep commitment to social justice,” said Lindsay Farrell, president and CEO of Open Door, about Dante Hudson, whom the organization recently appointed to its foundation board.

Hudson is the chief program officer of the YWCA White Plains and Central Westchester. He’s held similar executive positions at YMCA’s and Boys & Girls Clubs throughout the metropolitan area.

The White Plains resident, who grew up in Yonkers, has played an active role with various community organizations.

“Open Door does a lot of work in black and brown communities and what appealed to me was their involvement in helping those most at risk, people who don’t have the same access to health care as do other populations,” said Hudson.

Open Door, a Federally Qualified Health Center with sites throughout Westchester, Putnam and Ulster counties, has cared for patients since 1972, many of whom are uninsured, underinsured, have transport barriers, language barriers, and cultural barriers.

Hudson said one of his priorities would be to spearhead a drive to recruit more minorities to the organization as both board members and donors.

Today, the community health center cares for more than 60,000 adults and children every year — with more than 300,000 patient visits and over 400 babies delivered annually — regardless of ability to pay.

HISTORIC HUDSON RIVER TOWNS TO LAUNCH MOBILE AUDIO TOUR

SALVATION ARMY RESPONDS TO COVID-19

MAP AWARD FOR ENTA ENT and Allergy Associates LLP (ENTA) is a recipient of the 2020 MAP Award for High Performance in Revenue Cycle, sponsored by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). As a national award winner, ENTA has met industry-standard revenue cycle benchmarks, implemented the patient-centered recommendations and best practices embodied in HFMA’s Healthcare Dollars & Sense® initiatives, and achieved outstanding patient satisfaction.

This is the sixth year in a row that the practice has received the award.

Award recipients are acknowledged as industry leaders and share proven strategies with their colleagues.

The award will be formally presented on July 17 during a session of the Virtual Annual Conference.

ENTAs Revenue Cycle solutions focus on the tracking and automation of claims from the initial appointment to the final payment.

“We are very proud to once again be recognized by the nation’s leading health care finance organization,” said Margaret Hargrove, ENTA’s senior director of revenue cycle management.

We’ve significantly improved the financial performance of our practice and this award is a testament to the dedication of our colleagues, providers and our staff.”

Created by and for health care leaders, HFMA’s MAP initiative sets the standard for revenue cycle excellence in the health care industry.

Information for these features has been submitted by the subjects or their delegates.

The Salvation Army’s Emergency Disaster Services Department is continuing to provide emergency food to those in need as a result of COVID-19. As of May 27, 665,997 meals have been provided in Connecticut alone. Hub locations have been operating in Ashford, Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury and Bridgeport, sorting and distributing

emergency food boxes to Salvation Army locations throughout the state.

To ensure adequate family meals, the organization is purchasing wholesale foods from three vendors to supplement items from Foodshare, Connecticut Food Bank and many public and private donations.

The Salvation Army is uniquely posi-

tioned to meet needs in times of disaster and during the COVID-19 crisis through its Emergency Disaster Services. It is serving in every zip code in Connecticut.

Annually, The Salvation Army helps nearly 23 million Americans overcome poverty, addiction and economic hardships through a range of social services.

NRVT’S MUTT STRUT WINNERS

The Norwalk River Valley Trail (NRVT) in Tarrytown, Mutt Strut and Friends Virtual event ended with a tie for Top Pet. These pets and all the entrants and their owners raised awareness and funds to help the NRVT build more trails.

Pet siblings, Lily and Cody, owned by Anna Rendell- Baker of Wilton received the most votes. The co-winners will receive

Cannondale Bikes, Joy Food fresh pet food and dog spa services from Passages East of Wilton. The Video Star of the virtual event was Mruczus the cat, owned by Aleksandra Gierszewska of Norwalk.

Mutt Strut and Friends Virtual had 36 pet participants that vied for the three top prizes. Entrants included 32 dogs of all breeds, sizes and ages, three sassy cats

and one lamb stuffed animal named Liam.

Winners will receive their trophies when meetings are permitted.

During the Coronavirus crisis, the NRVT’s trail use skyrocketed by 245%.

The NRVT has 8 miles of completed trails and 22 more miles to build. Events and online donations help build more community-friendly, multipurpose trails.

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A new mobile audio tour of the Historic Hudson River Towns (HHRT) area just north of New York City will be launched June 24. Geo-located, the tour will be accessible on mobile devices free of charge, either on the TravelStorys app, or online at hudsonriver.com or travelstorysGPS.com.

“At a time when concern about public health and safety is running high, this new tour is perfectly crafted because it can be enjoyed at home, on a scenic drive in your car or outside while practicing social distancing,” said Nancy Gold, marketing director of Historic Hudson River Towns. “We feel sure that both residents and visitors will take great pleasure in experiencing the history, scenic beauty and charms that our historic places, parks, riverfronts and downtowns have to offer.”

The new driving tour includes two audio points of interest in each of the 16 HHRT member communities, from Yonkers to Peekskill in Westchester County on the east side of the Hudson River, Nyack and Haverstraw in Rockland County on the west side.

With the use of GPS technology, all the audio stories on the tour will reach travelers hands-free on their mobile devices and can be accessed on Android and iPhones by downloading the TravelStorys app from the App Store or Google Play Store and can be enjoyed remotely at home, across the country or in most locations around the world.

The Historic Hudson River Towns are known for their hospitality, their scenic river views and their fascinating history. Native American tribes lived here, George Washington and his Continental Army moved through the area during the American Revolution, 19th-century millionaires built palatial estates and gardens, and modern-day chefs have created extraordinary places to relax and dine in quaint downtowns.

The tour has been built by TravelStorysGPS, a company that develops geo-located audio tours for destinations and routes of travel across the country. “Our mission is to pair the greatest communication tool of our time — the smartphone — with the greatest communication tool of all time — storytelling,” said Story Clark, founder and CEO of TravelStorysGPS. For more information about the tours and the Historic Hudson River Towns area, visit hudsonriver.com.

JUNE 22, 2020

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Facts & Figures

westchester county

BANKRUPTCIES Ian Taylor, Florida vs. Citizens Telecom Services, White Plains, d.b.a. Frontier Communications Corp. 206299-RDD: Chapter 11 adversarial proceeding, recovery of property. Attorney: Stuart J. Miller.

Stacie R. Becker, New Paltz, d.b.a. Gadaletos Seafood Market Inc. 20-35631-CGM: Chapter 7, $23,522 assets, $335,952 liabilities. Attorney: Michelle L,. Trier.

COURTS Juan A. Hernandez vs.

Amoudia Inc., d.b.a. Chiliot’s Mexican Restaurant, Newburgh, et al, 7:20-cv-4450NSR: Class action, Fair Labor Standards Act. Attorney: Lina Stillman.

John Masullo, Yonkers vs.

Costco Wholesale Corp., 7:20-cv-4454-NSR: Personal injury. Attorney: Walter F. Ciacci.

Lawrence Santiago, Westchester vs. M. Ravikoff Associates Inc., Port Chester, et al, 7:20-cv-4473-CS: Fair Labor Standards Act. Attorney: Lawrence Spasojevich.

Corporacion Colombiana de Padres y Madres, Bogata, Colombia vs. PepsiCo Inc., Purchase, 7:20-cv-4486-KMK: Assistance to foreign tribunal.

Attorney: Benjamin Hoffman.

API Industries Inc., Orangetown vs. Town of Orangetown, et al, 7:20-cv-4533-VB: Violation of due process. Attorney: Megan Rose Brillault.

Items appearing in the Fairfield County Business Journal’s On The Record section are compiled from various sources, including public records made available to the media by federal, state and municipal agencies and the court system. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of this information, no liability is assumed for errors or omissions. In the case of legal action, the records cited are open to public scrutiny and should be inspected before any action is taken.

WM Bang LLC, White Plains vs. Travelers Casualty Insurance Co., Hartford, Connecticut, 7:20-cv-4540-KMK: Insurance. Attorney: Alex R. Straus.

211 King Street New York LLC, Mount Kisco. Seller: Raymond Conta, et al, Eastchester.

Property: 211 King St., New Castle. Amount: $650,000. Filed June 12.

Pleasantville Lofts LLC, Pleasantville. Seller: RPC Cooley LLC, Pleasantville. Property: 479 Cooley, Mount Pleasant.

Amount: $300,000. Filed June 12.

Santander Consumer USA, Delaware vs. City of Yonkers and A.P.O.W. Towing, et al, 7:20-cv-4553-KMK: Civil Rights Act. Attorney: Nicholas A. Duston.

3041 Webster Avenue Corp., Yonkers. Seller: Simone Contreras, et al, Yorktown Heights.

Property: 3163 Quinlan St., Yorktown. Amount: $530,000.

Filed June 10.

Sorriso Holdings LLC, Mount Vernon. Seller: Lydia Paye, Mount Vernon. Property: 312 Seventh Ave., Mount Vernon.

Amount: $525,000. Filed June 12.

IBM, Armonk vs. Kede de Freitas Lima, Riverside, Connecticut, 7:20-cv-4573UA: Contract. Attorneys: Liza M. Valazquez, Robert A. Atkins, Pietro J. Signoracci.

3289 Westchester Realty Corp., Bronx. Seller: Joseph DeBenedictis, et al, Eastchester. Property: 30 Brookridge Ave., Eastchester. Amount: $885,000. Filed June 8.

Supreame Homes LLC, Ossining. Seller: Jon Ciciola, Somers. Property: 2955 Quinlan St., Yorktown. Amount: $290,000. Filed June 12.

Zissy Berger, Spring Valley vs. Cavalry Portfolio Services, Valhalla, 7:20-cv-4584NSR: Fair Debt Collection Act. Attorney: Raphael Deutsch.

35 South 12 LLC, Bronx. Seller: U.S. Bank N.A. Property: 35 12th Avenue South, Mount Vernon.

Amount: $374,687. Filed June 10.

Pinches Berger, Spring Valley vs. Cavalry Portfolio Services, Valhalla, 7:20-cv-4587PMH: Fair Debt Collection Act. Attorney: Raphael Deutsch.

Anda Group LLC, Bronxville.

Seller: Ronald V. Zezima, New Rochelle. Property: 186 Elm St., Yonkers. Amount: $507,110.

Filed June 10.

DEEDS Above $1 million

Cartus Financial Corp., Danbury, Connecticut. Seller: David P. Thomas, et al, Ardsley. Property: 493 Winding Road, Greenburgh. Amount: $810,000.

Filed June 12.

Orange World LLC, et al, Bronxville. Seller: Orange World LLC, Bronxville. Property: 82 Wallace St., Eastchester. Amount: $1.5 million. Filed June 8.

ITC Management Inc., Bronx. Seller: Consolidated Edison Company of New York Inc., New York City. Property: 345 S. Ninth Ave., Mount Vernon.

Amount: $151,100. Filed June 12.

Below $1 million 174 6th Street LLC, LaGrangeville. Seller: John Scozzafava, Verplanck. Property: 174 Sixth St., Cortlandt. Amount: $802,500. Filed June 12.

204 Spring RE LLC, White Plains. Seller: 204 Spring Street Associates LLC, Chappaqua.

Property: 204-206 Spring St., Ossining. Amount: $675,000.

Filed June 12.

Larry Miles c/o Westfair Communications Inc. 701 Westchester Ave, Suite 100 J White Plains, N.Y. 10604-3407 Phone: 694-3600 • Fax: 694-3699

JUNE 22, 2020

Bank of America N.A. Seller: Michelle Lynn Bermel, Chappaqua. Property: 42 Deer Tree Lane, 1403, Ossining. Amount: $276,563. Filed June 10.

5 Sarosca Holdings LLC, New York City. Seller: Steven Starker, et al, New York City. Property: 5 Sarosca Farm Lane, Harrison.

Amount: $6.8 million. Filed June 12.

Questions and comments regarding this section should be directed to:

24

ON THE RECORD

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Losmass Real Estate LLC, Bedford. Seller: Federal National Mortgage Association. Property: 8 Watson Ave., Ossining.

Amount: $281,999. Filed June 8.

Mikado Holdings LLC, Croton-on- Hudson. Seller: Mikado Inn LLC, Katonah. Property: 74 Truesdale Drive, Cortlandt.

Amount: $910,000. Filed June 12.

Pine Valley Farms Inc., Ossining. Seller: Stephen V. Sincero, et al, Ossining. Property: 23 Bethea Drive, Cortlandt.

Amount: $830,000. Filed June 10.

The Bnk of New York Mellon, Coral Gables, Florida.

Seller: Gaetano A. Gizzo, West Harrison. Property: 22 Lyon St., Rye. Amount: $883,900. Filed June 12.

JUDGMENTS Glycomed Research Inc., Hastings-on-Hudson. $38,031 in favor of MBC Ventures LLC, Macon, Georgia. Filed June 9.

Lord and Andra LLC, New Rochelle. $35,066 in favor of G Square Development Corp., Harrison. Filed June 11.

Tobacco Shop of Sun Inc., Edison. New Jersey. $32,627 in favor of Beach Improvements Owner LLC, Peekskill. Filed June 12.

LIS PENDENS The following filings indicated a legal action has been initiated, the outcome of which may affect the title to the property listed.

Bronx Project 103 LLC, et al.

Filed by Loan Funder LLC Series 5289. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $197,100 affecting property located at 123 Dobbs Ferry Road, White Plains. Filed Dec. 18.

Farrell, David L., et al. Filed

by NewRez LLC. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $218,000 affecting property located at 745 Sixth Avenue South, Mount Vernon 10550. Filed Dec. 18.

Garcia, Roman, et al. Filed

by Nationstar Mortgage LLC. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $529,000 affecting property located at 10 Holly Place, Hastings-on-Hudson 10706. Filed Dec. 13.

Polanco, Robert A., et al.

Filed by Pennymac Loan Services LLC. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $500,762 affecting property located at 48 Alder Street North, Yonkers 10701. Filed Dec. 17.

Hernandez, Elisandro, et al.

Filed by MTGLQ Investors LP. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $332,000 affecting property located at 104 Oak St., Yonkers 10701. Filed Dec. 16.

Russell, Juliet, et al. Filed by U.S. Bank N.A. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $493,000 affecting property located at 16 Phillipse Place, Yonkers 10701. Filed Dec. 18.

Hibbert, Errol S., et al. Filed

by Wells Fargo Bank N.A. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $529,682 affecting property located at 252 County Center Road, White Plains 10603. Filed Dec. 12.

Sanchez, Armando, et al.

Filed by Ditech Financial LLC. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $535,128 affecting property located at 186 Church St., New Rochelle 10805. Filed Dec. 16.

Hudson Heritage Federal Credit Union, et al. Filed by Carrington Mortgage Services LLC. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $127,000 affecting property located at 31 Abner Place, Yonkers 10704. Filed Dec. 18.

Sherwood, Carol, et al. Filed

by Bank of America N.A. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $700,000 affecting property located at 93 Cross Pond Road, Pound Ridge 10576. Filed Dec. 13.

Klein, Vance M., et al. Filed

by Wilmington Trust N.A. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $806,250 affecting property located at 6 Hopkins Lane, Katonah 10536.

Filed Dec. 12.

Lettsome, Zwire, et al. Filed

by Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $468,255 affecting property located at 420 Hancock Ave., Mount Vernon 10553.

Filed Dec. 17.

Nelson, Raney V., et al. Filed

by LPP Mortgage Inc. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $314,000 affecting property located at 82 Pearl St., Rye 10573. Filed Dec. 13.

Ngung, Sylvain, et al. Filed by Mooi River LLC. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $120,000 affecting property located at 147 Chase Ave., Yonkers 10703. Filed Dec. 13.

Pearce, Douglas C., et al.

Filed by Nationstar Mortgage LLC. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $510,000 affecting property located at 35 W. Glen Ave., Port Chester 10573. Filed Dec. 13.

Stewart, Peter S., et al. Filed

by Partners for Payment Relief DE IV LLC. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure an unspecified amount affecting property located at 4 Sutton Place, Ossining 10562.

Filed Dec. 18.

The unknown heirs of the estate of Maria R. Viegas, et al. Filed by Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $350,000 affecting property located at 11 Willow Place, Mount Vernon 10550. Filed Dec. 18.

Wallace, Twudian, et al.

Filed by M&T Bank . Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $340,659 affecting property located at 228A Millington Road, Cortlandt Manor 10567. Filed Dec. 17.

Wells, Oswald M., et al. Filed

by U.S. Bank N.A. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $620,000 affecting property located at 160 Concord Ave., White Plains 10606.

Filed Dec. 18.

Williams, David B., et al.

Filed by Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $315,000 affecting property located at 550 S. Fifth Ave., Mount Vernon 10550. Filed Dec. 18.

Facts & Figures MECHANIC’S LIENS Bienenfield, Harry, as owner. $6,190 as claimed by Foam Insulators Corp., New Rochelle.

Property: in Greenburgh. Filed June 8.

Hossain, Tofathum, as owner. $8,698 as claimed by Able Equipment Rental Inc. Property: in Yonkers. Filed June 9.

Linn, David, et al, as owner; $21,071 as claimed by Advantage Electrical Services Inc., Danbury, Connecticut. Property: in Harrison. Filed June 8.

Opra III LLC, as owner. $360,838 as claimed by Gruppo Italia Luxury Inc., New York City. Property: in Rye. Filed June 9.

Seritage SRC Finance LLC, as owner. $73,574 as claimed

by K5 Signs and Graphics Inc..

Property: in Yorktown. Filed June 9.

Verizon of New York Inc., as owner. $153,413 as claimed by Ade Systems Inc. Property: in White Plains. Filed June 9.

NEW BUSINESSES This paper is not responsible for typographical errors contained in the original filings.

Sole Proprietorships 6 Building, 25 Marion Ave., Yonkers 10710, c/o Candido Valdez. Filed Jan. 22.

Africando, 25 Marion Ave., Yonkers 10710, c/o Candido Valdez. Filed Jan. 22.

All Pro Painting, 55 Clinton Place, Mount Vernon 10550, c/o Rodrigo Pereira Moras. Filed Jan. 22.

BG Investigations, 30 Route 118, Suite 2, Baldwin Place 10505, c/o William Golodner.

Filed Jan. 24.

Blue Roots Massage, 345 Kear St., Yorktown Heights 10598, c/o Brian Thomas Delgiudice. Filed Jan. 24.

Markovic Dental Studio, 6 Lawrence Drive, Apt. A, White Plains 10603, c/o Rocio German. Filed Jan. 24.

Break Time Caterers, 12 Quail Hollow Road, Ossining 10562, c/o Harry Rios. Filed Jan. 22.

Marvelous Grind, 33 Oak St., Apt. 4B, White Plains 10603, c/o Du’an Robinson. Filed Jan. 23.

Carsons Supreme Cleaning Service, 2 Lewis Ave., Yonkers 10703, c/o Wykeema Carson.

Filed Jan. 23.

CB Interiors, 93 Cowles Ave., Yonkers 10704, c/o Christine Brown. Filed Jan. 24.

Complain Anonymously, P.O. Box 878, Verplanck 10596, c/o Barbara Joanne Hill. Filed Jan. 24.

D and M Multi Service, 24 N. Main St., Port Chester 10573, c/o Patricia Deschamps. Filed Jan. 23.

Ellie Mae Photo, 2 Shatterhand Close, White Plains 10603, c/o Elizabeth Johnson. Filed Jan. 22.

Energy Medicine For Health, 2917 Sherman Court, Mohegan Lake 10547, c/o Susan D. Cotellesse. Filed Jan. 24.

Happy Tails Grooming Salon, 18 Mill Road, Eastchester 10709, c/o Christina Souza Mihail. Filed Jan. 22.

HKC Shopping, 45 Knollwood Road, Suite 203, Elmsford 10523, c/o Charles A. Lauria.

Filed Jan. 22.

JP General Contracting, 19 Winyah Terrace, New Rochelle 10801, c/o Jose Perez. Filed Jan. 22.

JSR Contractors, 36 Van Wart Ave., Apt. 2E, White Plains 10606, c/o Manuel J. Zhagui.

Filed Jan. 24.

Kima Enterprises, 31 Harrison St., Mount Vernon 10550, c/o Mahlon Goma. Filed Jan. 23.

HUDSON VALLEY BUILDING LOANS

RCT Automotive, 684 Sawmill River Road, Yonkers 10710, c/o Raed Naber. Filed Jan. 22.

Above $1 million

PATENTS

165 Overlook Road LLC, as owner. Lender: Salisbury Bank and Trust Co. Property: in LaGrange Amount: $22 million.

Filed June 9.

Immersive cognitive reality system with real-time surrounding media. Patent no. 10,609,438 issued to Joel Branch, et al. Assigned to IBM, Armonk.

Anomaly detection using cognitive computing. Patent no. 10,616,253 issued to Sharon Hagi, et al. Assigned to IBM, Armonk.

Goshen Plaza Associates LLC, Greenwich, Connecticut, as owner. Lender: Mahopac Bank, Brewster. Property: 84-120 Clowes Ave., Goshen.

Amount: $15.8 million. Filed June 15.

Below $1 million

Cognitive building of medical condition-base cartridges based on gradings of positional statement. Patent no.

10,593,429 issued to Corville Allen. Assigned to IBM, Armonk.

Bromwell, Andrew, et al, New York, as owner. Lender: Rondout Savings Bank, Kingston. Property 12 Sled Hill Road, Woodstock 12498. Amount: $221,200. Filed June 9.

Nonelectric fountain beverage dispensers and systems.

Application no. 20200180932 issued to Amandeep Singh Gulati. Assigned to PepsiCo, Purchase.

Connolly, Stephanie K., et al, Montgomery, as owner. Lender: Walden Savings Bank, Montgomery. Property: in Montgomery. Amount: $112,830. Filed June 15.

Modular vending machines.

Application no. 20200175802 issued to Robert Crawford, et al.

Assigned to PepsiCo, Purchase.

Friedman, Moises, Monroe, as owner. Lender: TD Bank N.A. Property: 66 Seven Springs Mountain Road, Monroe 10950.

Amount: $950,000. Filed June 12.

Container. Patent no. D887,272 issued to Advaid Bhat, et al. Assigned to PepsiCo, Purchase.

Bottle. Patent no. D887,271 issued to Simon Hu, et al. Assigned to PepsiCo, Purchase.

Bottle. Patent no. D887,204 issued to Drew Palin, et al. Assigned to PepsiCo, Purchase.

Cap and container. Patent no.

RE48,037 issued to Carlos Marina, et al. Assigned to PepsiCo, Purchase.

Grady, James C., et al, Woodstock, as owner. Lender: Rondout Savings Bank, Kingston. Property: 58 Dry Brook Road, West Shokan. Amount: $320,000. Filed June 11.

PK Acad LLC, as owner. Lender: Rhinebeck Bank. Property: in Poughkeepsie. Amount: $597,000. Filed June 9.

DEEDS Above $1 million 35 Main Holding LLC, Poughkeepsie. Seller: Union 201 LLC, et al, Pleasantville. Property: 35 Main St., Poughkeepsie.

Amount: $4 million. Filed June 12.

Gas Land Petroleum Inc., Kingston. Seller: CH Realty VIII/ CG CT Atlantis LLC, Dallas, Texas. Property: in Middletown.

Amount: $3 million. Filed June 10.

MDC Coast 21 LLC, San Diego, California. Seller: HSC Bloomingburg LLC, Daphne, Alabama. Property: 882 Bloomingburg Road, Wallkill. Amount: $1.4 million. Filed June 15.

Below $1 million 226 Mac Arthur Ave LLC, Monroe. Seller: Trustco Realty Corp., Glenville. Property: 228 MacArthur Ave., New Windsor.

Amount: $88,000. Filed June 15.

247 W Main LLC, Middletown.

Seller: G’s Westgate Inn Inc., Middletown. Property: in Middletown. Amount: $261,000.

Filed June 15.

39 South Clover Street 2019 LLC, Poughkeepsie. Seller: Omer Gil, Poughkeepsie. Property: 39 S. Clover St., Poughkeepsie. Amount: $135,000.

Filed June 5.

76 Albany Street LLC, Hyde Park. Seller: Edward J. Cussick, Poughkeepsie. Property: in Poughkeepsie. Amount: $200,000. Filed June 10.

AGM Estates LLC, Monroe.

Seller: Robert Hunter, Monticello. Property: 177 Guymard Turnpike, Mount Hope.

Amount: $158,000. Filed June 16.

Atman Group Inc., Stony Point. Seller: 465 Plutarch Rd LLC, Airmont. Property: 465 Plutarch Road, Highland 12528.

Amount: $74,250. Filed June 9.

Blue Grove Bungalow Group LLC, New York City. Seller: Luis Leon, et al, Monroe. Property: 9 Crestwood Trail, Blooming Grove. Amount: $35,000. Filed June 12.

Citimortgage Inc. Seller: Robert Hertman, White Plains.

Property: 11 Richman Ave., Newburgh. Amount: $397,500.

Filed June 10.

Courtney NY LLC, Brooklyn.

Seller: Elizabeth A. Roosa, Beacon. Property: 172 South St., Newburgh. Amount: $132,500.

Filed June 15.

Dilello Homes Inc., Newburgh. Seller: Jonathan Miller, Beacon. Property: in Beacon.

Amount: $165,000. Filed June 9.

DK and Sam Real Estate Inc., Lagrangeville. Seller: Rafiq Ahmed, et al, Albertson. Property: in Poughkeepsie. Amount: $100,000. Filed June 5.

ECS 11 LLC, Stanford. Seller: Ronald Schulz, Poughkeepsie.

Property: 5256 Route 82, Washington. Amount $17,000. Filed June 9.

Equity Trust Co., Wappingers Falls. Seller: Paul Cummings, Bronxville. Property: 118 New Hamburg Road, Wappinger.

Amount: $246,000. Filed June 11.

Federal National Mortgage Association. Seller: Diana Ritchie, Pleasant Valley.

Property: 47 Schyler Drive, Poughkeepsie 12603. Amount: $333,000. Filed June 9.

G and G Property Ventures LLC, Old Tappan, New Jersey.

Seller: U.S. Bank N.A. Property: 5 Hill Road, New Windsor.

Amount: $335,500. Filed June 11.

Apple Lane LLC, Goshen.

Seller: Robert E. Pugh III, et al, Goshen. Property: 50 Farmingdale Road, Goshen. Amount: $357,000. Filed June 16.

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JUNE 22, 2020

25

Facts & Figures GJO Shis LLC, LaGrangeville.

Seller: Algino Realty Corp., Yonkers. Property: 37 Elm St., Fishkill. Amount: $900,000. Filed June 5.

Long Pond Holdings LLC, Rhinebeck. Seller: Christopher F. Roellke, et al, Salt Point.

Property: in Clinton. Amount: $410,000. Filed June 11.

High Point Land LLC, West Shokan. Seller: Caleb R. Slovensky, et al, West Shokan. Property: in Olive. Amount: $120,000.

Filed June 12.

Maggie Enterprises LLC, Wallkill. Seller: Newrez LLC, Greenville, South Carolina.

Property: 63 Old Firehouse Road, Plattekill 12568. Amount: $97,000. Filed June 12.

Silver Dass Steads LLC, Brooklyn.

Seller: Dennis Carden, Beacon. Property: 9 W. Center St., Beacon. Amount: $420,000. Filed June 5.

Highfire Ventures LLC, Croton-on-Hudson.

Seller: Catherine A. Nolte, Garrison.

Property: 1380 Route 9, Garrison 10524. Amount: $456,000.

Filed June 9.

Mako Homes Inc., Montgomery. Seller: Maria Gaspar, Clarksburg, Maryland. Property: Snow St., Crawford. Amount: $70,000. Filed June 15.

Symphony Holdings Inc., Ossining. Seller: Marc K. Cambere, Mahopac. Property: 341 Archer Road, Mahopac 10541.

Amount: $162,500. Filed June 9.

HJ Mills LLC, Montgomery.

Seller: James N. Wild, Gardiner. Property: in Montgomery.

Amount: $180,000. Filed June 10.

MGM Property Holdings LLC, Newburgh. Seller: Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. Property: 1013 Plains Road, Shawangunk. Amount: $189,000.

Filed June 10.

TKDR Properties LLC, Patterson. Seller: U.S. Bank N.A. Property: 313 Haviland Drive, Patterson 12563. Amount: $130,000. Filed June 12.

Hoang and Nguyen Brothers LLC, New Windsor. Seller: Rocco Botta, et al, Port Jervis.

Property: 25 Giovanna St., Cornwall-on-Hudson. Amount: $157,000. Filed June 10.

Homeland Towers LLC, Danbury, Connecticut. Seller: Douglas W. Logan, Cold Spring.

Property: 15 Rockledge Road, Philipstown 10516. Amount: $306,000. Filed June 9.

Hudson Values LLC, Monroe. Seller: 1900 Capital Trust II, Greenville. South Carolina.

Property: 68 Linden Ave., Middletown. Amount: $94,000.

Filed June 16.

Millprop I LLC, Millbrook.

Seller: Grace Hill Farm LLC, Millbrook. Property: in Washington. Amount: $175,500. Filed June 12.

Viserba Breglia Holdings LLC, Poughkeepsie. Seller: E.R.A. 21 Group LLC, Glendale.

Property: in Wappingers Falls.

Amount: $50,000. Filed June 10.

Millprop III LLC, Millbrook.

Seller: Grace Hill Farm LLC, Millbrook. Property: in Washington. Amount: $825,000.

Filed June 12.

WCP Block 1 LLC, Goshen.

Seller: U.S. Bank Trust N.A. Property: 116 Four Corners Road, Warwick.

Amount: $197,500. Filed June 12.

Morello Family Fortuna LLC, Highland Mills. Seller: Vincent Ortiz, et al, Monroe.

Property: 19 Tanager Road, Unit 1902, Blooming Grove South.

Amount: $83,000. Filed June 10.

Wells Fargo Bank N.A. Seller: Ljubo Jeftic, et al, Walden. Property: 1 Sunny Place, Montgomery. Amount: $218,349. Filed June 10.

Invoss LLC, Middletown. Seller: Mervin J. Lewis, et al, Middletown. Property: in Greenville. Amount: $70,000. Filed June 11.

MTGLQ Investors LP, Greenville. South Carolina.

Seller: Thomas A. Skowronski, Monroe. Property: 18 Amy Todt Drive, Monroe. Amount: $213,147. Filed June 12.

Kondaur Capital Corp., Orange, California. Seller: Alysia R. Baker, Goshen. Property: 12 Revere Road, Monroe 10950.

Amount: $175,703. Filed June 15.

RG Earl Plattekill LLC, Wallkill. Seller: Den-Kol Realty Associates Inc., Monsey. Property: in Plattekill. Amount: $99,000. Filed June 10.

KTP RE Properties LLC, Scarsdale. Seller: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C. Property: 238 Innis Ave., Poughkeepsie 12603. Amount: $94,500. Filed June 5.

Saif Real Estate Enterprises Inc., LaGrangeville. Seller: Rafiq Ahmed, et al, Albertson.

Property: in Poughkeepsie.

Amount: $125,000. Filed June 5.

Lees Multi-Dimension LLC, East Brunswick, New Jersey.

Seller: Juliana LoBiondo, Newburgh. Property: 208 Concord Lane, Middletown 10940.

Amount: $92,500. Filed June 12.

Silbase Enterprises Inc., Washingtonville. Seller: Anthony R. LoBiondo, Newburgh. Property: 1 Little Brook Court, New Windsor. Amount: $157,000. Filed June 10.

Sal’s House LLC, LaGrangeville. Seller: Julianne Ward, Millbrook. Property: 23 Washington Ave., Millbrook. Amount: $325,000. Filed June 12.

Windy Hill Construction and Development LLC, Carmel. Seller: Joan P. Mullen, Mahopac. Property: 851 S. Lake Blvd., Carmel 10541. Amount: $160,000. Filed June 10.

Mechanic’s Liens 40 Wisner Ave LLC, as owner. $19,770 as claimed by Loyal Management USA Inc., Monroe.

Property: 40 Wisner Ave., Newburgh. Filed June 15.

Arizona Hudson Valley LLC, as owner. $6,530 as claimed by Ultimate Services Nationwide Inc., Baldwin. Property: 198 Heritage Drive, Hurley. Filed June 10.

Cameron Poughkeepsie LLC, as owner. $64,678 as claimed by Royal Carting Service Co., Hopewell Junction.

Property: 261-2625 South Road, Poughkeepsie. Filed June 11.

Cody, Harold, as owner. $3,300 as claimed by Chorney Brendon Minkler, Tivoli.

Property: 132 Lasher Road, Red Hook. Filed June 11.

Indigo Contacting Inc., et al, Monroe, as owner. $28,880 as claimed by Renovation Experts Inc., Monroe. Property: 46 Woodland Road, Monroe 10950. Filed June 11.

Kaye, Debra A., et al, as owner. $39,562 as claimed by Roth Woodworking Inc., Pleasant Valley. Property: 6187-6189 Route 82, Stanford. Filed June 10.

Schiliro and Sons Realty LLC, as owner. $8,500 as claimed by TS and Sons Contracting LLC, New Rochelle.

Property: 132 Old Route 22, Dover. Filed June 12.

NEW BUSINESSES LIS PENDENS The following filings indicated a legal action has been initiated, the outcome of which may affect the title to the property listed.

Thorpe, Regina, et al. Filed

by U.S. Bank N.A. Action: seeks to foreclose on a mortgage to secure $144,000 affecting property located at 20 Lexington Heights, Unit 10, Harriman 10926. Filed June 15.

JUNE 22, 2020

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WCBJ

Leadership Navigator, 45 Paulding Ave., Cold spring 10516, c/o Vincent Michael Tamagna. Filed June 15.

Freestone Resources Inc., d.b.a. Fourth Quarter Farm, 182 Reservoir Road, Marlboro 12542. Filed June 9.

LLA-FA Book Management, 30 Ridge St., Brewster 10509, c/o Lois Aiello Lingner. Filed June 15.

Mink Hollow Media Ltd., d.b.a. Oho Brand Lab, 120 Tonche Terrace, Shokan 12481.

Filed June 9.

Mazy Studio, 183 Lake Baldwin Drive, Mahopac 10541, c/o Erika Mora. Filed June 9.

Sole Proprietorships

MPH Handyman Service, 14 Mary Ave., Mahopac 10541, c/o Michael P. Haran. Filed June 9.

BLACK, 132 Tremper Ave., Kingston 12401, c/o Imogene M. Simmons. Filed June 12.

Nana’s Angels Daycare, 3 Joseph’s Drive, Saugerties 12477, c/o Monica Kim Funk. Filed June 10.

BMJ Transport, 264 Union Valley Road, Mahopac 10541, c/o Michael Golia. Filed June 12.

Corcoran Country Living, 51-3 E. Market St., Rhinebeck 12572, c/o Jason P. Karadus.

Filed June 9.

Cutting Edge Tree Service, 34 Schwabie Turnpike, Kerhonkson 12446, c/o Brian Coyne. Filed June 10.

Eileen’s, 2 Holiday Drive, Woodstock 12498, c/o Eileen Frahm Filed June 9.

Eufloria by Mya, 320 Broadway South, Port Ewen 12466, c/o Tara McKinstry. Filed June 9.

Flavor Maker Spices, 51 Nissen Lane, West Hurley 12491, c/o Richard Orlando. Filed June 10.

Doing Business As

Fox and Crane Online Auctions, 37 John St., Saugerties 12477, c/o Stephen Brackett.

Filed June 11.

A and M Enterprises HV Inc., d.b.a. A and M Property Management, 6 Wall St., West Hurley 12491. Filed June 9.

Albatross Venture Capital Corp., d.b.a. Novella’s Restaurant, 2 Terwilliger Lane, New Paltz 12561. Filed June 9.

Milc Paper Hanging, 3514 Route 9, Cold Spring 10516, c/o Osvaldo Gutierrez. Filed June 12.

Ashley Nettye Fine Jewels, 11 Cicero Ave., New Paltz 12561, c/o Ashley Pollack. Filed June 9.

This paper is not responsible for typographical errors contained in the original filings.

Babybunts Enterprises Inc., d.b.a. Bounce New York, 8 Crystal Road, Wallkill 12589.

Filed June 9.

26

Foder Home Inspections Inc., d.b.a. Brothers Home Improvement, 2886 Route 4455, Gardiner 12525. Filed June 9.

Hamboussi Artistry, 103 Main St., Cold Spring 10516, c/o Elizabeth Hamboussi. Filed June 9.

Jill Martin Vintage, 80 Reservoir Road, Wallkill 12589, c/o Jill Meryl Martin. Filed June 11.

Nice N Neat Cleaners, 3154 Route 9, Cold Spring 10516, c/o Kim Sokhara. Filed June 15.

Parle Café and Lounge, 1151 Route 32, Plattekill 12568, c/o Lakiesha S. Hill. Filed June 11.

Quilly, 47 Brimstone Mountain Road, Chester 10918, c/o Michael Englert. Filed May 26.

RL Helms Lock and Door, 656 Fair St., Carmel 10512, c/o Robin L. Helms. Filed June 10.

Royale Express, 15 ½ Bonnell St., Middletown 10940, c/o Royale P. Jamison. Filed May 26.

Stone License, 200 Geymer Drive, Mahopac 10541, c/o Jennifer Harrigan. Filed June 15.

Suzy DeGrazia, LMT, 1394 Route 22, Patterson 12563, c/o Suzanne Lynn DeGrazia. Filed June 10.

Sweet Harvest, 82 Main St., Cold Spring 10516, c/o Tara Flagler. Filed June 9.

TNT Power Washers, 1 Marlin Road, Brewster 10509, c/o Thomas Lavan. Filed June 10.

LEGAL NOTICES Westchester Auto Spa HQ LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/21/2020.

Office: Westchester County. Registered Agent Inc. designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to Legalinc Corporate Services Inc. at.

1967 Wehrle Drive, Suite 1 #086, Buffalo, NY 14221 Purpose: Any lawful purpose. #62572 Notice of formation of Harlem 80 West, LLC. Arts.

Of Org. filed with the SSNY on 3/27/20. Office location: Westchester County.

SSNY des. agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, P.O. Box 8522, Pelham, NY 10803-8522 #62573 Notice of formation of Shaun Darrah Pediatric Dentistry PLLC. Art. of Org. filed with SSNY on 5/13/20. Office location: Westchester County. SSNY designated as agent of the PLLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail a copy of any process to The PLLC, 1133 Warburton Ave., 604N, Yonkers, NY 10701.

Purpose: To practice the profession of Dentistry. #62574 Notice of Formation of Garito Real Estate LLC Art Of Org. filed with SSNY on 3/13/20. Offc.

Loc: Westchester Cty. SSNY desig. as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 1273 North Avenue, Apt 4C-5, New Rochelle, NY 10804.

Purpose: any lawful purpose. #62576 Notice of Formation of Karen D Conti Consulting, LLC. Art. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 3/12/20. Office Location: Westchester.

SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 18 Hemlock Rd, South Salem, NY 10590. Purpose: any lawful purpose. #62577 Suarez Homes, LLC Arts of Org. filed with Sec. of State of NY (SSNY) 5/20/20. Cty: Westchester.

SSNY desig. as agent upon whom process against may be served & shall mail process to 216 North 6th Avenue, Mount Vernon, NY 10550. General Purpose. #62579

Notice of Formation of DeeLexable, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 3/17/2020. Office location: Westchester County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC. 136 Fifth Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10801 Purpose: any lawful act or activity. #62581

Notice of Formation of Margie Ruddick LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 4/23/2020. Office location: Westchester County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to 10 Archer Place #3 Tarrytown, NY 10591 Purpose: Construction Residential Remodeling. #62589

NTRLHUEZ LLC. Art. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 5/28/20. Offc: Westchester Cty. SSNY desig. as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, P.O. Box #725, Ossining, NY 10562. Purpose: any lawful purpose. #62583 MSH Consultants LLC. Art. of Org. filed 5/28/20.

Office in Westchester Co. SSNY designated for process and shall mail to Reg. Agent: Thomas Law Firm, 175 Varick St, NY, NY 10014. Purpose: Any lawful activity #62584

Name of LLC: Nonpareil Biotechnologies LLC, a Delaware LLC formed November 17, 2015, Art. Of Organization and Application for Authority filed with the SSNY on May 19, 2020. Office location: Westchester County.

SSNY has been designated as the agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY may mail a copy of process to: 75 South Broadway, Suite 4180, White Plains, NY 10601, principal business location of the LLC. Purpose: any lawful business activity. #62590

Notice of Formation of Specialty Spanish, LLC. Art. of Org. filed with SSNY on 04/27/2020. Office Location: Westchester County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 441 Saw Mill River Rd., Millwood, NY 10546.

Purpose: any lawful purpose. #62585

Notice of formation of Charcuterie Collection, LLC Art. of Org. filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 5/6/2020. Office location: Westchester County. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 23 Crusher Road, Bedford, NY 10506. Purpose: any lawful purpose. #62591

Notice of Formation of Eaglestone Advisors LLC Art. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 6/1/20. Offc. Loc: Westchester Cty. SSNY desig. as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 66 Palmer Ave., Ste 32B, Bronxville, NY 10708. Purpose: any lawful purpose. #62586

The annual return of the ADITI FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS for the calendar year December 31, 2019 is available at its principal office located at Prager Metis CPAís., LLP, 800 Westchester Avenue, Rye Brook, NY 10573 for inspection during regular business hours by any citizen who requests it within 180 days hereof. Principal Manager of the Foundation is Kalapana Raina. #62592

Notice of Formation of INCH BY INCH LLC. Art. Of Org. filed with Secíy of State (SSNY) on 6/8/20. Office location: Westchester County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to TIMOTHY DELANEY, 17 LOCUST LANE, BRONXVILLE, NY 10708. Purpose: any lawful purpose. #62587 Notice of Formation of Holistic Consulting LLC Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 4/16/2020. Office location: Westchester County.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 321 Mundy Lane Mt. Vernon NY 10550.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity. #62588

ACHOT REALTY LLC. Art. of Org. filed with SSNY 6/5/2020. NY office location: Westchester County.

SSNY designated as agent for process. SSNY shall mail copy of process to: c/o Gardner, Weiss & Rosenblum LLP, 270 Madison Ave., NY, NY 10016. Any lawful act or activity. #62593

NAME: OX BOX LOGISTICS, LLC Articles of Organization were filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 05/21/2020. Office location: Westchester County.

SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: The LLC, 7 Skyline Drive, Suite 350, Hawthorne, New York 10532, principal business location of the LLC. Purpose: any lawful business activity. #62594

Notice of Formation of C&E Event Productions, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 5/1/2020. Office location: Westchester County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Carley Tryon and Erica Block, C&E Event Productions, LLC, 96 Underhill Avenue, Apt. 1B, West Harrison, NY 10604.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity. #62595

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY (LLC). FROM THE HEART DECOR, LLC Articles of Organization were filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 04/27/20. Office Location: Westchester County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: The LLC, 495 Van Cortlandt Park Ave 4E, Yonkers, New York 10705, principal business location of the LLC. Purpose: any lawful business activity. #62596

FUTURE SOUNDS 88 LLC. filed with NY Secy. of State on 05/06/2020. Office located in 129 North 5th Ave Mount Vernon NY ,Westchester Co. Secy. of State designated as agent upon which process may be served. Secy. Of State shall mail a copy of any process against it served upon Future Sounds 88 ,LLC 129 North 5tH Ave Mount Vernon NY 10550 (the LLCís primary business location). LLC may engage in any lawful act or activity for which a limited liability company may be formed. #62597

YONKERS, NY 733 Yonkers Avenue, Suite 200 Yonkers, NY 10704 914.476.0600 NEW YORK CITY 60 East 42nd Street, Suite 4600 New York, NY 10165 212.688.2400 LONG ISLAND, NY 1305 Franklin Avenue Suite 300 Garden City, NY 11530 516.207.7533

We’ve been working side by side with our clients dealing with the Covid-19 challenges affecting businesses in the region.

Perhaps we can help you, too. sbjlaw.com

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Facts & Figures

fairfield county

BUILDING PERMITS Commercial Belle Haven Club, Greenwich, contractor for Belle Haven Club.

Prepare for a private party at 10 Harbor Drive, Greenwich. Estimated cost: $3,000. Filed May 2020.

Borrell Construction Service, Bridgeport, contractor for Dara Carpineto. Remove old roof and re-roof 850 Cleveland Ave., Bridgeport. Estimated cost: $12,095. Filed May 5.

C. Lazos Renovations LLC, Stamford, contractor for Bernardo Valdez. Replace roof at 46 Hinckley Ave., Stamford. Estimated cost: $7,000. Filed April 21.

Centerline Communication, Bridgewater, Massachusetts, contractor for First Macadams LLC. Replace antenna at 466 Myrtle Ave., Bridgeport. Estimated cost: $26,300. Filed May 2.

Capitol Roofing, Hartford, contractor for Capital Roofing.

Remove old roof and re-roof 439 Harral Ave., Bridgeport. Estimated cost: $171,000. Filed May 5.

City of Bridgeport, contractor for the city of Bridgeport. Install a fuel tank outside of building at 990 Housatonic Ave., Bridgeport. Estimated cost: $0. Filed May 8.

Christy, Robert, Bridgeport, contractor for Robert Christy.

Convert attic to bedroom at 55 Loretta Place, Bridgeport. Estimated cost: $3,000. Filed April 28.

Executives Suites LLC, Bridgeport, contractor for Webster Bank Arena. Construct a wall at 600 Main St., Bridgeport.

Estimated cost: $3,500. Filed May 1.

Classic Roofing Company Inc., Stamford, contractor for Richard S. Simon. Replace asphalt shingle roof at 22 Winesap Road, Stamford. Estimated cost: $24,300. Filed April 21.

GC Management LLC, Cold Spring, New York, contractor for BTTC LLC, et al. Remove and replace antennas and radio heads at 510 Barnum Ave., Bridgeport.

Estimated cost: $26,750. Filed May 4.

Conexca LLC, New Fairfield, contractor for DT Pro Builders.

Construct a new single-family home at 144 Ogden St., Bridgeport. Estimated cost: $115,000.

Filed May 5.

Residential Aravides, George and Jennifer F. Aravides, Greenwich, contractor for George and Jennifer F. Aravides. Remove and replace porch at 145 East Elm St., Greenwich. Estimated cost: $4,000. Filed May 2020.

Items appearing in the Fairfield County Business Journal’s On The Record section are compiled from various sources, including public records made available to the media by federal, state and municipal agencies and the court system. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of this information, no liability is assumed for errors or omissions. In the case of legal action, the records cited are open to public scrutiny and should be inspected before any action is taken.

Questions and comments regarding this section should be directed to:

Fletcher Development, Darien, contractor for Yasuko and Jiro Nakamura. Build a single-family house at 100 Waskom Wood Road, Old Greenwich.

Estimated cost: $710,000. Filed May 2020.

Fletcher Development, Darien, contractor for Stuart I. Grimshaw. Update bathrooms and replace fixtures at 21 Hurlingham Drive, Greenwich. Estimated cost: $47,000. Filed May 2020.

Grabarnik Genady, Greenwich, contractor for Grabarnik Genady. Change windows, doors, renovate kitchen, bathroom and update electric panel at 22A Park Place, Greenwich.

Estimated cost: $40,000. Filed May 2020.

Haynes Construction, Seymour, contractor for Washington Park Revitalization. Remove old roof and re-roof 496 E. Washington Ave., Bridgeport. Estimated cost: $22,295. Filed May 4.

Larry Miles c/o Westfair Communications Inc. 701 Westchester Ave, Suite 100 J White Plains, N.Y. 10604-3407 Phone: 694-3600 • Fax: 694-3699

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ON THE RECORD

Haynes Construction, Seymour, contractor for Washington Park Revitalization. Remove old roof and re-roof 480 E. Washington Ave., Bridgeport.

Estimated cost: $5,216. Filed May 4.

Haynes Construction, Seymour, contractor for Washington Park Revitalization. Remove old roof and re-roof 269 Barnum Ave., Bridgeport. Estimated cost: $20,608. Filed May 4.

J. Salvatore & Sons Inc., Yonkers, New York, contractor for Nicholas Granitto. Build new single-family Dwelling at 34 Cliffdale Road, Greenwich. Estimated cost: $850,000. Filed May 2020.

Jimenez, Luis, Stamford, contractor for Luis Jimenez. Renovate kitchen and bathroom at 334 Hamilton Ave., Stamford.

Estimated cost: $10,000. Filed April 21.

Kulick, Anne M., et al, Stamford, contractor for Anne M. Kulick. Remove old roof and re-roof 121 Thornwood Road, Stamford.

Estimated cost: $9,000. Filed April 22.

LM Construction & Masonry, Waterbury, contractor for Federal Home Loan Mortgage.

Remove old roof and re-roof 832 Brewster St., Bridgeport. Estimated cost: $7,000. Filed May 4.

Nawrocki, Michael, Stamford, contractor for Michael Nawrocki. Renovate second floor at 67 Iroquois Road, Stamford. Estimated cost: $46,400. Filed April 20.

Parker, Frank R., et al, Stamford, contractor for Frank R. Parker. Build a 1,000-squarefoot addition for kitchen and master suite and bathroom at 83 E. Middle Patent Road, Stamford.

Estimated cost: $150,000. Filed April 21.

Posigen Connecticut LLC, Bridgeport, contractor for Doreen Lowin. Make structural upgrades at 20 Voigt Ave., Bridgeport. Estimated cost: $1,000.

Filed May 8.

Pro Custom Solar, East Berlin, contractor for Shepherd Winsdale. Add Owens Corning system at 67 Corn Tassel Road, Bridgeport. Estimated cost: $14,000. Filed May 4.

Trinity Heating & Air Inc., Stamford, contractor for Sylvie Gabriel. Install roof-mounted panels at 15 Ranson St., Stamford. Estimated cost: $33,000.

Filed April 16.

Pro Custom Solar, East Berlin, contractor for Cesar Torres. Remove old roof and re-roof 227 Willow St., Bridgeport. Estimated cost: $4,400. Filed May 6.

Vericon Construction Co, Mountainside, New Jersey, contractor for Bayview Associates LLC. Build wall partition at 123 Boston Ave., Bridgeport. Estimated cost: $12,459. Filed May 8.

Pro Custom Solar, East Berlin, contractor for Colas Lagnes.

Remove old roof and re-roof 72 Bancroft Ave., Bridgeport. Estimated cost: $3,600. Filed May 7.

RJM Bros LLC, Stamford, contractor for 74 Ashton Road LLC. Remodel first and second floor at 133 Parry Road, Stamford.

Estimated cost: $550,735. Filed April 20.

Shafer, Julian, Bridgeport, contractor for Julian Shafer. Alter and finish basement at 49 Sidney St., Bridgeport. Estimated cost: $3,500. Filed May 1.

Shelbourne, Bridgeport, contractor for Shelbourne. Perform replacement alterations at 1000 Lafayette Blvd., Bridgeport. Estimated cost: $283,000. Filed May 1.

Sky View Builders LLC, Stamford, contractor for Hyde Park Properties LLC. Construct three single-family dwellings at 998 Cove Road, Stamford. Estimated cost: $1,626,000. Filed April 21.

Tesla Energy Operations Inc., Stamford, contractor for Laura Lavish. Install roof-mounted panels at 1857 Newfield Ave., Stamford. Estimated cost: $26,649. Filed April 22.

Torres, Luis, Bridgeport, contractor for Luis Torres. Install metal garage at 315 Birmingham St., Bridgeport. Estimated cost: $1. Filed April 28.

Totino, Alex R., Stamford, contractor for Leslie Gavin. Remove old roof and re-roof 14 Rachelle Ave., Stamford. Estimated cost: $6,000. Filed April 16.

Walesky, Donald C., Stamford, contractor for Ceki Aluf Medina.

Install generator and connect to propane tank at 108 N. Lake Drive, Stamford. Estimated cost: $9,000. Filed April 16.

COURT CASES Bridgeport Superior Court Arnone Jr., Brian R. et al, Trumbull. Filed by Haydee Rodriguez, New City, New York. Plaintiff’s attorney: The Schwartzberg Law Firm, Stamford. Action: The plaintiff suffered a collision allegedly caused by the defendants and sustained severe and painful personal injuries. The plaintiff seeks monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief the court deems appropriate. Case no.

FBT-CV-20-6095704-S. Filed March 24.

Stogner, Sharon Beth, et al, New Fairfield. Filed by Deborah Harris, Wilton. Plaintiff’s attorney: Moore O’Brien & Foti, Middlebury. Action: The plaintiff suffered a collision allegedly caused by the defendants and sustained severe and painful personal injuries. The plaintiff seeks monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief the court deems appropriate. Case no. FBT-CV-20-6095915-S. Filed April 2.

Vazzano, John, et al, Bridgeport. Filed by Louis Treschitta, Monroe. Plaintiff’s attorney: Carter Mario Law Firm, North Haven. Action: The plaintiff suffered a collision allegedly caused by the defendant and sustained severe and painful personal injuries. The plaintiff seeks monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief the court deems appropriate. Case no. FBT-CV20-6095719-S. Filed March 24.

Danbury Superior Court Forliving Realty LLC, et al, Westport. Filed by Deborah J. Burkey, Danbury. Plaintiff’s attorney: Ventura Law, Danbury.

Action: The plaintiff was lawfully on the premises owned and controlled by the defendants, when she was caused to fall due to the defective, unsafe conditions of the back-entry steps. As a result, plaintiff suffered injuries. The plaintiff seeks monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief the court deems appropriate. Case no. DBD-CV-20-6035962-S. Filed April 16.

Qureshi, Rafia, et al, Danbury. Filed by Nurisha Kaba Aka Zyberi, Nurisha, Danbury.

Plaintiff’s attorney: Ventura Law, Danbury. Action: The plaintiff suffered a collision allegedly caused by the defendants and sustained severe and painful personal injuries. The plaintiff seeks monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief the court deems appropriate. Case no.

DBD-CV-20-6035814-S. Filed March 26.

Ridgefield Professional Office Complex LLC, et al, Danbury. Filed by Eileen Marek, Bethel. Plaintiff’s attorney: Moore O’Brien & Foti, Middlebury. Action: The plaintiff was lawfully on the premises of the defendants, when she fell due to the accumulation of ice on the sidewalk that was controlled and maintained by the defendants. As a result, plaintiff suffered injuries. The plaintiff seeks monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief the court deems appropriate. Case no. DBD-CV20-6035861-S. Filed April 2.

Facts & Figures Sanchez, Juan, et al, Danbury.

Filed by Rene Almonte, Danbury. Plaintiff’s attorney: Moore O’Brien & Foti, Middlebury.

Action: The plaintiff was a pedestrian allegedly struck by the defendant’s car. The collision was due to the negligence of the defendant. The plaintiff seeks monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief the court deems appropriate. Case no. DBD-CV20-6035945-S. Filed April 13.

Stamford Superior Court Auteri, Janice, et al, Stamford, Filed by Anthony Febles, Stamford. Plaintiff’s attorney: Anthony Joseph Febles, Stamford.

Action: The plaintiff suffered a collision allegedly caused by the defendant and sustained severe and painful personal injuries.

The plaintiff seeks monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief as the court deems appropriate.

Case no. FST-CV-20-6046358-S. Filed March 24.

Brooks Brothers Group Inc., New York, New York. Filed

by People’s United Bank, NA, Bridgeport. Plaintiff’s attorney: Thomas J Farrell, West Hartford.

Action: The plaintiff is the holder of a promissory note of the property leased to the defendant.

The defendant failed to pay the full amount of the monthly rent, therefore breaching the lease.

The plaintiff seeks monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief the court deems appropriate.

Case no. FST-CV-20-6046453-S. Filed April 3.

Chalik, Uma Sarah, et al, Woodbury, New York. Filed by Melanie Amador-Romero, Stamford. Plaintiff’s attorney: Discala & Discala LLC, Norwalk. Action: The plaintiff suffered a collision allegedly caused by the defendants and sustained severe and painful personal injuries. The plaintiff seeks monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief the court deems appropriate. Case no. FST-CV-20-6046280-S. Filed March 19.

Stilwagen, Edward, et al, Easton. Filed by Benito Garcia-Garcia, Norwalk. Plaintiff’s attorney: The Maddox Law Firm LLC, New Canaan. Action: The plaintiff suffered a collision allegedly caused by the defendants and sustained severe and painful personal injuries. The plaintiff seeks monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief the court deems appropriate. Case no. FST-CV-20-6046491-S. Filed April 6.

Town of Greenwich, et al, Greenwich. Filed by Nicole Peluso, Greenwich. Plaintiff’s attorney: Frank N. Peluso Law Offices PC, Greenwich. Action: The plaintiff suffered a fall due to defective and unsafe conditions on the sidewalk. The defendants manage and controll the premises where the plaintiff fell. As a result of the negligence of the defendants, the plaintiff suffered severe injuries. The plaintiff seeks monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs. Case no. FSTCV-20-6046278-S. Filed March 19.

DEEDS Commercial

Olsson, Stefanie and Michael Olsson, Fairfield. Seller: Indian Hill Properties LLC, Branford.

Property: 306 Woodside Circle, Fairfield. Amount: $590,000.

Filed April 20.

Carlson, Ryan Sidney and Blair Eastman Carlson, Fairfield. Seller: Robert Cusick and Allison Cusick, Fairfield. Property: 136 Arbor Drive, Fairfield.

Amount: $10. Filed April 16.

Karolus, Colleen F. and Christian E. Karolus, Fairfield. Seller: Ruth A. Merchant, Fairfield.

Property: 590 Gilbert Highway, Fairfield. Amount: $757,000.

Filed April 16.

Shwartz, Larisa and Genady Grabarnik, Riverside. Seller: John V. Pitera, Quechee, Vermont. Property: 22A Park Place, Riverside. Amount: $533,000.

Filed April 27.

Wan, Andrew, Yonkers, New York. Seller: US Bank National Association, Chicago, Illinois.

Property: 1 Tinker Lane, Greenwich. Amount: $1,200,000. Filed April 24.

Catandella, Kenneth, Fairfield. Seller: Bonnie Welch, Fairfield. Property: 104 Candlewood Road, Fairfield. Amount: $0.

Filed April 20.

Lelek, Julia Joyce and Abraham Nel, Brooklyn, New York.

Seller: Tore Jacobsen and Dolores Jacobsen, Fairfield. Property: 250 Hurd St., Fairfield.

Amount: $682,000. Filed April 23.

Sternemann, Marc and Tugce Sternemann, Fairfield. Seller: Kathleen Carroll, et al, Bridgeport. Property: 102 Crosby St., Unit 19, Fairfield. Amount: $490,000. Filed April 23.

Residential Alshooler, Paul E. and Kathryn Giuseppone, Stamford.

Seller: Bruce Zirinsky, Naples, Florida. Property: 17 Brookside Park, Greenwich. Amount: $2,750,000. Filed April 29.

Atala, Paul and Ashley Atala, Fairfield. Seller: John Flynn and Emily M. Flynn, Fairfield. Property: 97 Carlynn Drive, Fairfield.

Amount: $1,320,000. Filed April 15.

Baehr, Patrick, Greenwich.

Seller: Akio Yoshinaka and Mayumi Yoshinaka, Greenwich.

Property: 351 Pemberwick Road, Unit 826, Greenwich. Amount: $0. Filed April 22.

Cook, Elizabeth, Fairfield.

Seller: Sally Ann Desmarais, Fairfield. Property: 1436 Melville Ave., Fairfield. Amount: $235,000. Filed April 20.

Corbo, Nina and David Corbo, Greenwich. Seller: Nina Corbo, Greenwich. Property: 9A Benders Drive, Greenwich. Amount: $10. Filed April 15.

Crane, Ryan Scott and Patricia Kathleen Kostiuk, Bridgeport. Seller: Michael J. McDonnell, Fairfield. Property: 43 Shoreham Terrace, Fairfield.

Amount: $450,000. Filed April 15.

Diana, Mary G., Greenwich.

Seller: Anne P. Cunningham, Greenwich. Property: Unit 16, Georgetowner North Condominium, Greenwich. Amount: $10. Filed April 29.

Ahn, Grace Younghee, Wilton. Seller: EDG Properties LLC, Greenwich. Property: Unit 307, West Lyon Farm Condominium, Greenwich. Amount: $865,000.

Filed April 22.

Berzolla, Gregory Renato and Susan Elizabeth Parker, Old Greenwich. Seller: Yelena Sushko and Natalya Pechatnova, Greenwich. Property: Unit 95, Old Greenwich Gables, Old Greenwich. Amount: $948,000.

Filed April 22.

Archana Makam Revocable Trust, Greenwich. Seller: Rajkumar Makam and Archana R. Makam, Greenwich. Property: 42 Brookridge Drive, Greenwich.

Amount: $0. Filed April 22.

Blanchard, Alexander Peter, New York, New York. Seller: David G. Sprows and Lori L. Sprows, Southport. Property: 916 Pequot Ave., Southport. Amount: $1,900,000. Filed April 20.

Greenman, Jason and Dana Greenman, Fairfield. Seller: Leslie Cober Gentry, Fairfield.

Property: Lot 9, Map 6423, Sherwood Farm Road, Fairfield.

Amount: $1,000,000. Filed April 17.

Arneberg, Ann Karin Skoglund and Per Aleksander Arneberg, Greenwich. Seller: 2121 Waterford LLC, Riverside.

Property: 4 Sound Shore Drive, Unit D21, Greenwich. Amount: $1. Filed April 29.

Boside, Neil and Mona Boside, Greenwich. Seller: Daniel G. Dibattista and Nancy Nania, Greenwich. Property: Unit 110, Greenwich Green Condominium I, Greenwich. Amount: $340,000. Filed April 29.

Hillsman, Kevin Charles and Miriam Seul Hillsman, Cos Cob. Seller: Richard Albonizio and Margo Albonizio, Greenwich. Property: 9 Deluca Drive, Cos Cob. Amount: $1,110,000.

Filed April 22.

Gibertoni, Stephen M. and Jill A. Gibertoni, Cheshire. Seller: Fairfield County Homes LLC, Fairfield. Property: 454 S. Pine Creek Road, Fairfield. Amount: $1,175,000. Filed April 23.

Gega, Englantina, Cos Cob. Seller: Marie N. Fleig, Cos Cob. Property: 330 Conemaugh Road, Cos Cob. Amount: $299,000.

Filed April 20.

Waszkiewicz, Krzysztof and Wanda Waszkiewicz, Easton.

Seller: Victor H. De La Pena and Colleen M. Keegan, Fairfield.

Property: 160 Fairfield Woods Road, Unit 11, Fairfield. Amount: $270,000. Filed April 22.

Lim, Kevin Sungwoo and Michelle M. Lim, Fairfield. Seller: Priscilla H. Flores, Fairfield.

Property: 25 Overlook Ave., Fairfield. Amount: $388,000. Filed April 20.

Tyler, William L. and Andrea J. Tyler, Fairfield. Seller: Caroline A. Fain and Elizabeth M. Buttiker, Trumbull. Property: 579 Davis Road, Fairfield.

Amount: $355,000. Filed April 17.

Logue, Michael and Elona Logue, Fairfield. Seller: William J. Meury and Stephanie P. Meury, Fairfield. Property: 2641 Bronson Road, Fairfield. Amount: $1,200,000. Filed April 17.

Yandolino, Jaime and Matthew LePage, Cos Cob. Seller: Lynda D. Baldauf and Lasse Baldauf, Old Greenwich. Property: 32 Sound Beach Ave., Old Greenwich. Amount: $975,000. Filed April 22.

Maher, Helen O. and Brian J. Maher, Old Greenwich. Seller: Helen O’Brien Maher, Greenwich. Property: 26 Rocky Point Road, Old Greenwich. Amount: $1. Filed April 20.

Yang, Robert Dino and Gabriela Yu, Greenwich. Seller: Aristide C. Achy-Brou and Ijeoma Akunyili, Greenwich. Property: 48 Sound Beach Ave., Old Greenwich. Amount: $0. Filed April 22.

Marullo, Robert and Alison Wigham Marullo, Stamford.

Seller: Robert S. Marullo, Stamford. Property: 11 Fitch Lane, Greenwich. Amount: $0. Filed April 15.

Zhang, Xinfang and Xiang Shi, Greenwich. Seller: Karl Tan and Lisa Law, Greenwich. Property: 25 Indian Harbor Drive, Unit 9, Greenwich. Amount: $0.

Filed April 29.

McArthur, Bevin, Old Greenwich. Seller: Judith Ann Miller, Greenwich. Property: Unit 107, Old Greenwich Gables, Old Greenwich. Amount: $10. Filed April 22.

Zhao, Ellie Yin, Greenwich.

Seller: Yuk Jeng Wang, Greenwich. Property: 10 Old Forge Road, Greenwich. Amount: $1,328,888. Filed April 17.

Nigam, Anchal and Namrata Nigam, Greenwich. Seller: Anthony Verrico Jr., Wellington, Florida. Property: 108B Weaver St., Unit B, Greenwich. Amount: $679,000. Filed April 20.

Peterson, Jennifer S., Greenwich. Seller: Amy Jo Palladino, Old Greenwich. Property: 21 Sound Beach Ave., Old Greenwich. Amount: $957,000. Filed April 17.

Piputbundit, Bhoome and Mai-Yee Ung, Fairfield. Seller: Douglas O. Marino and Karen A. Marino. Fairfield. Property: 360 Lucille St., Fairfield. Amount: $538,000. Filed April 22.

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Zimmerman, Angelo, Fairfield. Seller: Jose Oromi, Fairfield.

Property: 13 Plum St., Fairfield.

Amount: $255,500. Filed April 17.

FORECLOSURES Cartun, Allan J., et al. Creditor: US Bank National Association, Salt Lake City, Utah. Property: 585 Round Hill Road, Greenwich. Mortgage default. Filed March 23.

Delany, Gregg N., et al. Creditor: US Bank National Association, Coppell, Texas. Property: 16 Suburban Ave., Greenwich.

Mortgage default. Filed April 22.

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Facts & Figures Gabriel, Robert P., et al. Creditor: The Bank of New York Mellon, Coppell, Texas. Property: 3 Sayles St., Cos Cob. Mortgage default. Filed April 6.

Gregory, Raymond, et al.

Creditor: JPMorgan Chase Bank National Association, Columbus, Ohio. Property: 17 Chestnut St., Greenwich. Mortgage default.

Filed March 9.

Judge, Timothy P., et al. Creditor: Bac Home Loans Servicing LP, Irvine, California. Property: 22 Oxer Place, Greenwich. Mortgage default. Filed April 8.

Mukesh, Sethi, et al. Creditor: JPMorgan Chase Bank National Association, Columbus, Ohio.

Property: 69 Taconic Road, Greenwich. Mortgage default.

Filed May 8.

Nichols, Sharon A. Creditor: The Bank of New York, New York. Property: 131 Hunyadi Ave., Fairfield. Mortgage default. Filed April 13.

BANKING VP, Account Management Strategy, Synchrony Bank, Stamford, CT. Drive analytic insights & strategic acct mgmt credit line & authorization initiatives for the PayPal Program, incl the PayPal CoBrand & PayPal Credit portfolios. Req Bach’s deg or foreign equiv in Analytics, Econ, Bus Admin or rel + 5 yrs post-bach’s progressive rel work exp. Must have 3 yrs of exp using statistical tools such as SAS, Model Builder Decision Tree, Knowledge Seeker, or rel. Travel req up to 20%.

To apply, email resume to: HR manager, Kristine.Mackey@ syf.com, (reference: CT0007).

SOFTWARE Sr. Software Engineer, Forum Developer, Synchrony Bank, Stamford, CT. Provide, dvlp, & implement high lvl, complex Security Policies. Req. Bach’s deg or foreign equiv. in Comp Sci, Comp Engg or rel. + 5 yrs progressively responsible exp in the offered pos or a pos in a rel occ. Travel up to 10% req.

To apply, email resume to HR Manager referencing job code CT0009 in subject line to: kristine.mackey@syf.com.

30

JUNE 22, 2020

JUDGMENTS Bambino, Francesca and Ernesto D’Onofrio, New Canaan. $16,500, in favor of Ije Akunyili and Aristide Achy-Brou, Old Greenwich, by Schnitzler Law LLC, Fairfield. Property: 20 Innis Lane, Greenwich. Filed April 24.

Capone, Joseph, Stamford. $21,887, in favor of Frank R. Bongiorno, Darien, by Mark F. Katz, Stamford. Property: 31 Laurel Ledge Road, Stamford. Filed May 5.

Carmona, Augusto, Stamford. $920, in favor of CACH LLC, Las Vegas, Nevada, by the Law Offices of Howard Lee Schiff PC, East Hartford. Property: 75 Stanton Drive, Stamford. Filed April 21.

Freeman, Merritt L., Stamford. $14,973, in favor of The Connecticut Light and Power Company, Berlin, by AGS Law, Waterbury. Property: 17 Chestnut St., Stamford. Filed May 14.

Lopez, Zeferino, Stamford. $3,250, in favor of Midland Funding LLC, San Diego, California, by the Law Offices of Howard Lee Schiff PC, East Hartford.

Property: 40 Alden St., Stamford.

Filed April 21.

Simms, Catherine, Stamford. $6,694, in favor of Cavalry SPV I LLC, Valhalla, New York, by Schreiber Law LLC, Salem, New Hampshire. Property: 3043 High Ridge Road, Stamford. Filed May 14.

Sunmore Condominium Association Inc., Stamford. $14,758, in favor of Litchfield Newton LTD and Janet Tracy, New Haven, by Roger B. Calistro, New Haven. Property: 833 Summer St., Stamford. Filed May 11.

Taylor, Mary, Cos Cob. $4,973, in favor of Cavalry SPV I LLC, Valhalla, New York, by Schreiber Law LLC, Salem, New Hampshire. Property: 7 Meadow Drive, Cos Cob. Filed May 15.

Tual, Daniel L., Stamford. $6,144, in favor of Midland Funding LLC, Warren, Michigan, by the Law Offices of Howard Lee Schiff PC, East Hartford. Property: 6 Alma Rock Drive, Stamford.

Filed April 16.

FCBJ

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LIENS Federal Tax Liens Filed 30 Georgetowne LLC, 201 Commons Park South, Stamford. $177, civil proceeding tax.

Filed May 29.

30 Georgetowne LLC, 201 Commons Park South, Stamford. $4,018, civil proceeding tax.

Filed May 29.

397 Riversville Road LLC, 397 Riversville Road, Greenwich. $26,462, civil proceeding tax.

Filed April 6.

397 Riversville Road LLC, 397 Riversville Road, Greenwich. $52,925, civil proceeding tax.

Filed April 6.

Bowers, Abigail R., 77 John St., Greenwich. $11,932, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 29.

Edgar Realty Inc., 235 Main St., White Plains, New York. $63, civil proceeding tax. Filed April 6.

Green, Carin Zakes and Peter Green, 10 Canterbury Drive, Greenwich. $132, civil proceeding tax. Filed April 6.

James, Anthony Thomas, 6 Sheldrake Road, Greenwich. $6,821, civil proceeding tax.

Filed April 15.

James, Anthony Thomas, 6 Sheldrake Road, Greenwich. $301, civil proceeding tax. Filed April 15.

Koa, Ivy and Victoria Koa, 2 Homestead Lane, Unit 310, Greenwich. $1,421, civil proceeding tax. Filed April 15.

Koa, Ivy and Victoria Koa, 2 Homestead Lane, Unit 310, Greenwich. $1,460, civil proceeding tax. Filed April 15.

Plavoukos, Matthew G. and Theresa F. Plavoukos, 15 Lincoln Ave., Old Greenwich. $4,131, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 15.

Slavin, Lorraine, 10 Mortimer Drive, Greenwich. $379, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 29.

Task Capital Milbank LLC, 44 Amogerone Crossway, Greenwich. $4,189, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 29.

Task Capital Milbank LLC, 44 Amogerone Crossway, Greenwich. $6,804, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 29.

Mechanic’s Liens Norwalk Land Development LLC, Norwalk. Filed by All Electric Construction & Communication LLC, by Patrick Lewis.

Property: 100-101 N. Water St., Norwalk. Amount: $60,636.

Filed April 16.

Norwalk Land Development LLC, Norwalk. Filed by All Electric Construction & Communication LLC, by Patrick Lewis.

Property: 100-101 N. Water St., Norwalk. Amount: $38,430.

Filed April 16.

LIS PENDENS Altavista Investments LLC, et al, Greenwich. Filed by Shipman & Goodwin LLP, Hartford, for Patriot Bank NA. Property: 969 North St., Greenwich. Action: foreclose defendant’s mortgage. Filed May 29.

Beaudry, Dustin and Mary Beaudry, Greenwich. Filed by Michael J. Jones, Greenwich, for Grace Design Build LLC. Property: 8 Cherry Blossom Lane, Greenwich. Action: foreclose defendants’ mortgage. Filed May 27.

Cal, Genevieve, et al, Stamford. Filed by Cynthia C. Anger, Stamford, for the city of Stamford. Property: 274 Washington Blvd, Stamford. Action: foreclose defendants’ mortgage. Filed June 9.

Department of The Treasury Internal Revenue Service, et al, Greenwich. Filed by Marinosci Law Group PC, Warwick, Rhode Island, for The Bank of New York Mellon. Property: 3 Sayles St., Cos Cob. Action: foreclose defendants’ mortgage.

Filed June 10.

Feher, Patricia, et al, Fairfield.

Filed by Marquette, Piscatelli & Sheehan PC, Hamden, for Jayne Feher. Property: 27-29 Churchill St., Fairfield. Action: foreclose defendants’ mortgage. Filed June 8.

Pollner, Lisa, Fairfield. Filed by The Balaban Law Firm, Middletown, for Christopher J. Taylor.

Property: 365 Cross Highway, Lot 4, Fairfield. Action: foreclose defendant’s mortgage. Filed June 12.

Hutter, Rudolf A., Greenwich.

Filed by the Law Offices of Piazza, Simmons & Grant LLC, Stamford, for Kristine A. Hutter.

Property: 189 Old Mill Road, Greenwich. Action: foreclose defendant’s mortgage. Filed June 10.

Prost, Harold, Greenwich.

Filed by Murtha Cullina LLP, Hartford, for Elmira College.

Property: 34 Jones Park Drive, Greenwich. Action: foreclose defendant’s mortgage. Filed May 22.

JTH Builders LLC, Fairfield.

Filed by Jonathan J. Klein, Bridgeport, for Rose-Tiso & Company LLC. Property: 119 Berwick Ave., Fairfield. Action: foreclose defendant’s mortgage. Filed May 28.

Kozar-Gasse, Breda, Fairfield.

Filed by Cohen and Wolf PC, Bridgeport, for Tommy E. Moran. Property: Lot 42, School St., Fairfield. Action: foreclose defendant’s mortgage. Filed June 8.

Lesperance, Roland, Stamford. Filed by Cynthia C. Anger, Stamford, for the city of Stamford. Property: 21 Pulaski St., Stamford. Action: foreclose defendant’s mortgage. Filed June 9.

Menozzi, Pierre, et al, Fairfield. Filed by McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce LLC, Hartford, for Deutsche Bank National Trust Company. Property: 785 Riverside Drive, Fairfield. Action: foreclose defendants’ mortgage.

Filed June 5.

Moore, Charles L., et al, Greenwich. Filed by McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce LLC, Hartford, for US Bank Trust National Association. Property: 6163 Oakridge Road, Greenwich.

Action: foreclose defendants’ mortgage. Filed May 18.

Peardon, Susanah, Greenwich. Filed by Mark, Sank & Associates LLC, Stamford, for Christopher Whelan and Maria Elena Whelan. Property: 166 Old Church Road, Greenwich. Action: foreclose defendant’s mortgage. Filed May 13.

Raquet, Walter, et al, Greenwich. Filed by Michael J. Jones, Greenwich, for Sabrina Forsyth.

Property: 78 Zaccheus Mead Lane, Greenwich. Action: foreclose defendants’ mortgage.

Filed June 10.

Raviele, Philip, et al, Greenwich. Filed by Mark, Sank & Associates LLC, Stamford, for Jeffrey Kohlberger. Property: 15 Sundance Drive, Greenwich. Action: foreclose defendants’ mortgage. Filed May 29.

Scandizzo, Maria, et al, Stamford. Filed by Rosenberg & Rosenberg PC, West Hartford, for Hyde Park Condominium Association Inc. Property: 27 Northill St., Unit 2X, Stamford. Action: foreclose defendants’ mortgage.

Filed June 10.

The Church of The Holy Name of Jesus, Stamford. Filed

by Cynthia C. Anger, Stamford, for the city of Stamford. Property: 4 Pulaski St., Stamford. Action: foreclose defendant’s mortgage.

Filed June 9.

Thomas, Ofni, et al, Stamford.

Filed by McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce LLC, Hartford, for ARCPE 1 LLC. Property: 1 Strawberry Hill Cottage Unit 11F, Stamford.

Action: foreclose defendants’ mortgage. Filed June 8.

LEASES Veneri, Lauren and Frank Veneri, by John Jordan. Landlord: Putnam Park Apartments Inc., Greenwich. Property: 174 Putnam Park, Greenwich. Term: 30 years, commenced June 5, 2020. Filed June 8.

Facts & Figures MORTGAGES Acosta, Jose and Seydis Acosta, Stamford, by Brooke Cavaliero. Lender: United Wholesale Mortgage, 585 S. Boulevard East, Pontiac, Michigan. Property: 43 Hearthstone Cottage, Stamford.

Amount: $266,500. Filed April 7.

Ahrens, Ronald A. and June L. Ahrens, Stamford, by Scott Rogalski. Lender: Andrews Federal Credit Union, 5711 Allentown Road, Suitland, Maryland.

Property: 1 Broad St., No. 31DE, Stamford. Amount: $946,400.

Filed April 7.

Angeles, Nelson A. and Nidia Y. Angeles, Stamford, by William P. Tone. Lender: Northeastern Operating Engineers Federal Credit Union, 16-16 Whitestone Expressway, Whitestone, New York. Property: 875 Westover Road, Stamford. Amount: $540,000. Filed April 7.

Technology Application Engineer, Synchrony Bank, Stamford, CT. Lead teams in building new web solutions/ platforms & enhancements, working closely w/ requirements analysts, testers, & the customer in an agile development practice. Req. Bach’s deg or foreign equiv. in ENGG (any) or rel. + 5 yrs prog. rel. work exp. To apply, email resume to HR Manager referencing job code CT0008 in subject line to: Kristine.Mackey@syf.com.

Technical Product Owner, Synchrony Bank, Stamford, CT. Responsible for managing solution delivery across Fiserv COE products & Consumer Bank Digital platforms. Req Bach’s deg or foreign equiv in Engg (Comp, Elect), or rel + 5 yrs post-bach progrssve rel work exp. Must have a PMP or SAFe certified project mgmt cert. Up to 25% travel req. To apply, email resume to HR Manager referencing job code CT0010 in subject line to: kristine.mackey@syf.com.

Artone, Carla, Norwalk, by Tierney E. O’Hearn. Lender: US Bank National Association, 4801 Frederica St., Owensboro, Kentucky. Property: 31 Linden Heights, Norwalk. Amount: $387,000. Filed May 1.

Ball, Trinell and Linda Rivera, Norwalk, by Antonio Faretta.

Lender: Wells Fargo Bank NA, 101 North Phillips Ave., Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Property: 11 Pogany St., Unit A, Norwalk.

Amount: $320,000. Filed May 1.

O’Connor, Anne, Stamford,

by James M. Rubino. Lender: Finance of America Mortgage LLC, 300 Welsh Road, Building 5, Suite A, Horsham, Pennsylvania. Property: 63 Westcott Road, Stamford. Amount: $425,000.

Filed April 7.

Piscitelli, Mario and Nicole Piscitelli, Norwalk, by Sharon M. Jones. Lender: William Ravels Mortgage LLC, 7 Trap Falls Road, Shelton. Property: 50 Ledgewood Drive, Norwalk. Amount: $373,000. Filed May 1.

Caicedo, Juan and Monica Amezquita, Stamford, by Laura A. McGeachy. Lender: Citizens Bank NA, 1 Citizens Plaza, Providence, Rhode Island. Property: 2732 Long Ridge Road, Stamford. Amount: $446,500. Filed April 7.

Plent, Amy M. and Bruce A. Plent, Norwalk, by Charles P. Abate. Lender: Citizens Bank NA, 1 Citizens Plaza, Providence, Rhode Island. Property: 214 Gillies Lane, Norwalk. Amount: $360,000. Filed April 8.

Cohen, Daniel and Diane Cohen, Stamford, by Daniel P. Weiner. Lender: Savings Bank of Danbury, 220 Main St., Danbury.

Property: 15 Revonah Circle, Stamford. Amount: $510,400.

Filed April 6.

Qureshi, Ahsan B., Norwalk.

by Richard L. Mintz. Lender: Wells Fargo Bank NA, 101 N. Phillips Ave., Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Property: 135 Flax Hill Road, Unit 29A, Norwalk.

Amount: $142,500. Filed April 8.

Depersia, Kristen Angela, Norwalk, by Richard M. McGannon, Lender: American Neighborhood Mortgage Acceptance Company LLC, 700 E. Gate Drive, Suite 400, Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Property: 134 Washington St., Unit 301, Norwalk.

Amount: $279,000. Filed May 1.

Rosario, Samuel and Danielle V. Rosario, Stamford, by Thomas W. OzimKoski. Lender: Freedom Mortgage Corp., 907 Pleasant Valley Ave., Suite 3, Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Property: 61 Muriel Drive, Stamford. Amount: $396,229. Filed April 7.

DiFederico, Giuseppe and Patrizia DiFederico, Norwalk, by Louis J. Cadenza. Lender: Wells Fargo Bank NA, 101 N. Phillips Ave., Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Property: 30 Douglas Drive, Norwalk. Amount: $290,000. Filed May 1.

Florez, Cesar A., Norwalk,

by Antonio Faretta. Lender: Total Mortgage Services LLC, 185 Plains Road, Milford. Property: 20 Fullin Road, Norwalk.

Amount: $353,829. Filed May 1.

Higgins, Eric Chih-Kai and Ann Ellen Higgins, Norwalk.

by Nathaniel W. Shipp. Lender: Savings Bank of Danbury, 220 Main St., Danbury. Property: 8 Mary Austin Place, Norwalk.

Amount: $458,000. Filed May 1.

Zhu, Shiyao and Cynthia Twu, Stamford, by Erin Spiess Chang. Lender: Citizens Bank NA, 1 Citizens Plaza, Providence, Rhode Island. Property: 850 E. Main St., Unit 220, Stamford.

Amount: $281,250. Filed April 7.

NEW BUSINESSES Blueprint Home Loans, 1190 Winterson Road, Suite 300, Linthicum, Maryland 21090, c/o Nm. Inc. Filed May 15.

Brightstar of Greenwich/ Stamford, 2009 Summer St., Suite 209, Stamford 06905, c/o Raymond Boller. Filed May 28.

DBA Taxi Service, 41 Aberdeen St., Stamford 06902, c/o Mohammed Z. Shafi. Filed May 28.

Ecology Detergent’s Inc., 237 West Ave., Stamford 06902, c/o Thomas G. Smith Sr. Filed May 26.

Lock City Tavern, 112 Bedford St., Stamford 06901, c/o John Gazzola. Filed May 22.

My Suite Boutique, 91 Dogwood Lane, Stamford 06903, c/o Harriet Skroubelos. Filed May 27.

Pina Bird, 3 Calder Bridge Drive, Stamford 06903, c/o Pina Basone. Filed May 15.

Puroclean of Stamford, 201 Highview Ave., Unit F1, Stamford 06907, c/o Alex Zislis. Filed May 28.

Roselin Party Rentals LLC, 26 Stone Wall Drive, Stamford 06905, c/o Levec Roselin. Filed May 21.

Smart Disinfecting, 89 Hirsch Road, Stamford 06905, c/o Michael Gravenese. Filed May 22.

Fratelli Market, 17 Cedar Heights Road, Stamford 06902, c/o Kati S. Ochoa. Filed May 22.

Hair Design by Phyllis, 29 High Ridge Road, Stamford 06902, c/o Filomena Conte.

Filed May 27.

Steinmetz, Steven B. and Lee Steinmetz, Stamford, by Kathryn A. Vitiello. Lender: Home Point Financial Corp., 9 Entin Road, Suite 200, Parsippany, New Jersey. Property: 58 Boxwood Drive, Stamford. Amount: $415,000. Filed April 6.

Jason Murdock Bey Express Trust, 400 W. Peachtree St., Atlanta, Georgia 30308, c/o Lesgar Murdock. Filed May 27.

Stevens, Meredith C. and Riefe Collins, Stamford, by Tamara Peterson. Lender: Guaranteed Rate Affinity LLC, 1800 W. Larchmont Ave., Chicago, Illinois. Property: 63 Myano Lane, Unit 2, Stamford. Amount: $289,600. Filed April 6.

Jay 4 Cribs, 108 Lawn Ave., Stamford 06902, c/o Jean Claude Emilien. Filed May 29.

Yanes, Luis and Edwin Yanes, Norwalk, by Antonio Faretta.

Lender: Nationstar Mortgage LLC, 8950 Cypress Waters Blvd., Dallas, Texas. Property: 21 Arbor Drive, Norwalk. Amount: $284,200. Filed April 8.

LHSOW (Lets Help Save Our World), 108 Lawn Ave., Stamford 06902, c/o Jean Claude Emilien.

Filed May 29.

Jay 4 Cars LLC, 108 Lawn Ave., Stamford 06902, c/o Jean Claude Emilien. Filed May 29.

Julia Von Schilling Attorney at Law, 1100 Summer St., Fourth floor, Stamford 06905, c/o Julia Von Schilling. Filed May 29.

Kumo Market, 850 E. Main St., Stamford 06906, c/o Zhe Huang.

Filed May 22.

PATENTS Conductive polymer composite. Patent no. 10,685,763 issued to Rachel Prestayko, et al.

Assigned to Xerox Corp., Norwalk.

Methods and systems for logical cell-based orientation in N-up copying or printing.

Patent no. 10,685,268 issued to Arindam Das, et al. Assigned to Xerox Corp., Norwalk.

Automatic and semi-automatic metadata generation via inheritance in homogeneous and heterogeneous environments. Patent no.

10,685,234 issued to Robert Buckley, et al. Assigned to Xerox Corp., Norwalk.

Sulfonated polyester-metal nanoparticle composite toner for colorimetric sensing applications. Patent no.

10,684,280 issued to Valerie Farrugia, et al. Assigned to Xerox Corp., Norwalk System and method for indexing a three-dimensional (3D) object during printing of the object. Patent no.

10,682,843 issued to Carlos Terrero, et al. Assigned to Xerox Corp., Norwalk System and method for adjusting the speed of a multinozzle extruder during additive manufacturing with reference to an angular orientation of the extruder.

Patent no. 10,682,816 issued to David Mantell. Assigned to Xerox Corp., Norwalk Constant pressure filament driver for extruder heads in three-dimensional object printers. Patent no. 10,682,796 issued to Barry Mandel. Assigned to Xerox Corp., Norwalk Skipped-pitch compensating printing/finishing system.

Patent no. 10,681,226 issued to Hans Case, et al. Assigned to Xerox Corp., Norwalk Gesture-enabled audio device with visible feedback.

Patent no. 10,685,550 issued to Joseph Verbeke, et al. Assigned to Harman International, Norwalk Cardoid microphone adaptive filter. Patent no. 10,679,640 issued to Kevin Shank. Assigned to Harman International, Norwalk

Client-based splitting of PDF/ VT Dpart catalog. Patent no.

10,684,807 issued to David Robinson, et al. Assigned to Xerox Corp., Norwalk

FCBJ

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JUNE 22, 2020

31

LIONESS, INC.

S

Seeing wild animals display affection strikes a chord with us humans. We’ve been there.

We’ve done that. Given the harsh environment and everyday struggle to survive in the wild, we are surprised to see glimpses of human behavior in their actions. This cub, in stride, reached up and leaned into his mother, looking for assurance. Solidarity is how they have always survived.

Lions are the laziest of the big cats, often spending most of the day sleeping or resting. While lazing around, they can be very affectionate towards one another.

While a group of people connected to one another is called a tribe, a group of fish is called a school and a group of owls is called a parliament, a group of lions is collectively called a pride because of their stately quality.

Lions are the only cats that live in these social groups called prides. Family units may contain as many as 40 lions, including up to four males, who are responsible for protecting the pride, and a dozen females. All of a pride’s lionesses are related and will mate at approximately the same time. After a gestation period of about 110 days, the females gives birth to 1 to 4 cubs, weighing only 2 to 4 pounds. The cubs are then raised together, sometimes nursing communally.

While the image of male lion superiority is ubiquitous in the world, the truth is that the females are the leaders of the pride and its primary hunters. Males rarely participate in hunting unless they are needed. Females fiercely defend their cubs, and while males tolerate them, they don’t always defend them. With high mortality

rates, about 80% of cubs will not survive until adulthood, but those that do may live to be 10 to 14 years of age.

Helping humans learn how to live with lions is key to ensuring their survival. In northern Kenya, Samburu warriors, women and children with important local knowledge of wildlife issues are trained to collect data on wildlife sightings and respond to community issues like livestock depredation. In exchange, they receive educational lessons and a leadership role in their communities, creating a network of wildlife ambassadors. Some conservation organizations pay farmers to replace their livestock that have been taken by lions.

There are so many fascinating things to discover about lions and all the other creatures that can be found on safari with John Rizzo’s Africa Photo Tours. It’s an unforgettable trip filled with lions, elephants, leopards, zebras and rhinos — all waiting to be discovered by you!

Rizzo, an award-winning photographer, leads a team of experienced guides, specializing in safari and tribal tours within East Africa – Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia. His experienced team brings an intimate group of guests of all ages to see the “Big Five” (buffalos, elephants, lions leopards and rhinoceroses) as well as visit with the Maasai, Samburu and Turkana people. It’s a once in a lifetime experience.

For more, visit africaphototours.com

AT HOME IN A WORLD OF FOOD GREAT HUDSON VALLEY SCENICS ‘ARABIAN NIGHTS’ IN CONNECTICUT P.T. Barnum’s Iranistan GETTING YOUR GOAT AT FREDERICK FARM ‘MOTHER’S DAY’ OUR NEW MOMS NETWORK SECTION

Two for the road

Visionary journeys JUDGED A

TOP

MAGAZINE

and trumpet

IN NEW YORK STATE 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018

WESTCHESTER & FAIRFIELD LIFE

JUNE-JULY 2020 | WAGMAG.COM

CONTENTS J U N E /J U LY 2 0 2 0

12

What’s Trending

14

Reinventing our year of magical thinking

16

The ‘Passages’ of his life

18

Seniors strong

20

‘Arabian Nights’ in Bridgeport

22

An appetite for travel

24

Hiking smooth and rocky trails

28

Like grandmother, like granddaughter

30

Healing others – and himself

32

Weaving a good yarn

34

Riding the big one

36

‘Love’ story

50

Getting her goat (in the best possible way) 2

WAGMAG.COM JUNE-JULY 2020

46

COVER STORY Marsalis, and all that jazz

YOUR HEALTH IS ESSENTIAL The last several months have taught us a lot about what’s essential. Essential workers.

Essential supplies. Essential businesses. Now it’s time to attend to another essential – your health.

Not getting prompt, proper, regular medical care can have long-term consequences.

At White Plains Hospital and our physicians’ practices, we’ve exceeded the state and federal guidelines to protect you. Infection control was always our priority, and now we’ve taken further action, creating separate COVID patient areas, implementing extensive cleaning practices, and screening for all staff and patients.

Because staying safe means staying healthy. And your health is essential.

Learn more about our safety precautions at wphospital.org/safety

FEATURES HIGHLIGHTS

HOME & DESIGN 42 – Modern beauty in mid-country 74 – Creating a dream house/vacation TRAVEL 64 – Playing armchair traveler in the time of corona 68 – Travel treats for yourself 70 – Another day in Paradise FOOD & SPIRITS 72 – Cooking with ‘Verve’

72

78 – An egg dish that’s hard to ‘beet’ 80 – Now we’re cooking 82 – A primer on Scotch whiskey, er, whisky

64

FASHION & BEAUTY 76 – Creating a spa at home HEALTH & FITNESS 84 – Coping with the pandemic and its aftermath 86 – The American dream PET CARE 88 - Pet of the month WHEN & WHERE 90 – Swoon for June (and July) WATCH 92 – We’re out and about (digitally) WITS

22

68

96 – Where do you like to escape to (in your mind)?

AT HOME IN A WORLD OF FOOD GREAT HUDSON VALLEY SCENICS ‘ARABIAN NIGHTS’ IN CONNECTICUT P.T. Barnum’s Iranistan GETTING YOUR GOAT AT FREDERICK FARM ‘MOTHER’S DAY’ OUR NEW MOMS NETWORK SECTION

Two for the road

Visionary journeys JUDGED A

TOP

MAGAZINE

and trumpet

IN NEW YORK STATE 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018

WESTCHESTER & FAIRFIELD LIFE

JUNE-JULY 2020 | WAGMAG.COM

4

COVER: Wynton Marsalis.

Photograph

by Piper Ferguson

WAGMAG.COM JUNE-JULY 2020

42

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

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PUBLISHER dee@westfairinc.com

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EDITORIAL Bob Rozycki MANAGING EDITOR bobr@westfairinc.com

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

ART Sebastián Flores ART DIRECTOR sflores@westfairinc.com

PHOTOGRAPHY

COVER STORY: JEREMY WAYNE, PAGE 46

Sebastián Flores, John Rizzo, Bob Rozycki

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

PRINT/DIGITAL SALES PHIL HALL

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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

EDITOR’S LETTER

BY GEORGET TE GOUVEIA

IN THIS A YEAR WITH A DOUBLE NUMBER, WE PRESENT OUR FIRST DOUBLE ISSUE, “VISIONARY JOURNEYS,” COMBINING JUNE’S TRADITIONAL JOURNEYS WITH JULY’S HOSPITALITY. The word “traditional” should be applied advisedly. There’s nothing traditional about this moment in our lives.

Perhaps, then, we should substitute “transitional” for “traditional.” While it’s true that there’s not much in the way of restaurant and hotel openings or vacations, food and travel turn out to be eminently suited to a moment in which we must go forward, cautiously.

Both our opening essay and psychotherapist Dana Dorfman’s fine column offer psychological, philosophical approaches for emerging from our cocoons.

We fuel you up for the psychic journey with a twist on scrambled eggs from Rajni that can’t be “beet” (hint, hint); recipes from around the world and fun culinary products to match; and Jeremy’s immersion in the new “Westchester Cooks,” a digital cookbook with recipes from local chefs, restaurateurs and food writers benefiting Lifting Up Westchester’s efforts to provide food, shelter and support to those in need.

Jeremy also weighs in with a Wanders column that takes us around the globe from our armchairs while Barbara giddys-up in her memories of Wyoming’s Paradise Ranch; we spotlight The Upper Class, a travel service that’s not your average senior bus-trip-to-the-casinos experience; and Debbi offers luxury travel and beauty products you can use at home, including a little something for dad on his special day.

Our What’s Trending column also has some great products for him and the whole family, including the Radical Pan by celebrity chef Oren Zroya that makes it easy to flip flapjacks, omelets or fish. A surfer, he got the idea from riding a wave.

In this our double issue, we have any number of doubles, including two surfers 8

WAGMAG.COM JUNE-JULY 2020

— Zroya and former champion Vicky Heldreich Durand, whose new book “Wave Women” tells the story of her mother, pioneering surf champ Betty Pembroke Heldreich Winstedt, and their love affair with Hawaii. Durand, who provides us with some calming breathing exercises here, was introduced to Hawaii as a 12 year old by her uncle, Arnold Smith, the superintendent of what was then one of the last colonies for leprosy patients in America, on the island of Molokai. She is one of two women in the issue who were indirectly but profoundly shaped by infectious diseases. The other is Meagan Frederick, whose charming Frederick Farm Goat Rescue and Sanctuary in Ulster County, a member of Airbnb, is open for virtual tours. Frederick, an art and horticultural therapist by training, is a director of development and public relations for Incarnation Children’s Center, a skilled nursing facility in Manhattan for children and teenagers living with HIV/AIDS. Our fears of the coronavirus have led to anger, fear’s constant companion.

Recently, we received an email from someone who receives WAG as part of a newspaper subscription and was infuriated by our “smug” portrayal of rich folks in each issue. Didn’t we have anything better to do at this time?, the writer wondered. Sure, we write about the rich and famous, we wrote back. That’s what luxury magazines do. But our subjects are overwhelmingly people who give of their time, talents, energies and money. Jeremy interviewed classical-jazz dynamo Wynton Marsalis prior to Marsalis losing his father, the eminent jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis Jr., to COVID-19 on April 1. He found Marsalis, who will appear at Caramoor’s opening night gala next year, to be as passionate an educator and traveler as he is a gracious conversationalist. And Gregg found Tony Award-winning singer-actress Linda Lavin, still going strong with her new album, “Love Notes,” to be particularly proud of her 1970s-80s TV series “Alice,” which still resonates today

as a fanfare for the working woman.

Others may not be as well-known as Marsalis or Lavin, but they’re every bit as accomplished. Scarsdale-bred comedy writer Bess Kalb (“Jimmy Kimmel Live!”) is making a name for herself with her new book “Nobody Will Tell You This But Me,” channeling her wise, witty grandmother, Bobby Bell. Ezriel E. Kornel, M.D. is a top neurosurgeon, amateur violinist — and COVID-19 survivor — who was recently named president of Copland House, the historic music center in Cortlandt Manor.

Thomas S. Berntsen’s “Passages” is a series of seven 8-foot-tall panels that meander along a path in the central meadow of New Canaan’s Hannan-Eberstadt Preserve, a labyrinth-inspired passageway that he hopes will lead to better times for viewers and everyone else. His is a philosophical, psychologically acute approach to life, as is that of skincare specialist Vicki Morav, who helps us to create a spa experience at home (Fatime’s story).

Laurie Kimmelstiel, founding owner of The Ethelridge Knitting Salon in White Plains, talks us through the Zen of knitting and weaving (Jeremy again), while Carly Fisher gives us her take on “Easy Weekend Getaways in the Hudson Valley & Catskills,” her new book.

As you’ll read, Fisher is a young woman who didn’t let a challenging childhood that would’ve crushed others stop her from becoming a James Beard-nominated food and travel writer.

Not every story has to have “meaning” in the sense of a practical purpose or contemporary experience. Some journeys are escapes into the past, as Phil, who has a nose for these tales, illustrates in his “trip” to Iranistan, circus showman P.T. Barnum’s Bridgeport estate and a place so legendary in the Victorian Era that soprano Jenny Lind, the “Swedish nightingale,” came to America only so she would have a chance to visit it.

It’s gone now, destroyed in a fire, but as we’re learning in the time of corona, some of our best journeys are those in the mind.

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WHAT'S TRENDING

WA G S P O T L I G H T S T H E N E W A N D N O T E W O R T H Y

‘FAB’ FOR DAD This Father’s Day (June 21), why not treat dad to a cutting board or grazing platter that will have him splicing or serving like a master chef?

Fab Slabs is the name of a natural, antibacterial brand of cutting boards and grazing platters made in Australia from sustainable camphor laurel trees. They can be personalized and ordered singly or in sets, with prices ranging from $55 to $205. fabslabscuttingboards.com.au.

Courtesy Fab Slab.

ALL HÄNS ON DECK Häns has been cleaning tech devices since it launched in 2013. Now, as it likes to say, it’s not only ready for “the grime of today but the grime of tomorrow.” The new Häns Ultra-Clean offers a washable, antibacterialtreated, microfiber cleaning cape designed for use on phones, tablets, computer touchscreens, keyboards, AirPods, VR glasses, covers, cases, cables, chargers and more. (It is not intended for use on nylon computer screens and certain TVs that have specific manufacturer coatings. You can use a dry portion of the cleaning cape for these types of screens, if needed.) $14.95, hans-swipe. com. Courtesy Häns.

A PAN TO FLIP FOR If you’re like us, your omelets are not always up to chef Gordon Ramsay’s stringent standards. (Indeed, they often look like something he’d be screaming about.) Oren Zroya to the rescue. A private chef for celebrities like Brooke Burke, Shannen Doherty, Mel Gibson, Barbara Streisand and Owen Wilson, Zroya is an avid surfer who, like the bathtub-inspired ancient Greek inventor Archimedes, clearly gets his best ideas in water. In Zroya’s case, the “Eureka!” moment was a pan with a hi-rise lip just like the curl of a wave. The Radical Pan is designed to enable even us to flip omelets, salmon and other foods like a pro. $89 for the 8½-inch pan, $99.99 for the 10-inch pan and $109.99 for the 12-inch pan, radusa.co. Courtesy Radical Pan.

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WAGMAG.COM JUNE-JULY 2020

HELPING HANDS Aura Cacia, an Iowa-based leader in essential oils and aromatherapy products, has started manufacturing a limited-edition four-ounce hand sanitizer, produced in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. The brand is committed to donating 50 percent of the profits to charity. $5.99, auracacia.com. Courtesy Aura Cacia.

STEALTH BOMBER HAVE YOU EVER SEEN SOMETHING SO EXTRAORDINARY IN THE WILD THAT YOU CAN’T TAKE YOUR EYES OFF OF IT? A specimen so perfect, so regal, so proud, yet so fierce?

Respect is the word that came to mind when I saw this male leopard. As big as a 6 foot man and covered with a perfect camouflage of circular rosettes, this is a creature whose abilities will take your breath away. Leopards are solitary creatures who go out of their way to avoid one another and humans, too.

When I was growing up and families were larger than they are today, conventional wisdom was for parents to want to see their children but not hear them, in an attempt to keep order and minimize chaos. They would exclaim, “Children should be seen but not heard!” Leopards are just the opposite. If you listen carefully, you will hear their throaty growls and deep purring sounds in the bush, and if you are lucky, you may see one.

Their ability to adapt has made them unique. Consider their unusual diet. With a palate that consists of the expected things such as antelopes, deer, small giraffes, carrion, rodents, hares, warthogs, monkeys and baboons it also includes the unexpected reptiles, birds, dung beetles and insects and, since they are strong swimmers, fish and crabs. They are incredible tree climbers, can hunt by leaping from trees and often descend headfirst. To avoid losing their kills to other predators, the leopard is capable of dragging a carcass weighing up to three times its weight up a tree to protect it. They hunt, kill

and feed quickly and quietly, to avoid drawing undue attention to their presence. They can live in habitats as diverse as rainforests, deserts, mountains and savannas. Flying under the radar, these are nature’s stealth bombers.

Did you know that leopard milk is not much richer than that of common housecats? The females are smaller than the males and can give birth at any time of year, usually producing 2 grayish cubs with barely visible spots. The cubs are born blind after a 3 month gestation and will live with their mothers for about 2 years. With their mother providing food, the cubs will start eating meat at 72 days and only stop taking milk after 100 days.

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Reinventing our year of magical thinking

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a soreAnd then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

— Langston Hughes, “Harlem What Happens to a Dream Deferred” The year 2020 was going to be one of magical thinking, if not actual magic, people told me. Something about that double number, with its irresistible symmetry, just had to bring good fortune, didn’t it? And, anyway, they said, they had particular reasons to celebrate. They were looking forward to a big birthday, a long-awaited vacation, a move to a new location and a new job.

They were going to graduate, get married or just kick back and savor the pleasure of an ordinary day.

Instead, halfway through a year that many wish was already over, they find their dreams deferred, denied, destroyed.

“So many things I would’ve done,” Joni Mitchell observed in her song “Both Sides Now,” “but clouds got in my way.” Ain’t it the truth, Joni. Ain’t it the truth.

The coronavirus made oxymorons of many of us — gregarious recluses, healthy invalids and free prisoners. Unlike actual recluses, invalids and prisoners, we could, of course, leave our gilded cages indefinitely at any time, but to go where and to what end? We knew with a certainty that few have considered before that disease and death lurked behind every unmasked face and uncovered cough.

Indeed, it would take a tragedy of a different but equal magnitude — the horrific murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, a tipping point in racism and police brutality that could no longer be denied — to bring many of us streaming into the streets. There we found that desire — the desire to be free, to be just, to have our voices heard, to force change — trumps fear.

It might help to remember that as we begin to dip our toes, however gingerly or lustily, back into the public waters — all the while reminding ourselves gently, in the words of the philosopher Ralph

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xxxx

Waldo Emerson, that “the first wealth is health.” Like Rome, our world wasn’t built in a day. It won’t return in a day either.

It also helps to consider those in history who found meaning and service in suffering — among them the Shoah survivors who tell their stories through such organizations as the Holocaust and Human Rights Commission in White Plains so that the crimes of that event are never repeated; the late anti-apartheid activist and statesman Nelson Mandela, who spent 27 years at hard labor in three South African prisons before being released to create and lead a government that would present all of the people; and the late Pound Ridge-based actor Christopher Reeve, who despite being left a quadriplegic after a 1995 equestrian accident, advocated for those with spinal cord injuries and for human embryonic stem cell research, founding the Christopher Reeve Foundation and co-founding the Reeve-Irvine Research Center.

While Reeve had his magnificent wife Dana at his side through the last, arduous journey of his life, others travel their challenging paths alone. After World War II, many Holocaust survivors come home to no one. But what all these people or groups of people had in common was a resilience within, a resilience you’ll find in our story about Carly Fisher, who despite moving yearly throughout Florida with her mentally ill mother, a single parent, found the psychological wherewithal to study hard and become a James Beard-nominated food/travel writer and Hudson Valley guidebook author ( Page 24).

Fisher told me that she recognized that while she came from nothing, she knew she could write. Like Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Alexander Hamilton, who also came from nothing, she “wrote (her) way out.” Having a talent of your own — or one that you admire in others -- that you can turn to for self-expression, solace, escape, courage and transcendence is a tremendous gift in adversity.

After 9/11, Norwalk artist Thomas S. Berntsen turned from commercial to fine art photography and ultimately to sculpting labyrinthine works like the ones that inaugurate the new New Canaan Sculpture Trail (Page 16).

“I love poetry,” he says. “One of my favorites is Stanley Kunitz’s ‘The Layers,’ in which he talks about desire being what keeps us going.” Kunitz, whose bankrupt father committed suicide before he was born, rose to become an editor, teacher and New York state poet laureate. In “The Layers,” he invites readers “to live in the layers not on the litter.”

“My work is a discovery and inquiry,” Berntsen says of his life among the layers. “If it doesn’t work, I can start again.”

In times of tragedy, it’s sometimes comforting to think of life as that voyage of discovery. Anne Rice, who wrote her breakthrough novel “Interview With the Vampire” after her 3-year-old daughter Michele died of leukemia, captures this in “Interview’s” sequel, “The Vampire Lestat,” in which her transcendent title character, recalled to life by the sounds of the 1980s, resurfaces —literally — after tragedy, betrayal and more than a century underground.

“I started to believe that maybe all the old wounds I’d sustained had been healed by now,” Rice has him say. “Maybe my strength had come back. Maybe my strength had actually increased as it would have done with time if I’d never been hurt. I wanted to find out.”

JUNE-JULY 2020 WAGMAG.COM

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BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

It was in 2008-09 at St. Paul’s on the Green, an Episcopal church in Norwalk, that the artist Thomas S. Berntsen came to what he calls “a pivotal moment” in his life as he walked the labyrinth at the church.

“I found myself in the center and was struck by what my next step would be,” he says.

Berntsen — a former commercial architectural photographer in Manhattan whose art plays in the space between two and three dimensions — has always been fascinated by prehistoric cultures and labyrinths, those circular paths whose expression in prehistoric caves, ancient Greece and medieval cathedrals has led to modern, meditative designs.

Years before his revelatory moment at St. Paul’s, Berntsen had seen the labyrinth that decorates a portion of the floor at Chartres Cathedral in France. He

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was fascinated by its singularity, which he says makes a labyrinth different from a maze, with its multidirectional designs.

“A maze is designed to deceive you. A labyrinth is a single path covering lots of distance, filled with twists and turns, but it is a single path — your path.”

After his experience at St. Paul’s, Berntsen knew his path. He went home — he lives in Norwalk’s historic Silvermine district — and designed a labyrinthine sculpture made of wood and stone, which he torched, patinated and stained.

“It was the sign of the direction of my life,” he says.

Berntsen’s “Passages” — a series of seven 8-foot-tall panels that meander along a path in the central meadow of New Canaan’s Hannan-Eberstadt Preserve — is not a labyrinth per se but a labyrinth-inspired passage-

Thomas S. Berntsen’s “Passages” offers a taste of the new New Canaan Sculpture Trail — and better days ahead. Photograph by Beth Sanford.

way, one that he and others hope will lead to better times for viewers and everyone else.

“It was important for us to install this signature piece as a hopeful reminder of better days ahead and to show the essential connection between art and nature,” Aaron Lefland, New Canaan Land Trust executive director, has said in a statement. “We believe that ‘Passages’ will serve as an inspiration to the entire community in the weeks and months to come.”

“Passages” is the first in a series of eight juried works for the new New Canaan Sculpture Trail, a partnership between the land trust and the Carriage Barn Arts Center that will see sculptures positioned at such land trust preserves as Hannan-Eberstadt, New Canaan Town Hall and the courtyard of the Carriage Barn at Waveny Park by summer. Berntsen’s work — which he

made in three months after being selected based on a photograph of maquettes of the project he submitted in January—debuted in time to mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, April 22.

“Each panel is a signpost marking a passageway in (the Hannan-Eberstadt Preserve’s) meadow,” Berntsen says. And each consists of a steel frame covered with an acrylic on one side. On the other is warm dichroic film — a color-shifting, refractive film with overtones of blue and green, the colors of the sky and earth — that reproduces portions of the labyrinth design for Chartres Cathedral.

The work, then, is reflexive and reflective, playing not only with two and three dimensions but with the idea of going out to go deep inside. The viewer sees himself in these panels and then the world around him, says Berntsen, who describes himself not as a sculptor but as an artist who sculpts. It’s not until the viewer sees the world around him that he can begin to contemplate himself.

How he sees himself, the work and that world will depend on the time of day and weather. “Passages” functions as a collection of mirrors. Once when Berntsen was at Storm King Art Center in Mountainville with his girlfriend, the ceramicist Debbie Smith, he watched a group of children frolicking amid Alyson Shotz’s “Mirror Fence.”

“That’s what I want to do with my work,” he told her.

At other times, however, “Passages” is a kind of camouflage, blending into the landscape, disappearing like a ghost, he says.

It’s not surprising that Berntsen should use dichroic film, which has many architectural applications, in his work. Growing up in Rye, he wanted to be an architect but also loved photography. After getting a good technical grounding at the Rochester Institute of Technology, he became a commercial architectural photographer. In the late 1990s, a thorny assignment led to some soul-searching. And then came 9/11. He began photographing dead leaves for a series that he called “Dancing Leaves.”

Ultimately, there came another moment, one in which two dimensions were no longer enough. And then there were those labyrinths. He’s still passionate about them. Indeed, no sooner had he finished with “Passages” than he began work on another 8-foot-tall sculpture inspired by the Chartres labyrinth.

Like many of us, Berntsen sees in this moment of crisis a reflection of 9/11. For him, it was the time in which he shifted from commercial to fine art photography. And something else.

“I came to a moment when I no longer wanted to rail out at the world but bring it beauty and joy.”

For more, visit tsberntsen.com and newcanaanlandtrust.org.

JUNE-JULY 2020 WAGMAG.COM

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Seniors Strong

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA in New Hampshire — one of the most popular journeys, along with the train ride and riverboat cruise to Essex — they’re listening to music at Tanglewood, the Berkshires summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra; or savoring a dinner cruise on the Hudson River near the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge; or ringing in the new year at Lincoln Center in Manhattan.

“These are not your typical bus trips for seniors — going to the casinos,” Brooke says. “Seniors today are more active than ever before. They want to learn, to connect to interesting things. We’ll all be lucky to be doing these things again.”

And with that, Brooke acknowledges the 800-pound gorilla in the room — COVID-19.

“I think like everyone we didn’t know what this would mean,” she says. “We thought this would be a few weeks and everything would return to normal. Clearly, that’s not going to happen. It’s been a slow realization. Now we’re seeing the reality. What we’re trying to do is stay connected Courtesy The Upper Class. with our customers.”

With March, April, May and June offerings canceled, The Upper Class has launched its “Beyond the Bus” Brooke Lawer and her sister and brother-in-law Debbie and experience — “virtual events guests will enjoy, like 13 virtual Andy Erbelding are the founding owners of the Mamatrain rides across the globe.” roneck-based travel service The Upper Class. But it is their more In pivoting to create new kinds of experiences for their important titles that clue you in to what makes their travel comclients — separating the virtual wheat from the digital chaff pany different. Brooke is granddaughter in charge of sales and — Brooke and her sister and brother-in-law are drawing marketing. Debbie is granddaughter in charge of customer serstrength from their customers who, while in some ways vice. And Andy is grandson in charge of operations. physically vulnerable, have lived long enough to acquire a That’s all thanks to their grandmother Florence Lawer, who good deal of wisdom about adversity. inspired them to start their business. Florence moved to West“They want to get back out there when the time is right,” chester County from Long Island in 2000 after her husband, Brooke says. “They’re teaching us this, too, will pass.”

Sol, passed away. She was not one to sit around.

In the meantime, they all wanted to help. Inspired by its “She said, ‘I’m looking for things to do here. In Long Island clients, The Upper Class has launched a social media camthere were tons of things to do,’” Brooke recalls. paign, #SeniorStrong, and a hospital giving program. With In Westchester, however, Florence was having trouble condonations to such restaurants as Family Deli & Catering in necting with people her age doing the things she loved. “We Mamaroneck and Wellington’s Grill in Harrison, The Upper said, ‘No, no, grandma. You must be looking in the wrong Class clients have provided health-care workers at White places. We’ll find you things to do.” So proficient was the trio Plains Hospital with weeks worth of meals. that Florence said, “You three should start a business.” Which At the same time, The Upper Class remains forward-lookis what they did in 2002 with two trips — to West Point and to ing, with a full slate of trips for fall and the holidays, balancEssex, Connecticut, a picturesque coastal community. ing reliable news and realistic expectations on the one hand Florence died in April 2004, but her grandchildren in with preparedness on the other. charge have gone on to chart more than 200 trips a year for “If the time is right, we’ll be ready,” she says. “We’re not gothe 55 and over set, or “the young at heart,” as Brooke calls ing to rush.” them — daytrips to museums, Broadway shows, Philadelphia She always remembers what her grandmother said: “It’s and Providence, Rhode Island; overnighters to the Berkshires, not just where you go that’s important but what you meet Amish country and the Gilded Age mansions of Newport; along the way.” longer stays in Chicago, Maine, New Orleans, Nova Scotia and For more, visit theupperclass.net or call 914-725-5640.

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An 1848 lithograph by an unknown artist of P.T. Barnum’s home Iranistan, from “A History of the Old Town of Stratford and City of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Volume 2,” published by the Fairfield County Historical Society in 1886. Courtesy Internet Archive.

BY PHIL HALL

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There had never been an American mansion like it before — a phantasmagorical dream worthy of an “Arabian Nights” odyssey, with grand onion domes and Moorish arches, set amid an arboreal splendor that stretched across the west side of Bridgeport. And, not unlike a dream, its brilliance was brief and its end abrupt.

The mansion was dubbed Iranistan and it served as the conspicuous residence of P.T. Barnum, the most audacious showman of the 19th century. While Barnum’s rise was fueled by increasing theatrical humbuggery, his unlikely estate presciently created the concept of the celebrity home.

The idea for Iranistan was conceived when Barnum toured England in 1844 with his diminutive star General Tom Thumb. He stopped at the seaside resort of Brighton and visited the Royal Pavilion, the residence created for King George IV, where he was enchanted by the fanciful design that mixed Indian, Moorish and Arabian styles into a fairy tale-worthy palace.

Barnum impulsively decided that he wanted his version of the Royal Pavilion in Bridgeport, where he had set up residence. “I concluded to adopt it and engaged a London architect to furnish me a set of drawings after the general plan of the pavilion, differing sufficiently to be adapted to the spot of ground selected for my homestead,” he later recalled.

Arriving home in 1845, Barnum acquired 17 acres of land in Bridgeport to accommodate his vision. The drawings he brought from London were sent to Leopold Eidlitz, a Jewish-Czech architect based in New York with no previous experience in Islamic-style design.

Barnum gave the project a “spare no expense” budget and, after three years, his vision was completed by a force of 500 workmen at a then-astronomical cost of $150,000 — or $46.6 million in today’s money.

Named in tribute to what Barnum believed were its Persian motifs, the red sandstone mansion offered a three-storied central structure between a pair of two-story wings that, in turn, were flanked by glass conservatories. Intricate Moorish-style arches covered the exterior and a massive onion-shaped dome capped the house, surrounded by four smaller domes and a series of minarets. A grand fountain in the middle of a circular driveway was placed at the front of the home, which measured 124 feet across and 90 feet from the entrance to the main dome’s peak.

Surrounding the home were fruit trees, greenhouses, flower gardens and grazing pastures for livestock. A pond in the back of the property was occupied by ducks and swans. Within the home, Barnum brought the most elegant furnishings and artwork to fill an 1848 residence, with marble statues and a dining room that sat 40 guests.

And in the ultimate acknowledgment to modernity, Iranistan also had bathrooms with running hot water.

While Barnum’s property stood out in mostly rural Bridgeport, the impresario went one step further by actively encouraging visitors to stroll through its grounds — albeit after planting the story that he had a pack of ferocious bulldogs patrolling the area to prevent vandalism or burglary. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle urged its readers to take the ferry to Connecticut to visit “one of the most unique and magnificent structures in the country,” and Iranistan quickly became a popular tourist destination.

Barnum hosted a homecoming party at Iranistan on Nov. 14, 1848, with 1,000 people in attendance. Author and humorist Mark Twain, publisher Horace Greeley and the English poet Matthew Arnold were among the prominent guests welcomed by Barnum. But the most important guest he attracted was the Swedish soprano Jenny Lind. Although she received numerous offers to tour the United States, Lind refused to make the extensive journey across the ocean until she received an inquiry from Barnum on stationery featuring an engraving of Iranistan. Lind confided to Barnum that she welcomed his invitation, because anyone who would build “such a palace cannot be a mere adventurer,” adding that she would have “declined if I had not seen the picture of Iranistan.” Barnum’s promotion of Lind’s U.S. tour created a cultural sensation that stretched from 1850 to 1852.

At the conclusion of the Lind tour, Barnum returned to Iranistan to host his daughter’s wedding, but a fire broke out on the roof. Mercifully, workmen had been repairing the roof that day and were able to put out the flames quickly. The wedding took place, but the building needed repairs.

Unfortunately, Barnum’s financial wealth was diluted during the mid-1850s by a series of bad investments and work on repairing Iranistan was delayed for several years. On the night of Dec. 17, 1857, another fire broke out at the residence, most likely caused by a workman who left a lighted pipe on a seat cushion within the main dome. Barnum was in New York City when he received the news the next day that the entire structure was lost to the flames.

Due to his ongoing financial woes, Barnum failed to maintain most of his insurance payments on Iranistan and only netted $28,000 from his carrier. He sold the grounds for $50,000 to Elias Howe, the sewing machine maker, which he used to pay down some of his debts.

Iranistan was never photographed and its grandeur today can only be imagined through a few lithographs and its uncommon history. America has never seen another structure quite like it, and that would fit into Barnum’s celebrated observation: “No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else.”

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An appetite for travel

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY NAYA TRAVELER

As we continue to shelter in place, our wanderlust grows while the need to cook at home remains. Naya Traveler, whose “curated journeys” were the subject of a story in last June’s WAG, has come up with the perfect solution — “The Naya Recipe Book,” an online resource of popular, easy-to-prepare dishes from around the world. Herein we feature beef empanadas, an Argentine staple; Cambodian chicken mango salad; and Morocco’s mint tea, which is as much a ritual of hospitality and a way of life as it is a drink in that country.

So set that suitcase aside, grab your pots and pans and get ready to travel the world in your kitchen: For more, visit nayatraveler.com.

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BEEF EMPANADAS Ingredients: For the Dough Round puff pastry sheets Water For the Filling 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 eggs, boiled and chopped 2 pounds ground beef or finely-chopped beef shoulder 2 medium-sized brown onions, chopped 2 medium-sized red bell peppers, chopped and seeded Salt and pepper 1 tablespoon sugar 2 tablespoons cumin 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika 1/2 cup green olives, chopped and pitted

Ingred 1 green 300 gr substit 100 gra 100 gra 2 table 2 table 1 teasp 2 garlic 2 shallo 1 lime 50 gram 50 gram Green

Directions: 1. Season meat with salt and pepper.

2. Heat a skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil.

3. Add onions and cook at low heat until translucent.

4. Add chopped red pepper, cumin, paprika and sugar. Cook for several minutes.

5. Remove mixture from the skillet and set aside in a bowl.

6. Add tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet and transfer seasoned meat.

7. Cook until browned, occasionally breaking up ground lumps.

8. Once the meat is cooked, stir in onion and pepper mixture.

9. Remove from heat and let sit until cool.

10. Preheat oven to 375° and take out dough to temper at room temperature for 15 minutes.

11. Once the filling has cooled, add olives and boiled egg. Mix well.

12. Arrange dough rounds on a nonstick work surface.

13. Add 2 tablespoons of filling to each round.

14. With finger or brush, brush water around the edge of the dough rounds.

15. Fold rounds over the filling and pinch edges to close.

16. Repeat with each round.

17. Transfer empanadas onto a parchment-paper lined oven tray.

18. Place in the oven and bake until golden brown for about 20 minutes. Rotate empanadas half-way through.

Directi 1. Heat cook 2. Tran 3. Once garli 4. In a (or t basil 5. Add brow 6. Serv

KHMER CHICKEN MANGO SALAD

dients: n mango, peeled and shredded rams cooked chicken breast, shredded (Vegetarians, tute tofu). ams carrots, shredded ams roasted peanuts, chopped espoons brown sugar espoons fish sauce poon kosher salt c cloves ots

ms basil, roughly chopped ms mint, roughly chopped chillies, finely chopped (optional)

ions: t a small pan over high heat. Place shallots and garlic to k several minutes until charred. nsfer garlic and shallots to a bowl and let cool. e cooled, peel (discard outer skins) and chop shallots and ic. Set aside. large bowl, mix together the shredded mango, chicken tofu), carrots and peanuts. Add shallots, garlic, chopped l and mint. Mix well. juice from the lime (squeeze well, amount to taste), wn sugar, salt and fish sauce. ve on a plate, garnish with a bit of basil and peanuts.

ATAY BI NANA (MINT TEA) Ingredients: 1 tablespoon of loose gunpowder green tea A handful of fresh mint leaves, washed (spearmint preferred) 5 cups boiling water Sugar to taste (2-3 tablespoons) Directions: 1. Put green tea in teapot.

2. Pour in boiling water.

3. Swirl gently to warm pot and rinse tea.

4. Strain out and discard water, reserving tea leaves in pot.

5. Add remaining 4 cups boiling water to tea and let steep 2 minutes.

6. Stir in sugar (to taste) and mint leaves. Steep 3 to 4 minutes more.

7. Serve in small heat-proof glasses, lifting the teapot high above the cup while pouring to aerate the tea.

GLOBAL SPOONFULS Usually, Traveling Spoon brings together travelers and vetted hosts for home-cooked meals. These days, the company is offering online cooking classes with its hosts across the globe. These private sessions â&#x20AC;&#x201D; $25 for up to four guests in a household â&#x20AC;&#x201D; are conducted over Zoom. Among them are empanada-making with Gabriela in Buenos Aires, handmade pasta with Cinzia in Florence and tajine (a kind of stew made in a special earthenware pot) with Chamsi in Casablanca.

For more, visit travelingspoon.com.

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BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

Carly Fisher knows all about living out of suitcase. As a child growing up in Florida, she moved every year with her emotionally disturbed mother, a single parent, the pair finally winding up with her grandmother in Chicago’s suburbs. Knowing she would have to make her own way in the world, Fisher excelled at school, winning a scholarship to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and studying Czech art and architecture at Prague’s Charles University.

Internships and blogs in food ultimately led her to become a hotel and restaurant reviewer for Fodor’s Travel and to a James Beard Foundation Award nomination for writing an episode of CNN Travel’s “Family Meal,” featuring four expatriate French chefs, including former WAG cover subject Jean-Georges Vongerichten. It’s clear, however, that her humble beginnings and resilience have played as great a part in her first book, on the Hudson Valley and Catskills, as has her writing expertise in the food and travel industries.

“I wanted the book to be about a variety of places,” Fisher says of the recently published “Easy Weekend Getaways in the Hudson Valley & Catskills” (The Countryman Press/ W.W. Norton & Co., $22.95, 256 pages). “Having grown up with nothing and then staying in nice hotels, you get a different sense of people.”

So “Easy Weekend Getaways” — which is organized as much thematically as it is regionally — has something for every taste and pocketbook, all from the perspective of New York City residents who

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Dragon Rock, the centerpiece of Maritoga, the Russel Wright Design Center in Harrison.

may not be that familiar with all the Hudson Valley and Catskills have to offer. Indeed, for the Brooklynite Fisher, the 10 counties she covers in the book were such a multifaceted challenge that she took two years to research and write about them, rather than the anticipated nine months.

The book embraces haunts for arts lovers, foodies, devotees of the quirky and more. But mindful of the recent pandemic restrictions, we asked Fisher, now at work on a memoir, to suggest a half-dozen outdoor locations in the Lower Hudson Valley that we could safely visit. She suggested: 1. Anthony’s Nose in Garrison — Here the Camp Smith Trail meets the Appalachian Trail on a steep but brisk 1.9 mile climb that sets you up for spectacular views of Purple Heart Memorial Bridge as well as the valley, Fisher says.

2. Bear Mountain State Park — This is one location that you can both hike and drive, she adds. On a clear day, you can see perhaps not forever, as the song says, but at least as far south as the Manhattan skyline and as

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far north as the Catskill Mountains.

3. Blue Mountain Reservation in Peekskill — Thishas roughly 1,500 acres, 20 hiking and biking trails and two peaks — Blue Mountain and Mount Spitzenberg — that boast what Fisher describes as glorious views of the Hudson River.

4. Hudson Highland State Park in Cold Spring — This has 8,000 acres and three ruins to see if not actually explore — Bannerman Castle, Dennings Point and Northgate, the Cornish Estate.

5. Manitoga — The former Garrison home of industrial designer Russel Wright, now The Russel Wright Design Center, has been closed, but its 75 acres are open to walkers and hikers.

6. The Old Croton Aqueduct Trail — This is a 26.2 mile bike path, along which you’ll see Sunnyside, author Washington Irving’s charming Tarrytown home; Lyndhurst Mansion; Kykuit, the historic Rockefeller estate; and the Tappan Zee Bridge, now the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

For more, visit wwnorton.com and carlyafisher.com.

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BY JEREMY WAYNE

“The second this is over,” Bess Kalb tells her husband, Charlie Harind, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic, “I’m getting a blowout.” To Kalb, the Emmy-nominated comedy writer for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and author of “Nobody Will Tell You This But Me,” her recently published memoir of her late grandmother, Bobby Bell, hair and nails matter. They mattered to her grandmother too.

Eight years ago, when Kalb landed the job on “Jimmy Kimmel” and called Bobby to apprise her of the news and tell her how frightened she was — moving to Los Angeles, finding an apartment and probably being fired anyway after the 13week trial period was over — her grandmother offered her some typically straightforward advice. “Get a blowout before your first day so your hair isn’t a mess. The rest you can handle.”

Kalb, who recently took time off her busy daily writing schedule to talk to me from LA, was born in New York City, where her parents were both doctors. Concerned that her brother wasn’t going to get into Hunter or Stuyvesant or one of the really great free public schools in the city because he was a late reader, her parents decided to move to Scarsdale to take advantage of the schools. ”It was a sort of haunted, dark little house with this incredible forest

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abutting the property. As a kid, I’d go out there with a journal and I would write… terrible poetry that rhymed. A lot of ‘snow with Eskimo,’” She played soccer, which she wouldn’t have done if she had lived in New York City, and loved what she calls the “bucolic, suburban landscape.”

Kalb believes she is the writer she is today because of the teachers she had in the Scarsdale public schools. “To this day I remember Miss Ryan and Miss Anderson at elementary.

They made me feel like a writer, somebody who could write great things one day.”

Suburban life didn’t mean being cut off from the city, either. Her vivacious, energetic grandmother, whose story she tells in Bobby’s own “voice” and from her own imagined perspective, would whisk her back in to the city often — to see a Broadway show, to visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art and to take acting classes at Lee Strasberg Institute in Union Square, which she loved.

As for her brother, “we misjudged him,” she says drolly. “In fact, he graduated from MIT and is now a mechanical engineer working on nuclear fusion.

Einstein, too, was apparently a late reader.”

Although Kalb is a fully fledged Californian — something she still finds unthinkable (“LA was never even a concept to me growing

Left: Bess Klein. Courtesy Lucas Foglia Photography.

Right: Cover of Bess Klein’s “Nobody Will Tell You This But Me.” Photograph by Mark Weiss / Getty Images. Jacket Design by Jenny Carrow.

up”) Scarsdale is always rearing its head. Her agent, who has just sold the film rights to her book to Sight Unseen Pictures, is a friend from Scarsdale Middle School and attended Lee Strasberg with her. “There’s a neatness to it,” Kalb agrees.

And there is a new addition to the Kalb/Harding household — the couple’s eight-month old son. “Truly a gorgeous genius,” affirms Bess, “very different from every other baby.”

I comment it must be nice to have a boy shake up the matrilineal order. “God help his future wife is all I will say,” shoots back Kalb. “Or husband. Or future partner,” she quickly adds.

“Because I do plan on living with my son and growing old in his pool house.” We banter for a few moments about hanging on to your kids for as long as possible, breathing down their necks through college and staying with them through old age. “We’re never telling him quarantine is ending,” wisecracks Kalb.

I ask Kalb what LA feels like during COVID. “Every place takes on a different version of itself.” LA, she says, is a place

that is so health-obsessed to begin with, with such a wellness culture, that people “have jumped all over this, have got serious about it really quickly.”

As an ICU doctor’s daughter, she herself has been robust on social media in her support of tough measures to cope with and survive the pandemic. “It’s been heartening to see people with masks on in our neighborhood, keeping social distance.” She says it has been great, too, to see a lot of small businesses improvise and come up with new ways to provide goods and services.

Hair and nails aside, the thing she’s really aching to do, more than anything, is to hug her friends. She wasn’t a big hugger before COVID, but guarantees she will be as soon as it is over. “All hugs. I’ll be like a yoga teacher,” she avows.

I ask Kalb about her roots in comedy. She loved watching “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” with her dad. Even when she was too young to really get it, she nevertheless remembers laughing so hard that she fell off the couch. And that has become her benchmark for comedy — something so funny it makes you fall off the couch.

She also watched “The Simpsons” and “South Park,” admiring comedy that made you laugh while also delivering a message. That was the kind of blend she found on “The Colbert Report,” which she worked on for a semester as an intern while attending Brown University. “When Stephen Colbert was speaking truth to power against President George W. Bush every night, it was the kind of comedy that set me up on a career path as an adult.”

The apogee of her political mischief-making has been her long-running jibes at President Donald J. Trump, which have resulted in the president blocking her on Twitter.

Does she, I wonder, wear it as a badge of honor that the president — whom Kalb likes to call “honey,” and whom she has told to “grow up” — has ghosted her? Not at all, she says.

“It’s actually humiliating for our country that he would take the time to block me. It’s so pathetic that the leader of the free world and the commander-in-chief of the largest military in the world would be offended by a comedy writer on a social network accessible through a personal iPhone.”

We return to Bobby. Beyond the singular praise for the book from all corners, I suggest the possibility that Kalb, having brought her grandmother back at least to literary life, may now forever be cast as her grandmother’s granddaughter. “Well, if that’s the case, then how lucky am I? And if being associated with her when she was alive was a great feather in my cap, I always was and remain so excited to be Bobby Bell’s granddaughter.”

Will she always hear her grandmother’s voice in her head? Quick as a whip, with a quip of which Bobby herself would have been proud, Kalb retorts: “May she always be a permanent resident.”

For more, visit besskalb.com

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BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

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Ezriel E. Kornel, M.D., playing the violin at his Westchester home.

Courtesy Ezriel E. Kornel, M.D.

As a top neurosurgeon in the metropolitan area, Ezriel E. Kornel, M.D. has not been on the frontlines of the battle against the coronavirus the way emergency room physicians, epidemiologists and virologists have. But that did not prevent his own brush with COVID-19.

On March 9, he began experiencing the symptoms of what he thought was the common cold. Feeling feverish and fluish by early evening, he realized it was anything but and took himself off to the emergency room at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, where he has had a more than 30-year association — as he has had with White Plains Hospital. With abnormal blood work, Kornel tested positive for the virus and went home to convalesce with his trusty Standard Poodle, Puff, by his side.

“I feel very fortunate,” he says. “I had flulike symptoms, but I never had trouble breathing. After two weeks it was resolved.”

Hearing that Mount Sinai Hospital was conducting antibodies tests, Kornel went down to Manhattan and donated plasma twice. Hospital staffers told him that he had the highest number of antibodies that they had seen thus far. Kornel believes these have given him immunity against the disease, although the jury’s still out on whether having the disease provides you with immunity and, if so, how long it will last.

Since that time, Kornel has been seeing patients on a limited basis and performed surgery on only one patient, whose herniated neck disk prevented her from using one of her arms, which could’ve led to permanent damage. (She had outpatient surgery at Northern Westchester Hospital and is doing well.) Another patient has a recurring malignant brain tumor that is progressing slowly.

In the new world order of phased reopenings, such patients will be given priority for surgery. Mostly, Kornel has been practicing telemedicine.

“I think it’s the future,” he says, adding that it’s ideal for pre- and post-surgical patients with no adverse changes. Not only are his patients grateful not to be exposed to the virus, but they’re calmer and more patient, actually spending less time on calls with him than they would in an office visit. They know the doctor is only a video chat away.

While Kornel sees blood pressure and oxygenation screenings and EKGs as something that will be done at home, he warns that “physicians’ assistants and doctors will have to be attentive that they’re not missing something” in the tele-visits. And though he’s glad that the shelter-in-place orders have led to fewer traumatic injuries, such as those resulting from car acci-

dents, he’s worried about an increased and prolonged use of prescribed narcotics as patients in pain with limited physical function wait for surgery.

Overall, Kornel thinks the response to the coronavirus has been handled horribly by global and national leaders as well as in some cases by the medical profession itself.

“Part of the problem was that the World Health Organization was reluctant to say this was a pandemic,” he says. That crucial delay was compounded by conflicting messages from the White House that either led to confusion and a slow start to social distancing or reinforced the belief in some that this was just another flu. But Kornel — an expert in the use of minimally invasive brain and spinal surgery and a pioneer in the development of instruments and techniques for both — says it has become clear that the coronavirus can lead to complications beyond those of the flu, including seizures and strokes, along with kidney failure. (The temporary loss of the senses of taste and smell in some COVID-19 patients is a sign of neurological dysfunction, he adds.)

Then, too, Kornel says that although he has enormous respect for Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, some health professionals have looked only at patients with the worst-case scenarios, missing others who present with COVID-19 symptoms, in part because they are pressured to keep costs, and thus testing, to a minimum. (It hasn’t helped that tests or items used in testing, such as swabs, are often lacking.) Kornel had one patient with coronavirus symptoms, whom he suggested see her internist for a test. When the internist denied her the test, Kornel secured one for her. She tested positive.

When he isn’t engaging with patients, Kornel follows a wide range of passions in the arts and athletics.

Scuba diving, skiing and tennis may be on hold, but the arts aren’t.

The doctor has a theatrical company, aptly named Synaptic Productions, which produced Terence McNally’s “A Perfect Ganesh” in 2008, with Kornel in the title role of the Indian elephant deity. Recently, the amateur violinist was named president of Copland House, once the Cortlandt Manor home of composer Aaron Copland (“Appalachian Spring,” “Rodeo,” “Fanfare for the Common Man”) and now a center for American music. “(The arts) play a huge role,” Kornel says of life in the time of corona. “I’m writing poetry and playing music every day and exercising — every other day.”

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Colorful yarn at The Ethelridge Road Knitting Salon.

Courtesy Laurie Kimmelstiel.

BY JEREMY WAYNE

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“It started after I graduated from college,” says Laurie Kimmelstiel, knitting and weaving supremo, whose love of yarn crafts — if you will forgive the metaphor, in the age of COVID-19 — is downright infectious. “The year was 1975. I didn’t have a job yet and my mother suggested I go to the knitting store that had opened a block away. I already knew how to knit, though not well — I think I learned in Girl Scouts — but suddenly I was smitten.”

Kimmelstiel is a lifelong knitter, author of a best-selling book on knitting (“Exquisite Little Knits: Knitting With Luxurious Specialty Yarns”) and founder of The Ethelridge Road Knitting Salon, now something of a White Plains institution.

The first thing she knitted was a cable-knit sweater. “My mother encouraged me a lot and so I continued to knit and soon after, around 1980, I started teaching classes.”

Over the next few years she added weaving to her skill set.

“I became a hand-weaver, and that is still a very big component of what I do, my other profession,” she tells me during the course of a phone conversation. “Knitting and weaving are crafts, which both use yarn but in totally different ways.”

She explains that knitting is a muscle memory, like riding a bicycle, so that even if you’ve been taught to knit as a child and don’t pick up the needles again for 30 years, you remember how to do it. “Yes, you may struggle with it initially, but when I start to teach someone who claims to have never knitted before, I can immediately tell whether or not they have. And I’ll say, ‘Did somebody teach you to knit once?’ And they’ll say, ‘Oh yes, but I never got it.’ And I’ll say, ‘Oh yes you did.’ I can see how they hold the yarn or the needles in their hand.”

Kimmelstiel moved from Manhattan to White Plains in 1987 and soon began teaching at the Solomon Shechter School of Westchester, now The Leffell School in Hartsdale, offering a class for parents. She remembers one particular third grade teacher who taught all her students to knit, believing it would help them with their handwriting — “in the days when handwriting still mattered,” she jokes.

I ask Kimmelstiel a how-long-is-a-piece-of-yarn-type question: How long does it take to learn to knit? “I could teach you in five minutes, or less than five minutes” comes the reply. Then she pauses. “No, seriously, in 20 minutes I will have you knitting. I mean, you won’t be an expert, but you’ll be knitting.” And for any kind of proficiency? “Thirty minutes,” she says, and she means it.

The immediate sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that knitting affords you has found its way into her writing — “Exquisite Little Knits” is still available on Amazon and she has written a great deal for the industry — and the Manhattan recovery group BigVision, started by a parent who lost a child to addiction. “We use the craft of knitting as a method for bringing calm and anxiety reduction to young people whose egos are very bruised and are trying to be sober, giving them an outlet for feeling good about themselves. We have two and a half hours and by the time the class ends, everyone leaves there knitting.”

‘Creativity, serenity and craftsmanship’ are the words Kimmelstiel uses on her website to describe the knitting experience. She has recently added a fourth, for the time of the coronavirus — “mindlessness.” Her classes embrace this. “You can just sit and knit, and you don’t even have to look at your work. Knitting is known to reduce your blood pressure and give you a sense of calm that is hard to achieve in the world we live in.” (The tennis star Novak Djokovic has been known to knit during rain delays at the French Open.) People, she says, are looking for ways to be creative, to give themselves comfort when they are feeling anxious. She is inwardly a very anxious person herself, she tells me, “although you wouldn’t know it from the outside.”

The Ethelridge Road Knitting Salon started in 2005 as a group of friends who went walking together. Kimmelstiel would actually knit as she walked. Then the weather got bad and so the group started meeting in her house, and Kimmelstiel began teaching them to knit. And one of her friends said, “Laurie, you can’t keep doing this, we have to pay you.” “And that’s how it began.”

Fifteen years on, the twice-weekly salon, which is currently being held on Zoom, is more popular than ever.

People come from all over the tristate area, with classes charged on an individual basis. It’s a casual group but all newcomers have to learn and abide by two simple rules: No discussion of health and no mention of politics. If Kimmelstiel hears either, she nips it in the bud.

She also hosts a knitting retreat every summer at her home in the Berkshires.

Will there be more knitting in the post-COVID world?

“There is already,” says Kimmelstiel. “Something I just heard today — a group of women admitting they didn’t mind the quarantine. They are so grateful for the time to sit and knit. And I think we’ll see more and more of it.” Her daughter, meanwhile — the knitwear designer Rebecca Kevelson, who has her own online cashmere yarn company, based in Brooklyn — attests to this, already seeing a huge uptick in yarn sales.

Younger people, Kimmelstiel says, are now also “into” knitting. Then, she corrects herself. “Actually, young people were always into knitting. They’re just not knitting in the closet any longer.” She explains, too, how knitting was looked down on during the rise of feminism. “Women doctors and women scientists, really successful professional women, were among the most prolific knitters.

We knew all along that this was something really wonderful to do, but we couldn’t be proud of our knitting as it was perceived negatively. Because — you know — women were supposed to become like men.”

Kimmelstiel goes on to describe how people are drawn to knitters, because when you’re knitting you give off an air of beneficial energy. (Well, not if you’re the ancient Greek Fates, spinning out our length of days, or the murderous Madame DeFarge in Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities,” but those are other stories.) Put another way, knitters just seem like nice people, people you can trust. And another interesting phenomenon, she says, is how people are subconsciously drawn to home-knits.

“Complete strangers will come up to you and say, ‘That’s a wonderful sweater you’re wearing.’ And it is something which only happens with a home-knit, and you know what? After someone says that to you, it’s a fact that your whole day is positive after that.”

A thought indeed and yet another good reason, as if one were needed, to take up the needles.

For more on Laurie Kimmelstiel’s salon, visit ethelridgeroadknittingsalon.com And for more on Rebecca Kevelson’s yarns, visit whiteridgecrafts.com

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Still riding the big one

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

Champion surfer Betty Pembrolse Heldreich Winsted with her Joe Quigs surfboard in Waikiki. Courtesy Vicky Heldreich Durand.

As a 12-year-old on summer break in the early 1950s, Vicky Heldreich Durand fell in love with Hawaii while visiting the island of Molokai — home of what was one of the last colonies of leprosy sufferers in America. It was, she said, unusual at that time for a child to travel alone from her home in California across the Pacific Ocean to what was then an American territory. Unusual, too, for a child to visit Molokai, but then her uncle, Arnold Smith, was the superintendent of the colony, which had been established in the unincorporated area of Kalaupapa in 1866 during the reign of King Kamehameha V. (Today, leprosy or Hansen’s disease, which is not as communicable as was once thought, is curable with multidrug therapy. Though the Hawaiian quarantine law was repealed in 1969, a dozen or so elderly, former leprosy patients have chosen to live out their days in community on Molokai.)

The island was and is, Durand says, a place of spectacular if forbidding beauty with its shark-infested waters, lofty cliffs and deep crevasses with waterfalls cascading into lush valleys. In that place, the lepers led entirely separate lives, she says, but were still observable. Their fingers mutilated by the disease, along with their ears and noses, they were nonetheless still able to bait their fishhooks. “It was pretty amazing,”she says, as were her days spent hiking and canoeing. Indeed, when Durand returned home, she pined for Hawaii so much that her family moved to Honolulu’s Waikiki neighborhood the day after Christmas, 1954.

There she and her mother would both became champion surfers.

It’s a story Durand tells in her new biography of her mother, “Wave Woman: The Life and Struggles of a Surfing Pioneer” (Spark Press, $29.95, 186 pages). As Ben Marcus, former editor of Surfer magazine, describes her in a back-cover blurb, Betty Pembroke Heldreich Winstedt was an amalgam of Amelia Earhart, Frida Kahlo, Emily Dickinson and Esther Williams. Athlete, jewel-

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ry and ceramic artist, aviatrix and poet, Winstedt (1913-2011) was also an adventurer, one who didn’t blanch at taking up surfing in her 40s as the sport was just taking off. Challenging the big surf at Makaha, on the west coast of Oahu, Winstedt finished second in the third Makaha International Surfing Championships, the sport’s unofficial world championships, in 1956. That same year, she was on the first Hawaiian surf team invited to Club Waikiki in Lima, Peru, where she won the women’s championship.

Durand was not to be outdone. As a student at Punahou — the same Honolulu school former President Barack Obama attended — Durand found the atmosphere “cliquish.” “Surfing was my escape,” she says. In 1957, she would go her mother one better, winning the Makaha championship. The two traveled to Peru together in 1960 as a mother-daughter surfing team.

College would take Durand back to the mainland’s West Coast.

She received her associate’s degree from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles and a bachelor of science degree from California State University, Long Beach, in family and consumer science. She holds a master’s from Oregon State University in clothing and textiles, with a minor in adult education. (Durand received a certification in secondary school teaching and special education.)

In fashion, she established a cottage industry sportswear and textile design company that she directed for a number of years, with boutiques, department stores and museum shops across the country distributing the company’s products. In education, she taught for many years at a school for underprivileged students in Waianae, Hawaii. While there, she worked with community groups to provide better education and services for her students. She also started an early-education and childcare facility to enable teenage parents to finish school and graduate that was later taken over by Head Start.

In 2013, Durand married Bob Liljestrand, who manages the Liljestrand House, an architecturally significant midcentury modern house by Vladimir Ossipoff in Honolulu that also serves as a center for peace and understanding. Durand serves on the Liljestrand Foundation board. The mother of two grown daughters from a previous marriage, she manages family property in Hawaii, gardens and is involved in animal rescue, mainly with cats. And though she no longer surfs, she swims, does water aerobics and pays attention to the breath that is key to water sports.

“You have to be really calm and confident and have your mind in a certain place when you surf or you can drown,” Durand says.

In videos, she demonstrates breathing in and out deeply, hands placed on her diaphragm in the middle of the body while seated on an exercise ball. She also recommends breathing in through the nose to a count of four, holding your breath for the same count and out again to the same count. As you gain more control, you can increase the counts.

Last but certainly not least, Durand is enjoying the viral promotion of her book, a valentine to her extraordinary mother, for whom nothing seemed impossible. And who was quite prescient.

“When we surfed, it was not taken that seriously,” Durand says.

“But my mother said, ‘This sport is going to be big, so you might want to hold on to all these things to write about them later.’”

For more, visit wavewomanbook.com.

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“The Boy From…” That’s the story.

“It gave me a chance to satirize Astrud Gilberto and the bossa nova music we were all falling in love with.

It’s a piece of its time. It’s about a girl who was hopelessly in love with a boy and she doesn’t understand why he’s not requiting her adoration for him. It plays very well in most of the clubs I play. It’s a lot of fun to do.”

BY GREGG SHAPIRO

Award-winning theater and TV veteran Linda Lavin isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Not that we would ever want her to. Lavin has just released a marvelous new album, “Love Notes” (Club44 Records), on which she performs a number of classics from the American Songbook, as well as the new Joel Lindsey and Wayne Haun composition “Stars Would Fall.” Additionally, Lavin — who starred as the title character on “Alice,” the beloved CBS sitcom of the 1970s and ’80s — still appears on the small screen on such shows as “Madam Secretary,” “Mom” and “The Santa Clarita Diet.” A Tony Award winner for “Broadway Bound,” the third part of Neil Simon’s Eugene trilogy, Lavin is also scheduled to appear in the new Off-Broadway musical “The Bedwetter,” co-written by Sarah Silverman, Adam Schlesinger and Joshua Harmon.

I had the pleasure of speaking with her shortly before the release of “Love Notes”: Linda, I’d like to begin by thanking you for singing the brilliant song “The Boy From…” in the off-Broadway musical revue “The Mad Show.” It’s one of my favorites. “‘The Mad Show’ was in the winter of 1965 and at that time our country was imbued with Brazilian music because of (the song) “The Girl from Ipanema,” a platinum (million) seller. I was in rehearsal for ‘The Mad Show,’ which was just supposed to be a Christmas entertainment of a few weeks and it turned out to be a huge hit. It was playing in a tiny little theater in New York City above a very famous nightclub called Arthur.

Dick Libertini, Jo Anne Worley, Paul Sand and I were a small company of performers doing all this satirical material from Mad magazine. The writers were from the magazine. One day, Mary Rodgers, who was the composer with Marshall Barer, of most of the songs (and daughter of composer Richard Rodgers), came in with a song, a piece of sheet music and she handed it to me. She said, ‘This is going to be your song. I wrote it with Steve,’ Steve being Stephen Sondheim. I looked at it and it was a satire of ‘The Girl from Ipanema’ called

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For many people, especially those who haven’t regularly gotten to New York to see Broadway shows, the sitcom “Alice” became the vehicle by which you became a household name and familiar face. “Alice” was based on the Martin Scorcese movie “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.” Were you a fan of the movie before taking on the role in the series?

“I loved the movie, absolutely. It was a unique movie whose time had come to tell the story about single mothers, working women. The right place for (the story) was to be on television, which, as you know, is a place where the audience was huge. We had more than 40 million people a week watching us. So many women identified with the character, the person of Alice because they, in fact, were Alice. They were single mothers and working women.

“She represented 80% of the women who work in this country and she still does, women who are still not getting equal pay for the equal quality of work they do. It was a huge success, not only because it was in a great time slot, but because it was something that everybody in America, families and working people identified with, the characters and the situation. It was a very powerful experience for me, for all of us. To have a nine-year hit in television is very rare and I was very grateful for it. It changed my life in many ways.”

What can you tell me about the experience of working with Billy Stritch on your new album “Love Notes”?

“Billy and I have worked together on my club act for about 15 years. He’s a consummate, extraordinary musician with amazing chops. He understands me and he has a great knowledge of the American Songbook. He’s a great pianist and singer and a wonderful collaborator.

We have a lot of fun together. He produced this album, and we created this album together from the club act I’ve done with him. These songs are songs that I love, American Songbook songs. We do a (Carlos) Jobim, ‘No More Blues.’ We do a tribute to Bobby Short. We do Rodgers and (Lorenz) Hart. We do Cole Porter. It’s a fun album and so much fun to listen to. It’s emotional, tender, loving and sophisticated. The lyrics, the storytelling in it: I’m very thrilled with the quality of this album. The president of Club 44 Records came to me and said he wanted to sign me to a deal and asked me to do an album. There’s nothing I love better than going into a studio and recording.”

Linda Lavin. Photographs by Bill Westmoreland.

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You included a pair of tunes from the late 1970s, Steely Dan’s “Black Cow” and the Eagles’ “I Can’t Tell You Why.” Why did you want to include those songs alongside tunes by Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Duke Ellington and Cy Coleman?

“Well, thank you for that. I’ve been singing Donald Fagen’s songs for several years. I recorded ‘Walk Between the Raindrops’ on my earlier album. The material I choose is the book that I refuse to write. These songs are about me, my history, the songs I love, the songs that moved me to tell my story. They make me feel like they’re a personal story of mine, written by somebody else.

‘Black Cow’ has to do with a particular part of my life and it’s so much fun to sing. The Eagles’ songs I’ve loved ever since I moved to California in the mid-1970s to do ‘A lice.’

“I love ‘I Can’t Tell You Why.” I often think of songs that belong together even though they weren’t written by the same people, songs sometimes as conversation. They tell the story of a relationship, of a love story. The album is, after all, called ‘Love Notes,’ about the varying degrees of love and relationships and the difficulty of communication. It’s the most creative I know how to be without writing. I use what other people have written to explain how I feel or what I’ve been through or what I hope for.”

You perform a cover of “You Must Believe in Spring,” a song co-written by Michel Legrand. I recently interviewed Melissa Errico who had a special working relationship with Legrand. Did you ever have a chance to meet him yourself?

“No, but I met Marilyn and Alan Bergman who wrote the lyrics to that song. They wrote the theme song to ‘A lice’ (‘New Girl in Town’). That’s how I met them. They’ve been a big part of my life.

Portland, Maine, where you were born, is also the birthplace of fellow Tony Award-winning actress Andrea Martin. Do you think there might be something in the water in Portland to have produced such talented performers? “ (Laughs) That’s very sweet of you. I know she’s enormously talented. I’m very fond of Andrea. We often bump into each other. We actually lived in the same hotel in Los Angeles last year. The water’s very good in Maine, I’ll tell you that. We were always very proud of the fact that we could drink the water right out of the tap.

“I grew up in Portland, Maine, the daughter of a mother who had enormous talent as an opera singer. She had a brief, but dazzling, career in New York in the opera world.

My mother, who was first generation, was born in Portland. She married my father, who came from Maine by way of Massachusetts. Portland has for sure given birth to a few talented actors and musicians along the way.”

For more, visit club44records.com.

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BY JEREMY WAYNE

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The greatest virtuoso trumpeter of the age, Wynton Marsalis, is clearly a busy man. But when we spoke by phone a couple of months ago and I apologized for interrupting his schedule, Marsalis — who is also a composer, teacher, humanitarian and philanthropist, as well as the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center — told me in that rich drawl of his, which seems to blend smooth Belgian chocolate with the finest Italian silk, “Take all the time you need.” I was inclined to believe he meant it.

Our call, which took place in early March, before the COVID-19 pandemic struck in earnest, was supposed to be a precursor to this summer’s 75th Caramoor season, for which at the Opening Night Gala on June 20, Marsalis was due to perform with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

The orchestra was also set to be playing at Caramoor’s allday Jazz Festival on July 18.

Now as we go to press, the virus has already sadly claimed Marsalis' celebrated, jazz pianist father, Ellis Marsalis Jr., and Caramoor’s summer season — along with myriad other summer festivals and events across the region, across the nation — has had to retool. (See sidebar.) Marsalis will, however, return next season.

With its array of concerts, daylong festivals and new Concerts on the Lawn series, the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah and its acclaimed international summer festival have been mainstays of the metro area for 74 years. The center also has also made a host of campus-wide improvements, the culmination of its successful “Inspire!” capital campaign.

But even with June off the agenda, and Caramoor itself shuttered for now, all may not be lost. Where performances are canceled, they will be rescheduled, and Caramoor will be working with artists and staff to livestream other concerts where possible.

Meanwhile, Caramoor remains close to Wynton Marsalis’s heart. Indeed, if he has legions of fans worldwide, and he does, he declares himself a special fan of Caramoor. He loves the atmosphere and enjoys working with a close-knit team. The community spirit is also far more prevalent at Caramoor, he says, than at a great many festivals he plays.

“We have tried to program with integrity and give people music they want to hear.” He stresses “integrity” in jazz, referencing the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, on which he worked from the first one in 1970, but which he says became so big and sprawling that it eventually lost its way. “Caramoor has the feeling of neighborhood,” he says.

“It’s a real jazz festival.”

And he knows a jazz festival when he sees one. Near the start of his career, in 1981, he hit the road, performing more than 120 concerts every year for 15 consecutive years, and he still follows a punishing concert schedule, both nationally and internationally.

Where does he especially enjoy traveling to? “I love to play wherever I know people.” This covers a lot of ground,

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of course, since he knows people everywhere. He regularly plays in South Africa, in Russia (with his friend Igor Butman, the Russian jazz saxophonist) and, naturally, in Brazil, the country where jazz in one form or another is virtually a way of life. He is drawn to Spain, too, and has a weakness for Vienna.

Marsalis is also crazy for Marseille, France — where he has been going every year for 30 years (for the Jazz Festival.) He plays the Barbican in London — another city where he has a large number of friends — once a year and, oh, he holds Japan in awe. “I would love to be Japanese in another life,” he tells me.

But performing, to mangle a music metaphor, is only one string to Marsalis’ bow. As a recording artist, his records have sold over seven million copies, including three gold records, and he is a prolific and inventive composer, contributing a violin concerto and four symphonies to the classical music canon alone. This is unparalleled for a contemporary jazz musician. Add to this, music for ballet, popular song, new jazz and orchestral arrangements across virtually all musical genres, and you have still barely scratched the surface. His work, “Blood on the Fields,” became the first jazz composition to be awarded the coveted Pulitzer Prize in Music in 1997 and he is the winner of nine Grammy Awards.

He has honorary degrees from 38 universities — and counting.

He is revered as a teacher and educator. I ask him about the challenges of teaching in the era of the iPhone, of shortened attention spans and the need for instant gratification — the study of music notoriously being an exercise in extreme patience and diligence.

“Being a teacher is like being a basketball coach, and coaching is very difficult if people don’t want to go to your practice ,” he observes. “And there’s a whole range of music that’s commercial, that’s designed to be on the lowest possible level,” often, he says, with a dangerous message. “Therefore, as a teacher, you have to choose the best, present the very best music to your students.”

(I’m reminded of how a schoolteacher-friend once put it to me: “Dumbing ‘up,’ he said, “is as easy as dumbing down.”) Marsalis finds it better to present “quality” to his students, rather than to attack genres or styles as not being good, or even being subversive.

While he doesn’t teach daily classes at Juilliard, where he is director of Juilliard Jazz, he is heavily involved with programing. “We begin by recognizing that there is consciousness behind music. It’s as real as one’s own voice. But sound is also mystical, it’s spiritual.” He talks about 30 different levels of listening and describes how he likes to “lift students up the listening ladder. We educate ourselves in music just as we do in a language. The more we start to

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Wynton Marsalis.

Photograph by Piper Ferguson.

Venetian Theater at Caramoor.

Photograph by Gabe Palacio.

hear things, the more we start to understand them.”

And he sees music — all kinds of music, ritualistic music, repetitious music, teenage music, lullabies, love songs — as “building blocks, ones we are able to apply to different aspects of our lives.”

If jazz is all about letting your hair down, how does the great jazzman himself relax?

“Nah, I’m always listening to music,” he responds, dismissing the idea of any personal downtime. “I’m always hearing music.”

The upside to music in the digital age, I ask him?

“It’s brought so much benefit, from bringing music to you instantly to exposure to different kinds of music, to research, to teaching, you name it.” And he likes the idea that he can also recognize talent in students — and prospective students — instantly, at a distance, through video clips or what they post online.

And the downside?

“I can barely think of any downside,” he says, and then pauses. “But there’s a yin and yang to everything.”

For more, visit wyntonmarsalis.org

CARAMOOR 20/2.0 It was the great 18th-century Irish statesman Edmund Burke who said, “No one ever made a greater mistake than he who did nothing, because he could only do a little.”

With that in mind, Caramoor, the Mediterranean-style center for music and the other arts and an acclaimed summer festival in Katonah, is plunging ahead with a coronavirusmodified season.

“Caramoor’s purpose is to inspire a lifelong love of music in our beautiful setting,” says CEO Jeff Haydon. “Rather than cancel our summer season entirely, Caramoor’s ‘Summer 20/2.0’ provides ways we might still be able to offer opportunities to bring much-needed inspiration to our community.”

Over the course of “Summer 20/2.0,” Caramoor aims to stream seven new performances from the Music Room of the Rosen House, known for its historically eclectic furnishings and intimate acoustics. The video streams will feature such artists as Inon Barnatan, Conor Hanick, Sandbox Percussion, the Calidore String Quartet and Musicians from The Knights in repertoire ranging from Mozart and Tchaikovsky to excerpts from Shirley Graham Du Bois’ opera “Tom-Tom,” a children’s program, and the world premieres of new works

by Christopher Cerrone and Anna Clyne. Each streamed performance will be accompanied by additional content, including talks with the artists and closer looks at the Westchester house and grounds (July 2—Aug 6).

Later in the summer, Caramoor plans to host four live, public, open-air concerts on Friends

Caramoor’s Center Walk. Photograph by Gabe Palacio.

Field. Suitable for small, well-spaced audiences, these will feature multiple genres — American roots, mariachi, jazz and swing (Saturdays, July 18—Aug 8, with rain dates on the following Sundays).

In addition, Caramoor hopes to open its outdoor spaces to the public, beginning in midJuly. Visitors will be able to enjoy its landscaped Italianate and woodland gardens, interacting with nature, architecture and history on socially distant picnics and walks, as well as exploring the site-specific sound art installations of Sonic Innovations (Thursdays through Sundays, beginning July 16).

Finally, a variety of outdoor pop-up events may also be added to the lineup, with appearances around the grounds by artists, including a brass ensemble from Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Caramoor’s orchestra-in-residence for the past 41 years.

For more, visit caramoor.org.

— Georgette Gouveia

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Getting her goat

(in the best possible way)

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

Some girls dream of becoming lawyers, doctors, astronauts, even president of the United States. Growing up in the Crestwood section of Yonkers, Meagan Frederick wanted to be Snow White. Not that she was waiting for a prince to rescue her.

Rather, she wanted to do the rescuing and, like Snow, surround herself with woodland creatures.

Over time, Meagan found that — in the words of another Disney princess, Cinderella — “the dream that you wish will come true.” Today she runs Frederick Farm Goat Rescue and Sanctuary in Napanoch, an Ulster County hamlet 35 minutes west of New Paltz. The 10-acre farm is home to eight rescue goats named Marvin, Zachary, Zoe, Ginger, Eva, Suki, Pumpkin and Peanut, along with 19 rescue chickens, three rescue dogs, a vegetable garden, an orchard, bee hives — her prince, toy designer Warren Frederick, is the beekeeper — and their two boys, ages 9 and 7. It’s also the site of two Airbnb rentals. About a year and a half ago, Meagan started renting out the spaces with great success, joining Airbnb last October. She also gives popular tours that include a 30-minute hike and one-on-one time with the goats, who, she says, enjoy the attention as much as the two-legged creatures savor lavishing it.

“They love it,” she says. “All of our goats are extremely affectionate.”

At the moment, the farm is closed to visitors and Meagan is busy with online tours for her enterprise, which began seven years ago when a stray sheep and goat wandered onto the property. When

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Aw!. Photographs courtesy Frederick Farm Goat Rescue and Sanctuary.

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Meagan Frederick and her friends.

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we interviewed her on May 1, there were about 1,290 cases of COVID-19 in Ulster, “a lot more than in other counties,” she says.

Meagan, who checks the count every day, is no stranger to infectious diseases. She is by training an art and horticultural therapist, working with critically ill children.

She serves as director of development and public relations for Incarnation Children’s Center, a skilled nursing facility in Manhattan for children and teenagers living with HIV/AIDS. These kids come from abusive situations with no support systems and often stop taking their medications, Meagan says.

Some go on to live “normal” lives. Because they are immunosuppressed, they’ve all been in lockdown, which, she adds, is a challenge for the teenagers.

“Working in health care, you learn to roll up your sleeves and do what you have to do to keep the kids safe.”

The kids visit virtually with the other kids — goats, that is. It helps keep everyone connected to nature and to one another.

“The goats bring joy to people.”

And so does Meagan. Visiting with her by phone is like a tonic as she exudes a soothing warmth. Her secret: “I keep telling my kids, be kind and respectful.”

It’s no wonder that she’s doing 40 virtual tours daily for visitors from around the world, everywhere from New York City to London to Singapore. She is booking actual tours for July and August but doesn’t know yet if they will happen. Safety is paramount.

One day, though, things will return to normal, or at least the new normal, and we will take Meagan up on her gracious invitation for a visit. We’re sure, too, she’ll keep adding to her menagerie.

“One day, I’ll say, ‘Enough,’” she says with a laugh.

We doubt it.

For more, visit frederickfarmgoats. com. And for virtual experiences ranging from meditating with Buddhist monks in Japan to cooking with a Moroccan family to visiting the former Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, site of one of the worst nuclear reactor disasters in history, visit airbnb.com.

‘FOR MOMS

BY MOMS’

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WAG has long had its share of readers who are busy mothers and grandmothers — looking not only for useful tips but for unusual stories that offer windows onto worlds they may not have yet visited. So it’s fitting that we should begin a partnership here with The Local Moms Network, founded in Greenwich three years ago by Layla Lisiewski, Megan Sullivan and Jessica Blouin.

These

three

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working mothers — with backgrounds as varied as the visual arts, finance and marketing — wanted not only to provide mothers with the information they need to survive and thrive but also to enable them

to connect, network and maybe even turn their own chapters into businesses they can run from home as they balance work and family.

“The Local Moms Network is 100% created for moms by moms and provides a user-friendly connection in local communities via online content features and comprehensive resources, social media engagement, community inclusive event monthly newsletters and time-saving guides,” the website says. “We have provided over a hundred talented women entrepreneurial opportunities to join our growing team and launch their own business in their communities.

We believe wholeheartedly in providing moms opportunities to work from home and around their kids’ schedules.”

With more than 100 suburban online locations in 26 states, the network is growing.

And so are we. We’ll be sharing stories on the site — which has nine chapters in Fairfield County three in Westchester County and one in Rockland County — but we’ll also be featuring content from Local Moms, beginning with this dedicated section in our June-July “Visionary Journeys” issue. It’s appropriate then that we lead off the section with our own, award-winning Phil Hall’s story on Rebecca Pawson, who has journeyed from Greenwich Hospital nurse to June bride. We call it “Love in the Time of Corona.”

It’s just one more illustration that it’s always Mother’s Day in WAG.

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Own Your Future Congratulations to the Class of 2020

When students and families engage in the college process using their values, interests, and goals as foundational elements, they can better target colleges and universities where students will thrive. At King School, our four-year developmental program enables students to identify and apply to the schools that will take them where they want to go.

Congratulations to the Class of 2020 on their acceptances!

Babson College Bentley University Boston College (3) Bucknell University Clemson University Colby College (2) Colgate University College of the Holy Cross Connecticut College Dartmouth College (2) Denison University Dickinson College Drexel University Duke University (3) Elon University Emory University Fairfield University Fordham University

Indiana University (2) Marist College Massachusetts Institute of Technology McGill University Middlebury College (2) New York University Northeastern University (2) Northwestern University Pennsylvania State University Providence College (4) Purdue University Rochester Institute of Technology (3) Roger Williams University Rollins College Salve Regina University

Santa Clara University Sewanee: The University of the South Skidmore College Southern Methodist University (3) Syracuse University (2) The Ohio State University Towson University (2) Tulane University (3) University of Connecticut Stamford United States Military Academy at West Point University of Alabama (2) University of Miami University of Minnesota

University of New Hampshire University of Notre Dame University of Pennsylvania University of Rhode Island University of Richmond (2) University of Southern California (2) University of Toronto University of Virginia University of Wisconsin Vanderbilt University Wake Forest University Washington and Jefferson College Washington and Lee University Yale University

Explore how King sets better standards: kingschoolct.org

LOVE IN THE TIME OF CORONA

BY PHIL HALL

If anything, life has not been boring for Rebecca Pawson. Last September, her boyfriend Kevin Jarboe proposed, and the couple began planning their wedding. In March, however, a certain virus made its way across the Pacific and Pawson, in her duties as a maternity nurse at Greenwich Hospital, found herself working long and grueling shifts while providing life-saving care to COVID-19 patients.

And then, life threw her a completely unexpected twist: The TLC reality program “Say Yes to the Dress” was tipped off on Pawson’s invaluable work on the medical frontlines. The popular bridal show chose her as a “Healthcare Hero” and Pawson suddenly found herself in the spotlight as she picked out the dress for her upcoming nuptials.

How did a hard-working nurse with no dreams of being on reality TV suddenly find herself front and center on a popular cable show?

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“I actually reached out to Hayley Paige, my favorite designer, on Instagram,” Pawson recalls. “I was just asking her if she was offering any discounts for health-care workers during this time.”

Rather than offer a discounted dress, Paige forwarded Pawson’s contact information and story to the producers of “Say Yes to the Dress,” eager to offer a timely tribute to the brave women of the health care profession who put their own pursuits on hold to help the wider society.

“They reached out to me and then I ended up doing some interviews with them,” Pawson says. “It all fell into place.”

Dawson’s busy schedule, coupled with the pandemic-fueled social distancing protocols, spared her from being followed around Kardashian-style with a camera crew. Instead, she recorded a series of vlogs that highlighted her professional responsibilities and her wedding ceremony dreams. A cameraman ultimately arrived at Dawson’s Fairfield home when the time came for her to pick a wedding dress. Her mother Terri and two sisters participated in the process.

“It didn’t really feel like a reality show, because it was all so natural,” she says.

Rebecca Pawson and Kevin Jarboe.

Pawson is playfully elusive about the dress she finally chose — “You’ll have to just wait and see” — although she will not be wearing it again until her June 26, 2021, wedding at the Burr Mansion in Fairfield. In choosing the historic late18th century site for the ceremony, Pawson believes her union with her fiancé will come full-circle.

“We live in Fairfield and fell in love with the area,” she says. “Our first dates were in Fairfield and we have our first apartment here. Kevin grew up going to the beach here, too.”

The wedding provides Pawson with the goal of future bliss following several months of difficult work at Greenwich Hospital. A 2016 graduate of Western Connecticut State University, Pawson found her skills used to their fullest against a historic health crisis.

“I never thought that something like this would happen,” she says. “We did have PPE training, because there are certain diseases (you need it for). It’s been tough. As this all came about, we were all learning new things about the pandemic, and things would change day to day. We did have COVID-positive moms and, obviously, they were separated from their babies for their wellness. We’re still being affected by this.”

Pawson is now working 12-hour shifts three days a week. She admits it was tough to transition to the longer days, but she adds that “you kind of just get used to it... I definitely have some downtime for myself and try to take care of myself so that I’m energized to go back the next day.”

Pawson’s fiancé, who is a teacher, has been a source of strength and comfort to her during this unusual period.

“It’s been really nice to be able to spend some more time together,” she says. “On my days off, he’s done with school closer to one o’clock and I feel like we’ve spent more time together in the past couple of months than ever.”

The only thing missing from Pawson’s current whirlwind is a honeymoon destination, which has yet to be decided.

“We’re on a tight budget for our wedding, so the honeymoon is kind of up in the air,” she says. “We’re not sure what we’re going to do, but we’re definitely going take one at some point.”

SUNSCREENS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY If you’re anything like us, every summer involves a new attempt to figure out the best sunscreen options for our kids — and ourselves.

With the constantly evolving perspectives on the frequency of application needed and which sunscreens actually work and are safe, we turned to Rhonda Klein, M.D., a dermatologist with the Connecticut Dermatology Group in Norwalk and Milford and a Westport mom of four for her favorites for this summer — and year-round.

First, though, she insists that we remember that sunscreen and sun protective gear (wide-brimmed hats, UPF clothing, sunglasses) help prevent skin cancer. Frequent reapplication of two tablespoons of a sunscreen with an SPF 30+ — about the size of a shot glass — is essential for extended time outdoors.

And now for her favorites:

SUNSCREENS FOR KIDS AND SENSITIVE SKIN: 1. Vanicream 2. Blue Lizard 3. Elta MD Pure 4. Neutrogena Pure & Free 5. TIZO2 (Note: For sensitive skin, stick with physical blockers — zinc and titanium.)

SUNSCREENS FOR EVERYDAY THAT ARE MORE COSMETICALLY PLEASING BUT ALSO PROTECTIVE:

1. EltaMD UV Clear 2. Obagi Sun Shield Matte 3. Skinceuticals Physical Matte UV Defense 4. MD Solar Sciences Daily Anti-Aging Moisturizer 5. TIZO3 (Note: For a quick touch-up during the day, try Colorescience Brush-On Sunscreen SPF 50.)

SUNSCREENS WITH MAX PROTECTION:

1. Bioderma Photoderm Max SPF50+ 2. TIZO2 and TIZO3 3. LaRoche Posay Anthelios 4. ThinkBaby and ThinkSport 5. Shiseido Wet Force

MEN’S SUNSCREENS:

1. Kiehl’s Facial Fuel UV Guard SPF 50+ 2. Neutrogena Men Triple Protect Face Lotion with SPF 20 3. L’Oreal Men’s Expert Comfort Max After-Shave Balm with SPF 4. Nivea Men Skin Essentials Protective Lotion 5. Clinique for Men Broad Spectrum SPF 21 Moisturizer

LIQUID SPRAYS:

1. Bioderma Photoderm Max 58

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SPF50+ (which comes as a 400ml bottle, good for large families) and

Bioderma Photoderm Kid SPF50+ 2. Kinesys High Performance Sunscreen 3. Kiss My Face Sunspray Lotion SPF 30 4. Elta MD UV Spray 5. Babyganics Sunscreen Spray (Note: Avoid aerosolized sprays, which not only contain a large percetage of alcohol that can be irritating but are also bad for the environment and require approximately 7 layers to yield the same protection as a cream/ lotion/liquid.)

SUNSCREEN STICKS:

1. Kinesys Sun Protection Stick 2. Neutrogena Pure & Free 3. Bioderma Photoderm Max Large Stick 4. Babo Botanicals Super Shield 5. Mustela (Sunscreen sticks are great for reapplication on the face, especially near the eyes. For or all of us bargain shoppers, the new Trader Joe’s zinc sunscreen stick is a steal at $5.99.

While not as cosmetically pleasing – it leave a white residue – it is a great addition to camp bags for the little ones to use on their faces.)

FAVORITE UPF 50+ SUN PROTECTIVE GEAR:

1. Anything at Costco or BJs (Load up on UV Skinz if you see it.

2. Coolibar 3. Cabana Life, Boden, or Hannah Anderson for more upscale outfits 4. Lands End or REI for sportier gear 5. Don’t forget your surfing brands for more stylish adult gear. (Hurley, Billabong, Roxy) For more, visit ctdermgroup.com.

To The Harvey School Class of 2020

The Future Belongs To You

A coeducational college preparatory school located in Katonah, NY enrolling students in grades 6–12 with boarding beginning in grade 9 • www.harveyschool.org • 914-232-3161

JUNE-JULY 2020 WAGMAG.COM

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AVOIDING THE ‘SUMMER SLIDE’ As a parent, you’re likely ready for a relaxing summer for you and your children, especially following the uncertain and stressful school year caused by COVID-19 disruptions.

While it’s normal for parents to be concerned about their children losing academic growth over the summer, the anxiety around the “summer slide” is undoubtedly heightened this year. Rest assured, there are many steps parents can take to keep their children engaged and learning all summer long.

While there is conflicting evidence around the existence and prevalence of the “summer slide,” encouraging academic engagement over summer vacation is as important as ever. But that doesn’t mean it needs to be a chore for parents or kids.

Meaningful learning can fit into a busy schedule and be fun at the same time.

Remember: The more connections children make through new experiences and language, the stronger their knowledge base will be and the less likely it will be for them to lose valuable information away from school. Instead of trying to replicate the classroom environment, focus on more natural learning opportunities with these five tips: TALK: Take this time to discuss the world around you. Stop and talk about whatever you’re doing and seeing in the moment. It’s as simple as taking the time to point out a new vocabulary word while watching a movie or tapping into your child’s interests and passions in the moment. Do they love bugs? Talk about bugs.

Whatever it is, encourage your children to use all five senses to communicate what they’re experiencing.

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the summer is a perfect time to help kids reconnect with their imaginations. Allow and encourage time for unstructured imaginative play. Though it may not seem like direct learning, play calls on familiar skills while developing new ones. When kids use their imagination, they are expanding their vocabularies and experimenting with new concepts.

EXPLORE: Experts have found that novel experiences stimulate the brain and promote learning. Being in a real-world setting helps reinforce what your child learns from books. No expensive vacations or long road trips necessary. Anything you come upon will do. Simply reading together outside or visiting a local historic site or landmark can spark academic engagement. Point out new sights and experiences and be open to opportunities for enrichment.

THINK MATH: Exploring math concepts is always important for kids. Luckily, opportunities to understand math and get familiar with numbers are everywhere.

Having pizza for lunch? Talk about fractions. Feel like baking something? Engage kids in measurement (with the added bonus of a tasty treat to come). Driving along? Count the cars. Going on vacation?

Ask an older child to help keep track of the family budget.

READ, READ, READ: There are tons of ways to incorporate reading into your summer schedule. Read aloud together or ask your children to read to you.

Ask questions about what you’ve read together to help them build comprehension, learn vocabulary and foster a love of learning. Allow children to read what they want (within reason) and encourage them to explore topics outside of their everyday realm. You could even offer a summer reading challenge with small prizes.

Continuous learning and keeping the mind engaged is important and the above tools can certainly help, but so too is remembering to have fun and allow yourself and your children the relaxation you deserve this summer. If you don’t use every opportunity to address academics with your child, that’s OK. You’ll still be amazed by how much your child can learn and retain over the summer.

If you believe your child could benefit from enrichment this summer or has academic areas that need reinforcement, the specialized team at Private Prep can help. For more, visit privateprep.com.

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lations to our Class of 2020 Graduates Congratu

who earned over $29.5 million in merit scholarships and will attend 87 colleges & universities, including:

ongratulations

JUNE-JULY 2020 WAGMAG.COM

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YANKEE DOODLE RECIPES The Fourth of July weekend might be a little different this year than in years past, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate with some delicious recipes. The flag cake has been our fave for as long as we can remember, so easy and always a hit if you’re going to a social distance barbecue:

BARBECUE PORK SANDWICHES

Ingredients • 1 (14 ounce) can beef broth • 3 pounds boneless pork butt or shoulder • 1 (18 ounce) bottle barbecue sauce. (We like Sweet Baby Ray’s.)

• 1 pack of Martin’s Potato Buns Directions Pour the can of beef broth into a slow cooker, adding the boneless pork butt or shoulder. Cook on high heat for 4 hours, or until the meat shreds easily.

Remove the meat, and shred it with two forks. It will seem that it’s not working right away, but it will.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Transfer the shredded pork to a Dutch oven or iron skillet and stir in the barbecue sauce.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until heated through. If you want to grill the meat, add it to a baking sheet and put it on grill for 30 minutes. Serve on the Martin’s Potato Buns.

FLAG CAKE

Ingredients • 1 package funfetti cake mix • 1 container frozen whipped topping • 1 pint blueberries, rinsed and drained • 2 pints fresh strawberries, rinsed and slice Directions Prepare the cake according to package directions and bake in a 9 by 13-inch pan. Cool completely.

Frost cake with the whipped topping. Place the blueberries in a square in the corner and arrange the sliced strawberries as stripes to make an American flag. Chill until serving.

SPARKLING SUMMER LEMONADE

Ingredients • 1 cup sugar • 1 cup water • 3 sprigs fresh mint, plus more for serving • 1/2 cup lemon juice plus 1 lemon, sliced into wheels • 1/2 cup blackberries • 1/2 cup raspberries • 1/2 cup strawberries, halved • 2 liters seltzer or soda water Directions Pour the sugar and water into a small pot and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the mint sprigs. Let the mint steep for 10 minutes, then discard the mint. Add the mint simple syrup to a large pitcher, punch bowl or serving canister. Add the lemon juice, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and lemon wheels and give a good stir. When ready to serve, fill the pitcher halfway with ice. Top the mixture with seltzer and give a good stir. Serve over ice with sprigs of fresh mint.

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Now Op en!

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Wherever you are in your Memory Care journey, Artis is here to support you!

Schedule a personal tour by calling 914-236-4824 or visiting TheArtisWay.com/WAG Artis Senior Living of Briarcliff Manor: 553 North State Road, Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510 Check out our other nearby community in Chestnut Ridge.

WANDERS

TRAVEL

PLAYING ARMCHAIR TRAVELER IN THE TIME OF CORONA

BY JEREMY WAYNE

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“Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows,” observes Trinculo the jester in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” To which I would add, not entirely consequentially, that COVID-19 has made armchair travelers of us all.

But if we cannot go to the mountain, we must bring the mountain to us and modern technology, of course, allows us to do this, at least to some degree.

I’ve always wanted to go to Bali, but to be honest with you, I never got the gig and the bank manager never thought it was a terribly good idea. Now, thanks to the coronavirus, I have finally been able to go virtually, obviously. Although closed to actual guests, the intriguingly-named Desa Potato Head in Bali — a hotel so right-on and environmentally-friendly that even the complimentary bedside slippers are biodegradable — has launched a #goodtimesathome program, accessible via Facebook or Instagram, with

Left: Misty Cook shack, The Resort at Paws Up. Right: Horseback riding at The Resort at Paws Up. Photographs courtesy The Resort at Paws Up.

cultural expeditions, immersive reads and music playlists to download. A documentary about Brian Eno from 1973 and a fascinating video about turning plastic bags into speakers, were just two of the offerings I enjoyed.

Just launching down Mexico way, the HiltonLosCabosAtHome series, which you can find at @hiltonloscabos on Instagram, will give you a taste of this newly renovated beach resort, while you continue to shelter in place.

You will also be able to take Spanish lessons and plan a fun Mexican dinner at home, after joining the resort’s executive chef for a cooking session. And arts and crafts projects from the resort’s kids’ club should keep them busy with any luck, while you kick back and enjoy a restorative Mezcal cocktail. Mmm, tastes good.

For a quick Caribbean fix, Le Barthélmy Hotel & Spa in St. Barts has made a recording of waves lapping its waterfront. Best listened to through to earphones, I made a flying visit down to the Caribbean the other afternoon

and I was not disappointed. No astronomical airfare to pay either and home in time for dinner — a win-win situation.

Out west, in Montana. The Resort at Paws Up is often credited as the world’s first glamping (luxury, glamorous camping) resort. It counts Leonardo DiCaprio and Gwyneth Paltrow among its legions of celebrity fans and has recently introduced a “Live from Big Sky Country” series. The programs offer a wide range of digital experiences, including visiting the resort’s resident baby horses, learning how to forage with the chef and making body scrubs, as taught by the resort’s spa and wellness director. The sessions are streamed on the @theresortatpawsup Instagram page and are also saved as Instagram Highlights.

It was only a question of time before lockdown karaoke became a thing. On Monday nights, the adults only Hotel Gaythering, in South Beach, Miami, offers karaoke with a twist, presided over by regular drag queen host, Karla Croqueta. The Gaythering’s popular trivia nights (Wednesday) and bingo (Thursday) have also gone virtual. (@KarlaCroqueta is quite the party animal. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.)

Closer to home, at the Emerson Resort & Spa in Mount Tremper in the Catskills, kids can take part in an online trivia quiz of their own, which between you and me is a bit of a breeze since all the answers to the questions are included on the Emerson website.

Correct answers win a special Emerson Resort kaleidoscope, mailed out to your brainy little one.

Also, in a clever twist on the usual online offerings during closure, the Emerson Resort gift shop is open to dispense Cabin Fever science and solar system kits to keep kids amused — delivered direct to your door.

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Left: On the waterfront at Le Barthélmy Hotel & Spa. Photograph by Hugo Allard.

Right: Viceroy L’Ermitage Burton Studio Suite. Courtesy Viceroy Hotels & Resorts.

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Still with the kids, an even more cerebral pursuit is being offered by Gurney’s Resorts in Montauk, New York, and Newport, Rhode Island. Focused on sustainability and education, #GoneHomeWithGurneys features everything from weekly digital lessons for kids to wellness tips, meditations and recipes. All programming will be streamed on the @gurneyresorts social channel, via Instagram Stories.

If lockdown is making you anxious and travel restrictions are clipping your wanderers’ wings, Aman Resorts, those purveyors of luxury travel experiences, may have a solution. Inspired by nature, its skincare products use organic ingredients, many of which have been harvested in Aman destinations. The newly launched Ultimate Bath Set (with bath salts, body mist, serum and smoked body butter,) aims to dispel tension and promotes a deep sense of emotional and physical well-being. Along with a host of other, rather delicious Aman products, the bath set can be bought online at shop.aman.com.

Of course, the boredom and frustrations of lockdown are undoubtedly relieved by online shopping, and not just for groceries or bare

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necessities. It’s an ill wind indeed that blows no good, and many online stores have reported near Black Friday sales volumes over recent weeks.

But how do we justify shopping for luxury goods online during a pandemic, considering the risk we pose to manufacturers, packers, shippers and delivery people? The obvious answer is that by doing so we are helping shore up small pockets of the economy. And we can expiate any lingering guilt by giving our business to online shops, like the newly-launched Château Marmont boutique, where all profits are being distributed among hotel employees affected by the current crisis.

The boutique’s night-blooming flowers scented candles make a wonderful gift, and the same goes for the château—branded cashmere sweaters, produced in collaboration with scenester London artist, Bella Freud. (shop.chateahmarmont.com).

Slightly edgy and undeniably soft.

Spoiled by swanky hotels over the years, but spending so much time at home right now, I realize how much my own house needs a makeover.

And where better to turn to for inspiration than to Viceroy Hotels & Resorts? I love these hotels, from the understated but highly sophisticated L’Ermitage in Beverly Hills, to the laidback luxury of the villas at Viceroy Riviera Maya, in Mexico.

Now, Kelly Wearstler, who designs for Viceroy, has released a 17-part video guide to the fundamentals of interior design, available through online education platform MasterClass (which makes a subscription charge,) I’m enjoying learning about color, light and the best use of space, as well as what to do with old furniture.

Still, what with the morning workouts, culturefilled afternoons and nightly cocktail sessions, I’ve a feeling that by the end of lockdown, my house will look pretty much as it does now, only a little dustier. The less you have to do, the busier life gets, as many genuinely busy people have shrewdly observed.

OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUALS CREATE

OUTSTANDING COMMUNITIES The dedication, compassion, and strength that The Bristal team displays daily is evident – especially to those who choose to call The Bristal home, as well as their families. The happiness and well-being of residents means everything to us, so their heartfelt appreciation is both powerful and motivating. We’re proud to share their sentiments for the outstanding individuals who make The Bristal such a special place.

On behalf of my mother and our family - thank you. You chose to be caring, to bring a smile with you every day, to try to get a laugh out of the residents and to make them comfortable. Whatever your role has been in the community, we thank you for continuing to keep their home a safe place to ride out this terrible pandemic. Stay safe!

– Caroline P. (family member)

For a list of all locations in the tri-state area, visit: THEBRISTAL.COM

AN ENGEL BURMAN COMMUNITY

Licensed by the State Department of Health.

Eligible for Most Long Term Care Policies.

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM | @WAGMAGAZINE JUNE-JULY 2020 WAGMAG.COM

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TRAVEL TREATS FOR YOURSELF

BY DEBBI K. KICKHAM

Yes, we are all staying at home. But we will all be getting out of the house someday, right? So prepare yourself now. Take time to renew your passport — one of the best ways is through itseasy.com — and splurge on these great luxury products I’ve discovered in my worldwide travels. Some, indeed, are ideal to take on your next trip (or just use at home):

WANDERS

TRAVEL

1. Treat your tastebuds — You can’t visit New York City right now, but you can still take a bite out of the Big Apple. Li-Lac Chocolates makes small batches of the sweet stuff from its factory in Brooklyn, and you can find its stores all over New York (and in Grand Central Terminal). The bestsellers? The $18 Statue of Liberty, and the chocolate almond bark, $36. li-lacchocolates.com 2. Stay healthy when you travel — Your wellbeing counts — whether you are at home or abroad. Vous Vitamin is a personalized vitamin subscription service for both men and women.

Just take a short, online survey to match a customized multivitamin blend to your lifestyle and health history, and you can eliminate the pill pack. I say, “Bring on the Biotin.” $90 every three months. Vousvitamin.com.

3. You wear it well — Made for every road trip and red-eye, the best-selling Jet Set Trousers are a four-season wonder. They are machine washable, wrinkle-resistant and sunburn-free with a UPF of 50. Made in Italy with a bartack at the hem so you can customize the length. $228. epoqueevolution.com 4. My “ThirdLove” affair — When you travel there or simply stay at home, you need support. ThirdLove’s mission is to get every woman into a great fitting, comfortable and beautiful bra that helps her feel confident. As the inventor of half-cup sizes, ThirdLove has led the charge on inclusivity, now carrying more than 80 sizes and counting. ThirdLove’s direct-to-consumer e-commerce site features its patented Fit Finder quiz, which

GIVE DAD THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING Robb Vices is a luxury subscription box of fine foods, beverages, tech gadgets, handmade dishware, handcrafted creations, artisanal cuisine and more. It partners with elite and exciting companies around the world and then curates a thoughtful combination of related products. Perhaps dad will enjoy a Champagne sabre kit or an Altec Lansing retro bluetooth turntable.

Robb Vices ranges from $99.95 a month for a yearlong subscription to $159.95 month-to-month. Each box is valued around $250 to $300. Members.robbvices.com.

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asks women a series of questions about their current bras and even their unique breast shapes and uses data science to recommend their best sizes. BRA-va! Prices vary. thirdlove.com 5. Eye on the prize — Look stylish while protecting your eyes from the sun’s powerful rays without compromising comfort or fit. The breakthrough Yunizon Eyewear features signature Global Fit Technology, three different head widths in all styles and designs to accommodate high cheekbones, low bridge noses and other unique facial features. So it’s easy to find your perfect fit. Starting at $159 with free worldwide shipping. yunizoneyewear.com 6. Get a leg up — Now you can outshine everyone else with stunning Swiss hosiery crafted from silk and cashmere. Fogal hosiery is a first-class legwear line. Christie Brinkley favors the All-Nude in Capri but colors and styles abound for a variety of gorgeous gams. You can shop online, or simply visit the store in Zurich when the world returns to the new normal. Prices vary. Fogal.us 7. Stay in step — Finally, there’s a high heel engineered to offer ease of wear and support. Ally Shoes, based in Manhattan, was designed by podiatrists and engineers, using some of the best practices from sneaker-making. With this shoe, you put more force on your arches (instead of on the balls of your feet), there are toe supports and deep heel cups. What does it spell?

C-O-M-F-O-R-T. $285 in black; $295 in various colors. ally.nyc 8. Put your best foot forward — Frette, the luxurious French brand that sells its sheets to top five-star hotels, also makes superb slippers. They are classic Frette - crafted in Italy with a plush velvet upper embroidered with Frette’s signature emblem and a genuine leather sole. Now that’s la dolce vita, $375. Frette.com.

9. Beautiful Belgian bedding — Give your mattress the king or queen treatment that it deserves. Made in Belgium by Guccio, this beyond-gorgeous European bedding features the bestselling Sweet Surrender duvet. Its exceptional Egyptian cotton pink bedding is finished in exquisite gold embroidery. Free shipping worldwide. $367 for the set of duvet cover, sheets and two pillowcases. Gucciohome.com 10. Sybaritic sleep — I never travel without a special silk pillowcase. Celestial Silk’s 25 momme pure mulberry silk pillowcases prevent wrinkles, banish blemishes and give you silky, smooth hair. They come in standard, queen and king sizes in lots of beautiful colors. $34.99. sleepingsilk.com or Amazon, where it’s a best seller.

For more about Debbi, visit Debbikickham.com.

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JUNE-JULY 2020 WAGMAG.COM

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ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE

BY BARBARA BARTON SLOANE

WANDERS

TRAVEL

It’s not often that heart and place come together, but when they do it’s magic. The irresistible force of “sensation meets location” happened to me at the Paradise Guest Ranch.

Located 16 miles west of Buffalo, Wyoming, at an elevation of 7,500 feet, the 157-acre ranch is within the boundaries of the Bighorn National Forest, giving the property a feeling of privacy and isolation — ideal for a dude ranch getaway from city life. Guest cabins, constructed of logs, are scattered across the property and give it a rustic, homey feel. The entrance to the ranch is marked by a large timber gate with the ranch’s brands “Fun” and “PR.” That kind of says it all.

GIT YER BOOTS ON AND SADDLE UP The ranch has approximately 150 horses in the peak season of June through August and the principal activity here is horseback riding.

Everybody rides — everyday — and the horse becomes your companion. You can do a daylong ride, packing a lunch and returning just before dinner, or an overnight pack trip, a real Western wilderness adventure.

The ranch’s horseback riding program is second to none. It custom-fits each guest with the horse that perfectly matches his riding ability. Governed by my internal hard-wiring for cowardice, I asked for a gentle, well-mannered horse and was assigned a sweet Paint named Gypsy. I took advantage of the riding lessons and, in the rodeo arena, was taught how to move my horse, turn, back up and even to trot. Learning to gallop, that’s for my next visit.

Overview, Paradise Ranch.

Courtesy Sloane Travel Photography.

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STARRY MORN We were told that a fun experience was to rise really early and watch the horses as they’re corralled and wrangled down to the ranch from the high Alpine meadows where they spent the night grazing on the bluffs. We walked sleepily up the trail in predawn darkness, a vortex of infinite stars lighting our way, and then waited by the roadside, safely out of the way as, amid thundering hooves and steaming nostrils, the horses galloped down the hill to the corrals below. Covered by dust kicked up by the horses but by now fully awake, I had one of those pinch-myself moments when I knew deep in my soul that it doesn’t, not ever, get better than this.

The most enjoyable time each day was my morning ride (walk, actually) with six to eight other guests. We were led by one of the young, enthusiastic and helpful ranch hands up into deeply wooded ponderosa pine forests intersected by clear, shallow streams. The air was fresh and the sky a cloudless azure as we walked our steeds through sagebrush and Aspen groves with their pretty white trunks and leaves like so many small, golden coins making gentle music as they rustled in the breeze.

EVENING REVELRY A pre-dinner cocktail, anyone? And delicious hors d’oeuvres, too. Evenings at the ranch start in a sophisticated, happy-hour way in the French Creek Saloon. Then it was everyone into the dining hall where meals are taken familystyle and the ranch staff and owners, Clay and Leah Miller and Kevin and Rebecca McMahon, mingle with the guests.

After dinner, it was back to the saloon where a fire was blazing, musicians were playing western tunes and there was fun afoot, be it an amateur talent show or some raucous square dancing.

For more than 100 years, Paradise Ranch has been a place of refuge and relaxation, adventure and excitement, steeped in the traditions of Wyoming ranching. Many guests return again and again for horseback riding, fly-fishing for native cutthroat trout or hiking among wildflowers and meadowlarks. I chatted with a family celebrating their 31st year at the ranch and was told that for them visiting the ranch was not just a “vacation” but more like returning to family. Personally, I think another lure is this completely incomparable experience. And, at this particular moment in our lives, I’d venture to say that Wyoming’s crisp, clean, healthy air is simply an invitation that’s hard to resist.

Dude ranch — the very words conjure up a warm, cozy feeling with its animals, silvered sagebrush, quick moving streams and the heavy green of alfalfa. In twilight there was a sharp clarity of the mountain peaks as they shimmer in the purple light — best viewed from my perch on the large porch that fronted my cabin.

Now I welcomed another sunshiny morning and my Paint Gypsy waited to transport me to…paradise. Surrounded by such openness and natural beauty at this spectacular ranch — really, what else could you possibly call it?

For more, visit paradiseranch.com.

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COOKING WITH ‘VERVE’

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

Jacquie Lewis, Jules Vertrees and Sarah Laping Garland are three women with verve — Verve Culture, that is.

“We are a women-run business spanning three generations from baby boomer (to) Gen X(er) to millennial,” the three say on the company’s website, with Jacquie and daughter Jules being company founders. “We are in constant pursuit of life travelled fully. The more we explore, the more we get inspired.”

What inspires them most is sharing artisanal products curated carefully from around the globe. But the trio don’t just want to sell them to you. They want to share the artisans’ stories with you. Their website is not only a what is it but a who made it and why.

So you’ll meet Juan Alonso and Anselmo Gonzalez Gardino, two of the makers of molinillos, the decorative turned wood whisks used in the frothing of Mexico’s distinctive hot chocolate. The whisks make intriguing decorative art objects, reminding us that the functional and the artistic needn’t be exclusive.

Meanwhile, Thai craftsmen like Tee fashion knives, including the wedge-shape Moon Knife that can cut through everything from watermelon to animal bone, out of stainless steel and pradu wood. It’s a craft that harks back to the early-19th century blacksmiths who emigrated from Laos, creating swords to fend off Thailand’s Burmese invaders.

Verve Culture offers everything from utensils to foodstuffs to wellness products.

For more, visit verveculture.com.

Photographs courtesy Verve Culture.

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WARES

HOME & DESIGN

CREATING A DREAM HOUSE/VACATION

BY CAMI WEINSTEIN

As travel comes to a virtual standstill during the COVID-19 pandemic, sheltering in place has become part of the new normal for many of us. What will that be like going forward?

One thing is certain: Our homes are more important than ever to provide us with a place to live, to work and to seek comfort.

After looking around our homes these past weeks, many of us have decided we need to elevate our style.

Everyone is video conferencing, giving us a window into the homes of commentators, news anchors, celebrities and business leaders, as well as an evolving phenomenon. At the beginning of these home “broadcasts,” the backgrounds looked pretty bleak. As a designer, I was immediately intrigued and have become obsessed with what is in these homes. I am aware of who actually loves to be in their homes and what they surround themselves with. Many are sorely lacking in books, art, style and even furniture.

But as the weeks have progressed, I am noticing that the backgrounds are filling in with artwork, bookcases, plants and furniture. Are these props or symbols of a new awareness?

(I’m not alone in wondering. My editor here at WAG, an amateur decorator and bookworm whose home has a library throughout, is particularly enamored of the background bookshelves that lend a certain gravitas or at least fascination as to their contents.)

I’m sure these transformed “sets” are a combination of seeing your home through someone’s eyes and realizing that your home needs some TLC. Yet we are a society that is always running to work, the gym, to see friends and to travel on wonderful vacations. Sometimes little time is spent at home. So what do we do now that we are hunkering down?

How do you get a vacation experience at home?

Plan a renovation. That spa that you love going to? Recreate it in your own bath. Those fabulous restaurants you enjoy?

Renovate your kitchen to include some industrial appliances and learn to cook. A bedroom redo is the ultimate in creating

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Now’s the perfect time to revamp your home — or plan that refresh, as in that spa bathroom you always wanted, says Wares columnist Cami Weinstein.

a personal space. Spring is here so we can get outside and garden. If you live in an apartment, bring in some plants in great containers and enjoy caring for them at home.

Working from home is part of the new normal. Set aside a room or area if possible with a desk, chair and storage and use that as your work zone. All trends in home design are moving toward live/ work situations, so our homes will be much more important to us, and we are going to want every comfort for living and every piece of technology available to keep us connected to the outside world, to family, friends and work colleagues.

At the same time, you can bring more of your vacation style into your home. With so many choices in home furnishing styles, you can find one that suits you while you wait to take your next vacation safely. Until a full renovation can take place, you can begin to plan it now. Many designers, myself included, are working remotely and are happy to help you plan your new living spaces. Quick updates to help boost your home style until a more comprehensive plan can be created include the addition of some cozy throws and pillows. Hang up some artwork. Photographs enlarged of your travels are great inspiration for updating your rooms. If you now have time on your hands, take an online painting course and translate your travel photos into artwork for your home.

We are all looking forward to leaving our homes and going back to our daily lives of working, socializing and traveling.

Use this time as a reset. How can we enhance our life/ work balance going forward? What beautiful objects and memories would you like to incorporate into your homes? On your future travels, remember to bring back some of those objects to incorporate into you homes and remind you of your journeys — and your having survived a challenging time. Until then, stay safe while updating your home — and the next chapter of your life.

For more, call 203-661-4700 or visit camidesigns.com.

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CREATING A SPA AT HOME

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

WEAR

FASHION & BEAUTY

Dubbed “New York City’s best-kept secret,” skincare specialist Vicki Morav blends her expertise, the latest technology and active products with an understanding of her clients’ individual needs. But her greatest strengths may be her psychological acuity and her philosophical approach to life.

Her Upper East Side practice is designed to offer a reflection of this and an oasis of calm. Recently, we had an opportunity to chat with her about life in the time of the coronavirus and what we can do to keep our skin healthy (and ourselves sane) in a spa-like atmosphere at home: Vicki, thank you for taking the time to talk with us via e-mail. How are you coping with the virus restrictions?

“I am embracing it, because being upset takes me out of my creativity. Thinking that the restrictions are for the best interests of everyone makes me feel less resistant to them.”

What effect does the stress of this time in particular have on the skin?

“The effect of stress is tremendous at this time. It is such a chain reaction — being stressed, releasing stress hormones (that act like cortical steroids), activating the adrenals that release chemicals. The body has to work overtime for the elimination of chemical buildup that has a very negative effect on the skin (causing acne, dialated capilaries, melasma, rosacea…. ) An overactive adrenal function affects the brain that is the conductor of our entire system.

Meditate, everyone. Meditate.”

Even though we’re all presumably home, people seem busier than ever. What are the one or two things we should do each day for healthy skin?

“Yes, my days seem crazy busy. I’m not sure how I had a nonstop work schedule

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and still accomplished all that I do now. At the least, proper cleansing and moisturizing is the bare minimum, although I don’t find that enough. I love to layer products and create chemistry for the best results. I also recommend exfoliating and masking a few times a week with various ingredients, because that is essential for plump, healthy skin.”

What are the minimal products we should use each day?

“I am definitely not a minimalist. But will do my best to minimize for you only: Cleanser — Forlle’d Hyalogy Creamy Wash; Toner — Forlle’d Hyalogy P-Effect Peeling Lotion; Antioxidants — MBR CEA City & Sky; Serum — Valmont Hydra 3 Regentic Serum; Moisturizer — Forlle’d Hyalogy P-Effect Nourishing Cream; Sun Block — MBR Sunblock High Protection Cream SPF50; Exfoliant — MBR Enzyme Cleansing Booster; Mask — Valmont Prime Renewing Pack.

Please design for us a spa treatment we can do at home.

“First step: Create an ambiance for yourself that includes candles, crystals, music, intense, essential oils and diffusers.

Cleanse with a creamy wash, then rinse well.

“Exfoliate with MBR Enzyme Cleansing Booster for two to three minutes. Massage in a circular motion and rinse well.

“Forlle’d Hyalogy P-Effect Peeling Lotion: Apply with a cotton pad all over face, neck and décolleté. Keep it on for five minutes.

Don’t rinse.

“Valmont Regenerating Collagen Mask Treatment: Apply on top of the peeling lotion for 30 minutes.

“Remove the mask and apply Valmont post-collagen serum from the package, followed by MBR CEA City and Sky, Valmont Hydra 3 Regentic Serum and Forlle’d Hyalogy P-Effect Nourishing Cream.”

Vicki Morav. Courtesy Vicki Morav.

Why did you choose skincare as a profession?

“I was very young when I got into skincare.

I never really thought it would be for the rest of my life. In the beginning, it was fun and I always loved caring for clients. Over time, the more I worked and learned through

true experience, the more passionate I have become for my job and profession. I developed acne in my mid-20s and that led me on a journey of self-discovery as well as acquiring the priceless knowledge of living through that true experience.

“I turned to medicine that failed me, but it led me to discover nutrition, genetics and the attributes of a hormonal, chemical and spiritual body. I embarked on the amazing ride we call life, and through my experiences I was able to connect to my deepest, most passionate self and, in turn, help others. I still learn every day. The body is made up from so much more than we ever think of. The more I experience, the better I become. Passion and desire are the drivers of my daily life.”

What are you looking forward to postcoronavirus?

“I think COVID-19 made us face our deepest, most vulnerable selves. We are being faced by the unknown and that forces us to rise up, to grow and to expand our human capacity.

“I really look forward to a more conscious world — a world of greater awareness, a place where we can truly share and influence humanity in the most profound ways. I look forward to a cleaner, greener world; to unity, passion and compassion; innovations and cures.

“In my field, I look forward to educating and creating awareness surrounding all that we need to know about healthy living, psychology, philosophy, energy work, crystal work, health, nutrition, genetics, the hormonal body and so much more.

“The skin is a live organ. It is affected by everything we feel, eat and process both externally and internally. Expanding our horizons will help us live better lives and create a greater world.”

My passion is limitless and sharing teaching serving is my greatest desire.

All products mentioned above, as well as additional favorite products of Vicki’s can be purchased on vickimorav.com.

For customized skincare and hair-care regimens, write Vicki at info@vickimorav. com.

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AN EGG DISH THAT’S HARD TO ‘BEET’

BY RAJNI MENON

FOOD & SPIRITS

WHAT’S COOKING?

BEET SCRAMBLED EGGS

Photograph by Aditya Menon.

Growing up in South India, I would have eggs for breakfast, lunch or dinner. There would be Scotch eggs in sausage nests, roasted hard-boiled eggs with onions and a rice pancake, and hard-boiled eggs with a luscious onion gravy.

I have come up with a quick and easy recipe for scrambled eggs with a twist — beets and eggs. I’m sure you haven’t tried this combination, but it’s a great one.

If you’re thinking that this dish would be too sweet, think again. The cayenne pepper and the black pepper perfectly balance the sweetness from the beets to give the dish an amazing flavor. To top it off, the coconut oil has a beautiful aroma. Enjoy this for any meal.

For more, visit creativerajni.com.

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INGREDIENTS: 6 eggs, beaten 1/2 beet, puréed 1/2 a white onion, thinly sliced 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt 1/2 teaspoon garam masala 4 tablespoons coconut oil 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves (optional) DIRECTIONS: 1. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and the beet purée. (To make the beet purée, cook the beet in boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes, then blend it with a little water until it becomes a paste.)

Add in all the spices and whisk until mixed through. Set the mixture aside.

2. Heat a nonstick pan and add the 4 tablespoons of coconut oil.

3. Once the oil is hot, add in the white onions.

Sauté until translucent.

4. Add in the egg mixture and stir well to cook the eggs. Stir in chopped fresh cilantro. Mix well.

Serve hot on buttered toast.

I FEEL SO POWERLESS. WE HAVE TO WATCH HER EVERY MINUTE. FAMILY AND FRIENDS STOPPED COMING AROUND. HE KEEPS SAYING: “THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH ME.” IT’S DESTROYING OUR FAMILY. I FEEL SO GUILTY WE HAVE TO MOVE HER INTO A HOME. IT’S SO HARD TO CARE FOR SOMEONE WHO’S MEAN TO YOU. HE HIDES THINGS ALL THE TIME. I’M GRIEVING THE LOSS OF SOMEONE WHO’S STILL ALIVE. WE DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START.

LIVING WITH FTD IS HARD. LIVING WITHOUT HELP IS HARDER. THERE’S COMFORT IN FINDING OTHERS WHO UNDERSTAND. WE FINALLY FOUND A DOCTOR WHO GETS IT. I GOT SO MUCH ADVICE FROM OTHER CAREGIVERS. UNDERSTANDING MORE HELPS ME DEAL WITH HER SYMPTOMS. SEEING THAT OTHERS MADE IT THROUGH, I KNEW I COULD TOO. WE HONOR HIM BY ADVOCATING FOR A CURE. NOW I’M BETTER AT ASKING FOR HELP. NO MATTER HOW BAD IT GETS, WE KNOW WE’RE NOT ALONE. It can feel so isolating and confusing from the start: Just getting a diagnosis of FTD takes 3.6 years on average. But no family facing FTD should ever have to face it alone, and with your help, we’re working to make sure that no one does.

The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD) is dedicated to a world without FTD, and to providing help and support for those living with this disease today. Choose to bring hope to our families: www.theAFTD.org/learnmore

NOW WE’RE COOKING

SEAFOOD PAELLA FOR FIVE

By Elmer Oliveros, Brothers Fish & Chips

BY JEREMY WAYNE

WONDERFUL DINING

FOOD & SPIRITS

What’s cooking in Westchester and Fairfield counties? Plenty, it seems. Last month, WAG’s first Wonderful Dining column under lockdown brought you seven of the best local restaurants for takeout or delivery of terrific restaurant food to your door.

This month, thanks to a new cookbook cooked up by three local industry stalwarts, Wonderful Dining wants you to enjoy restaurant-standard meals that you cook yourself, at home.

Johnny Livanos of City Limits Diner in White Plains and Moderne Barn in Armonk, Susanna Sussman of Meals-on-Wheels of White Plains and restaurant public relations maven Jessica Rosen Klein, have teamed up to create “Westchester Cooks,” a cookbook filled with recipes from chefs, restaurateurs and local cookery writers. There’s a suggested donation of $10 for the online copy and all proceeds are being donated to Lifting Up Westchester, an organization that provides food, shelter and support to those in need, right here in our own community.

Recipes come from across our region, so that there is a palpable (if perhaps inadvertent) sense of local and seasonal,and more than $5,000 has already been raised.

The New York Times recently reported that COVID-19 has seen a return to dependence on tinned and processed foods. Well, what goes around comes around and one of the many pleasing aspects of “Westchester Cook”s is that not only does this cookbook give us the opportunity to eat more healthily at home, it simultaneously gives some of the most hard-hit people in our community some much-needed help.

The book is divided into breakfast, starters, mains, sides and desserts and there are more than 40 recipes across the pages. Featured restaurants include X20 Xaviar’s on the Hudson in Yonkers, Sonora in Port Chester, The Cookery in Dobbs Ferry and Lulu’s in Scarsdale.

Here are three recipes that I have already sampled from the book, reproduced with kind permission from the publishers, as easy to make as they are delicious to eat.

To download “Westchester Cooks” and make your donation, visit liftingupwestchester.

(JW notes: This is the perfect dish for a family or a group of caring, sharing roommates looking for a bit of variety during lockdown. I also happen to love the restaurant it hails from, Brothers Fish & Chips in Ossining. Just like the Andalusians, chef Elmer Oliveros understands that a paella doesn’t have to be complex to be good. Just be generous with the saffron and use pingingly fresh shellfish, which Whole Foods will obligingly deliver if you are sheltering in place.)

Ingredients 32 to 40 ounces of seafood stock 8 whole shrimp 6 clams 12 mussels 1 red pepper 1 white onion 32 ounces white rice 1/4 teaspoon saffron 1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning 1 teaspoon sea salt 1/2 cup olive oil Directions 1. Start with olive oil over medium heat.

2. Add diced onion and pepper. Cook 1 to 2 minutes. Then add salt, Cajun seasoning, saffron and chili flakes, with 8 ounces of stock. Place the clams around the pan, leaving the middle empty to add rice.

3. Add shrimp and mussels with the rest of the stock and let it cook uncovered for 15 minutes on medium heat.

Note: Mussels and shrimp can be taken out of the pan after 10 minutes to prevent overcooking them.

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ROASTED FREE RANGE CHICKEN WITH STAR ANISE BRINE

By Peter X. Kelly, Xaviars Restaurant Group

(JW’s note: Nothing coos “comfort food” more than roast chicken, while the star anise brine in this wonderful dish from Peter X. Kelly of Xaviars Restaurant Group adds a touch of Eastern razzle dazzle. I served this with creamy mashed potatoes and a simple green salad. It was heavenly.)

Ingredients 1 large whole chicken (3 1/2 to 4 pounds) 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon olive oil For the brine: 1 gallon water 1⁄3 cup kosher salt 1⁄2 cup sugar 6 tablespoons soy sauce 6 to 8 tablespoons black peppercorns 2-inch piece peeled ginger (optional) 8 pieces star anise 6 bay leaves (optional) Directions In a large non reactive bowl, place all brine ingredients and stir till sugar and salt dissolve.

Submerge whole chicken in brine and leave in refrigerator for 10 to 12 hours (no more). Remove chicken from brine and rinse under cold running water. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Chicken is now ready to cook.

1. Place a large oven proof sauté pan or roasting pan over medium high heat. To the pan add the butter and olive oil.

2. When butter and oil are hot, add chicken to pan and brown chicken on all sides.

3. When brown, place chicken breast side up and place pan with chicken in a 400°F preheated oven and roast for 50 to 60 minutes till juices run clear.

4. Remove chicken from oven and allow to rest 15 minutes.

5. Slice chicken and serve

BARBRA’S BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

By Jessica Rosen Klein

(JW’s note: Who doesn’t love a chocolate chip cookie? Well, me actually. The chocolate chips always leave me wanting more chocolate, while the ‘traduced’ cookie leaves me wanting more cookie. Then, I tried these. They take minutes to make and bake and are a rich and satisfying delight of a bite. Now I’m a convert. Thank you Jessica Rosen Klein, and Barbra!)

Ingredients 1⁄2 cup salted butter (1 stick) 6 tablespoons white sugar 6 tablespoons dark brown sugar 1 egg 1 1⁄8 cup flour 1 tsp vanilla 1⁄4 tsp baking soda 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional) 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 2. Cream butter.

3. Add sugar, vanilla and egg. Mix well.

4. Add dry ingredients.

5. Blend nuts and morsels.

Drop by spoonful on a lightly coated baking sheet (butter) and cook for 10 to 12 minutes.

Place on wire rack to cool.

Seafood paella. Courtesy Brothers Fish & Chips.

Roast chicken with star anise brine. Photograph by Peter X. Kelly Chocolate chip cookies. Photograph by Jeffrey Klein.

JUNE-JULY 2020 WAGMAG.COM

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A PRIMER ON SCOTCH WHISKEY, ER, WHISKY STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY DOUG PAULDING

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WINE & DINE

FOOD & SPIRITS

Yes, it’s a strange time to be alive and odd to be tasked with writing about wine and spirits. In this endeavor I, and most of my colleagues, will attend luncheons or dinners with winemakers or spirit distillers and/or their employers. We will taste through the inventory on hand and hear stories of the creation and evolution of the subject. We are often invited to seminars, where regional consortio staff members might give us the history and bottom line and, of course, offer up a taste of a series of representative styles. And then there are the media trips to other lands, where we are flown to distant places, sometimes with a few journalists; sometimes with many from around the world. After any of these events, it is fairly simple to compose an engaging story. We hear, we taste, we question, we compare. But today all of those options are on hold so we have to get creative.

I visited the local Total Wines store in Norwalk, Connecticut, where the inventory is second to none in the area. I randomly walked around, a bit lost, looking for inspiration. I ambled aisle to aisle, picking up bottle after bottle until I found myself in the spirits section and was immediately drawn to the Scotch whiskey area. (Note: Scotland drops the “e,” but the preferred American spelling is with it.) For reasons unknown, Scotch whiskey has always held a particular attraction for me. Perhaps because my maternal grandfather was born in Glasgow, Scotland. Perhaps because it was my first drink in an adult setting in a restaurant.

Perhaps because I have bonded with a few friends over an attractive dram or two of Scotch, while discussing life and solving the world’s problems. Sadly, some of these friends are no longer here, so in my mind there is a permanence and a certain “holiness” to these sacred, or profane, memories.

Single malt whiskey may be the gold standard of whiskeys worldwide. Scotland and Ireland both lay claim to being the originator of this fermented, distilled and aged product, but the single malts of Scotland all have their unique flavors and personalities. The Highland region employs smoked peat moss to dry the malted (sprouted) grain.

Each distillery has its own peaty preferences of flavor and concentration. Some like a hint of smokiness for accent, while others are so peaty and smoky it will take multiple tastes to appreciate them. And then there are all the styles in between.

So I was wandering in the Scotch aisle looking for an

WAGMAG.COM JUNE-JULY 2020

Grangestone Highland Single Malt Whiskey finished in premium Madeira, Rum and Sherry casks for added flavor.

angle. Some of these Scotches are wildly expensive, reaching into the tens of thousands of dollars. Many are in the typical price range of $45 to $100 dollars or so. But I stumbled across Grangestone, an affordable and interesting Highland single malt Scotch whiskey. I bought three bottles, each for about $26. Each of these bottles begin the same way, aged in traditional American oak casks. They are then transferred into casks that have matured other products to their happy place. One was finished in premium Madeira casks, one was in premium rum casks and the third in premium sherry casks.

Each bottle was clearly of the same lineage, but there were subtle flavor differences from these finishing casks.

Madeira is an island off the coast of northwest Africa belonging to Portugal where Madeira is exclusively made. It is a fortified wine, shocked during the fermentation process with high alcohol brandy to arrest it, thus maintaining some of the natural sugars of the grape. It is then aged in wood for years or sometimes for many decades. Sherry is made in southwest Spain and is also a fortified wine. Sherry has many styles from bone dry to extra sweet. And rum, of course, is derived from sugar or cane juice or molasses and is typically produced throughout the Caribbean. Because it’s made in so many different countries, there are no universal rules or laws for its production. But success sells and producers pay attention to what sells and may try to emulate a style with their own grace note of flavor.

The Madeira cask contributed hints of a dark Port softly carried by the whiskey. The rum cask is much more aromatic, showing clean whiskey flavors tempered by a slight touch of molasses. The sherry cask whiskey was considerably dryer, probably made with a cask that previously matured dry Amontillado or Oloroso sherry. These whiskeys all come in at 40% alcohol by volume, or at 80 proof. Each of them had a distinct personality and any of them could become a personal favorite, which could change with the day or night temperatures, food available or current company.

Grangestone Highland Single Malt Whisky —affordable, delicious and educational. What could be better?

Write me at doug@dougpaulding.com.

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COPING WITH THE PANDEMIC AND ITS AFTERMATH

BY DANA DORFMAN

WELL

HEALTH & FITNESS

The coronavirus pandemic will end. But it won’t end in a decisive moment with bells ringing, horns blaring and dancing in the streets — as marked Victory in Europe Day 75 years ago this past May 8. The endgame of the pandemic is likely to be a drawn-out affair. We won’t be eradicating the virus itself so much as we’ll be eradicating the conditions that are hospitable to it. That will happen when we have an effective vaccine that can be administered to every human being and, over time, will eliminate the disease, as with smallpox. The virus may reappear seasonally and require revaccination for a modified strain, as with the flu, but most epidemiologists expect that it will be in a less virulent form and cause less social upheaval than we are currently experiencing.

So, the coronavirus is likely to be with us for some time and may never disappear entirely. What then of the havoc wreaked by this pathogen? How do we recover from the damage and destruction to our physical and mental health, to our economic well-being, to our social fabric, to every aspect of our lives? Millions have suffered grievous personal loss and all have suffered the loss of a way of life that may not be resurrected in familiar form. “Returning to normal life” as we knew it may not be a useful concept. Surely, we’ll be able to hug our grandchildren, shop for groceries and earn a living, but what will work look like? Will we be going to a restaurant for dinner? To the movies?

To a ballgame? The future is wildly uncertain and, as the reality of that uncertainty sinks in, it exacerbates the emotional toll already taken by fear, anxiety and grief.

Just as the scale of the trauma inflicted by this outbreak has been unprecedented, it could leave millions of people wrestling with long-lasting psychological effects. Those who have lost loved ones and been devastated financially will be most susceptible to long-lasting trauma, though for most of us, anxiety and fear will outlast the immediate danger and prolong social and economic recovery. Many people will need professional help to see them through and we will all need strategies — both now and for the foreseeable future — for coping with ongoing emotional strains. Here are some suggestions: Consider limiting your exposure to news and social media: We must stay informed but constant updates and

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monitoring feeds rather than alleviates anxiety. Consider checking in once a day at a set time. To avoid misinformation and sensationalized coverage that will be confusing and frightening, stick to trusted sources like the CDC and your local public health authorities. Limit what you share with others to information that you’ve verified.

Stay in touch with friends and family: Social distancing and self-isolation make us feel disconnected and can heighten anxiety and depression. Consider scheduling regular chats that take advantage of technology. Seeing familiar faces on Skype, FaceTime, or Zoom can do wonders for your state of mind.

Find things to talk and laugh about that take your mind off the coronavirus. Stay away from people who are overcritical or who reinforce your fears.

Take control of what you can control: Avoid focusing on questions that have no answers or circumstances that are beyond your control. You can’t control the virus outbreak but you can take steps to reduce your own risk. Follow guidelines from the CDC and your local authorities. Keep your life in order: Get dressed every day. Make the bed. Prepare and eat healthy meals.

Exercise: Practice stress relief activities like meditation or yoga. Getting plenty of sleep will boost your immune system.

Do something for someone else: Focusing on the needs of others, especially those in need, is good for them, good for your community and good for you. Much of the stress of living through these times is the feeling of powerlessness. Helping others helps you feel in control and gives you a sense of purpose. Is there an elderly or disabled neighbor you can check on? Deliver groceries for? A food bank you can donate to? Local social organizations may have suggestions on how you can help.

There may be ways in which this will be a better world for having gone through this. Already, communities are finding ways to bring us together even as we stay apart. Businesses and other institutions can be remarkably creative in devising flexible policies that better support working parents, the disabled and health-care needs. We have come to appreciate the contributions of many who have been overlooked and underpaid. We may emerge from this crisis a better prepared, more just and equal society, one that truly values the common good.

Dana Dorfman, Ph.D., is a New York City-based psychotherapist. For more, visit drdanadorfman.com.

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THE AMERICAN DREAM

BY GIOVANNI ROSELLI

“Every father should remember that one day his son will follow his example instead of his advice.”

- inventor Charles F. Kettering As life continues on in these unique times, I have chosen to take these last few months to prioritize self-reflection and selfimprovement, both personally and professionally. The fitness industry that I have been heavily entrenched in for the last decade has been in peril, so it has truly given me time to reflect and also reboot. As we are forced to “celebrate” holidays in not so ideal circumstances, I wanted to take this time to honor a special father for Father’s Day.

Vincenzo Roselli with the author, his son. Courtesy the Roselli family.

WELL

HEALTH & FITNESS

THE AMERICAN DREAM My father, Vincenzo Roselli, was one of five brothers and sisters born and raised in a small town and commune, Carato, Italy. He came to the United States with nothing and built a career, a family and a life that I look on with admiration.

After having two wonderful daughters, my parents got to hear the words, “It’s a boy” when I was born and it was met with a little extra sense of pride to my father. It ensured the family name would continue on, which is something very meaningful in the Italian culture.

As the co-owner of R&T Auto Repairs in White Plains — along with my uncle, Charlie Tota — my father made a living as an auto mechanic specialist. I have added the word specialist because it would not do him justice to simply call him a mechanic. I remember my father coming home anywhere between 7 and 8:30 p.m. every day from the gas station. As a child, I was basically winding down the night and getting ready for bed. He would eat dinner and then go read the paper on the couch and often fall asleep there. I saw my dad fall asleep on the couch a lot over the years. We often joked and commented on his snoring. Being so young,

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what I didn’t appreciate and realize until later on is that he was falling asleep on the couch, because he worked so hard and was so exhausted that he literally had no more energy. He was drained both physically and mentally. And guess what? He woke up the next day and did it all over again. Day after day, and year after year. But why?

PUTTING THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE If there is something that my father exemplifies, it is the ability to do these three things: Take care of your family.

Take care of your house.

Take care of your car.

Talk about simple. Talk about priorities.

He always made sure we had a strong roof over our heads and food on the table. All three of his children graduated from college with honors, have gone on to successful lives and provided him with many loving grandchildren. He may drive my mother a little crazy at times (what spouse doesn’t?), but they have always been there for each other.

He meticulously takes care of anything and everything that he works on — and the job isn’t complete until it’s done well. This doesn’t just go for working on cars. This goes for everything in his life, including his immaculate garden and pristine homemade wine. The word “old school” is often thrown around nowadays, but there are a very few like my dad out there who can truly live up to that moniker.

I often joke that if I took care of my car like I take care of my body, and if my dad took care of his body like he takes care of his cars, then I’d have much more interest and care for my cars and he’d had much less aches and pains in his body.

LEADING BY EXAMPLE I vividly remember one talk we had when I was in my early 20s, and he told me that, “I don’t want you to go as far as I did.

I want you to go further. I want you to be better.” And isn’t that every parent’s dream, to create a life for their children that is better than his was?

Growing up, I really didn’t think I was very much like my father. Now that I’m grown up and a father myself, I realize just how much we are actually alike and I can only hope and wish to be like him.

We both ended up working with our hands, just in different ways. We are both very emotional. We both have a temper.

We are both passionate in what we do. He is strong and it made me strong. I’ve even found myself falling asleep on the couch. That’s one similarity, among many others that I will be happy to share for years to come.

He gets and reads WAG magazine every month so I’m hoping this surprise article puts a smile on his face (and probably a tear in his eye. He’s emotional, remember?)

Thank you for everything, Dad. And all the great men and fathers out there, Happy Fathers Day. On a side note, if anyone is struggling with his fitness and/ or nutrition regimen given the current set of circumstances, please feel free to reach out to me at Gio@GiovanniRoselli. com and I will be happy to assist you with my virtual online coaching program.

TRUTH AND FICTION FROM WAG'S EDITOR

PROVOCATIVE POSTS ON POWER thegamesmenplay.com

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PET OF THE MONTH

PET CARE

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Like a certain Sylvester Stallone character, this Rocky has the spirit to overcome hard times. The 1-year-old Labrador Retriever/German Shepherd mix is a smart, active pup who loves palling around with his canine buddies. Sadly, his owner could no longer care for him and didn’t have the proper amount of room for him to exercise.

This Rocky, too, is initially shy with new people and needs help building his confidence, so a more experienced owner who can guide him — one who also has a yard or a yen for the dog park — is preferred.

Rocky warms up quickly and is wonderful and loving once he knows you. Overall, he is a great dog who will blossom in the right home.

To meet Rocky, visit the SPCA of Westchester at 590 N. State Road in Briarcliff Manor.

Founded in 1883, the SPCA is a no-kill shelter and is not affiliated with the ASPCA. The SPCA is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 1 to 4 p.m.

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WAG

WHERE & WHEN

SWOON FOR JUNE

Salute the sun on the summer solstice, seen here at sunset over the Mojave Desert in California, June 20, 2016.

Photograph by Jessie Eastland

June — a month for brides and their fathers, or any father, along with flags and summer sun.

Begin by trooping the colors on Flag Day, first established by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. It’s also the 245th birthday of the U.S. Army, established in 1775.

Six days later, you can salute the sun as it reaches the highest point in the Northern Hemisphere over the Tropic of Cancer for the summer solstice. Although it’s also known as midsummer, it marks the beginning of summer. And while it can fall on any of three days, June 20 through 22, this year it falls on June 20. Those who are interested in the exact moment of the sun’s zenith should set their watches and cellphones that day

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for 5:43 p.m. EDT. A day later, tell dad how much he means to you on Father’s Day, June 21 — founded in Spokane, Washington, on June 19, 1908, by Sonora Smart Dodd, whose father, William Smart Dodd, was a Civil War veteran and single father of six. Assist dad at the grill, gear up for a game of catch or get set for some throwback sporting events on the tube.

Last but certainly not least, the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks will go on in New York City. And anyway, not even a pandemic can stop the celebration of the Declaration of Independence, signed this day in 1776. So get out the grill, kick back and have a spectacular Fourth.

We brought the best pediatric specialists closer to you.

The newly opened Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital Pediatric Specialty Center brings top specialists to one convenient Greenwich location. From allergies to cancer treatment, your child will be cared for by specialists from a children’s hospital that ranks among the best in the country according to U.S. News & World Report. In addition, Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital physicians provide 24/7 emergency services and onsite care for children at Greenwich Hospital. Everything your child could need from our top ranked children’s hospital is now close by. ynhch.org

WAG

WATCH

MAKING AN ‘IMPACT’ Impact100 Westchester is a women’s collectivegiving organization engaging women in philanthropy. The membership of Impact100 Westchester voted this year to change its process and, instead of awarding six Transformational Project Grants, decided to award 12 Core Mission Grants in light of the pandemic. The six 2020 recipients of the $30,000 Core Mission Grants are Big Brothers Big Sisters of Family Services of Westchester, Community Resource Center, HOPE Community Services, Mount Vernon Neighborhood Health Center, Port Chester Carver Center and Westchester Medical Center Foundation – SAAVE Program. The six 2020 recipients of the $24,500 Core Mission Grants are Boys & Girls Club of New Rochelle, Cerebral Palsy of Westchester, Greyston Foundation, Human Development Services of Westchester, YWCA of White Plains & Central Westchester and YWCA Yonkers. The 2020 recipient of the $15,000 Focus Area Grant is Feeding Westchester. The four 2020 recipients of the $4,000 Focus Area Grants are Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester, Community Center of Northern Westchester, Hillside Food Outreach and Westchester Community College Foundation.

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1. Impact100 Westchester Executive Board. From left to right: Blakely Brodbeck, Jane Petty, Roberta Shapiro, Dawn Hoesterey, Laura Stone, Samantha Schwam and Laura Rotter

NICE GOING, ANYELY

The frontline health-care staff at Saint Joseph’s Medical Center in Yonkers recently celebrated the discharge of one of the hospital’s last COVID-19 patients. Anyely Gomez de Martinez, also of Yonkers, was discharged to applause and cheers on May 14. She was admitted to the hospital on April 2.

2. COVID-19 survivor Anyely Gomez de Martinez heads home after six weeks at Saint Joseph’s Medical Center in Yonkers.

HAILING HEROES Mount Vernon’s first responders paid tribute to Wartburg’s frontline staff battling this community’s COVID-19 pandemic on Friday May 15 by parading through Wartburg’s 34-acre campus. The parade included representatives from the Fire Department, Police Department, the Office of the Mayor, City Council, the Department of Public Works, the Recreation Department and the Office of Emergency Management.

3-4. Mount Vernon’s first responders salute Wartburg staffers with a car parade.

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WATCH

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

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Lowe’s home improvement donated 700 flower baskets for Mother’s Day to the residents and nursing staff of Wartburg in Mount Vernon. The flowers were provided by CK Greenhouses of Cheshire, Connecticut. In a statement, the company said: “We know that Mother’s Day may feel a bit different than in years past and we hope this makes it a little brighter.”

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Staffers at Wartburg with floral baskets from Lowe’s.

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Dream Kitchens and Baths Artist Oscar Lett works on her mural in downtown White Plains, a public art partnership between ArtsWestchester and LMC, a Lennar Company.

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WE WONDER:

WHERE DO YOU LIKE TO ESCAPE TO (IN YOUR MIND)?

Christine Alexander

Vanessa Cichelli

paralegal Norwalk resident

supervisor at a Mount Kisco daycare Bedford Hills resident

chair, Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) Manhattan resident

Michele Cohen

Brianna Flynn assistant teacher Mount Kisco resident

director of perinatal services at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln White Plains resident

“I like to use the law of attraction and try and envision what my future would be like once all my goals are accomplished. It helps take me away from reality but also keeps me focused and in a positive mindset.”

“I like to escape to the happiest place on earth, Disney World.”

“Most recently during quarantine, I have been building 3D puzzles and the architecture series of Lego, (featuring) many of the world’s greatest landmarks. I find it to be a calming, peaceful endeavor. I am fascinated by the way the buildings come together. Pieces from one building are not used the same way in other buildings...

“I like to escape to somewhere with music where I can freely dance.”

“A tropical island, like Tahiti, replete with a beautiful white sandy beach, bright sunshine, warm winds and topaz blue water. I’m reclining and sunning, with a cold piña colada in my hand — just looking quietly in the distance, not a worry in the world—and being thankful I can enjoy the beauty and tranquility of nature.”

Valeri Larko

Samantha Ruff

Kecia Gaither

artist New Rochelle resident

Ryan Martin

assistant teacher Mount Kisco resident

Alisha Perkins

Adriana Rivera communications and marketing manager White Plains resident

registered nurse Goldens Bridge resident

“Art has been my escape since I was a teenager. Fortunately, it’s an escape that has served me well, so even when I’m not physically painting, dreaming about painting is a wonderful way to put myself in a good place. Thinking about my current painting or my next series of paintings or recalling all of the terrific paintings I’ve seen in museums around the globe — all of that makes me happy...

“I like to escape with my wife to somewhere peaceful that has good music.”

“Typically, I like to envision a beach when I’m feeling like I need an escape. A warm, sunny and breezy beach day with sounds of the ocean waves is what I like to escape to. (It) brings me a sense of calmness that I look for.”

“As a writer, I can escape through worlds and characters from my own imagination. I like to create works that reflect real-life situations with a hint of humor. Music also helps me escape. I always have a song playing in my mind. It’s great working at the Music Conservatory of Westchester, where I can write and be surrounded by music.”

“I like to escape to nature.

I love the feeling of being in or on water. It is nice and relaxing. When I am near a body of water or on a boat, I feel like everything in my life is at peace.”

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paralegal Peekskill resident