Mayor Swiderski: New Stores Throw Parties, Waterfront Work

Fellow residents,

The air is crisper and those trees that go early are turning, and thoughts turn to Fall.  There’s a lot going on, so some quick updates are in order:

FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE

This Friday, we have a musically-themed Friday Night Live with Warburton Avenue closed, restaurants spilling onto the street (along with some food trucks), and three local (and quite excellent) bands to entertain you: the High School jazz band from 6 to 7, “Exit 12”  Jazz from 7 to 8 and the “Blues Mothers” from 8-9. There’s laser tag, balloons and a music play booth for the kids and, as always, the nicest vibe.  

Come on down: the weather is scheduled to be beautiful and it’s time to shake off election craziness and relax. 

AQUEFEST

This annual festival stretches up and down the Croton Aqueduct on Saturday from 12 to 5 and there’s really too much to list here, so just go to http://www.aqueduct.org/aquefest and then drop by the festivities.  The Aqueduct is a wonderful resource we all enjoy, and this festival celebrates it and the communities it transverses.

NEW STORES THROW OPENING PARTIES

Giordano Beauty at 3 Spring Street, Expressions at 549 Warburton, Art Transcending Time at 1 Spring and Maisonette at 578 Warburton all are scheduling a night of opening parties on Thursday, October 11 next week from 6PM to 8PM at each of the shops.  

Drop by, enjoy some light refreshments, meet the owners, and wish them luck.  Mark it down and remember these stores during the holidays.  A lot of your shopping can be done just in these four.

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN  IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE FORMED

The Board of Trustees have appointed Rhoda Barr, Eileen Baecher, Betsy Imershein, Mike Jacobs, Jason Jobe,  Jim Metzger, Dennis Murphy and ex-officio member Ellen Hendricx. to sit on the Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee.

They’re going to figure out how to roll out our comprehensive plan. We thank them for their service and wish them the best on this important effort.

WATERFRONT WORK

Those observant train riders and some local neighbors may have noticed the substantial activity on the southern third of the Waterfront.  Chevron has installed the equipment to both inject and retrieve the fertilizer-laced water that will spur a bacterial bloom that will eat the remaining volatile organic compounds that still pollute that portion of the site.  Some structures have gone in and electric lines are going in shortly to run it all.  The remediation will proceed over the course of the next couple of years.  More updates will follow.  (The air around the site is independently monitored by several air monitoring stations. Their results are published here http://hastingsgov.org/Pages/tappan/tappan2012 for all to see on a daily basis.)

VOTER REGISTRATION

Down to the wire – if you aren’t sure whether you are registered, this site ( [Link]www.canivote.org ) will tell you in about two minutes.  (The NY link was misbehaving when I sent this out, but was working just fine yesterday and not only told me I was good but where I vote)  If you aren’t registered, go to http://www.elections.ny.gov/VotingRegister.html for instructions on how to register. Time is short - the form must be postmarked by October 12th.   

PLANNING BOARD OPENING

We still have two openings on the Planning Board, arguably one of our most important board. This is a once-a-month commitment where you review site plans, requests for variances, and major projects.  It’s actually a lot of fun (really!) and interesting.  They’re looking for people with a  variety of skill sets, including affordable housing, engineering, and legal though you shouldn’t let that discourage you if none apply but you are interested.  Please apply to volunteer@hastingsgov.org.

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A reminder that we are in the school season now:  drivers share the streets with bicyclists and walkers who can come out of anywhere.  Our speed limit is actually about right if you consider how poor the line of sight is on many of our streets.  

Nothing you’re rushing to is worth injuring or killing someone to save a minute.  

It’s also the start of the deer rutting season, which means that they are more likely to jump in front of cars and carry on poorly as hormone-drunken adolescents are won't to do.  If you see a deer, assume others are near by and get the foot off the gas.

See you downtown at Friday Night Live or on the Aqueduct this weekend.

Peter Swiderski, Mayor Hastings-on-Hudson

mayor@hastingsgov.org 755-0014