It’s Labor Day weekend, and the very last Ossining RiverJam Friday of Summer 2022 is tonight! Alas, all good things must come to an end, until next year. Be sure to follow @townofossining on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates on tonight’s festivities.
The food truck lineup for tonight, starting at 5 PM, is as follows: Brothers Fish and Chips, Delicias Peruvian Kitchen, Wanna Empanada, Jegoma Food, Wrappers Delight, New England’s Finest Lobster, Weenie Wagon, Tacoish, Paradise Taqueria & Birrieria, Dough Nation Pizza Truck and Bigfoot Creamery. Duncan’s Abbey and Brooklyn Cider House will be joining Sing Sing Kill Brewery at the final Craft Beverage Corral of the season, and the Chamber will once again host menus for some of your favorite local eateries in case you want to order delivery to the park. Note that parking near the waterfront area is extremely limited on Friday evenings - you are likely to have more luck if you look for parking in the train station area before the overpass.
Andrea and the Armenian Rug Riders will perform at 7 PM. If you love classic rock and dance, you really won’t want to miss this concert. Come on down!
A big round of applause for the amazing team that has made this series possible. To our Ossining RiverJam partners – Mike & Miriam Risko, Eric Gearity of Sing Sing Kill Brewery, Gayle Marchica and Johnny G of the Greater Ossining Chamber of Commerce, Jermain Smith of ENU Builds, Brian Sheridan of Hothouse Design, Recreation Superintendent Bill Garrison, our fantastic sound guys Keith Heilmann and John Chocianowski, our very own Town Parks foreman Mario Velardo and his crew, and Victoria Cafarelli and Acacia Mauriello for the PR, coordinating, and oh so much more -- a million times, THANK YOU! Our fabulous first responders, the Ossining Police Department and OVAC, deserve a very big shoutout for keeping us safe as we have fun. And another huge THANK YOU to our event sponsors: New York Presbyterian, Gracelane Kennels, Bigfoot Creamery, Coral Sea Pools, Seiden Real Estate Team, Matero Fine Jewelry, PKF O’Connor Davies Accounting, who join the Town and Mike Risko Music, Sing Sing Kill Brewery, the Chamber of Commerce, and Ossining Recreation in providing the funds that make this event possible.
Though summer is ending, there’s no shortage of things to look forward to as fall begins. School started yesterday in the Ossining School District, and Briarcliff Schools will be back in session starting next Wednesday. (Please be sure to drive even more carefully than you normally would, particularly around buses!) For my part, I was pleased to be able to join the OUFSD during New Teacher Orientation last week to welcome this new cohort to our wonderful community and discuss how working together benefits all of us.
This week’s Back to School Block Party was also loads of fun!
There’s more fall fun on the horizon as we prepare for Car Free Week - yes, week! We are hard at work with Green Ossining, the Village, 511NY Rideshare, the Ossining Schools and the local business community planning a fun suite of forward-looking, sustainable activities for the days surrounding Car Free Day. Car Free Week will begin on Saturday, September 17 and run through the official Car Free Day, September 22. Take the pledge now to reduce or eliminate your car usage for at least one day during Car Free Week, and be sure to follow @townofossining on Facebook and/or Instagram to enjoy all the car-free/car-lite fun! Last year, Ossining won the prize for most signups of any municipality in New York, and was also acknowledged for innovative programming. We’re looking to repeat that feat this year, with everyone’s help!
If you are the owner of a local brick & mortar business that would like to support Car Free Week, please fill out this Google form to let us know what you might like to offer patrons as a reward for participating (for example, $1 off any purchase of $10 or more; a stamp on a frequent customer card, etc.), and we will add your establishment to our promotional efforts.
Other things to look forward to this fall: the end of the Westchester Power pause, and the return of 100% green, fixed-rate electricity supply! The program notification letter will be mailed later this month, and the new contract begins on November 1. If you follow @townofossining, you might have already seen that Sustainable Westchester began its public engagement about the new contract earlier this week; we will continue to share opportunities to learn more and ask questions on our social media pages and here as we find out about them.
There is one more opportunity to attend a Westchester Power webinar this week, tonight at 7 PM - follow this link to sign up. However, I’ll give a brief rundown of the details on the program here for those who want to learn more while also enjoying tonight’s concert! The current program rates will be 15.128 ¢/kWh for 100% NYS renewable energy and 13.364 ¢/kWh for standard supply until the new contract ends in November 2024. In addition to giving us a way to dramatically reduce our carbon footprint, this program offers a buffer against fluctuating and volatile utility pricing, which has never been more important. As before, you will be able to opt out, opt back in or change supply at any time without fees or penalties. If you have any questions, feel free to email or call (914) 242-4725 X111.
The County and Volunteer New York have also teamed up to create a really robust weekend of programming for the 9/11 Day of Service next week. Click here to check out the full list of volunteer opportunities.
There is still time to give us your input on Ossining’s climate adaptive shoreline! Please review the proposed designs and provide your input at the Shoreline Revitalization Project virtual open house website. The survey window has been extended to Wednesday, September 7 to give you more time to take a look and share your opinions. You do not need to have any special expertise to participate; all you need is approximately ten minutes to review the designs and share your opinions on them.
Speaking of rising water levels, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection has informed us that beginning next week, they will begin to draw down water levels in the New Croton Reservoir to allow for routine operational inspections of the New Croton Dam and spillway. As DEP begins lowering the water level of the reservoir, there will be significant increases in the flow of water into the Croton River. Members of the public should be extra cautious while the increased water is released into the river. Activities such as wade fishing and kayaking are discouraged, as the fluctuating flow in the river could make them unsafe. DEP will initiate the increased release starting on or about September 6th and continuing until approximately September 27th. More details in the message below.
That’s all for now! For ideas for what to do this weekend and beyond, keep scrolling. If you have little ones who love the splash pad at Louis Engel, be sure to take them this weekend, as it will close for the season after Labor Day.
Town offices close at 3:15 PM today for the last of our Summer Fridays; we’ll be back to 4:30 closures starting next week. We will also be closed on Monday in observance of Labor Day; be sure to check the Waste & Recycling calendar for holiday-related changes to your pickup schedule. (While you’re there, consider downloading the Recycle Right app if you haven’t already! We have a new demonstration video uploaded to the page to show you what the app is like - check it out! If you’re ready to download now, click here to download it to your Android phone and here for iPhone.)
We will see you soon; hope you enjoy your Labor Day weekend safely!
--Dana
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