Happy Friday! There are just three Ossining RiverJam Fridays left for Summer 2022. The weather forecast looks clear for another lovely evening at Louis Engel Park, but be sure to follow @townofossining on Facebook and/or Instagram for the latest updates just in case!
The food truck lineup for tonight, starting at 5 PM, is as follows: Brothers Fish and Chips, Delicias Peruvian Kitchen, Dough Nation Pizza Truck, Paradise Birrieria & Taqueria, Jegoma Food, New England’s Finest Lobster, Weenie Wagon, Tacoish, Rock n Rollz Exotic Egg Rolls, Chef Rob on Wheels, Bigfoot Creamery, and Homestyle Desserts and Creamery. Sloop Brewing Company will be joining Sing Sing Kill Brewery at the Craft Beverage Corral, 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. If you need to drop your stuff and your family, do that first, then park on the other side of the train tracks.
This week, the Chamber of Commerce will also be hosting a networking event for local business owners at their tent starting at 6 PM. Jay Prince and Friends will perform at 7 PM. Expect an eclectic mix of classics and hits, backed by a beautiful sunset!
I continue to be grateful for the amazing team that makes this event possible. A big round of applause for 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, and of course our very own Town Parks foreman Mario Velardo and his crew. Our fabulous first responders, the Ossining Police Department and OVAC, deserve a very big shoutout for keeping us safe as we have fun. Thank you thank you thank you! 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.
In other Town news, this week we continued to explore ways to reduce our carbon footprint and adapt to the changes that are coming. On Wednesday, Victoria Cafarelli from my office traveled to Hudson, NY to attend a meeting with the Flood Resilience Network (FRN). The FRN is a group of municipalities working with experts who provide municipalities with technical assistance in the areas of flood resilience and climate adaptation. We first learned of this network following our participation in phase 1 of the Climate-adaptive Design studio. It is always great to learn more from our neighbors throughout the Hudson Valley and connect on these critical issues.
As part of the site visit, staff from the mayor’s office and design consultants shared design elements currently under consideration for their climate adaptive waterfront. Hudson was the only other community in the Hudson Valley besides Ossining to receive CaD phase 2 funding in the last grant round, so it was particularly interesting to see what they are doing! It is important to see how our respective waterfronts are both similar and different, and how we can learn from each other to ensure that access to the Hudson River continues for generations to come in the face of climate change.
Speaking of flood resilience, we are still looking for your input for Ossining’s climate adaptive shoreline! Get the latest on this project and provide your input at the Shoreline Revitalization Project virtual open house website. The survey closes August 28.
A flood-related reminder for landlords: Westchester County has adopted a new law regarding flood history disclosure. This new law requires that landlords provide prospective tenants (at commercial or residential properties) with a copy of the Flood History Disclosure Form. This form will detail whether the property has experienced flooding within the previous ten years. The Flood Disclosure law took effect this past Monday, August 15, 2022. A PDF copy of the Flood Disclosure Form can be found on a dedicated subpage of the County’s Planning Department Website, https://planning.westchestergov.com/flood. Landlords can reach out to the County’s Department of Planning with any questions at (914) 995-4400.
In other sustainability news, the Town and Green Ossining have also begun planning for Car-Free Day, coming up on Thursday, September 22. It’s not too early to take the pledge - click here to pledge to find a car-free or car-lite means of getting around that day (or any day before September 30), and stay tuned for more details on the fun events and goodies we have planned for that day!
A brief parks update: Our work to develop a trail connector at Ryder Park continues, with the help of the NYNJ Trail Conference and the Environmental Advisory Committee. The trail is ready for a lovely stroll through the woods, remember to bring sturdy shoes and stay on the path to steer clear of ticks and poison ivy. Our incredible EAC student liaisons are working on signage to further improve this hidden gem.
There is also a new swing set at Gerlach Park! This new park feature replaces some old swings that were removed a little while ago. It was a bit of a wait for the new swings, but we think it was well worth it - these new swings are ADA accessible and ready for lots of fun for children of all ages and abilities. Hats off to the Parks Department for another excellent improvement.
Lastly, a reminder for those voters who are registered with the Democratic, Republican or Conservative parties – there is still time to vote in your party’s primary for the 17th Congressional District! Early voting continues through Sunday; dates and times are as follows:
- Today (August 19) until 4 PM
- Saturday, August 20 and Sunday, August 21 from 10 AM - 6 PM
Here in Ossining, early voting is available at the Joseph G. Caputo Community Center at 95 Broadway, Ossining. However, you can also vote at any of the other early voting locations throughout Westchester if one of these is more convenient for your schedule. Click here to view the complete list. The deadline to mail in a request for an absentee ballot has passed, but you can request an absentee ballot in person now through August 22. If you have any questions, please visit the Board of Elections website at citizenparticipation.westchestergov.com or call 914-995-5700.
Primary Election Day is Tuesday, August 23; voting hours are 6 AM until 9 PM. You should have received a piece of mail from the Board of Elections with your polling place information for the primary. If you’ve misplaced it and are not sure where you should go to vote, click here to view the list of primary election polling places for August 23. (Ossining & Briarcliff Manor locations are on pages 5-6.)
If you vote at the Community Center (or even if you don’t) you might also consider becoming a blood donor on Tuesday! The need for donor blood goes up during the summer, when accidents and injuries necessitating transfusions are more common. Senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick is partnering with the American Red Cross to host a blood drive on August 23 from 11:30 AM - 4:30 PM. Click the flier to sign up and use sponsor code OSSINING.
That’s all for now! For ideas for what to do this weekend and beyond, keep scrolling. A reminder about summer schedules for the Town. Summer hours started on July 1, with most Town offices (except for the Town Clerk) closing at 3:15pm on Fridays through Friday, September 2. Please stay safe and healthy and keep cool and we will see you soon!
--Dana
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