News

Hope everyone is staying warm, safe and dry! A few words on safety before our regular administrative updates: temperatures are expected to drop sharply this evening, potentially creating icy conditions on wet roads. Please avoid travel if at all possible this evening into Saturday morning. The Town posted a weather advisory yesterday on our Facebook and Instagram pages; click through for more details. Click here for storm preparation information from Con Edison and here for information from Westchester County. 

It’s been another busy week in the Town! At this week’s Board meeting, we officially appointed Deputy Supervisor Liz Feldman to complete the remaining year of my unexpired term, beginning January 1, 2023. Soon-to-be Supervisor Feldman has already served the Town well during her seven years on the Board, including a previous and current stint as Deputy. I am sure she will do a great job as Supervisor and continue moving the Town forward, sustainably. 

Our Deputy Supervisor has been pinch-hitting for me quite a bit this week, as I tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday and have been isolating per CDC and State guidelines, though thankfully I do not have any symptoms. She attended the Menorah Lighting in Market Square on Tuesday evening prior to the Board meeting. Thanks to Rabbi Dovid Labkowski for organizing the event and to Ossining Police Chief Kevin Sylvester for lighting the menorah. 

She also attended this week’s meeting of the Westchester-Putnam Association of Town Supervisors along with Victoria Cafarelli, our Budget Director and Administrative Assistant. 

Please join the Town and Village for Inauguration on Sunday, January 1, 2023, where our new Supervisor will be sworn in along with State Senator Pete Harckham, myself as Assemblywoman, newly elected Town Board Member Jennifer Fields-Tawil, and the recently re-elected Village officials, Mayor Rika Levin and Trustees Manuel Quezada and Dana White. 

This Supervisor appointment will leave a vacancy on the Board. The Town is now seeking letters of interest for a one-year appointment to the Town Board, to end effective December 31, 2023. Please note the seat will be up for election in November of 2023 for a four year term beginning January 1, 2024.  You can learn more about the election process and how to run for office at the Westchester County Board of Elections website.

While all residents of the Town of Ossining are welcome to apply, the Board will be giving special consideration to those who live in the Unincorporated area of the Town of Ossining. Residents of the Unincorporated Town currently have just one representative on the Board, newly elected Councilwoman Jennifer Fields-Tawil, and we would ideally like to increase this representation. Of course, that will not be the only consideration. All interested parties should submit a letter of interest and resume to Martha Quituisaca in the Office of the Town Supervisor () by noon on Friday, January 6, 2023. 

The Supervisor’s Office is also looking for a part time Confidential Secretary to assist the incoming Supervisor. Click here to review the job description and learn how to apply. 

Speaking of transitions, this week and next week’s messages will be my last Supervisor’s Updates! My nascent Assembly office is setting up my new communications channels so they will be ready to go starting in January. Click here to opt in to email updates from me as your new state legislator. My official government social media handle will be @AMDanaLevenberg on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter; like and follow to stay up to date with important information from around the district and the state legislature!

In other news, I’m happy to report that last weekend’s food drive with Senator Pete Harckham was well-attended and fruitful. Senator Harckham and I were joined by Deputy Supervisor Feldman, staff members from the Town and the State Senate offices, volunteers from the Ossining Food Pantry, as well as students from Yorktown High School’s Civic Internship class. We collected more than 1000 donations with an estimated value of almost $2700!

Thanks to everyone who brought food and good cheer to this drive, and to all who generously donated to this year’s various donation drives for our neighbors in need. 

As temperatures plunge today into tomorrow, a reminder that help is available for heating costs for eligible households. The New York Public Service Commission expects heating costs to rise by at least 20% this winter. If you are anticipating difficulty with paying your heating costs, check out the New York State Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP). HEAP can help eligible households with assistance to pay their energy bills this winter.  Learn more about this program and other ways to reduce your heating costs by visiting www.ny.gov/heat. If you are low-income and behind on your bills, you can learn more about the Electric and Gas Debt Relief program here. The deadline to enroll is December 31st, 2022.

County Executive George Latimer reminds all residents to check their energy bills and make sure you are not being charged Westchester County sales tax for your home energy costs. The County has suspended sales tax collection on home energy costs this winter to help combat the effects of rising costs on our households. If you see that you were charged County sales tax on home heating fuels after December 1, contact the County right away at (914) 995-2900. 

That’s all for this week! For upcoming events and more, keep scrolling. Merry Christmas to all who will be celebrating this Sunday, continued Happy Hanukkah for those celebrating, and Happy Kwanzaa to those observing that holiday starting Monday. If you’re doing some last-minute shopping for the holidays, be sure to do it locally and #ShopSmall! And click here for some tips from the New York League of Conservation Voters for making gift wrapping a little more environmentally friendly. 

Town offices will be closed on Monday, December 26. Be sure to check the waste and recycling calendar for changes to your pickup schedule - or, better yet, download the Recycle Right app if you have not already done so. It’s the easiest way to stay current with waste and recycling schedules. Click here to download for Android and here for iOS.

We will see you soon - till then, be safe and healthy!

--Dana

If your business, non-profit, or community group has an event that you would like to submit to be a part of the Supervisor's Update, please complete this form. We are happy to pass along events that provide a benefit to the community and support our local economy. Thank you for helping us to highlight all the best Ossining has to offer!

Subscribe to our email blast list and receive Town news and updates. 

Happy Friday! Hope you’re staying warm and dry at the end of a cold, rainy week. 

We had a very busy Town Board meeting Tuesday. First, more personnel updates: as expected, the Town Board accepted my resignation (effective December 31) at this week’s meeting. However, because one of our Council Members was not able to appear in person, we did not have enough Board members present to vote on a motion to appoint Deputy Supervisor Liz Feldman to serve the remaining year of my unexpired term. That resolution has been tabled until next Tuesday, December 20, at which point we expect to officially make the appointment.  

The Town Board also accepted, with regret, the resignation of Victoria Cafarelli from her position as Administrative Assistant and Budget Director in the Supervisor’s Office, effective December 31. I have known Victoria professionally since she started interning for Assemblywoman Sandy Galef when she was just 14 years old. At the time, she was also teaching CCD at St. Ann’s, a student in the acclaimed Ossining Science Research Program, a leader in Junior States of America, and a high honors student, among many other responsibilities. She has continued to exceed all expectations as an employee and a leader in various roles, diligently executing all responsibilities while also, at different points in time, earning her bachelors’ and master’s degrees in public administration, and pinch hitting as Town Clerk. We are incredibly fortunate that someone so intelligent, competent, and kind has chosen a career in public service right here in our community! While her departure from Town government is a loss for 16 Croton Avenue, I know that she will continue to serve the Town and the Lower Hudson Valley well in her next role. 

There were also happy personnel changes this week! We were very excited to promote Martha Quituisaca to the role of Administrative Assistant and Budget Director in the Supervisor’s office, effective January 1, 2023. Martha has been working for the Town for several years now, first in the Tax Office, and now as Deputy Town Clerk. She has contributed so much to these offices during her years with the Town, all while completing her Masters in Public Administration from John Jay College (just like her predecessor!). She is already learning the ropes from Victoria and we are confident she will hit the ground running in January. We are so proud of Martha and cannot wait to see all she will accomplish in this new role in her continued service to our community.

In other good news, we passed a resolution increasing the real property tax exemption available to senior citizens. County law now enables seniors to exempt all medical and prescription drug expenses that were not reimbursed or paid for by insurance from their income calculations. These exemptions, combined with the recent increase in the income level one can receive while still qualifying for the tax exemption, will make it easier for senior citizens to afford to age in place in Ossining. We are always looking for ways to improve affordability, while making fiscally responsible decisions that enable us to maintain services.

We also officially adopted our 2023 Budget! The final budget is tax cap compliant and contains a 6.5% tax rate decrease for the Town General Fund and a 6.3% decrease for the Unincorporated Fund. This does not necessarily mean that the amount you pay in taxes will go down; it means that because the overall pool of assessed value has increased, everyone can pay a slightly smaller piece of the pie. Thank you to everyone who provided input during the budget process. A huge round of applause is due to our incredible finance team of Comptroller Dale Brennan, Deputy Comptroller Liz Naccari and Budget Director Victoria Cafarelli, as well as all of our Department Heads, for their input and work helping us put forth a sound budget for 2023. This budget will continue to help keep our community environmentally, economically, physically and mentally healthy while working toward improving equity. 

Lastly, we passed resolutions for a number of intermunicipal agreements to secure key services for next year and beyond, as well as authorization to enter into an agreement with Mike Risko Music to administer the Summer Concert Series part of RiverJam, in 2023. Thank you to the Riskos for once again helping to select an awesome line up of diverse musical styles and coordinate the bands so we can offer another great summer of music, food, and fun at the Ossining Riverfront. It certainly feels nice to think of warm summer days as the temperatures continue to drop! 

In other news, the season of giving continues! Tomorrow, December 17 from 12 - 2 PM, State Senator Pete Harckham and I will be hosting a holiday food drive at the Ossining High School parking lot. If you can, please pull together some non-perishable food items to donate and stop by! Collected items will benefit the Ossining Food Pantry. The most needed items are listed on the flier below.

There are also multiple ongoing drives for holiday gifts, winter clothing, and more. We are hosting a Toys for Tots box here at Town & Village Hall (16 Croton Avenue)!

If you’re in need of generosity as the temperatures continue to drop, help is available for your home heating costs. The New York Public Service Commission expects heating costs to rise by at least 20% this winter, which will undoubtedly be a huge burden for many households. If you are anticipating difficulty with paying your heating costs, check out the New York State Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP). HEAP can help eligible households with assistance to pay their energy bills this winter.  Learn more about this program and other ways to reduce your heating costs by visiting www.ny.gov/heat. If you are low-income and behind on your bills, you can learn more about the Electric and Gas Debt Relief program here. The deadline to enroll is December 31st, 2022.

That’s all for this week! For upcoming events and more, keep scrolling. Happy Hanukkah to everyone who is celebrating! All are welcome to join in the fun for the menorah lighting in Market Square on Tuesday, December 20.

If you’re doing some last-minute shopping for the holidays, be sure to do it locally and #ShopSmall! We will see you soon - till then, be safe and healthy. 

--Dana

If your business, non-profit, or community group has an event that you would like to submit to be a part of the Supervisor's Update, please complete this form. We are happy to pass along events that provide a benefit to the community and support our local economy. Thank you for helping us to highlight all the best Ossining has to offer!

Subscribe to our email blast list and receive Town news and updates. 

Happy Friday! Hope you’ve had a great week. 

This week’s Town Board meeting took place on Monday to enable me to attend new legislator orientation in Albany. I recently received confirmation that my election to the New York State Assembly has been certified by the Board of Elections.  As such, I formally submitted my letter of resignation, effective December 31, to the Town Clerk earlier today. I anticipate the Town Board will accept my resignation at our meeting next Tuesday, and formally appoint Deputy Supervisor Liz Feldman to the remaining year of my unexpired term. The Town Board will be posting for the vacancy on the Town Board in the coming weeks, and residents are encouraged to apply.

It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve the Town of Ossining as Supervisor.  We have accomplished so much in the last seven years, and I am confident the Town will just keep getting better and better with the strong foundation we have. I look forward to serving you and the rest of this district in my new capacity, and I will continue to spend my remaining time as Town Supervisor ensuring a smooth transition to the next administration. We still have quite a bit of work to do before the end of the year!  

On Tuesday, the Ossining Communities That Care (CTC) coalition, of which the Town is a stakeholder, met for its monthly meeting. We were joined by County Executive George Latimer, who is deliberating on the Board of Legislators’ recently passed legislation banning the sale of flavored cigarettes, including menthol cigarettes. He took lots of input from the coalition on its thoughts. Regardless of the decision the County makes in this regard, it is important for all of us who have young people in our lives to continue having conversations about the dangers of drugs, alcohol and tobacco. The holiday season is also a time when gatherings make alcohol in particular more readily available and prevalent, so this is as good a time as any to have one of those conversations! The CTC’s Grown Ups Show Up campaign provides guidance for this; click here to visit the Grown Ups Show Up website to learn more. 

CTC’s Teen Tip Talks series continues next Tuesday, December 13 at 6:30 PM in the Ossining High School library with a presentation called “Ending the Silence,” geared toward helping people identify signs of an emergent mental health condition. Please attend if you can!

On Wednesday, the Town joined the Village and the Centralized Committee of Organized War Veterans for the annual community Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day celebration. Deputy Town Supervisor Liz Feldman and Town Board Member Angelo Manicchio joined Village Mayor Rika Levin to represent the municipal governments at the remembrance. Thanks once again go to Honorable Michael G. O’Connor and the Committee for their efforts to preserve traditions that strengthen our memory of these important events. 

Later that day, our deputy supervisor joined the Mayor, Village Trustee Omar Lopez, State Senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, Ossining Recreation Superintendent Bill Garrison and members of our parks and recreation staff  for a ribbon cutting celebrating the installation of a new, ADA-accessible inclusive playground at Veterans’ Memorial Park. We are grateful to Senator Reichlin-Melnick for securing $150,000 in funding for our recreation department to install the new playground. 

In other news, the season of giving continues! Next Saturday, December 17 from 12 - 2 PM, State Senator Pete Harckham and I will be hosting a holiday food drive at the Ossining High School parking lot. If you can, please pull together some non-perishable food items to donate and stop by! Collected items will benefit the Ossining Food Pantry. The most needed items are listed on the flyer below. If you are able to volunteer at the event, please email to let us know. 

There are also multiple ongoing drives for holiday gifts, winter clothing, and more. We are hosting a Toys for Tots box here at Town & Village Hall (16 Croton Avenue)! 

If you’re in need of generosity as the temperatures continue to drop, help is available for your home heating costs. The New York Public Service Commission expects heating costs to rise by at least 20% this winter, which will undoubtedly be a huge burden for many households. If you are anticipating difficulty with paying your heating costs, check out the New York State Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP). HEAP can help eligible households with assistance to pay their energy bills this winter.  Learn more about this program and other ways to reduce your heating costs by visiting www.ny.gov/heat. If you are low-income and behind on your bills, you can learn more about the Electric and Gas Debt Relief program here. The deadline to enroll is December 31st, 2022.

That’s all for this week. For upcoming events and more, keep scrolling! We will see you soon - till then, be safe and healthy!

--Dana

If your business, non-profit, or community group has an event that you would like to submit to be a part of the Supervisor's Update, please complete this form. We are happy to pass along events that provide a benefit to the community and support our local economy. Thank you for helping us to highlight all the best Ossining has to offer!

Subscribe to our email blast list and receive Town news and updates. 

‘Tis the season! Sending today’s message a little early with an invitation to join us for the annual Christmas Tree lighting in Market Square, taking place at 5:45 PM tonight. There will be performances by our local schoolchildren as well as fan favorites the Mike Risko Band, followed by the lighting itself and a visit from Santa, set to the musical stylings of DJ Johnny G! 

And save the date for our local menorah lighting, coming up on Tuesday, December 20 at 6 PM, also in Market Square. 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Here in the Town, we held a “Townsgiving” dinner to celebrate the season and honor our recent retirees, including our Assessor Fernando Gonzalez for his 10 years of service, and John Hamilton, our Building Inspector who has served the Town for 20 years.

We also took a moment to recognize Budget Director Victoria Cafarelli for her many contributions to the Town over her 7+ years serving in various roles, writing grants, pinch-hitting as Town Clerk, and basically making all of the many pieces fit together. She has been such an incredible asset in the Supervisor’s office, and I know she will continue to offer so much to our community. 

It was a great opportunity to be together, particularly after two years of holiday gatherings being postponed or altered due to COVID, and with so many changes on the horizon for 2023. 

The Town was not the only municipality handing out honors this week! Westchester County held its Senior Citizen Hall of Fame ceremony earlier today on Zoom, and four Ossining residents were among those celebrated. Congratulations to author Sarah Bracey White, who was among two receiving top honors, as well as Honorable Michael G. O’Connor, former Town Highway Superintendent; Honorable Mary Ann Roberts, former Town/Village Clerk (and first female Village Mayor!); and Francine Vernon, former School Board Trustee (among her many advocacy roles). Our community is richer for their many contributions over the years, and we are glad to see them receive recognition. 

Earlier this week was Giving Tuesday, and we took the time to highlight some local nonprofits that support the Ossining community on our Facebook and Instagram pages. If you are in a position to be able to make donations, please consider looking locally first! Like Small Business Saturday, dollars donated here support our local economy and help our community thrive. 

If you’re looking to have some fun with your donation, consider joining Gullotta House for Casino Night, coming up next Friday, December 9 from 6-9 PM!

If you have items to donate, please consider supporting one of the many local holiday drives. For our part, we are hosting a Toys for Tots box here at Town & Village Hall (16 Croton Avenue)! 

If you’re in need of generosity as the temperatures continue to drop, help is available for your home heating costs. The New York Public Service Commission expects heating costs to rise by at least 20% this winter, which will undoubtedly be a huge burden for many households. If you are anticipating difficulty with paying your heating costs, check out the New York State Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP). HEAP can help eligible households with assistance to pay their energy bills this winter.  Learn more about this program and other ways to reduce your heating costs by visiting www.ny.gov/heat. 

If you are low-income and behind on your bills, join the Public Utility Law Project & Communities for Local Power for one of their workshops to learn more about your utility’s low-income bill discount program and New York State’s Electric and Gas Debt Relief Program. There is an in-person session taking place next Thursday, December 8 from 5-7 PM at the Newburgh Free Library, and an online session taking place on Friday, December 9 from noon-1 PM. Click here to register for one of the sessions.

During the workshop, advocates will help you check your bill to see if you’re enrolled in your electric/natural gas company’s low-income monthly bill discount program. Receipt of that monthly bill credit also makes you eligible for a state program that will eliminate any utility debt accrued through May 1st, 2022. For the in person session, there will be snacks, free filing assistance, and free postage to send in your application! The deadline to enroll in the Electric and Gas Debt Relief Program is December 31st, 2022.

That’s all for this week! For upcoming events and more, keep scrolling. We will see you soon - till then, be safe and healthy!

--Dana

If your business, non-profit, or community group has an event that you would like to submit to be a part of the Supervisor's Update, please complete this form. We are happy to pass along events that provide a benefit to the community and support our local economy. Thank you for helping us to highlight all the best Ossining has to offer!

Subscribe to our email blast list and receive Town news and updates.