We have made it to another Summer Friday–get ready for more great tunes, yummy eats and that very special Ossining Waterfront vibe we’ve got going! Before getting into the administrative update, here’s your Ossining RiverJam news.

Tonight we have the following food vendors joining us at 5 PM: Brothers Fish and Chips, Cravin' Jamaican Cuisine, Delicias Peruvian Kitchen, Homestyle Desserts and Creamery, Jegoma Food, New England’s Finest Lobster, Weenie Wagon, Wrappers Delight, Wanna Empanada, Tacoish and Bigfoot Creamery. Peekskill Brewery and Forthright Cyder will be joining Sing Sing Kill Brewery at the Craft Beverage Corral. Also, the Chamber will once again host menus for some of your favorite local eateries in case you want to order delivery to the park. We will have a designated area to make that super easy and to support our local brick and mortar businesses.

We are in for an extra special treat at 7 PM, as Billy and the Showmen take the stage. This band has been getting audiences out of their seats and on their feet for five decades, and they have quite a resume. They were the back-up band for The Chiffons from 1973 to 1988, and at different points in time toured as the opening act for Jay Black and the Americans, the Four Tops, and Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Billy and the Showmen have played all of the big venues on the East Coast including Madison Square Garden, the Omni in Atlanta, Rhode Island Civic Center, Long Island Coliseum and the Boston Garden - and tonight they’ll be here on stage at Louis Engel Park!

 

It takes a very talented and dedicated team to make events like this happen. 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 Town Parks crew, and of course, Keith Heilmann our fantastic soundman. And a 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.

Last week, I participated in a meeting with our Planner, Valerie Monastra, and Victoria Cafarelli from my office to learn more about the prospective Clean Path New York project. At this time, Clean Path New York is proposing an approximately 175-mile underground/underwater transmission line that will transport up to 3,800 megawatts of new solar and wind power generated in New York State, increasing the reliability of the state’s transmission system and helping transition New York to a clean energy economy.  They are in the process of developing the siting for the transmission line, which will need to exit and re-enter the Hudson somewhere between Peekskill and Ossining.  We have asked the folks from this project to come speak before the Town Board, but there will also be open houses for the public to attend in Ossining on Tuesday, July 26 from 10:30am-12:30pm and from 4pm-6pm at the Ossining Public Library.  We encourage members of the public to attend to learn more. If you cannot attend in person, you can view the virtual open house here. I attended one of the open houses yesterday in Peekskill and I can see that it is a great opportunity to have one on one time with the project partners to get straight answers to questions you might have and to understand the details, so mark your calendars.  I anticipate they will also be adding more dates in other neighboring municipalities as well and the information they are presenting is also available on their website.  See below for more specifics.

We also have learned of an exciting program called Submerse NY, which is a program funded by FEMA with a focus on flood risk awareness through interpretive programming like art and other public events. We learned of this program via NYS Water Resources Institute, who inquired if the Town may be interested in hosting this free program. It would require participation from the Town and relevant stakeholders to brainstorm programming that would be impactful in terms of education on flood risk to the community. It seems like a very interesting and informative program, so I have let them know we are interested in participating, and will bring back more specific information to the community soon.  On the topic of flood resiliency and sustainable shorelines, we are gearing up for some more public input on our Climate-adaptive Design Studio Phase 2 project underway.  Stay tuned for more information to participate in an upcoming virtual open house! 

In sustainability news, at this week’s Town Board meeting, we held a public hearing on a local law to enable the Town to participate in the Westchester Power Opt-Out Community Solar program. The current version of the legislation came through Sustainable Westchester, and in its initial iteration will allow those who qualify for other assistance programs to participate in Community Solar and enjoy reduced costs for their electricity supply. We believe it will also become open to others as the program and the supply become more robust.  We anticipate adopting this local law at our next legislative session on July 26 and look forward to sharing more information about how Ossining’s residents can participate in the new program when it launches soon. 

In other news, on Monday I had the opportunity to recognize two very special people, Pete Connolly and Robert DiCioccio, who are celebrating (slightly belatedly!) 50 years of volunteerism to the Ossining Fire Department, both as members of Holla Hose.  Congratulations to Pete and Robert on this significant milestone– and for all of you out there, please join us in celebrating Pete Connolly Day on Saturday, July 16 and Robert DiCioccio Day on Sunday, July 17 in the Town and Village of Ossining!  

Pete is a little extra special in the Town as he is our elected Highway Superintendent and Superintendent of Dale Cemetery.   Celebrate Pete Connolly Day in the most fitting way possible - drive around the Unincorporated Town of Ossining and admire all the new street signs, guard rails, and other infrastructure improvements completed during his tenure.  And then make sure to give him a big THANK YOU next time you see him around Town!  

A quick note about an upcoming road closure. The Town of New Castle will be closing Hawkes Avenue from July 27th through August 2nd, excluding Saturday and Sunday, for the hours of 7am to 5pm to complete some repairs necessary for paving. A large excavator and other machinery will be working on the road.  Provisions for emergency vehicles will be made.

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 we will see you soon!

--Dana

 

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