White Plains and Valhalla region

The iconic Reggie Pink Harley Davidson dealership that has been in White Plains for decades, has closed.

Leslie Pink Dessauer, the daughter-in-law of Reggie Pink and the wife of Don Pink, poses with scrapbook photos of the family at her home in Armonk, March 31, 2010. The Pink Harley Davidson motorcycle shop that has been in the White Plains for decades, has closed its doors. ( Mark Vergari / The Journal News )

Check out the entire story in an upcoming Journal News and on LoHud.com, and click here for an online gallery of photos.

The town of Greenburgh will celebrate 2010 Census Awareness Day tomorrow with special guests poet Adazeke and singer Cecelia Lael Calloway, daughter of former Greenburgh resident and legend Cab Calloway.

Other distinguished guests and speakers that have been invited include State Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, County Legislators Thomas Abinanti and Alfreda Williams,  U.S. Census Bureau Representatives Peter Fiumefreddo and Allison Apparicio and the Greenburgh Town  Board.

The program will start at 5 :30 p.m. at Greenburgh Town Hall, 177 Hillside Avenue.

For more information, contact Town Clerk Judith A. Beville at 914-993-1500 or Townclerk@greenburghny.com

In an editorial, we assess the value of a recent “How Green is My Town?” survey conducted by Grassroots Environmental Education, a regional nonprofit dedicated to educating the public about connections between the environment and human health, and the Pace University Academy for Applied Environmental Studies. The survey, which studied and ranked 45 Westchester communities based on their environmental best practices, is “worthy of attention of communities throughout the Lower Hudson Valley,” we write. The study concluded that six communities — Bronxville, Chappaqua, Katonah, Larchmont, White Plains and Yorktown — were the county’s greenest.

The editorial grew from a Tuesday Editorial Spotlight with Patti and Doug Wood, founders of Grassroots Environmental Education. Take a look at this highlight video from yesterday’s conversation:

To watch a complete version of yesterday’s Editorial Spotlight, click here.

For more on the survey and how local communities fared, see a story in tomorrow’s Express sections of The Journal News.

Reporter Leslie Korngold sent in this report:

Have you noticed the strange sign off the Hutch at North Street, “Win Min Parking”?

Well, according to George Thompson of Cortlandt Manor, the sign, written to hang either end up, is referring to the filming of “Win Win,” a Fox Searchlight movie being filmed in Westchester, including today at White Plains High School. The story is about a runaway teen, Kyle, a lawyer who coaches high school wrestling and how Kyle turns the coach and the high school team’s lives upside down.

George Thompson knows about this because his son, Walter Panas High School sophomore David Thompson, auditioned and won a part in the movie. The 15-year-old plays Kyle’s best friend, Stemler. Both boys are wrestlers and Thompson has a match in the movie.

With students on holiday break, Thompson will spend 12 hours today at White Plains High School, starting at 6:30 a.m.

The movie has been filming in assorted Westchester locations and will continue to do so for another two weeks, said Iris G. Stevens who facilitated the filming in Westchester on behalf of the county. Confidentiality requirements would not allow her to disclose where Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Melanie Lynskey, and Jeffrey Tambor, principal cast members, will be appearing next, but she did confirm my information that the crew will be in Eastchester April 6.

Leesa Thompson, David’s mother who is on the set with him, said this morning that the crew will be on Long Island in Locust Vallery Thursday.
Thompson will be working on this, his first major film, until May 2.

Thompson wrestled last year for the Walter Panas High School, and before that in middle school. His acting schedule — he does independent films and is frequently used by colleges for their film courses — does not leave him enough time to commit to the team this year. (The photo of David, above, was taken by his dad on an earlier film shoot.)

By the way, Thompson is tutored on the set in order to keep up with his studies, his parents said.

Another day of rain, another series of headaches for Glenn Preiser, owner of Glenn’s Towing on Nepperhan Avenue in Elmsford. He has spent the past few days moving cars and elevating all of his toolboxes, inspection machines, welders and other equipment at least three feet off the ground.


A past heavy rain flooded his building with 18 inches of water, said Preiser, who has owned the company for 20 years. The disruptions can cost his business as much as $50,000 in preparation time and lost business. Business interruption insurance won’t cover the losses because his building is in a known flood zone and is four feet below the flood plane.

“It’s all commercial here so nobody cares,” Preiser, 39, said this afternoon, referring to town officials. “They could care less about us. We’re the forgotten land.”

Days of heavy rains turned many streets into makeshift rivers as storm drains and catch basins backed up, flooding roads and the parking lots of nearby businesses. Preiser said 20 years ago the Army Corps of Engineers studied the issue and said it would cost $20 million to dredge the river and relieve the capacity for flooding. Nothing’s been done yet, Preiser said.

Other businesses in the area are facing similar challenges, illustrated by Leon Parks who drove his pickup truck to the waterline on Hayes St. in Elmsford. There, he faced a street-devouring lagoon of water spreading throughout the commercial district. 
The Greenburgh resident sized up his truck and contemplated trying to make it through so he could drop off the old appliances in his truck bed at a nearby junkyard. The decision came quickly.

“I’m not even going to try it,” Parks said, backing his truck up. “It looks like a swimming pool.”

Read more about how the weather and flooding are affecting local homeowners and businesses in tomorrow’s The Journal News and on LoHud.com.

Photos: top right, Leon Parks of Greenburgh thinks better of trying to drive his pickup truck across a flooded Hayes St. in Elmsford Tuesday afternoon, March 30. He was attempting to drop off some old appliances at a nearby junkyard; left, water gushes into a drain at the intersection of N. Payne St. and Nepperhan Ave. in Elmsford Tuesday afternoon. The surrounding area is heavily flooded because of recent rains. (Dwight R. Worley/The Journal News)

From left, Haydee Mercado, 16, of Edenwald School in Pleasantville, DSS volunteer Karen Ford, and Edith Tanner of Edenwald School laugh after Ford said those socks have to go, while Mercado was trying on prom dresses March 30, 2010 at Hyatt Summerfield Suites in White Plains. High school students searched through racks of donated prom dresses during the “Prep for Prom” event, sponsored by Operation Prom, a charity that solicits gown donations and gives the dresses to needy girls from throughout the region. ( Tania Savayan / The Journal News )

Click here to see more photos from today.

Just got sent this on behalf of the Vasken Demirjian Salon in White Plains.

The salon announced today a partnership to raise funds for Blythedale Children’s Hospital, the Westchester hospital dedicated exclusively to the diagnosis, care and treatment of children with complex medical and rehabilitative needs. Continuously recognized as Westchester’s most elite luxury salon directed by internationally renowned master colorist Vasken Demirjian, the Vasken Demirjian Salon has committed to make a donation for every beauty client that mentions “Blythedale” upon booking an appointment for the entire month of April. Demirjian has committed 15% of each sale, or a minimum of $50 – whichever is greater – to be directly donated to Blythedale Children’s Hospital. In addition, Vasken will be donating a deluxe salon beauty package to be auctioned off at the event, including hair cut and color, a deep conditioning Kerastase treatment, hair styling and finishing, and a manicure and pedicure.

This fundraising effort is in conjunction with Blythedale Children’s Hospital’s upcoming annual April 20 fundraising event: An Evening at 42 – Building Blythedale that will be raising funds for the construction of a new wing at the hospital. The event will be held at 42, atop the Ritz-Carlton in White Plains, and will feature Chef Anthony Goncalves’ Contemporary New American cuisine along with a cocktail reception and a silent auction.

Vasken Demirjian, a committee member for ‘An Evening at 42 – Building Blythedale’, is a longstanding supporter of the hospital. “I will never forget the first moment that I walked through the halls of Blythedale. I was moved beyond words at the marvelous work, attention, and love the staff was directing to children who need their care.” comments Vasken Demirjian. “It is truly an extraordinary facility – there is nothing else that exists like it – and I am fully committed to doing everything that I possibly can to raise funds for their much-needed new wing. And I that my humble efforts will encourage others in the community to do the same.”

For further information about the salon and the fundraising event, e-mail leah@llkent.com or call 917 434 9941.

Join us at 1 p.m. Tuesday for an Editorial Spotlight interview with officials from Grassroots Environmental Education, a regional non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public about the links between common environmental exposures and human health.

Grassroots and Pace University Academy for Applied Environmental Studies worked together to study 43 towns in Westchester from November to March to find out which employ the best environmental practices. Last week, in announcing the results of the study, the groups named Bronxville, Chappaqua, Katonah, Larchmont, White Plains and Yorktown as Westchester’s greenest communities.

To watch the LIVE session, go to www.LoHud.com/editorialspotlight. To submit a question on why your hometown did or didn’t make the cut, and what you can do to improve the local environment, engage the “Cover it live” feature on the right side of the screen.

Andrew Busenbark, 4, with his father Brian of New Fairfield, Conn. drops the puck for the ceremonial face-off before the 16th annual Charity Cup Hockey game at Ebersole Ice Rink in White Plains. The event benefits the Ronald McDonald House at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital.

The Yonkers Fire Department team beat the White Plains Fire Department 7-6.

See more photos from the game

The Thomas Slater Center in White Plains, offers their space to the Youth Bureau for homework help.

Irene LeFevre, right, a staff member with the Slater Center After School Connection in White Plains, works with eight year olds from left, Adrian Peralta, Tyree Covington and Liana Holliday, during an after school homework help program, March 26, 2010. The center offers homework help Monday through Thursday, with Fridays being a free day where they have fun time. Here, they read a book together before movie time. ( Mark Vergari / The Journal News )