[0:06] Hi, everyone. It's so good to see you here in this crummy weather. Can you hear me okay? Is that okay? All right, somebody in front said they couldn't hear me. Sorry.

[0:17] But anyway, it's great to see. I'm sorry for this crummy weather, but I think it's better than all the snow we've been getting.

[0:23] We're going to have a quick meeting because I don't want everybody to be out in this kind of weather, so if we could please stand.

[0:40] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under the individual with liberty and justice for all.

[0:55] May we take a moment of silence for our first responders, our military, and our police department. Thank you.

[1:09] Thank you.

[1:18] Before we actually get into our meeting, I would just like to make, I'm going to make one announcement now and I'll make them as we go along during the day, during the afternoon.

[1:28] Just remember, next month, for January, we will not be having a meeting in January.

[1:36] I just feel for the safety of our seniors, and the weather is so unpredictable with the snow,

[1:42] with the rain or the ice, I think we're better off not having a meeting.

[1:47] We are going to discuss our meeting dates.

[1:50] There's a possibility that we might cancel some of our winter meetings and have, we normally

[1:57] do not have summer meetings for July and August.

[2:00] But the weather is much nicer than, and we're just going to have a discussion about that

[2:05] the executive board so we'll keep you posted on what we're going to do about that. But as

[2:10] of now, we will be having hopefully a February meeting. I also want to bring to your attention

[2:17] about the weather. Now, there are times when the weather is bad, and we would have to cancel,

[2:24] whether it be winter or summer, we never know. As you know, when schools are closed or with

[2:31] delayed opening this meeting would if we were scheduled to have a meeting this meeting would be cancelled.

[2:37] I really do not want our seniors out on the roads if it's not good for the school buses and things like that.

[2:44] I would just assume I know our meetings are very very important but our lives are more important than that.

[2:50] So you please stay tuned to your radio station stay tuned to the TV channel 12 announces it all the time.

[2:58] If you hear it that it's been canceled and you have a friend that you know is coming and possibly not know about it,

[3:05] it would be nice if you just gave them a call and said, hey, the meeting is canceled.

[3:10] At your last resort, if you're unsure about the meeting, please call Town Hall.

[3:16] Anyone here at Town Hall, whoever answers the phone would be able to tell you whether we're having a meeting or the building is closed or whatever.

[3:23] Because when we have bad weather, sometimes it's building is closed also.

[3:28] So, if you have any questions about that, I'd like to hear them otherwise that's what we will be doing.

[3:35] Okay, so I don't see our, I'm supposed to have surgery here, he's not here.

[3:42] I just would like to introduce our members.

[3:44] We have Noreen.

[3:47] No, you don't want to talk?

[3:48] Say anything.

[3:49] Oh, hello, I'm Noreen Parallel, I'm the secretary.

[3:51] Rosemary Panio.

[3:52] Rosemary Panio.

[3:54] Good to see you.

[3:55] And I think everybody knows me, Jenny Metten.

[3:57] Sarah Fina, master.

[4:00] Kathleen Macy.

[4:01] Okay.

[4:02] All right.

[4:02] I'd like him in.

[4:04] Unfortunately, we'll not be here today,

[4:06] but I thought Sergio was going to be coming here in his place,

[4:10] but he might be here a little later,

[4:12] so we do have Kathleen,

[4:15] our speaker from a set of Jewish community service.

[4:17] If you've been interested,

[4:20] you should introduce Diana question.

[4:22] Oh, Joe Falco.

[4:24] Oh, I'm sorry.

[4:25] We're sorry, guys. We didn't introduce you.

[4:27] Dr. Alphabon, Recreation Commission, Liaison.

[4:30] Diana.

[4:31] Diana Quastown-Cler.

[4:33] Sorry about that.

[4:34] You won't be able to hear us, I didn't see you there.

[4:37] Okay, Kathleen.

[4:38] Today, we are very fortunate, because of the weather, to have with us the Westchester Jewish Community

[4:45] Services Representative, Cheryl Bandwine, and she'll be speaking about isolation to connection,

[4:54] which is a real big topic this time of year. Thank you.

[5:00] Okay.

[5:07] Thank you, Kathleen, and thank you, Noreen, for inviting me today and to everybody for coming out in the

[5:15] Drippy Weather to come here about my program. I wanted to tell you about isolation to connection, which is a program that is actually

[5:35] C Jewish Community Center in Midwest, Chester, and Scarsdale.

[5:40] There's a lot of Jewish, and all those words titles, but it's not a Jewish program.

[5:45] It's free and open to everyone in the county, 60 and older, that is for older adults, their

[5:53] families and caregivers that are looking for help and connection to resources.

[6:00] So before I tell you more in-depthly about the program, I just wanted to tell you a little

[6:05] about my background and how I got here. My background is I'm an attorney. Actually, I was an attorney

[6:14] in a past life and then I made a right turn into senior services working with older adults

[6:21] through the COVID-Angels project, which, if anyone recalls, was a project of the town of Greenburg,

[6:27] when the COVID vaccine was very hard to come by, and older adults who were told to use their

[6:33] computers to refresh on a Walgreens website, had a lot of challenges to find the vaccine.

[6:40] And so there were teams of people myself included that found out all over Westchester County

[6:46] to help older adults to make connections with pharmacies and get people vaccinated that

[6:51] were wanting to be vaccinated.

[6:54] And so, after the COVID-19 project, I went to work for, I loved working with older adults,

[7:01] and I went to work with volunteer projects through AmeriCorps seniors.

[7:07] It's called the Retired Senior Volunteer Program.

[7:11] And I ran a program that was actually funded by the American Rescue Plan,

[7:17] which was the COVID relief funding.

[7:19] And I helped people that were older adults to connect with students that had been disproportionately

[7:26] affected from school closures during the pandemic and needed extra help to bridge those learning

[7:33] gaps. The buzzword at the time was lost learning and so through intergenerational mentoring,

[7:40] we were able to really make great strides in helping the students. And so when the American

[7:46] Rescue Plan funding went ran out, I found this wonderful position that I'm in today and my title

[7:53] is actually connection specialist which I love because someone said to me the other day there

[7:59] should be a million connections specialist like we all need connection and so this program was

[8:06] actually launched in the wake of COVID as well because we learned so much about the impact

[8:14] of loneliness and isolation on people's physical and mental health and in fact Vivek Murphy who

[8:22] the former surgeon general when he was leaving, he wrote something called the parting prescription

[8:28] for America. And in it he talked about all of the detrimental health impacts for people with

[8:36] chronic loneliness and isolation and how important community and connection can be to helping

[8:44] people stay out of the health care system and find those supports that are so important.

[8:54] And so this is, I don't know if anyone at home can see this, but this is a little pill

[8:58] bottle with little people in it.

[9:00] And that's sort of my symbol, the social prescribing is actually a global movement now in

[9:07] the United Kingdom social prescribing is part of their health care system.

[9:11] And there's actually 3,000 of me helping people that doctors will send people to what's called

[9:18] a link worker, connections specialists, to help people to make community connections, and

[9:24] it could be anything at all, social programming, that you have here through the Rec Center,

[9:31] it could be caregiver supports, transportation, nutrition programs, really anything people need.

[9:39] And so, COVID was the impetus for this program, but I think it's been recognized that there

[9:46] really is a global health crisis from loneliness and isolation.

[9:52] And so, I'm actually, I did my homework, so I watched Major Mike speak at the last meeting in

[9:58] November, and I loved...

[10:00] What he said when he was talking about the VFW, this was Major Mike Sheridan. If anyone tuned in or was here for the last meeting, retired Army chaplain, I think.

[10:14] So he spoke about the VFW resources and the American Legion and it struck me that we're sort of in the same business.

[10:22] So this, I'm going to read my quote, Major Mike's quote, he said, the primary role is someone

[10:31] to talk to, camaraderie, comradeship, lending an ear, and then helping you assess what's

[10:38] the best path for taking care of any needs you have encountered, referring folks, getting them

[10:45] into the proper channels for any issues they may be encountering.

[10:51] And so I love that quote because, again, I'm in the same business.

[10:56] That's what isolation to connection is really all about.

[11:00] A doctor can only spend so much time with you if you come in because you have depression

[11:05] anxiety and loneliness and they're going to probably send you with a different bottle of

[11:13] something or tell you in a short period of time what they can, but I can spend a lot of time.

[11:22] And so my program envisions that I work with you over the course of four to six months

[11:27] to help you find what you need.

[11:30] And if I don't know it off the top of my head, I do the research to find out what you need.

[11:35] And so it's really a referral service.

[11:39] I'm not giving you bereavement support or caregiver supports or home care or nutrition

[11:45] programs.

[11:46] I'm referring you.

[11:47] And in fact, one of the places I would refer you, if I had a veteran looking for supports,

[11:53] would be to the organizations that Major Mike had talked about the VFW and the American

[11:59] Legion.

[12:00] And so, you know, weaving together the fabric of community, I see that in Yorktown you have

[12:07] wonderful rec programs, recreation and nutrition and transportation programs.

[12:14] So weaving together the fabric of communities to help people feel connected.

[12:22] So, so the concept is the way I heard it, and I love this as well, is a doctor will say

[12:30] what's the matter with you and I say what matters to you and so by finding if you used to love

[12:40] gardening and you're looking for a great gardening club or you love to dance and you're looking

[12:45] for a great dance class or you're having your older adult child with a parent at home that

[12:53] has dementia and needs supports there that whatever it is, whatever those needs are,

[12:59] But that's what I'm here to help you find those resources for.

[13:03] And like I said, it's a free program.

[13:06] So my flyers are here on the back table.

[13:09] And I hope that you'll take one on the way out.

[13:12] And for those of you watching from home,

[13:14] I'm very excited.

[13:15] It's my first time on local access TV.

[13:19] And so Jim from the recreation department

[13:22] will be putting my flyer in the next senior newsletter

[13:25] that comes out.

[13:27] So you'll have my contact information there

[13:29] as well. And both my phone number and my email address are on the flyer. And so I mentioned

[13:39] some of the things, but there's a lot about life changes and moments in time that make

[13:45] us feel even more isolated and you mentioned before about not having a January meeting because

[13:50] of weather and it's really true. I have so many people that are, you know, not happy to go out

[13:58] in the next few months, there's snow, there's ice.

[14:01] And so, you know, whether is just one of those factors

[14:03] that can make it more challenging and more isolating.

[14:08] And so, other things, retirement, you have a sudden loss

[14:12] of social interactions that you had on a daily basis.

[14:16] Sometimes limited mobility and accessibility

[14:19] to get into places that you might have a wheelchair

[14:23] or, you know, need transportation to get somewhere.

[14:27] certain losses or caregiving obligations that we have.

[14:34] So all of these things, we are impacted and can increase that sense of isolation and loneliness,

[14:42] especially certain times of year.

[14:44] The holidays can be a very lonely time of year for people that have had loss.

[14:48] And so this whole program is to help because what I've learned in my work with the non-profit community and the county in the...

[15:00] The past six, seven years is that there is such a wealth of resources. If anyone has ever come to the annual event at the county center salute to seniors, it's wonderful.

[15:12] And you see a wealth of community resources. And so to know all of that and be able to access all of that, for some people that don't even really have a computer, or know how to navigate so well.

[15:25] that is what I can help with, and a lot of my clients are people where the children live

[15:32] across the country now or out of state and their parents are still here and they need support.

[15:39] And so, they're so relieved just to have someone in the community that knows Westchester County

[15:44] and can help find what they're looking for.

[15:49] And so, there's also specialized supports for people with certain medical conditions,

[15:54] dementia's memory care cancer supports. There's through Westchester Jewish Community Services.

[16:02] We have a free program called Project Life Saber. It's county funded that helps people with

[16:07] dementia's get wondergards so that if they wonder, they something notifies the person that

[16:16] lives with them, their caregiver so that there is increased safety. Safety is a very big part of

[16:23] everything that the older adult community is concerned about, senior living advisors, making

[16:30] trend just transitions in housing, senior living advisors are often freak consultants that

[16:37] can help you with all those issues. There's freak caregiver supports both virtually and in

[16:45] person. So for people at home, that's just another thing to keep in mind that you can do

[16:52] things from the comfort of your home,

[16:55] if getting out and transportation

[16:57] and mobility or challenges.

[17:00] And so, something else that someone just asked me about

[17:04] actually was volunteer opportunities.

[17:05] I used to work for a volunteer program

[17:07] and volunteering is a beautiful way

[17:09] to connect and have a great new sense of purpose

[17:14] and really make a difference

[17:16] and feel a greater sense of helping the community.

[17:20] So all of these things, again, weaving the fabric of our community and again, if I learn something new every day, I know we all learn something new every day, but specifically with my job as to what resources we have, I learn about new resources every day and so if you come to me and you have something that is challenging, I will do the research and I'll get back to you about it.

[17:44] So I don't know if I mentioned that my program is now all over Long Island and it's opening up in two locations in Manhattan, one uptown, one downtown, as well as in Queens.

[17:57] And so it's expanding as there's more and more recognition in the health care system and Northwell Health in particular has been a great partner in recognizing this global health crisis of

[18:11] isolation and loneliness and how we can address it through community connections.

[18:18] And so, I think that's really all I had to say.

[18:22] I just a little bit about the process.

[18:24] If you call me or email me, I just do a very quick intake of information.

[18:29] It's for my eyes only.

[18:30] I don't share that information with anyone.

[18:33] But it helps me.

[18:34] If you tell me you live in Yorktown and I'm going to look at the Yorktown resources and see what is in your community.

[18:40] and what's close by and so it really helps to have your address and some basic information

[18:45] how to contact you and you know get back to you about what your needs are and then also if you

[18:52] have something on the road and you call me and say oh we spoke in April about Medicaid issues but

[18:58] now I have a new concern you know we can we can take it right from there because I have all your

[19:04] information. So again, it's for my eyes only, but I do a basic intake. I do some research.

[19:10] I'll tell you what I know off the top of my head always if we're on the phone or in an email.

[19:15] And then I'll get back to you with whatever I find out. And I'd like to use email if I can,

[19:20] not everyone uses email. So I'm happy to give you resources by telephone.

[19:25] But email helps me to send you links and phone numbers and contact people so you can have like a

[19:31] stop shopping list of all the resources that are applicable to the issue and your needs.

[19:39] If we have any questions for, um, um, I do. Okay. If you have any questions,

[19:45] so be happy to answer. The thing is, if you could repeat the questions because they can't

[19:51] hear it at home. Absolutely. So, uh, Kathy, uh, Cheryl, my first question would be, what is your phone

[19:57] number.

[20:02] This would be for the video. I'm happy to give that out. I will just say, and I'm always available by telephone, but I am taking a little break with my family next week.

[20:13] So, but my phone number is 914-768-8901.

[20:21] Thank you.

[20:22] Sure, thank you, Captain.

[20:23] Great question.

[20:24] And it is on the flyer, and in the newsletter as well,

[20:27] I'm trying to have them as we change the flyer

[20:31] in the next incarnation,

[20:33] make it a little boulder and in big.

[20:35] But it's on the bottom of the flyer.

[20:37] My phone number, and I'm on 4-768-8901.

[20:41] And I know why and I'm just going to repeat it as well as my email address.

[20:46] And one last thing to note, my program name is actually changing after the first of the year

[20:51] because they at UJA are trying to make it more in line with what the healthcare companies

[20:57] are calling it, which is social prescribing.

[21:01] So it'll be called Social Rx, which really goes in line with my people in a prescription

[21:08] So social RX will be the new name after the new year and so if you see the flyer, we'll probably still say formerly known as isolation to connection but that if either what one social RX or isolation to connection, it's all the same program.

[21:26] I'm so sorry that it was a crummy day today and we don't have a full audience for you because your program just sounds wonderful.

[21:34] Really does we have any questions from anybody?

[21:36] Thank you. I'd be happy to take questions and also you can feel free to email

[21:40] questions or call me with questions. I'm happy to help in any way I can.

[21:45] I make sure you take her fires that around me.

[21:50] I'm personally going to call you. I think

[21:52] you're very interesting. Thank you. I have a quick, just a quick question. What

[21:56] happens in a case of someone is in the hospital or goes home, but he should be

[22:06] in the hospital or in a facility facility. Will you be able to help them?

[22:15] Sure, so I don't have to repeat the question because you're also

[22:17] Mike, does that? Yes, it works, okay. Just to make sure, so I work with people

[22:24] with loved ones that are in hospital. I'm not because of hip-a-rules and I'm not a

[22:30] I can only do so much, but I can certainly help with access to resources that are, especially when you get home, like visiting nurse services, home care services, places that can help you rehabilitation services.

[22:47] Things that can help you to ease that transition from hospital back home, and so I don't know if that answers your question.

[22:56] But, okay, well sometimes you're at which end and you don't think about the person to ask.

[23:07] So that's why ask because your information is going to be very crucial to us.

[23:12] You are the middle man that we have to call and then you will direct us to the correct person or organization.

[23:20] Exactly, and so I will say most people in my role in this program are social workers

[23:26] But I feel I'm uniquely qualified in a way because I can advocate for people as an attorney

[23:32] I'm not representing anyone but I do have advocacy in my background and also because of the beautiful marriage between the

[23:40] JCC social programming and W. J. C. S's

[23:44] social worker supports, we are lucky to have that sort of,

[23:50] I don't know what to call it,

[23:52] basket of support for people in the community.

[23:56] Thank you.

[23:56] If someone were to ask their doctor, would the physician

[24:00] have that sort of information?

[24:02] So we're actually working right now with Northwell Health,

[24:06] to we've actually created a prescription pad

[24:09] that will hopefully in time be something

[24:13] that physicians can use to write a prescription for people to community and connection.

[24:23] And there's a prescription pad that has links to this person needs caregiver supports.

[24:29] This person needs social programming.

[24:32] And so ideally, you're very forward thinking because that's what we would like to see is that

[24:37] the physicians will refer.

[24:39] and that's how it is working in the UK. In the United Kingdom right now it's that the

[24:44] doctor sends it to the link worker, connection specialist, the link worker then will help people

[24:51] make those community connections to resources. I really think your organization is so needed and

[25:00] So few people that really know what's going on. So I think with Jim being able to put your flyers out for us and getting the people to know what's going on, because you have so much to offer. Unfortunately, when people need this, they don't know where to go.

[25:18] I really found you find you very, very interesting and hopefully I wish we had it. But this is being televised. I'm hoping that the people that couldn't come today will watch it on TV.

[25:29] really really appreciate you thank you thank you and I must say thank you there's one more

[25:33] question I'm going to get to just I want to say thank you to you because for me my greatest challenge

[25:39] is how do I find an isolated homebound people that need help and so I think Kathleen I may have

[25:46] even talked about this a million years ago about coming I know Deborah Marks of Assemblyman

[25:52] Matt Slater's office and I had talked about it as well but I love to be able to come to a meeting

[25:58] like this, especially that's being broadcast to the community that can help me to access and

[26:05] tell people about the program. So thank you for helping me to do that at reach. And then there

[26:10] was one question. There's your organization provide age, like 24-7-8s for people that are

[26:17] released from a rehab center in their home. So I'll say this, I can help you find organizations

[26:26] that will help, I can't say there's always free things, you know, some things are free and some

[26:32] things are paid services. I'm not even paying them, but you know, it's, you know, there were certain,

[26:36] I went, Medicare doesn't call me, people just pay out of profits to have these ages here,

[26:39] like an organization, especially if I just for that. So I will, I have resources that I refer people to,

[26:46] I can't refer anyone to like an individual or make recommendations of a certain person,

[26:52] but I do recommend certain agencies that people have been happy with and we've referred to

[26:57] and local, we try and stay local, and so that is something that absolutely I can help with and

[27:05] find, you know, home care is honestly, I would say 40% of what my referrals are. Transportation is another

[27:15] very big issue because if you can't get to doctors doctor appointment or some other program,

[27:23] it can be really the biggest challenge of all big obstacle.

[27:27] I just asked one of the questions, you just brought up transportation.

[27:31] Now, the transportation I know your attempt is very well with that with medical and different

[27:35] things, but with your organization also help with non-medical things like just like you say volunteering

[27:44] Would you be transporting them with their work that way?

[27:50] So, again, not personally, or my organization, but there are, if anyone doesn't know, there's

[27:56] volunteer ride services that are free in Westchester County.

[27:59] One is just for medical use, which is TRA.

[28:04] And the other one is Ride Connect, which is through the family services of Westchester.

[28:09] And there are wonderful programs I used to be a driver for right-connect when I had a little more time.

[28:16] And I remember someone that I was driving to the dentist said,

[28:22] Like, why do you do this?

[28:24] And she said, is it just benevolence?

[28:25] And I thought, yes, you know, it really is.

[28:28] And it makes me feel good to do this and to help out.

[28:32] And I had time.

[28:33] And you know, so those are the things that we are lucky in Westchester

[28:37] to have these resources. We have volunteer programs. They do always need drivers if there's

[28:44] anyone interested in volunteering. It's a very easy process. You just of course need the license,

[28:49] a car, insurance, those kind of things, but there's wonderful ride services and I love that Yorktown

[28:56] helps provide transportation. I've gotten to know, you know, which communities really offer

[29:02] the supportive services for older adults, and transportation, and offering that help is a huge

[29:10] bonus to living in New Yorktown.

[29:13] Thank you.

[29:14] Thank you.

[29:15] Thank you.

[29:17] Thank you.

[29:19] Definitely, if you have any questions, feel free to call me or email me.

[29:23] Again, I'll be back in action December 29th, I think, is the following Monday.

[29:28] So, thank you again for the opportunity to speak with you and everyone at home.

[29:32] Thank you.

[29:33] and excuse me one moment. Before Kathleen announces our next speaker, I just wanted to

[29:41] I'd like I say I'm going to have different announcements for you. I want you to remind

[29:45] you that our box is still outside collecting our surveys that we passed out a couple of different

[29:51] different meetings here in a different places. We have received quite a few. We will be

[29:57] collating them and getting them taken out of a police

[30:00] Remember, they're out there in a hall. If you want to put anything in there that you would like to see us do for you or have a speaker for you or whatever your concerns are, the box is out there. Please fill out the form and put it in the box outside.

[30:14] Now Kathleen is going to introduce our next speaker.

[30:17] We have just reminded them of that because that's very important. I'm glad you reminded.

[30:21] We have a speaker who needs no introduction, and that's Jim Montarano from Yorktown Parks and Recreation,

[30:30] and he's even going to take questions from the audience.

[30:35] Yeah, he's going to tell us all about the good things that are happening and where we can go and where we can play and everything right Jim.

[30:43] Absolutely, just a happy holiday to everyone.

[30:45] Hopefully everyone's having a great Hanukkah right now and he's going to have a Merry Christmas coming up.

[30:50] Shoutout to great job congratulations on finally being on public access TV.

[30:55] Let's hear it for.

[30:57] And here's our flyer that's going to be in this this coming months senior flyer.

[31:01] So go check that out and maybe I'm going to need a new one because you're going to change your name.

[31:08] So if you want to send me a new one, I'll update it and we have coming up the AARP tax prep help.

[31:15] So if you want to help with your taxes, which we mentioned last month, but you should mark it on your calendars.

[31:19] That's in me Tuesdays at the Albert A. Kappellany Culture and Community Center. Starting at 10 a.m. and going to 2 p.m. on any Tuesday from February 3 to April 14th.

[31:32] So mark that on your calendars and that's in me in room 106. If you want to make an appointment beforehand, you can call 914-440-3710. Once again, that's now 1-440-361.

[31:49] 710 that's the AARP tax helpline also we wanted to get into some trips that we're going

[31:58] to be going on. We have a number of trips being offered right now. We have the Washington DC

[32:06] trip that any of these trips we have the registration form so you can come into the rec office

[32:11] at the community center and pick up those registration forms that's going to be May 29th June

[32:18] first, 2026. That's the Washington DC. The friends of Jefferson Valley Travel are going to be going to see

[32:26] catch me if you can. It's a show and luncheon. That's April 23rd. And then they're also going to be going to

[32:32] Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard. Another sleep away trip August 24th to the 28th. That trip is filling

[32:41] up pretty fast. So you want to get in and put in your deposit as soon as possible on that one.

[32:46] Then the Strobo seniors are traveling on March 26th, and that's to the Resorts of World

[32:52] Casino. It's only a $50 trip, and you get a $25 slot play. So it really is only like $25 to get

[32:59] over there, and they also give you a $10 food voucher. So you take that off. That's only like $15,

[33:05] you're really paying on a pocket. And if you win, then it's paying for itself. So a lot of fun travel

[33:12] coming up. We also have a few special events coming up as well. The health and wellness

[33:16] us fair at the Jefferson Valley Mall that's happening in January 10th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

[33:22] and before that stop by Sparkle Lake will be having the 5th annual polar bear plunge you'll be

[33:27] able to see me and some of your local politicians and local non-for-profits raised money by going

[33:34] into the freezing cold Sparkle Lake last year we needed an excavator to break the ice for us to

[33:39] and so we're checking out for a laugh and good causes. We have a holiday comedy night coming

[33:47] up on January 25th with the Elksk Lodge that's to benefit support connection and a great local

[33:55] cause and then the Urtown High School band has a swing dance concert and that's on February 7th

[34:02] and all that information can be found in our January February senior flyer. We also have coming up

[34:09] our winter classes, we have forever fit, we have dance and exercise, a class as well.

[34:18] On starting on January 9th, we have our senior line dancing, our senior painting and

[34:23] knitting clubs all still have room available, so you're going to want to register for that

[34:28] because room is limited, so definitely take a look and come to our office to sign up.

[34:33] And for the spring summer signups for our senior discounts, you want to mark the calendars

[34:38] from March 24th, March 24th will be the first day you can sign it for senior programs

[34:44] for spring and summer and it's first come first served with any of our programs so make sure

[34:51] you mark that down and you come in and usually on that day there's a line of seniors ready to sign

[34:55] up before anyone else so I'm sure this year will be no different.

[35:00] So that's all the news that's fit to print today with what's going on these next coming months in partnership.

[35:07] I hope those dates are in the fire.

[35:09] Those dates are all going to be in the fire.

[35:11] And oh, how could I forget this one?

[35:13] The town website has been updated.

[35:15] I don't know if anyone knows that.

[35:17] Yes, we have a brand new website.

[35:19] Posted on that website is our holiday lights parade that we just had earlier this month.

[35:24] So if you weren't able to go and brave the cold, you can watch that video on there.

[35:28] There's also the shrub oak tree letting that we just had in the name of Tommy Diane and Alice Roker.

[35:34] Those are great event. That's also on the town website.

[35:38] And we also have the manure lighting that we just had this past Sunday on the first day of Hanukkah.

[35:44] And with our rabbi, so it was a great event.

[35:47] We're checking out if we're unable to make it in person. And that's on our new town website.

[35:52] The webpage is the same. You're attending y.gov.

[35:54] But you'll see that the whole look of the website is brand new and pretty, pretty sharp looking so go ahead and check that out

[36:04] Yeah, it's a must look at that

[36:07] That's great. I thought I've ever seen it this great. I saw the like parade. It was great.

[36:11] Thank you. Is that any questions from the crowd?

[36:16] No, that's easy. Sergio just came in.

[36:19] You may have a few words for you.

[36:21] I just have one more announcement that I want to make the course so you'll come to the podium.

[36:29] As you know, we try very hard to have all our programs and we try to answer your questions.

[36:33] But I'm sure there are times when you might have a question that you don't want to come to us or we can't answer you.

[36:40] But if there's ever a question that you might have and we're not available, the person for you to call would be make carpenter.

[36:48] She's our Westchester Department of Senior Services and she's at Westchester County. I have her number

[36:55] If you'd like to have it, it would be 914 813

[37:01] 6300 and

[37:02] She's the person that you call for whatever information you might want to have and she will direct you to the right person. Okay, she might not be able

[37:12] Yes

[37:15] Jennifer

[37:17] Okay, that's just, but that's a good number for you to put on your calendar in case we're not available.

[37:24] And you'll have a question you might want to ask about something with senior services.

[37:28] Give a call, she's very, very helpful and she'll be able to help you.

[37:32] Otherwise, wait until you come to our meeting and we'll try to help you.

[37:35] So, we now have Sarah Sergio, are you coming up for a few minutes?

[37:39] I want to introduce, yes.

[37:44] I have the honor, the stink honor, to introduce our deputy supervisor, Sergio Esposito.

[37:51] Hey!

[37:55] Just please remember if you have any questions for Sergio, they have to be repeated here so the people at home can hear.

[38:02] Well, you can't be that with that introduction, huh?

[38:06] How are you guys doing today?

[38:07] Happy holidays, everybody. Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas.

[38:09] Thank you. It will be here and gone before we know it. We'll be complaining about the cold in January.

[38:18] But yeah, so I just want to say wish you guys a happy holiday and see if you had any questions for me.

[38:24] You know, the holidays are tough for a lot of people.

[38:28] And we do have a great senior center in Nutrition Center.

[38:31] So, if you need any meals, feel free to call them, they are at, get the number here.

[38:41] So, in 1962, 7447, 944, of course.

[38:47] We all work on some things with the Yorktown PD, where we're doing a big IT upgrade, computer upgrade there,

[38:55] which is going to allow them to communicate more readily and get information more readily.

[39:02] So, you know, we're just looking at the safety aspect, trying to make your attorney even safer than it already is.

[39:08] I know I'm working on something with Noreen here and we're looking to do a some type of senior discount program with the small businesses.

[39:18] And so she's been instrumental and we got to pick up on that.

[39:21] So, we're going to go around and see who wants to participate.

[39:26] So, we'll be announcing something like that to ensure order.

[39:31] Other than that, you know, it's holiday season.

[39:34] Don't stay home alone.

[39:36] You have all of us here, and we're here to help.

[39:41] And if you need anything, reach out to the town.

[39:43] I'll always reach out to me.

[39:44] I'll give you my cell phone number.

[39:46] 914-433-0575.

[39:49] It's all over the internet.

[39:51] If you didn't write it down, just look me up and it comes up and you're all more than welcome to use my number.

[40:10] All right, well, happy holidays again, I mean, it looks like it might start opening soon.

[40:29] So, we're waiting for the road improvements to finish right now, and the road has already been widened, so you can see that.

[40:38] I believe they're striping it if they haven't striped it already, they're going to temporarily stripe it.

[40:44] This time of year, even though we can get hard-hass fault, because there's companies that they change the mix over in the winter time, but you can still pay.

[40:54] And our highway department has a hot box now, so they can get material instead of using that

[41:00] cold patch stuff that just comes up like the next day.

[41:03] The only problem is that the DOT won't allow us to pave during this time of year.

[41:09] And we run into this a lot, there's all these crazy regulations that I don't know who comes

[41:13] up with some of this stuff, but you know, that gets handed down to us from the state.

[41:20] So, you see now the road is already been widened, it has a temporary coat on there, and we're actually waiting for one of the poles to be moved, and that will allow us to complete the widening of the road.

[41:35] It's the one right on the corner, it's got all the wires on it.

[41:40] So, that's in progress, I don't believe the road is going to be fully complete till probably the screen.

[41:48] Do we have any more new businesses coming in to occupy some of those stores that are empty now?

[41:55] As far as the, well, I'll give you an update on Mrs. Mr. Chick and Ms. Dimmsum here.

[42:03] Their doors are closed right now, but I believe it's some kind of a dispute with the partners.

[42:08] And I spoke to one of the owners and they'll be opening up soon.

[42:12] I hope at least that's what that's what the indication is is with me we do we do have a new restaurant

[42:18] That's on Lexington

[42:20] It's called Toulou

[42:23] Cocina Latina. It's a it's a really nice place. It was the old August steakhouse

[42:27] So that went out of business and there reopened as a matter of fact they're grand opening is this evening at five thirty

[42:34] Do you do enough Mirage shows ever gonna open up again or is that no one's right now if you ask me if you ask me my honest opinion

[42:41] I don't believe they will be opening up again.

[42:43] I believe that we have been actively trying to get a new tenant in there, the place is moving

[42:51] ready.

[42:52] They spent a ton of money renovating and it's quite beautiful, but again, that's I think subject

[42:57] to a partner dispute that they haven't resolved yet.

[43:03] And I don't think it's going to be resolved between them.

[43:05] I think it's going to be a different place.

[43:08] And we do have two or three people that are very interested, very interested.

[43:13] Well that's good to hear.

[43:14] We do have the businesses that are coming into Turcos.

[43:17] Oh, we do.

[43:18] Well, come in.

[43:19] Come what I understand the leases have already been signed.

[43:24] And they were in front of the planning board for renovations.

[43:27] So, Turcos, what's going to happen is if you look at Turcos, the front of the building is kind of rounded.

[43:31] Well, Turcos did that a customization that they did.

[43:34] That's why if you ever go into a parking lot,

[43:36] The only place that didn't have a sidewalk was in front of Turquoise.

[43:39] Because they took up the sidewalk, that round part is now going to come down.

[43:43] It's going to go back to its original structure.

[43:46] And you're going to have three separate entrances with three separate businesses.

[43:50] The one most notable for me, I've been working on getting this restaurant to come to York

[43:57] time for about four years.

[43:59] So there's a lot of work, but I think we finally got them.

[44:01] It's going to be a little be a high-end restaurant pub type of place with a party room on the side.

[44:11] It's not going to be a steakhouse that was a room that it was going to be a steakhouse, it's not going to be a steakhouse.

[44:15] So it's going to be a very nice restaurant.

[44:19] It's the same guy that owns Mickey's Palines in Eastchester, which is a very nice place.

[44:25] So the guy really, really knows what he's doing, his name is Dave, really nice guy.

[44:29] and we've become friends over the last four years trying to find them a spot so he's going

[44:34] to take one of the spots it's going to be about 9,000 square feet again it's going to have also

[44:39] a party room and he does a really really fantastic job with his restaurants then you're going

[44:47] to get an auto zone and you're going to have a plumbing showroom and supply kind of like best plumbing

[44:55] It's going to be something like that.

[44:57] It's going to be from a company called Torcos.

[44:59] I believe it's well, too.

[45:00] Regional Seals. There at that nice the stores will be full. The parking lot will be buzzing again there, so we

[45:07] were we're we're excited to see that. I'm also working on getting a County's pastry shop for Mars Park. I had them in a spot, and

[45:21] at the very last minute. The landlord tried to pull some funny business. So I'm going to go speak to the landlord about that,

[45:29] But hopefully there'll be they'll be coming soon

[45:32] We're actively trying to get them up here and that would be a really good addition to Yorktown as well

[45:38] Yes, thank you. Yeah, thank you so much good. What's the name of the project on underhill and

[45:44] 1-18

[45:46] On the hill farms on the hills farms you're going to get a in there this is going to be a

[45:54] a Peter Kelly's

[45:56] style steakhouse as part of one of the of part of the amenities. You're also going to

[46:03] have a mobos which is a real popular, you know, it's like a deli, you know, but it's

[46:09] they have they do sort of bowls and stuff like that. And so that's coming. And then there's

[46:17] going to be a prepared food place, I think, that's kind of what's being tossed around.

[46:23] We're not exactly sure yet that that's between the landlord and the tenant and what they want to put there

[46:28] But so you're going to have a lot of buzz there and and don't forget part of the thing that we did when when that was important to the town board when when all the approvals were going through is the the old pond where they used to use the ice in the in the

[46:44] Yeah, you know, to survive the York Times to survive if there was some kind of an outage or something

[46:50] That is going to be available to the public. So you guys will be able to

[46:54] Walk around sit on benches

[46:57] It's actually going to be quite nice. I'm a little comfort with to that as well. It's an age-restrict

[47:04] Believe one of the buildings is going to be age-restricted the rest or not and this is there is two buildings one is going to be

[47:12] on those that you could buy.

[47:15] Another one is going to be apartments that you could rent.

[47:20] And then you'll have a really, really nice townhomes

[47:23] that you could buy.

[47:25] So it's going to be a combination.

[47:27] It's going to fill the a need for having more rentals here

[47:32] in New York town, because we really don't have a lot.

[47:34] Like, you know, my daughter, you know, she graduated college.

[47:39] And, you know, I don't want to move out of my house to be quite

[47:41] I love a living with me, but, you know, where is she going to go to?

[47:45] You know, everything is so expensive, and it's not just your town, it's real estate everywhere.

[47:52] So rentals become an important, an important part for some younger person, I think, to transition.

[47:59] And for all the people, maybe to move out and sell their home, and maybe they don't want to own.

[48:03] Yes,

[48:08] sir. The question is, is there any news about filling some of the vacancies at the Triangle Center?

[48:13] There are three prospects which are really, really, really two of them are really, really nice.

[48:24] They will wait, I can't disclose who they are, but they're going to be two of them, or they're all through your significant.

[48:33] But two of them are going to be things for people to do that, you know, that, you know, fun stuff, you know, you go out.

[48:41] And that's in that parking lot there was also something smaller, but they do have, they're

[48:48] in negotiation with these, it's going to be like an all or nothing from what I understand.

[48:54] So if one of the stores comes or three will come and it hasn't been solidified yet, they

[49:02] were waiting for the construction to be finished, which hasn't been finished yet, they're

[49:07] working on the portion where the acne is. And I got to tell you that the place looks really

[49:16] nice. I mean, they really did a nice job. If you pass by, you could actually see the part

[49:22] where the Julie story is and where the Bank of America is, it actually came out really nice.

[49:29] And I believe they're going to pave as well, which would really finish the whole parking

[49:35] off. So that is being actively pursued. We are consistently getting a lot of a lot of people coming

[49:42] to Yorktown, wanting to open their businesses up. I just got a call from somebody. He is an officer,

[49:51] police officer, down County. He lives here in Yorktown and him and his wife are going to open

[49:56] up a daycare center, so they, so I got a phone.

[50:03] I was able to point them in the right direction and I said, once you get your licenses in place, come back to me and I'll find you. I'll find you a place to move into. That's not a problem, you know. So, so yeah, it looks nice.

[50:18] Well, thank you. Just one question. What's going on with the role in the building?

[50:22] So the question is what's going on at the room of building the Roma building is up for sale.

[50:28] Yes it is and it hasn't sold yet.

[50:33] You know, very, very disappointed with the way that looks and what we have there.

[50:42] I did try to reach out to the property owner on several occasions.

[50:51] I'm actually planning going down to his office and sitting in front of his office for

[50:55] really talks to me.

[50:56] I'm frustrated, I'm just as frustrated as everybody else with that.

[51:00] And I know that I had two people who came to me and wanted to know what was going on,

[51:08] we're thinking about purchasing it.

[51:11] So hopefully that sells and, you know, really all it needs is like some Stockholm, you know,

[51:19] I mean, I'll start with that, you know, we have three buildings like that in town that

[51:23] with that kind of architecture, back in the 60s or 50s, I don't know who ever looked at something

[51:30] like that and said it looked nice, but you know, despite the era we're in, or we were in,

[51:36] but yeah, so hopefully that'll get some movement soon, but it is up for sale.

[51:40] I would think that, given the fact that all those condos are sold and rented, that would

[51:49] be an obvious place for somebody to open a business because of its proximity.

[51:53] But you know, I don't know why I have my own speculations, but about why they're not rented.

[52:07] It's not because there's a lack of people trying to open up businesses and I'll leave it at that.

[52:14] You know, so I'm hoping it sells and we get somebody in there that's looking to actually rent the places out.

[52:22] You know, so, and it is a really, really prong location.

[52:27] I remember back when Alice Roker was still alive with her pictures right there.

[52:32] Um, and I know that there was a mini master plan for that whole place.

[52:37] There was the town homes that that are built now along with that piece of property.

[52:43] They were going to build a, um, uh, uh, uh, they were going to knock the building down,

[52:48] do underground parking and all sorts of stuff.

[52:50] But that never came to fruition.

[52:52] So, um, half the half of the mini master plan came to fruition.

[52:55] The other half, we still got the room building.

[52:58] Well, thank you.

[52:59] Thank you.

[53:00] Thank you.

[53:00] You're welcome.

[53:01] Again, you guys need anything.

[53:02] Please, you know, there's this plenty of people around in town, we're all willing to help, you know, the holidays, you know, it's a silly season

[53:10] So if you need something, if you need anything you need food, not just you guys, right everybody out there

[53:17] Just just reach out and we'll be really, really more than willing to help and happy to help

[53:22] Okay happy holidays, happy Hanukkah

[53:25] Merry Christmas

[53:25] Thank you

[53:30] Well, I want to thank everybody again for coming

[53:32] I know it's a nasty day out there.

[53:34] If there are any other questions you'll have for us,

[53:36] we'd be very happy to answer.

[53:38] Otherwise, we'll close the meeting

[53:40] and wish you a very, very, very happy holiday

[53:42] and safe holiday.

[53:44] And we will not see you in January.

[53:48] We will hopefully see you in February,

[53:50] but please stay tuned.

[53:52] I don't know.

[53:53] We

[53:55] don't know, like I say,

[53:59] with the bad weather and everything,

[54:01] please make sure you check and see, okay?

[54:03] I just want to say a big thank you to Amy for our lunch. It's delicious, and I want to thank you so much

[54:11] She brings us lunch for every meeting and the sandwiches are great. Thank you, Amy. Thank you

[54:17] Thank you. And the apples are from Seraphina Seraphina, but I thought they were donated by

[54:24] Stuart Fawn. That she has been great with doing that. Yeah. So all of our people out there are really nice and we are looking forward

[54:33] for a Sergio Hanford Marine to get going on those discounts for us and hopefully who knows

[54:39] we'll have another nice thing to do with the meeting. Hope to see you again.

[54:44] Thank you.

[54:45] Thank you very much.

[54:46] That's all right.

[54:47] Whenever.

[54:48] Okay. Thank you.

Senior Advisory Committee Meeting December 19,2025

Agenda

Transcript