2023 PAPER GLITTER GLUE EASTER AND SRING MINIATURE HOUSE CONTEST

Table of ContentsThe Easter and Spring Miniature House Contest starts March 9th
Prize List for 2023 Easter and Spring House ContestWinners will be announced on April 8th.

MORE INFO AT 2023 Easter and Spring Miniature House Contest - Paper Glitter Glue

LETTER TO THE EDITOR, CAROLYN WHITING

Welcome to The New Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools--in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.

THE FOLLOWING LETTER APPEARS IN THE GAZETTE:

March 13, 2023--The Gazette

To the Editor,

I am writing on behalf of the Croton Police Advisory Committee in reference to Michael Grant’s letter to the editor in last week’s newspaper. While our committee thanks Mr. Grant for his thoughts, and the Police Department and Police Advisory Committee always welcomes and seeks all viewpoints from residents, business owners, and visitors to our wonderful community, we must point out misinformation in Mr. Grant’s letter and share additional insight that might shed light on the staffing and workings of the Croton Police Department.

The Croton on Hudson Police Department currently has 21 officers, not the 28 –30 cited in Mr. Grant’s letter. A study done by Rebanks Pepper Littlewood – PoliceFacility Consultants of The VCA Group in 2008 advised that staffing levels arecurrently below recommendations for a Village population of 8,000. According to the report, the anticipated population of Croton on Hudson in 2032 was 8,200. It is only 2023, and according to the U.S. Census Bureau, we are already above that.

Additionally, with the current housing developments in progress and additional large-scale developments in the proposal phase, we will soon have several hundred more residents. The report also recommended that a new position be added every 2.5-3.5 years. This would be 1 position approximately every 3 years.

This recommendation is prior to the vastly expanded police training recommendations, the changes in NY discovery law, and Croton Police accreditation, all creating additional staffing needs. According to the 2008 report from Rebanks, Pepper Littlewood, the department should have at least the recommended 26 officers in 2023 for our population of 8,200, 5 officers above the 21 officers on staff in 2008 and the 21 officers, including the Chief, currently on staff in 2023.

Mr. Grant suggested that the Village could eliminate its department and utilize the NY State Police or Westchester County police. The feasibility of this was investigated in the very recent past and it was found to be more expensive than the current Croton Police Department. The Town of Ossining eliminated their department some years ago, contracted with The Westchester County Department of Public Safety and when the contract was completed, the costs of service were greatly increased. The Town of Ossining subsequently contracted for service with the Village of Ossining Police.

The Westchester County Department of Public Safety and the New York State Police both have jurisdiction on the Croton River and yet they currently do not provide any police protection or patrol on the river. The Croton Police Department utilizes a boat to patrol on the Croton River throughout the summer and has a trained dive team to assist in emergencies on the Croton River. There are often upwards of 400 people on the river, and it would be incomprehensible and life threatening to leave that area unpatrolled if the Croton Police Department was eliminated.

Our Croton on Hudson Police Department is heavily invested in community policing as evidenced by the number of events and foot patrols they undertake.

Croton Officers participate in and engage with residents at community policing 
events, such as the dunk tank event, cones with a cop, coffee with a cop, the holiday toy drive, Rotary car show, Hudson River day at the Croton Yacht Club, Summerfest, the Fall festival, and the pumpkin painting event. This doesn’t include when officers on the bicycle or on a walking post in town and are
engaging with members of the local youth to build better community relations with the public.

Compared to other village Police Departments in Westchester County, Croton has more residents, and fewer officers, with a significantly smaller budget. For example, the Village of Irvington has 6,700 residents, 23 sworn officers, patrols 4.08 sq miles and a budget of $3.9 million. The Village of Pelham Manor has 5,500 residents, 27 sworn officers, patrols 1.4 sq miles, and a budget of $4.7 million. The Village of Briarcliff Manor has 8,000 residents, 20 sworn officers, patrols 5.9 sq miles and a budget of $4 million. Croton has 8,208 residents, 21 sworn officers, and patrols 4.69 miles, not the 3 sq miles as cited by Mr. Grant.

Croton has two major bodies of water, one of which the Croton River requires frequent police boat patrol from June 1 through October 1. The Croton Police Department has a budget of $3,259,872. This is approximately 17% of the overall $19,000,000 Village budget, not the 40%/+/- Mr. Grant suggested. The Village budget is but a percentage of a resident’s overall property tax bill, which includes
Westchester County taxes, Town of Cortlandt taxes, and local school taxes, with school taxes the greatest percentage.

The Police Department and the Police Advisory Committee invite all residents to learn more about the Police Department through numerous articles written by the Police Advisory Committee. In addition to articles, there are individual profiles of officers. www.crotononhudson-ny.gov/police-
department/pages/police-advisory-commitee-community-information-project

Thank you and please feel free to communicate with officers on patrol, Police Chief John Nikitopoulos at 914-271-5177, or the Police Advisory Committee at Crotonpoliceadvisorycommittee@gmail.com We also encourage you to share your thoughts, experiences with the Department, and your concerns by filling out the 2023 Community Survey on Safety and Law Enforcement:

www.crotononhudson-ny.gov/police-department/webforms/2023-community-
survey--safety-and-law-enforcement 

The Department and the Committee strive to ensure the Department is as responsive to community needs as possible and welcomes all input.

IN THE NEWS---PROJECT VERITAS EXPOSES WHAT WE'VE SUSPECTED ABOUT THE COVID VACCINE

Project Veritas Exposes What We've Suspected About the COVID Vaccine--Young Americans are dying all over from cardiac events; at least, that’s what it feels like, but the data support it. Cardiac episodes have spiked in the 18-34 demographic, which began two years ago. I wonder what mass epidemiological event occurred that would spur such a spike in cases of young people dying suddenly. It’s not like there was some vaccine that was rushed to market, protected by a legal shield, which government entities forced down our throats. Oh wait, that was COVID, and millions who refused to get the vaccine were threatened with termination of employment or social ostracization. Well, Project Veritas found documents from Pfizer showing that the vaccine did show that one of the side effects was increased risk of myocarditis (via Project Veritas)---READ MORE AT Project Veritas Exposes What We've Suspected About the COVID Vaccine (townhall.com)

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SERVICE INFO & OBITUARY FOR MICHAEL JAMES GERARDI

Michael James Geradi, a lifelong resident of Croton-on-Hudson, passed away on March 14, 2023, at the age of 74. Mike is the son of Nicholas and Jennie (Totillo) Geradi, who predeceased him. Mike married his high school sweetheart, Kathleen Reagan, 51 years ago.

Mike was a graduate of Croton-Harmon High School and attended Newberry College in Boston, MA.

Besides his family, Mike had 3 loves - sports, music, and animals. Mike was a past Head Baseball Coach at Westchester Community College and also of the Modified Baseball Team at Croton-Harmon High School. Mike volunteered in many programs, including coaching Croton Little League, in addition to being its President for 6 years, Croton Recreation flag football, CYO basketball, Babe Ruth baseball, Croton Recreation Girls Softball League, and the Northern Westchester Cougars (a traveling summer baseball team). Mike was a 1986 Croton Parks and Recreation Service Award recipient, representing the Croton Little League. Mike wrote sports articles for the North County News and The Gazette, where he received the Section One Wrestling Sportswriter of the Year Award for covering Wrestling at Croton-Harmon High School. Mike was also the Head Umpire for the Croton Women's Softball League.

Mike was a lead singer and bass player for many of the area top 40 bands, starting with the Headshrinkers and ending with Mike James and Company, a tri-state wedding and nightclub band.

In addition, he taught guitar at Cortlandt Music for several years.

Mike was the owner of Big Dog Sports Memorabilia. He and his wife, Kathy, owned Pet Pals Sitter Service, caring for dogs and cats on a daily basis.

Mike was a diehard fan of the Yankees, and loved the Giants and the New Jersey Devils.

In addition to his wife, Kathy, Mike is survived by his 3 children, Shawn (Marc) DeLonge, Tamara (Edward) Bagen, and Michael (Alisha Pulford) Geradi, 12 grandchildren, Melany (Victor), Megan, Austin, Laurel (Anthony), Ashley, Alyssa, Brooke, Bella, Christopher, Jade, Jason, and Miah, 6 greatgrandchildren, Gabriella, Jake, Amelia, Dominick, Andrew, Kara, and his beloved fur babies, Mya and Kaia. Michael Geradi Obituary - Croton-On-Hudson, NY (dignitymemorial.com)

HORMONE THERAPY FOR TRANS MIDS SUPPORTED AT "HIGHEST LEVELS' OF BIDEN ADMIN---HHS LEVINE

Hormone therapy for trans kids supported at ‘highest levels’ of Biden admin: HHSAssistant Secretary of Health Rachel Levine has been called “reprehensible” for proudly announcing that “gender-affirming” treatment of transgender kids is supported “at the highest levels” of President Biden’s administration.Levine, the highest-ranking transgender official in US history, made the claim at a talk in Connecticut last month when asked about criticism of health centers treating children with the likes of puberty blockers and hormones.  MORE AT https://nypost.com/2023/03/17/hormone-therapy-for-trans-kids-fully-supported-by-biden-administration/

THERE IS NO CURE FOR WASINGTON'S ARROGANCE--JAMES BOVARD

THERE IS NO CURE FOR WASINGTON'S ARROGANCE---JAMES BOVARD--Why were so many smart people so servile and intolerant during Covid-19 crackdowns? Federal pandemic follies were the natural result of the swagger of America’s self-proclaimed Best and Brightest.  READ MORE AT

 There is No Cure for Washington’s Arrogance ⋆ Brownstone Institute

MORTON BUILDING, 1907

Welcome to The New Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton -- our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools -- in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.

MORTON BUILDING, 1907 (CLICK ON THE PHOTO)

The Morton Building was located on North Riverside Avenue between Brook and Bank Streets. It was torn down when the highway was built because the rerouted Riverside Avenue would run through the area occupied by the front half of the building.

The photograph is from a 1907 booklet called Picturesque Croton-on-Hudson, which includes this description of the building. “The most attractive building in Croton-on-Hudson is the Morton Building, situated on the Main business street. This structure is thirty-six by sixty-five feet, and is built entirely of concrete, all the structure above ground being of hollow concrete blocks. The first floor of the building is occupied by the Croton Journal, and on the north side by the Dry Goods store of R. T. Cameron. The Ossining National Bank does business in this building Tuesdays and Fridays. They receive deposits and attend to other banking business on these days.” READ MORE AT https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=697151702202744&set=a.563048562279726