DEC '08 - The Nyack Villager

TheNyack Villager ® 

An independent monthly news magazine celebrating life and the arts in the Hudson River Villages 

December 

2008 

© 2008 by Shel Haber, e Nyack Villager, Nyack NY 

Part of Jan’s Nutcracker Collection 

Nyack Villager® Villager On Hudson® 

Mailed to every resident of eight river villages—Upper Nyack, Nyack, Central Nyack, South Nyack, Grand View, Upper Grandview, Piermont and Palisades NY. 

PRST STD 

US Postage 

PAID 

permit no. 

5432 

WHITE PLAINS NY

2 The Nyack Villager December, 2008

In this issue 

Departments 

3 REPORTER AT LARGE by Nan Gundersen 

• Community invited to propose projects for grants 

• Baumgart’s Café to replace Nyack Grande 

• Village Board wrestles with next year’s budget 

• Riverspace campaigns for public support 

• INVESTING IN OUR HOME by Anissa New-Walker 

8 LETTERS to The Nyack Villager 

13 COMMUNITY NOTES What else is happening in December 

18 DECEMBER EVENTS Arts & Entertainment 

22 HOUSES OF WORSHIP Religious services in the river villages 

24 CALENDAR Highlights in December 

25 OP-CALENDAR PAGE useful local phone numbers 

Columns 

4 FROM TOWN HALL Supervisor Kleiner on the Obama win 

6 REMEMBER THE DAYS? A Nyack Firehouse Christmas by Jim Leiner 

6 TO THE THEATRE with Holly Caster 

10 UNDER EXPOSED The Yellow Stripe in the Road by Shel Haber 

10 THE RESTORATION CARPENTER by George Maniere 

12 THE JAZZ SCENE by Michael Houghton 

14 VIVIANE’S KITCHEN Viviane Farre with Apple Walnut Crisps 

16 THEY GOT WHAT?! Donna Cox on current trends in real estate 

27 THOUGHTS ON THE ELECTION by Melanie Rock 

Features 

9 WHY DID BARNEY BITE THE REPORTER? How to avoid being bitten 

11 DR. SEGALL’S NEW OFFICES A visit with Peter Segall, DVM 

12 DAY TRIPPIN’ Great stuff to do close to home 

16 WORD HOUND Jan Haber with strings attached 

26 BRIEFLY NOTED Miscellaneous news items 

On our August cover 

Part of Jan’s Nutcracker Collection 

Photo by Shel Haber, © 2008 The Nyack Villager, Nyack, NY Story on page 8 

The Nyack Villager 

December, 2008 Vol. 15 No. 4 

Mailed on or near the first of each month to every residential address in eight river villages—Upper Nyack, 

Nyack, Central Nyack, South Nyack, Grand View, Upper Grandview, Piermont and Palisades NY. 

On the Internet at www.nyackvillager.com 

E-mail news releases to us at info@nyackvillager.com Deadline for our January issue is December 15. 

Please include a contact name and telephone number 

• Community 

Invited to Propose 

Projects for 

Block Grants 

REPORTER 

at large 

e Village of Nyack 

is in the process of 

identifying new programs 

or capital projects 

that may quality for funding under the 

federal Community Development Block 

Grant program. e Village may apply on behalf 

of itself or a non-profit. A Community 

Development Advisory Committee has been 

appointed to consider submissions. 

If you are a community organization or an individual 

with a good idea, you are invited to 

send a brief description of your project (including 

estimated costs) to the Village Clerk 

before December 4, and/or appear at the Advisory 

Committee meeting scheduled to take 

place at Village Hall on December 4 at 7pm. 

Please note—there are restrictions on the 

kinds of projects that will be accepted and 

where in the village a project can be located. 

For more information, you can contact the 

Chairperson of the Advisory Committee, Bob 

Gundersen, at 358-1739. 

• Baumgart’s Café to Replace the 

Nyack Grande 

For those of you who haven’t noticed, what 

was the Nyack Grande, located at 65 Main 

Street (across from OD’s), was boarded up 

and is getting a major makeover. Its new 

owners are converting the space to a 2-story 

eatery with an entrance at sidewalk level. 

When its doors open, Baumgart’s Café will 

make its Nyack debut. With four other locations 

in New Jersey, it comes with an established 

reputation for its unique 1950s-style ice 

cream parlor and a menu featuring an unusual 

fusion of Asian and traditional American specialties. 

e architectural plans are on public 

display in the Nyack Building Department, 

2nd floor, Village Hall. Get ready for a BIG 

surprise. 

• Nyack Village Board Wrestles 

With Next Year’s Budget 

In an effort to start early and to keep the 

process open and transparent, Nyack’s Village 

Board took the rare step of holding a preliminary 

workshop to introduce and discuss capital 

costs for next year’s budget and to gather 

feedback from the public. While the Board 

Reporter at Large continues on page 4 

The Nyack Villager December, 2008 3

Reporter at large 

starts on page 3 

acted in good faith, unfortunately only a few 

residents took them up on their offer. About 

20 people, in total, representing the Chamber 

of Commerce, Nyack Center, the Streetscape 

Committee, some individual store owners and 

citizens showed up. 

With a proposed $4.9 million budget, very little 

of which is discretionary, and with potentially 

decreasing revenues, the Board reached 

out to the audience to ask their help in meeting 

the challenges they face. Property tax increases 

were not discussed, but it was recognized 

that cuts may have to be found. While there 

was a strong commitment to maintaining already 

existing programs, the question of how 

to pay for new initiatives posed a much greater 

challenge. One of these initiatives currently in 

the pipeline is the streetscape project. In February, 

official budget meetings start in earnest. 

• Riverspace Campaigns for Support 

Riverspace has begun to publish and distribute 

a community newspaper to lay out their vision 

for the downtown. It was hand delivered locally. 

We found it online (on google) at 

riverspace.org/%20RS_downtown.pd 

• Parking fees increase 

Effective January 1, 2009, the cost of parking 

goes up in the ‘permit only’ lots as follows: $30 

per month at Catherine Street, $10 per month 

at Spear Street. e village now offers permits 

at $50 per month, which you can purchase to 

park in the back portion (the 8-hour metered 

part) of the large municipal lot on Main Street. 

Please note: these increases are for the spaces 

marked ‘permit only.’ ✫ 

• Investing in our home 

by Anissa New-Walker 

Headlines and news stories say hard times on 

Wall Street translate to hard times on Main 

Street. We don’t need to be told that—we’ve 

been watching our pennies for some time now. 

But we do need to keep investing our money 

where we’ll see the greatest returns. I am not 

talking about the market on Wall Street, but 

in the markets, shops and restaurants on our 

own Main, Broadway, Franklin & Burd Streets. 

Spending money now—are you crazy? Yes, I 

am; crazy about downtown Nyack and about 

its financial health. For those not suffering too 

badly in this economy, please consider spending 

your cash or credit (within your budget of 

course), close to home. 

Have you noticed the new for rent signs in our 

downtown storefront windows? I have. Noticed 

the decrease in foot traffic? I have. Hard 

times depress our customers’ spending habits 

and the aesthetics of our village depress their 

spirits. Abandoned stores and buildings do 

not attract business. 

We all share a wish to keep our depreciating 

home values from falling further. How do 

home property values relate to a vibrant downtown? 

When the housing market picks up 

(and it will), Nyack needs to look the part it’s 

famous for, or newcomers will not buy homes 

or rent apartments here. Many who reside in 

Nyack, South Nyack and Upper Nyack chose 

to buy or rent here because of our busy, attractive, 

convenient downtown. 

e holiday season should make shopping in 

Nyack fun and easy. We recommend that you 

visit different shops and restaurants in addition 

to your favorites. You may be surprised 

by how much you’ve missed. Browsing is a 

wonderful adventure, especially when you discover 

surprises. Wow! e shop offers layaway! 

Remember those days? 

If you do errands far from home, try to do 

more of them in Nyack. We have so much at 

our fingertips: dry cleaners and laundries, 

banks, shoe repair shops, hair and nail salons, 

physicians, pharmacies, food shops, clothing 

boutiques, gifts and much more. 

If you already trade mostly in Nyack and have 

neighbors who don’t, bring them with you the 

next time you’re out and about. And have a 

great Holiday season! 

For more on dining, shopping and investing in 

the Village of Nyack, contact Anissa New-Walker, 

Director of Marketing and Membership of the 

Nyack Chamber of Commerce. ✫ 

From Town Hall 

by om Kleiner, Orangetown Supervisor 

Obama’s Win 

One day in late July, 2004, I was on a 

train to Boston to attend the Democratic 

convention as a delegate for John Kerry 

when I heard that someone by the name 

of Barack Obama was to be the keynote 

speaker a few days later. I thought that the 

Democratic Party had either lost its mind by 

putting up someone with an exotic name who 

no one had ever heard of (he was a state senator 

at the time, running for Senate), or the 

guy was so good that none of that mattered. 

A few days later I had my answer. Obama 

electrified the convention with a powerful, but 

very personal speech that foreshadowed the 

brilliant campaign that culminated in his improbable 

election as president on November 

4th, just four years later. Credit must be given 

to John Kerry, who, as the party’s standard 

bearer, asked Obama to give that speech, recognizing 

his potential to excite a nation as well 

as a party. 

4 The Nyack Villager December, 2008 

Obama saw what happened 

to Kerry in the general election, 

learned the lessons of 

that campaign and steeled 

himself against the attacks 

that inevitably came his way 

in 2008. His response to 

them, particularly his speech 

on race in Philadelphia and 

his measured tone in the debates worked to 

assure Americans that he and his running 

mate were actually the safe, responsible 

choices in this election. 

But as much as I am fascinated by how 

Obama prevailed and the compelling story of 

the campaign, it was what I saw in Nyack 

and all over Rockland County, that was truly 

unique and inspirational. Scores of people 

took it upon themselves to take charge. Kris 

Burns and friends organized an “Obamathon” 

that raised several thousand dollars. 

Lisa Kaess and Anthony Geathers organized 

“We the Artists” which brought in a staggering 

$40,000 for the campaign. Laurence 

Holland organized "Grassroots for Obama" 

which held weekly meetings and organized 

trips and calls to swing states, and Suzanne 

Barclay and Denise Kronstadt organized 

37,000 calls to those states. Although the 

Democratic Party assisted in providing a headquarters 

in Ramapo, all of these efforts were 

truly grassroots, outside the Democratic Party 

structure. While that is not unusual for a 

non-swing state—Ellen Jaffee and I had to 

build a similar grassroots structure for 

Kerry—the level of participation and depth of 

enthusiasm were something I had never seen 

before. 

All of this culminated in an election night 

scene I will never forget. ose celebrating at 

a grassroots party for Obama represented a real 

cross section of Rockland County, and many 

had never been involved in politics before. 

When CNN flashed the words, Breaking News: 

Barack Obama Elected President, trepidation 

was immediately and dramatically replaced by 

a mixture of great relief and great joy. 

Supervisor Kleiner welcomes questions and comments. 

Send to info@nyackvillager.com ✫


Remember the days? 

by Janes F. Leiner 

A Nyack Firehouse 

Christmas 

is story was told to me a while 

ago by a member of Nyack’s 

bravest and I wanted to share his 

Christmas story with you. 

It wasn’t going to be a white 

Christmas, and the drizzle falling 

made it one miserable Christmas 

Eve. I took an extra shift at work, so the 

younger guys with children could be home. 

ere’s just the wife and me, and Christmas 

isn’t quite the same since our kids flew the nest. 

It was late, when I rode past the firehouse and 

saw lights on in the recreation room. “Might 

as well stop for a bit of Christmas cheer,” I 

though and pulled around back. e car 

parked at the back of the lot looked like a real 

junker to me, “Wonder who that belongs to?” 

A few firefighters and one of our chiefs had already 

started the Christmas cheer and they invited 

me to join them. “Who owns that piece 

of junk car out in the parking lot?” I asked. 

“What car?” ey answered. e four of us 

walked outside and as we opened the door we 

could hear a baby crying. It didn’t take long 

to determine it was coming from the old car. 

e windows were steamed up … there was 

someone inside. I knocked on the driver’s 

side window. “Ssssh…” came from inside, 

To the 

eatre 

with Holly Caster 

Almanacs are predicting a 

rough winter. If it’s too 

cold to go out to the theatre, 

why not bring theatre right to your television 

or computer screen? 

Netflix, Amazon, or the library can help you 

time-travel back to see actors in their prime, 

performing in classic plays. 

In the mid-1960s, the BBC began its Play of 

the Month series. In 1969, Oscar Wilde’s An 

Ideal Husband was offered to the public, complete 

with elaborate wigs, costumes, sets, and 

stars. Margaret Leighton is largely unknown 

today, but she was a fascinating actress and the 

winner of two Best Actress Tony Awards— 

1957’s Separate Tables and 1962’s e Night of 

the Iguana. Here she is the witty and conniving 

Mrs. Cheveley, out to blackmail a beloved 

politician for an earlier indiscretion. 

It also stars Jeremy Brett, who is possibly the 

and the baby cried. I knocked again…” 

who’s inside here, come on open up … we’re 

not going to hurt you.” 

Slowly the window rolled down a 

crack. “Can’t we just sleep here 

tonight, please?” I couldn’t see 

who was speaking but I could tell 

it was the young woman. “Not a 

good idea,” I responded. “It’s 

going to be pretty cold!” 

“Please,” she answered, “we’ll be 

all right. Just let us stay here.” 

I looked over at the chief. “What do you think 

we should do? It’s Christmas Eve; we can’t let 

them sleep in a cold car.” Shaking his head he 

said, “You’re right; we can’t let them stay here. 

Miss … Miss . let us take you inside … come 

on you can’t stay here.” e door of the old 

clunker opened slowly and out stepped a 

young woman. She reached into the car and 

picked up a baby and was followed by a little 

girl about four. e chief took them in the 

back door of the firehouse as I looked inside 

their car. It was a mess, packed with blankets, 

clothes and all kinds of food boxes. I could 

tell the family had been living in their car. 

Inside the fellows were checking out the 

kitchen to see what we might have for the 

family to eat, and I got a better look at the 

woman. She had been beaten quite badly, 

with deep bruises and a couple of nasty cuts 

on her face. Her knuckles were skinned 

where she must have tried to defend herself. 

best Sherlock Holmes ever, and Susan Hampshire, 

the darling of British TV, who starred in 

e Forsyte Saga, e First Churchills, e Pallisers, 

and Monarch of the Glen. 

Wilde believed in art for art’s sake, and it 

shows in this play, where the total is less than 

the sum of its parts, but the parts are just so 

much fun. Some of my favorite lines: 

• Fashion is what one wears oneself. What is unfashionable 

is what other people wear. 

• Other people are quite dreadful. e only possible 

society is oneself. To be in love with oneself is 

the beginning of a lifelong romance. 

• Nowadays people marry as often as they can, 

don't they? It is most fashionable. 

• An acquaintance that begins with a compliment 

is bound to turn into a real friendship. It 

starts in the right manner. 

…and these are just in the first five minutes. 

e BBC Oscar Wilde Collection includes Lady 

Windemere’s Fan, e Importance of Being 

Earnest, and e Picture of Dorian Gray. 

Also available is a George Bernard Shaw collection: 

Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Heartbreak House, 

and Maggie Smith as e Millionairess, which I 

I sat her down at our table with a hot cup of 

tea as the guys entertained the little ones at 

our Christmas tree. e chief brought the 

first-aid kit from the fire truck and we started 

cleaning her up. A few quick phone calls were 

made to our wives and shortly the firehouse 

was buzzing; tending to our guests. It seemed 

almost mysterious how food and clean clothes 

seemed to appear. e woman was treated to 

a shower and the kids were bathed in our large 

sink and we were all soon enjoying a late 

Christmas Eve supper. We have a few cots 

upstairs for emergencies and it wasn’t long before 

the kids were sound asleep. 

“You’ve been so nice to me,” the woman 

smiled through her bruises. “What are you 

going to do with me now?” “Tonight is 

Christmas Eve and tomorrow’s Christmas. 

Why don’t you just plan to stay here and we 

can work out something after that.” 

at was an amazing two days, gifts for the 

kids, plenty to eat, with a clean, warm place to 

stay. We contacted the police and they were a 

great help, finding the right agency for the 

family so they wouldn’t have to return home to 

the husband and father who had beaten them, 

forcing them out into the cold winter. 

It was a wonderful Christmas for the firefighters 

and families who shared a Christmas gift 

with a family in need. 

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping us 

all ‘Remember the Days.’ ✫ 

thought was a dreadful play but worth seeing 

just for the great Dame Maggie at her most 

clipped, arch, and stunning. 

Holly Caster has lived in Nyack with her playwright 

husband, two kids, and two cats for over 

10 years. She is by trade a writer and by nature 

a fan of theater, movies, books, history, & art. ✫ 



An open community forum. 

Letters 

to the editor 

Opinions expressed are those of each 

letter writer, not necessarily 

those of The Nyack Villager 

Thanks from Congressman Engel 

To e Nyack Villager— 

Congratulations to everyone who voted in the 

elections. Voting is the primary act of citizenship, 

the one that makes democracy work. 

I would like to thank those who voted to send 

me back to Congress for my 11th term. ese 

are especially hard times, but I am anxious to 

get to work to do what I and the rest of government 

can do to rescue our economy. 

Sincerely, —Eliot L. Engel, Member of Congress 

Peccadilloes 


at most American parents would rather 

their children watch media with hideous, 

bloody violence than a bare breast has always 

mystified me. 

Now (Journal-News page one, October 27) we 

read of a raid of a “large scale...prostitution operation 

in Spring Valley.” ... consisting of two 

row houses, a garage with a pool table, and 

twelve perpetrators. 

Lighten up, America. In Amsterdam prostitution 

is legal; in Japan it is a common practice, 

even with the wife in tow. e French were 

incredulous when we impeached Clinton for 

sexual peccadilloes. 

Unlike those in high places who are constantly 

found to have stolen from the taxpayers, pillaged 

the banks, wrecked our reputation abroad 

and so on, these adults were HURTING NO 

ONE. I say leave them alone, turn a blind 

eye. Some things we just don't need to know. 

—Sally Savage, Piermont 

Noise after 11pm 


It was interesting to read in e Nyack Villager 

that a new noise ordinance with more teeth is 

under consideration. As a 30 year Main St. 

resident, I can honestly tell all of you that Orangetown 

Police have absolutely NO DESIRE 

to enforce 'quality of life laws' after 11pm. 

Never did. What makes anyone think this will 

change? I'll prove it and OPD will assist me in 

doing so with their continued inaction. Two 

horses and a pair of sheriffs got more done 

than these stand-around-do-nothings. 

—C. Lynn, Nyack 

A simple way to make a difference 


We all can appreciate the beauty of holiday 

lights on a dark winter night, or the fun of 

imaginative holiday decorations. Nonetheless, 

we’re writing to appeal to our neighbors to rethink 

their decorations this year and make it a 

traditional green, non-electric holiday season. 

With every passing year, effects of climate 

change become clearer, playing out much 

faster than predicted. Surely it’s time for each 

of us to look at what we, personally, can do to 

restore the natural world. While it’s true that 

our actions play only a small part, together 

they add up. We face a truly urgent situation 

in the coming years, with some regions affected 

already by drought and food shortages. 

is season, why not decorate with a beautiful, 

sweet-smelling green or a dried natural 

wreath instead of electric lights or electrically 

pumped plastic inflatable decorations? Aren’t 

wreaths, fragrant boughs, and dried corn all 

far more traditional? If you must do lights, 

use LEDs as an accent, lit for only a few 

hours—surely a small sacrifice to pass onto 

our children a greener, more peaceful planet. 

What better gift to give your children and 

grandchildren than your values? 

—name withheld at the request of the writer. 

Failing grade 


Has any one attempted to use the newly constructed 

toilets at memorial Park? ey are in 

deplorable condition after a little over a year 

of use. Whoever is charged with maintaining 

them should be ashamed of themselves. e 

condition is an insult to the people who worked 

hard to raise the money and the people who 

contributed to what seemed like a worthy cause. 

—Jock deCamp, Upper Nyack 

Praise for some good kids 


e members of Yack Town Youth are having 

a positive influence in our community. e 

organization was founded in 2004 to encourage 

young people to hang out inside rather 

than on the street. It has developed into a 

mentoring program. 

Members are between the ages of 12 and 17. 

Recent projects include a talent show, from 

which they raised $750 to donate to children 

who survived Hurricane Katrina; they participate 

in Soup Angels’ anksgiving Dinner, the 

midnight run to feed the homeless, picked up 

litter to clean up the community, took part in 

Operation Christmas Child by sending gifts 

to children around the world and many more 

projects. e group rewards its members for 

maintaining good grades in school and wants 

to start giving scholarships. ey do all this 

with car washes, bake and candy sales. Even 

though they meet at Nyack Center, Yack Town 

Youth receives no funding. 

e members create original plays and songs 

about their lives, perform poetry, dancing, and 

stepping, hold informative meetings and promote 

communication. ey need your support 

and encouragement. Today’s youth are 

our future.—Angel Hill 

PS—I want to add that Yack Town Youth 

meets every ursday from 7 to 9pm at 

Nyack Center, South Broadway & Depew. 

Cut that engine! 


Tonight Channel 12 news reported that 

Westchester County passed a no-idling law, 

with a $250 fine for vehicles idling longer 

than 3 minutes. I have long objected in person 

to people who leave their cars or trucks 

idling while they go into the post office, library, 

coffee shop or Village Hall. Very often, 

the 'dirty dogs' are driving Village of Nyack 

vehicles. 

When I politely complain, the culprits usually 

swear at me or give me a very evil eye. Why 

can’t we pass such a law in Rockland county? 

It would help our air quality, and a big fine 

would make drivers aware of their duty to 

their mother—nature. 

—Kay Stephan ✫ 

On Our Cover by Jan Haber 

Photo by Shel Haber © 2008 e Nyack Villager 

For centuries, German craftsmen have been making wooden nutcrackers in as a wintertime cottage industry when it was 

too cold to work mining gold, silver and tin. e center of the craft was in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) in the Eastern 

part of Germany. e craftsmen took a special delight in teasing the authorities by carving grotesque little figures of kings 

and generals. More recent nutcrackers feature the trades: bakers and gardeners, butchers, firemen and many more. 

e charming little figures appeal mostly to collectors. If you have nuts to crack, you’re better off with a utility nutcracker; 

the carved and painted figures are delicate and likely to chip a tooth on anything harder than a paper-shell pecan. 

My collection started, innocently enough, with a single nutcracker. He was a Christmas present from my husband, Shel. 

By the second year, we felt he was lonely and needed a friend. So then we had two. One item may look nice on a shelf but 

two form the nucleus of a collection. e collection grew to fill six large shelves. A few sat for our cover photo. ✫ 


NEW KIDS 

ON THE BLOCK 

John Stickler is the wine taster-in-chief 

at Nyack’s newest wine shop. Originally 

from London, John came to the 

US and found work in Wall Street—a 

job that required waking up at 4:30am. 

After thirty years, much in need of a 

change in scenery, he settled on Nyack 

as a peaceful place to live. Next, turning 

a lifelong passion for good wine 

into a business, he opened e Village 

Vintner. 

John’s focus is on wines from smaller, artisanal 

wine makers—labels you may not see in every 

other wine shop, offering you a chance to try 

something uncommon and choice: wines from 

New York State’s Finger Lakes, elsewhere in the 

US and high-quality imports. John selects them 

all personally and takes responsibility for them. 

Adding expert service to a hand selected inventory, 

he can locate and replace hard-to-find wines, 

such as those that have gone out of vintage. 

John carries other liquor shop items for the convenience 

of his customers. e Village Vintner 

—a great place to stock up for the holidays. 

e Village Vintner, John Stickler, Proprietor 

85 South Broadway, Nyack NY 10960 

(845) 348-011 villagevintner@gmail.com 

Tues—Sat, noon-8pm; Sun, noon to 6pm. ✫ 

Why did Barney bite the reporter? 

When Barney, the White House Scottish Terrier, 

lashed out and bit a reporter, was he annoyed by 

the outcome of the election? 

According to Michelle McCarthy, dog behaviorist 

and trainer with Bark Busters Home Dog Training, 

Barney’s aggression could have been avoided 

if the people at the scene had been smarter and 

more observant. 

Michelle said, “Barney's body language was very 

clear: Leave me alone! His ears were back, tail 

was down, head was down, body was very still. 

He was not looking at anyone and was trying to 

avoid conflict.” When the reporter bent down to 

pet him, he hovered over him, and Barney saw 

that as threatening body language. After all his 

other warning signals went unnoticed, Barney reacted 

and bit the reporter.” 

Michelle’s advice: Never assume a dog wants to 

be petted. Allow the dog to come into your space, 

as opposed to you invading his, like this reporter 

did. Allow the dog to smell you but don’t put 

your hand out. Face the dog at all times, but 

don’t make eye contact or stare, as this is perceived 

as aggression. Be calm in your movements; avoid 

leaning over the dog, as this may be interpreted 

as a threat. ✫ 


Under exposed 

by Shel Haber 

The Yellow Stripe in the Road 

e yellow stripe painted down the middle 

of most roads reminds us that cars to the 

left of the stripe stay to the left and cars to 

the right stay on the right. 

As a community we agreed on these rules of 

the road to keep cars moving and avoid headon 

collisions. is agreement is a regulation. 

ere are other regulations: stop at a red light, 

go on green. e first thing you learn as a 

new driver is to follow the rules of the road, to 

(probably) avoid wrecking your mother’s car. 

Back in 1929 banks and Wall Street had no 

real regulation, no rules, so when a greedy and 

corrupt stock market crashed, it took the rest 

of the economy with it. Most banks kept little 

cash on hand, speculating on the market 

instead. ere was no regulation for insurance 

on savings accounts so when Wall Street went 

belly-up, the life savings of millions of honest 

people went down the drain. 

e bank failures of 1929 caused the Great 

Depression and led to the closing of countless 

good companies large and small. Millions of 

jobs were lost. 

ere was no social security for the old, no 

unemployment insurance for those unable to 

find a job. Millions of hard woking people 

went on bread lines to void starving. is 

went on year after year. 

When Franklin Roosevelt 

became president 

in 1933 we began to 

dig ourselves out of the 

economic hole. 

As a community, 

America agreed to regulate 

banks and Wall 

Street. In Roosevelt's 

first hundred days in office, a law was passed 

(the GS act) to separate investment banking 

from commercial banking. at stopped the 

wild Wall Street speculation. Another law was 

passed, creating e Federal Deposit Insurance 

Corporation (FDIC) which insured bank 

deposits. en the Roosevelt administration 

created social security and unemployment insurance. 

ere were many nay sayers who said the new 

regulations were unamerican and forecast the 

doom of free enterprise. But free enterprise 

prospered instead, with fifty years of increasing 

good times. ere were small bumps 

along the way but the middle class grew continuously 

and many more people grew rich. 

Beginning in the Reagan years, the men who 

ran giant banks wanted much more of the nation’s 

wealth and seemed unwilling to share 

the good times. 

Using their influence and giant campaign 

contributions, Wall Street bankers slowly had 

laws passed that dismantled the banking laws 

and, by 1999, when the Gramm-Leach-Bliley 

act passed, many of the 1933 laws were gone 

—no more separation of investment banks 

(the speculators) and commercial banks 

(whom we trust to hold our money). Wild 

speculation resumed, converting the US banking 

system from a market to a casino. 

We American consumers seemed drugged by 

I want it ALL, I want it NOW, credit cards 

and mortgages. e banks had a great time 

offering credit at interest rates that made the 

old gangster loan sharks look like the Good 

Tooth Fairy, 

As it turned out, the banks didn’t actually have 

the cash to cover all the loans and mortgages 

so they used last month’s payments to cover 

next month. When the Wall Street casino ran 

out of chips, they called on taxpayers to buy 

them new ones. ey had painted out the yellow 

stripe on the financial highway and changed 

all the lights to green. 

On Sept 19, 2008 the Bush adminstration announced 

we were on the edge of a financial car 

wreck and called on the American taxpayers to 

bail out Wall Street or we would have another 

Great Depression. If the men who run the 

giant banks and Wall Street had been less 

greedy, retaining the 1939 rules of the road, 

we would not be in this financial trouble and 

the banks that went bankrupt would still be in 

business. 

Now you and I, the taxpayers, have to bail out 

the greedy speculators to save the economy. 

Again. 

Perhaps, now we will paint the yellow stripes 

back on the economic highway. 

Shel Haber co-publishes The Nyack Villager ✫ 

e Restoration 

Carpenter 

by George Maniere 

Leaving your home in Winter 

It happens every Winter. A family goes away 

from home for a few days and, instead of 

turning the heat down, they turn it off. During 

a cold snap, the temperature inside even 

the best insulated house will drop below freezing 

when the heat is turned off. e outcome 

is predictable, messy and expensive. Standing 

water in the pipes can expand up to 10% 

when it freezes, bursting the pipes. e house 

will likely flood during the coldest time of the 

year—a nasty predicament to be in, involving 

extensive clean-up and expensive repairs. 

Make sure everyone in the house knows the 

heat stays on during Winter. Set the thermostat 

to 50°—enough to protect what needs 

protecting; it won't cost that much to heat an 

empty home to minimal temperatures. 

Another way to stop pipes from freezing is to 

open several faucets and let them 

drip very slowly. Moving water 

freezes at a lower temperature 

than still water—the reason lakes 

freeze over while rivers still run. 

By keeping the faucet on, you 

keep the water moving, preventing 

it from freezing. While this 

will work, it wastes water and is 

expensive. We don’t like the idea 

of wasting water. 

If, for some reason,you must shut off the heat, 

the best strategy is to insulate all the pipes. If 

they are below the house and vulnerable to 

winds and outdoor temperatures, they must 

have a layer of pipe insulation to keep them 

protected. is is a really simple solution to a 

potential problem that could cost thousands. 

Pipe insulation is readily available at any hardware 

store. is insulation slips over the pipe 

and has a self-sealing tab. All joints in the insulation 

should be wrapped in duct tape to 

ensure a continuous seal. 

A sure-fire way to insure that your home will 

not be flooded when you return is to shut off 

the water and drain the house. 

Open all the faucets. Leave them 

open and shut off the water at 

the meter. Don’t forget to close 

them when you refill the system. 

Once the system is refilled, go to 

each faucet, remove the aerator 

cap and open the faucet until 

you have a continuous stream of 

water. Now shut off the faucet 

and replace the aerator cap. is 

idea can eliminate the fear of leaving your 

home and could potentially save you thousands 

of dollars by preventing pipes from 

freezing and bursting. 

George Maniere, a carpenter & general contractor, 

makes his home in Sparkill. His column returns 

to e Nyack Villager afer a long absence. 

He encourages readers to call him with questions 

on home repair: (845) 613-7737 or cell (845) 

656-4022. ✫ 

VJE 


Dr. Segall’s new 

offices 

Veterinarian Dr. Peter Segall, 

author of one of e Nyack 

Villager’s most popular and 

informative columns, Pet 

Care, has taken up a life of 

semi-retirement. 

But our cats are happy to know 

he’ll still see patients three days a 

week and our readers will be happy 

to hear he plans to continue to write his splendid 

Villager columns. 

He can now be found at the Pomona Animal 

Hospital, a branch of Rockland Veterinarian 

Care. 

Animals have figured into Peter Segall’s life 

since he was a child in Freeport, Long island. 

“I always wanted to be a cowboy,” he said, 

I even got my dad to give me a pony—but I 

had to get a job to pay for its upkeep.” 

When he grew up, he traveled out West and 

took a job on a ranch—more animals. When 

he went to college, it would be to follow a 

course of study leading to the life of a veterinarian. 

Dr. Segall trained at Colorado State 

University. Upon graduation, he was offered a 

position—not out West—but in a thriving 

veterinarian practice in 

New York City, on Park 

Ave. 

Over the years in NYC, 

his clients included 

Jacqueline Onassis, 

Claire Bloom, Mikhail 

Baryshnikov, Rudolf Bing 

& other famous folk. 

In time, he decided to 

open is own practice in 

the ‘country’—Rockland 

County. 

In 1971 he opened an office in Central Nyack, 

with no clients. But, as there still were lots of 

horses and cows in the area, he was soon busy 

making large-animal house calls. As Dr. Segall 

told us, “Back then we did every type of medicine 

and surgery that could be done.” 

Gradually, as the landscape turned into solid 

suburbia, dogs and cats became ‘way more 

numerous than farm animals and his practice 

became increasingly concerned with house 

pets. Besides pets that were sick, he recalls 

treating a dog that ate his owner’s panties, others 

that made meals of towels and loose change. 

Once, he treated a puppy who swallowed a 

newlywed’s wedding ring. 

Over the years Dr. Segall’s Hudson Valley animal 

hospital became one of the best-know in 

the area and Dr. Segall among the best loved 

veterinarians. 

In 2003, “I built the hospital of my dreams,” 

he says, and moved to the new facility in Valley 

Cottage. Earlier this year, he chose semiretirement, 

to spend more time at his home 

upstate, and to do some more traveling. 

In years to come, when he fully retires, what 

he will not miss is having to call a client to say 

that a very sick pet will not make it. “I will 

miss my wonderful clients what I’ll miss the 

most is sending a kid home with a heathy, 

happy pet.” 

You can now find Dr. Segall at the Pomona 

Animal Hospital, 1545 Rte 202, Pomona, NY 

10970 (845) 354-1800. 

Did you know Dr. Segall makes up jokes? Heavy 

on the puns, heavy on the animals. Samples: 

A couple of horses are discusing the donkey symbol 

used by the Democratic party. ey’re pretty annoyed. 

“Why a donkey?” says one, “why not a 

horse—a noble and far more beautiful animal?” So 

they trot off to see Howard Dean, Chairman of the 

Democratic National Committee. Mr. Dean listens 

to their complaint and says, “We thought about that 

years ago. But the committee decided to go with the 

donkey because you really are a bunch of neigh-sayers.” 

en there’s the snake who complained to his vet that 

he’s having a little trouble with his love life. His vet 

diagnoses the problem as ‘reptile dysfunction’. ✫ 


The Jazz Scene 

by Michael Houghton 

Jazz fans should be busy as Santa’s 

elves this December. Guitarist Roni 

Ben-Hur appears December first at 

the Turning Point, fronting John 

Richmond’s house band. e very 

next night, December 2, catch trumpeter 

Duane Eubanks at RiverSpace, with their 

house band. 

On Saturday the 6th, the Turning Point has a 

special Latin night with Mayra Casales leading 

on percussion, Nicki Denner on piano, Jennifer 

Vincent bass, Hadar Noiberg flute, Reut Regeve, 

trombone—and the great Cuban drummer 

Ernesto Simpson. You’ll want reservations for 

this one. You can also catch Mayra with her 

all-female group CoCoMaMa at Casa del Sol, 

in Nyack, on the 15th. 

Fans face tough choices every Wednesday: 

Bob Myer’s jam with Neil Alexander on keyboard 

and John “X” Ray on bass, is ongoing 

in Peekskill at “e New Yorker” (sophisticated 

name for a comfortable dive). Also 

Wednesdays, Kenny Lee’s jam in the Bronx at 

“Connecting Bar” is always worth checking 

out. And for a more low-keyed evening, catch 

Carmine Leggio at the Red Hat in Irvington. 

DayTrippin 

Great stuff to do close to home 

Not to be missed this month: evening candlelight 

tours of Van Cortlandt Manor, a hop-skip 

from the Tappan Zee Bridge. Guides in authentic 

period clothing will show you through the 

Manor House, decorated for Christmas and 

featuring a harpist in the formal parlor. After 

the tour, a guide with a candle lantern invites 

you to the site’s Ferry House, where you’ll 

enjoy a first-person account of Twelfth Night, 

featuring the Lord of Misrule, who leads the 

festivities. Inside the Ferry House, visitors are 

encouraged to dance to fiddle music and toast 

the season with cider and cookies near the 

warmth of a bonfire. 


’ 

is is not a jam, just come to listen 

—and be wowed by the view! 

ere’s a new jam every ursday, in 

Nyack, led by guitarist Joel Newton 

at the Old Fashion. e Village Voice 

called the Joel Newton Situation 

“…a sort of Medeski, Martin and 

Mahavishnu thing that cuts loose 

from tight heads to travel the spaceways…” 

Say whaaat? Anyway, the jam is already 

well-attended, with some excellent 

musicians and new faces showing up. It’s a 

pleasure to see the Old Fashion happening 

again, (and the kitchen still passes the burgertest!), 

so check it out. 

Where were we? Mark this on your calendar: 

Rudrest Mahanthappa and his “Indo-Pak 

Coalition Trio, with Mr. Mahanthappa on alto 

sax, Rez Abbasi on guitar, and Dan Weiss on 

tabla appear at the Turning Point on Monday 

the 8th. is must result from the cross-fertilization 

of Indian and Western music, right? 

Back in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Western musicians 

were digging Eastern scales and Indian Classical 

music; now it seems the influences were at 

work in both directions. It’s another must-attend 

show in my opinion, but easy does it, because 

you need to go out the next night too, 

the 9th, to hear the great tenor sax player 

Ralph Lalama at RiverSpace! 

Lower left: Sunnyside, Washington Irving’s 

beloved home on the Hudson. 

Center top & bottom: Van Cortlandt Manor 

dressed for the holidays, with costumed guides. 

Upper right: holiday table setting at Sunnyside. 

Photos by Bryan Haeffele 

e following Monday evening, the 15th, the 

Turning Point is devoted to a CD release party 

for Bill Moring’s new recording, Way Out East. 

Bill leads on bass, with Jack Walrath on trumpet; 

Tim Armacost, sax, & Steve Johns, drums. 

You should know these cats. e next night, 

the 16th, at Riverspace, the house-band sits 

out as Erik Lawrence brings in his group, 

Hipmotism. at’s Erik on saxes and flute, 

Alison Miller on drums, Rene Hart on bass, 

and trumpet master Steve Bernstein. It’s always 

a lively night when these guys play. 

ere’s more! Please plan to attend RiverSpace 

on Friday night, the 19th, when new Nyack 

resident Houston Person plays the café. As I 

said last month, Mr. Person is a sax master 

with a special feel for standards. I recommend 

reservations for this one as well. 

What else? Well, the fabulous Jacqui Naylor 

returns to the Turning Point with her quartet 

on Saturday the 20th. ose who missed her 

first date there can finally stop kicking themselves, 

but don’t miss this one. She really is an 

incredible vocalist—the most original I’ve 

heard in a long time. I hope to see you on the 

scene. 

Longtime jazz fan, Michael Houghton, owns the 

Ben Franklin Bookshop on North Broadway. ✫ 

Historic Hudson Valley 

Van Cortlandt Manor is on South 

Riverside Avenue off Route 9 in 

the village of Croton-on-Hudson. 

Candlelight tours of Van Cortlandt 

Manor take place Sat & Sun, Dec 

21-22 & 27-28, 4—8pm each 

evening. 

Reservations are a must. 

Tickets ($14 adults, $6 children 

5-17 years of age). Purchase online 

at www.hudsonvalley.org or by 

calling (914) 631-8200 ext. 618. 

While online, browse the other famous 

historic houses: Washington 

Irving’s lovely Sunnyside and 

Philipsburg Manor, with its antique 

water-driven grist mill. ✫ 

● 

● 

Tappan Zee Bridge 

● 

● Van Cortlandt 

Manor 

● Philipsburg Manor 

● Sunnyside

Community Notes 

Tell The Villager and we’ll tell the community. 

E-mail brief news release to: info@nyackvillager.com 

A CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS 

Soup Angels will again serve dinner on Christmas Eve 

and New Year's Eve. Volunteers who missed the 

anksgiving volunteer list will have a chance to join 

a team on one of these two evenings. Volunteers (at 

least 14 years of age) contact soupangels@gmail.com 

Tell us your name and what hour you are able to serve 

and we will get back to you. 

Financial contributions are gratefully received and 

can be made by sending a check to Soup Angels, First 

Reformed Church, 17 S. B’dway, Nyack, NY 10960. 

IN A HOLIDAY SpIRIT 

• Nyack Center’s 13th Annual Readings & Music in a 

Holiday Spirit: Neighbors Performing for Neighbors— 

is a fun-filled holiday event co-produced and hosted 

by Elliot Forrest and Darrel Larson. is year’s event 

will feature a staged reading in old time radio style of 

A Christmas Carol. 

Sun, Dec 14 at 7pm. Tickets at Nyack Center, South 

Broadway & Depew. $20 adults. $7 children. Info: 

call Nyack Center (845) 358-2600. 

• Nyack Center’s 2nd Annual Gingerbread Jam—a celebration 

of crafts & music of many holiday traditions. Live 

sing-along, gingerbread house-making, creatingtraditional 

Kwanzaacenterpieces,interactiveWinterSolsticeDanceand 

making spice sachets. Holiday wreaths, hot cider and other 

refreshmentsavailableforpurchasethroughouttheday. Proceeds 

benefit Nyack Center. Info: call Nyack Center (845) 

358-2600 

Sat, Dec 6 from 1 to 3pm at Nyack Center, 

South Broadway & Depew Avenue, Nyack. 

NYACk HOmELESS pROjECT 

If you can donate a gently used coat, hat, gloves, socks, 

new toiletries or boxed foods at any of our drop off 

locations before December 22 (or a financial donation 

to the Nyack Homeless Project) we can help many 

people truly in need. Info: (845) 358 5122. 

DROP OFF LOCATIONS: 

• Maria Luisa, 14 S. B’dwy Nyack 

• Nyack YMCA, 35 S. B’dwy Nyack 

• Eyevolution. 42 S. Franklin, Nyack 

• Nyack College, 1 S. Blvd, Nyack 

MAIL CHECKS TO: 

• Nyack Homeless Project Ltd 

PO Box 164 Nyack, NY 10960 

BENEFIT pERFORmANCE 

Musical stars perform Broadway hits in a special benefit 

for Green Meadow Waldorf School’s Tuition Assistance 

Fund. Gather at Hudson House for a 

meet-the-cast pre-show reception; enjoy wine and 

hors d’oeuvres. Live auction of autographed T-shirts, 

posters and more. Details: www.gmws.org or (845) 

356-2514 ex 311. 

Mon, Dec 15. Pre-show reception: 6:30-7:30 at 

Hudson House, 134 Main St, Nyack. Show: 8 to 

10:30 at Riverspace, 119 Main St. Tickets: $100 / all 

seats, $150 includes show and reception, available thru 

Riverspace (www.riverspace.org or 845.348.1880) 

SOLSTICE CELEBRATION & pOTLUCk 

Join us at the Fellowship of Reconciliation's Solstice 

Community Notes continue on page 15 


Viviane’s 

kitchen 

by Viviane Bauquet Farre 

e Comfort of Apples 

Baking apples is one of the most 

comforting things to do in wintertime. 

e addictive aromas 

quickly penetrate every corner of 

the house. e taste buds percolate 

in anticipation of their luxurious, sweet 

flavor. e heart is soothed and lifted with 

childhood memories of grandma’s apple pie. 

Apples are mythical that way. It’s extraordinary 

that such a humble fruit can conjure up 

so much! 

Growing up in the South Pacific, I didn’t get 

to eat apples very often. In a kind of tropical 

reversal, apples were a rare treat for us, while 

fruits like papaya and lychee were falling off 

local trees. All the more reason, perhaps, for 

me to fall prey to the apple’s spell, and to constantly 

create new recipes with this scrumptious 

fruit. And what better way to celebrate 

apple season than to create a dessert for the 

holidays—one that can both surprise the adult 

and excite the child. 

Served in their molds, this 

month’s individual apple crisps 

are the perfect ending to any 

feast. I spike them up with a 

little orange zest and cinnamon. 

And as soon as they are 

cool enough to eat, I serve 

them with a scoop of vanilla 

ice cream and a drizzle of 

Tequila! Who knew Tequila 

would end up being such a fabulous 

pairing with apples? 

(is is the part that pleases adults; of course, 

please omit the Tequila when serving them to 

children.) ese mouthwatering desserts are 

as festive as they are comforting and I promise 

there won’t be a morsel left. 

Happy holidays! 

To watch Viviane demonstrate how to make 

her apple crisps from scratch, go to 

www.foodandstyle.com and click on “videos.” 

Individual Apple-Walnut Crisps 

with Tequila & Vanilla Ice Cream serves 6 

Viviane Bauquet Farre is a chef and food writer 

living in Piermont. She offers intimate, hands-on 

seasonal cooking classes. You can contact her at 

(845) 365-1599, or visit her website at 

www.foodandstyle.com and watch her fun and informative 

cooking videos. 

• FOR THE AppLES 

8 medium Gala, Fuji or other firm–fleshed 

apples, peeled, cored and cut in 1/2” pieces 

2 tablespoons lemon juice 

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

zest of 1 orange, finely grated (use a microplane 

grater) 

1/4 cup turbinado sugar 

• For the topping 

1 cup unbleached white flour 

1/2 cup turbinado sugar 

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

pinch sea salt 

4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut in 1” 

chunks 

1/2 cup walnut pieces 

6 tablespoons tequila 

vanilla ice cream 

six 1-cup ramekins, lightly buttered 

preheat oven to 350º 

Step 1: Place the apple slices in a large bowl and 

sprinkle with the lemon juice, cinnamon, orange 

zest and sugar. Toss well and set aside. 

Step 2: In the bowl of a food processor, combine 

the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Process at 

high speed for 15 seconds until well blended. 

Add the chunks of butter and process until 

crumbly. Add the walnuts and pulse a few more 

times until large and moist crumbs form. Do not 

over-process or the crumbs will form a dough. 

Set aside. 

Step 3: Place the apple slices into the prepared 

molds. Sprinkle with the crisp topping. Bake for 

50 to 55 minutes, until topping is golden brown 

and apples are bubbly. Remove from the oven 

and let cool until warm. 

Step 4: Place each ramekin on a dessert plate. 

Top with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream. 

Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of Tequila and serve 

immediately. 

Cook’s note: e crisps can be baked up to 12 

hours ahead. To re-heat, preheat oven to 375°F 

and bake for 6 to 8 minutes until warm and 

serve as above. e crisps are best consumed the 

day they’re made. 

To make a large crisp, bake in a medium sized 

baking dish instead of individual ramekins. Follow 

the same directions, except bake for 55 to 60 

minutes. ✫ 

%VJEz 


Community Notes start on page 13 

Celebration Open House. Great live music, food, 

and community. 

Sun, Dec 21, from 1 to 5 at the FOR, 521 

North Broadway, Nyack. Potluck food—bring 

a dish to share. Beverages will be provided. Event is 

alcohol and smoke free. Info 358-4601 ex 35 

RCDS CAmpUS TOURS 

Rockland Country Day School’s monthly campus 

tours are on Dec 12 & Jan 16 at 9am at 34 Kings 

Highway, Congers. Info: contact Lorraine Greenwell, 

(845) 268-6802 ext. 201 or visit www.rocklandcds.org 

TRAININg IN HEALTH EmERgENCIES 

e Nyack Community Ambulance Corps is ready to 

train you in a special course called Friends & Family 

CPR—designed for the general public to meet medical 

emergencies that so often arise at holiday time. 

e course will be given Sun, Dec 7, 9 to 1, at 

the Nyack Community Ambulance building at 

the corner of North Midland and Sixth Ave, 

Nyack. Call (845) 358-4824 ex 294 for info, 

fee schedule and to register. 

LEARNINg PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 

Master photographer George Potanovic, Jr. is currently 

offering hands-on instruction in using Photoshop 

Elements for students, photographers, graphic 

designers, publishers, teachers and hobbyists. 

Photographic Illustration Workshops & Classes 

(845) 429-2020 or george@potanovic.com 

BEST HALLOWEEN COSTUmES 

Here are the winners of the 2008 Nyack Chamber of 

Commerce Halloween Parade costume competition. 

Congratulations to the winners and bravo! to all who 

participated. 

• Best Group—e Nyack Homeless Project, Costume: 

Hunger Dragon 

• Best Adult— Jonathan Bell, Costume: Sunflower 

Garden 

• Best Child—Gyul’nara Barnett, Costume: bathroom 

sink with medicine cabinet 

• Judges’ Favorite—Jim & Karen Fioriti, Costume: 

Babe Ruth & the House that Ruth Built 

• Best Float—e Nyack Boat Club, Costume: e 

Tappan Zee Bridge 

pARkINSON’S SUppORT gROUp 

Each week, a physical therapist from Nyack Hospital 

leads a one-hour exercise session especially designed 

for individuals with Parkinson’s disease. During this 

time, caregivers have an opportunity to share, discuss 

issues and receive assistance and support from others 

in a welcoming environment. is free group meets 

every Wed morning from 9:45 to noon at the Raso 

Room, Palisades Center. Info: call (845) 358-3128. 

AT BIRCHWOOD CENTER 

85 South Broadway, Nyack. Info or to register: (845) 

358-6409. 

Creating a Home Yoga Practice with Liz Schulman; Fri 

Dec 5, 6—9pm; fee: $40. Using discussion, journaling, 

meditation and asana, this workshop helps 

you feel confident, as you extend your yoga practice 

a class. Some yoga experience required. 

• Introduction to the Chakras, with Charlene Bradin & 

Liz Schulman, Fri Dec 19, 6—9pm; fee: $40. 

Community Notes continue on page 17 


They got what?! 

by Donna Cox 

I have yet to wake up 

to a headline in the 

paper saying “No Homes Bought or Sold in Rockland County Today.” 

People are buying and selling homes – everyday, in every type of real estate 

market. e primary reason people buy and sell in our area is due to the 

ever-changing cycle of life. Everyday, children are born, couples marry and 

unmarry, jobs change, people have more income or less income, kids 

move away, people retire – the list of reasons goes on an on. Each of these 

life events plays an integral role in buying and selling homes and will continue 

to do so. e media tends to sensationalize real estate transactions 

writing in terms of timing the market and quoting economists’ predictions. 

However, for most of us, the decision to buy or sell is much more basic than that – buying 

when it makes sense to buy and selling when it makes sense to sell – based on the cycles of our own 

life. I’d like to wish you all the happiest of holidays and New Year full of health, happiness and prosperity. 

With that, here are the homes that sold during the month of October. 

• THE HOmES LISTED BELOW WERE SOLD BY A VARIETY OF BROkERS pROUDLY SERVINg THE RIVER VILLAgES. 

STYLE LOCATION ADDRESS BEDROOMS BATHS LIST PRICE SALE PRICE 

Colonial 

Two Story 

Colonial 

Condo 

Colonial 

Colonial 

Condo 

Colonial 

Colonial 

Two Story 

Townhouse 

Condo 

U. Nyack 

Nyack 






S. Nyack 

S. Nyack 

Grandview 

Piermont 

Piermont 

112 Lexow Ave 

16 Fourth Ave 

128 Fifth Ave 

4 Burd St #1203 

81 Front St 

57 Fourth Ave 

107 High Ave #208 

116 Depot Pl 

4 Elizabeth Pl 

88 River Rd 

779 Piermont Ave #2 

1-5 Lawrence Park 

4 

3 

3 

2 

4 

2 

1 

3 

2 

2 

3 

2 

3.1 

1.1 

2.1 

2.1 

1.1 

1.1 

1 

1 

2 

1.1 

2.1 

1 

$1,385,000 

850,000 

789,000 

699,000 

460,000 

360,900 

325,000 

485,000 

422,000 

1,395,000 

750,000 

299,900 

$1,423,486 

775,000 

797,000 

660,000 

435,000 

325,000 

307,500 

452,500 

400,000 

1,337,000 

700,000 

293,000 

Summary Source: GHVMLS YTD Comparison Report September 2008 vs. September 2007 YTD - Single Family Homes 

New inventory (the number of homes going on the market) decreased 1% (214 YTD 2008 vs. 217 YTD 2007). ere was 

a 36% decrease in the number of sales (68 YTD 2008 vs. 106 YTD 2007). e average sales price decreased 11% to 

$669,557. Overall, the average sales price for single family homes in Rockland County (inclusive of the river villages) was 

$508,118 down 9% over the same period last year. 

September 2008 YTD vs. September 2007 YTD - Condos (including townhomes and co-ops) 

New inventory (the number of condos going on the market) decreased 10% (99 YTD 2008 vs. 110 YTD 2007). ere 

was a 29% decrease in the number of sales (36 YTD 2008 vs. 51 YTD 2007). e average sales price decreased 22% to 

$429,256. Overall, the average sale price for condos in Rockland was $295,975 down 5% over the same period last year. ✫ 


Strings Attached 

by Jan Haber 

Why are they called stringbeans if 

they have no strings? Of what use 

are the strings on a banana and 

what are those little stringy things 

you find in a raw egg? LH, Nyack 

Green beans (string beans or snap 

beans) used to have tough, fibrous strings that 

ran the length of the pod. According to growers, 

the string was bred out of the bean a long 

time ago but the name stuck. By the way— 

the only beans known in Europe before the 

discovery of the Americas was the broad (or 

fava) bean.* All others should be called Aztec 

beans, which is what the French call them. 

Linguists say they turned the Nahuatl (Aztec) 

word ayacotl into haricot. 

* Good with liver and a nice Chianti. 

The strings that run along a banana under its 

skin are called phloem bundles (pronounced 

FLOM). ese are made of vascular tissues 

that transport water, minerals and food to all 

parts of the plant while it’s growing. ough 

they’re perfectly edible, most of us remove and 

discard them along with the skin. 

The rope-like structures in a raw 

egg are called chalazae pronounced 

kuh-LAY-zee. (See egg anatomy, 

below.) They suspend the egg yolk 

in its place in the center of the egg 

white (albumen), letting the egg rotate 

so that the growing embryo 

always stays on the top of the yolk 

and avoids getting stuck to the inside 

of the shell. Chalazae are not 

imperfections nor beginning embryos and they 

do not interfere with the cooking or beating 

of the egg whites. They need not be removed, 

though some cooks strain them out of custards. 

SHELL 

CHALAZAE 

YOLK 

MEMBRANES 

WHITE OR ALBUMEN 

The Word Hound welcomes readers’ questions & 

comments. ✫


In this workshop learn about the Yogic concepts of 

Prana and Chakras. Using breath, chanting and creative 

exploration, this fun, interactive and informative 

evening will focus on the power of the energy 

body. Call for information: 845-358-6409. 

mERRY mAIDS 

Merry Maids of Rockland is offering a Winter 

(Dec-Feb) clean up offer. New customers can 

clean up with Merry Maids with a big $60 off— 

$30 off the 1st cleaning and then $30 off the 2nd 

cleaning—or a free inside refrigerator cleanout. 

Minimum 11/2 hours in home. Call 634-9000 for 

more details. 

WEIgHT WATCHINg 

Nyack Weight Watchers need several more people to 

start a group in Nyack. Meetings will be on Mondays 

at 5:15pm at (they hope) Nyack Library. Cost of the 

12-week series is $144. For info/sign-up: contact 

Kathy (Nyack Building Dept) at 358-4249 or Barbara 

(Nyack Water Dept) at 358-0641. 

WOmEN’S LUNCHEON 

e Rockland County Christian Women's Club invites 

all ladies to their monthly luncheon on Tues, 

Dec. 9, noon to 1:30 pm at Casa Mia Manor House, 

577 Rt. 303, Blauvelt. Join Carol Billings in singing 

Christmas songs and share the insights of former 

radio host, Rev. Richards, of Philadelphia. 

Cost is $16. Reservations are required and must be 

kept, canceled or used by a friend. Complimentary 

childcare is available with advance reservation only. 

Call (845) 425-5157 or (845) 947-3423. 

A gIFT OF HEALTH 

Cynthia Ming' Tai Chi Fitness offers free Tai Chi 

Yoga Pilates Stretch lessons for you and a friend. All 

you have to do is call to reserve it. One per new person, 

please. Available mornings & afternoons, Tuesdays, 

ursdays & Saturdays. 

American Legion Hall, 85 S. Piermont Avenue, 

Nyack. Call Lao Shir Ming at 845-729-3722 or 

e-mail minglaoshir@yahoo.com 

gOOD FOOD DAWN TO pAST mIDNIgHT 

If you’re out late, looking for a post-movie midnight 

munch or early-early morning breakfast, the 

place for you may be Best Western’s restaurant. 

eir menu is new and expanded; they now serve 

breakfast, lunch and dinner all day, with selections 

ranging from flamed broiled Black Angus burgers 

to your choice of 20 pan cooked omelettes plus 

steaks, chops, seafood, wraps, salad platers and just 

about everything else you might want to eat. 

Best Western’s prices are modest and the parking is 

free, safe and on site. 

Best Western Restaurant 26 Rt 59 Nyack 

(845) 358-8100. Hours: Mon through Fri, 6 am 

to 1am, Sat 6 am to 3 am, Sun, 6 am to11 pm. 

ROCkLAND pARENT-CHILD CENTER 

For fall & winter: ongoing and new programming; 

family support and counseling. No family is ever 

turned away for inability to pay RPC fees. All programs 

are held at the Rockland Parent-Child Center, 

137 First Avenue in Nyack unless otherwise 

noted. Info: 358-2702. 

Community Notes conclude on page 22 


Events 

in December 

Art and Entertainment 

39th Annual 

Messiah Sing 

Professional soloists 

sing the great arias of 

Handel's Messiah in 

the inspiring setting 

of Grace Church. 

You sing the stirring 

choruses, including 

the rousing Hallelujah! Not a singer? Not a 

problem; listeners are welcome. Bring your score; 

a limited number will be available. 

Sun, Dec 7, 4 pm at Grace Episcopal Church, 

130 First Ave, Nyack. Info: 358-1297 ex 16 

or www.gracechurchnyack.org 

Special $10 admission; children free. 

13th Annual Readings & Music in 

the Holiday Spirit 

Don’t miss this Community Holiday Tradition 

begun by Darrell Larson 13 years ago. It is always 

a heart warming, community-building 

event that brings national and local celebrities 

into the community spotlight. 

is year’s event will feature a staged reading of 

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. e performance 

will includes Tony award winning actor 

Bill Irwin, David Gonzalez, Nadja Hoyer- Booth, 

Peter Fruchtman, John Patrick Schutz, Suzie 

Devoe, Tyler Forrest, Orangetown Supervisor 

om Kleiner, Nyack Mayor John Shields and 

award winning musician and composer John 

Forster. Celtic Musician, Sean Fleming and others 

perform selections of holiday songs and carols. 

Sun, Dec 14 at 7pm; Tickets—Adults: $20 Chil 

dren: $7 available at Nyack Center. 

At Rockland Center (RoCA) 

Rockland Center for the Arts, 27 South Greenbush Rd. 

West Nyack (off Exit 12 NYS ruway. Gallery hours: 

weekdays 10-4, weekends 1-4. Info: 845-358-0877 or 

visit www.rocklandartcenter.org 

• MUSETTE EXPLOSION— 

Will Holshouser, accordion, Matt Munisteri, 

guitar/banjo and Marcus Rojas, tuba, put their 

own stamp on romantic waltzes and fiery swing 

tunes, bringing an American attitude to this jazzinfluenced 

French repertoire. 

Sun, Dec 7 at 2pm. Tickets $10 at door. 

• MEDIA PROJECT SPACE 

Middle Sticks In Living Color, RoCA's inaugural 

Project Space installation features the work of 

Elaine Buckholtz, an artist with a background in 

lighting design and light-based sculpture. 

rough December 21 

Art Students League of NY 

Vytlacil Campus, 241 Kings Highway, Sparkill, NY 

10976 www.theartstudentsleague.org phone: (845) 

359.1263 

December Events 

• Holiday Show & Sale of Student Artwork 

Dec 5—31. Opening Reception Fri, Dec. 5, 

5 to 7pm. Gallery hours: Mon-Fri 9am-8pm, 

Sat 10am-2pm 

Workshops and Demonstrations 

• mARa Bloom Mixed MediaWorkshop 

Sundays, Dec. 7 & Sundays, Dec. 7 & 14, 

Jan.11 & 18, 10 am-4 pm, $90 per session, 

includes lunch. 

• Gary Sussman, Stone Carving Demonstration 

& Discussion. 

Sat, Dec.13, 10am-4 pm, $90, includes lunch. 

Classes 

All classes in painting, drawing, sculpture, forging 

& mixed media are open for registration on a 

monthly basis. Call for info. 

• New painting instructor: Arthur Kvarnstrom: 

still life, figure, and landscape. Emphasis on watercolor. 

Begins in January on Monday afternoons & 

evenings. 

High 5 Concert 

• High 5 Vocalworks invites you to join them for 

their annual Holiday concert, to be held in Prusmack 

Hall, Dominican College in Orangeburg, 

NY. 

December 5 & 6, at 8pm. Admission: $20. 

Reservations a must. Info and to reserve space, 

visit www.high5vocalworks.com or call (914) 

661-3083. 

• You can also see the High 5 Holiday Show on 

Dec. 2 at Don't Tell Mama in NYC. 

Showtime: 7 pm. $10 cover, 2 drink minimum. 

(cash only) Info: (212) 757-0788. 


34th Annual Pottery Show & Sale 

e Art School at Old Church, 561 Piermont Rd, Demarest, 

NJ. Info & directions, call (201) 767-7160. 

Twenty-seven distinguished US potters each 

show 80 to 100 pieces of their best work. Of interest 

to first time buyers and experienced collectors 

alike, prices at the Pottery Show & Sale 

range from $25 to $15,000. Proceeds benefit the 

Art School at Old Church, a not-for-profit organization 

serving the community. 

3 days: e show opens with a champagne 

reception on Fri, Dec 5, from 6 to10pm; $20 

suggested donation Friday only. e show 

continues Sat, Dec 6, from 10am to 5pm and 

Sun, Dec 7, noon to 5pm. $10 donation Sat 

& Sun. A show catalog is available at the door. 

Annual Dollhouse Show and more! 

e Historical Society of Rockland County, 20 Zukor 

Road, New City. Info and reservations: call (845) 

634-9629 or visit www.rocklandhistory.org 

• e Child in All of Us is the theme of Rockland 

Historical’s popular Annual Miniature & Dollhouse 

Show, featuring two galleries of antique 

pedal cars, dollhouses, dolls, miniatures, quilts 

and other treats—including maquettes of Lincoln 

Center’s giant puppets. Curator: Joanne 

Potanovic. 

ru March 1, Tues thru Sun, noon to 4pm. 

Admission: $7 adults and HSRC members; $3 

kids under 12. Sunday admission includes a tour 

of the historic Jacob Blauvelt House. 

• St. Nicholas Day Festival, kids ages 3 to 10, hear 

about the legend of St.Nicholas and how shoes 

left on the doorstep are filled with goodies by St. 

Nick's helpers. St. Nicholas makes a special visit 

with his horse. Enjoy hot apple cider and ginger 

cream cookies. 

Sat, Dec 6 with shows at 11am & 1pm on the 

grounds of the Historical Society. Tickets: $5 

adults & children, $4 HSRC members; ticket 

includes the Miniature & Dollhouse Show & 

refreshments. Call for reservations. 

• Annual Candlelight Tour 

Experience a magical visit to the the historic 

1832 Jacob Blauvelt farmhouse illuminated by 

candles, fragrant with traditional sweets and decorated 

with festive greenery. Enjoy 19th century 

music, guides in period dress and seasonal refreshments. 

Reservations are required. 

Sun, Dec 14 from 4 to 6pm. Tickets: $10; $8 

HSRC members, $5 children; Dollhouse Show 

is free with this ticket. 

Red Hat on the River 

Red Hat on the River, 1 Bridge Street Irvington-on- 

Hudson, New York. Info: www.redhatbistro.com or 

(914) 591.5888 

Red Hat, the gorgeous new bistro in Irvington, is 

happy to announce that they now serve all day 

on Sundays, from 1 to 9pm. Stop in for a bowl 

of special hearty soup served in a sourdough 

bread bowl or the Sunday only plat du jour Beef 

Bourguignon. 

Elmwood Playhouse 

10 Park St., Nyack Info & tickets: (845) 353-1313 

or e-mail elmwoodplayhouse@aol.com 

Hot Mikado, a 1940s style musical based on the 

Gilbert & Sullivan classic, opened at Elmwood 

in November, featuring gospel, blues, rock, 

swing, neon, Zoot suits and Lindy-hopping in 

the land of pagodas & kimonos. 

Performances Fri, Sat & urs, 12/4 thru 12/11 

at 8pm, Sun matinees at 2pm. Tickets $23; 

seniors 65+ & students under 22, $21 except 

Saturdays. To order tickets, call the box office 

(845) 353-1313 Tues—Fri. 9-3, Sat. 10—2 

or visit www.elmwoodplayhouse.com 

Kids: be the Critic at IMAX! 

Winners receive free tickets! e IMAX eatre 

at Palisades Center is giving kids the chance to be 

a film critic. Parents can submit their child’s review 

of Madagascar 2 to the IMAX eatre and 

then see it displayed on the big screen along with 

the child’s photo. e contest is open to any 

child, age 15 or younger. Submissions and photos 

can be sent to contest.palisades@imax.com 

Chorale Society’s Winter Concert 

is year’s Winter concert by the Rockland 

County Choral Society is entitled Peace. 

Sat, Dec 6 at 8pm at Rockland Community College 

Arts Center. Tickets: $20, $15 seniors & stu 

dents Details: info@rocklandchoral.org or leave a 

message at (845) 634-5003. 

December Arts & Entertainment continues on page 20 


Events 

continued 

in December 

from page 19 

Hopper House 

Art Center 

82 N. Broadway in 

Nyack. Open 1-5 pm 

urs through Sun. 

Info / reservations 

visit www.Hopper- 

House.org or call 

(845) 358-0774 

• BOOk FAIR 

Meet local authors & illustrators; get your books 

autographed. Books and child-friendly gifts for 

sale during regular gallery hours. Book Fair highlights 

this year: A Mercy, a new novel by Nobel 

Prize winner Toni Morrison, Evelyn Fitzgerald’s 

book of photos and text Green-Wood: Brooklyn's 

Historic Cemetery, Danuta Swiatek’s Kimberly Goes 

To Poland, illustrated by the author’s 5-year old 

daughter. 2 weekends: Dec 6&7 & Dec 13&14. 

• ExHIBITS 

Focus on the Figure—drawings from the Weekly 

Figure Drawing Sessions; Dec 6—21, Opening 

Reception, Sat, Dec 6, from 2 to 4 pm. 

Poetry For People—a display of poems from the 

monthly poetry group, Dec 6 through 21. 

WORkSHOpS 

• Portrait Painting—Tues, Dec 2, 6 to 9pm; preregistration 

required. $28 per session. Supplies 

list available upon registration. 

• Screenwriting Basics—Sat, Dec 6 & 13, 10am- 

12:30pm, teen to adult. 2-day workshop on writing 

a commercially viable screenplay. 

• Poetry for People—regular meeting Mon, Dec 

15 at 7pm. Pre-registration is required. 

• Songwriters’ Workshop—Mon, Dec 8 at 7:30pm. 

$3 per session. Contact HH to register. 

• Weekly Figure Drawing Sessions—urs, 7:30 to 

10pm; $14, $6 students with I.D. 

Info: hopperfiguredrawing.blogspot.com/ 

South Nyack Recital Series 

At Nyack Library, 59 South Broadway, Nyack NY. Tickets: 

$20/$15 senior/$10 student. Saturdays at 7pm. Discounts 

available. For more info: www.southnyackrecitalseries.org 

or phone 845-358-3370, 

• DECEMBER 6—Renowned French pianist, Didier 

Castell-Jacomin, performs Mozart, Schubert, 

Chopin. 

• DECEMBER 13—Pianist Yoni Levyatov, silver 

medalist of the 2008 International Bosendorfer 

Piano Competition, performs Schumann, 

Liszand others. 

• DECEMBER 20—Albany native, pianist Daniel 

Teitler, will perform Liszt and works by American 

composer Joseph Fennimore. 

• DECEMBER 27—Nyack College professor, 

Tammy Lum, piano and Jacob Nevill, saxophone 

present Music of the Americas. 

The Velveteen Rabbit 

Adaptation of the classic children’s classic: a 

stuffed rabbit’s quest to become real through the 

love of his owner. 

Nyack Village eatre, 94 Main St. (upstairs) 

4 Performances: Sat, Dec 13 at noon, 

Sun, Dec 14 at noon, Sat Dec 20 at 2pm & 

Sun, Dec 21 at 2pm. 

Admission: $15. Info & reservations: (845) 

367-1423 ✫ 

Palisades Free Library 

19 Closter Road, Palisades, NY 10964; 845-359-0136 

Please register at the front desk for all children’s programs. 

CHILDREN'S PROGRAM FOR NOVEMBER 

• Create a December Calendar. Ages 8 and up. 

Countdown to Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, 

and the New Year. Bring small family photos. 

Design holiday cards and tags. 

Wed, Dec 3 at 4:30pm 

• Home Sweet Gingerbread Home. Ages 5 & up. 

Create small gingerbread houses to make a village 

on a plate. Bring a box of graham crackers. Fun 

to make, yummy to eat! 

Wed, Dec 10, 4:30pm. 

• Reindeer Reading Fun. For ages 21/2 to 4. 

Can reindeer really fly? Find out by listening to 

stories and facts. Create a flying reindeer for your 

holiday celebrations. 

Tues, Dec 16, 4:30pm 

Nyack Library 

59 South Broadway, Nyack, NY 

Info & reg: (845) 358-3370, ex 14 

• eatre at the Library: Fiction by Steven Dietz 

A new play that looks at how easy it can be to 


subvert truth. Featuring veteran actors Daphne 

Platt, Ed Herman, and Carly Lichtenstein. 

Call for reservations. 

Sun, 12/7 at 2pm 

• Reading Between the Lines 

Monthly Book Discussion Series. Details at 

the Reference Desk. 

Tues, 12/9, at 7pm 

• Looking & Feeling Your Best thru the Holidays 

Learn to shed layers of dissatisfaction and uncover 

your authentic beauty. Presented by 

Meryl Hartstein, Confidence Coach. 

Wed, 12/17, at 7:30pm 

Teen Scene programs—grade 6 and up. 

To register, please call (358) 3370 ex 28. 

• Rope It In Basket 

Who knew you could make a basket with only 

colorful yarn, ribbon, glue and a balloon? 

urs, 12/11, at 4pm 

• Lotions & Potions 

Using everyday, natural ingredients, make a delicious-smelling 

lotion and body scrub. 

Fri, 12/19, at 4pm 

Valley Cottage Library 

110 Route 303. Handicap accessible. Info: (845) 268-7700. 

M-Th. 10-9pm, Fri-Sat. 10-5pm, Sun 12-4pm 

• In Our Gallery Dec 3-30 

Moments—works by artist Linda Lichtenstein 

Reception Sun, Dec 7 from 1-3pm 

• Book Discussion Series 

A River Runs rough It by Norman Maclean 

Discussion led by David Turk, Nyack College 

Refreshments served. 

Dec 10 at 7pm 

• Holiday Music by Rockland Camerata 

25-member chamber chorus of mixed voices 

led by Sheila Schonbrun, performs music by 

Gabriel Fauré; also, holiday music and popular 

carols in a sing-along with the audience. 

Call to register. 

Dec 14 at 2pm 

• Documentaries at 7pm 

Dec. 2: Sketches of Frank Gehry 

Dec. 16: Young @ Heart 

Piermont Public Library 

25 Flywheel Park West, Piermont. Hours: Mon-urs, 10- 

8, Fri 12-5, Sat, 12-4. Info 359-4595, or visit online at 

www.piermontlibrary.org 

• First Friday Film Series presents: 

Scrooged (1988)—retelling of Dickens’ classic 

stars Bill Murray and some killer special effects. 

Fri, Dec 5 at 7:30 

• Gift of Art Show 

A group show of works by notable local artists 

benefits Piermont Library’s operations and 

programming. Gala Reception, 2 to 4pm to 

meet the artists, share holiday treats and consider 

giving a gift of art this holiday season. 

Sun. Dec 7, from 2 to 4pm. 

• Holiday Craft Party, ages 5 and up. 

Children are invited to come and make ornaments 

to help decorate the library and get ideas 

for things to make at home. 

Wed, Dec 17, at 4:30pm ✫ 

RIVERSPACE ARTS 

a not-for-profit arts organization offering 

Æ 

innovative programming in theater, dance, 

music, film & education. 119 Main St, Nyack. 

vInfo / Tickets: www.riverspace.org or (845) 348-1880 

• Rev. Billy & the Church of Stop Shopping 

Songs & sermons, gospel & hot preaching. 

Ironic, interactive political performance. 

Dec 2 at 8pm. Tickets: $12/ $10 members. 

• Art Sale & Party 

Sale of 4x6” art to benefit Riverspace. Live music & 

refreshments in the lobby, Fun for all ages. 

Dec 11 from 6 —9pm. Free admission, cash 

bar; artwork prices start at $20 

• Songwriters by the River 

Guy Davis and Zara Phillips. 

Fri, Dec 12 at 8pm. Tickets: $10 in advance; 

$12 at the door. 

• Milk ‘n Cookies Playhouse 

Sukey Molloy & e Circle Song Band present 

their Winter Holiday Concert. Stay after the 

show to enjoy your milk & cookies. 

Sat, Dec 13 at 10:30am. In advance $9 / $7 

children over 2; at the door: $12 / $8. 

December Arts & Entertainment continues on page 23 


HOUSES OF WORSHIp in the River Villages 

Reformed Church of Nyack 

Corner South Broadway and Burd Street, Nyack NY 

(845) 358-5518 e-mail to frchurch@optonline.net 

Pastor Tom Danney 

SCHEDULE FOR DECEMBER 

Sunday Worship Services: 

Community worship/Sunday School 10:30am 

Casa de Oracion Para Las Naciones 2pm Sundays, 8pm Tuesdays 

French Speaking Seventh Day Adventists - Saturday 10am 

First Haitian Church of Rockland Sunday 11am, 6pm 

Soup Supper—Wednesdays 5:30pm 

Christmas Brass Concert: 12/14 6pm $15; $12 Seniors/students 

Annual Pageant 12/21 5pm Free! 

Candlelight/Family Christmas Eve Service 12/24 8pm 

Palisades Presbyterian Church 

Washington Spring Road, Palisades, NY 

Church Office phone number: 359-3147 

Pastor: Reverend Angela Maddalone www.ppc10964.org 

• Sunday worship service: 10am, Sunday School: 10am 

Bible study: Wednesday 12:15pm 

• CHRISTMAS CALENDAR: 

Dec 14, 10am Worship Children’s Christmas Pageant 

Dec 24, 5pm, Family Christmas Worship 

11pm, Lessons and Carols 

St. Ann's Church 

16 Jefferson Street, Nyack (845) 358-4707 

www.stann-nyack.org Rev. Rees W. Doughty, Pastor 

Mass Schedule: 

• Sat Vigil 5:30pm 

• Sun, 7:30am, 9am, 11:30am & 5:30pm 

• Weekdays: 7am, 8am, & 12:10pm 

• Dec 5, Special Advent First Friday Holy Hour 7:30pm 

• Dec 6, Blessing of Creche & Christmas Tree after 5:30pm Mass 

• Dec 9, Confirmation 7pm 

• Dec 24—CHRISTMAS EVE SCHEDULE 

4pm, Children's Mass with Pageant 

8pm, Choir Mass 

Midnight, Mass with Soloists 

(Concert 30 min before the 8pm & Midnight Masses.} 

• Dec 25—CHRISTMAS DAY 

7:30am, 9am & 11:30am Masses. 

HVK, Tibetan Buddhist 

Fellowship of Reconciliation, 521 N. B'way, Nyack 

Venerable Achok Rinpoche, teacher 

www.nyackbuddhism.org 

Practice and study Wednesdays 7 to 9pm 

Grace Episcopal Church 

130 First Avenue, Nyack, NY 10960 

The Rev. Richard L. Gressle, Rector 

The Rev. Emily Sieracki, Assistant to the Rector 

Worship Schedule 

• Saturdays—5pm Saturday Nite Lite 

• Sundays—8am Holy Eucharist (Rite One) 

9:30am Holy Eucharist (Family Service) 

10:30am Holy Eucharist (Senior Choir) 

• Wednesdays—7:30am Holy Eucharist (Bradley Chapel) 

• In December—Sun Dec 7 at 4pm; Messiah Sing (see page 18) 

Sun, Dec 21 at noon, Annual Christmas Pageant 

• Holiday Services, Wed, Dec 24—Christmas Eve 

4pm Vespers & Holy Eucharist (family-friendly) 

6:30pm Lessons & Carols; Holy Eucharist 

10:30pm Carols for Choir & Congregation 

11pm Feast of the Nativity & Solemn Eucharist 

• Thursday, December 25 – Christmas Day 

9:30am Holy Eucharist (Rite One) 

• Every Month 

Men’s Prayer Breakfast: 2nd & 4th Thursdays at 7am 

Midnight Run Meal Preparation 2nd Saturdays at 10am 

Every Sunday: Food collection for People to People 

Temple Beth Torah 

330 North Highland Ave, Nyack. Rabbi Brian Bealwww.TempleBethTorah.org 

Info: 358-2248 

DECEMBER 

• Fri, Dec 5—7:30pm Erev Shabbat Family Service 

• Sat, Dec 6—9:15am Taste of Torah 

10:30am—Shabbat Morning Service 

• Fri, Dec 12—6:45pm Tot Shabbat 

8pm—Erev Shabbat Service 

• Sat, Dec 13—9:15am Taste of Torah 

10:30am Shabbat Morning Service 

• Fri, Dec 19 7:30pm Erev Shabbat Service - Junior Choir Sings 

• Sat, Dec 20 9:15am Taste of Torah 

10:30am Shabbat Morning Service 

• Sun, Dec 21 (SAJE) Erev Chanukah 1st Candle 

• Fri, Dec 26 7:30pm Erev Shabbat & Chanukah Family Service 

• Sat, Dec 27 9:15am Taste of Torah 

10:30am Shabbat Minyan Service 

Savior Community Church of Nyack 

Pastor Frank DeLalla (845) 702-2445 

11 Division Ave., Nyack (The Iglesia Mission building) 

e-mail pastorfrank@saviorcc.com 

Info / blog, Podcast & more at www.saviorcc.com 

• Sunday Worship at 9am; Children's Church and Nursery 

• Community Groups throughout the week. ✫ 


ANNUAL CHRISTmAS FAIR 

e Fair features a Christmas Luncheon along 

with quality crafts and gift items, jewelry and 

homemade baked goods. 

Saturday, December 6, from 10am to 3pm at 

Piermont Reformed Church, 361 Ferdon Ave, 

Piermont NY. Please call the Church at 359- 

4637 for further information. 

WHAT TO EAT WHEN DININg OUT? 

Michelle Kleinaman, R.D., CD/D/N, Public 

Health Nutritionist from the Rockland County 

Department of Health. She will highlight Delicious 

& Nutritious Food Choices from deli selections 

to your favorite Italian dishes. Come, 

listen, and receive a free cookbook. Presented by 

the sisterhood of Congregation Sons of Israel. 

Tues, Dec 16, 8pm at Congregation Sons of Israel, 

300 North Broadway, Upper Nyack 

Info: 845-358-3767 ✫ 

%VJEz 


• Cherish the Ladies 

Irish-American Celtic 

vocals, instrumental 

music, step dancing. 

Sat, Dec 20 at 8pm. 

Tickets: $30. 

• Hanukkah Party 

Featuring the Metropolitan 

Klezmer. 

Sun, Dec 21 at 2pm. Tickets $18, $10 students. 

• Milk ‘n Cookies Playhouse 

Bossy Frog Band’s fun & funny music. 

Tues, Dec 30 at 10:30am. Tickets $9 adults, $7 

children 2 and over; at the door: $12 / $8. 

Events 

continued 

in December 

from page 21 

WEDNESDAY 

NIGHT 

at the movies 

All screenings at Riverspace, 119 Main Street, Nyack. Tickets (at 

the door) $9 general admission, $7 students, seniors & general 

subscribers, $6 student & senior subscribers. Info: (845) 348- 

1880, or www.riverspace.org Evening screenings at 7:30pm— 

one matinée per month at 2pm—see Wed, Dec 17. 

• Dec 3, 7:30pm—Days & Clouds (Italy, ‘07) 

Director: Silvio Soldini, 115 min, unrated. 

An intelligent adult drama that's especially relevant 

in these harsh economic times.—Gary Goldstein, 

LA Times 

• Dec 10, 7:30pm—A Girl Cut in Two (France, 

2007). Director: Claude Chabrol. 115 min; unrated, 

for mature audiences. “... Beginning with 

the film’s opening credits, saturated in red and revealingly 

accompanied by a blast from Puccini’s Turandot, 

Mr. Chabrol has you firmly by the throat. 

—Manohla Dargis, e NYTimes 

• Dec 17, 2pm matinee—Bottle Shock (USA) 

Directed by Randall Miller. 110 min. With Alan 

Rickman, Bill Pullman, others. PG13. 

It's a winner. And not just for oenophiles. Director 

Randall Miller, who co-wrote the script with his 

wife Jody Savin, keeps the plot brimming with 

spirit and wit.—Peter Travers, Rolling Stone 

Wed Night at the Movies resumes in January. 

TUESDAY NIGHT 

JAZZ JAM 

From 8-11pm at Riverspace Café, 119 

Main St, Nyack. Tickets: $9/ $5 partcipating musicians 

• Tues, Dec 2: Duane Eubanks on trumpet. 

• Tues, Dec 9: Ralph Lalama on saxophone. 

• Tues, Dec 16: Erik Lawrence & Hipmotism. 

• Tues, Dec 19: Jazz Highlights featuring 

Houston Person. 

Tues Night Jazz Jam will resume January 13. 

Rhythm Section for all Tuesdays will feature 

Richard Sussman or Mike Holober on piano, 

Cameron Brown on bass and Steve Johns on 

drums. 

MONDAY JAZZ AT THE 

TURNING POINT 

Mondays from 8 to 11pm at the Turning Point 

Café, 468 Piermont Ave, Piermont, NY Two 

sets—8pm and 9:30. One $15 music charge for the 

evening, student discount. No minimum. Info: (845) 

359-1089. 

• mon, Dec 1: 

Guitarist Roni Ben-Hur, Nilson Matta, bass, Eliot 

Zigmund, drums; John Richmond, saxophone. 


Alto Saxophonist-jazz poll winner Rudresh 

Mahanthappa, e Indo-Pak Coalition trio 

Rez Abbasi, guitar; Dan Weiss, tabla. 


Bassist, Composer Bill Moring & Way Out 

East: Jack Walrath, trumpet, Tim Armacost, 

saxophone, Tim Horner, drums. 


Saxophonist John Richmond & special guests. 

Holiday Celebration. ✫ 

RULES FOR SUBMITTING NEWS RELEASES 

• Must be brief. 

• Must be e-mailed on or before the 15th of 

the month before publication (Example: Dec 

15 for January Villager). 

• Must be sent only to info@nyackvilager.com 

• Must have name & contact info for readers 

with questions. 

e 

VHappy 

J Holidays 

from 

all of us at 

V 

E 

The 

V V 

NYACK 

VILLAGER 

visit 

NYACK VILLAGER 

ONLINE 

on the internet at 

www.nyackvillager.com 

NOW IN PDF 

FORMAT 

you view it just as it 

looks in print 


i 

Birthstone: 

Birthflower: 

TURQUOISE 

PAPER WHITE 

symbol of 

symbol of 

prosperity December 2008 

formality 

Next time a telemarketer calls you at home in the evening, say, I'm really busy right now, but if you'll give me your 

home phone number, I'll be sure and call you back when you are relaxing after a hard day at the office. —Anon 

SUN MON TUES WED THU FRI SAT 

new moon 

1 2 3 4 5 D 6 

Nyack PB Nyack Justice Nyack Parks Nyack Justice HIGH 5 

meets 7:30p Court 5 p Commission Court 9:30 a Vocalworks 

meets 7p 

see page 18 

l 

V 

7 8 9 10 11 12 R 

quarter first 

13 

MESSIAH 

SING 

at Grace Church 

see page 18 

CONCERT 

at RoCA 

see page 18 

14 15 16 17 18 19 S 

moon 

full 

20 

READINGS 

in the 

HOLIDAY 

SPIRIT 

see page 18 

NyackHousing 

Auth 5p 

Nyack Justice 

Court 5p 

28 29 30 31 

Nyack ARB 

meets 7:30 p 


Court 9:30 a 

21 ART 22 23 24 25 26 27 

SHOW at RoCA 

no court Village Hall Village Hall 

see page 18 

closes 12:30p closed HAPPY 

HAPPY 

KWANZAA 

Christmas Eve 

HANUKAH V 

m 

MERRY 

F.O.R.Solstice 

CHRISTMAS 

celebration 

see page 15 

E 

Mon Night 

Jazz at the 

Turning 

Point 

see page 23 

Green 

Meadow 

School 

benefit 

see page 15 

e 

Nyack ZBA 

meets 7:30 p 

c 


Court 5 p 

Wed Night 

at the Movies: 

3, 10 and 17 

see page 23 

J 

tt 

tt 

no court 

BOSSY FROG 

at Milk & 

Cookies 

Playhouse 

see page 18 

D 

Village Hall 

closes 

12:30p 

New Years 

Eve 

HOT 

MIKADO 

OPENS AT 

ELMWOOD 

see page 19 


Court 9:30a 

Nyack Water 

Bd 4:30p 

Nyack Village 

Board meets 

7:30 p 

Pottery 

Show & Sale 

at Old Church 

see page 19 

Rcds 

campus 

tours 

see page 15 

e 

e 

CALENDAR ABBREVIATIONS 

PB=Planning Board 

ZBA=Zoning Board of Appeals 

ARB=Architectural Review Board 

j 

St. Nicholas 

and horse 

at Rockland 

Historical 

see page 19 

GARY 

SUSSMAN 

stone carving 

demo 

see page 18 

Velveteen 

Rabbit 

see page 20 

V 

last 

quarter 

LL 

L 

LL 

R 


The Nyack Villager 

Founded in 1994, The Nyack Villager is published monthly, mailed on or about the first of each month to every postal address in eight Hudson River villages—Nyack, 

Upper Nyack, Central Nyack, South Nyack, Grand View, Upper Grandview, Piermont &Palisades (zipcodes 10960, 10964 & 10968). 

Editor 

Contributing Editor 

Correspondent 

Publishers 

Community advisor 

Office Manager 

JAN HABER 

SHEL HABER 

FRANK LoBUONO 

JAN & SHEL HABER 

FRANCES PRATT 

JOYCE BRESSLER 

exchange numbers 845 

unless otherwise noted 

Columnists • PETER SEGALL DVM • JEROME GREENBERG DC 

• RIC PANTALE • DUNCAN LEE, ESQ • JON FELDMAN • JIM LEINER 

• THOM KLEINER • DONNA COX • JANET BROOKS CNM, MPH 

• DAN SHAW, LCSW • VIVIANE BAUQUET FARRE • TIM BARTZ 

• HOLLY CASTER •DOROTHY GOREN Ed.D • NAN GUNDERSEN 

• GEORGE MANIERE • MICHAEL HOUGHTON 

NYACK VILLAGER ADDRESSES PO Box 82, Nyack, NY 10960-0082 e-mail: info@nyackvillager.com 

• Editorial / advertising phone (845) 735-7639 • Fax (845) 735-7669 

on the Internet at www.nyackvillager.com The Nyack Villager is on the Internet courtesy of Devine Design. 

Published monthly by Nyack Villager, LLC © 1994—2008 

All rights reserved. Reproduction without written permission is forbidden. 

Phone Numbers 

AMBULANCE CORPS 911 

non-emergency 358 4824 

TO REPORT A FIRE 911 

POLICE EMERGENCY 911 

non-emergency 359 3700 

POISON CONTROL 1-800 + 336 6997 

RPT CHILD ABUSE 1-800 + 342 3720 

BATTERED WOMEN 634 3344 

HOSP EMERGENCY 348 2345 

➤Nyack VIllage Hall, Nyack 9 N Broadway 

OFFICE OF VILLAGE CLERK 

MAYOR'S OFFICE 

OFFICE OF TREASURER 

BUILDING DEPT 

DEPT PUBLIC WORKS 

FIRE INSPECTOR 

JUSTICE COURT 

PARKING AUTHORITY 

WATER DEPT (non emerg) 

WATER PLANT EMERG 

HOUSING AUTH 15 Highvw 

SECTION 8E 

➤South Nyack VIllage Hall 282 S B’wy, S. Nyack 


BUILDING DEPT 

JUSTICE COURT 

POLICE NON EMERGENCY 

➤Upper Nyack VIllage Hall N. Bdwy, U. Nyack 


➤Grand View VIllage Hall 118 River Rd 


BUILDING INSPECTOR 

JUSTICE COURT 

➤Piermont VIllage Hall 478 Piermont Ave 


JUSTICE COURT 

MUNICIPAL GARAGE 

YOUTH RECREATION 

THE NYACK VILLAGER 

358 0548 

358 0229 

358 3581 

358 4249 

358 3552 

358 6245 

358 4464 

358 3851 

358 0641 

358 3734 

358 2476 

358 2591 

358 0287 

358 0244 

358 5078 

358 0206 

358 0084 

358 2919 

348-0747 

358-4148 

359 1258 

359-1258 ext. 310 

359-1717 

359-1258 ext. 326 

735 7639 

NYACK PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

S. ORANGETOWN CENTRAL SCHL DIST 

NYACK PUBLIC LIBRARY 

PALISADES FREE LIBRARY 

PIERMONT PUBLIC LIBRARY 

NYACK POST OFFICE 

PALISADES POST OFFICE 

PIERMONT POST OFFICE 

NYACK CENTER 

HEAD START OF ROCKLAND 

NYACK YMCA 

COMMUNITY GARDEN 

FRIENDS OF THE NYACKS 

ART CRAFT & ANTIQUES DLRS 

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 

353 7013 

359 7603 

358 3370 

359 0136 

359-4595 

358 2756 

359 7841 

359 7843 

358 2600 

358 2234 

358 0245 

358 1734 

358 4973 

353 6981 

353 2221 

Starting on the first of each month and while they last, free copies of The 

Nyack Villager are available at Nyack, Piermont, New City & Valley Cottage 

Libraries, Best Western Inn Nyack, Koblin’s Pharmacy, Runcible Spoon, 

Riverspace in Nyack, Hogan’s in Nyack, Nyack Village Hall and Orangetown 

Town Hall. 

Advertisers— 

The Nyack Villager is the only 

magazine that is MAILED each 

month exclusively to every resident 

of all eight river villages 

from Upper Nyack to Palisades 

NY—very choice territory! 

Everybody reads every issue 

cover to cover so you know 

your ad dollars are working 

hard for you. Ad prices start 

as low as $112. 

And, if you want us to, we’ll 

design your first ad for 

you—at no extra cost. 

Call (845) 735 -7639 



Briefly noted 

• Back to the drawing board 

Nebraska legislators are scrambling to fix a recently-enacted 

“safe haven” law that allows the 

abandonment of unwanted children at hospitals, 

no questions asked. As the law does not 

specify, it allows anybody, not only a parent, 

to legally surrender custody. e law specifies 

no age restrictions. 

e original law, which dealt only with infants, 

became stalled in debate and was re-written to 

include teens. So far, 34 children have been 

legally abandoned, some from other states. 

One of them is a 17-year-old girl, who fled. 

Authorities have not found her yet. 

For more, google safe haven law or Nebraska. 

• e plastic Era 

Somewhere out in the ocean floats a ‘sargasso 

sea’ of plastic bags, according to Richard Wool, 

University of Delaware professor of chemical 

engineering. Archaeologists of the future will 

identify us as e Plastic People and our time 

on earth will be a snap to study because so much 

of our stuff will still be here in hundeds of years. 

row-aways threaten the environment, kill off 

wildlife and cost millions of dollars in clean up 

expense. 

Last month, Connie Coker, Chair of the Rockland 

Legislature’s Environmental Committee, 

proposed legislation requiring shoppers to pay 

a fee for every throw-away bag they receive at 

check out—a strategy to discourage the use of 

throw aways while encouraging the use of environmentally 

friendly reusable bags. 

e Rockland County Legislature’s Environmental 

Committee has already held one public 

hearing on Coker’s proposed legislation; a second 

is scheduled for Dec 10, at 7:30pm, in the 

Legislative Chambers at the Allison-Parris 

County Office Building, 11 New Hempstead 

Road, New City. Questions: (845) 638-5754. 

• High season for deer / car crashes 

Each year, they account for more than 150 

human and nearly one and a half million deer 

fatalities. Experts attribute the problem to the 

combination of deer mating and migration 

habits and shortened daylight hours. 

A car striking a 200-pound adult deer often 

results in the death of the deer, life threatening 

injuries to the humans and an average $2,000 

in damage to the vehicle. Precautions: 

• Scan a wide swath of roadside ahead. Slow 

down when approaching a deer standing near 

the side of a road and be prepared. If startled, 

the deer can bolt into your path. Honk your 

horn and flash your lights to try to scare it away. 

• Be alert: Where there is one deer, there are 

often more nearby. 

• It’s not the best idea to swerve around the deer. 

You may inadvertently hit another vehicle. It’s 

often best to brake and stay in your lane. 

• Be extra careful at dawn and dusk, on hills 

and curves, where visibility is limited. Use 

your high beams. 

• Take deer crossing signs seriously, particularly 

those installed specifically for this time of 

year. Be cautious in wooded and agricultural 

areas where there is little distance between the 

road and the woods. 

• Bee Colony Collapse 

e Bayer Company, best known here for the 

aspirin they manufacture, is known in Germany, 

their home base, for their agricultural pesticides. 

Now, researchers have concluded that the 

chemical responsible for the recent massive 

die-off of honeybees is Clothianidin, one of a 

class of chemicals applied to the seed of sweet 

corn all over the world. 

German researchers concluded that nearly 97 

percent of honeybee deaths had been caused 

directly by contact with the insecticide. 

Why does this matter? Imagine a world without 

food. Everything that grows depends on 

bees for pollination. 

• League of Conservation Voters picks 

e New York League of Conservation Voters 

was founded in 1989 as a nonpartisan, policy 

making and political action organization that 

works to make environmental protection a top 

priority with elected officials, decision makers, 

and voters by evaluating incumbent performance 

and endorsing and electing environmental 

leaders to office in NY State. Here are 

their picks for reelection in our area. All won 

their contests. 

US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

• Eliot Engel, 17th District US House of Rep 

(Bronx, Westchester, Rockland counties) 

• John Hall, 19th District 

(Westchester, Dutchess, Putnam, Orange, 

Rockland counties) 

STATE SENATE 

• Ellen Jaffee, 95th District (Rockland County) 

• Stores may close 

Watch those store gift cards and credit slips. 

Some stores informed the Security & Exchange 

Commission of closing plans for some or all 

branches between Oct ‘08 & Jan ‘09. A few 

more details at www.nyackvillager.com 

Circuit City 

Ann Taylor 

Lane Bryant 

Fashion Bug 

Catherine's 

Eddie Bauer 

Cache 

Talbots 

J. Jill 

GAP 

Footlocker 

Levitz 

Movie Gallery 

Pacific Sunware 

Pep Boys 

Sprint/ Nextel 

Linens & ings 

JC Penney 

Ethan Allen 

Wilson Leather 

Sharper Image 

COMP USA 

Wickes Furniture 

Whitehall 

Piercing Pagoda 

Zales 

Disney 

Home Depot 

Macys 

Bombay 

Lowes 

K B Toys Dillard's ✫

Thoughts on the 

recent election 

by Melanie Rock 

It’s 10am. My five-year-old is engaged in 

kindergarten gym class antics, her three-yearold 

sister is nestled into the cozy confines of 

her preschool, and I have been crying intermittently 

for hours. 

Barack Obama is the President Elect of the 

United States of America. An African American. 

A man of mixed heritage—black father, 

white mother, like me. A man whose parents’ 

marriage was not recognized by Virginia state 

law at the time of his birth, he won the electoral 

and popular votes in that same state last 

night. e achievements of his campaign have 

taught us so much about ourselves. Our new 

public image, of our country as a whole, serves 

to empower nations of people and speaks volumes 

about the state of the American dream. 

Because he won, our children are living in a 

new world. 

My crying jag started at 11 o’clock last night, 

after the girlies were finally asleep. We had 

reveled long past bedtime, at a neighborhood 

gathering, where young children watched animated 

blockbusters on one screen, and adults 

sat glued to the rolling returns on another, 

surfing the cable and network news stations, 

accepting the early projections with cautious 

optimism; the children periodically asking, 

“Did he win yet?” their excitement fueled by a 

sugary buffet, as much as by the auspicious indicators 

on screen. 

At about 10 o’clock, Pennsylvania and Ohio 

turned blue on the big maps. I deflected the 

glassy-eyed exchanges of friends and neighbors. 

e pundits declared that McCain would 

need a mathematical miracle to win, but I was 

not about to believe it was a done deal, not 

after what happened the last time. It was too 

early to celebrate. 

At 10:45, we dragged our pajama-clad babes 

up to their beds. eir little brown bodies fell 

limp, free of tension, anxiety, and the anticipation 

of a New Day. 

At 11 o’clock, I sat in the big chair across from 

our living room TV, watching, while my husband 

disappeared behind the internet. en a 

voter alert flashed: Obama is the projected 

winner of the presidential election. Could it 

be? I scrolled madly through reporting channels, 

MSNBC, CNN, even Fox, and found 

them all in agreement: McCain was about to 

deliver his concession speech. IT WAS REAL! 

Jesse Jackson’s tear-streaked face, “(his) heart 

overflowing with joy and hope,” conveyed the 

immense swell of emotions so many of us 

shared. Remembrances of the countless martyrs, 

and survivors, who had brought us to this 

place. e generations of black Americans 

who were now witness to the unthinkable, in 

the best possible light: a black family is headed 

to the White House. 

While some folks feel that Obama isn’t black 

enough, it seems to me that he’s precisely 

black enough. e diplomatic practice of living 

biracial in America is great leadership 

training. Belonging to both sides of a nation’s 

internal battles, life itself embodies a volatile 

junction. Commanding the tenacity and selfreliance 

to sustain a successful career in public 

service on these terms, Barack Obama is 

uniquely qualified to run our complex, multicultural 

nation with compassion, empathy, 

and calm. He has spent a lifetime collaborating 

across the aisle. 

My five year old knows we supported the 

Obama campaign. We explained to her that 

he was the smarter of the candidates, that he 

had the best ideas for fixing the problems in 

our country. e topic of race never entered 

our little chats, until this morning, on the 

drive to school. I pointed out to her that our 

new president is African-American, and that I 

am, and that she is too. And suddenly we were 

thrown into a dialogue about racial identity, 

reminiscent of conversations I had with my 

own parents, but in the context of a completely 

unfamiliar reality. I spent thirty-plus 

years responding to society’s demands that I 

define my ethnicity, decode my own racial 

identity, decide which race labels of the day 

best suit my mixed-race status. My children 

are so young, they don’t know that people 

judge, and are judged, according to skin color. 

ey see that people look different, and they 

really don’t care. 

is election presents the possibility that we, 

as a people, are capable of seeing with those 

eyes, and acting with that mindset. I want to 

believe that we, as individuals, are free to define 

ourselves through our actions, our words, 

and our combined efforts, exempt from prejudice. 

Any parent would want that for their 

children. Today, it feels very possible. 

Melanie Rock is a writer of words and songs, and is 

a volunteer music curator at Riverspace. ✫ 

Dear Readers— 

e Nyack Villager is collecting brief comments (50—100 words each) on the recent election 

and what it means to you. Whether you’re a red (R) or a blue (D), whether a first time voter 

or haven’t missed an election in fifty years, we’d love to share your thoughts, signed or not. 

Please send them to— info@nyackvillager.com anks, Jan Haber, Editor

DEC '08 - The Nyack Villager

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?