WESTCHESTER COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL REPORTS--E HARTSDALE AVE, A YEAR AFTER THE FLOOD

Soggy anniversary
The flood, a year later
By JOHN GOLDEN
In Hartsdale’s business district, two vacant storefronts stand as haunting reminders of what passed though here one year ago and what some fear might come again. They are flanked by 11 retailers and restaurants that have reopened along East Hartsdale Avenue, two with new ownership, since the nor’easter last April left this business block under several feet of flood water and sank some recovering victims more deeply in business debt.
Before that weekend storm and severe flooding, an HSBC bank branch and one of the block’s two dry cleaners occupied those empty stores. Neither returned after the flood. Prospective tenants there have looked but walked away.
Last year’s flood “was an aberration,” said Martin Deitch, founding partner of Aries Deitch and Edelson Inc., the Hartsdale real estate company marketing the vacant buildings. “However, trying to get retailers or companies past the concept that it can happen again is a huge hurdle. Everyone has this concept that it’s going to happen. It’s a perception that’s difficult to overcome even though it’s great real estate. The town is vibrant.”
Deitch said he is in talks with another bank that might open a branch there. He is talking too to small merchants to lease the space.
For owners who reopened, business has not been what it was before the flood, a few said. First the rising water, now a receding economy has hurt them.
“Businesswise, it hasn’t come back,” said Phil Benincasa Sr. at King-Aristocrat dry cleaners. With the spring flood wiping out the busiest dry-cleaning and garment-storage season, “We lost a year’s business almost and it really hasn’t recouped.”
“People form certain habits. They find other places to go, places to shop, places to eat,” said Benincasa. “All the businesses here are suffering, even the ones that stayed open” across East Hartsdale Avenue.
Benincasa said he still is waiting to receive the federal Small Business Administration loan for which he was approved after “reams of paperwork.” In Westchester County, the SBA approved 60 disaster loans totaling $10,609,600 to businesses stricken by the April flood.
“How will I use it? To catch up on all the bills I haven’t paid,” the dry-cleaning merchant said.
Benincasa was one of eight Hartsdale business owners who last year filed a lawsuit against business district landlords, the town of Greenburgh and the Hartsdale Parking Authority, which operates a public parking garage directly behind the row of flooded buildings, seeking unspecified damages for an allegedly inadequately designed, overloaded and neglected storm drainage system that they claim caused the flooding. Owners said they do not expect the lawsuit to be settled soon. One owner said storm drains have been regularly maintained by the various parties responsible for them since the lawsuit was filed.
Town of Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner last week said the town board commissioned a study of flooding on East Hartsdale Avenue and is waiting for a final report on the causes and both short-term and long-term recommendations.
“A lot of people got hurt,” said Dee Francetic, whose eponymous hair salon on East Hartsdale Avenue was not in the flood’s path. “Fortunately, the town is coming back to life and merchants are doing better.” After a slow winter in the business district, “Maybe with the spring it will give us a chance to have a better year,” she said.At Enrico’s Pastry Shop and Caffe, a steady stream of customers picked out favored sweets from glass display cases one morning last week. Hartsdale residents Joseph and Michelle Floriano opened the popular and well-stocked bakery last October, naming it after the original Enrico’s started 57 years ago by Joe Floriano’s parents in the Morris Park section of the Bronx.
The previous bakery on the spot, one of the flood victims, “just kind of fell flat” in recent years, Floriano said. The Bronx transplant had his eye on the location for some time, he said, and he has brought business back to the avenue since acquiring it. “Holidays, we had lines outside the door and down the block,” he said.


“The area needed some kind of stimulation,” said Floriano. Employees at Enrico’s next-door neighbor, Rite Aid Pharmacy, told him their store’s business had gone up as much as 25 percent since the bakery brought back shoppers to the block.


Another new business on East Hartsdale Avenue, Hunan Village II, has replaced a former Chinese restaurant closed by the flood. Since opening at New Year’s, “Business has been OK,” said Gloria Jeng, whose husband, chef Jimmy Zheng, heads the kitchen staff.


Still, business could be better, she said, and the flood is not to blame for the lack of customers.


“I think people eat out less because of the economy,” said Jeng. “The takeouts are not as busy and people order less.”


At Harrys of Hartsdale, the upscale eatery that anchors one end of the business block, owner Steven Palm has observed much the same with his business. “As far as the flood recovery, we have recovered,” he said last week. “Now after the flood, now you have a new situation” that comes with a sinking economy.


Palm, whose Westchester Restaurant Group also includes Underhills Crossing in Bronxville, lost an estimated $250,000 to $300,000 in business during the six weeks he was closed after the flood and another $400,000 in lost restaurant equipment, inventory and infrastructure. A year later, he is still in litigation to collect from his insurance company, which denied his claim because the flood was an “act of God.” Palm said he took out a $350,000 disaster relief loan from the Small Business Administration “just to survive.”


Now, “With the hard economic times that we’re experiencing, I think everyone has been hit with a decrease, if not just a flat line, in sales,” he said. By closing one day a week since February and introducing a lower-priced tapas menu, Harrys of Hartsdale has been able to maintain last year’s sales figures and improve cash flow, Palm said. But the restaurant’s 30 percent increase in food and gas expenditures this year cannot be passed on to customers, “otherwise we’ll put ourselves out of the market,” he said.


In the slowed economy, “A lot of the high-end restaurants are getting hit more than the mid-range restaurants because we’re a luxury, not a necessity,” he said.


“We went through this in 2001” after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Palm said. “You’ve just got to ride the wave.”






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VALVE THAT WAS NOT USED FOR 51 YEARS RESTORES WATER TO E HARTSDALE AVE

Yesterday there was a major water main break on E Hartsdale Ave. Stores were out of business again (a year ago they were out because of the flood). I received the following e mail from Randy Cairns of our water dept.
Paul Feiner
As of approximately 2 PM today we have restored water supply back to the customers who were without water due to the main break on E. Hartsdale Ave. We did this by utilizing a back-up interconnection between two different pressure zones at the intersection of Club Way and E. Hartsdale Ave. This interconnection utilizes a 6” diameter pressure reducing valve that has not been active since approximately 1957. The water from the high pressure zone goes through the automatic valve where the pressure is reduced some 50 psi which is approximately the normal pressure in the low zone that E. Hartsdale Ave. is located in. This valve had to inspected, checked, water turned on, flushed and then the controls on the valve had to be calibrated. To our amassment………it worked after 51 years! We checked most of the stores, including Harry’s, and all had water again.
We still must make repairs (which are very difficult and will take a week or more) but, we are not in an Emergency situation. The County Water District will be starting repairs to their 48” diameter water main at the same spot tomorrow at 8 AM. They must fix their leak first so then we can complete ours. Greenburgh’s 6” water main is broken underneath their 48” water main (which is an old 1882 NYC water line that the County bought in the ‘1950-60’s).
No one will be out of water for the remainder of these repairs, unless something else happens.

VALVE THAT WAS NOT USED FOR 51 YEARS RESTORES WATER TO E HARTSDALE AVE

Yesterday there was a major water main break on E Hartsdale Ave. Stores were out of business again (a year ago they were out because of the flood). I received the following e mail from Randy Cairns of our water dept.
Paul Feiner
As of approximately 2 PM today we have restored water supply back to the customers who were without water due to the main break on E. Hartsdale Ave. We did this by utilizing a back-up interconnection between two different pressure zones at the intersection of Club Way and E. Hartsdale Ave. This interconnection utilizes a 6” diameter pressure reducing valve that has not been active since approximately 1957. The water from the high pressure zone goes through the automatic valve where the pressure is reduced some 50 psi which is approximately the normal pressure in the low zone that E. Hartsdale Ave. is located in. This valve had to inspected, checked, water turned on, flushed and then the controls on the valve had to be calibrated. To our amassment………it worked after 51 years! We checked most of the stores, including Harry’s, and all had water again.
We still must make repairs (which are very difficult and will take a week or more) but, we are not in an Emergency situation. The County Water District will be starting repairs to their 48” diameter water main at the same spot tomorrow at 8 AM. They must fix their leak first so then we can complete ours. Greenburgh’s 6” water main is broken underneath their 48” water main (which is an old 1882 NYC water line that the County bought in the ‘1950-60’s).
No one will be out of water for the remainder of these repairs, unless something else happens.

new committee to address residential parking to be formed

RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN BOARD
AUTHORIZING THE CREATION OF THE HARTSDALE PARKING
ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO STUDY AND ADDRESS CONCERNS
RELATING TO PARKING ON EAST HARTSDALE AVENUE
AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE TOWN BOARD


WHEREAS, the Town Board acknowledges that there is a lack of adequate parking along East Hartsdale Avenue and the surrounding vicinity which adversely affects residents, businesses and patrons; and
WHEREAS, the Town Board believes this development requires a study of the different alternatives that exist to address the parking problem;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board will create a committee, to be named the Hartsdale Parking Advisory Committee, to study and address concerns and alternatives relating to parking on East Hartsdale Avenue and make recommendations to the Town Board.
Submitted: February 11, 2008

UPDATE: E Hartsdale Ave flood study

Mr. Regula:

Following is an update on the Hartsdale Brook Flood Study.

Our surveyor has completed his work and is processing his data.

He has advised that we will receive it by Friday 2/8.

Once we receive the survey data we will finally be in a position to proceed with our hydraulic analyses.

I will contact Mr. Cioce once we have received the data so that we can set up meeting date to review our work.

Thank you very much,

Dennis



Dennis Rocks, P.E.



Leonard Jackson Associates

26 Firemens Memorial Drive, Suite 201

Pomona, New York 10970

SWEARING IN CEREMONIES..BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING

The new members of the Town Board (Sonja Brown, Kevin Morgan and Town Clerk Judith Beville and I) will begin our new terms of office with two swearing in ceremonies at local schools: Bailey School ( Thursday, January 3rd at 9:15 AM), NY School for the Deaf (Friday, January 4th at 9:15 AM). The first Town Board meeting of 2008 will take place on Wednesday January 9th at 7:30 PM.


The first meeting of the citizens budget/management committee will take place on Thursday evening, January 10 at 7:15 PM at Town Hall. If you have management/budget experience and would like to get involved in the budget/management committee please e mail me your resume: pfeiner@greenburghny.com

meeting on January 14th at 7:30 PM at OPORTO'S TO DISCUSS E HARTSDALE AVE PARKING

THIS MESSAGE IS INTENDED FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE AFFECTED BY PARKING RULES ON EAST HARTSDALE AVENUE. At a meeting of the Town Board held on Monday, December 17, the Board acted to rescind the Snow Parking regulations that they adopted for East Hartsdale Avenue on November 28. The action was taken in response to requests from the Chief of Police and Commissioner of Public Works who indicated that the law both endangered the public safety and hindered snow removal operations. During two comparatively insignificant events occurring on December 13 and December 16, vehicles that remained parked on the street long after Snow Emergencies had been declared, hampered snow removal operations. Addressing this required the assignment of substantial police resources, taking them away from other public safety duties within the township. The Snow Parking regulations that previously applied to East Hartsdale Avenue have been reinstituted. These prohibit the parking of vehicles December 1 through March 15 from 1:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. The new signs have already been removed and notices advising of the change will be distributed to retailers and residential buildings along the avenue. Press releases to the Journal News and Scarsdale Inquirer are also being prepared and warnings will be placed on cars parked on the avenue during the overnight hours through Sunday, December 23, after which enforcement of the 1:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. ban will begin. The Police department is inviting interested parties to a meeting scheduled for Monday, January 14 at 7:30 p.m. at the Oporto Restaurant, 187 East Hartsdale Avenue to further discuss this matter and solicit additional opinions as to what can be done to address the parking situation on East Hartsdale Avenue.
Chief John Kapica