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RYE, N.Y. – In 2013, Rye residents can look forward to renovations to Playland Park, a possible new ice rink in Rye Brook, and a continuing Rye Golf Club probe.
Playland Park Renovations
Playland Amusement Park in Rye will receive a $34 million upgrade by Sustainable Playland Inc. thanks to a civic-commercial partnership reached between the Rye-based group and Westchester. The renovation and park would bring thousands of new jobs to the area, according to Sustainable’s President Dhruv Narain.
The Rye City Council recently passed a resolution giving its unanimous support for the project. In October, County Executive Rob Astorino signed a letter of intent that will preserve the Dragon Coaster, boardwalk and Kiddyland. However, new elements would be added include an “Aqua Zone” mini-water park and beach attractions; outdoor ball fields and field house; renovations to the indoor ice rink and a new outdoor ice rink; new restaurants; enhanced access to the Edith Read Wildlife Sanctuary; an indoor multi-use facility for rental; and a Great Lawn, with views of the Long Island Sound.
Construction is expected to begin early in the year.
The Possible Opening of Quinn Memorial Arena
Coinciding with the Ice Casino closing, Reckson LLP, the company that owns Reckson Executive Park at 1100 King St., in Rye Brook, announced its plans to open an ice rink facility on its current site. The facility would include four rinks, locker rooms, a heated mezzanine with bleacher seating for 1,230 and an open seating area for another 320.
The rink would be called Quinn Memorial Arena in honor of CEO Steve Connally’s deceased son, Quinn.
The company is hoping the facility can be open by Sept. 1, in time for the start of next year’s hockey season.
The Rye Brook Planning Board is scheduled to re-address the application at 8 p.m. Jan. 3 at Village Hall.
Future of the Rye Golf Club
The Rye City Council put Scott Yandrasevich, the manager of the city-owned club, on leave on Oct. 10 after he was accused of misappropriating funds and having a conflict of interest with the staffing agency used to service the club.
Yandrasevich is accused of using tips members put on their credit accounts for club expenses. In addition, he admitted having ties with the temporary staffing agency RM Staffing, which he hired to provide workers.
Following a lengthy debate, Rye Golf Club members will continue to pay $300 at the Whitby Castle Restaurant each year, as required by membership.
The council recently approved a resolution to transfer $106,000 to the council’s legal services account to afford outside counsel as investigations continue. The investigation will continue into 2013 with little resolution in sight.
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12 in 12 – RYE’S POLITICAL CLASS OBSESSION WITH THEMSELVES CONTINUES WITH A VENGEANCE. WHO’S PUTTING TAXPAYER INTERESTS & THE LAW FIRST?
2012 saw Rye’s political class plenty busy holding on to their seats and privileges while swatting feverishly at expanding grass roots efforts to factually sunlight and stop their multiplicity of craven, self interested and frequently wholly unlawful municipal schemes. There was, of course, the traditional high bench denial, stonewalling, hypocrisy and diversion tactics. These were accompanied by a few blatant 1st Amendment violations along with some bedtime fairy tales thrown in for good measure. But local journalists, citizen investigators and commentators remain un-intimidated and stepped up to meet the challenge. This troubles them greatly. Because of course historically its one thing to smugly triumph over the individual youngest and oldest truth tellers among us – employing their customary public document destruction gambits, stacked non public tribunals and bald faced public falsehoods - but it’s another indeed to get caught outright swindling an entire large (and prime of adult life) social-recreational taxpaying population year after year after year after year – solely to siphon hundreds of thousands of dollars of the public fisc into a secret network for the few. That I think may have been the 2012 city hall “administrative oversight” bridge-too-far. Time will tell. So without further rumination let’s get at it, the list in no particular order of the top 12 local stories starring Rye's storied political class and their special influence peddling enablers. The lawbreaking, the myth-making - the lot. See them shine.
http://www.lausdeo10580.com/lausdeo10580/2012/12/christmas-past-mayor-french-served-building-violations-for-illegal-rental-property-in-rye-fined-1000.html?cid=6a0168e5e944ea970c017c352e275e970b#comment-6a0168e5e944ea970c017c352e275e970b