Mayor Reports Happenings in Larchmont

Village Officials

Our first ever November Village elections took place on the 2nd and, consequently, I will be swearing in newly elected Trustees Brigid Brennan and Dana Post and re-elected Justice Thea Beaver on Monday, Dec 6.

Larchmont has a new Deputy Mayor! I’m pleased to announce the appointment of Trustee Sarah Bauer to this position.

December Notes

Light Up Larchmont is coming on December 4th and the whole village is getting into the spirit! And Don’t Forget to Shop Local!

The Down to Earth Farmers Market will be staying in Larchmont this winter! The last day for 2021 will be December 18 and they will come back to Lot 3 on January 8, 2022.

Fall Recap

Larchmont Arts Festival 2021 was a great success! Held for the first time in the newly-renovated Constitution Park on a beautiful October day, the vibe was perfection. Our thanks to the Larchmont Arts Committee for planning this event and bringing together artists, crafts people, and musicians with our community in this special way.

The annual Ragamuffin Parade came back after a one-year hiatus and it was clear, by the excitement and turnout, that people really needed this! About 1500 people strolled down Larchmont Avenue in their costumes to end at Constitution Park and Village Hall for the traditional hot dogs and music. Thank you to the Volunteer Events Team, led by Trustee Fanelli, for cooking and handing out the dogs, and to recreation director Joyce Callahan for helping make this such a fun day.

How lucky are we that Salvatore Di Vittorio, Music Director of the Chamber Orchestra of NY, is a Larchmonter? Not only did the orchestra perform during Larchmont Weekend in September, but Salvatore wrote a piece entitled Larchmont Harbor, dedicated to Larchmont’s 130 anniversary! He then presented the Village with the bound, published orchestral score and parts for our archive.

Village Business

We are working with the Town of Mamaroneck, our partners in the Joint Sanitation Commission, on ideas for a new structure to improve the flexibility and efficiency of this important service. Our monthly work sessions are open to the public and can be found posted on the Village website calendar.

Larchmont’s DPW, always hard at work, is busy now with leaf collection and getting our equipment prepared for winter. They’ve also been replacing the Village streetlight fixtures with LED versions. This change is an important part of our commitment to sustainability and is about 80{e6256568ef004ae30a33ade7796972095a5096e2f9c8cb6db66cc5efcd2f2b47} completed. LED fixtures provide better light and use much less energy than conventional lamps.

Sidewalk repairs will be ongoing for the next few weeks around the Village. This year we are employing a new grinding technique to remove known trip hazards without needing to replace entire sidewalks that may otherwise be in good condition. If successful, this process will enable the Village to perform repairs more quickly and at a significant savings to the Village and property owners.

Progress on the two new buildings downtown continues. 1912 Palmer, which burned down in November of 2016, is almost complete. The exterior should be closed up soon and the sidewalk and parking will be reopened. In November the Board was given a tour of Centro and it’s looking great. We’re excited to see this rejuvenation of the Chatsworth/Palmer area and look forward to completion of both sometime in the spring.

The Village’s auditors are in the final stages of completing our Financial Statement for the fiscal year ending May 31, 2021, and I am happy to report that, despite a difficult and unpredictable year, our finances remain sound – thanks to the efforts of the Board and Village staff.

The Village will be receiving a total of approximately $635,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds this year and next. Recently, the Board voted to apply this money to capital improvements in the sanitary sewer system to help reduce inflow and infiltration (I&I) of stormwater into the sewers.

COVID numbers in Larchmont Village have been fairly steady for the last 3 months, averaging about 1 new case/day. Let’s keep moving in the right direction towards an increasingly “normal” existence, so please continue to follow CDC recommendations for mask wearing in public indoor spaces and check with Vaccine Information for information on locally available vaccines and boosters.