By John A. Corry

Editor's note:  John A. Corry's column features events that happened in Bronxville 25 years ago. He selects newsworthy items to include in his column from historical sources, including the Review Press-Reporter (which is no longer published). Many of the people involved in these happenings still live in Bronxville. Many do not but have left their mark on Bronxville. 

Aug. 17, 2016:  School Track Use.  After weeks of controversy and a New York Times article and perhaps hoping that the summer vacation period would help calm things down, the school board decided to begin enforcing a $200 fee on nonresidents over age 18 who used the track. By then, more than 1,600 resident permits had been distributed and 51 nonresident permits purchased.

The timing did not quell the complaints. A Mount Vernon resident was asking the state to intervene on the basis that the school is partly funded by it. A newspaper editorial suggested that the track should be free for Lawrence Hospital employees. A board subcommittee recommended that the fee be halved to $100.  And new board member Robert Dobbin called the use of paid guards to keep non-permit holders from using the track as "a waste of money, because it is diverting very scarce educational resources to something that is not educational."

Kraft Avenue Robbery.  After 11:30 pm, the manager of the movie theater and his assistant were robbed at gunpoint as they were taking the day's proceeds across the street to the Bank of New York's night deposit box. The robber, apparently in his late twenties, fled toward the railroad station. The amount stolen was nearly $2,000. A similar holdup had occurred eight years before.

New School Board Member.  Twelve-year Bronxville resident Calvin Chrisman was chosen to fulfill an unexpired term. A North Carolina graduate of Duke and Harvard Business School, he would continue to serve on the board and later as its president. 

Bank Expansion.  In a ceremony attended by a large number of public officials, Citibank opened its renovated and enlarged branch at 95 Pondfield Road. Among other speakers, Mayor Stein praised the bank as "a good neighbor."

Sudden Death on the Links.  Longtime Bronxville resident Donald Rundlett died as he was about to tee off in a playoff of a golf tournament at Siwanoy. Rundlett had been a village trustee, former president of Lawrence Hospital and the United Fund, and an elder of The Reformed Church. In business, he had headed Merrill Lynch Private Capital and in 1985 had established his own merchant banking fund.