By Mary Marvin, Mayor of Bronxville

Sept. 8, 2021: I was working on a fall column last week to share all that transpired at Village Hall and on Village streets over the summer, but mother nature so abruptly intervened and caused so many of our friends and neighbors much loss and heartache so the flood and its aftermath will be center stage.

The following are all avenues we are pursuing as a Village as well as ways individual homeowners can receive necessary guidance and hopefully recompense.

-For immediate needs, The American Red Cross and the United Way’s 211 call center is a dependable resource. For housing assistance, reach out to Westchester County Department of Social Services. In an emergency case, call 914-995-2099.

This information is particularly directed to our neighbors on Parkway Road, Bolton Gardens and areas of Kensington Road.

-FEMA - The fastest way to apply for assistance is through DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 800-621-3362 or through the special FEMA app.

Note: FEMA assistance cannot aid losses already covered by insurance. FEMA disaster recovery centers are in the process of being established as an alternative to applying by phone. We will share this information as soon as we receive locations.

-If you are a resident still without power, our Village Building Inspector Paul Taft has likely been or will be in contact with you with guidance as to the steps you need to take to get power safely restored. As example, Con Edison will not restore power if there was even damage to their meter box.

-The Village will be waiving all permit fees associated with not only getting power restored but any flood damage. If you have documented information from a third-party electrical inspection service and Con Ed has not responded, you can call the building department directly at 337-7350.

-If you are a homeowner, we ask that you kindly assist the Village with documenting your storm damages so we can also provide this information to Westchester County. Information needed in addition to general contact information is damage details including extent of water damage and water level in your home or basement. Send to Stephen Shallo at Village Hall at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

-The Village will continue to collect all debris curbside. It may take some time given our staffing but crews are working extended hours and weekends. There will be no interruption to general garbage and recycling services.

-Senator Gillibrand has reached out to the Village and we are working with her office to see if there are avenues of aid yet unexplored.

-As to the Bronxville School, school families got a very informative letter from Superintendent Roy Montesano but for those of us not having school-age children, there was some damage to the school as both the amount of water and the inches over time even surpassed both Irene and Sandy in intensity in what is called the Midland Valley Drainage Basin. The School had 24/7 staffers on hand during the entire event even though the pumps do go on automatically as an added precaution. The pumps worked with precision and at capacity starting at 8:03PM on Wednesday with all five running for extended hours and some even running to late afternoon on Thursday.

-Those in Village government have also been on all the calls related to Westchester County emergency services and possible assistance and we will update you with any news.

-Prior to this event, we had watched the drainage pattern over the summer and had already reached out to the County Stormwater Advisory Board via the County Planning Department seeking money for engineering studies as to ways to ameliorate the problem particularly in the river corridor. We are actually on their September meeting agenda.

-Many of you have asked me about dredging the Bronx River as some of our more long-term residents remember this happening in decades past. I have reached out to the County and awaiting a response as to the engineering opinions on this subject.

-If I have not covered any information you might need, do not hesitate to call Village Hall at 914-337-6500 as we are all here to help you. In addition, reach out to me on my personal cell phone 914-564-2207 for any concern.

Quite frankly walking neighborhoods, you would guess there were situations that were devastating and frankly heartbreaking but also the amount of neighbors helping neighbors was quite simply extraordinary. Folks who were not affected were bringing cases of water to their neighbors, dropping off food, offering to help clean or just introducing themselves with an offer of friendship and concern. And the way so many residents handled this incredible adversity was nothing short of heroic. One family had moved in only two days prior to IDA, essentially lost everything but mentioned on the bright side that they had met every single neighbor in record time and felt so welcomed and embraced by the community. There truly was grace under pressure - Hemingway’s definition of courage.

Pictured: water gushed like a river down Prescott avenue.  Photo by Staff