By Mary Marvin, Mayor of Bronxville

July 13, 2022: No one can deny that summer is finally here and with it comes a change in rhythm in the Village. Many of you take the opportunity to travel, leaving homes unoccupied for significant stretches of time.

The following are strategies from Police Chief Satriale to make your home appear occupied while you are away:

• Connect some lamps to automatic timers to go on during the day as well as at night.
• Keep the garage door closed and locked and store lawnmowers, barbecues and bikes out of sight.
• Change the locks immediately if keys are lost or stolen.
• Consider motion sensitive lights around your home particularly backyards.
• Arrange for your mail and newspapers to be stopped and lawn mowed and have a neighbor pick up any items such as Penny Savers left on the driveway.
• Ask a neighbor to occasionally park their car in your driveway.
• Never leave keys in what you think are secret hiding places. Burglars know where to look for hidden keys.
• If you do return home and find an unexplained open or broken window or door, do not enter your home as the perpetrator could still be inside, rather go to a neighbor’s home to use the phone or use your cell phone away from the house.
• Do not touch anything or attempt to clean up until the police have inspected for evidence.
• Call the police department if you see any suspicious persons/activities/packages - anything out of the norm and let the trained police officers make the decision on any activity. It is important to call immediately because often time is truly of the essence.
• Take advantage of our “VacantHouse List” service. Prior to your vacation departure, contact our PD with your plans and when manpower permits, our officers will make physical checks at your home.
• Prior to departure, if you call the PD and set up an appointment, an officer will do a security survey of your home or business to assess vulnerabilities and suggest ways to increase security.
• A key file is available allowing homeowners to keep a key at the police department in case of emergencies and lockouts.

As an added measure, go to www.villageofbronxville.com and follow the e-alert link to add your family to our alert system.  You will then receive updates from our Chief of Police about any criminal activity with close to real time updates on critical incidents affecting the Village including weather conditions and power outages as well as police activity.

The summer, especially of late, has been the season for our severest weather conditions in both wind and rain events.

If you lose power, per the Con Edison protocols, the police desk cannot call in outages for individuals and does not receive any information from Con Edison re: a timeframe for power restoration.

If you experience an outage, immediately call 1-800-CONED or visit their website at www.coned.com.

Con Ed requires each individual home to report an outage. Even though your neighbor reported an outage, it does not automatically include your home as well. The Con Ed website is also the source for resumption times. If the Village receives any information from Con Ed, we will convey immediately via our “Swift 911” emergency alert system by phone, text or email.  To sign up, go to www.villageofbronxville.com

Post storms, our Village public works team cannot remove trees, branches or debris near any downed wires until Con Edison has determined the wire is not live and poses no danger.

For those of you staying put, our Village is particularly beautiful and peaceful this time of year, offering an opportune time to enjoy our outdoor dining, catch a first run movie or a summer sale at one of our Village businesses – all while finding a parking space!

Photo by N. Bower

Editor's note:  As a public service, MyhometownBronxville publishes press releases, statements, and articles from local institutions, officeholders, candidates, and individuals. MyhometownBronxville does not fact-check statements therein, and any opinions expressed therein do not necessarily reflect the thinking of its staff.