Pictured: Mayor Mary Marvin. Photo by N. Bower

By Mary Marvin, Mayor of Bronxville

March 6, 2024: To keep you updated on all the activities at Village Hall; ongoing and anticipated projects, financial status, community outreach, and day-to-day activities, I thought I would devote the next few columns to all things Village government. The following is just the first in a series of updates.

New York – Presbyterian Westchester

Trustee Behrens and I recently met with Paul Dunphey, COO of our hospital, and he shared exciting happenings at the hospital including the new state of the art labor and delivery unit set to open this summer; the newly opened and completely  modernized ambulatory surgery and endoscopy suite; the groundbreaking OCH Spine Program which treats complex back and neck issues and new visionary cardiac techniques now available such as Watchman device to prevent strokes in patients with atrial fibrillation, EKOS to break up clots in patients with pulmonary embolisms and  innovative procedures to treat heart arrhythmias such as tachycardia or an abnormally fast heartbeat.

In addition, the hospital is also finalizing plans for a redesign of the main lobby which will not only be aesthetically pleasing and calming, but will leverage the newest technology for a more efficient process of patient and visitor check-in and registration.

It is anticipated that this renovation will begin late in the second quarter of 2024 with completion at the end of the third quarter of 2025.

Bronxville Public Library

Again, thanks to an incredible public/private partnership spearheaded by The Friends of the Bronxville Public Library and the Library Trustees in concert with village government and the generosity of citizens, who love the village, work began in late January on the Library’s “Outdoor Projects”.

The project has been designed to beautify the library’s outdoor space and create a gathering area for the enjoyment of all.

The concept is designed to include new patios with seating for small and large group gatherings and library programs; beautiful landscaping to create an outdoor haven and improved entrance and pathway access with enhanced lighting and drainage.

The project is expected to be completed late this spring. Residents have been extremely generous in helping to fund this project and the Friends of the Library is still accepting donations for later phases of the work.

Clothing Recycling

The Village of Bronxville is excited to announce our partnership with Helpsy, in collaboration with Westchester County, to offer free home pick up of a clothing recycling service for the community.

This new service makes it as easy as possible for residents to responsibly dispose of unwanted clothing and other permitted recyclable goods. Additionally, the service is expected to lighten regular sanitation collections and promote a healthy environment by keeping clothes out of the trash.

As a clothing collection company and a certified B corporation with an environmental mission to extend the useful life of clothing, Helpsy partners with municipalities and organizations now across ten states to collect unwanted clothing.

Helpsy operates 1200 clothing collection points and provides free curbside service for pick up. The company then funds charities and thrift stores. In 2023 alone, Helpsy diverted nearly 30 million pounds of textiles from the waste stream through a combination of clothing drives, home pickups and thrift store partners.

The new service will begin in Bronxville on March 9^th and will take place weekly on Saturdays between 7AM and 5PM.

In order to be a part of the program, either look up Helpsy at www.helpsy.com/bronxvilleny or call 1-800-244-6350. The items need to be in a waterproof bag near your front door before 7 AM of the pick up day.
In addition to clothing, shoes, linens, blankets, quilts, table linens, stuffed animals and curtains are also permitted for recycling pick up.

Village Ambiance and Safety

Now that spring is on the horizon, we ask you to please look around the exterior of your property and perhaps engage contractors now before they get completely booked up to do sidewalk repair and tree, hedges and shrub trimming. The sidewalks abutting every business and home are the responsibility of each owner. We need to work together to make everyone’s house passable so to foster our goal of increasing our Village’s walkability.

Hedges, shrubs and trees that overhang the sidewalks often cause pedestrians to have to walk in the road by necessity, putting them in danger and giving drivers an unexpected obstacle.

In point of fact, much of the property near your home straddles the Village’s right of way (ROW) and conservative guess is that a lion’s share of the beautiful greenery in the Village is on Village property. We have no intention of asking people to remove their beautiful foliage unless and until it gets to be a hazard as we want to work with you to keep the greenery. At the same time, we ask that you understand the boundaries of how far landscaping can extend into the Village ROW impacting pedestrian and auto visibility.

We ask you to partner with us on this. When you intend to plant anything new, we ask that you call the Building Department and understand how the Village property ROW relates to your property and only plant accordingly. In addition, when trimming pre-existing shrubbery, you can check with Village Hall to know how far back to prune.