September 9, 2025

Top row L to R: Jeffrey Santos, Malique Christian, Adan Bernandez, Donald Joyce, Adam Beckford, John Brisson, Julian Evans, Dylan Fisher. Middle row L to R: Isaiah Haye, Keron Ham, Cristian Santiago, Shirley Lazo, Anika Chimilio, JP De Jesus Mahib Casso, Chima Monday. Bottom row L to R: Christian Santiago, Angelica Martinez, Paulette Delgado, Kenneth Llerena, Jason Zhang, Zane Faiella.

Congratulations to the participants in the Ossining Youth Bureau’s Summer Youth Employment Program, where we were able to serve 60 youths from the community.

Our Summer Youth Program aims to empower income-eligible families and individuals by providing them with hands-on work experience. The program aims to foster self-sufficiency, reduce poverty, and encourage community involvement. Our participants had the opportunity to explore their interests and career pathways, develop workplace skills, and engage in learning experiences that helped them develop their social, civic, and leadership skills.

Great news, Ossining residents! The Town and Village are continuing to participate in Westchester Power, a community electricity supply program run by the local nonprofit, Sustainable Westchester.

I’m noting this in my Mayor’s Message to inform you about the new contract terms taking effect on December 1.

To help answer any questions you may have, Sustainable Westchester will be hosting several information sessions throughout the fall – included on the flyer above.

The Village of Ossining will be entering into an agreement with the Sing Sing Prison Museum for a five-year loan of historical artifacts for their new visitor center at the Olive Opera House. The loaned items include an electric chair reproduction, a display case of prisoner weapons, and ten exhibit text panels.

Sing Sing Prison Museum will be covering all costs for packing, transportation, and insurance of the items and will ensure the physical integrity and safety of the loaned materials.

The Mayor and Trustees of the Village of Ossining, are the people’s representative, and as such believe this generous loan from the Village supports the preservation and display of local history for educational and cultural purposes.

• ‘Music Across the Hudson’ Features Free Concerts in Westchester and Rockland
• ‘Music Across the Hudson’ Features Free Concerts at Six Locations in Westchester and Rockland Counties on Sept. 6; A Taste of Rockland Celebrates 30 Years; Briefs
• Healing Justice In Action: Dream’s Garden Soft Opening Draws Leaders & Community
• Sent Up The River: A Ferry Like No Other
• Living Through a Century: A Conversation with Valeria Masullo
• New Latin Dance Studio Opens on Ossining’s Main Street

This week’s meeting will be held at 16 Croton and will begin at 7:30PM on Wednesday, September 10^th, 2025.

The Work Session agenda will be as follows:

• Village Treasurer, Dale Brennan will join us to present the Village’s Q2
• Youth Bureau Director Chima Monday will join to discuss further the “Invest in Kids” RFP application that we spoke about during this week’s meeting. 
• Youth Bureaus can apply for up to three programs under the Invest in Kids umbrella and request up to $50,000 per year annually for each grant for a term of three years. At the $50,000 level, the municipal match is $5,526 per each grant per each year. 
• The Village successfully applied for (2) Invest in Kids grants in 2021: Water Safety (provides free swim lessons for children in need, based on referrals from the school district), and the OYES Afterschool Program (afterschool enrichment for middle school-aged children, run at AMD Middle School).
• The Youth Bureau would like to re-apply for these two programs and apply for a third program focused on Workforce Development.
• The objective is to continue supporting Ossining Youth with free programs and opportunities they might otherwise not be able to access. We will ensure that these grants contribute to operating efficiencies. In this case, the Water Safety program will be run by rec swim staff predominantly, thus offsetting Rec staff expense. The OYES After School Program and the Workforce Development program will be structured to minimize any incremental expense as well.
• Superintendent of Recreation and Parks Bill Garrison will be with us to present an update on one of our prior-round CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) applications—the replacement playground at Nelson Sitting Park (click here for the story map).
• Village Manager Karen D’Attore will introduce (2) additional grant applications: 
• Earlier this Summer, Senator Harckham awarded $100K in funding through the CREST (Capital Reimbursement) Grant Program to support efforts in enhancing public spaces such as parks, playgrounds, sidewalks, and other vital infrastructure that promotes accessibility and community well-being. We are proposing that this funding could be used towards the total cost of the outdoor amenities at the Multi Modal Transportation Hub (approximately $300K which encompasses outdoor seating, lighting, native plantings and art scrim).   
• We just received another Westchester County grant RFP for Sports Team programs. This grant will allow the Recreation Department to apply for up to $50K to fund sports programs, including programs that Recreation is currently running, which would represent a significant opportunity to offset operating costs for an existing program.
• Valerie Monastra, AICP- Principal Planner- Nelson Pope Voorhis and Linda Whitehead, Land Use Counsel from McCullough Goldberger & Staudt will be with us to discuss what options the BOT has around zoning regulations for cannabis dispensaries.
• We will continue with land use issues when we discuss the proposed zoning changes for the T Zone, which will also require the BOT to consider a moratorium, which we last discussed at the May 14^th Work Session. This discussion will be led by Corporation Counsel Stuart Kahan and Valerie Monastra
• Village Manager Karen D’Attore, Assistant Village Manager Maddi Zachace and Valerie Monastra will walk the BOT through two quick Planning-related items: the final recommendations for the in-house administration of the ETPA Opt-Out program (last discussed at the July 9^th Work Session), and our recommendation to rescind the DEC Riverfront Resilience grant ($50K through NYS Department of Environmental Conservation).

Village of Ossining | www.villageofossining.org

Please join us in honoring the 24th anniversary of those lost in the attacks of September 11, 2001, and those who have since passed away from 9/11-related cancers.

The community is invited to attend a 9/11 ceremony on Thursday, September 11, at 7:00 PM, at Louis Engel Waterfront Park.

Emergency service organizations from the Village of Ossining, the Town of Ossining, and the Village of Briarcliff Manor will be in attendance, along with elected officials.

All are welcome to join us for this solemn remembrance.