March 23, 2020 - Mayor's Column

To all my neighbors,

Hemingway said, “Courage is grace under pressure” and I can attest that our Village is filled with courageous citizens.

It starts right at our Police Department where our officers volunteered to pick up and deliver groceries and medicine to our seniors and the infirmed.

Our Police Department was the thoughtful recipients of meals sent by the Junior League just yesterday.

Walk down the street and our shop owners and restaurants, who are taking an economic gut punch, are handling it with kindness and understanding. As example, Yoita, the owner of our Bronxville Diner, connected with the Eastchester Community Action Program (ECAP) in Tuckahoe sharing food with those in need. Carl and his staff at Acme are working non-stop to keep the shelves stocked and providing curbside delivery. Steve Palm, owner of Underhill’s Crossing, stands outside his restaurant and has a smile and encouraging word for all that walk by. I was a lucky recipient of his optimism.

Many landlords have also stepped up by significantly lowering rent to help these tenants through the crisis.

Residents in the dozens have emailed me asking me how they can help. Just as we are known as a community that comes to the aid of neighbors and friends in time of illness and sadness, we must do the same for our business community.

To help, please refer to the list of our merchants published in a Village e-alert and in MyHomeTownBronxville and buy gift cards/certificates by email or phone message to be used to help merchants get back on their feet.

A similar list of restaurants was published with takeout and curbside pickup hours with the hope you will patronize whenever you can.

I am also working with our hospital to see how we can aid their staff with our local purchases.

Time and time again, our smallness has proven our strength. We are in this together.

Quoting William Wordsworth, “The best portion of a good man’s life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.”

Please reach out to me, Chief Satriale and Administrator Jim Palmer and we will help where we can. I can be contacted directly at mayor@vobny.com.

- Mayor Mary Marvin