The Mop-Up Begins; Preparations Helped: See Photos of Storm's Destruction
August 31, 2011: The cleanup has begun, but being prepared paid off. Although parts of Bronxville suffered damage from Tropical Storm Irene over the weekend, possible disaster was mitigated by careful plans and lessons learned from past storms.
To see photos hit the link below:
Lawrence Hospital: "We spent a lot of time preparing for the storm," said Heather Morrison of the marketing and media relations department at Lawrence Hospital. "Patient safety and care are our primary concerns. Our employees really stepped up, and many of them stayed the whole weekend." The hospital weathered the storm well. With the Paxton Avenue employee parking lots flooded, Morrison said that the parking valets who serve visitors are helping to park employee cars as well. "This will work fine for a couple of days." Morrison can see the Paxton Avenue lots from her office window and noted that village crews were pumping the area on Monday morning. She anticipates that the lots will be back in service by Wednesday.
The Bronxville School suffered significant water damage, but mitigation efforts following the 2007 flood were effective in preventing further problems. These efforts included the school's relocating the boiler and switchgear above the flood plain, with the result that the school maintained electrical power throughout the storm. Another improvement was that baseboard vents in classrooms were replaced with vents closer to the ceiling to keep water from entering the building through classroom walls. To prepare for the storm, the school moved copy machines and some athletic equipment to the second floor. Student athletes removed the contents of their lockers. Personnel moved materials off classroom floors and placed sandbags at all building entrances.
The school parking lot and first floor began to flood early Sunday morning. The main gym floor will have to be replaced. As of Monday morning, remaining water was being pumped out of the school building and full recovery efforts had begun.
The athletic field and parking lot will be sanitized. In addition, floors, walls, and furniture will be dried, cleaned, and sanitized. The school is working with an industrial hygienist to ensure safety for all building occupants. Personnel are documenting the effects of the flood and working with a consultant to prepare an insurance claim. In the meantime, all key activities, including student leadership training and new teacher orientations, are proceeding as scheduled.
Business District: Peggy Conway, executive director of the Bronxville Chamber of Commerce, reported that, happily, she had not heard any "horror stories" from local businesses. "What I personally can't get over," she said, "is how wonderfully the village is responding." Conway complimented the village public works crews she has seen cleaning out sludge from drains, removing fallen tree branches, and pumping out flooded areas.
"We were fortunate in many ways, because we didn't have a lot of trees that fell," said Nancy Hand, former Bronxville mayor. "Past storms have felled trees on major thoroughfares, blocking streets and knocking out power for days." She said that she had never seen so much water at The Bronxville School. "It was running down Tanglewylde, down Midland Avenue, and onto the football field. Then it reached Willow Road and the townhouses there. Midland was impassable." Hand said that, later in the day on Sunday, she saw people at Scout Field in kayaks. She attributed most of the damage around the village to the significant amount of rain that fell in a relatively short period.
Bronxville Police Department set up an emergency operations center starting at 8:00 pm on Saturday and running through the following day and Chief Sattriale sent e-alerts to residents to update them on the storm. The department reported wires down on Avon Road and Northwestway and a few trees and limbs down but said that there were no injuries reported as a result of the storm.
Con Edison: The substation on lower Milburn Street was damaged by floodwaters, and as of Monday, Con Edison hoped to have it repaired by Wednesday. Con Edison anticipates complete power restoration to all sections of Bronxville by Thursday, September 1.
To help village residents clean up after Tropical Storm Irene, the village has lifted the ban on gasoline-powered leaf blowers through September 2.
Pictured here: Splashing in the flood waters after Tropical Storm Irene.
Photo by J. Murrer
Government & History Directory
Bronxville is a quaint village (one square mile) located just 16 miles north of midtown Manhattan (roughly 30 minutes on the train) and has a population of approximately 6,500. It is known as a premier community with an excellent public school (K-12) and easy access to Manhattan. Bronxville offers many amenities including an attractive business district, a hospital (Lawrence Hospital), public paddle and tennis courts, fine dining at local restaurants, two private country clubs and a community library.
While the earliest settlers of Bronxville date back to the first half of the 18th century, the history of the modern suburb of Bronxville began in 1890 when William Van Duzer Lawrence purchased a farm and commissioned the architect, William A. Bates, to design a planned community of houses for well-known artists and professionals that became a thriving art colony. This community, now called Lawrence Park, is listed on the National register of Historic Places and many of the homes still have artists’ studios. A neighborhood association within Lawrence Park called “The Hilltop Association” keeps this heritage alive with art shows and other events for neighbors.
Bronxville offers many charming neighborhoods as well as a variety of living options for residents including single family homes, town houses, cooperatives and condominiums. One of the chief benefits of living in “the village” is that your children can attend the Bronxville School.
The Bronxville postal zone (10708, known as “Bronxville PO”) includes the village of Bronxville as well as the Chester Heights section of Eastchester, parts of Tuckahoe and the Lawrence Park West, Cedar Knolls, Armour Villa and Longvale sections of Yonkers. Many of these areas have their own distinct character. For instance, the Armour Villa section has many historic homes and even has its own newsletter called “The Villa Voice” which reports on neighborhood news.
Village of Bronxville Administrative Offices
337-6500
Open 9:00am - 4pm excluding holidays and weekends
Bronxville Police Department
337-0500
Open 24 hours
Bronxville Parking Violations
337-2024
Open 9:00am - 4pm excluding holidays and weekends
Bronxville Fire Deparment
793-6400
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