One of my favorite parts of fire stations is the dining table. Over the years, I've seen many neat concepts for this very important piece of furniture. Recently, I got to see Greenville's. My favorite part of their table was how they had a glass overlay with patches underneath. One of the patches in the table is a concept patch, and is one of my favorite patches. I like the colors, the way it is designed, and how it represents the house very well.
So, I got some very shocking news yesterday. My local Barnes and Noble, the one on Central Ave. in Hartsdale, is closing. I always liked this Barnes and Noble, because it always had a good selection of books and a very friendly staff. Apparently, the landlord and B&N couldn't work out a deal to renew the lease. So the B&N I could walk to is closing. Very disapointing. And I hear Central Square Cafe, at the corner of Central Ave. and Ardsley Road, is in the process of being bought out, and the property will be turned into a Walgreens. So, basically, all you are going to have on Central Ave. in the future is banks, pharmacies, cell phone stores, and furniture showrooms. What do we need down to earth causal resturants for? They knocked down Mount Parnesse Diner after Commerce Bank offered them $3 mil from what I hear for the property. Oh wait, but they are opening the Mexican Sushi resturant and another Japanese resturnant. And where KB Toys used to be on North Central, where we had hoped for a casual dining chain....will be a T-Mobile Cell Phone store. Ugh. BUT...we are getting a Panera Bread-supposedly- when Nobody Beats The Wiz used to be. And we're getting a Christmas Tree Shops at the old Crazy Eddies/Bed Bath and Beyond site which is scheduled to open in October, that should be neat. Last, but not least, the town of Greenburgh has taken another property off the tax rolls and will be using it as the temporary libary site while they build their over $20 million dollar new libray on Route 119......yes, a $20 million new libary in the internet age, complete with a taxpayer supported "cafe". The former Franks Nursery and Crafts on Dobbs Ferry Road will be leased by the town and part of the agreement calls for no taxes to be paid by the property owner on this large and valuable piece of land. Rumor is that Greenburgh PD, EMS and Courts will move in to the former Franks site after the library moves out, which I do agree is a neat idea with the exception of a loss of ANOTHER tax generating property. I thought this would have been an awesome site for a nice supermarket or "Home Depot Express" or something to generate more property and sales tax revenue........but you'll never see that nowadays with all the NIMBY's in this town. Seems like if you want to build a business in Greenburgh, you get your balls broken.......yet if you want to build a church or other tax exempt property you are welcomed with
open arms. And last but not least, Ardsley Athletic Club, my former gym, is going out of business under a very complex set of circumstances, including the new owner trying to get the fire chief and codes officials to shut him down due to "safety concerns". Now I wonder why the former owner recently gloated about refusing a buyout offer from New York Sports Club. Ha, poor business practices come back to bite you.
