This week Harrison's Keio Academy got its playoff shot back, a sewage spill closed beaches from Rye to New Rochelle, and a crowd at Rye Town Park waited all day for tall ships that never showed. Also: a bobcat wandering near Summit Ave, and a MUST go place in Larchmont.

Correction: Jane Foodie, which I wrote about last week, will be located at 6 N Pearl St., not the address given in that item.

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An NYSPHSAA appeal panel unanimously overturned Section 1's vote to bar private schools, including Harrison's Keio Academy, from state postseason play starting in 2027-28. The panel ruled Monday that Section 1 exceeded its authority.

Why it matters: it preserves tournament access for hundreds of student-athletes at four Westchester-area private schools.

Rye's comprehensive plan steering committee, its first update in more than 40 years, met for the second time Monday to figure out how to reach residents beyond the handful who show up to City Hall.

The 15-member committee is building a "hub-and-spoke" structure of technical advisory groups covering housing, transportation, environment, and more. Mayor Josh Nathan framed it as defining what unwritten promise Rye makes to newcomers.

Why it matters: the last plan, from 1985, reads like an 87-page technical report. This one aims to be one residents can actually use.

Village crews spray-painted a new spiral stencil onto sidewalks around downtown Port Chester this week. It marks the future path of The LOOP, a 1,600-foot pedestrian walkway that will eventually ring downtown, connecting the waterfront, the Metro-North station, the Capitol Theatre, and Liberty Square. Construction on the first concrete sections starts next week behind Colony Grill, working west along Willett Avenue toward North Main Street, per Jablko Construction's schedule.

Why it matters: the roughly $6 million project, in the works since 2025, aims to stitch together a waterfront, a train station, a historic theater, and a business district that currently don't feel connected on foot.

Worth knowing: Village officials are encouraging residents to walk the marked route this week, before construction locks it in for good.

A fun video commemorating 100 years of musical magic
👉 https://www.instagram.com/reels/DbWltu-jle0/

Mosquitoes trapped near the Cohen Eastern Greenwich Civic Center in Old Greenwich tested positive for West Nile virus, the state's first positive result in town this season, and the tenth Connecticut town to turn one up. The Culex pipiens mosquitoes breed in standing water, think old tires, birdbaths, catch basins, and the town has run a larvicide program on public catch basins since June, reapplied every four to six weeks.

Health Director Caroline Calderone Baisley says that only slows the population, it doesn't eliminate it. Most people bitten by an infected mosquito have mild symptoms or none, but officials warn the real risk window is August and September, and encourage repellent, long sleeves at dusk, and clearing standing water at home.

Why it matters: in 2025, six Connecticut residents were hospitalized with West Nile, including one death in Fairfield County.

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25 Purdy Avenue, Rye, NY

Rye police confirmed a bobcat sighting near Summit Avenue and North Street Sunday afternoon. Detectives plan social media updates this week; residents are advised to stay calm, make noise, and never run if they spot one.

Rye Neck and Rye Country Day each won two Metropolitan High School Theater Awards this week. Rye Neck's "The Prom" took direction and chorus honors; RCDS students Dominique Alvarez and Dean Pasarelli won acting awards for "Les Misérables."

A county-wide flood advisory stayed in effect through Wednesday after another round of heavy rain hit the Sound Shore. It's at least the third such advisory since the Fourth of July storms.

Rye Brook's Ridge Street repaving is getting a new pedestrian crosswalk at Crawford Park. The village says to expect periodic detours and elevated drains through the rest of the project.

Greenwich marked the ADA's 36th anniversary Wednesday with a gathering outside Restoration Hardware on Greenwich Avenue. Organizers used the moment to point to accessibility work still unfinished downtown.

I have to cross “our border” one more time. Restaurants around here doing truly authentic Italian food are rare, genuinely rare. NOVA Pizza Bar belongs in the same conversation as Il Pastaficio, the Cos Cob spot from last issue (check it here).

Start with the ingredients. Owner Orazio sources them himself, often skipping standard vendors to bring things in directly from Italy. His passion shows in the hospitality as much as in the food. I tried the pizza, the orecchiette, the linguine, all of it careful, all of it good. We finished with a real Tiramisu and a glass of amaro. Thank you Orazio! 🍷

Wonderful place. You will not regret going.

Worth knowing: The space is small and popular, reservations are strongly recommended. Outdoor seating helps in good weather.

NOVA Pizza Bar
18 Chatsworth Ave, Larchmont, NY 10538
www.novapizzabar.com

Crawford Park Free Concert Series: Logical Pretzel
Where: Crawford Park, 122 N Ridge St, Rye Brook, NY 10573
When: Thursday, July 30, 7:00pm
More info: ryetownny.gov

Old Crow Medicine Show
Where: The Capitol Theatre, 149 Westchester Ave, Port Chester, NY 10573
When: Saturday, August 1, 8:00pm
More info: thecapitoltheatre.com

Greenwich Farmers Market (Two Guys Making Pizza)
Where: Arch Street/Horseneck Lane Commuter Lot, Greenwich, CT
When: Saturday, July 25, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
More info: greenwichfarmersmarketct.com

Fragments: The Musical Milieu of Georges Braque
Where: Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Drive, Greenwich, CT 06830
When: Saturday, August 1
More info: brucemuseum.org

Greenwich Farmers Market
Where: Arch Street & Horseneck Lane lot, Greenwich, CT 06830
When: Saturday, August 1, 9:30am-1:00pm
More info: greenwichfarmersmarketct.com

Port Chester Farmers Market
Where: Highland Street, between Main St & Abendroth Ave, Port Chester, NY 10573
When: Sunday, August 3, 10:00am-2:00pm
More info: nfmd.org

Harrison Summer Concert Series
Where: Harrison, NY (see town site for this week's location)
When: Tuesday, August 4, 7:00pm
More info: harrison-ny.gov

A couple of friends mentioned this to me separately last week, and once I looked into it, I couldn't resist. More than 50 people gathered before 9 a.m. on July 3 at Rye Town Park's Barley Beach House, lawn chairs in hand, expecting a parade of tall ships bound for New York Harbor's 250th-anniversary celebration to pass by.

A Westchester County guide had named Rye one of the best viewing spots on the Sound. By early afternoon, in near-triple-digit heat, nothing had sailed past. It turned out the ships never came anywhere near Rye at all, they moved along routes further out, and the county later acknowledged the guide may have overstated what was "expected." Sail4th 250's PR firm said flatly: "We never published the routes." 🫠

It's a pre-construction listing, on 1.4 acres in the Harrison Avenue School District, where the buyer designs the home with the builder over a 12-18 month build (double-height great room, wine cellar, home theater, pool site included), and the price just jumped $300K in a single June revision.

$4,995,000
7 bed / 9 bath · 8,924 sqft
417 West St, Harrison, NY

View listing

🏫 Yes, keep everyone in one bracket
⚖️ Only with size or enrollment adjustments
🚫 No, keep them in separate divisions
🤷 Not following this one closely

👉 Vote here

Last week’s poll results: How much history is worth saving, even if it slows things down?

Weigh it case by case — 50%
Preserve it, whatever the cost — 33%
Progress first, nostalgia second — 17%

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