Greenwich finally put its school board drama to bed this week, seating two new members and filling its final vacancies. A restaurant icon is closing its doors in Port Chester, and the Garnets kick off a fall sports season that has nowhere to go but down after last year's record haul.

Let's get into it.

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Greenwich's Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to seat two new Republican members, Jeffrey Csoka and Jonathan Katz, ending a five-week vacancy that began when two Republicans resigned in late July. Both are sworn in Thursday at a retreat in the Havemeyer building.

Why it matters: the board enters budget and building-committee season at full strength for the first time in over a month.

Pasquale Ristorante, the Italian mainstay at 2 Putnam Ave in Port Chester, is closing after three decades in business. The restaurant announced the news on Instagram and Facebook on Aug. 29, telling customers the decision was "difficult" and thanking both staff and regulars for turning the dining room into what it called a second home.

The post didn't name a reason for the closing or give a final night of service, but it clearly hit a nerve: the volume of messages on social media was huge.

Construction begins Sept. 22 on the fourth phase of Port Chester's Glendale Stormwater Initiative, targeting N. Regent Street from Davenport Avenue to Glen Avenue, and Glen Avenue itself. Crews will install precast box culverts to redirect stormwater away from backyards, plus new catch basins, sidewalks, and curbing. The four-phase plan followed Hurricane Ida's 2021 flooding, which devastated the neighborhood.

Why it matters: it's the closest this flood-prone pocket of the village has come to a permanent fix in four years of construction.

Fall sports begin Sept. 4, a year after Rye High won a school-record four state championships and nine section titles, the best year in program history. The New York State Sportswriters Association named RHS its Kerr Cup winner for the feat, the second-highest point total in the award's history.

Athletic Director Susan Reid credits a graduating class that combined grit with a refusal to fold under pressure. "If you watched any one of our teams last year, there were times they were down, but you never counted them out," she said. Thirty-three seniors from that class signed to play college sports, the most of any RHS class.

Now a new class steps up: rising senior Charlie Brady takes over at quarterback, and Charlotte Keenan captains a girls soccer team that hasn't missed a state semifinal in her career.

Why it matters: Rye opens the year defending a standard almost no New York school has matched.

DeCicco & Sons opens its first Connecticut store Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 21 Glenville Street, the former Stop & Shop space that's sat empty since 2023. It's the 11-store, Pelham-based chain's first expansion outside New York. "Glenville felt like a natural fit for us," said CEO John DeCicco Jr. "It's a close-knit community that values quality, local businesses and personal service."

The 20,000-square-foot market will carry fresh sushi, a juice bar, and the company's prepared-foods line, plus a school rebate program mirroring its New York stores.

Why it matters: Glenville has gone without a full-service grocery store for two years.

Before they all drive themselves, some cars still want to be driven.
The hard part is finding the right one, then getting it home, ready to drive.
The & Garage is for people who'd rather drive than search. We handle the whole arc — find, vet, negotiate, move, hand off — so you can skip to the driving. Cars from 1966 to 1999, paired enthusiast to enthusiast, with one person on the hook from first conversation to first drive.

Learn more at www.theandgarage.com
Email - [email protected]

A bobcat was spotted near Summit Avenue and North Street in Rye on Aug. 28, the city's latest sighting since police first confirmed one in July. Attacks on people remain extremely rare, but police remind residents not to approach.

Rye Neck Union Free School District welcomed students back Tuesday, the first Sound Shore district to start the year. Rye City's schools follow on Sept. 8.

Greenwich High's Unified Sports program named Alyssa Gaiser its new co-head coach. A longtime Special Olympics volunteer and reigning Hudson Valley Region Coach of the Year, she also directs the New York Sound Shore Stars.

Rye Brook barred left turns outside BMP Ridge Street School on weekdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m., a new rule posted this week. The change targets dismissal-time traffic congestion.

Greenwich's paused speed camera program could resume by month's end, Police Chief Jim Heavey said, pending state approval of the town's plan. A warning period would follow before fines start.

The Riverside Shopping Center storefront that housed Italian Village Pizzeria is now Barnoodle, the second restaurant from husband-and-wife team Mogan Anthony and Seleste Tan, who opened La Bistro in Cos Cob just over a year earlier. The pivot wasn't the original plan. "The deals fell apart, but we were too deep and we met with the landlord," Anthony said. "So we suggested a noodle bar concept. He was skeptical at first because there's mostly franchises in that shopping center, but he went to La Bistro, saw it was busy, and gave us a shot."

I've been twice and will certainly go back. The pork dumplings are rich enough to make the trip worth it on their own, and my wife and I loved the build-your-own sushi. A special note on the instructions that come with that dish: they're fun, and the whole thing is delicious.

Worth knowing: 1247 East Putnam Ave, Riverside. Open seven days.

Rye High School Football Season Opener vs. Cornwall Central.
Rye High School, 1 Parsons St, Rye.
Friday, Sept. 4, 7 p.m.
ryeschools.org

Emo Night Brooklyn.
The Capitol Theatre, 149 Westchester Ave, Port Chester.
Saturday, Sept. 5, 7:30 p.m.
thecapitoltheatre.com

Down to Earth Rye Farmers Market.
Theodore Fremd Ave, behind Purchase Street, Rye.
Sundays, Sept. 6 & 13, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
ryechamberofcommerce.com

Rye Brook Board of Trustees Meeting.
Village Hall, 938 King St, Rye Brook.
Tuesday, Sept. 8, 7:30 p.m.
ryebrookny.gov

Old Greenwich Farmers Market.
38 West End Ave, Old Greenwich.
Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2:30 p.m.
greenwichct.gov

Harrison Town/Village Board Meeting.
Town Hall, 1 Heineman Pl, Harrison.
Thursday, Sept. 3, 7 p.m.
harrison-ny.gov

For years, At Home in Greenwich, a nonprofit that helps older adults age in place, ran its programs from the second floor of Steeple Commons at Second Congregational Church, a space with no elevator. Members who couldn't manage the stairs simply couldn't come.

That changes with a new partnership: the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich is opening its teen space, known as The Club, to At Home's members during the day. The room has sofas, a large TV, a pool table, and three breakout rooms for smaller gatherings, the kind of fully accessible space At Home hasn't had in more than a decade.

A short story reading group is already on the calendar, along with other programming. But the bigger draw might be simpler: a central room with a pool table and a friendly place to grab coffee and say hello.

It's a small fix for a problem plenty of towns don't solve at all: giving older residents somewhere to gather that doesn't require climbing stairs.

Perched on a corner lot at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac, this fully renovated 1937 Colonial keeps its original wood-burning fireplace and beamed ceilings while adding a center-island kitchen, smart-home sensors, and efficient split A/C units. It last changed hands for $547,500 in 2019, a jump that says as much about Port Chester's market as it does about the house.

$999,999
5 Quintard Dr, Port Chester, NY
4 bed / 2.5 bath · 2,806 sq ft

View listing

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Last edition's poll results: How much did you spend in total on summer camps per child this year?
$ 5,000 - $10,000 — 67%
$ 10,000 or more — 33%

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