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On The Record: Outrunning Diagnosis
Rye sisters run NYC Marathon for cancer research
Good morning subscribers, and happy Thanksgiving! ☕ 🦃 This is your Wednesday, Nov. 26, Rye Record newsletter, curating some of the latest headlines across the city of Rye.
Today’s Weather Channel local forecast calls for showers with a high of 61 degrees 🌦 Check out the forecast for the rest Thanksgiving week here.
Outrunning diagnosis. When she was only 5, Kate Stevens was diagnosed with acute monocytic leukemia. Months later, her then 4-year-old sister, Caroline, donated bone marrow and saved her sister’s life with the help of doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
The Stevens sisters recently ran the NYC Marathon in support of Fred’s Team, the official running program of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. They had a goal of $18,000 and raised $26,902, money that is specifically directed toward pediatric cancer research and support at MSK.
Kate, 23, is in remission. She graduated from Rye High School in 2020; Caroline, 22, graduated in 2021. They are both living at home in Rye with their parents, Scot and Jennifer Stevens, and their brothers, Charlie and Jack.
The idea of running the marathon together has been kicking around for a while because giving back is very much ingrained in the Stevens family ethos.
But it had to wait until both were out of college and had time to train properly.
During the race, Caroline was in the second wave; Kate was in the third. Their parents were with them every step of the way, emotionally if not physically.
To read Beth Levine’s full story, click here.
Kate and Caroline Stevens.
-Today’s newsletter is curated by Camille Botello
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-Touchdown by Luke Denvir
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PEOPLE
Councilwoman-elect Marion Anderson. Photo Alison Rodilosso
When Marion Anderson received an email from a friend shortly after her recent election to the Rye City Council, the message was simple: “She would be proud.”
The note referred to Anderson’s late mother, Evelyn, who came to Rye in the 1940s with only a second grade education and worked as a cleaner and caterer. Anderson, 69, said her mother’s memory has guided her throughout her life — especially in this historic moment as the first Black person ever elected to the Rye City Council.
The victory “just meant the world to me,” Anderson said. “I remember her voting in 1965 when I was very young, when she was finally able to vote, and how important it was for her to take her children with her. She just showed me what a powerful thing the American process is.”
The Democrat won a council seat on the same ticket as James Ward, Amy Kesavan, and Mayor-elect Josh Nathan.
-by Rosie Newmark
DEVELOPMENT
Construction is underway at the site of the former United Hospital in Port Chester. Photo by Alison Rodilosso
There are signs of life at the former United Hospital site.
The approximately 14-acre parcel in south Port Chester has sat abandoned for over two decades, with promised redevelopment projects fading away. But work preparing the site ahead of construction of a multifacility residential and commercial complex is underway, and the village expects the developers to obtain a building permit for the first structure by next year.
“The property’s been dilapidated since 2004,” said Stuart Rabin, Port Chester’s village manager. “Something was going to happen.”
But forward momentum is a less-welcome development in Rye.
The outgoing Rye City Council filed a lawsuit to stop the development, alleging that the state review process was flawed. A new administration, which takes over on Jan. 1, hopes to have Rye’s concerns addressed by Port Chester.
Mayor-elect Josh Nathan said that issues with increased traffic and the project’s timing — with Rye Country Day School also unveiling plans to develop fields near the school’s campus — are not ideal.
“We need to make sure we’re protecting our neighborhood over there,” Nathan said, adding that the city is hopeful that Rye and Port Chester will reach a resolution. “ It’s not good to have concerns, but it’s good that when you have the concerns to realize we actually have the ability to work on this and figure it out.”
-by Henry Bova
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COMMUNITY
Collections on Election Day went to Bread of Life, Meals on Main Street, and Don Bosco Community Center. Photo courtesy Laura Pellegrini
As the government shutdown dragged into November, Rye resident Laura Pellegrini was done waiting for someone else to step up.
On Oct. 30, she and Rye resident Kelly Janscki got to work organizing a food drive, starting with the Rye Moms Facebook group and then as a town-wide effort with one simple goal: “‘Fill the gap between the SNAP,’” she said. “That was our motto.”
On Election Day, local food pantries received an emergency food donation from individuals, schools, congregations, and other community organizations. The food drive continues, with collections being staggered across different Rye organizations so as not to overrun the pantries.
“ We’re blessed to have many food drives coming throughout the year, this one in particular,” said Sue Wexler, director of community outreach at the Bread of Life food bank. “Just the way it came together so quickly and how many people helped.”
For nearly 42 million Americans, including at least 73,000 in Westchester, food assistance was put on hold Nov. 1 when the federal government shut down. While New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Nov. 7 that in New York, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments would be made, the two weeks between the start of the month and the end of the shutdown on Nov. 12 marked a period of extreme uncertainty for those without money for groceries.
-by Henry Bova
RYE PERSPECTIVES
Thursday, Nov. 13 was World Kindness Day — something I only learned when I picked up my 15-year-old daughter from school and saw the disappointment on her face.
Her school had arranged for therapy dogs to visit with students during gym and lunch. Since her lunch period was two classes after gym, she decided she could tolerate volleyball and save her excitement for later. But somewhere between serves and sandwiches, a voice crackled over the loudspeaker: the dogs had to cancel their lunchtime session. On the ride home, she and I agreed that every day should be Kindness Day, and that dogs — many of them — should be allowed to roam school hallways freely between each class period.
Later, on my way to school pickup, a police officer pulled me over in the cul-de-sac near our house. Apparently, the full stop I thought I had made was more of a polite pause. He approached my window, explained the infraction, took my license and registration, then returned to say he would give me only a warning. “You’re very kind,” I told him, fully aware that I had earned the ticket.
After school, my daughter and I stopped at the Starbucks drive-thru for the sugary pink drink she loves (and that I certainly over-indulge her in, more to appease than to be kind), this time crowned with sugar-cookie cold foam. At the window, she asked for a polar bear cake pop too — a round, sweet little face wearing a floppy hat. When we got home, she handed it to her younger brother. He didn’t say thank you, but he ate it happily, and she smiled.
In a week marked by the first snow squalls of the season and darkness settling in earlier each afternoon, these small gestures — some planned, some spontaneous — felt like tiny pockets of warmth. On World Kindness Day, it turned out the most meaningful kindnesses weren’t the official ones, but the quiet, everyday ones threaded through an ordinary Thursday.
-by Laura Schiller