Reader Responses from Our August Issue

A look through our inbox after last month’s A Day in the Life, Back to School, and others

A Day in the Life 
I applaud you for your article on County Executive Rob Astorino [Aug 2013]. It was one of the best stories I’ve ever read in your magazine. The timeline of events made it easy to visualize his daily activities. What I took from the article is that the county executive is a family man, dedicated, works extremely hard, and is always on time. It’s refreshing to see that he is not a phony, is true to his beliefs, and is accessible—unlike many politicians. Mike Levine, Harrison 

“A Day In The Life Of Rob Astorino” [Aug 2013] was insightful reporting. Astorino and my own Nassau County Executive, Ed Mangano, have much in common. Both are Republicans elected from counties in which voter registrations favor Democrats, and both have dealt with their respective financial crises inherited from predecessors. A ticket of Astorino/Mangano for governor and lieutenant governor might give the GOP a fighting chance in 2014 against Cuomo. Larry Penner, Great Neck, New York

Back to School
Bravo to Kathryn Walsh and her “Back-to-School Special” [Aug 2013]. An important Westchester institution was missing in her coverage—Back-to-School Clothes for Kids. Started 28 years ago by New Rochelle resident Connie Kennedy, the organization is poised to dress its 20,000th disadvantaged child for school success.  Thanks to generous individuals and local corporations who partner with Connie each year, hundreds of local children in need start the school year with new clothes, sneakers, winter coats, and backpacks filled with school supplies.  Meryl Lewis, Hastings-on-Hudson

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Not a Joking Matter
We were dismayed to read John Bruno Turiano’s “Coffee with the Chef” column with Chef Matt Kay in the August issue. One of the prompts posed to Mr. Kay read “My Eating Disorder Is…”  Eating disorders should not be treated with such levity. In the United States, 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some time in their lives. And these eating disorders are often far more serious and lethal than Mr. Kay’s “failure to deny himself food.” Our daughter is the survivor of an eating disorder, so we were particularly offended by the column. Westchester Magazine should be raising awareness about the serious and destructive nature of eating disorders, not trivializing them. Too many people in our society take eating disorders lightly, and your August issue is only going to reinforce those attitudes.   Jill Levy-Fisch and Peter E. Fisch, via email

All Covered? 
Your August cover shows a diverse group of students. Did you notice that not one of these students is Asian? Given the large numbers of Asian students in Westchester, this omission seems to suggest some racial bias in your editorial staff.  B.R. Lemonik, via email

Editor’s response: To find the children for this cover story—including our 6th grader, who is of Japanese heritage—we went straight to our readers via Facebook and Twitter. Very few of the responses we received  were from minority families. Our goal was to find one child from each grade and to include as diverse a mix of children as possible—not just ethnically, but diverse in terms of gender, towns, schools, etc. Given all those variables and the responses we received, we did our very best to be as inclusive as possible. 

From Facebook

We asked: What do you think of young children—think 1st- and 2nd-graders—having their own Facebook pages? Should they? Shouldn’t they?

You Answered: 
Maria Sacchetti Siciliano: There is no need for them to be on Facebook. They should be outside playing.

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Kathy Bergin Stivaletti: FB rules state you need to be at least 13 to have an account. I believe even that is too young.

Michael Fry: NO!!! If they still believe in Santa Claus, then they will believe everything on social media.

From Twitter 

Nice article on fencing coach Francisco Martin and the amazing fencing team he has built up at the Masters School! @TimMorehouse


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