School and Non-Essential Bizes Closed To April 29; Regents Exams Canceled; Fines Doubled for Social Distancing Violations

Today, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo delivered hopeful news that social distancing may be working, as the increase of total number of infections is lower than what was originally projected, as reported in Forbes. As spring approaches, Cuomo encouraged people during his daily briefing to not let up on the social distancing, and increased fines for violations from $500 to $1,000. That includes non-essential gatherings with families who are not in Sphere Lock with each other (like if you get together with good friends, or if you have your cousins over).

Governor Cuomo has been tough yet understanding when it comes to social distancing, letting people figure it out on their own when outside. However, when he witnessed basketball and soccer games continue on a daily basis, as well as social gatherings at kids playgrounds, he warned that they’d need to close them down, in the name of social distancing and the inability to clean the surfaces at the playground. By April 1, the Governor banned basketball games and contact sports.

As quoted in Politico: “I talked about this for weeks. I warned people that if they didn’t stop the density and the games in the playgrounds — you can’t play basketball, you can’t come into contact with each other — that we would close the playgrounds,” Cuomo said. “Use the open space in a park. Walk around, get some sun, great. No density. No basketball games. No close contact. No violation of social distancing, period. That’s the rule.”

When pressed by a reporter today during the briefing on what else the governor could do to curb groups gathering, the governor responded that it is up to the enforcement at local levels.

Fines Increased For Violations of Social Distancing

Possibly more problematic for New York City, the fines for not social distancing were increased from $500 to $1,000. Beaconites have been complying pretty well. It should be noted, that if an area of an open space is crowded, simply find another place, for your own protection.

Regents Exams Canceled

The Board of Regents has canceled the Regents Exams for this year, as announced by Beacon Schools’ Superintendent Matt Landahl.

How To Predict School Closures and Delays Due To Weather And Snow In Beacon

Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin

The past few years in Beacon have seen relatively frequent school closures, but this year, not so much. In past years, by February, parents would be on edge with any prediction of snow, having their work disrupted, kids’ routines wrinkled, or figuring out how to get home from New York City on a train in time for an unexpected early pickup due to canceled programming.

A Little Beacon Blog took to examining the source of how school closures and delays are called in Beacon. On a personal note, I have exited out of all group predictions and penny bets in social media, as the stakes are too high; I need to preserve my adrenaline for issues that are more important. On a positive note, from our research last year for this article, I have been able to devise a private prediction system that you may benefit from.

By the time this article was written in 2019, the season of school closures had blissfully ended, so the post remained in Drafts. We are publishing it now - post Groundhog Day 2020, while spring bulbs have sprung in February - just in case you need a quick reference to make a prediction.

How The Beacon City School District Predicts A Closure Or Delay

The superintendent makes the call on whether there is a closure or delay. In years and superintendents past, this may have included foggy conditions. It also included a double early dismissal - which means an early dismissal is called, and then a few moments later, an even earlier dismissal is called. This can make life unsettling for commuting parents who have limited backup plans and little or no family in the area to retrieve their children.

This is how current Superintendent Matthew Landahl makes the call, as told to A Little Beacon Blog when we reached out to him last February during a particularly bad winter season:

On a regular school day, we have bus runs in-district and out-of-district that run from about 6 am until the last elementary student is dropped off around 4 pm. We actually have a couple of runs that start before 6 am and sometimes we don't wrap up until after 4 pm.

We start checking roads at about 3:30 am in the morning. A small team from our Transportation Department does this. Since I live here in Beacon, sometimes I join in on the fun. For instance, this morning (back in February 2019) we found a lot of areas still icy where our buses go, causing our own vehicles to slip around, thus causing a call for a delay.

Our main concern on any day is whether we can run buses safely between 6 am and 4 pm (this does not include after school/evening activities).

Calls based on forecasts are usually much tougher and are much more open to criticism or feedback from folks. The decision is mine alone and entirely based on whether we feel our buses can run safely. We subscribe to a very good weather service and I look at other forecasts, but in the end, it is my call with input from the Transportation Department.

I totally understand that my decisions cause inconvenience at best for everyone (including my family). It is definitely a no-win part of the job, but I always focus on travel safety with my decision-making.

How The City Of Beacon Plows and Salts The Streets

So now you might be wondering how the streets are plowed by the City of Beacon. What time do they start? We wondered the same thing. Here’s what Beacon’s City Administrator, Anthony J. Ruggiero, M.P.A., told ALBB:

That is a tough one to answer, and there is no easy answer.

There are a lot of factors that go into responding to a snow storm:

• time of day

• temperatures

• the type of precipitation (snow, or mix of snow and ice)

• and amounts predicted

No two storms are alike. With storms that start overnight, the Highway Department will be dispatched by the Police. Generally speaking, it is at this point that 5 trucks with sanders/salters are assigned areas citywide and treat roads with salt.

Typically for larger storms, all roads are treated with one application of material to help snow and ice bonding to blacktop. Once snow accumulates to about an inch, all plows are sent to designated areas (typically 24 vehicles, including large trucks with plows and sanders and small trucks with plows) to scrape the roads. This continues until the snow stops and then everything will be treated with one final application of salt. For smaller storms, it may be just salting, possibly followed by a scraping if necessary.

The City of Beacon Highway employees have always taken great pride in the way snow removal and servicing the residents of the City is conducted to assure roads are safe.

How This Writer Tests The Weather To Determine Freezing Streets

If slippage at 3:30 am is a main issue, then one must determine if the roads will be frozen at 3:30 am, possibly before plows or salt trucks are out. This year, in February 2020, there has been very little snow, but a lot of rain. Last week, a few snow flakes showed up in weather apps on smart phones, yet with a 39 degree prediction. Parents starting making backup plans and predictions for a two-hour delay. This writer came up with the following test:

• Ask yourself, has the ground been frozen for a long time? Or has it been over 35 degrees for many days?

• Step outside. Wave your arms in the air to feel the degree of coldness for yourself.

• If it feels kind of cold, but mainly warm and wet, and if the ground has not been frozen for days or weeks, and if the little bulbs have been popping out of the ground, then chances are, the snowflakes we’re seeing in the weather app will not accumulate or freeze when the prediction is 39 degrees, thus causing little to no slippage (though be careful on your front porch steps).

• If it has been under 32 degrees for days, and if there is a little snowflake icon in your weather app, and the percentage of precipitation is above 50% in the early morning hours (between 12 am and 4 am), then you can gauge a 70% chance of a school delay (unless it’s a storm with constant snow into the morning and afternoon).

• PLEASE NOTE: This is a very unsophisticated, nontechnical method that does not employ the weather tracking system that the District uses, but has been effective in making unprofessional predictions.

On this particular night last week, using this test method, the prediction of no two-hour delay was correct.

Hopefully this helps you plan and understand how calls are made. Keeping your blood pressure down, and your mood up. If there is a delay, that just means you’ve got time to make chocolate chip pancakes!

Misty Gray Day In Beacon Inspires Beauty Shown Through Photography

Graphic designer Ken Rabe of Rabe and Co. captured Beacon’s historic dummy light on the east end of town near the mountain.
Photo Credit: Ken Rabe

The gray mist has enveloped Beacon for the past several days, the only benefit of which can be seen via local photographers who have captured its special lighting and mood. We caught a few of them on Instagram, and are pulling them up to the surface for you to see. With rain in the forecast for the next few days, you can bet that the next sunny day will have people bouncing out of their houses to get back outside - if they haven’t already been getting fresh air with their slickers and rubber boots on despite the rain.

Photo Credit: Donna Belej of ALLSWELL Productions

The kayak pavilion at Long Dock Park is reflected in the incredibly still Hudson River.
Photo Credit: Carl Van Brunt of Carl Van Brunt Art

December's 2nd Snowtorm Delivers As Ice Storm In Beacon

Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin

Tuesday’s predicted snowstorm, which triggered numerous announcements of cancellations the evening before, including Beacon’s monthly Zoning Board Meeting (rescheduled for next month), delivered as a steady fall of ice rain. Beacon City Schools announced their closure on Tuesday morning, and snowplows were out on the streets monitoring the situation.

The pelting ice has covered everything in, well, ice, making it extremely difficult to even leave one’s front porch and requiring immediate sprinkling of salt. In fact, you may want to carry salt with you everywhere you go today, if you decide to go outside. This Snow Day does not involve snow yet, so for kids at home, it will be an indoor day, as it is very cold. Simply taking the picture for this article required a five-minute warmup back inside the kitchen while eggs cooked on the stove. Temps are in the high 20s, low 30s.

Thankfully, Tuesday’s trash collection by Royal Carting has started. If you’re a put-the-trash-out-the-night-before kind of person, you’re really patting yourself on the back right now as you sip your morning coffee.

The next question is, can you even open your car door, or is it iced shut? Brett’s Hardware probably has a product to help with that.