Scarsdale Ambulance Corps

[engine968 8]

I was looking at Scarsdale Amb's website which apparently has not been updated since 2006. It says at that time they were desperately seeking funding to build a new station to replace their old one that was falling down (literally). Is Scarsdale Ambulance still in operation? And was their new station actually built?

I'm not from Westchester so I don't know the political/funding set-up. But according to the news articles in the website, the Village of Scarsdale wouldn't pay for the new station, though they do fund the ambulances themselves. That seems unusual. Do they not pay for police and fire stations too? In addition, the Village was insisting that the Corps. build a more expensive structure that met their residenial appearance requirements. (Chuckle!) You certainly wouldn't want it to actually look like an ambulance station. What an eyesore that would be! So let me get this straight: The Village insisted that the station they won't pay for, has to be more expensive than even the modest design proposed by the Ambulance people themselves.

The Corps. was seeking sufficient donations from their residents to build it. And apparently the good residents of Scarsdale were not contributing anywhere near the amount of money required for construction. All of this is surprising to me, knowing that the Village and its residents have ample financial resourses. Many years ago I had friends living in New Rochelle, a short distance from the old Scarsdale Amb. Station, and I was surprised that they had such a small seemingly inadequate building, so inconsistent with the character of the community. So I assume that the residents of Scarsdale didn't want to part with the bucks and just take the volunteer EMS system for granted, and who cares if they don't have building?

Maybe some of you can enlighten this Long Island firefighter as to what actually happened up there and if they finally got their well deserved new station. Thanks!

Edited February 9, 2010 by engine968

[INIT915 1,119]

In short, they did build a new station. The previous station was a century old former train depot stop, which was, in all seriousness, a condemnable structure. Despite the affluence of the community, not much support was offered. The majority of funding came from a small handful of donors. And there was much resistance from area residents, who wanted NO part of having the station near their homes. Literally hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent in legal battles.