Free Republic

Three teens have been arrested for trashing and setting fire to the beloved historic Sleepy Hollow lighthouse in a “heartbreaking” attack just a year after its multimillion-dollar renovation, according to officials. Baby-faced firebugs Elvin Ayavaca, 18, of White Plains and Richard Barrero, 19, of Harrison, along with an unidentified 17-year-old, caused at least $100,000 in damage to the charming 142-year-old landmark, the Westchester County Police said in a press release Friday. The trio was charged with arson, burglary and criminal mischief after getting caught on camera strolling over a bridge leading to the lighthouse Saturday, according to police. A fourth...

Two baby-faced Westchester arsonists who admitted to torching a beloved Hudson River lighthouse will get to avoid jail time thanks to a plea deal that allows them to buy their freedom. Elvin Ayavaca, 19, and Richard Joseph Barrero, 20, both pleaded guilty on Monday in exchange for a sweetheart deal that allows the arsonists to dodge any time in prison — as long as they cough up nearly $81,000 each and stay out of trouble for the rest of the year, according to the Westchester DA’s office. If the pair, who caused roughly $100,000 in damage to Westchester’s historic Tarrytown...

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. – With a 1929 Model A Ford Phaeton making the final 3.1-mile (4.99-kilometer) journey across the Hudson River, the Tappan Zee Bridge in New York City's northern suburbs has officially closed. Much of the fanfare that accompanied the opening of an adjacent $3.9 billion twin-span named in honor of former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo in August was missing Friday night when the Tappan Zee saw its final crossing, according to The Journal News . Seth Kestenbaum was the last driver to cross the 61-year-old bridge around 10 p.m. in the vintage Ford. "If you're first across the...

A driver spoke out Sunday evening, two days after recording a truck hauling scrap metal as it tipped over and lost some of its wheels on the Tappan Zee Bridge. The crash happened around 9 a.m. Friday on the northbound side of the bridge. Images from the scene showed the overturned truck with pieces of scrap metal and debris all over the roadway, and the video showed truck sending debris and two wheels flying across the road. The trailer and flying debris narrowly missed the car behind it. As CBS2’s Hazel Sanchez reported exclusively, Qing Chang of Ardsley was driving...

MT. VERNON - Over $4 million in marijuana was seized by law enforcement officials Aug. 26 near a cotton field in Tarrytown. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and the Oconee Drug Task Force found the marijuana located near a vacant home at J. E. Willis Rd. According to officials, they received a call from a concerned resident who tipped them off to the growing marijuana. Plants were found around the outside of the vacant residence, scattered through the roadside ditch and concentrated on the outskirts of the field and receding into the woods. Another large concentration of marijuana was discovered...

...Sitting in an office decorated with photographs of him meeting and greeting national dignitaries such as Nelson Rockefeller, George H. Bush and Richard Nixon, Crosbie said yesterday with a rueful smile, "I seem to have drawn a lot of flies" because of his remark. A television news crew had just left his office. Crosbie, 79, who has served on the bench in Tarrytown for 17 years, said the remark was prompted by Khoder's behavior in the courtroom, which he described as "berserk." He was trying to call attention to what he regarded as her unusual manner in a humorous way,...

TARRYTOWN — An Arab-American woman who fainted in village court said she suffered an anxiety attack after the judge asked if she were a terrorist. Anissa Khoder has filed a complaint against Tarrytown Village Justice William Crosbie with the state Commission on Judicial Conduct. Khoder went to court on Thursday to contest a pair of parking tickets. As she approached the judge's table, she said, Crosbie considered her name out loud and asked if she were a terrorist. She said she was stunned by the implication, but responded with a weak, reflexive smile. "I felt offended, and I kept it...