Harry and Francine Are Back
For The Times They Are A-Changin’ – Bob Dylan (1964)
Ohne Musik wäre das Leben ein Irrthum [Without music, life would be a mistake] - Friedrich Nietzsche (1889) [1]
What's past is prologue The Tempest (Act 2, Scene 1) - William Shakespeare. (1623)
In early December, excitement spread through the digital grapevine, particularly on Facebook, about the upcoming opening of a new food and cultural gathering spot in Ardsley: Momo’s Cafe. [2]
Momo’s will be located at 909 Saw Mill River Road. Previously the retail location was occupied for over two decades by Advance Photo Labs and more recently, a real estate brokerage office.
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Coincidentally, in 2025, Pizzeria Baci (in Addyman Square) will join the roster of the four existing pizzerias in Ardsley (Stagione, Slyce, Fiamma, and Ardsley Cucina).
The proprietor of Baci, renowned for his critically acclaimed pizzeria in Montrose, has an inspiring backstory that traces back to 30+ years ago of his learning the art of pizza-making at the legendary Sicilian-style pizza in Addyman Square, affectionately known to locals as “Tommy’s” or, more cleverly, “the square in the square.” With a dream to reconnect with his culinary roots, he is now bringing his pies-only operation full-circle back to Ardsley.
Reminder Weekly News, March 27, 1974, p.6
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Although Advance Photo Labs was one of the premier establishments of its kind in Westchester, it likely succumbed to the economic pressures of the shift to digital cameras and smartphones which made film unnecessary (as well as providing instant images), the advent of affordable printers which allowed people to print photos at home, reducing the need for photo labs, and websites like Shutterfly and Snapfish which offered easy online photo printing, making it more convenient than visiting a store. [3]
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Nearly sixty years ago, an ambitious initiative to establish a community center for Ardsley youth in School District Number 5, dubbed 'The Five Hive,' kicked off with a star-studded benefit at the Westchester County Center on December 30, 1965, headlined by Tony Bennett and The Four Seasons, led by their iconic vocalist Frankie Valli.
The immense popularity of The Four Seasons in the early 1960s was highlighted by the release of a groundbreaking double album in 1964.Titled "The International Battle of the Century: The Beatles vs. the Four Seasons," this compilation was issued by Vee-Jay Records, one of the earliest Black owned record companies. Vee-Jay Records, founded in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, had acquired the rights to early recordings of both The Beatles and The Four Seasons. This fortuitous circumstance allowed them to create an album that pitted two of the most popular acts of the era against each other. The Beatles vs. The Four Seasons.
The astonishing appearance by The Four Seasons at a benefit for a public school youth center was made possible by Ardsley resident Hal B.Cook (who lived at 152 Heatherdell Road), the esteemed publisher of Billboard, the leading weekly trade paper for the music industry. Cook was active in community affairs in the areas of youth recreation and education, as well as serving as the chairman of Ardsley’s United Fund Campaign (a predecessor to the United Way). Not surprisingly, he was the first president of The Five Hive. [4]
The Hastings News, December 14, 1965, p. 1
Current Ardsley Historical Society Board Member James Damascus (Ardsley High School Class of 1970) and a former resident of Alexander Hamilton Avenue attended the concert and obtained the signatures of original Four Seasons members Valli, Tommy Devito, and Bob Gaudio, the composer of Sherry, the number one song for five consecutive weeks starting in September 1962. Gaudio’s string of over a dozen chart-topping hit songs gave rise to the hit Broadway musical, Jersey Boys which ran for nearly 5000 performances. [5]
Signatures of The Four Seasons and Master of Ceremonies Clay Cole [6]
Benefit Concert Ticket Stub [7]
Handwritten Tony Bennett setlist from 12/30/65 “5 Hive” Benefit Concert
Envisioned as a physical facility for "organized and informal social, cultural and recreational activities for young people in the district," according to an article in The Herald Statesman “approximately 150 teenagers and 300 adults” volunteered for the campaign to create the Five Hive. [8] Using an insignia designed by renowned Ardsley commercial artist Don Moss with the tagline of “Help The 5 Hive Come Alive!” the drive to create a community center was boosted by the more than $10,000 raised by the nearly capacity crowd who attended the benefit concert. [9]
Pin with insignia designed by Donald Moss
In the September 2010 Ardsley Villager newsletter, former Ardsley Village Manager George Calvi observed in his remembrance of Moss:
While working for the Herald Tribune, he utilized local Ardsley scenes in the Sunday color magazine section known as Today’s Living. One of the covers from 1961 featured a McDowell Park Little League game in progress. [10]
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In 1966, Hal Cook reprised his previous success of having music royalty like the Four Seasons perform for Ardsley teens by arranging an impromptu appearance by pioneering guitarist Les Paul at a Friday night dance sponsored by the Five Hive at Ardsley High School. [11]
Notwithstanding the lofty aspirations of the founders of The Five Hive to create a permanent physical youth center offering a range of activities from pool tables to dances to movies and possibly a bowling alley, by 1968, the venture had floundered most likely due to the high cost of building a center (estimated to be in the range of $150,000 to $200,000) and the three years needed to accomplish both the fundraising and the construction.
As part of the zeitgeist of the late 1960s, as reported by former Ardsley resident Joan Intrator, whose articles remain the gold standard for local journalism, for one hour on the evening of Monday, February 5, 1968, twelve Ardsley students conducted a mock Village Board meeting, a “take-over” conceived by Marsha Goodfarb, a junior, and proposed to the board by then Mayor Payne. At the meeting of the “Village Trustees,” Ardsley school and village officials and parents were taken to task for not providing enough solid recreation and leadership for young people, especially in grades seven through ten.
“Students were critical of the parents who originated the 5-Hive Fund and then apparently allowed the project to die. Ardsley kids are "willing to do something for themselves," said "Mayor" Rich Kerbel, a senior, but "you haven't given us the chance." He gave as an example the 5-Hive fund-raising show at the County Center, "when kids from the school went down and stood and handed out leaflets"— but then the adults “just seemed to have dropped the whole thing.” [12]
However, newspaper accounts suggest that the Five Hive stalled for reasons beyond the fault of adults. Resistance from the School District’s recreation departments, fearing clique control, and community skepticism over the Center's necessity played major roles. Additionally, shifting student interests, leadership turnover, and a lack of technical skills undermined momentum and prevented the Center from moving beyond the “buzz” stage. Ultimately, the project may have been overly ambitious and unrealistic. Nevertheless, we can still marvel at the enterprise of Ardsley’s youth who, though they never realized their dream of the "Five Hive" community center, managed to attract the legendary Four Seasons to perform at their benefit concert — a feat that likely made Ardsley the only secondary institution graced by such musical luminaries at the height of their fame.
Yet, the idea of the Five Hive, a concept that once stirred imaginations but was never brought to life, is now finding new energy in Ardsley. At the public hearing before the Ardsley Village Board, Priya Tejpal, the Ardsley based visionary behind Momo’s (named for her beloved cat) and a senior at Purchase College, shared her ambitious plans for the new community hub - to create a place where kids can hang out, study, and feel safe—a welcoming space that would host everything from open mic nights to painting sessions, fostering creativity and connection. Notably, Tejpal, a Communications major, won the grand prize for the Startup Pitching Competition (modeled on television's “Shark Tank” for her online textbook company idea, iTextbook. [13]
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Delving into the real and imagined places of cultural and gustatory nourishment in Ardsley, we encounter the nostalgic yet vibrant world captured in Ralph Fasanella's 'Harry's Luncheonette” (1983). This painting, evocative of Edward Hopper’s iconic 1942 masterpiece Nighthawks (exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago), uses a dining counter as a stage for human interaction. Much like Hopper's work, Fasanella’s piece explores the tension between communal space and emotional isolation, creating a compelling contrast where connection and distance coexist in the same frame. [14]
Nighthawks: Edward Hopper (American, 1882–1967)
However, Fasanella’s “Harry’s” was perhaps a case of “artistic license.” As explained in an email to the author from Morris Weinberger, Ph.D. (Ardsley High School Class of 1970) and Professor Emeritus, Department of Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (and Harry’s son)
My father bought the luncheonette with his partner, Margie, around 1960; thus the name. He eventually bought her out but never changed the name of the place. Around 1965, he sold the store to Max. I honestly didn’t recall Max changing the name, though I absolutely believe that. Around 1968, he bought the store back from Max. It was certainly known as Margie’s when he did. It was never named “Harry’s,” even if many people referred to it that way. [15]
Dobbs Ferry Sentinel (March 29, 1968, p.15)
Although “Harry’s” has closed (Wallauer’s Paint and Design Center now occupies the space), it was always more than just a modest diner and sundry shop. As explained by Morris as to his motivation in 2019 for creating an endowment at UNC of the Francine and Harry Weinberger Awards for Excellence:
When Morris Weinberger was 11 years old, he watched his father serve food to a homeless man in the back of the family’s Westchester, New York, luncheonette. Perplexed that the man was not asked to pay, Weinberger questioned his father, who replied, “I’ve been there. I know what it’s like.”
“My parents were Holocaust survivors who came here with nothing,” says Weinberger, chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management and Vergil N. Slee Distinguished Professor of Healthcare Quality Management, “but despite their long work hours at the luncheonette, they always found time and ways to give back.”
“Our parents taught my wife and me about social justice when we were very young,” Weinberger says, “and our own family has been involved with social action causes, such as homelessness and hunger, since our daughters were young. We decided to establish annual awards at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels to recognize health policy and management students who are active in social justice issues or with organizations that support the values of an inclusive society. Not for a second have I doubted that was the right thing to do.” [16]
Incidentally, Morris’s daughter and son-in-law grew up in Ardsley and met at Bradley University in Illinois. They now reside in Harry and Francine’s house on Wilmoth Avenue. [17] As Morris put it, “the best way to tell the story is that my granddaughter has my bedroom.”
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Almost 130 years ago, in 1896, as explained in American historian Claudia Keenan’s Through the Hourglass, her venerable blog about American culture that uncovers hidden lives and places,“a mix of Gilded Age millionaires, the heirs of Knickerbockers, and socialites, with a sprinkling of antiquarians and genealogists, founded the City History Club of New York.
The club “exists for Americanization,” its founders stated. “To develop a better and more intelligent citizenship by means of the study of the history and traditions of the city, and the lives and deeds of the men who have made this city great....”
As Keenan contends, by stating that “the club exists for Americanization,” they enunciated a deeper idea, that reflexive patriotism is meaningless. Informed citizenship is a product of historical understanding. And that can only come through education and exploration. [18]
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Through this (and future) journeys spanning decades of local history—exploring the 'lives and deeds' of those who have shaped and continue to influence Ardsley—The Timepiece hopes to inspire past, present, and future residents of Ardsley to reflect on how history often emerges in the most unassuming places and always think of Ardsley as:
“more than a mere collection of buildings, a despised place in which one must live, but for which there is no admiration, no love, no regard. Instead {to regard it as a} living organism with an interesting and honored past and a future to which every citizen ought to contribute, and for which every citizen should cherish ...” [19]
Endnotes:
[1] Twilight of the Idols, “Maxims and Arrows” § 1.33
[2] While the word “grapevine” (popularized by Marvin Gaye’s 1968 “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” song now means an informal way of spreading information, it has has a complex etymology: Etymology of grapevine The tortured but triumphant history of the creation and recording of Gaye’s version of the song merited two well-documented installments of Andrew Hickey’s monumental “A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs: Part 1 Part 2 The owners of Momo’s, as a courtesy to Timepiece, supplied a digital version of their logo. Momo’s is scheduled to open in February 2025.
[3] In 1981, Yoko Ono posthumously released, Watching the Wheels, the third and final single from her and John Lennon’s 1980 comeback album Double Fantasy. The cover for the record’s sleeve was taken by amateur photographer Paul Goresh, a fan of Lennon who regularly hung outside The Dakota. where Ono and Lennon lived. snapping pictures of the former Beatle, and who later became a casual friend of Lennon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watching_the_Wheels Goresh took the last photos of Lennon before he was killed by Mark David Chapman, including the infamous photo of Lennon signing a copy of Double Fantasy for Chapman earlier on December 8, 1980, the same day Chapman fatally shot Lennon. For an exploration of Goresh’s life as a collector, his cunning plan to meet Lennon in person, and his visit to a New Jersey photo lab to have his iconic images of Lennon developed, click this link: Paul Goresh, the Beatles Collector who Befriended John Lennon
[4] (Dobbs Ferry Sentinel, October 26, 1967, p. 2) (“Hal Cook, Ardsley Heads UF Drive”). In 1965, Cook was awarded the key to the City of Nashville for his efforts to promote country music. Earlier in 1963, he was honored at the Waldorf-Astoria by The U.S. Committee for Refugees (an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the needs of refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced persons worldwide) for his efforts on behalf of the world’s refugees. (Billboard: New York Vol. 75, Iss. 44, (Nov 2, 1963).
[5] Earlier in 2024, the missing Alexander Hamilton Avenue street sign was reinstalled at the urging of the Ardsley Historical Society. Hamilton’s presence in current day Ardsley during the 1781 Philipsburg encampment was documented in The Franco-American Encampment in the Town of Greenburgh, 6 July – 18 August 1781: A Historical Overview and Resource Inventory and discussed in the author’s article in the Beacon: Hamilton Slept Here In a speech delivered in Chicago on January 11, 1922 on the anniversary of Hamilton’s birth by then Vice-President Calvin Coolidge, he opined that “When America ceases to remember his greatness, America will be no longer great.” Our Heritage from Hamilton
[6] Valli not only signed his name but added “The Four Seasons” above his signature. In an email to the author, James Damascus explained:” I recall attending the concert, having just turned 13, to hear The 4 Seasons play their 1960s hits. Not so much Tony Bennett. After the concert, I ended up on the stage where Tony Bennett, The 4 Seasons and the event master of ceremonies Clay Cole were having the equivalent of a meet and greet in different parts of the stage. I received autographs from Frankie Vallie, Tommy DeVito, and Bob Gaudio of The 4 Seasons. While getting Tony Bennett's autograph, I noticed a piece of cardboard on the stage floor with writing on it. It was Tony Bennett's handwritten "set list" of the songs he performed that evening. I put them in my closet at our 25 Alexander Hamilton Ave home. When we sold the house, I reconnected with this program and various pieces of 5 Hive memorabilia.” Valli, at age 90 is still performing, Gaudio retired in the early 1970s to concentrate on writing, arranging, and producing, and DeVito passed away in 2020 from Covid-19.
[7] The legal name of the Five Hive was The Hartsley Center, Inc., Hartsley being a portmanteau of Hartsdale and Ardsley. School District 5 serves residents in the Village of Ardsley, parts of Dobbs Ferry (including where facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg grew up on Russell Place just past the Ashford Avenue bridge), and portions of the Town of Greenburgh with postal addresses in Hartsdale, Scarsdale, Irvington, and White Plains.
[8] “Ardsley's Five Hive Steps Up Its Big Drive,” January 6, 1966, p. 22
[9] The equivalent in 2024 of $100,000. Moss (1920-2010) lived on 124 Huntley Drive in Ardsley from 1953-1969. In 1940, Moss left Boston’s Vesper George School of Art where he attended on a scholarship to enlist in the Marines during WW2 and later enrolled in Pratt Institute using his GI Bill benefits. He authored the acclaimed step-by-step instructional book “The Art of Watercolor Painting (Grumbacher, 1968), featuring the Tarrytown Lighthouse on its cover. Some of the photographs in the book appear to show Moss at work in a studio he added to his Ardsley home. Moss was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Five Hive and chair in 1965 of the Ardsley Cancer Crusade, which promoted annual screening. (Dobbs Ferry Sentinel, March 11, 1965, p.16). His wife Virginia was active in the Ardsley Garden Club where she served as President. Herald Statesman, March 3, 1964, p. 13.
[10] Ardsley Villager Remembers Sports Illustrator Don Moss Village
[11] “Ardsley’s 5-Hive Buzzes Again!” ((Dobbs Ferry Sentinel, August 18, 1966, p. 10) Les Paul (1915- 2009) is the only inductee in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
[12] Ardsley Youth Takes Over At ‘Mock’ Village Meeting (Dobbs Ferry Sentinel, February 8, 1968, p, 4. Intrator, now 97, lives in San Francisco. After retiring from the newspaper trade, Intrator worked for the Greenburgh Parks and Recreation Department, served as the secretary of The Westchester Fencing Club, and taught a course on plays sponsored by the Friends of the Ardsley Public Library. Her son Thomas, a National Merit Scholar at Ardsley High School (Class of 1970), was one of America's leading plasma physicists at the time of his early death at age 62 in 2014 at his home in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
[13] Purchase College Hosts Startup Pitching Competition For Student Entrepreneurs
[14] “Historian Paul S. D’Ambrosio (who wrote his Ph.D. thesis on Fasanella) quotes Fasanella talking about arriving at the diner at five in the morning: “I picked up a musician and a mad college teacher and we’d talk about art, culture and politics. The regulars called us the Culture Club. Then I got to know too many people and the conversation got to be demoralizing. Yesterday, yesterday, yesterday—that’s all they talked about. I got a couple of pictures out of it, but it drove me crazy.” Remembering Ralph Fasanella However, Ralph’s son Marc Fasanella (Ardsley High School Class of 1982) recalls the charming platform for you feet below the stools - as wonderful as the phone booths in the back (email to author, January 30, 2024).
[15] As described by George Calvi in his remembrance of Mary Kamens, Ardsley’s Village Clerk for over four decades, who, on rare occasions slipped out of the office on her lunch hour for a cup of coffee and small sandwich at Margie’s, ”Margie’s was a great place to get a quick bite and catch up on the local gossip with friends and acquaintances, pick up a local newspaper, even purchase a colorful glossy postcard with local scenes though many of those scenes portrayed on the cards were already quite dated back then! Some of our locally elected officials or wannabees even met there informally to strategize their plans for the next Village elections.” Life With Mary, The Beacon, Vol. 35, No. 2 Fall 2022 The luncheonette operation (under the ownership of Jogi and Nirmal Singh) at 723 Saw Mill Road continued in business until 2011. Ardsley's Sunnydale, Village Cafe to Close The Singhs' arrival in Ardsley was likely facilitated by the landmark Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which repealed the restrictive, race- and nationality-based quota system that had been in place since the 1920s. This earlier system, established under a controversial immigration law signed by President Coolidge, was heavily influenced by nativist sentiments and fears of overpopulation, as well as discriminatory beliefs about the "quality" of immigrants. The 1965 Act, by contrast, reopened America’s doors to immigrants from Asia and Latin America, transforming the nation’s demographic landscape and making journeys like the Singhs’ possible. Ironically, in the same year, Coolidge signed the Indian Citizen Act which granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States. On New Year’s Day of this year (2024), after nearly nine years of fundraising and raising almost $2 million, the Hindu community opened the Durga Temple of Westchester at 1880 Saw Mill River Road just north of the Village of Ardsley. The Durga Temple stands opposite the former home of E. Simms Campbell, the most preeminent Black cartoonist of the 20th Century. Insider Histories: Black Cartoonist E. Simms Campbell
[17] The street was likely named for the old Wilmoth family of Ardsley. As related in Patricia and Fred Arone’s self published book on Ardsley history, “Pictures of the Past,” from 1930 through 1958, Tommy Wilmoth had the Ardsley School District bus contract. “Tommy and his bus drove the children to and from school, on field trips and provided transportation for the high school athletic teams.He also owned the Ardsley Square Taxi Service and prior to 1938, when the village acquired its first police car, Tommy’s taxi cabs were on call for an any police or fire emergency. The April 11, 1958 edition of The Ardsley-Sun Leader reported that at the annual meeting of the Ardsley Fire Department, Michael Wilmoth, former chief and former Acting Mayor, was accorded a salute for being the oldest active member of the department. (The Ardsley-Sun Leader is accessible on the searchable database link on the Ardsley Historical Society’s website as part of the Society’s 2024 newspaper digitization project).
[18] Father Knickerbocker's Ball
[19] Frank Bergen Kelley, “The Teaching of Civic Patriotism: The Work of the City History Club.” Municipal Affairs, v.3, 1899, 61-5. For a brief biography of Kelley, click this link for another elegant and enlightening post of Through the Hourglass: Teaching History to Immigrants