Scarsdale Arts Council Calls Cudner-Hyatt House A Local Heritage Treasure, Urges State Reveiw Before Any Change In Museum Status

The Scarsdale Arts Council has joined the in showing its surprise at a request by the to have the change the status of the pre-Revolutionary War so it would no longer be classified as a museum.

A letter written by Ed Morgan, president of the Arts Council, calls the Cudner-Hyatt House "one of Scarsdale's greatest heritage treasures" and the organization is supporting recommendations made by the Scarsdale Forum about the house — which would delay any change of the building's status.

Scarsdale Forum recommendations:

1. The Forum recommends that the Board of Appeals, before
acting on the Scarsdale Historical Society’s application for
removal of the variance authorizing operation of Cudner-Hyatt as
a museum, ensure that the Society has informed the Attorney
General of these proceedings and received his determination that
he is in accord with the application.

2. The Forum urges the Society, for so long as the
proceedings indicated by the first recommendation are pending,
give priority to the care and maintenance of Cudner-Hyatt and
making it available for use by the public in Scarsdale and
nearby communities.

The Scarsdale Arts Council called the Cudner-Hyatt house one of local "cultural
treasures" that are a vital link between America's past and the way to
the future. The council said the house deserves to be preserved and used by current and future generations.

"When the variance was granted to the Society in 1974 (to designate the building as a museum), that presumably was because the Board of Appeals perceived that it was in the public interest that the pre-Revolutionary War Cudner-Hyatt be preserved, that under the circumstances a museum afforded the best opportunity to accomplish preservation, and that a museum could not operate Cudner-Hyatt as a museum in Scarsdale without a zoning variance, which the Board therefore granted," the council letter states. "These factors remain relevant today."

Here is the text of the statment from the Arts Council to the village:

To the Chairman and Members of the
Village of Scarsdale Board of Appeals
Village Hall
1001 Post Road
Scarsdale, New York 10583
Re: Application of The Scarsdale Historical Society for termination of variance relating to the Cudner-Hyatt House site

The Scarsdale Arts Council (the "Arts Council") has
learned of the subject application and hereby submits its
comments on the application in this report. The release of this
report has been approved by the Arts Council.
Among the missions of the Arts Council are to support
and stimulate arts organizations in Scarsdale, and enhance public
awareness of and support for the arts in Scarsdale. Given these
missions, it seems particularly apt that the Arts Council comment
in these proceedings.
Notwithstanding recent comments by some officials of
The Scarsdale Historical Society (the "Society") reported in The
Scarsdale Inquirer, the Cudner-Hyatt House ("Cudner-Hyatt") is
one of Scarsdale's greatest heritage treasures, and has been so
recognized both locally and nationally. Cudner-Hyatt is the rare
pre-Revolutionary War structure in Scarsdale, having been built
between 1734 and 1754, with modifications, mostly in the 19th
Century, thereafter. It is not just old. Because of its
prominent location along one of the oldest roads in Scarsdale, it
has been a focus of community attention for more than two and a
half centuries. Its residents have included prominent Village
and church officials from the 18th into the 20th Centuries. From
the time of the 18th Century land purchase from the heirs of
Caleb Heathcote until 1972, the property was a family residence,
mostly owned by members of the Cudner and then the Hyatt
families. For much of that time, the property was actively
farmed, as was typical during the colonial era and a long time
thereafter.
More recently, the Society saved Cudner-Hyatt for
Scarsdale's posterity by acquiring it in 1974. Since that time,
until recently, the Society's mission has been to operate a
museum (Cudner-Hyatt, together with its useful service building,
the 1828 Quaker Meeting House also on the site), and its
principal activities have reflected that. Generations of
Scarsdalians, including thousands of school children, have
visited Cudner-Hyatt and participated in a wide range of
activities centered there. See the attachment (included with this story on Patch) for just a few illustrations of this point. The Society, with Cudner-Hyatt as
its principal focus, clearly thrived until relatively recently.
Most recently, within the past month, the long-awaited
Historical Resources Survey has been released by the Village
Board (and may be found at www.scarsdale.com). That Survey
acknowledges Cudner-Hyatt as one of 13 previously identified,
likely Scarsdale landmarks for designation, as one of roughly a
half dozen pre-Revolutionary War structures in the Village.
Cudner-Hyatt already has historic site recognition from
Westchester County, the State of New York, and the national
government.
This very brief summary demonstrates that whatever has
happened here, it is not a failure of purpose as to Cudner-Hyatt
as a public museum. Quite the contrary. Such important cultural
treasures are a vital link between America's past and the way to
the future, and deserve to be preserved and used by current and
future generations.
When the variance was granted to the Society in 1974,
that presumably was because the Board of Appeals perceived that
it was in the public interest that the pre-Revolutionary War
Cudner-Hyatt be preserved, that under the circumstances a museum
afforded the best opportunity to accomplish preservation, and
that a museum could not operate Cudner-Hyatt as a museum in
Scarsdale without a zoning variance, which the Board therefore
granted. These factors remain relevant today.
For these reasons, the Arts Council endorses the
recommendations in these proceedings made by the Scarsdale Forum
that one way or another the New York Attorney General be given
the opportunity to comment before any decision by the Board of
Appeals, adding that we think that the Attorney General's
response should be received by the Board and considered before it
acts, and in the meantime that the Society maintain the status
quo by properly caring for Cudner-Hyatt.
By law, and subject to judicial review, the New York
Attorney General is the party authorized to supervise charities
in New York. There are any number of things which the Attorney
General may be able do (including but not limited to seeking a
"white knight", stronger partner or another stronger party to
take over the previous Cudner-Hyatt commitments to Scarsdale's
community) when informed of possible discontinuance of such a
major charitable function. Under both federal and New York law,
the Society among other things is required to report to the
Internal Revenue Service, the New York Attorney General and the
general public any significant cessation of program services
(see, e.g., IRS Form 990, page 2, Part III, line 3 and required
accompanying statement) . Discontinuance of operation of a major
site such as Cudner-Hyatt as a museum is clearly significant.
In the circumstances of the pending Society
application, the Attorney General should definitely have the
opportunity to address both the immediate issues before the Board
of Appeals, as well as the larger one of the longer-term
preservation of Cudner-Hyatt for the public benefit. Given the
Attorney General's statutory supervisory role over charities, it
would be premature to grant the Society's application before the
Attorney General has responded. Given the recent indications of
intended abandonment by the Society of its museum mission as
reported by The ScarsdaLe Inquirer, irreparable harm to CudnerHyatt
could very well result from approval at this time of the
termination of the 1974 variance. The Arts Council therefore
urges the Board of Appeals not to consider removing the 1974
variance until the Attorney General has responded.
We thank the Board of Appeals for its consideration of
this report, and we shall be pleased to work with the Board and
with Village staff and others to address matters needing
attention in order to move forward in a positive manner.

Respectfully submitted,
THE SCARSDALE ARTS COUNCIL, INC.