Video: Yorktown Teen Center Unveils Newly Renovated Facility

The , located on the first floor of the , officially opened its doors on Monday, May 2 after being closed for two weeks during its "extreme makeover."

The makeover was made possible by the participation of a number of area individuals, businesses and organizations who were honored during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. 

Helena Rodriguez, Yorktown Teen Center president of the board of directors, said she is amazed by the completely transformed room. The renovations were done at no cost to the Teen Center, which she calls a "safe, positive, enriching, fun, supervised" environment where teens could gather. The Yorktown Teen Center was given its non-profit status in June 2009. 

Yorktown native and former Yankees Public Relations chief Rick Cerrone was involved with the renovations from the very beginning and jump started the fundraising efforts. He said the renovations could not have been done without the help of the various groups involved and called it a "community effort."

The retail value of the project is estimated at more than $45,000 and all costs are being underwritten by The Jack DeVito Foundation of Yorktown Heights, which is also provided the labor. At the end of last year, the Foundation offered to sponsor the Yorktown Teen Center renovations project and .

Amenities include new carpeting and ceramic tile; new window treatments; new furniture, including sofa, loveseat, arm chairs, desk and computer tables; new food-service-area cabinetry with granite countertop; new bistro-style tables and chairs; a completely restored pool table; three new computers and printer; a 55-inch flat-screen TV with sound system; DVD library; Blu-ray player and other new appliances. In addition, the Harrison Apar Field of Dreams Foundation is funding a new computer center for the facility.

"It's a fabulous place for kids to come," Yorktown Supervisor Susan Siegel said. "It's one of the places that makes Yorktown so great."

The following people involved with the project were honored: 

DESIGN- Paul Port and Robin Rosh

APPLIANCES- Rich Leahy, Atlantic Appliances

CARPETING AND FURNITURE- Dominic Cuccia, Freight Liquidators

COMPUTERS and TECHNOLOGY- Bruce Apar, Harrison Apar Field of Dreams Foundation; Lee Kousouros, PC Lee Computer

COMPUTER TABLES- Jim DeSiena

CABINETRY- Michael McDonough, Dave Probeyahn (Jilco Window Corp.), Robert Pisano (Robert Pisano Contracting)

GRANITE COUNTER- AND DESK TOPS- Paula Pereira, Amandio Santos, Hudson Marble & Granite, LLC

BACKSPLASH- John Barile, Sam’s Ceramic & Stone

TILE- Kym Weiner, Best Plumbing, Tile & Stone, Stepen Bertero

ELECTRICAL UPGRADE- Michael Dobovsky, Peter Simone, P & M Electric

WALL DÉCOR- Bryan Reilly, Photo File

CONTRIBUTORS- Yorktown Lions Club- Joseph Straci, President; The Mildred E. Strang Middle School Variety Show, Yorktown Town Board and Yorktown Community and Cultural Center, The Jack DeVito Foundation (Anthony and Jihn DeVito) and board members. 

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