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In an announcement on Monday, Aug. 12, county officials said that the Second Judicial Department of the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division upheld a decision affirming that the Scout Cabin at Scout Field in Bronxville belongs to Westchester County instead of the Bronxville Scout Committee.
The cabin, which sits on a 22.9-acre park within Bronxville, Mount Vernon, and Yonkers, was long claimed to be owned by the Scout Committee, which sought to assert exclusive rights to the property, according to county officials.
However, the court's decision will now direct the Westchester County Supreme Court to enter a judgment declaring that the Scout Committee does not hold exclusive property rights or a legal title to the property.
In a statement, Westchester County Attorney John Nonna said the decision "ensures that our public resources are protected for the benefit of all residents not just a select few."
"With this concept in mind, that Scout Cabin at Scout Field belongs to all of us, we are nevertheless reaching out to the people who have wrongfully claimed ownership of the Cabin and see if we can come to a resolution for a path forward," Nonna added.
County Executive George Latimer also commented on the court decision and case, saying that the county has "always been supportive of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and the values they teach."
"In regards to the matter of Scout Cabin at Scout Field we bluntly had a situation that spun out of control for decades, the Courts at trial and appellate levels, have now rectified it once and for all," Latimer added.
According to the Bronxville Scout Committee, the cabin has been run by them since the early 1900s and was built and run with funds raised by the community, "not the County," the organization's website states.
The committee used the cabin for three troops and two packs consisting of more than 300 children from Bronxville, Mt. Vernon, Yonkers, Bronx, Crestwood, Tuckahoe, Eastchester, Hartsdale, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, and New Rochelle. It also rented it out to families across Westchester for private parties.
Despite this, the county eventually determined it owned the cabin and originally offered to negotiate a lease with the Scout Committee. However, they were met with objections, Latimer said in an interview with CBS News in August 2023.
"We were met with objection, and, frankly, a lot of arrogance," Latimer said in the 2023 interview, adding, "Our management of the facility will be more open, more inclusive and less expensive for the people that use it, including the scouting groups that use it."
At the same time as the interview, the county had also sent the Scout Committee a letter ordering them to vacate the cabin, CBS reported.
Following the latest court decision on the matter, Latimer maintains that the cabin will still be used for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
"We plan on making Scout Cabin at Scout Field available, at no cost, to all Westchester Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. We are prepared to work with the BSC Inc., or any group, to manage the property, under our aegis, for the benefit of all scouts," Latimer said, adding, "The Cabin needs to be safe and accessible – and that is the Scout’s truth.”
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