We Must Stop Overdevelopment

In many of our local neighborhoods, and in a broad sense throughout Westchester, we have seen the darkest side of development, human behavior, greed and social engineering run amuck. For example, in the Town of Greenburgh, we've witnessed uncontrolled development with the "sanction" by all the subordinate departments following Paul Feiner's misguided statist lead toward subsidized housing.

In fact, the Greenburgh Planning Board prejudiciously closed the public hearing as a proliferation of questions of the project site plan at 22 Tarrytown Road abound. Several people in the audience objected vehemently when Planning chairwoman Mclaughlin ignored their and several board members' pleas to hold the hearing open, insisting and receiving a motion to close the hearing at breakneck speed. Mclaughlin, whose strings are ostensibly dragged by Supervisor Feiner, could not seem to move fast enough to ignore the objections of so many and hand the silver platter to the developer! I don't know why she continues so anxiously to please the King and his “court” as he and his jesters have already disregarded the Planning Board's recommendation to not change the zoning for this property and then changed it right after reading the recommendation letter openly at a Board meeting. This charade must stop!

In Tarrytown we're witnessing the over-saturation of one of the most beautiful and significant waterfront areas in Westchester with immensely scaled condominiums. To the best of my knowledge, they are expensive; and many units remain vacant. Sleepy Hollow is wrestling with it's own demons as their waterfront property has had a bulls-eye placed on it by developers and their superstructure schemes slowly evolve into more than the area can handle. Why are we allowing developers such a free rein? Many suggest if we don't, then they will leave and build elsewhere. Okay, does that mean there is only one developer in Westchester and we should feel honored that they are here? I don't think so.

Another question is why were none of the housing units there designated as affordable or low income housing A.K.A. subsidized housing? Perhaps because the Village a) didn't think of it; b) thought of it and knew it would devalue the rest of the area they are trying to improve; c) realized that the housing that doesn't get sold might be rented and become Section 8 voucher housing or d) did not want the crime that follows so many of these lower socio-economic renters. Maybe there is an “e, f, g” and more.

There was a study that was conducted recently in Memphis, Tennessee that tracks Section 8 housing, it's voucher participants and the crime that travels with them. In what the study calls the “rabbit ears” affect, when you overlay the high crime areas on top of the Section 8 housing, now located in the suburbs from the inner city, it's the “rabbit ear” exact match! Crime is proven to go up commensurate with Section 8 housing. But that doesn’t mean let’s simple do away with Section 8 housing. Of course there are valid reasons to support some of it.

Just because there is a parcel of land without a building on it, doesn't mean we must build something on it and maximize its use with an out-of-character, over-sized building placed on it. This is why most neighborhoods and thinking people object to many developer plans. It's what has been the over-riding issue at 22 Tarrytown Road. After being punished with Westhab's hapless homeless facility for over 25 years, the neighborhood started to see some relief once the County closed the facility. But giving back to the neighborhood isn't in the cards for this workforce group of people. As they say, no good deed goes unpunished. So, the county purchased the property and gave it to Westhab to develop.

Supervisor Feiner endorses subsidized housing, and came to the neighborhood and said this was workforce housing for Greenburgh's municipal employees and teachers. Then it wasn't. Oops. He lied. Then Westhab’s Robert Sanborn perpetuated the same lie, obviously believing if they say it enough, “everyone” will believe it. But the neighborhood and the surrounding area organizations didn't drink their Kool Aid (not to give Kool Aid a bad name), and knew they had been politically, blatantly, and openly lied to. To spread his standing with the lame-stream media, the supervisor wrote several op-ed pieces pining how the Fulton Park neighborhood were NIMBY's. And yet, all they ever said was build something to scale in the area at 22 Tarrytown Road.

The often pushed-aside-by-Supervisor Feiner, Greenburgh Comprehensive Plan would be a step in the right direction in the Town of Greenburgh as well as one for the County. The Town Board seems to have no issue urinating away $405k on it and then doing what they can to circumvent it before it's adoption for one law firm and it's developer client. People at the Comprehensive planning meetings continue to say the same thing: give us less impervious space, smaller buildings or same-sized buildings to replace what's torn down, more sidewalks, bike paths, parks and green space and less congestion. But alas, the Greenburgh Town Board won't listen. And, they'll continue to travel to the Villages, where they are greeted with open arms as Supervisor Feiner, who continues to praise the Villages he cannot destroy, mock the unincorporated areas he can destroy, and paint the people and findings who participate in the Comprehensive Planning meetings openly as kooks. There's only one real kook here and it’s not the residents.

It's time we change the way government operates. It's time to take out the career politicians and the wannabes who have worked with them for years. We need fresh ideas and people who know how to make tough decisions and take government back and hand it over to the people, where it rightly belongs.

Is Westchester Guilty?

Sure, it's a pretty tough question to answer, and for most thinking people his HUD settlement plea certainly is an admission of guilt, regardless of the terms of the settlement. Whatever Andy Spano or the other legislators claim, when you settle any suit, even with the inclusion of a "no admission of guilt" clause, you've admitted guilt! He's just trying to "hedge his (compensatory) bet."

I don't believe Westchester is racist, and yes, there is certainly an economic divide. Even if Andy Spano admits he and his failed incumbent board of legislators are racists through this settlement, will a complacent electorate return them the to business as usual on November 3? As they scamper away with their political tail between their legs toward the darkness of say, New Jersey, where shenanigans like this may be acceptable, will Westchester ever get past this uncaring and apathetic routine? I hope so. It's why I'm running for office.

Westchester County is comprised of a very diverse group of peoples. My neighborhood exemplifies this as do so many others. But there is a commonality as well. The people owning homes here, work for everything they get. Many of us struggle, living paycheck to paycheck and fear what may happen if their health and/or employment fails. Yet, they persevere and they really ARE the community they live in. They are not subsidized by government and yet government insists they subsidize others. Why? Because it's the incumbents way of buying more votes through dependency. We know it works - just look at how long so many have stayed in office.

There is an incumbency, no pun intended, to help others in need, whenever possible. But our system for helping others has evolved from a temporary helping hand, to one of dependency, and a multi-million dollar cradle-to-the-grave industry. On top of that, when you saddle private industry with an inordinate amount of regulations, the small companies, or "the little guys" get wiped into oblivion. These are the businesses that need the assistance of government, not to be strangled by it. They are the ones that can help these same people in need the most, through employment, to improve their lives. I'm pretty sure the system as it is now is not what our founding leaders envisioned America would become.

So, is Andy Spano admitting he is a racist? I think he is. To say lets settle this lawsuit is disingenuous to the majority of good people in Westchester. We sit at the crest of the tide of political correctness because of a racist decision, made by a liberal judge with an agenda. This is an issue purely of economics and whether or not you can afford to own property in the southern part of New York State. If you cannot, you can rent an apartment and still live here. There is no "right" to own property as some would suggest. But if you want to own property, go to school, get a good viable education, get a job, work hard and save. And when the right time comes, you can purchase what you can afford, be it a co-op, condominium or a house, anywhere you want. Until then, people in power should rethink, retool and reduce some of the programs that encourage recipients to do nothing and be rewarded for it.

As we retool, rethink and reduce, we should take these same people and insist they go back to school and/or learn a trade so that eventually, they will not be a burden on society, but a contributor to it. Westchester is not racist - it is rich. Rich with ideas, rich with entrepreneurs and self-starters who buckled down and achieved a lot and rich with charity. Our burden of entitlements, created and bastardized by our politicians, needs to change if we are to turn the tide that the elitists have shoved down our throats. And for those that truly need help, we will always be there to offer assistance.