In case you haven’t heard of the latest sneak attack to destroy the Armory, or the backlash from citizens, all resulting in Senators and members of the Assembly alike scrambling to put distance between themselves and our very own Mayor, well now would be a good time to review. In reading the stories above, you’ll see the mayors attempt to move legislation forward, on his own behalf, without the “courtesy” of notifying the complete city council. Talk about backfiring! Within, 36 hours (impressive considering this happened over a weekend} , Senators Klein and Oppenheimer, along with Assembly Members Latimer and Paulin told constituents they would not proceed with the pending legislation. To his credit, Senator Klein was reported as saying he was told ( by Mayor Bramson himself)the Armory issues were resolved. Also to his credit, he felt it important enough to actively remove his name from the bill. A small gesture, but not unnoticed. The rest left their names on, to presumably let the bill “sunset” until next year. Mr. Latimer issued a lengthy statement revealing perhaps more than he intended. In his letter of explanation, he states “I/we did not, at any point in time, assert that I/we are in favor of demolishing the Armory, or endorse the development plan for Echo Bay.”. Really Mr. Latimer? Your carefully worded legislation reads “The City of New Rochelle has requested that legislative authority be granted to the city regarding the aforementioned parcel in order to advance plans to develop the waterfront, a proposed mixed use project of residential, retail and recreational uses.” (underlined for emphasis). Tell ,me/us Mr. Latimer, do you know of any other proposed development for Echo Bay other than Forest City’s plan to destroy the Armory? A11554 is, by it’s construction, an explicit approval to move forward with an existing development plan. That’s what I/we assert. Remember, any project that is in keeping with the public benefit caluse of the Armory deed restriction will never need a home rule request.
” The bill itself was written to describe the meets and bounds of the parcel”. The Metes and Bounds established in the bill are a ver- batim account of the legal description in the deed that conveyed the Armory to the city, with one exception. The last line of the Armory Deed states “the above described parcel is shown on a map entitled “Boundary Map of New York Armory at City of New Rochelle, Westchester County” …..” Could there be a reason the A11554 description stopped short of the last line? I/we were just wondering.
As we continue to read Mr Latimers letter, one paragraph refers to the “problems inherent” with the draft. This leads one to believe, that without the identified problems, Mr Latimer would have supported the bill. Truth or fiction?
All’s well that ends well I suppose. The Armory dodged a bullet this time and perhaps we’ll never really know if it was because of a poorly constructed request from the mayor, a poorly crafted bill, outrage from the voters, politicians who heard their voters, or a combination of some sort. We do know, the mayor acted outside of full councils knowledge and that’s probably the worst part of all this. The State officials know what they were told and maybe they’ll go public with that, but for now they’ve gone through great lengths to put some distance between themselves and Mayor Bramson. Actions speak louder than words sometimes. I/we thank all involved for raising the awareness of our State officials. For bringing this issue to the front burner, so to speak. In the end, decisions about the Armory, development, quality of life, all need to withstand this type of scrutiny. If it stands the test we will know we’ve done all we can to promote the well being of New Rochelle, for everyone. Thanks also to Sen. Jeff Klein. True to your word, your immediate removal of your name from the bill spoke volumes. Sen. Oppenheimer and Assemblywoman Paulin, we thank you for hearing before committing. Please keep the door open. Last but not least, Mr Latimer. As I was writing this, I was notified of your latest letter where you finally put the last nail in the bill. And while you stated there is no way the bill could go on, “striking the enacting clause” of the bill puts an end to our speculation on your direction. Thank you for your support.
Bramson is under the Bus please send more pictures
When a NY Senator/NY Assembly member tells you that they had no idea the Armory matter was not settled there are a few possible things that may have transpired.
1- Either Mayor Bramson lied to some of them and if that is true I would just love to have heard those phone calls? or 2- that George Latimer has lied to his constituents. Its a tough drawn but I am guessing both 1 and 2 may both hold the prize.
The one thing you can garner from looking at the Mayors body having been just run over by the rear wheels of that bus is while crippled or neutered he is not going to give up his desire to see the bricks and mortar torn down from that Armory. Imagine this once bright star from New Rochelle with so much promise has fallen so far when you look at his success rate that for him laying beaten under a NY State Bus half dead in the political sense half embroiled in decay and blight from laying down with the dogs but still willing to accept the Armory’s death as victory for him personally.May that bus drag him past 5th avenue so he can see what his approach to the Idoni Ikea debacle still does to an area 10 years later. May that Bus drag him in front of New Roc so he can see what he has helped do for the Citizens of New Rochelle with his Coney Island of blight. While there hopefully he will get to pass the 39 story Trump Cappelli another Bramson beautiful idea which demands City Services galore Story’s of them while laying more than half empty. I hope on the way over to see LeCount he gets to see what his concept of Favorite Developer status for Cappelli has brought our fine City. Hey I see Chuck Schumer in front of the Post Office screaming to the camera’s “the nerve of the United State Postal Service for not selling this building below market rate for the good of my young buddy laying there under that bus” I hope the Bus that has run over him slowly draggs his metephorical body to some new territory far from New Rochelle because its time for him to go he has been providing our City with nothing but failure and he is now becoming a enviromental hazzard. May his political body be recycled upon a compost pile in a land fill far away from the Queen City.