Last night I was blessed to see how democracy should work in New Rochelle and further, how a proper and real form of diversity works in the context of a neighborhood. It wasn’t the insincere pap we get from those who paternalistically look down and blather about brotherhood while practically otherhood.
The site was St Josephs RC Church in the West Side and the event was a community meeting held by the Councilman elect. The agenda covered a presentation on topical events plus an open floor to cover topics of interest. Besides the Councilman the head table including an aware, informative Community Service Officer from the City who reminds us of the absolute necessity of having police of this quality and character serving us and we can double down on that for this particular Councilman; a man of character and quality well-loved and respected by his constituents.
The community was largely old time residents, descendants from old time residents as well as a scattering of newcomers from a later arriving cultural group. This is one of our oldest neighborhoods, a backbone of this City, a neighorhood that has provided us with our military, craftsmen, professionals and much more and we owe it a great deal. I was honored to be there and blessed to run into an old friend who is a member of Casa Calabria who I have not seen in years.
I will not get into the agenda but I will say that what struck me was the sense of separation from the City Government. A suggestion to invite Noam Bramson was met with “he will never come” or “he doesn’t care enough to come.” That question is his to answer and not mine.
What I did observe was a change in the dynamic of what is possible despite all hurdles. I dont’ know if it has been elevated by desperation, tea parties of even occupy wall street. What I have notice is that no is not acceptable any longer without questioning, “we have no money” is unacceptable without demonstrated facts and alternatives, that the city consists of opportunities to place services such as the DPW yards in other corners of the City beside their neighborhood.
In short, democracy in action and reasonable questions asked requiring honest answers. No hate, no political ambition, simply an old, somewhat changing neighborhood representing the best in us. Those who live in more prosperour neighborhoods should take a moment, no much more, to think back on their ancestors who sacrificed and struggled to come her and make a life for themselves and their descendents. Your ancestors, yourselves were in this room and I couldn’t help to think of mine. This is America.
And, I was blessed recently to talk to a group of downtown business people who gathered together to talk about common issues and concerns. They were led by a fine young entrepreneur who had legitimate concerns about the lack of support and service to this community. He was reinforced by others who expressed real concerns about safety, red tape, inefficiency in government service. The mayor agreed to meet with them and he did albeit an hour and a half later. Apparently he forgot the time, but an alert, interested council man who attended the meeting reminded him and it came off less a half dozen or so business owners that couldnt meet.
The reported outcomes were not satisfactory as such and this group decided to continue the effort and will meet next week to reinforce their concerns and needs.
I will not report on findings; it is simply not my place to go beyond what I have said, but again, democracy at work and in its finest form. The momentum is underway; the common man, the backbone of our beloved democracy is beginning to move forward. Once again, we have a council man who has helped facilitate this and I expect he will continue to do so.
Then, still another councilman months earlier gave me the honor of participating in a community initiative through the Community Enrichment Zone. This is primarily a group of African American citizens of all ages who came together to clean up a neighborhood and to refresh it later through plantings of gardens. Still another group of fine citizens doing important work led by a fine council member
What is my hope? Simply that these actions represent an independent, none ideological and non party initiative that dares to challenge the status quo and look towards initiative that work and people who know how to dedicate their selves and commit real skills to the City.
There are so many areas that require attention. One is clear; that is to bring back all first provider groups to full complement. Find budget saves elsewhere and the first politician or city staffer who cries “we have no money” should be fined money. Of course you do, like community love, you are looking in all the wrong places. Second is to really question core business strategy. The City Council has to realize that a combination of the economy, failures to sustain expectationis by existing residential structures such as Trump and both Avalons, poor confidence planning with Cappelli, etc.. have obligated a change from the former Residential business model which made sense half a decade or so earlier, over to a small business Commercial model. This is elementary business policy. Albanese is the wrong project at the wrong time. We cannot afford his terms and conditions as each will tax the burdened taxpayer further and add resource based issues and burdens to our overstressed city base. Why can’t this be seen? Easily, like Echo Bay, it becomes a personal landmark, something with signage that contains names of office holders. It is the wrong thing, at the wrong time for the wrong reasons….. city council you do so at the peril of almost violating your fiduciary responsibility. THINK! And, as far as Echo Bay is concerned, Forest City will likely bail and if not, put it out as an additional RFP. And, do not begin Beechwood until this is determined. Why do you wish to alienate your constituents and neighbors unnecessarily. Wait for pity’s sake.
My final words are for my neighbors up north. Remember your forebearers, your position of net worth advantages which you have surely earned. You are not an island in and of itself. You have prototypes of relatives, you have friends, You have neighbors, you share a community. Redefine progressive to include service and support.You are needed, your minds and hearts. Demand that your downtown neighbors have a place at the table.
There is a wonderful book written by Father Nouwein called ” The Prodigal Son” which uses the great Rembrandt painting of the same name (and likely his life) to illustrate the passage of responsibility within all of us from wayward son, to responsible son (often alienated) to father figure who is all loving and given. It comes from the Judaic tradition and passes over to the Christian tradion and we share its sense of hospitality and family with the Muslim tradition. Buy it!
Why? simply because we are crippled as a people by self interest, benign neglect, “I am worth it” and the wrong politics by the wrong people. Earlier a community dentist was taken to task by me and others for the right reasons and in my case, too harshly. I apologize for the messenger and not the message.
God Bless our neighbors and our leaders.
BOE and City Govt’s DPW Yard
This is an important point. It is worth mentioning this to the BOE as they must have a perspective on the safety and wel-being of the children who will have to navigate the streets on their way to school – making sure that garbage trucks and other DPW trucks don’t make matters worse for the many children who suffer from asthma and other ailments.
Councilpersons and City Yard
Warren,
I enjoyed reading your posting.
But I am puzzled by cryptic references to two Councilpersons. I presume one you refer to is Jared Rice. Who is the other?
Regarding moving of City Yard, I am against it and always have been. There is no reason to move City Yard, other than as a boondoggle that no doubt will (or already has) financially benefited some persons whoever they might be.
If City Yard needs major repair, it should be done at its present site. It’s already a toxic waste site. Why spend money cleaning that mess up, while newly creating a new toxic waste site elsewhere?
Moving City Yard to Beechwood is an absurd concept in many ways. It will be uphill from two of New Rochelle’s oldest and still active Catholic cemeteries, one if which has a lake that pollutants will leach into.
The smell from the garbage trucks will stink up those cemeteries, the New England Thruway, Main St, Webster Ave, Kings Highway, West New Rochelle and Pelham. It will be an affront to the Hispanic population living nearby. And what streets will the garbage trucks travel and congest to get from Beechwood Ave to the North End or to Pelham Rd? Just look at a map, and think of the stink.
The present location near the sewage treatment plant, and the cleansing breezes of the L.I. Sound, is the ideal location for City Yard. So leave it there.
City Hall can better balance its budget, not only by leaving City Yard where it is, but also by selling the land on Beechwood it should never have bought. If NR can’t get a decent price for that land, it demonstrates how questionable a purchase it was in the first place.
The people of New Rochelle need to speak out. For years, I have regularly spoken up against moving City Yard, at NR Democratic Committe meetings and at Town Hall meetings, and in conversations with various government officials.
But if New Rochelle really needs a new location for City Yard, it should be central within New Rochelle, as that would cut costs and speed up Public Works services. If we really need a new location, I suggest putting a new City Yard on the undertaxed property of the Wykagyl Country Club either near Quaker Ridge or near Oxford Rd.
The issue has nothing to do with Democratic, Republican, Liberal or Conservative. It’s just that moving City Yard to Beechwood is an irrational, needlessly expensive idea that would curse downtown New Rochelle for many decades to come.
Your Post
Brian an excellent and open post showing how you place the community before politics. I appreciate it.
Let me respond to your question this way. The veteran council person who is most informative and sensitive to constitutents seems to be Louis Trangucci. The fairly new council person who rolls up his sleeves and works positively on initiatives to clean up the City is Jared Rice. The newest council person who is engaging himself as someone who is attending meeting(s) of small business people in his community is Ivar Hydin.
There may be others; for example, I know Shari has been active in looking at and visiting at least one individual who is involved in the Cabaret proposal. This is commendable.
So, don’t know if Tarnatino or Fertel have ever done much in their districts. Maybe, maybe not.
Of course, Noam as actually a Councilmember at large has occasionally attended meetings that were not ceremonial in nature, but not that often.
I was invited to all of the above. I do not think it should be a general rule to open the meetings up for example, for people outside of a council members district as they need time and space to work with their own constituents.
However I would like to see city wide issue council members issues held in a large enough forum to accommodate people who are interested. The 3 minute sessions during a Council Meeting are pro forma and accomplish nothing.
Perhaps one or more council memebers would take up this idea and act on their own recognizance. As the ruling body of the City, they have the power to do so. Of course, one or more council members may occasionally or continually open up their district meetings, but that is their call.
Bob Cox does provide an informative service that should continue. However the idea of some form of additional media announcement for any of the above to pick up those who may not tune into TOTS has merit and I will support that as well. I think all correspondents and bloggers would support as much community awareness and involvement as possible.
It would be remiss not to point out that some bloggers and correspondents do an excellent job of informing the public on their own. Bob McCaffrey comes foremost to mind. Perhaps the Neighborhood Associations might consider serving as an additional community board.
Rackman duped
While I wish council woman Rackman well, she is being played like a fiddle. She has no clue about life south of Eastchester Road. She was duped into going to diner at the old Mama Francesca’s which has become a real problem on Pelham Road. Now she believes this is a fine dining establishment. The only problem is that those advising her, Noam, tricked her into going on a Wednesday evening. Anyone with any knowledge of night life realizes the weekends are the most problematic times. I would love to sees her & her husband dine there about 1 AM on Friday night/Saturday morning to see if her “first impression” will change. I guess it’s all part of the initiation process, I hope she is a quick learner but to date she walks in Noam’s footsteps.
Test for Hyden
I believe Old Timer is on the mark. Ms. Rackman’s overwhelming support for the Albanese project is proof-positive that Ms. Rackman is in lockstep with the mayor. The true test tomorrow will come for Councilman Hyden. Warren has touted him as independent and he is a long time businessman in the downtown. Albanese is not proposing a 4-phase project as some would have you believe. Albanese is proposing 4 small, individual projects, which they will review individually to determine if their return on investment (profit) warrants the next phase. The problem is one that has haunted NR for 2 decades, namely, Albanese will seek major tax abatements from the Industrial Development Agency. The NR IDA was cited, by the attorney general, for being the 3rd HIGHEST in the state in tax abatement dollars invested to create one new job. So this will be trial by fire for Councilman Hyden who realizes the Albanese project relies too much on tax abatements which the beleaguered New Rochelle taxpayer cannot absorb. I expect Rackman, Fertel & Rice to vote with Bramson furthering the project so the test will be both for Bramson and Hyden. Let’s see if Bramson has any flexibility allowing Hyden to dissent knowing there are 4 votes to grant the MOU or if Bramson continues to demand 100% unity. We will also get a glimpse into Hyden’s intestinal fortitude to see if he is driven by common sense or partisan party politics.
Albanese Project
For the record, before the market downturn and subsequent failings in City Government to manage the consequences, for example, the MOU situation with Cappelli, I would have supported the Albanese project with some changes. The reason is simply that it would have been consistent with the Residential Business Plan and my presumption would have been that Cappelli and others would have successfully brought forward commercial initiatives in New Roc City, off North, and other supportive actions would have been taken by the City to both grow small business development on Main Street as well as required rezoning and where required, changes in policies on policing and the like.
Now the merits of Alabanese are completely outweighed by the absence of logic; both from the viewpoint of addressing critical current state needs regarding downtown commercial business, infrastructure issues, and quality of life, safety, and the like.
A cursory glance at Albanese indicates no substantive immediate gain for the City or any relief for the primary issues we face.
Given what has happened over the past few years, my endorsement for reinforcing the Residential business plan might have been replaced by the cold light of day that indicates we live in a City which has become ungovernable.
My heart hurts but that is the subject of a new post that I will develop today on the simple issue that we have become ungovernable based on the simple facts that (1) the current administration cannot and will not govern … essentially they are anachronistic and fail to see the forces in society that make them so nd (2) few people, decent, caring, or otherwise will put their butts honestly on the line to change the equation.
Read Confessions of a Hopeless Fool to learn more.
Residential Projects
Any residential project that is submitted to the city cannot be voted on until the mayor and council receive a report from the board of ed stating the impact it will have on our schools.
Voting without this report is totally irresponsible.
Albanese Bait & Switch
The NR BOE does NOT have a seat at the table concerning development or its impact on the school district. They don’t have a say in IDA abatements either even though a BOE board member sits on the IDA. I suggest Ms. Rackman review police incident reports on the “establishment” in question to verify complaints and police response since its opening. Warren is correct in declaring that amassing residents with disposable income in the downtown has failed so another of these projects is an exercise in futility. IF Ivar votes with his head, he is a downtown businessman; the pressure is on Councilman Rice for the majority 4th vote. Either way both Rice & Hyden will reveal their true independence tomorrow.
When Albanese first proposed this project they promised to spread parking across the downtown, now they propose to centralize it in the very locations they originally claimed didn’t work and were a detriment to downtown development. Albanese also said centralized parking would limit downtown development to a few existing blocks. In short Albanese first claimed adding infill parking would be the downtown’s savior and now they have reversed that mindset. This is clearly a bait & switch contractor trying to maximize profit any way possible. Albanese does not have the city’s best interest at heart and there is no tradeoff to the citizenry, only higher property & school taxes due to unwarranted IDA tax abatements. Remember, the FDEIS projected 58 school children from 1,000 Avalon units while the actual number was 115 totaling over $2 million school tax abatement which the NR taxpayer must swallow.
Councilperson Rackman
Ms. Rackman is a member of Young Israel of New Rochelle, therefore, you will never see her out and about on Friday night or Saturday morning. This synagogue is modern orthodox and follows many orthodox rules. I am surprised that she was dining at the old Mama Francesca’s since it is not a Kosher establishment. Let’s hope she starts visiting the neighborhoods south of Eastchester Rd. I wonder if she could find the city yard or will Jared Rice have to show her the way?
Thank You, Warren
Thank you Warren, for replying to my post, answering my questions, and stating your opinions. I agree with much of which you wrote.
Lou Trangucci strikes me as popular with his constituents because he seems down-to-earth and stright forward. Even if I disagree with various positions of his, I respect that he states what is on his mind and does so by focusing on positions rather than on personal attacks on other Council members. I do agree with Lou’s position against moving City Yard, of course.
Ivar Hyden has a similar quality of openly, honestly, directly focusing on issues. I happen to agree much more with Ivar than with Lou, and have looked forward to Ivar’s election for the last three years.
I have only spoken with Shari briefly a few times, but I believe she will be an excellent Councilperson.
There are times I find TOTS annoying and overly-Republican-partisan. But in general, I find this site to be a source of news far superior to the Journal Snooze. However, at TOTS I see too many personal attacks on persons who are Democrats, whereas attacks on policies are a more tolerable, intelligent, decent way, to effect political objectives. So I prefer to read postings on policies, to postings attacking people. Warren, you never seem to engage in personal attacks, and always seem to focus on issues.
I agree with you that the People of New Rocheele need to more engaged and interacting, regarding local government. Public Access TV and local newpapers have become unimportant, and the internet has become the main source of information for many people.
I encourage everyone including voting citizens, children, immigrants, businesspersons, civil servants, etc., to freely participate in discussions resulting in making New Rochelle a better place to live, be educated (or to educate), do business and to socialize. There are a variety of forums available for that, and so we are all very fortunate.
A Great Meeting
Warren what a great meeting. Perhaps neighborhood associations could list the dates of their meetings so all interested could attend. We might find out that we have common problems and what a great opportunity to meet other citizens. This might be the start of a grass root movement to bring New Rochelle together. But it is a start and that is very important.
good thought
i like this and the reasons behind this. I will advance the idea where I can and encourage others to do the same.
Community Bulletin Board
I think the city website should have a community bulletin board where all civic meetings can be posted and hopefully all will be open to the public, as this was, so all New Rochelle residents can be aware of the problems across New Rochelle. I’m sure a majority of concerns will cross district lines and possibly multiple associations can lobby for common solutions.
We have that right here
This site has a calendar and everyone reads it.
What more do you want?
Participation
I want the north enders who don’t participate hear because of Cox prejudice to have no excuse not to participate.
Well Said
Warren Well said. We have to start somewhere. But we have to start. A few can grow into many. I believe there are enough people out there that care. If they step up and get involved they/we can make a difference sooner than later. I challenge as many of you as possible to show up next week at the Citizen To Be Heard and the Public Hearings and voice your concerns on the record to The City Council as a Whole. The next Citizens To Be Heard is next Tuesday February 14th (Happy Valentine’s Day) at 7:30pm. The Council meeting on the 14th will not just have Citizens To Be Heard. There will be Public Hearings where you may also speak about the items listed on the agenda. All the information can be seen on the city web site. http://www.newrochelleny.com
There will be public hearings which lists three items:
1) 2013- 2017 Consolidated Plan CDBG and Home Programs
2) Proposed Amendment to Zoning Code: Miscellaneous Zoning Text Changes
3) Proposed Amendment to Zoning Code: Cabaret Licenses
Other agenda items that will be discussed in chambers (To mention a few):
1) Request for a Memorandum of Understanding:
Russell Albanese, chairman of the Albanese Company, and GeorgeAndrus presented their vision for a highly dense housing development in New Rochelle. An initial set of apartments along with a five deck parking garage would be built on a downtown city parking lot in the southern section of the City. Eventually these buildings could be followed by another seven story garage at the present Church-Division site along with a 23-24 story apartment building with 550 housing units. The project would be developed in several phases.
2) Issuance of Bonds: For New Public Works City Yard and approval of the relocation of the facility to Beechwood Avenue.
3) Waiver of Competitive Bidding: Sanitary Sewer Replacement-Pintard Avenue.
4) Issuance of Bonds: For several items including the Sanitary Sewer Replacement Project.
5) See the New Rochelle City Web Site for more information and further details as I have not covered everything.
At Citizens To Be Heard you may address any of the above items. You are given three minutes to speak. Citizens To Be Heard is also an open platform that gives you a chance to address The City Council on any item that concerns you. Such as Garbage fees, Crime, Sustainability Committee and so forth. Remember, the Public Hearings you may only speak about the items listed on the agenda.
Hope to see you there. We have to start somewhere!
Politics as usual
What an interesting council agenda. Two months after gaining a super majority on council the democrats are ramming the city yard relocation down taxpayer’s throats. The bonding of $14,000,000 will result in a guaranteed minimum 2% property tax increase yearly over the life of the bonds. Add that to ever decreasing sales and mortgage recording taxes and this becomes a prescription for MASSIVE FIRST RESPONDER TERMINATIONS. Warren is correct, WAIT! What is the rush? There are those who say now is the time to bond because rates are at historic lows and that theory is correct. But if you can’t pay the principle, who cares what the interest rate is? It’s like a person who is in foreclosure buying additional properties because mortgage rates are at historic lows. The real kicker here is that the current and past administrations are on a path to privatize the public works agenda. This is a valid consideration when pensions & health costs are factored in. So here is the $14,000,000 question, why would New Rochelle bond $14,000,000 to relocate and construct a new city yard when the city yard will become obsolete in the near future through privatization? Privatization has already begun as snow removal bids have been received and are being reviewed after which an award to a private contractor will take place. Stop playing politics and use common sense to find a path to solvency which is not on the backs of the already overburdened New Rochelle taxpayer. Yes, we need to start somewhere and speaking out against this blatantly politically motivated public screwing is a good place to start.
Old Timer Makes Sense
The logic on unnecessary haste in moving the DPW site is reinforced by the issue of privitization. There is no gain, only loss and I encourage the City Council to weigh this in light of what Old Timer educates us on
Take it a step further where the excessive trash fees are concerned. It has been alleged that New Rochelle will not waive these fees for any dwelling, especially a multiple dwelling such as a cooperative, if that dwelling elects to go with a private carter. This seems illogical unless of course, Strome mispoke when he stated that the entire increase of 2012 makes thing right meaning of course it is paying for itself. Seems rather incompetent that this was not the case years earlier, but perhaps this epiphany has come about from our joy in yet again winning the “distinctive” financial award we seem to be paying for (see Knitter).
However, it seems that simple logic goes beyond the already damning argument of hastily disrupting Beechwood. There is much to recommend a second look and probably a second engineer, but lets take Old Timer’s views as they stand and go further.
By further I mean if we seek privitization as a goal and there is much to recommend that, why not encourage and not discourage homeowners and cooperative/condominiums to seek out private carters. I might even offer a bounty if they did. That would hasten the migration toward less government and so, tax relief and put us in the same company as Harrison where, again, it is alleged that they do allow citizens to opt out of public DPW services.
And, suppose further that the City does not succeed in privatization and that citizens wish to return to a municipal service (odd conversation for me given the overwhelming acceptance of such services as part of a normal tax structure). But, I digress. The City simply restores the service and charges a “restoration fee”
It is hard to figure out the City’s logic in many cases; more like logical contradictions or deterioration in critical thinking. But thanks to Old Timer, Bob McCaffrey and others, there is back-up in the bullpen. After all, an examination of timeliness and privitization relieves thoughtful readers to question the actual numbers that do appear and more, the method employed in site selection which if I remember, did not adequately address the potential sites in other areas up the city aways. They do exist and they are not all in or around City Park.