Despite many efforts in discussing the awful impact the City Yard will have on the West End Community, the Mayor and City Manager will proceed to push for a vote tonight to have city tax payers issue a bond for $600,000 to finance the design and planning costs of the City Yard off Beechwood Avenue in the West End. So, the Mayor never answered my letter. He never held a meeting in the West End. He thumbed his nose at the diverse community that is the West End. It is a done deal! Do you think there is a conspiracy to revive the auction block? Do City Council members believe this to be an issue of environmental racism that they wish to keep silent because of warp political fidelity? Sad development indeed. The season for non-violent civil disobedience is here.
Martin Sanchez
There is “Form” Input and There is “Substance” Input
The question of “how can the City” undertake an action without community input can be answered by form versus substance. Form largely is represented by forums such as those provided monthly where someone is permitted to give a 3 minute speech and they go away and so, community responsibility has been met.
Substance is more, but admittedly, in this day and age when so many venues are provided for complaints highlighted by the power of social media and even the non-binding Open Meeting Laws, it behooves the members of government to provide “form.” Add to this “rationalization” which represents a form of generous redefinition of language or meaning usually driven by self interest and community apathy (see City Charter and Sustainability Plan meaning and objectives), you have all levels of 2012 government including New Rochelle.
Peter Diamakis, author of “Abundance” states the growing power and influence of advances in technology. If not used properly, it will likely overwhelm us and add to the problems. However, in a sane political climate we would have “subtance” where people could make a difference and be encouraged to work on those issues that affect the general good.
If not, they take to the streets, violently in the Mid East today, less so given the Teaparty and Occupy Wall Street movements in the US
We can differ on the outcomes and even the selection methods of moving the City Yards. However, we cannot fairly disagree with the lack of community input and rational decision making approach taken by New Rocehlle. And this is not a CAVE issue (see Bob Marrone) down these parts.
Diamakis goes on to say that if people constantly carp on issues or lack participatory opportunities, they are being blocked from taking advantage of the advances in technology, etal…. he says “lets stop complaining about problems and work on solving them.” I could not agree more, but let’s provide the opportunities for all voices in New Rochelle and elsewhere to take part in this effort.
Social Media Revolution
Iran was nearly taken down by Twitter. Young Egyptians organized on Facebook. China is deathly afraid of the world wide web.
The tools are already with us, they are free, and Talk of the Sound provides a rallying point to aggregate that information and disseminate.
The internet is so powerful in brining about revolutionary change precisely because it allows like minded people to find each other. Once that first step has been taken and you find our that you are now alone, you have are on the road to becoming a political force.
This site, this month, will have more than one unique visitor per month for every resident of New Rochelle (over 77,000). Commenters represent a teeny, tiny fraction of the total readership. So, keep in mind that your posts and comments are echoing around living rooms, offices and mobile phones all over New Rochelle. They are also nudging “lurkers” closer to become “commenters”.
How many of you went through that struggle of “should I or should I not” register and comment about this or that story?
It is about more than a single issue — it is about the idea that the Internet levels the playing field. Comments are judged based on the quality of the thinking behind them not “who you know” or “who donated to who”.
This message is really for all of you out there, reading Warren and Bob and others but hesitating about registering and joining the discussion.
Click the link in the upper right corner and jump in.
Do we get it yet?
Any applicant for a job above his present one, knows that he’ll need a resume that puts him to the front of the line in the hiring office.
Without Echo Bay development, which must include the city yard property and probably the Armory, along with another downtown residential skyscraper, and anything else he can get squeezed into his personal folder, before his boss Nita Lowey retires, his final destination behind her desk in the Russell Office building in Washington D.C. will never happen.
Don’t you get it New Rochelle?
GET OUT OF HIS WAY!
City Yard Move, We are not dead yet!
Martin,
I hope there may still be time. They haven’t put a shovel in the ground yet. Where are all of the citizens that oppose the move? There was one women and myself had I spoken last week. There should be a greater out pouring of letters to council members, state and local officials. Even to the federal level due to the location and the impact this will have regardless of the studies. There should have been more meetings, media coverage and protests. The community should be filling Citizens to be Heard, all of the council meetings even if you can’t speak. I see to many people giving up. We can’t give up. It is our life and our homes. I wrote a letter to the editor of the Journal News last week. I got the usual confirmation call and probable will never see it run. So here is what I sent.
Letter to the Editor of Journal News 2/16/12:
New Rochelle is not debating moving the City Yard. The Mayor and City Manager are. Stop pushing the City Yard Move people don’t want it. In New Rochelle, The Perception is that the Mayor and City Manager have a majority on council now and there is a rush to push through their agenda without re thinking the future of New Rochelle. Perception is everything! The timing of the releases about the NR Citizens’ Panel, Parking Downtown, garbage fees, DPW Fleet Manager, The Albanese Company request for a MOU for a highly dense housing development, The 60 day extension for Forest City Ratner and the review and bonding to move The City Yard are all very suspect. The recent use of the word, “perception” to deflect questions and concerns is a subjective denial of fact that things in New Rochelle are worsening even as we speak. I can remember when the Space Shot at New Roc was the biggest issue of the day. Let’s not see Echo Bay become another Forest City Ratner headline of corruption and deals like some of their other projects. Stop all projects that don’t deal with an immediate need for the city. Re-evaluate all proposed projects. Don’t spend another dime of taxpayer money except on essential services. The City Yard can wait a little long since they have neglected it for so long. Fix any safety issues for now. Go back to the drawing board and come up with a plan. We still have no plan.
Wake up New Rochelle we need to use “Common Sence for the Common Good”.Don’t give up the fight!
Social Justice and GreeNR
Apparently moving the City Yard and its accompanying traffic patterns into lower income, majority minority neighborhood is what the Mayor and his GreeNR Advisory Board meant by “social justice” and “stakeholder input”.
Those who are opposing the plan on these grounds might do well to educate themselves on what the Mayor and his Green Pals have had to say about the meaning of “sustainability” and “social justice” over the past two years and compare that to the Mayor’s actions here.
City Yard
This is atrocious. Something needs to be done about this. How can the city just dump this thing on us and not even have any public input?