“Never his mind on where he was.”
Like Luke demanding that Yoda train him as a Jedi, the Mayor of New Rochelle has been unable to succeed for New Rochelle because his mind is always elsewhere — on himself, on his resume, on his greater ambition beyond New Rochelle – never his mind on tackling real issues in New Rochelle but creating “solvable” issues for him to “solve”, all signifying very little for the people of New Rochelle.
Yoda: All his life has he looked away… to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph. Adventure. Heh. Excitement. Heh. A Jedi craves not these things…
And where has Noam’s mind been?
The Mayor says he has spent his 17 years on City Council dedicated to what he has described as the “core issue” of his entire political career — sustainability. Funny, because when Noam first came knocking on my door looking for votes in 1995, I don’t recall him mentioning sustainability at all. I do recall him talking about lowering property taxes, sound financial management and improved municipal services — all the other sorts of things the owner of a single-family home would want to hear. I voted for him. Taxes went up, fraud went unchecked and city services declined. Back then there was not a word about wanting to implement mandatory recycling, building codes developed by an organization backed by a Hungarian currency trader, requiring expensive upgrades to lateral lines at my expense; making ownership of a single-family home more expensive and shifting municipal investment into “transit-oriented smart development” (code for tax breaks for politically-connected billionaire developers).
When Tim Idoni left to become Westchester County Clerk, Noam ascended to the head of the table as chairman of the City Council otherwise known by the honorary title of Mayor of New Rochelle. And where has he spent his time since? The tag cloud on his web site tells the tale. A tag cloud is a visual representation of a weighted list of text depicting keyword metadata or “tags” on a website where the importance of each tag is shown with font size or color. The more prominent terms are displayed based on their relative prominence. The most prominent tag on Noam Bramson’s web site is “GreeNR”.
Always with Noam the emphasis is on meaningless committees, reports, plans, and resolutions that Noam can splash about with press releases and then stack on the shelf in his office at City Hall like a 4th grader with so many 9th place ribbons from the Pinewood Derby.
I was reminded of this again by a recent article in the Sound & Town Report, City adopts Complete Streets resolution. The article begins, as they so often do, with a line that could have been written by Noam himself.
One of the county’s largest cities has done what many other communities have only discussed: adopted Complete Streets principles.
Heh! New Rochelle is portrayed on the cutting-edge of “sustainability”, boldly going where no municipality has gone before. Thanks to Noam’s laborious labors and effortful efforts, the city will now “adhere to Complete Streets principles and guidelines going forward” with the stated goal of “safely sharing local roadways”. This is not a knock against Christian Falcone, the reporter, but note how the story includes the following sentence without attribution.
It is something the city has had its eye on for quite some time, having referenced such guidelines in its Sustainability Plan.
Now it is possible that Falcone read GreeNR (he would be one of the few), followed all the City Council discussions (all one billion hours of them) and is familiar with the relationship between “Complete Streets” and “GreeNR” but most people who are familiar with Noam will recognize the Mayor feeding a line to a reporter.
Noam is quoted saying “To be clear, we are not mandating changes in road design, but rather ensuring that sustainable design is considered and subjected to a cost-benefit test”.
And what is Complete Streets?
According to the article it it a “national movement” because Complete Streets is now in 249 local jurisdictions in 26 states and territories. Of course, by that definition, the Bloods, Crips and Latin Kings are national movements too — and they are in lot more local jurisdictions.
The main goal of the national Complete Streets coalition is to create roadways that are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities.
No. That is the stated goal. The actual goal of “Complete Streets” or “Walkable Cities” is to increase the “cost” (economic and otherwise) of owning and operating a personal vehicle and thus discourage their use. It is a part of a suite of sub-goals (increased parking fees, increased fuel surcharges and taxes, limited development of fossil fuels like coal and oil, increased licensing fees to own and operate vehicles, etc.) all intended to make car ownership unaffordable. It is one of a series of companion goals under the Land Use Stabilization Wedge Strategy espoused by John Nolan of the Pace University Land Use Law Center, and contained within the same set of “Sustainability” goals espoused by ICLEI and Agenda 21 of which the Mayor is a major proponent.
The result of achieving this goal will be to shift public investment away from low density areas into high-density areas, discourage single-family home ownership by making it unaffordable, encourage people to live in apartment blocks (“new urbanism”), and make the use of personal vehicles for transportation increasingly difficult under the guise of reducing carbon emissions to address the scientific theory of anthropomorphic global warming. Whether you believe in man-made global warming, support the concept of sustainability articulated in Agenda 21, want to devote public resources to these sort of programs, the end game is not bike lanes on Pinebrook Boulevard or outdoor cafes on Main Street. They are the eye-candy offered to distract the public from the ultimate aim of these programs which is to reduce and eliminate large tracts of single-family housing, most of which was built after World War II. The question is not whether this is the final aim — it is, read Nolon’s book linked above which envisions 22 million empty single-family homes in 30 years — but whether the people of New Rochelle understand that and support it. Right now that cannot be the case because the public has never been fully informed as to what the Mayor intends.
You cannot have the consent of the governed without properly informing the governed.
Now, I point all this out because you have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the Complete Streets article to find the words of New Rochelle Development Commissioner Michael Freimuth which highlight the futility of adopting Complete Streets in New Rochelle.
…according to the city’s Development Commissioner Michael Freimuth, the idea may not see much implementation in New Rochelle, and he doesn’t believe it will change the way the city approaches construction. “It’s really for new construction of streets and is a practical matter,” he said. “We just don’t have open space that gets built out anymore [so] its application is limited in practical effect.”
Another concern with the program is if such practices are cost effective. “If not, then that is as far as it goes,” the commissioner said about any projects on the local level. “We need not pursue it any further than that threshold of criteria.”
In short, our highly experienced expert on development says that Complete Streets does not apply to New Rochelle and, even if it did on some rare occasions apply, it would likely not get beyond an initial cost/benefit analysis.
So, why would the Mayor expend taxpayer funds to adopt a program of no particular relevance to New Rochelle?
Simple, it’s another line on his resume, another 9th place ribbon on his shelf, something he can add to his list of “accomplishments”. The Mayor loves self-congratulatory announcements of meaningless gestures of no practical consequence for New Rochelle residents. And that is what GreeNR is all about — Noam and his sustainability pals patting themselves on the back.
A recent announcement of a League of Women Voters event at the New Rochelle Public Library promoted an appearance by Deborah Newborn where she will talk about the “award-winning” GreeNR plan. The Mayor’s web site now has a GreeNR logo with a little blue ribbon attached. It would be cute if it was not so sad for the rest of New Rochelle.
So what are the awards Noam is touting? There are four of them.
New Rochelle’s GreeNR Sustainability Plan has been named the recipient of a Planning Achievement Award from the Westchester Municipal Planning Federation (WMPF) for “Outstanding Contribution to Planning in Westchester County.” Coming from experts who are devoted to sound planning practices, this award is a great validation of GreeNR’s positive vision and practical value.
Who is the WMPF and how did New Rochelle get the award?
First off, Noam applied for the award. This is how your taxpayer dollars are being used; having people like Noam, Deborah Newborn and Kathy Gilwit applying for awards and then drafting and distributing press releases to announce winning the awards. Weeeeee! Isn’t spending other people’s money fun?
And the Westchester Municipal Planning Federation? It is a group of “municipal governments, zoning and planning boards and land use consultants including lawyers, engineers, architects and planners”. In other words, New Rochelle employees and their consultants and members of the GreeNR advisory board. That’s Noam’s idea of “validation”. Noel Shaw, New Rochelle’s previous building bureau official is a past president of WMPF. One of their partners is the Regional Planning Association which includes David Kooris who was appointed by Noam to run the GreeNR advisory board and “facilitate” creating the GreeNR plan. Edward Burroughs, former Westchester County Planning Commissioner, is both a member of WMPF and the GreeNR Advisory Board.
Who is the Pace Land Use Law Center and how did New Rochelle get the award?
Pace Land Use Law Center is the home of the aforementioned John Nolon. Professor Nolon was a member of the GreeNR Advisory Board. New Rochelle got the award through Noam’s connection to Nolon. The award was given at a luncheon where a keynote address was given by David Kooris of the Regional Plan Association, the same group involved with the WMPF, the same guy who led the GreeNR Advisory Board. The same guy who was in New Rochelle a couple of years ago, citing without attribution a European neo-Marxist group affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement in his role as facilitator for GreeNR.
What is the New York Planning Federation and how did New Rochelle get the award?
By now you are getting the picture. The New York Planning Federation is another group connected to the Mayor through the GreeNR Advisory Board.
In what is classic, disingenuous Noam, he announces the award by professing to be totally surprised that such an award even exists, let alone that GreeNR has won the award.
Noam writes:
What American youngster, growing up here in our great nation and thinking about his or her future, doesn’t dream of one day winning a Heissenbuttel Award? Well, OK, maybe not. And I’ll admit that, until a couple of days ago, I had never heard of the Heissenbuttel. But, it turns out to be a pretty big deal.
The Heissenbuttel Award is one of a handful of honors given annually by the New York Planning Federation for outstanding accomplishment in the planning field. And this year’s Heissenbuttel goes to . . . GreeNR, the New Rochelle Sustainability Plan.
That Noam, quite the card! He’s never heard of that crazy sounding “Heissenbuttel Award” but it turns out its a “big deal”. It also turns out one of his main GreeNR pals is directly involved. In any case, does anyone actually believe that Noam does not have a running list of every award he might be conceivably eligible for to add to his resume?
Despite the misleading headline, the “honors” were not “NY State Planning Honors”. New York Planning Federation is a “membership supported not-for-profit organization”. It describes itself as “statewide” but it is not a New York State agency as implied by Noam’s headline. It’s mission is to “promote sound planning, land use and zoning practice in New York State which fosters orderly growth and development balanced with the protection of natural resources”. In other words, it is another Agenda 21-style sustainability group.
And the connection to Noam? New York Planning Federation offers training for local government officials at…wait for it…at the Pace University Land Use Law Center. The program is administered by the Pace University Land Use Law Center. By now you know that Prof. John Nolon runs the Pace University Land Use Law Center. Even better, Nolon is on the Advisory Council of the New York Planning Federation. Just imagine Nolon involved in this up to his eyeballs but never mentioning this award to Noam. Yep, that sounds plausible.
Not.
4. New Rochelle Receives Environmental Hall of Fame Award
What is the Environmental Hall of Fame Award and how did New Rochelle get the award?
By now you might be asking if there is any “award” given for GreeNR that does not come from organizations directly affiliated with the GreeNR Advisory Board? Well, there is one.
New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson and Sustainability Coordinator Deborah Newborn received the Environmental Hall of Fame Award from Carol Froehlich-Hull, a representative of the Environmental Hall of Fame. There is no known connection between Noam Bramson, GreeNR and the Environmental Hall of Fame or Carol Froehlich-Hull. In receiving the award during the public portion of a City Council meeting last June, the Mayor said as much when he admitted having not heard of the Environmental Hall of Fame. Of course, that didn’t stop him from posing for photos in the City Council chambers with Ms. Froehlich-Hull accepting the “coveted” EOF Award, little more than a scrap of paper with the word “Award” on it placed in a gaudy faux gold-leaf frame.
Had the Mayor done even a cursory background check before turning over City Hall to Froehlich-Hull he would have realized the whole thing was a marketing stunt designed to sell vitamins.
Incredibly, Noam’s fourth and final award, was a “membership benefit” purchased by Carol Froehlich-Hull, a “franchisee” of Shaklee Corporation a multi-level marketing network for nutritional supplements, weight-management products, beauty products, and household products. In other words, an Amway competitor. Her company is called A Breath Away Group.
Ms. Froehlich-Hull paid $123 to become a member of Green Megatrends. Who? Never heard of them? Don’t worry, neither has Noam. It was through this highly suspect organization that she obtained the “exclusive right” to present a certificate to the Mayor of New Rochelle, get her picture taken doing it and have that picture displayed at the Environmental Hall of Fame which appears to be little more than a crudely built web site full of photos of other suckers Mayors, elected officials and a handful of celebrities many of whom appear bemused as they try to appear grateful at receiving an award they never heard of, from an organization they never heard of, from people they have never met and will likely never see again.
Think I’m kidding?
Listed among Green Megatrends Membership Benefits is “A photo of you presenting an award to your city for one of its best sustainability programs. ($100 value)” This woman paid money so that if she could con the Mayor into accepting the piece of paper the web site operator would upload the picture to the EOF web site.
There are still two other potential victims out there. Other benefits of joining Green Megatrends include the right to “Present an Environmental Hall of Fame award to a deserving environmentalist in your community (great publicity). ($100 value)” and “Present a HOPE Award (Hero of Planet Earth Award) to a deserving student or school (great publicity). ($100 value)”. I can just hear Paul Costiglio, the PR guy for the school district, rushing to get her over to the high school for her next photo op.
We can only wonder if Froehlich-Hull ever got the “greater traffic to your business, thousands of dollars of publicity, and gratitude from your family and community” that she was promised by Green Megatrends for her one hundred and twenty-three bucks. We will do our best at Talk of the Sound to see that she gets loads of publicity for her little stunt at City Hall and her shameless exploitation of taxpayer resources to promote her multilevel marketing business. Well, at least Noam picked up one more donor for his next run for Mayor in 2015.
So, that’s it so far. Four awards for GreeNR: two directly from John Nolon a member of the GreeNR Advisory Board, one from a county organization which includes New Rochelle employees as members and one total fake.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!
EDITOR’S NOTE: You might also want to read The Curious Case of Noam Bramson
Noam BS will be the next
Noam BS will be the next deputy CE if Idoni gets elected as County Executive. GreeNR will tossed in the garbage can with all his other tax-hiking ideas.
As far as Complete Streets and Transit Oriented Development go, I don’t want it in my neighborhood. Tell Noam to bring density over to Pinebrook Blvd. Let him live in a cubical.
I will say this, the whole world doesn’t work at desk jobs in NYC. There are many middle class blue collar workers in the suburbs who do not have access to mass transit and must rely on their cars and trucks to get to work. We are the ones suffering by high gas prices and we cannot afford to pay even more to own automobiles.
Noam is not going to reshape human behavior. He is not going to be in any centerfolds. He has closed his eyes and ears to the problems facing middle class New Rochellians. He doesn’t care and he is living in a dream world. New Rochelle wants and needs quality retail, parking and safer streets. It needs it’s service restored to full capacity. Instead we get high rise building, more traffic and leas parking, reduced services and high taxes. Is this what Noam is so proud of?
You got it, John…
Noam BS will be the next deputy CE if Idoni gets elected as County Executive.
…Just as SOON as Idoni can reward his clone, he will.
GreeNR will tossed in the garbage can with all his other tax-hiking ideas.
…Green? You don’t actually really think NR was ever ‘green’, do you John? Take a look at the discarded garden in the circle near Sound Shore (ah, another topic entirely, SUCH a disgustingly filthy and dangerous hospital, you go in, but you don’t come out), which was set up by the Parks guy so many years ago and has gone to seed and overgrowth.
New Rochelle wants and needs quality retail, parking and safer streets.
…Not going to happen. NR is on its fifth (sixth?) term of ignoring downtown in favor of the kickbacks from Trump et al, so why should it change? IF Noam’s clone isn’t voted in by the myopic sheeple New Rochellians, MAYBE things might change.
It needs it’s service restored to full capacity.
…See above.
Instead we get high rise building, more traffic and leas parking, reduced services and high taxes.
…See above.
Is this what Noam is so proud of?
…See above.
Noam doesn’t care one iota.
And where has Noam’s mind been?
“And where has Noam’s mind been?”
Well, we all know the answer to that.
Alongside Tim Idoni, who will make sure Noam is rewarded for continuing in his image.
If the voters don’t wake up and vote in Noam aka Idoni’s clone’s clone, New Rochelle will continue to sink.
Wait. Can it go any lower?
Please explain in less words what you have against GreenNR
Bob,
I often find interesting and informative information at TOTS. Sometimes I agree and other times disagree with your conclusions. Sometimes I am just mystified.
I agree that the answer to NR’s problems is not to bring in Billionaire developers. Such things involving big business, seems to me so much more Republican than Democrat.
I am regularly amazed at how locally, the NR Democrats’ & Republicans policies are the reverse polarity of what each Party supports state-wide and nationally. It all is so puzzling and unexplainable.
I try to avoid here, commenting on the specific NR politicians, and to just stick to policies. If I like or dislike a policy I comment on it either way, regardless of which party supports such a policy. I do so here, on the street and at NR Democratic Committee meetings. There’s no personal advantage or disadvantage to me, either way, and I am only looking out for New Rochelle’s best interests.
But I am constantly reading criticism at TOTS, of the GreenNR policies, but have no idea what the gripe is. I read your anti-GreenNR postings frequently, and come away completely mystified. I realize I am missing your point, and perhaps I am also missing City Hall’s perspective on GreenNR.
So reading such articles is quite frustrating to me and perhaps to many other Democrats. Considering that of 40,980 registered NR Voter (over 50% of our population), and 21,604 (53%) of our voters are registered Democrat, and 8,524 (21%) are Republican, you appear to be trying to move an immovable object if you perceived your leverage is Republican party politics.
Perhaps it is because I see NR’s future as being based on analytic cooperation, rather than the attacks of partisan politics, that I don’t understand the anti-GreenNR Postings at TOTS. Or perhaps I just don’t understand what GreenNR is about.
So I ask you, Bob, can you BRIEFLY explain, without your referring to Mayor Bramson or other members of the City Council, and without mentioning City Manager Chuck Strome or the various City Hall bureaucrats and civil servants, and without mentioning any political party, the following:
Avoiding reference to politics, what do you think the best intentions is, of GreenNR?
Avoiding reference to politics, what do you think the worst intentions is, of GreenNR?
Avoiding reference to politics, what do you think would be the worst result of implementing GreenNR?
Avoiding reference to politics, what do you think would be the best result of implementing GreenNR?
I ask for a brief explanation, because I have got lost in the long explanations I have so far seen here. Perhaps you can convince me, by using a shorter explanation than what I have read here.
Thank you.
In a word, No.
Brian,
I never try to convince someone who does not want to be convinced but as you ask so nicely I will give it a try. I do not, however, accept the entire paradigm in which you are framing your questions and I am not going to respond on your terms. If you cannot understand what I have written blame the nuns who taught you in grammar school.
As a partisan Democrat who tends to perceive anyone critical of a Democrat as automatically a Republican, I am sorry to disappoint you but like MOST Americans I am neither a Republican or Democrat. I am registered as “non-registered” with the County Board of Elections. WE are the majority in this county not the two political parties.
My interest is in “good government” issues (open meetings, access to public records), transparency, financial accountability and so forth. I have said many times that if the people of New Rochelle really want GreeNR, ICLEI, Local Agenda 21 and the United Nations as the basis for our land use policies and other so-called “sustainable” initiatives then so be it. That’s democracy. My point with Noam is that he is not even doing what ICLEI and Agenda 21 recommend by building a consensus of all stakeholders through discussion, education and public input. Instead Noam has faux input, phony discussions and tries to stack the deck at public meetings to create the illusion of widespread support for what he is doing here.
If do a little research you might find that some of the biggest “villains” I report about are registered Republicans including one in particular who holds one of the highest offices in New Rochelle. The Democrats are in charge at every level of government so naturally they are going to be the focus of my efforts (and Noam is particular bad on MY core issues like freedom of speech and open government).
If there was a Cynic Party I would join that (but if anyone else joined I would quit!) but I would not join either of the two major parties
As for GreeNR, I am surprised that you do not understand my concerns with GreeNR given that I have written well over 10,000 words on the subject but I have never expressed them in terms of partisan politics.
Let me see if this is short enough: GreeNR is a political stunt by the Mayor designed to gain him the support of what in Europe would be called “Greens”, in this country Democrats who are active in the various so-called “sustainability” movement. The “intention” is to help Noam Bramson. Is that succinct enough?
That you are asking this question suggests to me that you have not read the initial published version of GreeNR or the final version that was published after the City Council vote based on the changes that were agreed up during the many City Council discussions.
If you or anyone else will read this document (Google is your friend here) you will see that it contains a large number of contradictory, unworkable or vague statements. I am not going to list them all here because I have already listed about 100 examples on Talk of the Sound.
To take just one example, the GreeNR plan as released recommend a “Green Lien” program where homeowners would borrow money to make their house more “green” (new windows, insulation, etc.). The debt would be incorporated into the taxes paid on the house so that when the house was sold the new owners would take on the debt under the premise that they would be the ones enjoying the benefit of the improvements to the house. Set aside that this is idiotic on its face (if a house is improved the sellers will reap the benefit in the form on an increased price for the home). There was one other “minor” problem. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA had already issued statements saying they would not buy mortgages with a second lien on the property (green or otherwise). Given that these three agencies buy or originate over 80% of the mortgages in the United States, a simplistic way to understand the effect is that 80% of the buyers would be out of the market. Add in that most large mortgage lenders follow the lead of Fannie and Freddie and the effect is more pronounced. I know you are kind of a left-winger but I trust you understand what happens if 80% of the buyers leave the market, right? The price drops. A lot. So, not only would green liens not make home prices go up they would crush home prices. Like I said, idiotic and yet there it is in the GreeNR plan.
After I made an issue out of it, this was supposed to be removed from the final version.
I could cite (and have) dozens of other such idiotic ideas (the green seal program, the lateral lines inspections, etc.). How about MANDATORY recycling where inspectors pick through your garbage and collect “evidence” (an empty cereal box or perhaps an empty juice container) so they can issue summonses.
This isn’t political. It is just plain stupid stuff.
The worst stuff in there are things that would cost millions upon millions of dollars for little apparent value. For example, paying to teach 5,000 non-English speakers how to speak English. We can barely teach the 11,000 kids in our school system to speak English (do you see the latest NYS Report cards for our schools?) and now we are going to add 5,000 adults?
Is that enough to have made my point. Don’t take my word for it. Read GreeNR.
Even if GreeNR was full of good ideas (and there are some) how is the brochure presented to City Council even actionable? They may as well have voted to adopt Noam’s high school yearbook or the Sears Catalog. The resolution should have read “We the City Council of New Rochelle hereby make this laundry list of vague ideas, wishes and dreams the official policy of New Rochelle development.” I have followed this much closer than most and I still cannot get anyone to explain what exactly the vote on GreeNR meant.
That is the most worrisome aspect. There is no actual plan; GreeNR is a plan for development of New Rochelle in the same way the Sears catalog is a plan for shopping at the Westchester Mall. They are kind of about something but there is nothing definite or actionable. As a result, the administration is now free to “interpret” the various sections of the document as they see fit. Or they can do equally useless things like adopt Complete Streets which our development commissioner says we will not actually implement, ever. That is as good an example as any of how Noam just throws this junk out there and then issues a press release declaring “victory”. Over what or for what, I have no idea.
Now you might mean by asking “what do you think the best intentions is, of GreenNR?” is what do I think Noam says he intends GreeNR to do. There is no need to guess. Noam has already made numerous statements about what good will come of GreeNR and, as I have indicated, I do not believe him at all. I think he being disingenuous.
I believe this is about Noam currying favor with his friends in the so-called “Sustainability” movement, positioning himself to get endorsements and campaign funds from various green groups with an eye towards running for Congress as a “100% score” vote for the greens on Capitol Hill. It has nothing to do with helping New Rochelle.
I have been repeatedly stating my concerns about the result of implementing GreeNR. That the cost of owning a single-family home or a car in New Rochelle will be made unaffordable for an increasing number of people. The effect will be to drive down the value of homes, thus reduce the tax base and accelerate a downward cycle in the assessed value of property that has been going on here for over 20 years. In the end, it will bankrupt the City and many property owners.
There is no “best result”. It is useless at best and, at worst, a blank check for Noam and Chuck to start doing things out of public view.
Now you know I also have issues with ICLEI. My issue with Noam and ICLEI is that Noam has repeatedly misrepresented ICLEI to the City Council and to the public. ICLEI is not just some group of eager, thirty something planners looking to “do good” as he told the City Council on the night they voted to approve GreeNR. The woman from ICLEI who spoke to City Council misrepresented ICLEI, and flat out lied to Marianne Sussman. David Kooris misrepresented his role and his influences and his own connection to ICLEI. The fact is that ICLEI is like kudzu when it comes to “green” issues. I have yet to have anyone refute my oft-made point that ICLEI is the implementation arm of Local Agenda 21 which is Chapter 28 of Agenda 21 which is a 40 chapter, 700 page comprehensive sustainability plan created under the auspices of the United Nations and maintained by the UN Commission on Sustainable Development.
When the Mayor says, as he did last Tuesday, that New Rochelle is not associated with the United Nations that is only true in the most technical, legal sense because ICLEI USA is a registered non-profit in the United States. But ICLEI USA is part of ICLEI International which is a UN certified NGO. I have already cited information on the ICLEI web site that states this exact thing. So why does the Mayor keep saying it is not true when it so obviously is true that GreeNR is what the UN describes as a Local Agenda 21 plan for New Rochelle. It just “is” and Noam whining about it does not change this fact.
No wonder he’s so happy!
Nothing like winning The Carol Froehlich-Hull Shaklee Vitamin Award to put a smile on your face at City Hall.
Say what??
Say what??
Brian, This Would Be Funny if it Wasn’t True
Maybe I can help here. Simply stated, the questions you ask point to the inability to grasp the reality of the Greenr debacle. Politics aside, you realize (rightly so) the pitfalls of billionaire developers coming to town to serve their needs. Try to apply that same paradigm to this issue. What is happening is a huge (the multi multi billion dollar United Nations) entity is plodding along from community to community and sliding its own form of development into place. Through the use of feel good phrasing like “sustainable development” “green building” and so forth a rigged consensus of outsiders ( the majority of the mayors sustainability council are not from New Rochelle) co-opts local governments into believing they are doing the right thing by signing up with ICLEI. There is no doubt GreeNR = ICLEI = Agenda 21 = United Nations. That being said we are in agreement with the opinion of the wealth of talent in New Rochelle. Wouldn’t it seem logical that to determine what is best for NR could be decided by NR? What the mayor has done here is to feather his bed with meaningless accollades, sign on to a band wagon of catch phrases and align himself with those who would help him further his own political agenda rather than NR’s. Can you tell me why helping NR requires outside “developers” to dictate policy and guidelines to us? If we can do it from within (as I believe we can ) what is the purpose of bringing all the excess baggage of ICLEI and other to OUR table? As a comparison, have you seen the quality performance of the all volunteer school budget committee? We have the ability to shape our own destiny , why leave it to others? I believe you, Brian Sussman contribute more to New Rochelle’s health than a United Nations organization. So you tell me, why the obfuscation and manipulation by the mayor if NR is to be the focus. If you like GreeNR, fine, but don’t deny it’s connection to a new world order organization. The real insult to the American way of life comes out whenever anyone dares to even ask the most basic of question regarding how deep the involvement goes. Shameful when the constituancy is made out to be the enemy when any government body is questioned.
There is a new wave of pushback by those who are waking up to the mess they’ve found themselves in. In fact over 50 cities parted ways with their version of ICLEI propaganda in 2011.
This issue has long term consequences for the city you love, please look beyond the pretty cover page and dig deeper. That’s all anyone can ask.