In his website, Mayor Bramson says the following about the Armory: “The Armory has been a subject of intense debate, with some in the community committed to its preservation and others entirely indifferent to its fate. Earlier iterations of the Echo Bay plan assumed demolition of the Armory — the current plan would preserve it. Personally, I assign the highest priority to a clean, vibrant and publicly-accessible waterfront, but if adaptive reuse of the Armory can be accomplished within this context, then it would be a major plus, so I hope that the RFP bears fruit.” Note the bit about his “highest priority”. It is not the preservation of the armory. It is the development of a “clean, vibrant and publicly accessible waterfront”. Does “clean” mean demolished? Do you sense that the Mayor is not enamored with the Armory on this Memorial Day?
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John, You Have Seen Through the Glass Darkly.
How correct you are John my honest friend with your lantern sttill lit bright to locate at least the shadow of a honest man.
On this day over all, when the souls of dearly department men and women reappear in hearts and minds, yes on this day when the advantaged of 10804 and the lesser so, of 10805 share common bitter bread of remembrance of dear souls, can we not expect our mayor to put aside his mispplied robes of office and simply don those of ceremony? The Charter states so….
And, should he do just this he would pause I think and say quiely…. I AM WRONG. My words are hollow, they speak for those who have not given me proxy to speak, they withold words from those who need assurance. They are false, bitter fruit.
Our departed cry out from a better place. Their voices echo loudly throughout Echo Bay. This is a snare and a delusion, a web you spin.. Noam, surrender to the truth and liberate the self. You have to free the inner tuth before you can harness the clear headed beast and move it forward. Its path has been determined; all you need to do is to divest of missatement, false hopes, and unlock that prison you have build for yourself and others in Fortress 515 North.
People who look like our forefathers still walk our streets; some black, others brown or yellow, many white. There are Jews, Christians, Muslim, Agnostics, Atheists….. what does it matter — at the core the best of the best know of this day as did Shakewpeare when thinking of Henry or the poet of Flanders Field.
This day is one of accountability. The Community has always owned the Armory; sanctified in memory and awaiting the hopes and dreams of all service men and women who enter new and often harmful places. They hope to hear the laughter of children, the bonding of seniors in their latter days, the drama of theatre, the expressions of culture; more. People like Ron Tocci and John D’Alois, supported by many others of equal worth, have defined, described and will deliver it to the City. Bear that in mind.
Lose, the glitter for the solid substance underneath of true public service. You are misleading, misinforming, hiding, excluding, obsfuscating, and denying better men and women than either you or I the chance to build.
And build we must. Be honest in your words and ways. Look and see what Echo Bay really is and is not. See the DPW yards for where it is, where it should be, and must important, where it should not be. Release the forces who want to restore and rebuild and stop making our neighborhhood subject to the equivalent of the Siege of Troy.
There is no hope for a faux wooden horse to save the ill-acheived legacy of service. You are what you are; formalistically by Charter, perceptually by what you say and do. Those who cleave to you in your worst moments of denial or misdirection will achieve no political or personal gain.
The gain is only to come to all of us through how it began when we first collected into groups within a comuninity. Once we are one, there will be no need for all of the nonsense that have assailed the spirit of “New Rochelle’s Agincourt.”
You will be seen as a savior if you reassess andd rebuild your sense of legacy. If not, people will remember you unkindly as the builder of a boardwalk hovering near a water cleansing tower.
Listen to the gentle voices such as Ivar Hyden who have it right.
The Incomparable Waterfront
Can Used or Martin, anyone, anywhere tell me what this imcomparable waterfront will look like especially given the scaled down MOU for Echo Bay? I am stunned by the blinders or blinkers pulled over the mayor’s eyes on this one. Normally I am not nearly so harsh, but it seems to me to be very little more than a walkway which is very nice and if it links other legitimate space; perhaps Hudson Park, or Five Island Park, etc. swell. But in and of itself?
Making a sweeping view of our waterfront is fine; just make it make sense and not a series of elegaic pronouncements that do not rise above the level of Sophistry. There is a myth in the Old Testament where Jacob wrestled with an Archanger to get his blessing. Is Noam trying to wrestle with the community to win its support? It is simple, be straight, open, above board, and try plainspeak, not sophisry. It is an illusion to speak about the waterfront as such; worse yet, to hear of it on Memorial Day when the truespeak ought to be the Armory.
Just musing for a moment; suppose that Forest City/Ratner did design and build per plan. Would the residential buyer have anything like private space or would we put out ropes and balloons and perhaps a raft near the under construction water tower.
Am I wrong on this? If so, I need to apologize. But the topic of bringing our City forward and self-sustaining cannot happen without open, honest, dialogue with the community not some illusion that the “majority of our residents support waterfront development.” Maybe, but show me the numbers and how derived.
I respect Noam’s intelligence, have and might support him again, but, too many situations of what Nietzsche would lover “Amor Fati” — or a love of one’s fate, good or bad. Bad outlook for the 21st century and we see too, too much of it and it thrives in dark rooms and unenlightened council members and unhappy community members. It must end now.
Am I wrong?
Mayor’s Vision
Warren you are not wrong. It is the mayor’s vision not the community’s vision. Only when we have a town hall meeting with any and all citizens who are interested in New Rochelle will we have a clear picture. Our mayor refuses to have such a meeting. He think too many people want him to fail and that is his blind spot. When he realizes there are many who want New Rochelle to succeed then and only then can we move forward. To me, the rebirth of New Rochelle is more important than his political career.
“Highest Priority ” is Political Survival – Nothing More
As usual Warren, you see things clearly with a commendable tempering of outrage. Myself, I am constantly infuriated by the mayors campaign of what the communist regime called “dezinformatsia” or disinformation. For years the party line has been to “inform” people that the Armory has “no appreciable value” and “is beyond any repair” . In fact, the mayor has stated on his radio show (I’ll paraphrase) we have taken a long hard look at the Armory and unfortunately it just doesn’t make sense.
Well, after trying to find just where the report supporting these types of comments are stored, we find there has been NO study performed by the city , in the city’s interest, other than the Forest City report that labeled the Armory as being a “missing tooth in a smile”. Granted, this past September, a report was finally done suggesting the Armory could be utilized with an expectation of success. 10 years late and in direct disagreement with the decade long party line of “the Armory must go”. There is hope now that the mayor has been upstaged by a brighter council who see the potential and have expressed interest. THose who see a bigger picture than one persons political survival. The downside is Forest City’s meager plan to manipulate the contract. Imagine this, 250 studio and 1 bedroom units. Who will rent alongside a sewage treatment plant? College kids? Monroe College kids? College kids in a school just starting a new football curriculum who can walk to the new city field and back to their dorms? When house sales are down rentals are up, but what family rents studio and 1 bedroom?
Bottom line is the mayor , by exhibiting leadership could have had a stunning facility that would be the envy of surrounding communities, with waterfront access and a “clean, vibrant , public supported/ public serving property ten years ago had he not let hubris stand in the way of improving New Rochelle. Hundreds of supporters would have come forward to make it happen if he hadn’t chosen to draw a line in the stand dictated by political bickering. Downtown would vastly benefit by bringing new customers to a destination spot. Now he attempts to ride the vision others have posted for years with non committal comment hedging his stance so he could fall down on either side and sound like he took the right stand. The Armory SHOULD drive Echo Bay and development in the east end. not housing. Not Dormitories. Anything else is a disservice to New Rochelle and it’s residents.
Flush Forest City and use the Armory. It’s YOUR Armory, not the mayors to give away.
Let’s parse that, shall we, as we did in grammar school?
“Personally, I assign the highest priority to a clean, vibrant and publicly-accessible waterfront, but if adaptive reuse of the Armory can be accomplished within this context, then it would be a major plus, so I hope that the RFP bears fruit.”
“Personally, I assign the highest priority” = means nothing, he is an Idoni clone AND a seasoned politician, and you know what that means. Doublespeak.
“to a clean, vibrant and publicly-accessible waterfront” = means it’s never gonna happen. He will dupe the naive New Rochellians, but those with a brain know there’s more here than meets the eye.
“but” = AH HA, here’s the more than meets the eye!
“if adaptive reuse of the Armory can be accomplished within this context” = what does that mean, in English? I can’t make heads or tails of this doublespeak. Adaptive reuse? Explain, Noamie.
“then it would be a major plus” = a plus for Noamie, not the New Rochellians with a brain.
“so I hope that the RFP bears fruit.” = really, you mean the outcome of the RFP is a mystery to you? It’s a fair RFP? Um, okay.