New York State Politics certainly is showing its ugliness these days. The Feds having made the recent bust, its only a drop in the bucket or the tip of the iceberg. Scoundrels abound trading money for influence, it is an everyday event.
The Feds could move into our area and spend the next 10 years sniffing about, it would lead from one dirty deal to the next. This is business as usual in NY State and I am betting down here in our neck of the woods also even if it only rises to unethical but not illegal. Some of it is along the margins in the gray areas of Campaign Donations for Favorite Developer Status or for the promise and delivery of IDA Pilots. Throw in under reporting of Students for a given project and under Reported Services in the name of profit for Developers and the wheel keeps going round and round.
Only a few months back Sandy Annabi and her cohort Mr. Jehris were convicted of having paid for play on the Yonkers Ridge Hill Project. In examining political campaign donations the dots connected back to the same cast of characters although according to the rules these payments to political campaigns were consider Kosher even if John Q Public gets screwed in the end.
The system is broken the system allows Political Deal Making at the expense of the Tax Payer.
Worst Case this all rises to the level of a stench that is floating in the air right above the Echo Bay Mud Flats. Last Month I heard our Mayor Noam Bramson go threw a fictitious scenario where he spoke about having a great parcel of land and then said imagine if we polluted it with PCB’s, offered to line the area with Car Dealerships, Block access to the community and have a decaying City Yard and a Run Down Armory right in the middle of it as an idea for the future development. Clearly the Mayor is correct this is what we have and its been that way for many many years.
However imagine if you had the decayed area and your concept to develop it would cost the tax payer 35 million dollars to bond the moving of the City Yard,you then give away the Armory a building you payed 1 dollar for, purposely blighted it so you could give, I repeat give the land away to a developer who has only a limited investment to turn his potential profit. Then factor in trumped up school children numbers,a large drain on City Services, all for a project that really is meager when you drill down into it. For argument sake lets say all of this is Legal in NY State at a minimum it is “Quid Pro Quo.”
The only people not getting their back scratched is the Tax Payer as we are being left holding the bag for all of this Pay to Play. Don’t get me wrong I am for cleaning up Echo Bay and opening up the water but I am also for cleaning up New Rochelle Politics as usual and opening up the one party rule we are living with. I am in fact for no party rule in Local Government.
Let me repeat in this Corrupt Political Climate the facts one more time.
A) We give the Developer Land while using Tax Payer Money to Bond the Moving of the Dept or Public Works
B) We ignore the Deed to the Armory Per NY State
C) Play with a Developer that has a checkered past with Ridge Hill Politicians and others
D) Give Generous Tax Abatement’s and PILOTS from NR IDA also controlled and manipulated by the same Political Power Broker and his Cronies to the developer
Geez just because NY State does not want to come down on their Political buddies and because the Feds are busy Frying Larger Fish does not make any of this Ethical, Morally Sound or Good for residents of New Rochelle.
I don’t think you could make any of this up and not have this require additional scrutiny.