The following letter was published in this week’s issue of the Gazette.
To the editor:
Anyone who has tried to pill a cat can sympathize with Mr. Masur: objectively speaking, the cat is stupid and you know what is best for the cat, but the cat still resents having something forced down its throat.
Mr. Masur is distressed (The Gazette, week of Dec. 5/11) because after the mayor and village attorney had patiently told us what is being forced down our throats, Croton residents “seemed often to ignore the information we had just been given.” Mr. Masur notes that the village attorney “clearly and explicitly explained” the process but—much like the cat—the residents of Croton resisted. They “continued to raise planning issues that were not and could not be addressed” in the current process. Mr. Masur went on to scoff at residents relying on “rumors” “mostly from the internet” “that equip us with very different versions of reality.”
“OK, we get it Mr. Masur. We are stupid and don’t appreciate that you know what is best for us.”
OK, we get it Mr. Masur. We are stupid and don’t appreciate that you know what is best for us.
Mr. Masur is demonstrably correct about one thing: Croton has a history of “very different versions of reality.” The first is presented when the Board of Trustees is voting on an issue, the second version is the truth that we find out down the road.
“Different versions of reality” are seen on a regular basis with the wildly optimistic fantasies known as “Croton budgets” on projects like Croton Point Avenue and the DPW building. It has happened deliberately with projects like the Gouveia public park with a “perpetual” endowment: the endowment was quickly spent and now another half-million dollars will be borrowed to convert the public park to an office building campus for the Recreation Dept.
“Different versions of reality” have been a feature of Croton’s steep slopes ordinance for decades: many years ago Fran Allen noted that the village passed a good steep slopes law but then granted so many individual variances that the law was useless.
More recently, the Croton powers-that-be gave us ordinary folk a different version of reality for Piney Point and Nordica Drive: complete with multiple hearings, lots of official-looking paperwork, and the much-vaunted oversight of the Board of Trustees and village staff. Residents of Piney Point and Nordica are now living with reality. Tell the people on Nordica Drive that they should believe “clear and explicit” statements and written plans of village officials.
Back when Harmon re-zoning was forced down our throats, residents were scoffed at and ignored when they raised concerns about parking, including on Young Avenue. The different version of reality came about before the first building was even completed, when the very first tenant had problems with parking and one of the first solutions considered was the very same thing which Young Avenue residents had been told would never be considered.
Mr. Masur says: “contrary to the rumors… there are no current plans or proposals to build anything new or different in either North Riverside or Municipal Place.” Does anyone believe Mr. Masur?
Among the few heavily-redacted documents released by the super-secret “North Riverside Neighborhood Zoning Working Group” (pursuant to a FOIL demand) was a set of four maps of building layouts on Municipal Place. And for months there have been periodic sightings of men in hard hats and fluorescent vests traipsing over the property.
Is there a single person in this village who honestly believes that there is not already a plan for Municipal Place? The final act to this comedy was written long ago by Ms. Gallelli and Messrs. Doyle, Kauderer, and Brumleve. The only thing we don’t know is the denouement and the production costs, and they ain’t telling us.
It is a shame, because there are valid concerns and solutions which underlie the re-zoning. There is a legitimate debate as to what (if anything) should be built on Municipal Place; I have heard some persuasive reasoning for several options. There are also sound economic and social reasons for addressing the lack of regional housing stock availability at lower price points. And it is true that going out among residents and building community consensus is less efficient than simply having 3 men in a room with Ms. Gallelli determining what Croton should look like.
Cats are a lot smarter than people give them credit for, and like cats, most people don’t like having something shoved down their throat.
Paul Steinberg