The following letter was published in this week’s issue of the Gazette.
To the editor:
The entrance to our Croton train station now has 22 traffic lights. That is more than the entrance to Grand Central Station, and when those 22 lights are activated it will be a spectacular show at night, drawing visitors from far and wide. Synchronized lights were one of three components of this four million dollar project. The other two were the bike lane and the sidewalk on the south side of the street.
Croton taxpayers may feel that we spent too much money on this project. I disagree, and I think we should spend a bit more.
For many decades, the sidewalk on the north side of Croton Point Avenue has accommodated the handful of commuters who walk to the train station. That sidewalk was fine for that use, since pedestrians could take a leisurely stroll up to Harmon on an empty or nearly empty sidewalk.
Lack of a sidewalk on the south side meant that tourists arriving at the train station and walking to the ShopRite would have to cross the street, walk on the north sidewalk, and then cross the street again. After a long trip up from Manhattan or the Bronx, visitors to the Croton shopping mall were deterred by having to cross the street and walk on the existing sidewalk. That problem is now solved, at no small expense to taxpayers.
“Naysayers will balk at throwing more money down this four million dollar hole. But fiscal prudence is not the Croton way. It took political vision, leadership, and lots of tax free bonds to create that four block stretch of paradise known as Croton Point Avenue. We cannot stop now. Spending millions of dollars has finally gotten us the “Croton Gateway” showplace our politicians long promised us. Beam with pride when you pay your tax bill, knowing that Croton politicians may take the credit but it is you paying off those bonds for decades to come.”
People living in Manhattan have supermarkets, of course. They also have health clubs and wine stores. But do they have them all in the same strip mall? No. And it was in part to attract those visitors that we paid four million dollars to put in a sidewalk on the south side of the street.
Unfortunately, our Croton news does not seem to have percolated down to Manhattan: I have yet to see a single person using our new south sidewalk. The solution is simple. As any Hollywood mogul can tell you, them blockbusters don’t pull traffic by themselves. You gotta do publicity.
NYC has announced that it will be spending $30 million dollars on a tourism campaign. Even our spendthrift Croton trustees won’t go for that much, but budgeting 10 percent of the CPA production cost for marketing would give us $400,000 or thereabouts to spend. NYC already has “I Love NY” so we have to come up with a different slogan to draw shoppers.
My suggestion: “Toilet paper, wine, and treadmills…. Take a MetroNorth day trip to the Croton shopping center.” The MTA already advertises day trip packages to Playland, DIA Beacon, and so forth. We could add Croton ShopRite to the brochure. That empty sidewalk will be filled with eager shoppers in no time.
The empty bike lane is a bit more difficult. People in Manhattan have Central Park and that seems popular. So we have to come up with an attraction that Central Park lacks. My suggestion is “Take MetroNorth to Croton and ride your bike to the top of a hill to see a real working gas station and podiatrist office!” Maybe Historic Hudson Valley is willing to do a combo ticket.
Naysayers will balk at throwing more money down this four million dollar hole. But fiscal prudence is not the Croton way. It took political vision, leadership, and lots of tax free bonds to create that four block stretch of paradise known as Croton Point Avenue. We cannot stop now.
Spending millions of dollars has finally gotten us the “Croton Gateway” showplace our politicians long promised us. Beam with pride when you pay your tax bill, knowing that Croton politicians may take the credit but it is you paying off those bonds for decades to come.
Now we need to show that Croton taxpayer pride to the folks in Manhattan and the west Bronx. Invite them to see our magnificent train station traffic lights and dine at our restaurants—Italian and Chinese in the same shopping center (you don’t see that in Manhattan!).
After four million dollars, a few more bucks is nothing. Besides… if we don’t spend the money on tourist marketing, our Croton Board of Trustees will just spend it on another Harmon zoning study.
Paul Steinberg