The following letter was published in this week’s issue of the Gazette.
To the editor:
Members of my family have called me lazy, but I prefer to think that my “composting in place” policy is due to my being environmentally conscious. I even thought about buying a rent-a-goat franchise (they really do exist), and I am still ruminating on that opportunity. So I have no problem with banning leaf blowers in Croton. Indeed I hope that the Board of Trustees soon passes a law prohibiting raking the leaves altogether.
But I do believe that the law should apply equally to wealthy people, and that is not a view traditionally shared by the people who run Croton.
The original draft legislation (discussed in The Gazette Jan 20/26) was quite open in giving exemptions to waterfront district property and the Hudson National Golf Course, plus RA-40 and RA-60 lots. Much like JP Morgan’s quip about yachts: if you have to ask what an RA-60 home costs, you can’t afford one.
“I hate to sound like Karl Marx, but our village code should not favor any class of resident. It is an unfortunate reality that wealth correlates with political power (Residents who oppose the golf course solar farm are seeing that now). It does not have to be enshrined in statute.”
The final leaf blower legislation applies to places like Harmon, but exempts the big bucks homes (40,000 sq ft lots) regardless of location. The village also exempted itself and the school district, so La Teja can continue to belch fumes as they blow leaves from the sidewalk on to Old Post Road next to the Municipal Building. I have never understood the point of blowing leaves from the sidewalk into the public roadway, but it is a custom ingrained in Croton Municipal Building landscaping practice.
I do think that the Board of Trustees should take the next logical step. Now that rich homeowners are exempt from the leaf blower law, why not do the same thing in other areas? Vehicles with an MSRP over $50k could get exemption from parking laws, for example. So a Toyota Corolla would get ticketed for parking more than 2 hours in the Merwin Oak lot (aka “Merwyn” Oak, a Croton debate for another day), but a Porsche Cayenne would have impunity. Mercedes S-class owners would be exempt, but C-class poseurs would face the full wrath of Parking Enforcement.
I hate to sound like Karl Marx, but our village code should not favor any class of resident. It is an unfortunate reality that wealth correlates with political power (Residents who oppose the golf course solar farm are seeing that now). It does not have to be enshrined in statute.
Paul Steinberg