Thoughts While Strolling (10)

All Lit Up Like a Christmas Tree. Our evening stroll recently took us to High Street. We had heard that it offered some interesting sights—namely, the Joe Streany Campaign Headquarters. Then it occurred to us: Why not have awards for the most over-decorated campaign headquarters in the same way that they have awards for Christmas light decorations?

If they did, 9 High Street would be a strong entry. Not only is it plastered with signs proclaiming it to be Joe Streany’s Campaign Headquarters, but it’s also illuminated with floodlights so bright there’s no mistaking it for what it is. And there’s a big flagpole with a big American flag that flies day and night in contravention of the U.S. Flag Code. But we won’t give demerits for that.

So, even though it was getting dark, we whipped out our digital pocket camera and snapped a couple of views—reproduced here. What we don’t know and didn’t see anyone to ask is what was the Metro North Fire Truck doing parked in front of Joe Streany’s Campaign Headquarters?

What else we didn’t find out is what do the neighbors think of the brightly lit and decorated Joe Streany Campaign Headquarters so out of place in a quiet and residentially zoned part of Croton? It’s quite obvious that the Joe Streany Campaign Headquarters should be a strong contender in any contest.

We then strolled quickly over to Joann Minett’s residence at 5 Van Cortlandt Place to see what the Joan Minett Campaign Headquarters decorations looked like. All we could see there was a discreet Streany/Minett lawn sign so inconspicuous we didn’t even bother to take a photo.

Let’s hear a drum roll followed by a rim shot. The envelope, please. And the Campaign Headquarters Decoration Award clearly goes to the Joe Streany Campaign Headquarters entry in our own unofficial contest. Sorry, Joann. It wasn’t even close. But we award you a consolation prize for having the neatest-looking house in Croton.

P.S. It was getting too dark to try to stroll to the Gallelli (20 Briggs Lane) and Olver (5 Fox Road) houses, which are far from the center of the village and not seen by many.

Big Trouble in River City. It never occurred to us until recently that when we cataloged the various odd couples of different political persuasions in Croton what we were overlooking the oddest couple of all: Joe Streany, “Old Croton” personified, and Joann Minett, so new to Croton her Bronx accent still fairly screams “hey-oh…” Apparently others share our feelings that their pairing seemed oddly inappropriate.

What brought this starkly to mind was the purposeful mutilation of two Republican signs encountered in our strolls around Croton. In each instance, someone has carefully scissored off the lower half of the lawn sign. A sign that had boldly proclaimed the names of Streany and Minnett now only announces a family solely for Streany.

Whether this represents anti-feminine sentiment, anti-women-in-politics, anti-Bronx, anti-“New Croton” or just plain anti-anti we’ll never know. We know that we haven’t seen any Republican signs with the Streany name scissored off. To judge by the stories about him being tainted by graft, favoring the railroad over his hometown in the matter of the railroad’s pollution of the environment with abandoned railroad ties, or his violation of the civil rights of four young women, Mr. Streany has given Crotonites plenty of reasons to be wielding scissors and removing his half of the signs he shares with Mrs. Minett.

As the old saying has it, “Time wounds all heels,” and it’s only a matter of hours before the election results will disclose where Croton’s sentiments lie. May the best man and woman win.

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