Croton Blog: It's the Brown People, Stupid
Recent musings from Bruce Apar’s forum on proposed zoning changes for the Harmon section of Croton:
Croton23: “The best part is…If we do start with this project, we will look more like Ossining or Peekskill- Is that what we are reaching for?”
karenmc55: “A Croton for Croton with no shame or guilt.”
Croton12: “Let’s face it. With a radical leftist single party Village Board, much like the government in Washington, the dreams of making Croton into another Yonkers, Ossining or Peekskill will come true. Greedy property owners see the gold mine in ‘affordable housing’ and staunch activists see an increased power base. Unless there is a successful legal challenge to the ruination of the Village before the majority on the board can be changed, its just time to move.”
jennifer: “The crime was more insidious. It started out as minor annoying quality of life issues: a domestic dispute here, too many bored adolescent boys hanging out there, noise and broken beer bottles. Then it escalated into burglaries and shoplifting. The small—by city standards—grammar school required a major expansion. A towering hulk of a concrete monstrosity to accommodate a surge in students became necessary.”
sensible1: “The residents, taxpayers and people with kids in the Croton schools are mad as hell and are not going to sit idle on this one either!”
wileyp86: “I want to thank you all so much for the very good info being provided. We are new in town, arrived not in time to be able to vote, but had we known this was going on, we might have thought twice. We are nons, came here for the schools, and are appalled that this is being considered here. We came here because it is a village not for the crowds, and for the schools. We are very disappointed and annoyed and you will be hearing from us if this is done.”
commonsense: With more students, and housing, comes the need for more of everything, more teachers, more room, more desks, books, labs, fields, more police, more garbage trucks, more more more more. Why on earth would we encourage that with a zoning change?
Paula Pradines: “Crotonites need to be critical thinkers and not emotional sponges when it comes to affordable housing. We all moved here to live our American Dream. This dream for many has already ended as more and more Croton seniors and lower and middle income families are taxed out of their homes. You know why your neighbors have left. Just ask the hundreds of thousands of Long Islanders who leave each year because their charming villages and lovely vistas were replaced with a kind of extended Brooklyn and Queens full of dense housing and unsustainable school and property taxes.”
Reader’s note: More racist ramblings from the North County News are available here: http://www.ncnlocal.com/bb/viewforum.php?f=1
Comments:
Jul 9, 2009 04:37 PM:Now … you really want to be sick? Take a look at the sick website named npcCroton.org (Non-partisan Croton Citizens) - A whole lot of wrong information there for anyone to challenge.
These are nasty people hell bent on stopping the Harmon project from going forward.
-- Georgianna GrantJun 29, 2009 06:03 PM:
Isn’t it interesting that Ex Trustee and County Legislator candidate (representing Ossining) Susan Konig is the one who first labeled the Harmon zoning changes a “housing plan”, kicking off this sick and bigoted opposition movement.
Thank God we are rid of her and Schmidt!
-- Sick of KonigJun 29, 2009 02:34 PM:
@RedHill, I agree, S. Riverside Ave. is in serious need of a make-over. The proposed re-zoning is a great step towards achieving this. In my opinion, the re-zoning should cover all of Croton Point Ave. and all of S. Riverside from Van Cortlandt Manor to the top of the hill by the Duck Pond.
The racist attitudes of the opponents of this plan are absurd and their arguments are without merit. Their racist fear-mongering doesn’t even have any basis in reality if you spend any effort to crunch some numbers.
Seeing as far as I know, there aren’t even any actual plans up for review yet, one can’t even say whether the upper floors of these structures will be entirely apartments or whether some might be small offices or studios.
The empty and under utilized lots on S. Riverside should be replaced with 3 story mixed use buildings similar to the existing one that has the laundromat. The buildings should be set back at least 12 if not 15 feet from the curb to allow for sidewalk cafes and outdoor dining. The first floor storefronts should be marketed toward restaurants, relaxed bars like Forty-Four or specialty shops. There’s more parking on S. Riverside than there is in the upper village, as well (though I think that shifting the fence of Vasallo Park to gain a few more parking spaces wouldn’t be a bad idea). Other towns have similar mixed-use retail districts, and they are a positive addition to their character. If you’re worried about looks, consider implementing a “Business Improvement District” which could coordinate the area.
In addition, mixed-use development is a more sustainable development than free standing houses and big-box stores. When residents don’t have to drive to buy things or get to work, the whole community benefits.
And in direct response to a few of the NCN commenters: @Croton23: Oh No, hardworking brown immigrants might move in to our town and add to our cultural diversity, the world is ending! /sarcasm
@Croton12: The local Croton Democrats are not a radical party. I should know, I’m a radical and I don’t vote Democrat. They’re not threatening to expropriate businesses and turn them over to be run by democratic councils of their workers anytime soon.
@Commonsense: There are no concrete development plans, so there aren’t necessarily going to be that many more students. Besides, the school district already OVER built for any expansion, so that’s not really a worry. In 12 years when the current baby boom passes, people will be decrying the amount of extra under utilized space in the schools, just like they did in the 1980’s and early 90’s in Croton. All we’re really talking about is the addition of like 100 residents at most, a significant portion of whom would be working adults (you couldn’t afford to live here otherwise, even with affordable housing credits). The buildings on S. Riverside CURRENTLY have municipal services, so where is the increase. This plan is about more efficient utilization of these existing lots, not carving new lots out of the river, wetlands or woods.
-- CHHSGraduateJun 29, 2009 11:57 AM:
This is just depressing. The village looks like a dump when you come in from the south on Riverside which is surely affecting our property values in a negative way. The upper village is depressed and sad. And now these folks want to kill the best thing thats happened to the village in a while, the farmers market. Maybe Croton 12 is right, time to move.
-- Red Hill Resident.......... This article was published on June 28, 2009. The Permalink for this article is http://www.crotonblog.com/archives/2009/06/28/editorial/its_the_brown_people_stupid/. Look for other articles like this on the Crotonblog website, www.crotonblog.com.