A LETTER TO THE EDITOR FROM JESSICA DIECKMAN ON THE SCHOOL DISTRICT'S VERSION OF EQUITY, THE TEACHER'S AIDES, AND A SEGUE INTO AIR CONDITIONING ISSUES TOO

Welcome to The New Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools, our houses of worship--in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.

A LETTER TO THE EDITOR FROM JESSICA DIECKMAN ON THE SCHOOL DISTRICT'S VERSION OF EQUITY, THE TEACHER'S AIDES, AND A SEGUE INTO AIR CONDITIONING ISSUES TOO

To the CHUFSD BOE and Administrators,

It’s pretty unbelievable for a district that prides itself on being fair, and discusses equity seemingly non-stop, that you still haven’t given the teacher aides and cafeteria employees better salaries, summer unemployment benefits, paid lunches and health benefits. 

What message are you sending to them and the community by doing this? That they are not vital employees, not important enough while working with our children and are merely second class citizens in our schools? The salaries and benefits for our top administrators exceed a quarter of a million dollars per person. There is no reason our teacher aides and cafeteria employees should be doing the dedicated day-in and day-out work they are doing without fair pay and benefits. I know some of these people personally and I can honestly say the pay they are given is on the scale of a McDonalds employee. How embarrassing!

I see we are spending tons of money on a turf field and making classrooms into learning spaces that look like they are out of an Ikea catalog. How about we prioritize taking better care of the people who see and work with our kids every day? They make a huge difference in the lives of the students and deserve to be treated fairly. Do they not? That’s not too much to ask in my estimation. I look forward to seeing some changes on this soon, changes that benefit the teachers aides.

 As a side note, why is there still no air conditioning in the Kindergarten wing at CET and in many of our other classrooms throughout the district, as well as our kitchens in the schools?       The Kindergarten wing and food preparation areas were literally ovens the last few weeks of the school year. Temperatures were easily above 100 degrees. This has been going on since well before 2020. Time to fix this, because these spaces are not safe places for learning or working in.

Jessica Dieckman

US APPEALS COURT BLOCKS ALL OF BIDEN STUDENT DEBT RELIEF PLAN

 A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked President Joe Biden's administration from continuing to implement a new student debt relief plan designed to lower monthly payments for millions of Americans.  The St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a request by seven Republican-led states to put on hold parts of the U.S. Department of Education's debt relief plan that had not already been blocked by a lower-court judge.  MORE AT US Appeals Court Blocks All of Biden Student Debt Relief Plan | Newsmax.com

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE CROTON BOARD FROM DANIEL BENNETT REGARDING 1 HALF MOON BAY & RELATED ISSUES

Welcome to The New Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools, our houses of worship--in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.

THE FOLLOWING LETTER IS PRINTED HERE WITH PERMISSION---AN OPEN LETTER TO THE CROTON BAORD FROM DANIEL BENNETT REGARDING 1 HALF MOON BAY & RELATED ISSUES

Dear Mayor Pugh, Board of Trustees, and Planning Board,

I am writing you to request that you not move forward with allowing any new multiple-unit building in the Village.

Adding approximately 1,000 apartments (in total, spread out over 4 sites) is overdevelopment and will eventually tax the resources of the Police, Fire, and EMS Departments. In addition, despite the analytics that each developer uses (which all seem to be variations of the same theme and not fully forward-looking), there will be an adverse effect on the schools at some point in the future. (Regarding the latter point, I submitted a FOIL request to the School District, so in the coming days, I will find out exactly how much you have really known and discussed regarding development and its impact on the schools.)

I find it troubling that time and again, you disregard the will and feeling of the majority of the Village citizens. In February of 2020, roughly 2/3 of the Village was against selling the Katz property for development and rezoning the old hardware store property. At a public hearing, countless people spoke out against it and asked that you not go through with your plans. And what did you do? You overrode the overwhelming majority of the citizens did what you wanted to do anyway. And now look at what we have. At one site, we cut down God knows how many trees to make way for two shoddily constructed buildings that look nothing like the initial artist's rendering used to "sell" this garbage to us, and at the other, the hill has been cut back so drastically that we're just about one significant rainstorm away from watching lower Van Wyck Street wash into the highway below. Then, not even three months ago, another significant number of residents came to yet another public hearing to speak out against selling and developing Lot A. And again, what did you do? Yet again, you overrode the overwhelming majority of the Village to do what you wanted to do. Where does it end?

There is no "housing crisis" in the Village of Croton. What is here, however, is clear-cut evidence of someone's political aspirations for higher office driving certain decisions on the topic of housing. My property value and overall quality of life shouldn't be negatively impacted because someone wants to toe the party line about a "housing crisis" in order to reap a political reward that may have been promised. To be blunt, I can see the game you're playing from a mile away, and the majority of the Village does, too.

Between all of these buildings, and whatever may come of the cannabis dispensary by Shop Rite, Croton is at significant risk of losing its suburban charm. Now that might be the overall intent of some of the people making the decisions, but I can say that the majority of Crotonites do not want that at all, as we are all here for a reason. For sure, if I wanted to live in the Bronx, I would have stayed there.

Just stop the madness.

Thank you.

Daniel Bennett

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FOR THOSE LOOKING FOR THE PETITION OPPOSING ALL THIS: 

This petition has been posted opposing Croton's Ubranization. To sign it, go to Petition · Stop Croton's Urbanization Now! - Croton-on-Hudson, United States · Change.org

MORE HOUSING FOR CROTON--DEVELOPERS PROPOSE ZONING CHANGES--RIVER JOURNAL

Welcome to The New Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools, our houses of worship--in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.

Developers Propose Zoning Changes to Bring New Housing to Croton-On-Hudson--User Submitted — July 18, 2024
 
1 HMB Property Owner, LLC, a partnership between Monday Properties, KPR Centers and Nexjen Real Estate, has filed a petition for amendments to the zoning code to allow for a transit-oriented residential development at 1 Half Moon Bay Drive in the Village of Croton-on-Hudson (the Village). The 5.66-acre 1 Half Moon Bay Drive site sits between Route 9A and the Metro North and Amtrak train lines approximately one mile from the Croton-Harmon train station. It is currently occupied by an approximately 120,000-square-foot industrial warehouse and distribution center. MORE AT Developers Propose Zoning Changes to Bring New Housing to Croton-On-Hudson – River Journal Online – News for Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, Irvington, Ossining, Briarcliff Manor, Croton-on-Hudson, Cortlandt and Peekskill

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FOR THOSE LOOKING FOR THE PETITION OPPOSING ALL THIS: 

This petition has been posted opposing Croton's Ubranization. To sign it, go to Petition · Stop Croton's Urbanization Now! - Croton-on-Hudson, United States · Change.org

PEEKSKILL...AGAIN...MAIN STREET GUNFIRE

PEEKSKILL, NY — Just hours after Fourth of July fireworks ended, gunfire broke out on Main Street in Peekskill.  Police and the FBI Safe Streets Task Force have arrested a suspect in connection to the incident. MORE AT Main Street Gunfire Over Disagreement Leads To Federal Charges | Peekskill, NY Patch

BREAKING NEWS --MICROSOFT USERS REPORTING GLOBAL INTERNET OUTAGE

Widespread technology outage disrupts flights, banks, media outlets and companies around the world--In the U.S., the FAA said the airlines United, American, Delta and Allegiant had all been grounded.  Jul 19, 2024, 4:51 AM--ASSOCIATED PRESS--Updated 6 min ago---MORE AT Widespread technology outage disrupts flights, banks, media outlets and companies around the world (news12.com)

and from THE DAILY VOICE Mass Global Tech Outage Grounds Flights, Causes Chaos With Banks, Stock Markets, Media | Cortlandt Daily Voice

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT----STOP CROTON'S URBANIZATION NOW!!! A PETITION HAS BEEN POSTED BY CROTON CITIZENS

As many of you know, the village board is "considering" a number of massive housing projects for Croton.  (We are now part of the governor's PRO-HOUSING initiative.) 

This petition has been posted opposing Croton's Ubranization. To sign it, go to Petition · Stop Croton's Urbanization Now! - Croton-on-Hudson, United States · Change.org

CORTLANDT CELEBRATES A NEW STAGE IN ITS CULTURAL LIFE, THE RIVER JOURNAL

Welcome to The New Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools, our houses of worship--in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.

Cortlandt Celebrates a New Stage in its Cultural Life---The Town of Cortlandt kicked off summer with a grand opening celebration for its new Waterfront Performance Stage. Musical entertainment was provided by The Fast Lane, with a lawn-full of residents singing along and moving to the beat on a beautiful June evening at Cortlandt Waterfront Park, 77 Riverview Avenue, Verplanck. MORE AT Cortlandt Celebrates a New Stage in its Cultural Life – River Journal Online – News for Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, Irvington, Ossining, Briarcliff Manor, Croton-on-Hudson, Cortlandt and Peekskill