JOEL GINGOLD'S REMARKS TO THE VILLAGE BOARD 7/24/24, REGARDING THEIR APPROVAL OF THE 1 HALF MOON BAY HOUSING

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JOEL GINGOLD'S REMARKS TO THE VILLAGE BOARD 7/24/24, REGARDING THEIR APPROVAL OF THE 1 HALF MOON BAY HOUSING 

GOOD EVENING - JOEL GINGOLD, 55 NORDICA DRIVE

THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT TONIGHT

I HAVE PREVIOUSLY SUBMITTED WRITTEN COMMENTS TO THE BOARD, AND WILL ONLY ATTEMPT TO SUMMARIZE THEM HERE

I HAVE LIVED IN CROTON SINCE 1943, BUT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN THOSE 80+ YEARS THAT I FEAR FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR COMMUNITY AND THE CHARACTER OF OUR VILLAGE

THIS BOARD HAS APPROVED, OR IS CONSIDERING, OVER 450 NEW DWELLING UNITS OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS – THIS COULD MEAN 500 OR 1,000 OR MORE NEW RESIDENTS IN OUR VILLAGE, PLUS SEVERAL HUNDRED ADDITIONAL VEHICLES

TO COMPOUND THE PROBLEM, THE BOARD REFUSES TO LISTEN TO THE VOICES OF ITS CONSTITUENTS OR WORSE, QUESTIONS THEIR MOTIVES 

IF, BY MY COMMENTS, YOU CHOOSE TO LABEL ME RACIST, OR CLASSIST, OR NIMBYIST OR ANY OTHER “IST,”, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO DO SO, BUT MY CONCERNS ARE TOTALLY FOCUSED ON THE WELL-BEING OF THE VILLAGE IN WHICH I HAVE DWELT, AND TO WHICH I HAVE CONTRIBUTED, SINCE LONG BEFORE ANY OF YOU WERE BORN

THERE ARE 5 MAJOR HOUSING PROJECTS APPROVED OR UNDER CONSIDERATION AND NUMEROUS SMALLER ONES, INCLUDING ACCESSORY APARTMENTS

WHILE THE IMPACT OF EACH INDIVIDUAL PROJECT ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN CROTON MAY BE NEGLIGIBLE, TAKEN AS A WHOLE, RED FLAGS FLY UP IN A VARIETY OF AREAS

YET, TO MY KNOWLEDGE, THERE HAVE BEEN NO SERIOUS DISCUSSIONS AS TO HOW WE ARE TO ABSORB THIS TOTAL ONSLAUGHT AND HOW WE ARE TO INTEGRATE ALL OF THESE FOLKS INTO OUR COMMUNITY. 

THE REAL QUESTION IS THAT WE DO NOT KNOW IF ALL OF THIS MASSIVE DEVELOPMENT WILL ALTER THE NATURE OF OUR COMMUNITY. BE IT VILLAGE SERVICES, PARKING, TRAFFIC, PARKS, RECREATION, SCHOOL POPULATION, ETC. 

IS IT NOT LOGICAL THEN TO PHASE THEM IN SLOWLY OVER A PERIOD OF YEARS AND SEE FIRST-HAND WHAT, IF ANY, IMPACT EACH OF THEM MAY HAVE ON THE QUALITY OF OUR LIVES BEFORE AUTHORIZING THE NEXT ONE?

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE LISTEN TO US!   SLOW DOWN THIS PROCESS!

THE 1HMB PROJECT IS A CASE IN POINT

THEY HAVE ASKED FOR CHANGES IN ZONING REGULATIONS AND HAVE COMPLETELY TRASHED THE VILLAGE’S CONCEPT OF TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT. IF THIS IS TRULY A TOD PROJECT, WHY IS IT NECESSARY TO HAVE A MOTORIZED SHUTTLE TO THE STATION?

AS THE VILLAGE MANAGER SO COGENTLY POINTED OUT, BECAUSE OF THESE REQUESTED CHANGES, YOU HAVE NO OBLIGATION TO EVEN CONSIDER THE PROJECT – RIGHT HERE, TONIGHT, YOU CAN JUST SAY NO!

AND WE ALL KNOW THAT THE REAL REASON THEY ARE PROPOSING 280 APARTMENTS, RATHER THAN RE-RENTING THE WAREHOUSE, IS THAT THEY WILL MAKE A LOT MORE MONEY THAT WAY, IF ONLY YOU WILL BOW TO THEIR DEMANDS

WE ARE MEETING IN A ROOM DEDICATED TO GEORGIANA GRANT. I KNEW GEORGIANA WHEN SHE WAS ON THE BOARD AND, WHILE I MAY NOT HAVE AGREED WITH HER 100% OF THE TIME, I KNEW THAT GEORGIANA TRULY CARED ABOUT HER CONSTITUENTS AND ABOUT OUR VILLAGE. I FIND THAT SUCH EMPATHY HAS BEEN ABSENT SINCE SHE STEPPED DOWN

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LISTEN TO YOUR CONSTITUENTS! THESE ARE NOT IDLE COMPLAINTS, BUT HEART-FELT PLEAS TO MAINTAIN THE CHARACTER OF OUR VILLAGE.    DESPITE THE OFFICES YOU HOLD, YOU DO NOT NECESSARILY HAVE ALL OF THE ANSWERS. THE COLLECTIVE VOICE OF CROTON SAYS: “SLOW DOWN!” AND MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, THAT COLLECTIVE VOICE MAY BE CORRECT. 

DELAY ALL PROJECTS THAT ARE NOT ALREADY FINALLY APPROVED. DO NOT TAKE ANY ACTIONS NOW THAT WE MAY ALL REGRET IN THE YEARS AHEAD.

DO NOT TARNISH THE MEMORY OF GEORGIANA GRANT

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

*************

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THE CROTON CHRONICLE, EDITORIAL: IS IT TIME FOR NANCE SHATZKIN TO STEP DOWN AS CROTON'S "HOUSING CZAR?"

Chronicle editorial: Is it time for Nance Shatzkin to step down as Croton's "Housing Czar?"

MICHAEL BALTER

During public comments to the Board of Trustees, our leading housing advocate lost her cool before a heckling crowd and gave her critics a middle finger on departure.

Last night, despite the objections of a crowd of at least 80 villagers, Croton’s Board of Trustees voted to begin the rezoning process that could lead to a 280 unit apartment complex rising at 1 Half Moon Bay Drive. For the first time in quite a while, the vote was not unanimous: Trustee Nora Nicholson, who shortly before the tally asked the developers to withdraw their application for a year, voted “nay.”

Everyone who showed up at the meeting spoke against the development, except for one person: Nance Shatzkin, president of the Croton Housing Network. Shatzkin, consistent with her decades of pro-housing advocacy, made some forceful arguments for building more housing in Croton. It takes courage to get up in front of a large crowd that disagrees with most everything one is saying, and Shatzkin is certainly no shrinking violet.

But as the crowd heckled her and yelled insults, Shatzkin lost her cool. In the course of less than five minutes, she accused opponents of the development of “NIMBYism,” told them they were “lying to themselves,” declared that this issue “brought out the worst in people,” and, as she was departing and the crowd continued to heckle, flipped her middle finger at the multitudes present.

We want to make our view clear that the heckling and insults from the audience were completely out of line. Shatzkin had the right to speak, and she should have been allowed to do so without interruption. We heard one lady yell out, “You’re a socialist!” which was a red-baiting insult to the millions of Americans who also consider themselves socialists, including some members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Nevertheless, Shatzkin knew that she was going before a hostile crowd, and she should have been prepared for the response. The fact that she was not able to do that speaks poorly of her current abilities to act as a housing advocate with a quasi-official role in village housing matters.

If Shatzkin were just a private citizen expressing her opinions, it might not matter. But she has been highly influential on housing policy and development in Croton. She, along with other members of the Croton Housing Network, serve on the village’s Housing Task Force, which has played a critical role in advising the Board of Trustees on its decisions about proposed housing projects.

Indeed, as president of both the Croton Housing Network and 41-51 Maple HDFC, which is the owner of record of Maple Commons (both the CHN and the HDFC are on local tax rolls as co-owners of that development), Shatzkin has been intimately involved in the flow of monies between the state, the county, the village, and the equity owner of the project, Regan Development Corporation. In a certain sense, on paper at least, Nance Shatzkin is the functional owner of Maple Commons.  MORE AT (9) Chronicle editorial: Is it time for Nance Shatzkin to step down as Croton's "Housing Czar?" (substack.com)

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THE CROTON CHRONICLE--CROTON BOARD OF TRUSTEES VOTE TO BEGIN ZONING APPROVAL PROCESS FOR A PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AT 1 HALF MOON BAY DRIVE

MICHAEL BALTER

Croton Board of Trustees votes to begin zoning change approval process for a proposed development at 1 Half Moon Bay Drive. Trustee Nora Nicholson votes no.

At least 80 villagers showed up to oppose a 280 apartment development at the "Finkelstein" tire site. After more than two hours of public comment, the Board voted to formally consider the project.

As we reported earlier today, the Board of Trustees meeting agenda for this evening included a request by the consortium that now owns 1 Half Moon Bay Drive, the so-called “Finkelstein property,” to change its zoning from light industrial to a designation that would allow construction of a 280 unit multifamily apartment complex. The bitter debate which has attended this and other housing projects in the village was in full evidence at the meeting, where at least 80 residents at any given time—and possibly as many as 100 counting comings and goings—showed up to oppose the project.

The only Crotonite who spoke in favor of the project was Croton Housing Network president Nance Shatzkin, who ended up giving the “finger” to the crowd when she was roundly booed by the angry and animated attendees.

The resolution the Board was considering read as follows:

More at Croton Board of Trustees votes to begin zoning change approval process for a proposed development at 1 Half Moon Bay Drive. Trustee Nora Nicholson votes no. (substack.com)

and 

THE NEW EVERYTHING CROTON: THE CROTON CHRONICLE, EDITORIAL: IS IT TIME FOR NANCE SHATZKIN TO STEP DOWN AS CROTON'S "HOUSING CZAR?"