Westchester Officials Launch Campaign Against New Commercial Anchorages on Hudson River

YONKERS, NY — Officials from Westchester County riverfront communities met Monday to show solidarity against a proposal to create 10 commercial shipping anchorages on the Hudson River.

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano hosted the meeting to create the Hudson River Waterfront Alliance.

The alliance is made up communities that will be directly impacted by the Coast Guard’s proposal to create the anchorages between Yonkers in Westchester County and Kingston in Ulster County.

They include the villages of Briarcliff Manor, Buchanan, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings-on-Hudson, Irvington, Ossining; the towns of Cortlandt and Ossining and the cities of Peekskill and Yonkers.

In a release posted on the Yonkers city website, Spano said the first formal action of the alliance was to launch “Ban the Barges” social media advocacy campaign, which includes an online petition urging residents and community and business leaders to support its efforts in opposing the proposal.

Spano said Yonkers like many other communities is in a long-term effort to revitalize the waterfront.

“The shores of the Hudson River should be a place where our residents and visitors can gather to live, work and play—not become a parking lot for potentially volatile substances,” he said.

The “Ban the Barges” social media campaign is on Facebook and Twitter.

There is also a change.org petition which will be sent to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Hastings-on-Hudson Mayor Peter Swiderski said the river communities have worked hard to remediate the scars left from historic waterfront activity.

“It would be the height of folly to create what are essentially industrial parking lots that ruin views, endanger recreational boating and place the entire river shed at risk from spill and accidents. This proposal should not be implemented,” he said.

Cortlandt Town Supervisor Linda Puglisi said her community has spent millions of dolllars buying land and creating parks and docks on the riverfront.

“We do not want our vistas destroyed or our investments affeted by this ill-conceived plan,” she said.

The Coast Guard is taking written public comments on the proposed anchorages until September 7, 2016. To leave a comment click here.

To see a video of the Ban the Barges press conference, go here.

Photo credit: Michael Woyton.