Opinion: FASNY: It's A Done Deal...Finally

Subject: FASNY: It’s a Done Deal...Finally

Dear Mayor Roach and Common Council Members John Martin, John Kirkpatrick and Beth Smayda,

The nightmare is over in White Plains after almost five very long, stressful, tumultuous years. This real-life civics debacle had one collateral pleasure, that is, working with and getting to know some outstanding White Plains residents.

However, the ham-handed manner in which you conducted the French American School of New York (FASNY) review spoke volumes of what a JV team approach you took with the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process. While everything you did was for the legal record, your ‘cook book’ approach missed the essence of the SEQRA environmental review.

-Land, air, water, minerals
-Flora, fauna
-Noise
-Features of historic or
aesthetic significance
-Population patterns
-Community character

FASNY came extremely close to ruining the entire southern portion of White Plains thanks to your ‘oversight’ and lack of stewardship.

You must understand that your votes in favor of an outside developer, FASNY, instead of the people who elected you will have a very long half-life in the memory of concerned White Plains voters. We felt abandoned by you, our elected public servants. You threw us under the ‘mandatory’ FASNY school bus!

Your inexplicable actions are in contradistinction to the honest, visionary, courageous and civic-minded stances taken by your colleagues: Milagros Lecuona, Nadine Hunt-Robinson and Dennis Krolian.

It is truly frightening what would have happened without intense citizen scrutiny. It gives one pause, to think about the myriad decisions you make without such involvement.

Your votes are your legacy. Voters will remember your vote.

Thank you,

Anne M. Casey, M.D.