FASNY: Know the FACTS

Dear Mayor Roach and Members of the Common Council,

We are members of ACT, the majority of White Plains residents who support the French American School of New York’s plans to build a School at the former Ridgeway Country Club site. We felt compelled to respond to the most recent diatribe of the Gedney Association’s leadership in the form of Marie and Ron Rhodes’ recent letter to you published in Patch, claiming they are the “Truth Police.”

More Hysteria and Untruths – The Rhodes letter cannot be characterized any other way than more hysterical lying, mistruths and an arrogance and xenophobia that make our City and its residents look bad. This is the same Gedney Association that fought the City for years so as not to convert the failing Ridgeway Golf Club into a municipal golf club and public pool. This is also the same group of individuals who opposed allowing White Plains residents from outside their neighborhood to have access to the public open space Conservancy offered by FASNY, or the ball-fields and facilities FASNY planned to build on its site. We in ACT are tired of this small group of exclusive Gedney Association members costing the City and taxpayers of White Plains hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and the credibility and good reputation of our City to maintain this private, abandoned golf club as their exclusive backyards.

New Reduced FASNY Plan - The Rhodes characterization of the new reduced density School plan as “sloppy” and “dangerous” is so over the top as to not deserve a response. What they fail to mention is that the FASNY’s latest School plan represents a further 33% reduction in the overall size and student enrollment than the previous plan. Hathaway Lane remains completely open; one of the supposed primary reasons the Gedney Association opposed the School. Moreover, this plan was prepared and discussed with City officials and staff at length before it was specifically So-Ordered by a Court as a Settlement to a losing and costly lawsuit precipitated by the Gedney Association, and those that followed the same ranting and ravings contained in the Rhodes current letter.

Enough is Enough! – Why would any member of the City Council or White Plains resident continue to be guided by the Gedney Association’s wild accusations and misguided legal theories when the Gedney Association is so far 0-4 concerning lawsuits they have filed or participated to stop the School.

Traffic and School Children – First, by shifting certain of the traffic of the School back to Ridgeway away from the North Street entrance, it does exactly what the Rhodes and other members of the Gedney Association seem to be advocating – i.e., avoid a conflict with High School children crossing North Street. Second, FASNY has already recorded easements to build pedestrian and bicycle paths through its property, at its sole cost, to allow school children seeking access to the High School and local schools to avoid walking along the streets that currently do not contain sidewalks. Finally, the new reduced School plan will generate 33% less traffic overall, and over 42% fewer cars along Ridgeway, than was originally proposed under the former plan. Again, all experts agree that Ridgeway can easily handle this increased traffic for less than one hour per day without any change in overall traffic conditions or character to the road or neighborhood.

Drainage – Everyone agrees that the School’s new stormwater management plans and drainage features will vastly improve the so-called “flooding conditions” in the area. There is not a single expert that disputes this. There are no meaningful drainage systems presently on the site. The so-called environmental sensitive feature that the Rhodes claim is so important is not even located on the FASNY site; it is a three foot wide, drainage ditch on the other side of Ridgeway that some City Council members felt, due to the odd language in the City Code, must be deemed an environmentally sensitive feature within 100 feet of the FASNY property line.

The Gedney Association and the Rhodes in their letter can personally attack certain Council members and anyone that supports the School, but the School will ultimately be built at the site. The reduced plan is permitted by zoning, it is part of a Court Ordered Settlement, it will be good for the cultural and economic diversity of our City, and it has gone through the most rigorous environmental and zoning reviews any other project in Westchester has ever experienced.

It is time to say no to those naysayers that would entangle the City into more losing and wasteful litigation to maintain their exclusive backyards on land they do not even own. The City Council has done a great job in mitigating the environmental impacts of the proposed reduced and smaller School, reducing it to only 28 acres of the entire 130 acre site, making sure it fits into the character of the area, and benefits not only the surrounding neighborhood, but all of the City of White Plains and many diverse residents.

The White Plains Neighbors ACT Communications Team

Frank Banister & Barbara Hamill, Macy Avenue

Elizabeth Kurth & Evan Birks, Richbell Road

Drew & Deborah Brennan, Ridgeway Circle

Wendy Busch, Greenridge Avenue

Jessica Kaplan & Mark Fowler, Hartsdale Avenue

Nicholas & Marjorie Getaz, Manor Avenue

David & Kari Kohl, Dupont Avenue

John & Julie McCormick, Ridgeway

Christina Clark & Nicolas Moulard, Prescott Avenue

Denis & Meghan O’Meara, Fairway Drive

Steven Rabinowitz & Renee Shanker, Byron Avenue

Nina Shreve and Peter M. Rumack, Hunting Ridge Road

Marc Siegel, Macy Avenue

Clarence Strowbridge, Richbell Road

Barbara Verdi, Sherman Avenue

Dave & Deb Weiner, Oxford Road

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