FASNY: Making Sense of White Plains Common Council Vote

Dear Mr. Bailey:

I believe that the issues surrounding the City’s appeal of the decision of Justice Lefkowitz’ order require clarification. While you and your colleagues stated yesterday in your broadcast that the Council “defied” the Court in deciding not to vote, this is not the case. Under New York civil practice, the filing of the appeal automatically stayed the court order. This means the order may not take effect while the appeal is pending, hence no “defiance”.

Secondly, the City has not acted with “malice”,
as Mr. Katz suggested. To the contrary, the Council followed the advice of highly competent counsel as to how to best defend the lawsuit.

Finally, there is a simple reason why the process has taken so long. The FASNY project is so flawed that it required the submission of a new plan after the City properly turned down access from Ridgeway. The second plan was even worse, leading to the White Plains School Board unanimously opposing the project. The new plan also included a extraordinary request to close a public street for the benefit of a private developer. If the process has taken so long, it is only because FASNY has submitted flawed plans.

Joseph L. DeMarzo

Hathaway Lane