FASNY Proposal Defeated by White Plains Council

The French-American School of New York’s long-in-development plan to build a $60 million campus on the site of the former Ridgeway Country Club in White Plains was defeated Wednesday night by the City Council.

In the end, the school needed five votes to move forward with the plan, which included closing part of nearby Hathaway Lane, but could only muster four votes. And the school is promising to sue the city to gain approval.

“We’re hopeful that in the end, the court will see that this plan is well thought through and that we’ll be able to move forward with it and become part of the White Plains community,” FASNY spokesperson Geoffrey Thompson told The Journal News.

The proposal, which has been altered over recent years, has drawn both criticism and praise from residents, officials and business leaders in the community. FASNY’s plan is to consolidate its other Westchester schools into one campus at the site, and keep a large portion as open space.

Wednesday night’s meeting was heavily attended, and opponents told Fios1News that despite FASNY’s alterations, the proposal was going to have an adverse result for the surrounding community.

Voting in favor of the plan were White Plains Mayor Thomas Roach, Council President John Martin and council members John Kirkpatrick and Beth Smayda. Voting against it were council members Nadine Hunt-Robinson, Dennis Krolian and Milagros Lecuona.

Image of one of the FASNY site plans