FASNY: TWENTY MONTHS until...

TWENTY MONTHS
By: Mary Anne Connell

It has been seven months since the controversial FASNY proposal was effectively defeated. Last August, the Common Council rejected the Hathaway Lane road closure that was in the words of our Mayor “integral” to the plan. Recently, the court denied FASNY’s suit to overturn that decision. Only FASNY in its aggressive yet delusional public relations campaign considers the court decision a victory.

As the FASNY proposal fades let us not forget the affront to the City’s zoning and Comprehensive Plan the proposal was. Let us also keep in mind that the next Mayoral and Common Council election is only twenty months away. Importantly, the Common Council members who voted for the FASNY debacle are up for re-election including Mayor Roach, John Kirkpatrick, Beth Smayda and John Martin.

These are the “four” who turned their backs on the residents of the south end of the City. These are the “four” that did not listen to hundreds of residents who spoke out against the FASNY project at numerous Public Hearings. These are the “four” who amazingly dismissed the White Plains School Board’s written opinion finding the proposed FASNY road configuration “profoundly unsafe” for its students who walk to White Plains High School from downtown. These are the “four” who did not listen to their own Conservation Board which called the FASNY project incompatible with the City’s Comprehensive Plan. These are the “four” who succumbed to outside pressure from well-heeled FASNY supporters and higher-up elected officials and outrageous legal threats by FASNY days before the vote.

The obvious question is: have these elected officials represented us? Regrettably, FASNY is not the only example where the City’s zoning and Comprehensive Plan is not being adhered to. One only has to look at the Pavilion site or the massive development proposal across the street from The Westchester Mall. Neither is consistent with the zoning in place before the submission of their applications. Both are “deals” arranged in the Mayor’s office that are at significant variance to the former zoning. This is no way to operate a City and must be stopped

The time is fast approaching when these “four” members of our Common Council elected to represent us – the voters, residents and yes taxpayers will have their day of reckoning should they choose to run again. Let’s hope that the voters remember the betrayal of the “four” and elect new Council members who truly represent the people and whose primary objective is the preservation and protection of the neighborhoods in which we live.