Welcome
to Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history,
our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools, our houses of
worship---in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.
June
12, 2021
To
the Editor,
Does
it strike anyone else as just a tad hypocritical that our esteemed mayor and
his cronies on the Croton Village Board (with the notable exception of Trustee
Sherry Horowitz—thank you, Sherry), voted to dismiss the ardent appeals of their
own constituents along the Croton River and approve the kayak rental contract
with Hudson River Recreation (HRR)—which will dump as many as 50-100 people
into the Croton River Gorge at any given time—and then ran to the State of New
York, pleading with the state to please, please limit the number of people
allowed to enter the gorge from the Unique Area?
“We
believe,” they complained, “that drastic measures must be taken to avoid
overuse, protect public health, and ensure the safety of visitors to the area.”
But of course, declining HRR the right to rent its kayaks to scores of out-of-town
people who will join the throngs already overstressing this fragile area is
just too drastic a measure to even contemplate. The village desperately needs
the few thousand dollars paid in rent by HRR, and HRR’s business interests far
outweigh the concerns of the board’s constituents, so please, please, New York
State, save us from ourselves! We’re incapable of restraining ourselves from trashing
the quality of life of our own residents, so you’ve gotta bail us out.
When
the state declined his request, our outraged mayor accused it of “willful
blindness,” adding that, “We know exactly what’s going to happen . . . this
summer . . . and every summer.” Yes, Mr. Mayor, we do know exactly what’s going
to happen. The kayakers you personally invited into the gorge will, once again,
join with the multitudes entering from other areas to wreak havoc on those of
us who live on Nordica and Truesdale Drives and the surrounding area.
But
what the heck. We’re big boys and girls, so we just better suck it up and deal
with it. It’s totally unreasonable of us to expect you to forego those rental
payments just so we can experience a tranquil summer. And HRR’s entitled to its
profits. How dare we protest, we ingrates who live along the river!! How
totally selfish of us!!
But
at least we do have the stewards program, which we can pray might reduce the
anarchy we’ve experienced in past years just a bit. That’s the program for
which the Town of Cortlandt stepped right up and authorized $10,000 in support
(thank you, Linda) while the Village of Croton, which bears the brunt of the
problem, could only muster up a paltry $2,500.
But
money’s tight in Croton and we do have to pay for the Croton Point Avenue
fiasco and pour more cash down the bottomless pit that is Gouveia Park. Such
are the board’s priorities. As always, it’s projects over people and the public
be damned.
Sincerely,
Joel
E. Gingold
%20(1).jpg)
