Fear of Flooding Makes Fighting HUD Difficult

The Housing and Urban Development (HUD) lawsuit and settlement by former County Executive Andy Spano, has two, maybe three distinct camps whose feelings are absolute. One camp has people vehemently against the settlement, stating it’s a matter of economics that has segregated our neighborhoods; the other camp is in agreement with the settlement and feel there is housing discrimination against certain people of the lower income scale. Finally, there are those who have no clue about the settlement and insist on keeping their proverbial heads in the sand regardless of how it may affect them. Even though this group is a significant one, they are rarely involved and are easy and unwitting prey for the likes of politicians such as Mr Feiner and their schemes, lies and trickery.

This post is not about those groups of people. Rather, its about a splinter group which maintains the land usage in their community is “maxed” out, with no appreciable land onto which they could even build affordable housing. Per the HUD settlement between then Democratic County Executive Andrew Spano and the federal government, Westchester County agreed to participate in the building of 750 affordable housing units in what has been referred to as “white” communities. ABG believes the color is wrong. They should be referred to as “green” communities – segregated only by the ability to afford the housing prices and more importantly the ever-growing taxes in those communities. Simply because someone wants to live somewhere but cannot afford to do so does not constitute discrimination.

The Village of Scarsdale is already congested with existing buildings and claims little to no developable space throughout the village. Regardless of the amount of units mandated by HUD for the Village to construct, the rallying cry has always been, “We have no room to build any affordable housing units.” Whether the assumption of this statement is correct or not, whether the residents who would move into these apartments could afford to live in Scarsdale or not, and whether their children would be ostracized in school for not being able to “keep up with the Jones” or not seems immaterial to the federal government.

The federal monitor only wants units built. The federal government wants Westchester County to supersede local zoning to be able to force localities to build where they see fit. New York State is a home rule state which allows individual communities to determine their destiny. But the federal monitor doesn’t care as these communities took HUD monies and now they want payback. They will probably win by shear size in another case of “might makes right”. And you thought you finally outgrew the school yard bullying syndrome?

Scarsdale is not the only community making the “no room” argument. Yet, Scarsdale with the others, continue to entertain new buildings proposals, new designs and ultimately new buildings to be built. The Town of Greenburgh, ghettoized by Paul Feiner during his 22-year reign, was allowed to be exempted from having to add more affordable housing units. One down side to Mr Feiner’s affordable housing ghettoization that is witnessed in the Fairview area is that businesses are not able to be supported by the residents, close their doors and leave or are driven out by continued crime either directly or from the surrounding area. In the Manhattan Avenue area of Fairview for instance, Caldor’s closed their doors, the A&P closed theirs and this past week Lash Kia across the street closed as well. The deli one block away had a murder committed in it a while back and the apartment buildings have gangs, guns, prostitution and drug activity. Not very inviting and to the general public, a good place to stay far away from. But’s it’s acceptable according to Mr Feiner because he’s been able to control it to one area of the Town and keep it out of the others. That’s what wrong with the settlement’s “pass” for Greenburgh.

Back in Scarsdale, the KOS Building Group, is working with others to gain a six-lot subdivision in an 8-acre site at Cushman, Garden and Woodland roads. The Church of St. Pius X in a bid to renovate classrooms and create a new sanctuary entrance with other expansions, sought and received site plan approval for a house at 2 Brittany Close, a lot created as a result of a cluster subdivision. Two existing houses, at 119 Cushman and 1 Woodland, are slated for demolition. A subsequent subdivision will create four new lots and result in a net gain of two houses. Another two-lot subdivision that would create four new lots at 2 Ogden Road was on the agenda but removed and held over. Two more lots are adjacent to area wetlands were the property buffers the wetlands into the neighborhood. The argument of no space in Scarsdale doesn’t really hold water (pun intended). And that seems to be the various Scarsdale neighborhood’s argument against the increased housing: flooding. Just as is seen in the Fulton Park area with the Bronx River and the Saw Mill River area throughout the opposite side of Greenburgh, nothing is being done to alleviate the flooding for those people while Mr Feiner routinely “green lights” every developer’s proposal.

ABG is not saying Scarsdale (or any other community) should be required to build affordable housing. Greenburgh has mandated 10% of all new housing be required to include affordable housing, we’re just not sure this as a viable solution toward increasing housing options throughout any of our communities. Just having affordable housing, utilizing either DSS (welfare) to pay for the housing or Section 8, where the low wage worker/resident pays up to 30% of their income toward housing and then the balance is subsidized again by DSS (welfare), continues to perpetuate dependencies and never-getting-out-from-under government assistance syndrome.

But the argument that there is no room to build in a community, this time easily exemplified by Scarsdale’s own actions, makes it difficult to say, “No” to HUD and be convincing. Other communities are suffering from the same lack of room problem as well as other issues. In northern Westchester, ABG is told that much of the land which readily appears available is actually considered watershed property that is part of the ecosystem that supplies water to the New York City region. Simply saying there is developable land there just isn’t so. Current County Executive Rob Astorino has been fighting the HUD monitor tooth and nail. We think some of his arguments may be a bit extreme and are election scare tactics. However, it is good that someone is standing up to the schoolyard bully known as HUD, even if for the wrong reasons.