East End Civic Association meeting, Wednesday,
November 29, 2006
Meeting called to order by Anne Guida @ 7:40 PM
Announcements:
Carriage Ride is 12/2 between 6 & 9 Pm. For children and adults. Meet in the playground.
A dues letter will come out in January with the announcement for the February meeting.
Open Space land sale. Jim Maisano blocked a vote to sell County land at
Flandrau & Webster to a developer. This is temporary. Please voice your opinion to the County Legislature.
The City of New Rochelle refused to buy the
property for $1 for use as parkland. (Note. See David Reisman’s column
from Sunday, December 3.)
Our guest speakers were Anthony Galletta & John Maguire of the Save Our Armory Committee. They made an interesting
presentation on why the Armory should be included in the current plans to develop the waterfront. This included a history of the uses of the Armory. They also
described the military history of New Rochelle and its harbor.
The suggestions for future use are a museum, art gallery, convention center, and community center.
There is office space in the building that could be used to offset the cost of maintaining the building. The developers could contribute to renovating the property. Nita
Lowry obtained $21 million for the cleanup of David’s Island. Can the same be done for The Armory? The property is zoned commercial.
Right now the City of New Rochelle owns the property. It was sold to the
city with the stipulation that it would be used for public purposes. Its assessed
value is $8 million. The Commissioner’s Office of General Service supports the original grant, which means the City
cannot sell it to a developer without some further action.
Petitions are available at www.Saveourarmory.org.
This was followed by a question and answer period.
If you have any suggestions for future speakers
for our meetings contact Anne or me.
Respectfully submitted.
Frank Capasso
