I am writing this letter as an older person who has seen our world change for the good, but have increasingly seen that there still is a lot of bad in the world. I live in Ossining, and I am proud to say that Ossining is a diverse community that strives to see its diversity as a positive attribute. However, in the name of progress, I see the possible destruction of that cohesive quality in our attempts to build and rebuild our village/town. Through my observation as I watched my children and one of my grandchildren grow up in the Ossining school district, I have seen that the white and black populations in school are the minorities now—as is predicted eventually for the whole United States. I am ok with that if I am treated fairly and equally. Every human being wants this for themselves across the world.
The Village of Ossining is busy trying to rebuild and revitalize its downtown and the riverfront. As a part of this effort, it has rezoned certain sections of these areas. The area down by the train station on the riverside sees new construction replacing abandoned industrial sites. In this letter I want to bring the public’s attention to the land section of a street near the train station, Water Street. Some of us have attended music or drama presentations at the Westchester Collaborative facility at 23 Water Street. Now go please a little closer to the beginning of Water Street right off the Train Station parking lot. It is a one block, one way street with older one- and two-family homes have been inhabited by several generations of our founding black residents. Some were employed by our school system. Another black man successfully founded a stair-building business that further trained young men in some of the trades. These are typical residential homes with front porches and small yards. Unknown to them, the block has been rezoned to allow three story buildings that cover the entire lot with no yard or parking facilities. At present there is an applicant with such a building before either the zoning or planning board for one empty lot on the block. Looking from the outside, this looks like the first steps of gentrification. The building would have 24/7 businesses on the ground floor and on the upper floors rentals. I am sure that these rentals will not be affordable, and the building is designed to change the character of this quiet residential street. My question to Ossining government—did you really want to change this street from what it is now, a cohesive neighborhood of long-time residents to the impersonal neighborhood of rental apartments and businesses? I can see the legal quandary of this situation for Ossining, but we need these little pockets of affordable privately owned housing in the increasingly too expensive housing market. I used to love to walk around Manhattan because around every corner I entered a new neighborhood with its own character—this has disappeared because of gentrification. Let’s not do this in Ossining too.
Daria Gregg
