Gedney Association Blasts FASNY Via Newsletter

The French-American School of New York’s (FASNY) proposed campus would be a catastrophic development for White Plains and its resident, according to an eight-page newsletter sent to residents by the Gedney Association this week. 

“The GNA [Gedney Neighborhood Association] newsletter contains exaggerations and scare tactics that do a disservice to reasoned discussion about this very important project for the entire City of White Plains,” said FASNY spokesperson Geoff Thomspon. “Fortunately, the environmental review being conducted by the city will assure that the decision on the proposal will be based on the facts.”

The Gedney Association is a non-profit organization that represents the Gedney Farms neighborhood, a residential neighborhood where FASNY’s property at the former Ridgeway Country Club lies.

The brochure outlines reasons why the nursery school through twelfth grade campus FASNY wants to build on the 129-acre site would increase tax burdens, create massive traffic and exacerbate flooding.

Click on the PDF to read newsletter, and tell us what you think in the comments.

The City of White Plains is currently reviewing a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the proposed project, which would house about 1,200 students and 250 staff members, and would include the construction of:

• an upper, middle and lower school totaling 230,863 sq ft.
• three playgrounds
• four tennis courts
• four soccer fields
• a six-lane track
• basketball court
• baseball diamond
• softball diamonds
• 428 parking spaces
• an 84-acre open space educational conservancy

Visit greenstogreen.org/fasny-newcampus.html for more information on FASNY's campus.

“The DEIS includes four volumes and more than 1,500 pages that we are confident demonstrate that our plan for the site of the failed Ridgeway Country Club is a viable and appropriate and use for the property and the best alternative for White Plains,” said Thompson.

Thompson said that the schools is “firmly and publicly” committed to building the open space conservancy, which he says is clearly stated in the DEIS. 

“Overall, the FASNY plan represents a triple win for the City of White Plains:  It brings a premier educational asset to the city, it stimulates economic growth from the construction and the operation of the school, and it delivers a priceless, publicly accessible Conservancy to a city that has a shortage of open space,” said Thompson.

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