A Family Utility, Up on the Roof

Published in the NY Times: March 26, 2008

WITH the price of oil at historical highs and concerns about energy security and global warming intensifying, many people are looking for ways to make a personal contribution to cutting oil imports and shrinking carbon emissions.

In mid-2004, the Roth-Irwin family of Nyack, N.Y., decided to do something. The first step was easy. They responded to an ad in the local newspaper placed by ISI Solar, also of Nyack, which sells and installs commercial and residential solar power systems.

Full story at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/business/businessspecial2/26nyack.html?_r=1&ref=businessspecial2&oref=slogin

I moved to Nyack nearly three years ago and love living here. One thing I find vexing, however, is how important matters come up before the Village Board with very little or no notice to the public. The most recent example of this was regarding changing village regs about dogs being off-leash in Memorial Park during certain hours. This issue inspires strong feelings on both sides, and attracted a significant number of people to the meeting at which it was raised last year. However, the Board voted on Jan. 24 against allowing dogs offleash. Almost no one who cared about the issue was aware it had been scheduled for a vote, and consequently it was sparsely attended.
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The other side of “If you build it, they will come” is: “I threw a party and nobody showed up”.

RiverSpace should be lauded for its attempts at self-subsidization. And the Village of Nyack should certainly take a long, hard look at any proposal that might contribute to a solution to its own festering economic blight. However, to hold urban re-developments, such as those in New York City, Columbia Heights DC, Providence RI, and even Poughkeepsie NY as the paradigm for Nyack to emulate is both naive and wrong-headed. Each of those mentioned had a much larger population base and physical/ social/ economic/ cultural/ geographic/ institutional/ transportation/ employment infrastructure to both drive and support the scale of developments therein. Each had a very different history of development, deterioration and re-development than did Nyack.

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Have you been left out in the cold by the route change on the TZ Express? The Clinton Ave & Main Street stop is no more. But unless you are a regular commuter that commutes during regular times hearing about it from the regulars, you might have been left out in the cold. Literally.

I know at least three people (including me!) who have missed the bus b/c they didn’t know the stop had moved. If this happened to anyone else, it would be great to hear from you. And perhaps we can get the attention of the Rockland County Dept of Transportation to post a note at the old stop telling people about the change. And encourage them to print new schedules and do a better job of getting the word out in the future.

If anyone cares to post, I’ll offer to forward what I hear to the authorities.

Thanks!

The Village of Nyack is about to go through its budget process, so if you are interested where your money goes, try to show up, especially the first meeting where the budget will be reviewed line by line.

There are six meetings, all at 6pm: March 11; March 25; April 1; April 14; April 22; April 23

On Monday, March 3, 2008, Riverspace held a public meeting to discuss a proposal to develop the downtown “superblock” currently occupied by the building on Main Street holding the theatre and businesses, the M&T building, and all the parking owned by the Village of Nyack. The project is at the very earliest stages, where the Riverspace and M&T property have been secured with options, but there has been no feasibility analysis yet. Continue reading →

Re: today’s column by Bob Baird in the Journal News. I have lived in Nyack for almost three years. For the first two and a half of those years, I toughed out the commute to SoHo from the Nanuet NJ Transit/Metro North train station. Yes, I tried the bus too. But for the most part (barring Amtrak breakdowns, which did happen every few months), for me, the train was faster, less nausea-causing, and went further into Manhattan (I could take the Path to the West Village). It runs more frequently and more predictably (who else has stood shivering at the Bridge Bus Stop at 10pm waiting for a bus that is 15 minutes late?). Sadly it has a much slimmer schedule than the other lines, but it works. Continue reading →

There is a group call “New to Nyack” for those that have recently moved to the area.   It’s a great way to make new friends and find out what is going on in the community.  We’ve made some of our best friends through the group.  There is a monthly pot luck get together usually at somebody’s house, or at an interesting location like the Hopper House.

Check the calendar for upcoming events.

Last week, I waited in vain for the 10:04 Tappan Zee Express bus to arrive at the corner of Main Street and Cedar by the clock in downtown Nyack. It never came. And I waited for 30 mins, in the cold, confused and frustrated. Until another TOR driver told me the stop had moved one block away two weeks ago. Kudos to Rockland County, the Village of Nyack and anyone else who wants to take credit for providing low cost ($1.50 each way) bus service to the Tarrytown Metro North station. It’s a great deal. Continue reading →