How much is 4 acres worth in downtown Nyack? Should Nyack demand fair market price for its market share? No question here, responsible leadership needs to be clearer when identifying its goals and objectives. Continue reading →

The Riverspace Board presented a bold vision for a revitalized downtown Nyack Thursday night, presenting a $100 million plan for a “public spirited…community fueled” retail, commercial and residential development to replace the current arts center. The new plan includes two parking garages, a public piazza, a new arts center and new a restored street grid. Continue reading →

Riverspace is having a meeting on June 5 to present its plans for rebuilding the downtown. There has been some discussion about the Riverspace project on that Nyacksocialscene email group, some thoughtful some not, and I put out this piece to identify issues that I think need to be discussed in connection with this project.

I invite your comment, and I hope people attend this meeting at the Riverspace theater, which is at 7:00 PM.
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Fans of reality TV, high stakes dramas and social documentaries are in for a big treat. And if you live in Nyack, you won’t have to leave the zip code to see the free performance.

Riverspace presents their plans for a reborn downtown Nyack on June 5th. This follows up meetings in February, April and May to discuss redevelopment of the property which includes the arts center, the adjacent strip mall, Veteran’s Park and the M&T Bank. Riverspace board members Josh Goldberg and Debbie Reich have proposed a mixed-use development with a new arts center as the anchor. They hope to replace the current unsustainable patchwork of donors and volunteers with a new business model that produces commercial and residential rental income that will help fund Riverspace.

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As many of you may have noticed, the rear lot behind the theater is being torn up and there will be disruptions and confusion for a while. The improvement is to add about 60 spaces (from recollection) and will add needed parking inventory. The thing to remember about this project is that it costs about $700K, some of which is being used to redesign a bus stop at the rear of the theater, which is maybe $200K of the price, leaving about $500K for the actual parking. Better is better than not better, but it is not as good as the best. Continue reading →

Board member Debbie Reich says the Riverspace development team is working to determine if the proposed garage can be built partially or completely underground. She told participants at the May 5th Open Dialogue session at Riverspace they’re spending $15,000 to drill and learn how deep they can go. Reich points out that even if it’s possible, it still might not be practical to put all parking underground as expenses go up the further you go down.

Nyack will hold a community forum to talk about gang violence and youth issues in the community on Wednesday May 7 at 7pm in the Nyack Center.

The meeting is to engage in a conversation about the fight on April 16th in Nyack. Open to the public. Nyack Mayor John Shields, Nyack Village Board of Trustees, Orangetown Supervisor Thom Kleiner, and Orangetown Police Chief Nulty among others will be present to hear your questions, comments and solutions. At Nyack Center-58 Depew Ave. Nyack, New York (corner of Depew and Broadway). For more information please call-Nyack Village Hall (845) 358-0229 or Nyack Center (845) 358-2600.

Here’s a list of stories and opinion pieces written about what happened on April 16th. Also, the Inside Rockland blog provided a good summary on May 5th, referencing the April 23 letter from Nyack’s Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Valencia Douglas.

The Journal News says parking tickets are up since Muni Meters were installed but the actual number of paid violations is flat. The Nyack Parking Authority wrote 14% more citations this year than last in 2007, however, many of the initial violations during this transition period were subsequently dismissed due to complaints about insufficient instructions explaining how the new meters work.

Source: Journal News, April 24

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The Village Board has authorized bonding for a major reconstruction project for the public off-street parking along Artopee Way, behind Riverspace. About half of this $700k capital project will be dedicated to fix drainage issues, which is currently flooding Nyack Plaza Community Housing. Also, about 60 new spaces will be provided with a better layout. The bus stop, currently on Cedar street, will be moved to Artopee Way near Franklin behind the bank.

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Written by Nan Gunderson for the Nyack Villager

At their March 6 meeting, the firm of Hakim Associates sat down with Nyack’s Streetscape Steering Committee to unveil their design concept for our downtown. The plan consists of new lighting, repaved sidewalks, additional bump-outs to accommodate more trees, additional crosswalks, benches, planters, trash cans and other amenities. The first phase of work will begin with Main Street between Franklin and Broadway. As funds become available, the rest of the downtown will be restored. Once the Steering Committee completes its work, the village will schedule a meeting to present the final plan to the community. A special thank you must go to members of the former Downtown Nyack Coalition who worked for two years to help make this happen.