March 2024 Newsletter

Upcoming Public Input Opportunity 

·  The April 1, 2024 Common Council meeting (7:00pm, City Hall, 255 Main Street, Common Council Chamber on second floor) is a critical public input opportunity.

o Please consider attending.  

o The Common Council will be holding a "public scoping session" in which members of the public can comment. 

§ What is "scoping"?   The Galleria redevelopment consortium applied to re-zone the approx. eleven acres that comprise the Galleria Mall and its publicly-owned parking garages.  

§ The City must consider the environmental impacts of the proposed re-zoning.   

§ "Scoping" is the process that defines what issues must be considered in environmental review.  E.g., effects on traffic, effects on sewer infrastructure, effects on local parks.   

o The City has released a draft scoping document that was prepared by the redevelopment consortium.  

o Members of the public can ask that the draft be expanded to include more issues and topics.   

o In addition to the opportunity to make oral comments at the April 1, 2024 meeting, you can also submit comments in writing up until April 12, 2024 (see excerpt of annotated agenda of March 4, 2024 Common Council meeting).   

o Suggested talking points are included at the end of this newsletter!

More Updates and Reports

·  CAWS recommends that members read IBEW union leader Louis Sanchez's January 31, 2024 letter to Mayor Roach, concerning the Galleria redevelopment.  

·  On March 18, 2024, CAWS submitted written comments on the City's draft Comprehensive Plan.

·  See Gary and Ben's March 10, 2024 video explainer of the issues concerning the Galleria site's publicly-owned parking garages (YouTube).   

·  Join CAWS' Facebook group to watch video of CAWS speakers at the March 4, 2024 Common Council meeting.  We would also like to recognize the Westchester Martin Luther King, Jr. Institute for Nonviolence / Ad Hoc ALICE Committee Partnership for using their time at recent meetings to address citywide affordable housing issues, intersecting with the Galleria redevelopment.     

Suggested Talking Points for April 1, 2024 Public Scoping Session

·  Gentrification and displacement should be specifically named as possible consequences of a redevelopment of the Galleria site.  The 1986 New York State Court of Appeals case Chinese Staff and Workers Association v. City of New York makes clear that gentrification and displacement can be considered in the environmental review process.  

·  Current White Plains residents' reliance on the Galleria parking garages should be considered carefully.  In particular, the needs of residents of Fisher Court public housing and Brookfield Commons to the south of the site should be considered.  Lower-income residents are not well-equipped to adapt to loss of public parking that they currently rely on.  

·  How will increased traffic affect the Battle Hill neighborhood's already tenuous vehicle and pedestrian connections to downtown?

·  Why is the site described as one single, approx. 11-acre parcel when some parts are owned by the redevelopment consortium and other parts are owned by the public?   Is there a pre-formed conclusion that the redevelopment consortium will make a deal with the City to acquire the garage land?    

·  How will the redevelopment consortium's labor practices affect local construction wages and working conditions?  Is the Common Council willing to address the issues raised by the IBEW's January 31, 2024 letter?  

·  How will the redevelopment affect the citywide ratio of residents to recreational and park land?   

·  Increased vehicular, pedestrian and canine usage of the Bronx River Parkway Reservation and its trailway should be considered, with a plan to increase maintenance and cleanup activities of the Bronx River Parkway Reservation.