TODAY'S PRESS RELEASE ON LANDMARKING

MURTAGH RECONSIDERING SUPPORT FOR SFC
DOWNTOWN REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Proposal to gut City landmarks protection leads Councilman to rethink support for redevelopment

Yonkers City Councilman John Murtagh (R-5) said today that a proposal to rewrite the City’s Landmarks Preservation law has led him to begin rethinking his support for the current proposal to redevelop downtown Yonkers.

The so-called “SFC” project which would include the redevelopment of parcels on both the Yonkers waterfront and its downtown is presently before the City Council for approval.

Murtagh, acknowledging that up to this point he had been strongly inclined to support the project, said that the current Mayoral proposal to limit the role of the Landmarks Board in redevelopment and to give the Planning Board an automatic veto over all Landmarks Board actions has led him to question his earlier support.

“Up to this point I have been able to support this project confident that a process was firmly in place to protect the many historical and significant sites throughout downtown Yonkers” Murtagh said. “After reviewing the proposal that is before the Charter Commission, I no longer have that confidence”.

Currently if the Landmarks Board proposes a site for Landmarking, the Board then refers the issue to the City Council which has the ultimate say. Under the proposal currently before the Charter Commission a proposal from the Landmarks Board would first go to the Planning Board which could veto the proposal before it ever reached the City Council for consideration thereby completely removing the City Council from the decision making process.

“Previously I was comfortable supporting the current development proposal with the knowledge that the Landmarks Board and the Council would have the ability to protect historic and significant structures from the wrecking ball” Murtagh said. “Under the current proposal we would lose that ability. I am simply not comfortable signing off on a project that would give the Administration and developers sole discretion to knock down every building they choose”. Murtagh concluded: “Unlike surrounding communities such as White Plains, Yonkers is still fortunate to have many older buildings that can be an integral part of a revitalized downtown. I now have to think long and hard about supporting this project when there is a risk that downtown Yonkers will simply become another stretch of soulless big box and chain stores”.