Business owner Krishnan Patel and his new neighbors on Central Highway have come to an agreement on his plans to convert the former Riggio’s Deli to a Sainsbury Convenience Store on Thursday evening, Feb. 25.
Patel purchased the storefront and plans to make several improvements, including adding 1,600 feet to the existing building and reducing parking spaces. His neighbors on Anton Court called into the Planning Board’s ZOOM session held Jan. 25, expressing concerns about the store’s proposed hours –5:00AM-11:00PM as well as concerns about noise and lighting. Patel agreed to meet with homeowners, and at the Feb. 25 meeting, he and his attorney appeared to let planners know those concerns had been resolved.
By Kathy Kahn
Ramapo residents’ pleas to halt zoning and building code changes to the northeastern quadrant of the town fell on deaf ears last Wednesday, Jan 20, during a hastily arranged Zoom meeting. After all was said and done, the Town Board unanimously voted to continue a process it began in 2018 that proposes to re-zone and re-purpose its semi-rural northeast corridor, making way for future development.
One by one, the majority of participants who called in to the “special meeting” asked the town to abandon what they considered to be a poorly assembled Scoping document. Some callers asked the Board to update its 2004 Comprehensive Plan and include the whole town in it, rather than doing it piecemeal.
By Kathy Kahn
It’s a case of the cart being put before the horse, said members of Rockland’s Citizens United to Protect our Neighborhood (CUPON) during a Zoom meeting Monday evening, Jan 18. CUPON was joined by Rockland Organized for Sustainability and a Safe Aquifer (ROSA) and concerned residents in decrying the Town’s plans to move forward with the rezoning of its Northeast corridor without a proper review. That section of Ramapo is home to the former Miniseongo golf course, the Stryker property and other large tracts of land highly coveted by mega-density developers.
Ramapo’s northeast corridor is semi-rural in comparison to the neighboring villages of Monsey, New Square, Kaser and Spring Valley. The Town has previously proposed selling the 75-acre Stryker property in Pomona to a religious group for development. Residents in nearby Skyview Acres have already made it clear they plan to fight that proposal in court should it come to fruition.
Assemblyman Colin Schmitt (R, C, I, LBT, SAM-New Windsor), who represents Stony Point as part of the 99
th District in Albany, was sworn into office for a second term on January 6, 2021. That same day, Schmitt, his wife and office staffers were targeted by the Orange County Democratic Committee and New York City’s newly-hatched Democratic Socialist Party for encouraging “rioters” to attend Save America Rally in Washington, DC.
The “rioters” Schmitt wished a safe journey to, at 4:30AM on the same morning he was sworn in to office, were members of Orange County’s Right to Life and members of his church. The D.C. march, estimated to have been attended by over 150,000 people, ended badly when an extremist fringe marching at the forefront scaled the Capitol building walls and entered the halls of Congress, smashing windows and causing mayhem. Tragically, five people were killed in the ensuing melee.
By Kathy Kahn
Crystal Run Healthcare CEO Hal Teitelbaum on Monday announced that the multi-specialty practice he founded on the eve of the 21st Century has been approved to administer Covid-19 vaccinations. “2020 has certainly been unforgettable even though we may like to forget it,” wrote Teitelbaum. “The current health pandemic has presented challenges we’ve never had to face before. At Crystal Run Healthcare, Covid-19 has profoundly changed how we operate and how we practice medicine. Now more than ever, we’re doing everything possible to ensure we’re providing exceptional medical and surgical care in the safest way possible,” said the healthcare giant’s founder in a letter to patients.