Soon we will have metered parking downtown until midnight. More revenue for the city, less visitors to spend money. What a racket! As I have said many times, it is anti-development.

But we should count our blessing we don't live in Hoboken, New Jersey. If you park there more than four hours, you get your car booted and towed. Even if you move your car to the other side of town, you will get booted. Four hours per car per day. Their signs are purposefully unclear so most people fall into the trap. A fine example of another municipality misguided by the need for revenue overriding the importance of attracting visitors and residents. Amazing!

Fox 5 News did a report on Hoboken last night. The Mayor justified the parking policy. Something about 16,000 cars and only 10,000 spaces. Part of the justification could also be the 19.2 percent increase in parking fee revenues totaling $1.32 Million.

A blog tells the story pretty well. http://hoboken411.com/archives/66079

Is New Rochelle next to get the spotlight?

It is a pleasure to share with you some of my ideas on how to make New Rochelle’s downtown business district flourish.

First, get government out of the way. The City of New Rochelle is not the most welcoming place for a business enterprise. The perception of selective enforcement, the reality of stringent parking regulations, and limited promotion makes downtown business revitalization difficult. The Downtown BID could have tremendous impact for change but seems to support the government’s decisions. We need for private industry to discuss the change that will benefit both businesses and government.

In this process, our local government will be forced to focus on ways to make our bedroom community into a visitor’s destination.

In the Spring of 2012, I will organize a Realtor’s conference to discuss ways in which these real estate professionals can promote New Rochelle to commercial and retail establishments as well as new home buyers.

An open Letter to the New Rochelle Board of Education:

Dear Honorable Elected Members of the New Rochelle Board of Education:

Congratulations and thank you.

Thank you for earnestly listening to the parents of Trinity School. You took the time to hear all concerns. And your President Ms. Petrone served you and the district well by showing sincerity and honestly answering questions.

No doubt, the board saw that Miss Mussolini was being forcibly removed from her classroom without cause. You saw that her pupil’s educational process would be disrupted by this abrupt change. And most importantly, you saw the need to heal the elements of mistrust among the community of parents and educators.

Congratulations. I know from experience that it is not easy to bring all the board members together to override a personnel decision made by your Superintendent of Schools. But your collective decision was based upon understanding all the facts of this sordid case.

By your decision to keep Miss Mussolini in her classroom, you have restored a tremendous level of faith among the parents of Trinity School and possibly throughout the district.

Everyone knows someone who has a lot to offer the community.
You may even think the person would be a great elected official. But most people who have a lot to say about their community and great leadership qualities, do not run for office. Their main reason: they are too busy with work and family or fearful of public speaking.
No doubt, that can be an issue. Because it takes courage to stand up and run for public office.
In September, I won the Independence Party primary. My opponent clearly had no interest in getting more than six votes. He is even quoted in the newspaper saying the Independence Party line is “not critically important.” Yet, while having his name on Bramson’s signs, he claims to be “independent.” The fact is the Bramson family has guaranteed my opponent’s loyalty by contributing $2,000 to his campaign fund. End of story.
My opponent has been here for 20 years and has never held public office and is barely known outside of Glenwood Lake. But he wants you to vote for him because he has been here longer. I believe the criterion for electing a public official should be based on experience and the ideas the candidate presents.

During Monday night’s debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters, I stated that I was against the increase in parking fees from 50 cents to a dollar and extending metered parking until midnight in the downtown business district.

Today, I went around to ask more merchants what they felt about the pending changes. As I said during the debate, many merchants are scratching their heads trying to understand this bizarre decision. Some, whose business close at 6PM, are indifferent.
Restaurateurs, especially on Division Street, seemed to support the changes.

Residents are exceedingly angry about extending the metered parking until midnight.

This is a policy disaster for residents and visitors of the downtown area. To have to endure six more hours in which one can receive a ticket while parking downtown is oppressive.

One of the first resolutions I will put forth as a member of City Council is to reopen the front door of City Hall. Taxpayers and residents should not have to gain access to City Hall through a backdoor in the basement.
Since 9/11/2011, many of our public institutions have limited access to our government agencies. Yet, ten years have passed. We need to remain secure, but we need to regenerate our commitment to the basic tenets of freedom and open government. What better way to reconfirm that commitment than by accessing New Rochelle City Hall through the front door.

I went campaigning door-to-door the other day. It is always nice to meet voters face-to-face and hear what they have to say.
I ran into a young single mom who was not registered because she had just moved into New Rochelle. She agreed to register and I filled out the form for her. We got to the section where she had to decide her party affiliation.
I asked her which party she wants to join. She said “Democrat, that is what I guess I am suppose to be, I guess.” I told her I was a Republican and she could choose any party she wants. Just because you are African American does not mean you have to be a Democrat, I said. I gave her the choices on the form and she said Independence Party. So I filled it out for the Independence Party.
Here is the key point. So many people feel they have an expectation to uphold because of their parents, race, language, or national origin. It is good to feel free to decide on our own. I am proud to have given her that choice. When I see certain parties doing voter registrations, they force party affiliation.

Of course, we expected the worse. And we were happily disappointed when we woke up Sunday morning and saw the clouds clearing, the wind waning and the sun starting to shine. From the honking of the media, we thought water would be up above Pelham Road. But it didn’t happen like that.

It is hard to predict the extent of damage a hurricane can cause. It was not a lot wind gusts, but the water damage in the areas outside of New Rochelle are devastating.

On Sunday, I got a personal call from the County Executive Rob Astorino. I like to call it personal because his voice was on the line. But it was actually a robocall. He spoke with confidence of what was being done to address the damage in our county and advised us on how to proceed after the storm.

I am sitting down having lunch with my daughter when a squad car from the New Rochelle Police Department pulls up in the front of the café. I am thinking they are coming in to have some coffee. But they just sit there for 15 minutes.
Suddenly, the driver comes in the café and issues a ticket to the clerk for having chairs and table outside without a city permit.
Ouch!
The clerk gets the owner John Reverol on the phone to talk with the cop. Of course, I cannot hear the conversation but one thing was clear. My friend John asked for a warning, not a ticket. The officer responded: “Sorry, the chief does not allow us to give warnings.”

I am a little bit jealous of the Avalon Chrystie Place in Manhattan. They have a Whole Foods. Our Avalon on the Sound proposed to place a Whole Foods supermarket in their building too, but it did not happen.

Could an upscale, wholesome supermarket be drawn to locate in Downtown New Rochelle?

Attracting a Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, or any similar supermarket to an urban area is not an easy prospect. These companies consider walking traffic, demographics and a host of other criteria. With the Avalon buildings, the Trump building, and various smaller apartments and condos there is an excellent market for a more urbane gourmet supermarket.

Trader Joe’s is an excellent prospect for downtown New Rochelle. It has plenty of products that fit into the lifestyle of the urban commuter. I especially enjoy the prepared meals for two with a diverse selection of Indian, Thai, Mexican, and Italian foods. You can’t beat pad thai for $1.99!

So I called the corporate office of Trader Joe’s in California. Why not? Let’s find out if they would be remotely interested in putting a store downtown New Rochelle.