2 | CAT WHISPERER AUGUST 21, 2017 | VOL. 53, No. 34
3 | PLATINUM MILESTONE
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State funds extension of planned bus rapid transit BY ALEESIA FORNI aforni@westfariinc.com
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to Cortlandt as a gift for recreation and park use upon his death. A lease noted a proviso: Residents of the mobile homes could continue living there for 10 years after his death. Forty-five trailers, mobile homes and recreational vehicles, many old and scruffy, dotted the property when the deal was struck. Today, nine trailers still stand. Martin died in 2006, triggering the 10-year clock. Cortlandt officials offered residents an incentive in 2008: $6,500
lans to expand a bus rapid transit system along the busy Interstate 287 corridor and across Westchester County have taken a step forward, propelled by recently announced state funding. State and area municipal officials on Aug. 16 announced that $13.5 million in state money will be used to extend the state Department of Transportation’s planned bus rapid transit service through White Plains and into Port Chester. Aimed to improve the reliability and convenience of traditional buses, bus rapid transit is a public transport system that includes dedicated roadways, off-board fares and traffic-signal priority that would keep lights green as buses approach. Called the Lower Hudson Transit Link, the state’s planned bus service would connect riders from Suffern in Rockland County across the Hudson River and into Westchester, making more than a dozen stops along the way. Prior to the recent announcement, the transit system was expected to make its final stop in White Plains. The recent round of funding will be used to purchase new buses, pay for intersection and infrastructure improvements along the route, make traffic signal upgrades and provide bus shelters. The state money will also be used to create new stations at Bryant Avenue, Corporate Park Drive, Brook Lane, North Regent, Haseco Avenue and the Port Chester Metro-North Railroad station. “Our communities rely on affordable and sustainable transit options to ensure our connections to local businesses, educational and recreational opportunities that support families in our county,” said state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Bronx Democrat, during a press conference at the
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Patrick Garvey is one of nine Riveredge Trailer Park residents suing Cortlandt over the town’s efforts to evict them. Photo by Bill Heltzel.
Storm along the Hudson
TRAILER PARK RESIDENTS FIGHT POST-SANDY EVICTION BY BILL HELTZEL bheltzel@westfariinc.com
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hen Hurricane Sandy slammed into Verplanck in 2012, pummeling homes in the northern Westchester hamlet, flooding roads and tossing around cars and boats, the enormous forces of wind and water were not enough to permanently dislodge a few steadfast mobile home residents. But Sandy gave the town of Cortlandt
a good reason to evict several residents from arguably one of the most precious, underdeveloped Hudson River waterfront properties in Westchester County. Cortlandt has been developing a park along the river since the 1980s, and it wanted to expand at Riveredge Trailer Park and the old Peekskill Seaplane Base. The 23-acre property had been owned by James Martin, a Greenwich resident who operated a flight school and air-tours business there. Reportedly owing the town $45,000 in property taxes, Martin in 1992 deeded his land