Community Corner

Week In Review: New Housing Development Opens, Trustees Search for Sea Wall Cash

Here's a rundown of this week's news in Port Chester Patch.

Good things come to those who wait.

That was the sentiment among 35 proud new homeowners who will move into a new housing development in Port Chester in a few weeks. It took the better part of 10 years for developer Lou Larizza to navigate the negotiations, proposals and changing political conditions in town, but the wait finally paid off with beaming smiles and happy families during Monday's ribbon-cutting ceremony.

"We can't wait to move in," said Debra Harris, one of the new homeowners. Harris and her kids have already started packing.

Although the term affordable housing might carry some negative connotations, the new homes are indistinguishable from common private developments, with rows of bright townhouses, garages, lots of living space, and plenty of green grass for neighborhood kids to start impromptu games of tag or wiffleball.

"This is not the projects of the 1960s," Larizza said.

At village hall, elected officials are dealing with another issue -- affordable housing that hasn't been built yet. Last year, a legal advocacy group won a lawsuit against Westchester County. The group argued that Westchester took federal community improvement money and doled it out to towns, but didn't fulfill its legal requirement to build affordable housing in a more diverse range of neighborhoods.

The county settled, and a federal judge ordered Westchester to come up with a plan to build 750 affordable housing units.

The catch for villages, towns and cities? The county is still giving out federal Community Development Block Grants, but now it wants a say in local zoning matters. Elected officials in places like Port Chester, Peekskill and Tarrytown and for now they're pooling legal resources and holding off on taking money from the county.

And on Monday, Port Chester trustees heard they won't get money from the federal government to help fund repairs to the crumbling bulkhead -- at least not through the congressional appropriations process.

Congresswoman Nita Lowey, D-Harrison, attended Monday's board meeting and told trustees the legal complications surrounding the defective sea wall would make it difficult to apply for appropriations cash. Replacing the wall could cost upwards of $4 million, money the village doesn't have.

But there was some good news as well. With the caveat that nothing is guaranteed when it comes to federal grants, Lowey said there's a good chance Port Chester could get help paying for the estimated $1.5 million it will cost to repair its antiquated sewer system.

In police and crime news, there were two major stories this week -- a Port Chester mom seriously hurt herself and her son when she drove in the wrong direction in traffic and collided head-on with another driver. Police say the woman, a Mexican national, was drunk, and her leg may be amputated after it was crushed in the impact. The passengers in the other car had minor injuries. Harrison police credit the driver's last-second swerve for avoiding more serious injury.

And in Port Chester, a 29-year-old man was arrested for carrying on a year-long sexual relationship with a teenager girl, beginning when the victim was 13. Police say the crime mirrors other sexual abuse cases in the village recently -- the suspects claim ignorance to local laws, pointing to different cultural and legal norms in their home countries. In this week's case, the suspect told police he "didn't think he did anything wrong," according to a police spokesman.

And in lighter news, local sports fans may have witnessed the beginnings of New York's next great sports radio host. At Buffalo Wild Wings, more than 100 people signed up for a WFAN talent search. The majority didn't make it past an evaluation round, leaving 23 men and one woman to duke it out on the microphone with loud opinions about New York sports.

Two winners -- including the sole female contestant -- were chosen to move on to the next round, where they'll face off against a new batch of competitors.


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