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CityREVIEW NewRochelle May 18, 2018 | Vol. 6, Number 11 | www.cityreviewnr.com
BOL opposes citizenship questions for 2020 census By JAMES PERO Staff Writer
CROSSING THAT BRIDGE The possibility of a soundlink connecting Long Island to Westchester County took another step forward, as several companies have expressed interest in taking on the large-scale development project. For more, see page 9.
6 developers interested in Long Island Sound tunnel By FRANCO FINO Staff Writer Six developers have expressed their desire to build a tunnel that would connect either the city of Rye or the village of Port Chester to Long Island, according to an elected official in Nassau County. Bayville Deputy Mayor Joe Russo, one of several elected officials on Long Island opposed to constructing the tunnel, said that he has been notified by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office that six independent parties responded to the state Department of Transportation, DOT, request for expressions of interest, REOI. The DOT issued the request in late January, seeking input from private investors on engineering,
environmental, operations and financial considerations for a future proposal. An REOI is used to assess interest in a project and to solicit ideas and information from interested parties. “We are taking another step to advance an ambitious project that would reduce traffic on the impossibly congested Long Island Expressway, improve connectivity and help ensure the region’s future economic competitiveness,” Cuomo said in January about the proposal. According to a DOT study, an 18-mile tunnel connecting Westchester County and Long Island could cost between $31.5 billion and $55.4 billion, and could potentially produce $500 million in tolls annually.
While the project is being met with outrage from several municipalities on Long Island that have formed a consortium to fight the governor’s proposal, communities in Westchester have also started to ramp up efforts to scrutinize the plan. The Rye City Council created an ad hoc Long Island Tunnel Advisory Committee in February to oversee the proposal, which suggests connecting the city to the town of Oyster Bay on Long Island, among other locations. “This project is still a long way away, but of course Rye’s concern is great,” Rye City Mayor Josh Cohn, a Democrat, said in February. Historically, city officials have always opposed plans to build a tunnel from Rye to Long Island.
There have been several proposals to build either a bridge or a tunnel connecting two of New York’s most populated counties since the 1930s. In the 1960s, master builder Robert Moses and former Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, a Republican, pursued building a Rye-Oyster Bay bridge; however, the plan never materialized after facing opposition from local and state-elected officials in Westchester and Nassau counties. In February, Port Chester also created a committee to examine the plan’s potential environmental, traffic and density impacts. As of press time, there is no further information from the governor’s office on the state’s next plan of action. CONTACT: franco@hometwn.com
The Westchester County Board of Legislators will take a preemptive stance against a question set to appear on the 2020 census regarding citizenship. On Monday May 7, lawmakers passed a symbolic bipartisan resolution opposing the addition of a question on the Census asking citizenship status. That question was also submitted to a congressional oversight committeehearing on the issue that took place last week. “This resolution is an unequivocal statement of the Westchester County Legislature to Congress that we want everyone counted in the 2020 census, regardless of their immigration or citizenship status,” said county Legislator Lyndon Williams, a Mount Vernon Democrat. “The addition of a citizenship question in the 2020 census will undoubtedly suppress participation of immigrants and noncitizens leading to potential massive undercount here in Westchester County and around the country.” The resolution passed by a margin of 13-3 with Republican Gordon Burrows, of Yonkers Republican, serving as the only Republican to vote alongside Democrats. County Legislator Catherine Borgia, an Ossining Democrat, was absent for the vote. Burrows cited worries over appropriations of federal funding in casting his vote for the resolution. Specifically, he said that if Westchester residents choose not
to respond to the Census due to fears over their citizenship status, it could mean that the county is undercounted and, as a direct result, could potentially lose crucial federal funding. Likewise, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman came out in opposition of the question, along with 19 other attorney generals from across the country, in February this year saying the move would threaten federal funding for many. Schneiderman has since resigned from his position as state attorney general, however, after allegations of sexual harassment and physical abuse against four women came to light on May 7. The Census is a decennial event—happening every 10 years—that is designed to tally the number of citizens in the country. Its use is directly linked to the number of representatives that a state receives—the higher the number of citizens, the more representatives allotted. It is also a tool used for tracking shifting demographics such as the number of people living in urban or rural areas; how many children are in each household; and also racial and ethnic makeup. Each year more than $400 billion used for public services and infrastructure is also allocated using census information. Regardless of citizenship status, all U.S. residents are required to complete and submit a census form with potential fines, ranging between $100 and $500 CENSUS continued on page 8
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