White Plains Downtown Residents Association

http://www.downtownresidents.com/

Last night I attended my third monthly meeting in the last year, my first in a long time.  Obviously I have not been active but I was surprised by the change from pie in the sky to boring run of the mill.  Rob does a great job in getting so many people involved and the group is on the verge of incorporating as a non profit organization.  I have my doubts about that but the momentum seems unstoppable.  It seems to me more can be done by keeping it simple and having maximum flexibility.

There are two things that will eat up a lot of time and resources by this group becoming a non profit:

1. administration

2. money.

Money is the root of all evil.  Rob has already accepted $1,000 from an interested party.  Interested parties expect something in return.  I am not suggesting corruption but the group will be precluded from taking hard stands.  I am not sure what can be accomplished by being like all the other groups in White Plains.  I asked why they need money and the closest thing I got as an answer was for marketing to which I countered that with the web this could be done almost free.  A domain can be registered for under ten dollars a year.  That and a few well placed flyers is really all that is needed.

I think that one person there was a spy: a woman I have seen at the library asking about the ridiculous Railside issue ad nauseum during a candidates debate in the last election for Common Council.  During introductions she indicated that she was attending because she wants to keep up on what is happening in White Plains.  Believe me, the balance of power is not going to tilt from house dwellers to apartment dwellers unless something unexpected happens when the group drafts its bylaws and mission statement.

The White Plains Downtown Residents Association web site listed at the top of this post describes WP as "pedestrian-friendly".  There was a lot of talk last night that supports my contention that WP is pedestrian hostile, much worse than Manhattan.

Whatever form this group takes here are some suggestions:

1. Make it clear that it represents the interests of apartment dwellers, not house dwellers.

2. Ignore the current geographic bounderies of neighborhood associations and include condos and coops that logically belong.

3. Get all the board presidents involved.

4. Present the city with solutions, not problems.

5. Have interested parties decide on the solutions; for instance, the traffic problem at Westchester and Franklin Avenues should be addressed by the people who live there.  The movement of traffic on Franklin and Main St. east of Westchester Ave. should be addressed by the people who live there.

6. The White Plains Downtown Residents Association should then present that solution to the city as needed.

7. Look to New York City: many issues were resolved long ago there, including taxis, alternate side of the street parking.

8. Look elsewhere in Westchester: Garth RD in Eastchester has a very useful system for overnight resident parking that should be applied in downtown  WP.  The long standing contention that the city needs to prohibit overnight resident parking is nonsense as is shown in both Manhattan and Eastchester.

9. Be like Mike ... Bloomberg.  WP mayor has no imagination but NYC mayor does.  Don't be too proud or foolish to ignore Bloomberg's many good ideas.  WP mayor will not do that on his own so the White Plains Downtown Residents Association should do it for him.

10. Be GREEN!  WP will never do it on its own.

11. The most fundamental change that is needed is change from a car culture to a people culture.  Without that, nothing else matters.  How many people walked to last night's meeting v. driving?

Given my views I do not know whether I will continue in this group or whether they would would want me to be there when they set policy.  I like the independence of this blog.  One thing I will not be is a spy.