Skip to main content

Letter to the Editor: Bill Gaston on Vote on Marriott Hotel Project in Tuckahoe


To the Editor: 


Oct. 19, 2016:  On Wednesday night [October 19], the Tuckahoe Planning Board will cast its vote on the Marriott Hotel Project.

If approved by the board, the decision to move ahead promises to set in motion wide-ranging and deleterious public health, economic, and environmental impacts for years to come in Tuckahoe, Eastchester, and Bronxville. 

Let us hope the board listens to common sense and the voices of the surrounding communities and delays, or, better yet, kills this ill-considered project.

At its last public meeting in September, planning board members got an earful from angry residents, scores of them approaching the microphone with well-founded fears of contaminated air and exposure to toxins and their likely effect on health and property values.

One after the other, residents demanded a full environmental impact statement before digging begins on the hotel, which will sit atop a hazardous and contaminated industrial dump site on Marbledale Road. Up to now, the contaminated site has not been thoroughly tested, with only a small percentage of the soil samples tested. 

Incredibly, and irresponsibly, the planning board has suggested it may proceed with the project, even as the communities most affected have been left completely in the dark as to the likely health impacts, and even as the developer has failed to address the remediation or construction activities on the contaminated site. What it should do is go back to the drawing board!

Without a more stringent accounting of the multiple risks of this project, which have not been addressed, it would be the height of irresponsibility for the Tuckahoe Planning Board to "take a flier" on the Marriott Project and proceed full-steam ahead. There are simply too many warning signs for the future well-being of our communities.

Bill Gaston
9 Bolton Gardens
Bronxville, NY  10708 

Editor's note:  MyhometownBronxville does not fact-check statements in letters to the editor, and the opinions do not necessarily reflect the thinking of its staff. Its objective in publishing letters to the editor is to give air to diverse thoughts and opinions of residents in the community. 

Letters Directory

Bronxville Overview

Bronxville is a quaint village (one square mile) located just 16 miles north of midtown Manhattan (roughly 30 minutes on the train) and has a population of approximately 6,500. It is known as a premier community with an excellent public school (K-12) and easy access to Manhattan. Bronxville offers many amenities including an attractive business district, a hospital (Lawrence Hospital), public paddle and tennis courts, fine dining at local restaurants, two private country clubs and a community library.

While the earliest settlers of Bronxville date back to the first half of the 18th century, the history of the modern suburb of Bronxville began in 1890 when William Van Duzer Lawrence purchased a farm and commissioned the architect, William A. Bates, to design a planned community of houses for well-known artists and professionals that became a thriving art colony. This community, now called Lawrence Park, is listed on the National register of Historic Places and many of the homes still have artists’ studios. A neighborhood association within Lawrence Park called “The Hilltop Association” keeps this heritage alive with art shows and other events for neighbors.

Bronxville offers many charming neighborhoods as well as a variety of living options for residents including single family homes, town houses, cooperatives and condominiums. One of the chief benefits of living in “the village” is that your children can attend the Bronxville School.

The Bronxville postal zone (10708, known as “Bronxville PO”) includes the village of Bronxville as well as the Chester Heights section of Eastchester, parts of Tuckahoe and the Lawrence Park West, Cedar Knolls, Armour Villa and Longvale sections of Yonkers. Many of these areas have their own distinct character. For instance, the Armour Villa section has many historic homes and even has its own newsletter called “The Villa Voice” which reports on neighborhood news.

Bronxville Village Government Directory

Village of Bronxville Administrative Offices
337-6500
Open 9:00am - 4pm excluding holidays and weekends

Bronxville Police Department
337-0500
Open 24 hours

Bronxville Parking Violations
337-2024
Open 9:00am - 4pm excluding holidays and weekends

Bronxville Fire Deparment
793-6400

Letters Recent Articles