FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: HARCKHAM AGAIN FORCING MULTI-FAMILY BUILDINGS INTO SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITIES.
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***Senate Chief of Staff is Mayor of Croton***
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Arena Points to Blatant Conflict of Interest Over
Controversial Housing Proposal; Calls for Mayor’s Recusal.
Hudson Valley-Sept. 13…State Senator Pete Harckham, who was forced to withdraw a radical housing proposal that would have mandated multi-family apartment complexes in single-family neighborhoods near train stations in Westchester, Putnam, and Rockland counties, is at it again, this time employing his chief of staff — who doubles as the paid Mayor of Croton-on-Hudson — to push nearly 400 new multi-family apartment units into a bucolic village whose residents don’t want them, State Senate candidate Gina Arena today charged.
Mr. Harckham’s 2022 legislation was so radical and divisive that Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul urged that it be pulled from consideration during the 2022 election cycle. The Harckham bill would have overridden local zoning laws, many of which were created after decades of painstaking local input and planning. (Progressives have long called for ending home rule on zoning issues.)
Ms. Arena, a longtime children and families advocate and a lifelong Westchester resident, called on Croton Mayor Brian Pugh to recuse himself from these large multi-family housing development proposals near the Croton-on-Hudson train station while also serving as chief of staff to the state senator, a highly unusual arrangement.
“Pete Harckham is at it again with his pie-in-the sky ideas that always seem to come at the expense of his constituents,” Ms. Arena said. “After his radical proposal to override local zoning was loudly rejected two years ago, he’s now using his chief-of-staff to force through two massive multi-family housing projects over which Croton residents have legitimate concerns. Mr. Harckham’s chief of staff is clearly doing Mr. Harckham’s bidding as Mayor after the senate legislation they both promoted failed miserably in the face of public backlash. In a nutshell, a New York mayor is being paid by a state senator who’s the champion of ending home rule in this state. If that’s not a conflict of interest, I don’t know what is.”
Ms. Arena, a mother of eight, said the residents of Croton-on-Hudson have a right to decide on the size, scale, and scope of any developments in their community, without thumbs being added to the scale.
“I’m sorry, but this doesn't pass the smell test,” Ms. Arena continued. “Senator Harckham is clearly taking advantage of this situation at the expense of the people. It’s totally inappropriate for a New York mayor to be getting paid by the State Legislature. That’s federalism 101.”
The 40th State Senate District spans Westchester, Putnam, and Rockland counties.
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