Greetings, all,
Many of you are aware of the long-suffering fight between NYS District 18 assemblywoman Earlene Hooper and, well, pretty much every force in the village, including Mayor Kennedy, about the Freeport Armory. The Armory, for those who don't know, is a state-owned property that was once an important defense structure, but now serves as little more than a political football that might, after nearly five years, finally get kicked by its proverbial Charlie Brown.
Recently, Hooper's latest bill to transfer the armory, A08821A, out of New York State's hands actually made it to Governor Andrew Cuomo's desk to either sign or veto.
Let's cover a little history.
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| Image courtesy of Legion Post 342's Blogspot. |
The History of The War For The Armory
Allow me to take you back to a magical time called "2010." While Freeport was grappling with the idea that its new mayor, Andrew Hardwick, might contract with a Chinese company to build a 'green' incinerator and burn NYC's garbage to turn it into "gold," the Weekly Freeporter was born to get to the bottom of it. It turns out that Hooper and Hardwick had starred in a promotional video for a Freeport incinerator. Don't believe me? Here's a little proof:
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| Just a still-shot. The original clip appears to be have been thrown down the memory hole, |
This isn't about Andrew Hardwick, in spite of rumors he might run for another Freeport office. This is about the Armory and Earlene Hooper's repeated attempts to divest New York State's interest in it.
On the surface, NYS getting rid of it is a great idea. When Hooper first put bill A11379 into the New York State Assembly in the 2009-2010 legislative session, the goal was to transfer ownership to the Village of Freeport, itself. There were conditions attached, but the idea was to get the building into Freeport's pack of assets. At the time, residents were concerned about text that mandated the Armory be used for "educational" purposes.
Writing about it back in 2010, I mused along with many residents that the Armory could be used by the Department of Public Works. We were concerned about Hooper's "Police Bill" and Hardwick possibly using the Armory to facilitate his incinerator plans. Make no mistake: The incinerator scare turned out to be 85% hysteria. It may have been spawned by 100% bad public-relations, but it never made it beyond the "hey, this is a good idea" stage because, well, it wasn't a good idea.
I'm trying to provide a context for why Freeport has been resistant to accepting Hooper's transfer of the Armory. Had we known what we know now - that a major storm would devastate our town in October 2012 - we may have felt differently. Now, knowing that the entire south shore of our town could end up underwater, knowing that DPW itself is based right by the water, it makes sense to have a center-of-operations near our town's northern borders. In fact, during Sandy's aftermath, The Weekly Freeporter reported that the Federal government was using the Armory as an ad-hoc gas station to alleviate fuel droughts! What a great idea! Right?
That is why Earlene Hooper's current bill, A08821A, has bothered Freeport so greatly: Instead of transferring the armory to the Village, it will transfer it to the Cedermore Corporation.
Governor Cuomo: Veto.
I'm not here to join into the arguments of whether Hooper's proposed "focused learning facilities" for "at-risk youth" in Freeport and Roosevelt is a good or bad thing. It probably is a good idea to have services like that, since - y'know - helping kids is supposed to be a good thing. If this were a project Hooper had organized and deployed in one of the many abandoned buildings Freeport still has, I'd be completely in favor of it!
Unfortunately, I have to urge Freeport as a whole - and Governor Andrew Cuomo as an individual - to reject this plan.
In 2011 and 2012, two major storms (Irene in 2011; I know, she's forgettable compared to Sandy) crushed our town. In each case, as painful as this is to say, we got lucky. We haven't had a Category 5 Hurricane hit us. Sandy wasn't even Category 4. Imagine if she had been?
Freeport needs this Armory to house its Department of Public Works, our first line of defense against natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy. If you're from Roosevelt, Baldwin, Hempstead, Merrick, Bellmore or wherever, and if you're wondering why Freeport needs this asset, it's because we're on an island in the middle of the ocean. If there's a major flood, we need a place that's not on the shore but close to it so that we have a staging area.
Remember using the Recreation Center as an ad-hoc shelter, since parts of that flooded? I bet the Armory would be drier.
Remember how tough it was to get supplies into south Freeport? I bet the Armory would let us get them there, faster.
Remember how, in spite of Freeport's heroic EMS workers' efforts, the information networks people need to even access that system were crippled? The Armory could serve as a new, standing, permanent solution to where to get information.
Do the right thing: Veto this bill.
Earlene Hooper: Next time you write this perennial bill, give it to the Village of Freeport for the purposes of the DPW, and I'll happily let you kick this football. Why, yes. I suppose that makes me and the rest of Freeport's residents your Lucy. Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!
Earlene Hooper: Next time you write this perennial bill, give it to the Village of Freeport for the purposes of the DPW, and I'll happily let you kick this football. Why, yes. I suppose that makes me and the rest of Freeport's residents your Lucy. Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!
