Croton Week in Review: May 5-9
A political smear campaign, a famous local family, a blaze on Newton Court, and possible new taxes on tourist accommodations mark an eventful week.
Monday May 5
A hotly contested election for two seats on the Croton-Harmon Board of Education takes place on May 20. That might explain why an article in the Chronicle reporting on a smear campaign against two of the candidates has come very close to breaking the record for the number of readers of a post in this publication (with 3,700 views as we write.) The article was based on solidly confirmed reporting, but we ran it as a Commentary so that we could editorialize a bit on the moral and ethical dimensions of this unfortunate episode.
The post generated very mixed reactions, with outrage on behalf of supporters of the victims of the smear campaign—Allison Samuels and Leslie Pollak—and sharp criticisms from some supporters of their opponents, Theo Oshiro and Will Begeny. It was very disappointing that some of the attacks on our post came from partisans whom we know, again from our reporting, have been directly involved in misrepresenting the views of Samuels and Pollak. The Chronicle will have a lot more coverage of the campaign before it is over, beginning this coming week.
Wednesday May 7
On this day we took a break from Croton controversies to publish a profile of an old Croton family, the Jurkas, whose members included a popular local dentist, a psychiatrist who built what today is known as the Gouveia House, and even a famous actress (although the actress never lived in Croton.) The story generated a lot of interested from villagers who have been here a long time as well as from local history buffs.
But the day was not without local drama. Around 11:30 am, Croton fire fighters responded to a dramatic blaze that began in a garage and then ripped into a home on Newton Court. According to the Cortlandt Daily Voice, “Firefighters from Buchanan, Montrose, Montrose VA, Mohegan, Peekskill, Ossining, and Yorktown assisted at the scene, along with Croton Police, Croton EMS, Ossining EMS, and Peekskill EMS.”
Friday May 9
The last day of the working week brought us back to serious business. We reported on legislation introduced a few days earlier by State Senator Pete Harckham that would allow Croton to levy a tax on hotel and motel rooms, including AirBnBs and similar tourist accommodations. We mentioned local speculation that the adoption earlier this year of the Good Cause Eviction Law might have led some landlords to begin opting for more short-term rentals, and quoted Croton Mayor Brian Pugh to the effect that this legislation, if passed, would give Croton a tax levy option enjoyed by many other municipalities in New York State.
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