Yonkers Development Issues

https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/yonkers/2020/09/18/ludlow-park-yonkers-jose-alvarado/5802396002/

County Legislator Jose Alvarado says progress has been made on odor remediation.
Mark Lungariello
Rockland/Westchester Journal News

It’s got a million-dollar view – but hopefully it doesn't come with a million odorous fumes.

A vacant lot on the Hudson River behind a Yonkers wastewater treatment plant would be converted into Westchester County’s newest park in a proposal by one county lawmaker.

Legislator Jose Alvarado, D-Yonkers, wants to include $10 million in next year’s capital budget to build the public park in the Ludlow Park section of southwest Yonkers.

“This is really the county government investing in an area that has suffered with bad odors for decades," Alvarado told The Journal News/lohud. "The Ludlow Park community wants it and needs it. Something positive needs to happen there."

The plan has support from neighborhood civic group and city officials, he said. The proposal isn't new, he said, and was pushed by residents in the neighborhood alongside odor remediation efforts at the turn of the century.

The county property has postcard views of the New Jersey Palisades, but is next door to a treatment plant that has long been a source of complaints from residents – and even downriver Bronx residents – because of wafting sewage smells.

But the plant has seen much construction work, including $22 million recently approved by the legislature for work including upgrades to its odor-control systems. Alvarado said the work means it is now “safe to provide the area with more green space.

“Due to recent odor remediation work at the Yonkers Wastewater Treatment Plant and the upcoming study on sewer consolidation, we can continue to improve the area by opening up the waterfront with the creation of a County Park,” Alvarado wrote in a memo on the project to his colleagues in the legislature.

He said he's confident the idea will get support from his colleagues in the legislature as it evolves from early discussions into a tangible plan coinciding with long-term work to improve the treatment plant.

Alvarado first spent 10 years as legislator for the district starting in 2002, then reclaimed his position this year. During the time he was out of office, he said the potential parkland has remained unused, overgrown and fenced in.

Catherine Cioffi, a spokeswoman for County Executive George Latimer, said the administration will review any and all proposals.