DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION AND BENCHES

To the Editor:

Over a period of nine years (December 1994 through November 2003) the Village Board of Suffern (Messrs. Glinksy, Haggerty, Meehan, Traub and myself) raised $1.003 million for downtown improvement projects. As part of those improvements I was able to have two benches installed at the park located at Lafayette and Orange Avenues, two at Point Park (Washington and Orange Ave.) and two were installed inside the gazebo on Washington Avenue. In the years since, with no explanation, all of these benches were removed.

Outgoing Mayor Dagan Lacorte and Patricia Abato, who is running for mayor, have been running mates five times, and they oppose the idea of benches for downtown. I have spoken with former Mayor John Keegan and former Trustee Bill Schnoenleber, who are running again for mayor and trustee, and they have indicated that if they are elected they will reinstall the benches that were removed.

Suffern is the only local village without public seating in the business area. I believe that benches in the downtown area are an essential part of a thriving downtown.

Sincerely,
Former Suffern Village Trustee Jack Rosenberg