49°
To the editor:
Ossining’s Main Street was once a destination. People came here to shop, eat, see movies and live performances, exchange pleasantries with their neighbors and sometimes, to discuss the issues of the day. Now, we are in the era of online shopping, Facebook and Twitter and not going back to former times. Nonetheless, the ideas of a less-than-hyper-speed society and face-to-face contacts are cultural values that any civilization worthy of the name must keep.
The proposed roundabout is an impediment to the revitalization of this village because its job is to keep traffic moving at a steady speed. It will never be a force for turning downtown Ossining into a destination. Few, if any, people will go there just to see traffic go around in circles. It will just be a no stopping zone designed by traffic engineers to move traffic to and from the train station more efficiently.
Unfortunately, the majority of the Village Board wants to create a future where our historic downtown’s architectural significance and special sense is second to saving a few minutes of travel time in the daily routines of commuters. The project comes at the expense of parking spaces and roomy sidewalks for those who want to stop and shop, walk and talk, and view and chew in this eclectic neighborhood.
The Village Board has no substantive plan to assure that when the Sing Sing Museum comes on line there will be a visitor center in our downtown that encourages visitors to linger and patronize the spot, our businesses or our historic sites.
The Village Board must take the roundabout off of its agenda. It has no historical or architectural value. It will stand as monument to cars and to the destruction of the very idea of “Historic Ossining.” Long past Village Boards genuflected to the altar of urban renewal. In return, they received a barren, desolate Main Street to nowhere and our eternal damnation.
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