Archive: Opinions

Here's a little bit of idle thinking for you who give an occasional passing thought to that 800 pound urban gorilla that dominates the county and all the towns that surround it (10 square miles surrounded by reality, donchya know...).

A Business Improvement District for Collegetown. Thoughts and words are being bandied about to create this 'Business Improvement District' for the entity known as Collegetown. Never a distinct political entity other than a loosely defined legislative district which was mainly known for lack of political participation in city elections, the area roughly encompassing College Avenue, Eddy Street, Dryden Road, and surrounding residential areas was known for years as, basically, a 'no-go' area for residents of the rest of the city. For years, substandard housing, sleazy bars and mostly bad food, not to mention Friday and Saturday night insanity with college students lying and puking on lawns, porches and streets was pretty much what was expected of this uphill backwater of the city.


But, now, Collegetown is beginning to look like one of the Big Apple boroughs, with high rise apartment buildings crowding out the sky, giving us literal tunnel vision as we drive up Dryden Road, the bars are mostly gone replaced by ethnic food restaurants and other amenities of urban upscale living.

Crowded?? Probably as dense as many areas of Brooklyn or Long Island, a true cityscape aching to be recognized as a distinct entity, not just geographically but politically as well. 'Collegetown don't get no respect', as Dangerfield might have said (or was that Jason Fane?).

Gary Ferguson, Director of the Downtown Ithaca Alliance has presented a potential snapshot of what a Business Improvement District could 'do' for Collegetown, as if it hasn't already been 'done' by the building craze up there. 'Lukewarm' was the description of the reception for this recent presentation, from what I have heard, both small business owners (the few left in Collegetown) and 'small' landlords (not stature, but holdings, which seem to be a dying breed in Collegetown, or for that matter the city) are are afraid of being squeezed out of the potential pot at the end of the BID rainbow.

So, how about this as an outrageous counter-proposal? (I tried this once years ago with a proposal for a downtown Wal-Mart, with interesting results when proposed to the members of the Downtown Ithaca Alliance, I think it was called in 2002). Why not a secession vote by the residents of Collegetown?

Determine some boundaries of the proposed entity of 'Collegetown', for starters. Let's say, Stewart Avenue on the west, Cascadilla Gorge on the north, East State to Mitchell on the south and Vine Street (always a source of contention as to the actual boundary of the city) on the east. Call it 'Village of Collegetown' and set it up the same way that Cayuga Heights was separated from the city/town of Ithaca, and the Village of Lansing (basically a tax entity taking advantage of the malls and open land for housing, separate from active farm land). It would have its own Village Council, its own mayor (yikes, think of that, Svante) a taxing entity and would operate within NY state law governing village entities.

Why go halfway with a government within a government (AKA, BID) which is, truly, the redundancy of B.I.D., as it taxes business and residences to provide services which the city fails or declines to provide as part of its obligations, thus assessing tax twice to the downtown area with few benefits and lets the city off the hook.

Collegetown can be its own little fiefdom. College students and permanent residents can make their own decisions and determination as to policing, public safety, zoning and housing regulations, giving home owning residents some say over their property rights (look at what has happened to people like Neil Golder who have been overrun with multistory apartments which they rightfully objected to). The residents can contract out to provide their own street maintenance and fire protection (already a fire house on College Avenue, of course) thus eliminating the reasonable sentiment that their tax dollars just dribble downhill to keep deficient city services going while their own neighborhood suffers, as well as ridiculous regulatory boards at bay, thus determining their own fate, and usage of tax dollars being kept in their own neighborhood. That includes parking issues, too.

And if they determine they are fed up with the apartments taking over the Village of Collegetown, they can stop it, if they wish, without letting City Hall determine what is 'appropriate', no matter how ridiculous and dangerous. The Village of Collegetown could have its own internecine quarrels, and determine on their own what to build, what to tear down, what's worth preserving instead of allowing do-gooders (not to mention out of towners) to outweigh neighborhood concerns on various boards. The residents of Collegetown (read: homeowners) have always been active, though unequal, participants on boards and advisory committees, but never felt they were being respected or heard. Collegetown could finally be seen as an equal entity as any other municipality and not beholden to the city for the crumbs of City Hall largess. Imagine the bumper stickers: 'Free Collegetown', or 'I (heart symbol) my Collegetown Village'.

Another short note about current affairs. I really do hate to say 'You heard it here, first'. In reference to the latest revelations that Russian 'operators' fed both environmental and industrialist 'sides' misleading and divisive news stories in 2016, not to mention the latest revelations of how FaceBook was used to influence millions of voters by their so-called 'social profile preferences'.

Sean Kanuck, the former head of cyber issues for the US National Intelligence Council has stated, "In many cases the underlying objective was to create confusion and conflict" between differing sides in the environmental debates important to the electoral processes in the US. My column in the Lansing Star late last year fictionalizing a meeting in the Kremlin where Putin encouraged and authorized efforts to destabilize not the election so much as Americans' faith in our electoral process and 1st Amendment seems almost prescient, if I do say so myself. As has often happened in my life, I wish I wasn't so right this time. Luckily, I do not anticipate being subpoenaed any time soon.

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