Croton Point Nature Center Off Chopping Block

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. –Westchester County Legislators passed a budget at 2 a.m. Friday morning that seems to remove Croton Point Park's Nature Center from the chopping block. Republican County Executive Rob Astorino could still veto items from the legislature's budget and was Astorino who originally proposed cutting nature centers from the budget.

In all, six nature centers, including Croton Point Park's Nature Center, were slated to be defunded in Astorino's proposed county budget. Legislators came to an agreement early Friday morning to restore funding to the centers, and Cornell Cooperative.

After legislators passed their budget last night, Astorino said he would be looking for items to veto. The legislature's Democratic supermajority still has override power for any vetoes the executive makes.

“These were the priorities that were reflected by the people of Westchester,” said Democratic majority leader, Peter Harckham (D-Bedford). “First of all, the six nature centers were saved, and it’s important to remember that these are not just nature centers. The curators are the regional coordinators with Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Environmental Conservation, Environmental Protection Agency, and academic grant institutions. As was funding for the Greenburgh Nature Center and the deer management program was restored which is critical to protect the fragile ecology of parks in northern Westchester.”

Croton Point Park’s Nature Center, along with Cranberry Lake Preserve, Lenoir Preserves of Yonkers, Marshlands Conservancy and Edith Read Sanctuary in Rye, and Trailside Nature Museum at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation in Cross River were slated to be defunded in Republican County Executive Rob Astorino’s proposed budget. The 5 percent cut in Department of Parks Recreation and Conservation would have laid off all of curators of those nature centers.

In a “Frequently Asked Questions” article published on the county website, the proposed budget said it would have looked for funding from “private sources” to offset cuts.

Bill Burton (D-Ossining, south Cortlandt), said the budgets differed, but that there would not be property tax increases. “It’s a yes and no, our priorities are different than his,” said Burton about whether the budgets were similar, “We think the layoffs he proposed are excessive.”

Michael Newhouse is a Natural Resources Field Specialist with the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, and an Ossining resident. He said “I think it would have been a huge loss in conservation and education,” if the nature centers were cut from the budget. Newhouse is also a compiler with the Peekskill Christmas Bird Count, which has been collecting data on regional birds for the last 56 years.

“Those people did a huge job in keeping things natural, in plantings, in birds,” he said. “One of the biggest problems in the environment is education, people don’t understand what needs to be done, a lot of those folks pushed that,” said Newhouse.

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