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Yonkers Groups Fight Proposed Liquor Store

YONKERS, N.Y. – A Yonkers community center has a sobering message for developers and their liquor store: Stay away.

The Nepperhan Community Center and the Yonkers Violence and Gang Prevention Coalition have launched an online petition, demanding that the state revoke the license for a proposed liquor store on Warburton Avenue.

The store, which would be across the street from the community center, “poses a very high risk that children will be unfairly exposed to the temptation of access to alcohol,” organizers say.

The New York State Liquor Authority recently granted a liquor license to the proposed store at 325 Warburton Ave., site of a former hair salon. In response, the Nepperhan Community Center launched the petition on change.org, demanding that liquor authority Chairman Dennis Rosen revoke the license.

In their letter to the chairman, organizers say the liquor store is in an area frequented by children. In addition to the community center, which hosts one of Westchester County’s largest after-school programs, the Charter School of Excellence, two public schools and the Hudson River Museum sit just blocks away, they say.

“It is a tragic situation when we put profit over safety and the well-being of our children,” petition organizers wrote.

The community center also writes that the neighborhood is economically disadvantaged, populated by minorities and poor families.

“This is not allowed to happen in more affluent neighborhoods,” they said. “It should not be allowed to happen here.”

Launched Friday, the petition has gained the support of more than a half-dozen residents and community members. “The community would not benefit from this,” Yonkers resident Emily Ellis wrote on the site. “Our children's livelihoods are at stake.”

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