Yonkers Insider: Statement from New York State Assemblyman Nader Sayegh 90th District.

 

Friends,

I grew up in Southwest Yonkers, so to see the community, State and Federal Government successfully work together to deliver a major investment in the future of this vibrant community means a lot. My friend U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer visited us in Southwest Yonkers to announce that $4.5 million dollars in now available for the Yonkers Greenway Project and he will push hard to deliver the funds coming from the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program of the U.S. Department of Transportation. When the Old Putnam Passenger Railroad closed, Southwest Yonkers was cut off from the rest of the city and the Bronx to the South. Consequently, jobs and businesses left. Once the community was redlined by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), financial institutions no longer wanted to invest there, creating urban decay that continues to impede the growth of this area. Going forward on the abandoned rail line, a pedestrian rail trail will be built, with connections to transportation services. This will be a game changer for Southwest Yonkers. The project will create a green corridor for walking, jogging, and bicycling that will reconnect the neighborhood with the rest of Yonkers. Following are photos from the News Conference with Senator Schumer where the old Putnam Railroad's Lowerre Station once stood. I thank U.S. Senate Majority Leader Schumer, and New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins, Congressman Jamaal Bowman, and Mayor Mike Spano for making this a priority project for the Federal, State, and Local Governments, and thank the community leaders, Greenway organizers and the South Broadway Business Improvement District for their years of tirelessly promoting this project which will be game changer for the residents of Southwest Yonkers.

Nader J. Sayegh NYS Assemblyman 90th District-Yonkers