.
Feedback

An Inner-Village Garden Transformed

The soil remediation work surrounding the former battery plant is underway house by house: people are reportedly responding to letters mailed out and coming to the Cortlandt Street project office, where they can ask questions and tour a tiny garden.

 

The biggest question remaining to be seen when the opened on Cortlandt Street was: will the people come? I returned today to 160 Cortlandt and asked if residents targeted for soil remediation on properties surrounding the former battery plant in Sleepy Hollow have been responding to the letters mailed out.

The answer I got from both the guys at the office (who directed me to PR for an official statement) and Sleepy Hollow Village Administrator Anthony Giaccio was yes, very much. The process is going along as planned, Giaccio said, however slowly.

Before signing off on work, much preliminary negotiation is required with each and every property owner, company officials, the DEC, the village, arborists. Some landlords who live elsewhere are harder to track down, Giaccio said, but overall, it's going. People aren't required to get this work done, he said, but they are for the most part cooperating.

Meanwhile, the garden alongside the office has been transformed – as if almost overnight – it took about 4-5 days to create a little garden oasis with flowering plants, shrubs and small trees showing what's possible for people on their property. A big improvement to the sad lot that was surrounded by barbed wired there before.

Regular office hours have now been established: Mondays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. for walk-ins or by appointment. Call toll free 877-410-8412 or check out the project website for updates: formermallorybatteryfactory.com. There's also an updated PDF on the latest remediation measures as of June 2012 attached here.

Like us on Facebook  |  Follow us on Twitter  |  Sign up for our newsletter

Newsletter & Alerts

Get the best stories each day and important breaking news

Subscribe

Not from Tarrytown-Sleepy Hollow Patch? Find your Local Patch »

Loading comments ...
Note Article
Just a short thought to get the word out quickly about anything in your neighborhood.
Share something with your neighbors. Write a new post... What's up? Make an announcement, speak your mind, or sell something
Stephanie Segarra May 20, 2013 at 04:56 pm
it happens all over..even whole food! check every date!!!!!!!
Krista Madsen (Editor) May 20, 2013 at 10:42 am
Has this happened to others? black juice...ewww! Thanks for writing.
medibeads@gmail.com
Krista Madsen (Editor) May 20, 2013 at 10:44 am
Thanks Blanca for posting. Again contact: medibeads@gmail.com if you want to hear more about gettingRead More a beading party hosted by Blanca Medina. Here's more on her on Patch: http://tarrytown.patch.com/groups/around-town/p/would-you-like-to-learn-how-to-do-this
Krista Madsen (Editor) May 18, 2013 at 02:50 pm
sounds like great stuff, thanks for posting!
Peter Neidell May 18, 2013 at 08:48 am
PLEASE NOTE CHANGE TO ABOVE: Sale is Sunday only- 10 am-3 pm thanks!
Heron May 20, 2013 at 06:28 pm
A big part of the problem is that the teachers' expectations about what supplies are necessary haveRead More become so extreme. When my kids were in school in Tarrytown, we would get a list at the beginning of every school year of the supplies we needed to buy. The parents were asked to buy a separate looseleaf binder for every single class our kids were taking and, for some classes, they asked for a looseleaf AND a spiral notebook. When I was in school, each kid had ONE looseleaf and we separated classes with dividers. Having SIX or seven loose leafs adds to backpack weight and costs a lot of money. My kids supply bills were often close to $100 apiece. The teachers have bought into this idea that all of these supplies are necessary and they are not. I'm not surprised that Staples is offering "rewards programs." Their advertising and marketing efforts have convinced the teachers that you must have a package of 12 red correcting pens, per child.