Lucy von Brachel

Recent Posts

Capital Projects Hearing Feedback: Fix the Process. Advance GHS Pool, Riverside School Reno, GHS 2nd Egress

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Thursday night’s capital projects public hearing, organized by current BET chair, Republican Harry Fisher and First Selectman Fred Camillo, had few surprises but for feedback that the entire process should be more transparent. The meeting lasted just one hour. It might have been longer if there was an option to testify remotely. On the dais, in addition to Fisher and Camillo were BET members Elliot Alchek, Matt DesChamps, Leslie Moriarty, David Weisbrod, Leslie Tarkington and Stephen Selbst.  

Not in attendance were Lucia Jansen, Nisha Arora, David Alfano, Scott Kalb or Karen Fassuliotis. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Government, Schools, Sports, BET, Board of Estimate and Taxation, David Weisbrod, Doug Fenton, Frances Wu Nobay

P&Z Watch: Havemeyer Might Resemble Cemetery with Addition of Bush Statue and Loss of Mature Trees

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“It seems to me that with the loss of the trees, it begins to me to resemble Arlington Cemetery. We have monument, monument, monument, and a monument across the street – all at an intersection with great historic quality and beauty.” – P&Z Commissioner Mary Jenkins Continue Reading →

Filed under: Arts, Government, Real Estate, Anne Noel Jones, Arn Welles, Ashley Cole, Conte & Conte, David Wold

RTM Committees Balk at Flaws in Rink Process; All Vote to Reject the MI

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After a group meeting, four committees went to separate rooms in town hall to discuss and vote on the appeal of the ice rink MI. Land Use Committee: 4 yes, 5 no, 1 abstain. Public Works Committee: 1 yes; 9 no. Finance Committee: 3 yes, 6 no, 1 abstain. Last week, the Budget Overview Committee also voted to reject: 2 yes, 7 no, 3 abstain. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Government, Sports, Al Shehadi, Bill Drake, Byram, Dorothy Hamill Ice Skating Rink, James Waters, Joe Siciliano

MI Opponents: Plan is Driven by Hamill Rink User Committee Priority of No Loss of Ice Time

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“The result is a $24 million redesign of almost the entirety of Morlot Park which includes a new 40,000 square foot rink facility, more than 30% larger than the current rink, ‘flips’ the rink location with the existing baseball field and constructs a new baseball field on the location of the current rink. The Byram Veterans Memorial Tree Grove, now surrounded on all sides by open vistas, will be ‘honored’ with a 40 foot tall windowless wall almost immediately adjacent to one end of the grove.” – Liz Eckert, Joseph Kantorski, Al Shehadi, Lucy Von Brachel Continue Reading →

Filed under: Letter to the Editor, Al Shehadi, Joseph Kantorski, Liz Eckert, Lucy von Brachel

At Memorable P&Z Meeting, Byram Neighbors Again Push Back on “The Rink Flip”

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The proposal is again for “the flip,” which refers to switching the location of the existing 70’s era Hamill Rink with Strazza field, so that the new 42,000 sq ft rink (10,000 sq ft larger than the existing building) would be toward the middle of the park rather than tucked in the corner as it is now. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Government, Real Estate, Sports, Al Shehadi, Bill Drake, BNA, Don Sylvester, Eugene Morlot Park