Oswald the Grouch

Oswald Boncoeur has been identified as the West Haverstraw Grouch who has filed numerous complaints about children playing basketball in his street. At a recent village board meeting Boncoeur cited an arcane village regulation that banned all ball-playing in streets–even side streets like his own–and local parents are worried that their children might be barred from normal childhood activities like wiffleball and basketball.

The village board has yet to decide on how they will handle Boncouer’s comlaint, but one local parent said she did not know what to make of the board’s reaction. The parent, whose son plays on the street, said, “We expressed our concern over the matter and the board kind of smirked like it wasn’t a big deal. We didn’t get much of answer besides Mayor Ramundo telling us that they will make a decision on the matter and give us a call back. I left the meeting feeling that they are going to do something to change this but that the neighbor that started all this isn’t going to give up and will find something else to give children a hard time.”

Some find it ironic Boncoeur detests children playing in the street as much as he does, considering he works for the North Rockland School District. He is employed as an accountant in the district’s financial department.

[Note-this article was edited from its original version]

  North Rockland School District, Oswald Boncoeur, west haverstraw