BOB RHODES SAYS THE BLOC IS NOT A BLOC

To the Editor,

The news media continue to talk about the “bloc.” What they don’t recognize is that despite continued rapid growth in the Hasidic community, St. Lawrence’s political support seems stuck with about 13,000 votes. What has happened is quite simple. As his Hasidic vote has grown his support in the Orthodox community has fallen. This community is well aware of the smell down at town hall but it won’t vote for Preserve Ramapo/Reform because it “knows” this group is anti-Semitic.

The result is that this large community has basically thrown up its hands and said a plague on both of your houses. St. Lawrence and his cronies in the developer community continue to build a true city on the infrastructure of a low density suburban town. This growth has not done much to solve the housing crisis of our Hasidic community because more and more of this housing is being built for a huge wave of migration from Brooklyn. How long can this trend continue?

Ramapo was already the most financially stressed town in New York two years ago. Unfortunately its financial position is much worse today. We need a huge investment in our roads and sewers which is not going to happen. Cities need full time professional fire departments and we too will need one soon. Just another few more million of dollars a year we don’t have.

Sincerely,

Robert I. Rhodes, Chairman, Preserve Ramapo

Editor’s note: St. Lawrence actually gained over 14,500 votes, prior to counting of absentee ballots.