Vote to Dissolve Village of South Nyack Set for December 17

Months of speculation and concern over who was negotiating to purchase Nyack College’s sprawling campus overlooking the Hudson were answered mid-Summer: the former Christian college and its scenic campus, a landmark on the banks of the Hudson for 120 years, was purchased for a fire-sale price of approximately $44 million by Yeshiva Viznitz, based in Ramapo’s Village of Kaser.

After deciding to return to its original Manhattan roots, Nyack College floated the idea of closing in 2018 but remained open until the end of the spring, 2019 term. Due to a provision in the covenant between the college and the village, the delay on Nyack College’s move to close its doors allowed South Nyack Village officials to reject changes that would permit the new owner to build multi-family residential housing on the property.

To that end, the Village Board of Trustees hired William Harrington, a land-use attorney with Bleakley, Platt & Schmitt in White Plains as a result of Yeshiva Viznitz’s desire to incorporate family-style housing and apartments onto their future boys-only school.

After the public learned the new buyer’s identity and plans for the property, petitions were circulated and presented to Village of South Nyack Mayor Bonnie Christian to dissolve the tiny municipality.  Those petitions have been certified, and residents will now vote on whether to dissolve the Village of South Nyack and become part of the Village of Nyack and receive its municipal services from the Town of Orangetown.

Rockland County Legislator Nancy Low-Hogan, a South Nyack resident, decried the local decision to dissolve the village. Notwithstanding her objection, her fellow residents will vote on its dissolution Thursday, December 17.

The Village of South Nyack’s Mayor, Bonnie Christian, failed to return calls for comment at press time.