Orangetown honors Irish Heritage, condemns state zoning proposal

On March 11th, Orangetown held a presentation honoring Sister Mary T. Flood, OP, Prioress of The Sisters of Saint Dominic of Blauvelt, also known as Dr. Flood, and Sister Irene Ellis, OP, Prioress of The Sparkill Dominican Convent of Our Lady of the Rosary. This celebration falls squarely in the middle of 2025 National Catholic Sisters Week, which takes place between March 8th to March 14th.

Following the ceremony were presentations for 2025 Irish Cultural Heritage Month. Deputy Supervisor Denis Troy, who ran the meeting in Supervisor Kenny’s stead, emphasized the incredible contributions of people of Irish descent to the Orangetown community. Troy recognized the many ways in which Irish Americans have boosted the economy of Orangetown, brought in their unique cultural skills, and served both in a community sense and in a cultural sense with organizations such as the Irish Cultural Center and the Gaelic Athletic Association. Of course, there is no mention of Irish Americans without mentioning the famous Rockland County St. Patrick’s Day Parade. This parade is recognized as the second largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York, competing only with New York City. “The Town Board declares March to be the Irish Cultural Heritage Month in the town of Orangetown, so declared by Teresa Kenny,” stated Deputy Supervisor Troy.

Several Hibernians were honored for their work in Rockland County. Hibernian of the Year was announced as Charles “Chuck” Parnow, with Bernadette “Bernie” Fitzgerald, Tara McDonald and Tina Murphy jointly recognized as Business Person of the Year for their work at The Gracie Rose in Pearl River. John B. Kelly Jr. was recognized as the Aide to the Grand Marshal in NYC, and Police Officer Patrick Casey from Orangetown Police Department was named the Parade Commander. Lastly, John W. McGowan was honored as the Parade Grand Marshal.

After a bit of friendly badgering by Deputy Supervisor Troy, McGowan approached the mic and gave a modest speech regarding his role as the Parade Grand Marshal. A member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians Pipe Band since 2004, McGowan is a skilled bagpiper with two decades and 200 parades of experience under his kilt. “…There’s nothing like the Pearl River St. Patrick’s Day Parade,” said McGowan. “I think the thing that makes it stand out is a sense of community. Families come together to celebrate through the good times and bad times, but regardless they’re there that day in celebration of their faith, of their heritage and their community.” The 61st Pearl River St. Patrick’s Day Parade will take place Sunday, March 23rd at 1:30 p.m.

A landlord registry was a point of contention during the March 11th town board meeting, and was discussed by both the board and public speakers. The board acknowledged the difficulty of disseminating information regarding the landlord registry and keeping on top of registration. The board stated that the importance of requiring landlords to register is geared more towards houses, single family or two family residences renting out spaces so that the town can stay on top of owners who allow buildings to fall into disrepair.

During the public comment portion, one town resident presented ideas for improving the landlord registry, as she had discovered several homes for rent that did not appear on the landlord registry.

The same speaker presented concern over faith based affordable housing, referencing a bill in the NY State Senate that she alleged would allow for faith based housing developers to create housing that would not be subject to municipality zones codes. The bill is titled Senate Bill S7791A or Assembly Bill A8386A, with both being subtitled as “Enacts the faith-based affordable housing act”. Many of the town board voiced disagreement with the bill and a desire to keep zoning decisions subject to local government rather than New York State. 

Deputy Supervisor Troy made a comment about his twenty year tenure on the town board, stating that he had done“…everything [he] could to keep certain people in certain areas of the county and not here…whatever that means.” The remark clearly dismayed several members of the board, who reminded residents that Deputy Supervisor Troy was not currently a voting member of the body.

Town Attorney Robert Magrino proposed drafting a resolution to send to the state memorializing the board’s opposition to faith-based affordable housing. Magrino was resolute that this was not his idea and was instead suggested to him buy an acquaintance, but the idea was met with applause from many attendees at the meeting.