Sunday, June 22, 2008

Shangri-La? Really? Wow!


From the N Y Times Escapes section, Friday. June 20, 2008


Day Trip Monroe, N.Y.
A Spirit-Friendly Retreat in the Catskills
By Tammy La Gorce


FOR those whose ideal day trip hinges on the possibility of returning home aglow with a lingering sense of tranquillity, Monroe, N.Y., which sits in the foothills of the Catskills, can feel like a small Shangri-La.


A little over an hour north of Manhattan, Monroe is child-friendly, adult-friendly and, perhaps most important, spirit-friendly.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now thats funny....

Anonymous said...

Maybe this is where Mike A. is moving. Yes, after his "Many things have changed since I voted last time" announcement, I guess what changed was that he decided to leave Woodbury. Thanks, Mike, for altering the town with your single vote, and then getting the heck out since you now realize your mistake. Too bad we don't all have that luxury.

Anonymous said...

Did Mike A really move??

Anonymous said...

There's a "sold" sign on his house. But maybe he's just playing with our heads, like last time. Ha, ha.

Anonymous said...

this blog is boring. go to this one--it's more interesting
http://mariandeer.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Why can't Mike move?

Did you ever think that Mike has a life outside Woodbury?

Stop being so dramatic in saying that his vote altered Woodbury.
It's not Woodbury Junction that will ruin this town, it's idiots like you that have no life and make trouble for everyone else.

Maybe if you got laid once in awhile you may be better to focus on all the positive things that happen here.

I know you must think I can see right into your bedroom but it's more a hunch that I have about you and every other miserable slouch that tries to convice others that you have a clue when you really don't.

You do not know more then engineers, land attorneys, traffic engineers and every other EXPERT that has worked on large projects.

Listen if porn isn't doing the job for you anymore there is a city about 15 miles north of here called Newburgh where you can find all different kinds of crackhead prostitutes that would be more then willing to help reduce some of your pent up sexual aggression.
After you get relief you too will see what a WONDERFUL community we live in.

P.S. I welcome all newcomers into our town/village. It's not here just for you

Anonymous said...

Look at this, Vacation in Monroe. Isn't this the same Monroe where the residents complain of having NO swimming places?

Uncle Betty said...

Well, that would make it drowning-proof.

Anonymous said...

Mike A aka "THE FLIPPER" is leaving town!! Wow, now I know why he changed his vote from "Let the People Decide" to voting yes to HIGH DENSITY HOUSING !!! Collen left town, not to far. Iris sold her house (well above market value) but is currently renting her house from God knows who???? And Mindy Prosperi sold her house (well above market value) and also rented back her house from God knows who. But I beleive she's living elsewhere. Gee anyone see a pattern.

Anonymous said...

Gee let's see...

1. Mike A got a better job offer elsewhere's

2. Colleen was sick of dumping 10's of thousands of dollars into an old home

Iris and Mindy had no choice. What would you do in their position?

Again City of Newburgh only a stones throw away! Take care of business and stop butting into people's personnal lives and coming up with your twisted versions of the truth.

Anonymous said...

10's of thousands of dollars???? Where did Colleen go? I don't blame anyone from making tons of money from the sale of their homes. BUT, "they knew they would leave". So, why not leave THE DECISION of HIGH DENSITY HOUSING TO THE PEOPLE WILLING to stay.

Anonymous said...

You mean the people who have been here for a while who would never let ANYONE else in after THEY moved here from the City or other points south?
(OK for them to move here, but not you!!!!)

Anonymous said...

No, I think he/she means the people who will stay here and don't want the infrastructure problems that these new developments will bring. Years ago people thought Woodbury Common was a good thing, and look at the problems that it has brought! I, personally, do not care who moves in or out of Woodbury. What I care about is preserving the quality of life at least as well as we have it, if not improving it. Other towns are looking to do the same thing by putting moratoriums or restrictions on building. Why shouldn't we?

Anonymous said...

Woodbury Commons was never a good idea. Here's another example of someone that took the money and ran leaving the rest of us who still loved Woodbury to suffer! U long timers know who I am referring to. Unfortunatley that individual is no longer among us.

Anonymous said...

The Woodbury Commons brings in a ton of money and employees thousands of people. What problems? A few weekends a year. Big deal. Get over it.

You don't like change that's your problem. You have no life except to complain. The rest of us except it and move on with our lives.

Try to read better. I SAID COLLEEN WAS TIRED OF DUMPING 10's OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS INTO THAT OLD HOUSE!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

The only thing with high density around here is the space between your freakin ears.

Anonymous said...

If that Times writer thinks Monroe is tranquil, he should see 17m on a late friday afternoon when everybody wants to kill each other.

Anonymous said...

For everyone who describes Woodbury Junction (AKA Brodsky's) project as "high density", please define the term.

I define "high density" as semi attached or attached housing of at least 6 units per acre or more. Examples in Woodbury would be Woodbury Heights, Timber Ridge and the apartments near Bright Star diner. All of these would fit that definition.

1/2 acre to 3/4 acre lots of detached homes, each with their own yard, DOES NOT fit any logical definition of "high density."

Who should know this? Bob Donnelly and Manny Manquel who live in truly high density housing--- Timber Ridge---which ranges from 9 units per acre and up.

Caruso lives on a 1/4 acre lot so he must also be high density as is Bo Haviland who lives on the same 1/2 acre lot that Brodsky proposes!! John Burke lives on a lot of about 3/4 acre---the size of some of Brodsky's lots.

So all of these people yelling about Brodsky's high density housing all live on the same size or smaller lots (in the case of Donnelly and Manquel, really, really smaller lots of less than 1,000 square feet) than are being built in Woodbury Junction. Talk about hypocrites. That is the housing they choose, likely because that is what they could afford. But all newcomers to Woodbury must only live on 2 and 3 acre estates, according to them.

By their definition, almost everyone in Skyline and along the side streets off Rt. 32 live in high density housing.

Bigger question: Why would people living on smaller or the same size lots as Brodsky's call them high density when they clearly are not?
Simple--- "high density" scares people and makes people picture lots of townhouses and condos. Would people be quite so upset if they said, we oppose this development because the lots are 1/2 and 3/4 acres in size---the same as many people in Woodbury?

Of course not. This is about pushing panic bottoms so people will vote for those against "high density" housing. It's about people who had us pay for their children to go to school (some of them with fairly large families), but now do not want to pay for your children to go to school.

Even the 130 senior homes in Brodsky's project are on larger lots (1/4 acre) than Donnelly's and Manguel's homes and the same size as Caruso's plus these homes will still pay taxes but send no kids to school. We should be embracing those 130 homes as a tax plus.

So the next time someone says high density housing---ask for their definition and then make up your own mind. You can oppose Brodsky's project but do so as an informed person and for reasons other than "high density".

Anonymous said...

I do not see Mike A as being a "flipper". I see him as someone who was under the influence of Caruso and Seibolt in the beginning and believed what they told him. Then when he got on the Board and started reading material and learning things, he began to think for himself.

I was at the hearing where Caruso stood up and misquoted the law saying that a referendum could be held about zoning when the Town attorney actually read aloud the section of the law that said what issues could be used for referendums. Caruso conveniently left that sentence out. All Mike A. had to do was read the law himself and see the lie right in front of him. And there were many other lies which after a while should make a person step back and ask: If this person lied to me about this and this and this, I had better check everything they say and ask for documentation.

I think Mike A wised up after seeing through the lies. He began to actually read and question things.

Also it was easy to be the one no vote when his vote was not as important. However, when his vote mattered, he realized he had misunderstood things and reconsidered.

I find that more reassuring than John Burke admitting publicly that he voted against the 5 laws because he did not read them or realize that the senior housing law (allowing seniors to own rather than rent their housing) applied to seniors in general and not just Brodsky's project. How frightening to have a Supervisor who votes without reading or understanding what he is voting on, but just votes no anyway. Wonder what else he has not read or understood and voted on, folks.

It is also frightening that Councilman Haviland brought a large shovel to the meeting of the first vote on Brodsky's project. I was in the back and astounded when he appeared with this. If it was meant to intimidate people or as a joke about "shoveling" crap for a decision, it was just strange and weird and not becoming someone who had run and would run again for office.
I am glad the police asked him to put the shovel back outside the building. But perhaps these were early signs of someone who also didn't know much about government since he, Levine and Burke put out the lying flier in Timber Ridge and won the election by cheating.

Give me Mike A. any day to these clowns. Maybe he moved because of who is now governoring the Town.