MTA Tarrytown cell tower advances despite railroad talks to move from nearby playground

A day after the MTA announced it had “productive conversations” regarding relocating its Tarrytown communications tower, workers poured concrete Wednesday morning for a permanent fence surrounding the 150-foot high monopole that looms over a playground and apartment complex.

That didn't sit well with Tarrytown resident Jamie Weiss-Yagoda, who called on the MTA to halt construction at the monopole site until a decision is made on relocating the tower, which is designed to host antennae from the MTA Police Department as well as private wireless carriers.

“We need them to cease their work completely until all alternatives are appropriately considered and weighed from health and safety perspectives,” she said. “I think this work demonstrates the MTA’s unwillingness to listen to the voices of the people.”

The police radio project involves installing equipment at 65 locations across a 5,000-square-mile territory, including on 13 monopoles. Current work includes building a higher and sturdier security fence around the tower and grounding the tower's lightning rod. 

"Though the new tower structure is complete, our efforts to find an alternate location are continuing," said MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan. "The ongoing site work is necessary to ensure the safety of what has been built.”

Cell tower opponents had mentioned the ongoing construction work at the Tax Watch Town Hall meeting in Tarrytown Village Hall Tuesday night. More than 100 Tarrytown residents, elected officials and state Attorney General candidate Michael Sussman jammed Tarrytown Village Hall to share their thoughts about the 15-story tower that now looms over their residential neighborhood. 

They were unanimous in their desire for the MTA to dismantle the monopole and relocate the communications equipment.

The tower, which will serve the MTA Police Department, New York state Police, and the state Department of Homeland Security, was erected on Sept. 15, just 30 feet from a playground and within 150 feet of buildings with 14 apartments in the Franklin Courts public housing complex.

The tower also drew criticism because it impedes the view of hundreds of Tarrytown residents who live up the hill from Metro-North’s Tarrytown station.

Franklin Courts tenant Benita Maceyak said the continued work on the monopole doesn’t bode well for the campaign to have it taken down.

“What are the chances now?” she wondered. “Looks like zero to none."

Mixed messages

The disappointment Wednesday was in contrast to what Tarrytown Mayor Drew Fixell called “cautious optimism” on Tuesday evening. Both the MTA and a representative of Gov. Andrew Cuomo were invited to the event. Cuomo’s office did not respond to the invitation, and the MTA declined to attend.

However, the MTA sent a statement indicating it was looking for alternative sites.

“We have heard the concerns the community has raised most recently, and we are continuing to look at alternative sites for the tower in consultation with elected officials, the State Police, and the Thruway,” said Donovan. “We are having productive conversations, and we want to come to a solution that all parties feel is mutually beneficial.”

State Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, whose district includes Tarrytown, remained optimistic Wednesday that the cell tower would be taken down. She spoke with Tax Watch after contacting an MTA official who told her a resolution could be announced by the end of October.

“They believe they can have it resolved within the next two to three weeks in a positive way,” said Stewart-Cousins, leader of the state Senate Democrats. “It is not going to be acceptable in another residential neighborhood.”

One issue raised at Tuesday night’s meeting was the commuter railroad’s lack of communication with residents impacted by the cell tower’s installation

Wilfredo Gonzalez, executive director of the Tarrytown Municipal Housing Authority, said the railroad never contacted his office, even though the 150-foot tower was installed on the Authority’s property line, adjacent to a playground and several apartment buildings.

“We didn’t hear boo,” Gonzalez said. “The next thing we know, the pole went up.”

The MTA had insisted that the site next to the Franklin Courts playground and apartments was the only feasible place for the communication system, which would improve service for the MTA and other public safety agencies during emergencies and natural disasters.

MTA spokesman Donovan said it was the responsibility of Tarrytown village officials to inform their constituents about what was about to be done to them by the authority. The MTA expected Tarrytown to conduct a public process for a project over which it had no control.

“For a project of this size, we depend on local community leaders — people with highly specialized local knowledge — to work with us to inform their communities of these plans," he said in a written statement. 

The MTA is reviewing several sites. They include the new State Police barracks in Tarrytown by the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge; atop one of the bridge’s towers; or by a water tower in the Taxter Ridge hillside. Residents in Taxter Ridge, however, said Tuesday night that they didn’t want to live by a tower in their neighborhood.

The uprising against the MTA in Tarrytown comes as residents and municipalities are engaging in fights over cell towers in Philipstown, Mount Pleasant and Pelham. The MTA is also looking to erect towers for its communications system in the town of Poughkeepsie and the city of Rye.

PLAYGROUND: MTA skirts zoning, puts up cell tower by Tarrytown playground

HUNTING: MTA hunts for site to relocate cell tower

MONEYMAKER: MTA to rent out space to wireless carriers on Tarrytown cell tower

Follow Tax Watch columnist David McKay Wilson on Facebook and Instagram,and on Twitter @davidmckay415.