Greenport Mayor David Nyce. (Credit: Julie Lane, file)
Saying goodbye after eight years, Greenport Mayor David Nyce confirmed Friday he will not seek a third term when his expires this spring. (more…)
Tag: Mayor David Nyce
The Greenport Village Board during Monday night’s work session. (Credit: Jen Nuzzo)
The Greenport Village Board has approved a nearly $55,000 study to review the village’s electrical plant that faulted in August and left some residents with without power for more than 11 hours.
Sid Smith, who captains The Merit fishing boat out of Greenport, believes he’s being punished by village officials for being outspoken over issues concerning the village. He was told to vacate the railroad dock earlier this year for not having enough insurance. (Credit: Paul Squire)
At a recent Greenport code committee meeting, village officials floated the idea of increasing marine insurance requirements for commercial boat owners who keep vessels at the railroad dock.
But committee members — including Mayor David Nyce and village attorney Joseph Prokop — balked at the proposal, which would raise the minimum required coverage from $1 million to $2 million. (more…)
Village sponsored activities such as Dances in the Park are not impacted by the ban on events in Mitchell Park. (Credit: Katharine Schroeder, file)
Each day the ill-timed moratorium prevents special events from taking place in Greenport’s Mitchell Park is another day of opportunity wasted. With every summer weekend that passes, the village could be raising revenues from groups looking to use sections of the park, while attracting more people who could shop in businesses that are still struggling to rebound from a historically cold, and thus financially difficult, winter. (more…)
Cars waiting in line on Wiggins Street in Greenport for the North Ferry to Shelter Island. (Credit: Ambrose Clancy, file)
A pilot plan is in the works to reroute traffic for the North Ferry in Greenport.
Greenport Village Mayor David Nyce has been speaking with local state officials for several months about a plan to redirect ferry lines on the village side to help ease traffic congestion. !–more–>
So far, the proposal has been stalled, as the village waits for approval from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to use the land it owns behind the East End Seaport Museum as a staging area for cars waiting to board the ferry.
To help expedite things, the mayor said the village is in the process of drafting a letter to the MTA requesting a test run of the proposed traffic flow changes before either party commits to entering a lease agreement that would allow the village to use the MTA property.
Mr. Nyce said there is no timeframe on when, or if, the new traffic plan would be in place because the MTA would need to finalize any decision on the land’s use.
The plan to reroute traffic is meant to fix a 21st century problem, according to village officials.
Vehicles access the ferry by turning south down Sixth Street from Route 25 onto Route 114 and then following that to Wiggins Street.
However, GPS devices direct drivers south onto Third Street from Front Street in the village, resulting in occasional tempers to flare from drivers waiting on line from Wiggins Street. It can also result in a traffic backup on Third Street that sometimes spills over onto Front Street.
In the meantime, the ferry’s staff occasionally serves as traffic directors on the Greenport side.
Katharine Schroeder file photo | Workers at the at the Greenport power plant in 2011.
Now seven years into a $5.8 million project to upgrade and modernize the Greenport Municipal Electric Plant — with no end to the work in sight — the New York Power Authority is demanding more oversight of the village electric system in the form of more regular progress reports and potential rate adjustments for customers. (more…)
CARRIE MILLER PHOTO | Greenport Mayor David Nyce discussing the electric penalty fee and other billing problems at Monday night’s Village Board meeting.
The village administrator said he had no answer.
The treasurer said she was missing “key information about the electric rates.”
And Greenport Mayor David Nyce told a reporter only that the big spike in many residents’ power bills before the Christmas holiday had to do with “an additional Independent Service Operator charge” that the village was “passing on.” (more…)
CARRIE MILLER PHOTO | Greenport Mayor David Nyce discussing details of the electric penalty fee during Monday night’s regular village board meeting.
Greenport Mayor David Nyce opened Monday night’s regular Village Board meeting with an explanation for village electric customers regarding unexpected charges in their December billing statements.
He also later apologizing for how customers were notified — or not notified — about the charge.
CYNDI MURRAY PHOTO | A swastika painted on a ramp at the Greenport Skatepark remained visible three days after a Suffolk Times reporter alerted the Village to its presence.
In almost any village in America, phone calls from the local media alerting officials to a swastika spray-painted at a local park would be cause for immediate action.
Apparently that’s not the case in Greenport.
Five days after a Suffolk Times reporter informed Mayor David Nyce and village administrator David Abatelli of the hate graffiti at the Greenport Skate Park on Moore’s Lane, we returned to find the symbol still visible. Yes, five days later, as this issue was published, the swastika remained.
No report appeared in this week’s Southold Town police blotter, either.
When we first contacted Mr. Nyce, he returned our call with a phone message indicating village employees would remove the paint. We’re still waiting.
Reporter Cyndi Murray’s cover story about the problems facing the skate park reveals a major flaw in the way the facility is managed. Mr. Abatelli points out in the story that the park opened 15 years ago with no maintenance plan in place. While community members have launched ambitious campaigns in the past to clean up the park, no major improvements have ever taken place.
But if one statement in the story echoes the village’s current attitude toward the park, it’s this one from Mr. Abatelli: “The kids are lucky it’s still there,” he said.
It’s a statement you wouldn’t expect from a leader in a community where residents speak so often of their hometown pride.
The Village needs to hammer out a plan for the long-term maintenance of the skate park. This proud community should demand as much.
UPDATE: Village workers were at the park at 9 a.m. Thursday painting over the portion of the ramp where the swastika was painted.
KATHARINE SCHROEDER PHOTO | Fire Fighter is currently docked at Mitchell Park Marina.
The decommissioned New York City fireboat Fire Fighter was a popular attraction at Mitchell Park Marina this Memorial Day weekend, but plans to move the boat to the commercial railroad dock came under fire during Tuesday’s Village Board meeting.
The contract between the village and the Fireboat Fire Fighter Museum to dock the vessel at Mitchell Park Marina will expire in June, according to Mayor David Nyce. Since its arrival in Greenport in February, the plan has been to ultimately move Fire Fighter to a permanent berth at the railroad dock near the East End Seaport Museum.
The relocation of the 120-foot ship, now a nonprofit floating museum, is pending a determination by Suffolk County on whether it can dock at the railroad pier. The county leases the railroad dock to the village for a token fee of $1 per year, according to Mayor David Nyce. In exchange, Greenport maintains the dock. The county, however, is the final authority on who can use the dock — which is intended exclusively for commercial fishermen — and it has the right to refuse any sublease agreement the village enters into regarding the railroad dock.
The possible move drew outrage from fisherman Sidney Smith, who said he believes there’s an overlooked problem with electrolysis in the water surrounding the pier. Electrolysis can cause premature rusting and deterioration of metal boat materials. Built in 1937, Fire Fighter has a riveted hull, the same material used to construct the Titanic, Mr. Smith pointed out during the meeting. Furthermore, the boat has not been hauled out in more than 12 years.
“No one knows the condition of the bottom [of Fire Fighter],” he said.
Mayor Nyce said after the meeting that though the boat had not been hauled out it was inspected last fall.
Mr. Smith is ultimately concerned moving Fire Fighter would take space away from commercial fishermen. He argued that allowing the floating museum to moor at the railroad dock would violate Greenport’s Waterfront Revitalization Act, which was enacted to protect its working waterfront.
“We will make sure anything we write protects the village,” Mr. Nyce said. “We will discuss with the current tenants at the railroad dock to figure out if there is enough room. We think there is.”
The railroad dock is in need of extensive repairs and the village hopes the lease agreement will help fund its restoration, according to the mayor.
Mr. Nyce said he is meeting with Suffolk County officials before the contract is set to expire on June 6.