Teatown’s construction project has generated tremendous interest and support throughout our community. As work progresses, we want to continue keeping our members, neighbors and the broader community informed about the project and the improvements it will bring to our campus.

Recently, we met with a small group of neighbors who raised questions and concerns about several aspects of the project, including traffic, parking, landscaping and other construction-related issues. We appreciated the opportunity to hear their concerns and thought it would be helpful to share additional information with the entire community—both about the issues discussed at that meeting and about the project more broadly.

We are grateful for the overwhelming support the project has received. Our capital campaign has raised more than $27 million, including $23 million from local residents and $4 million from state and private foundation grants. The project is fully funded, and Teatown has maintained a balanced budget since 1963.

Although, the project does not increase parking or student capacity, and we expect the same 2–4 busloads of children per day as today, issues raised at our recent meeting were traffic, parking and related safety, including a request to prohibit left turns from the Blinn parking lot. These issues were evaluated by professional traffic engineers and reviewed by Town officials, with no adverse impacts identified. Nothing raised during our discussion provided a factual basis for reaching a different conclusion or for prohibiting left turns from the Blinn Road parking area. Simarily, Teatown does not believe providing free parking to neighboring residents is in the broader community interest; supporting Teatown members already receive free parking. Teatown’s placement of signage asking motorists to slow down on Blinn Road was objected to during the recent meeting, However, the modest signage is necessary to protect campers, hikers and visitors.  

During the recent meeting, we explained that over the last two years the project has received all required state and local approvals, including review by the DEC, DEP, Army Corps of Engineers and Town of Yorktown, and completed the SEQR long-form process with a negative declaration. Construction is entirely on previously disturbed land and will increase permeability, meet stormwater requirements, add substantially more native plantings, and replace asphalt near the Nature Center with native meadow.

We also discussed the gabion wall and understand that it can appear stark while under construction. It is a necessary safety feature, and its appearance will be substantially softened by extensive, professionally supervised plantings of native species. In response to community concerns, we have accelerated our plans to screen the wall and will begin planting within the next few weeks. The completed project will provide a greener, safer and more inclusive pedestrian-oriented campus.

We remain committed to open communication with our neighbors and the entire Teatown community. Teatown has never declined a meeting request and has held 25 hard-hat tours, a public Town Hall and hundreds of conversations with residents. The project underwent extensive public review by Yorktown’s Planning, Zoning, Architectural Review and Conservation Boards, including a multi-month public hearing process.

We will continue providing construction updates through our bi-weekly newsletter and website and responding to questions and concerns in a timely and transparent manner. We encourage anyone interested in learning more about the project to use these resources and stay informed as the work progresses.

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