Mount Vernon residents are once again being asked to fund a cost that, based on the public record, may already be covered elsewhere.
A proposal before the Mount Vernon Board of Estimate and Contract would authorize $85,546.99 in taxpayer funds, without public bidding, for traffic signalization improvements tied to the 42 West Broad Street development.
The work is being labeled an “emergency.”
It isn’t.
Two Statements — One Problem
In correspondence to City officials, Vincent J. Ferrandino, the City Council’s former review consultant for the project (and Mount Vernon resident), states that escrow funds exist for 42 West Broad intended to cover these improvements.
Separately, a previously reported $500,000 “42 Broad community benefit” appears to have been removed or reclassified in City financials, with similar funds now listed under “custodial accounts” — without any 42 Broad designation.
So:
- If funds were set aside, why are they no longer clearly accounted for?
- Why are they absent from the current proposal?
- If they exist, why are taxpayers being charged instead?
- If they don’t, where did they go?
Where’s the money?
The Resolution — and the Omission That Matters
The resolution referred from the City Council:
- Authorizes $85,546.99 in taxpayer funds
- Proceeds without competitive bidding
- Labels the work an “emergency”
- Makes no reference to escrow, community benefit, or project-specific funds
That omission is not technical — it is the issue.
Where’s the money?
The “Emergency” That Took a Decade
Traffic impacts from 42 West Broad were identified years ago during Planning Board approval. As standard, those impacts were to be addressed through developer-funded improvements, typically secured through escrow.
Now, nearly a decade later, the City calls it an “emergency.”
It wasn’t addressed in February.
It wasn’t addressed last year.
It wasn’t addressed at any point in the intervening decade.
This is not an emergency. It is delayed accountability.
And, as seen before — including the use of our ARPA funds to demolish the family home of now First Deputy Comptroller Condell Hamilton — the “emergency” label is again being used to bypass financial safeguards designed to protect taxpayer dollars.
Missing Accountability
The Building and Planning Departments — responsible for enforcing site plan conditions — are notably absent from this discussion.
Before any vote, the resolution must be amended to:
- Identify available escrow funds
- Require their use first
- Prevent shifting developer obligations onto taxpayers
Anything less is a failure of basic oversight.
The Real Question
This is not about one $85,546.99 expenditure.
It is about whether funds collected for a specific purpose are:
- Tracked
- Preserved
- Used as intended
Or quietly redirected while taxpayers are billed again. This is also something we’ve seen before. When money meant to pay our first responders was quietly moved into a contingency line and later used to fund 40-50% raises for elected and appointed officials.
Same people. Same pattern. Same questions.
Where’s our money?
The Bottom Line
Before any vote, the City must answer a simple question:
Where is the escrow money tied to 42 West Broad — and why isn’t it being used?
Until then, Mount Vernon residents are left asking what they’ve had to ask far too often:
Where did our money go?!