GLOVERSVILLE - Several city officials said they were discouraged by a local businesswoman's letter to Planning Board members saying she would postpone plans for a project because she disagrees with the YMCA's plan to expand its low-income housing.
Susan Casey, who owns Beacon Wearhouse and several rental properties in the city, sent a letter to Planning Board members Feb. 2 asking to suspend her request for a permit to renovate an apartment building she owns at 13 Bleecker St.
Casey said she is opposed to the Fulton County YMCA's plan to renovate its East Fulton Street building, which is about one-tenth of a mile from her property at 13 Bleecker St. She said she will not renovate her property if the YMCA's plan goes through.
"... More than likely, each new tenant/client [of the YMCA] will be collecting welfare and Medicaid on the backs of the working people of Gloversville and of Fulton County," Casey wrote in the letter.
The YMCA is seeking to renovate the lower two floors of its facility into 11 apartments to expand its housing for low-income residents. The proposal is currently being considered by the Planning Board.
Casey, who has been an outspoken critic of the proposal, wrote in the letter she is postponing her plans for her Bleecker Street property in order to "obtain more information about opening a methadone clinic that would service the area of tenants being brought in by a number of these non-tax-paying/non-profits."
Gloversville Mayor Dayton King, who has expressed reservations about the YMCA's plan but has said he believes it is a feasible use for the building, said he was surprised and disappointed by the letter. He said it appears Casey is attempting to intimidate or influence the board's decision by threatening to pull her project.
"The letter was disturbing," he said. "I think we need to be treating people with respect and be careful with our words, no matter who you are or your socio-economic status. The minute we start thinking we are better than someone else and act that out publicly, I have a problem with it."
King said he thought Casey's characterization of YMCA residents as potential methadone clinic patients -methadone is a drug used to wean addicts off heroin - was unfair and inappropriate. He said he hopes to talk with Casey about her concerns.
"I know she has spent a lot of money and time on downtown," he said. "And yes, there are people at the YMCA who have problems. There are people in the community with problems too - people with high-paying jobs."
Casey said Friday she stands by her letter and will not pursue the project she had planned, which involved turning part of the property into a storefront, if the YMCA project is approved.
"These people will be collecting social services of all kinds," she said. "[The YMCA's proposal] will bring in more blight. That's what it is, blight. These people don't have jobs or pay taxes."
Casey said the YMCA's proposal, if it is approved, will bring "drug addicts and drug dealers" to the area. She said she has put several million dollars of her own money into her various properties and has "a hard enough time as it is" renting or selling them.
City police records suggest the YMCA's residential building is not necessarily more of a crime magnet than other downtown properties.
According to records from the city Police Department, the department has responded to approximately 50 calls at the YMCA's facility at East Fulton Street since January 2007. The calls ranged from larcenies to disorderly conduct to medical emergencies.
According to police, during the same time period, the department has responded to 21 calls at Casey's 13 Bleecker St. property, which she has owned since 2000. Those calls were primarily related to disorderly conduct or family offenses. Casey and her husband, John Casey, own at least 10 properties in the city, according to city assessor records.
According to city records, police have responded to approximately 80 calls at six of Casey's other properties since January 2007. Casey has owned all of them since at least 2005, according to assessor records. Most of the properties are in the downtown area, including properties on South Main Street, North Street and West Fulton Street. The police calls involved reports of burglaries, family offenses, mental health problems and child endangerment.
Casey said Friday most of the complaints involving her properties are prompted by people who are not her tenants. She said many YMCA residents cause the mischief around her buildings.
"It's not like my tenants are causing these problems," she said. "And secondly, I pay a lot of taxes over here. I support the police and fire department."
Casey said many of the calls were reports about suspicious individuals and disorderly conduct that took place outside and in front of her properties. She said one of her properties was recently robbed, and another had a large window broken. She said the YMCA's proposal will draw more crime-prone people to the area.
Casey recently received $60,000 in grant funding to pay for an apartment renovation project. She said to compare the grants she has received to the government assistance poor people receive is inaccurate.
"When I spend more than $1 million on a project and get $60,000 in Main Street grants for it, we're a little out of proportion," she said. "I didn't ask for that. All I got was $60,000. That's not even a Band-Aid. That's a little saliva you stick on a wound."
Casey said the YMCA purposely let its building deteriorate. She said the Y is now seeking to renovate the property in order to make money off of it to help pay for its multimillion-dollar new facility on Harrison Street in the town of Johnstown.
"They're taking the life from Gloversville and sending it to Johnstown," she said.
YMCA Chief Executive Officer Steve Serge declined to comment on Casey's letter.
At the Planning Board's meeting Tuesday, Serge acknowledged that about half of the 23 residents at the facility now receive public assistance. He said residents must go through a background check, and no one with a history of abuse, violence or arson is allowed to live at the facility.
Planning Board Chairman Tim Mattice said Friday he thinks Casey could have gotten her point across in a less inflammatory way.
"It's okay to have concerns and be angry, but you have to be cautious of how your comments will affect other people," he said. "Of course there are examples of people who abuse the system. That is always brought to the forefront. But to generalize that everyone is like that is risky. You never hear about the person who genuinely needs help and who improved their life because [of the YMCA]."
Mattice said he knows Casey has made a "significant investment" in the city, and he wishes more people would do the same. He said Casey's comments, however, will not affect how he reviews the YMCA's project.
"[The board] will base [its] decision on code and regulations, not on personal opinions or feelings," he said. "There is a system in place we use to evaluate projects, and we will continue to do that with this proposal, as we would with any other."
