It's On Again: Museum Lease Veto Squashed by BOL

If you blinked, you might have missed it. In a special session that lasted no more than 15 minutes, the County Board of Legislators voted 15-0 to overturn County Executive Rob Astorino's veto on the Westchester Children's Museum lease to occupy the North Bathhouse at Playland.

Tracy Kay, executive director of the museum, sat in the gallery during the special session.

"I'm extremely delighted," he said about the vote. "Now we can really get started."

Majority Whip Judy Myers (D- Larchmont) said she was "thrilled" the veto had been overturned.

Myers recounted the process of granting the lease to the museum went as far back as 2003 when she said the Board of Legislators worked to get state permission to rent the Bathhouse space to a private group. 

Asked to respond to County Executive Astorino's stated concern that the timing of the lease agreement would interfere with the review of development proposals currently under way, Myers said the Board was confident their actions were legally sound and also in accord with the desires of the community.

"One of the sugggestions that we most frequently got from the public was to boost revenue," said Myers. She said the children's museum project would do that by creating jobs and serving as an economic anchor for the area. 

Kay cited the impact of children's museums in Boston, Baltimore and Norwalk as examples of the potential success of the Westchester project. 

The Board also voted 14-1 to overturn the County Executive's veto blocking renovation of Miller House.