Village of Tuckahoe, NY
65 Main Street Tuckahoe, NY 10707914-961-3100 — fax:914-961-3114
Hours: 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM Monday – Friday
Tuckahoe TV Stations: Channels 26 and 75
United Water is suing us. By "us" I mean the Village of Tuckahoe. This may not shock everyone in our village; some may remember that United Water entered into a long legal battle with our town over their facility on California Road. For those wondering about United Water, the company that sends us our bill is United Water New Rochelle, but they are merely a tiny subsidiary of the international French water giant Suez Lyonnaise Des Eaux. Water is a commodity, and its sale around the world is apparently as lucrative as oil.
The current legal dilemma stems from a situation that occurs with certain regularity in our Village, a water main break. This particular water main break occurred about two years ago. With portions of United Water’s infrastructure being over one hundred years old, failure shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. Our utility companies spend little money on the modernization of their infrastructure; they appear content to simply pay the cost of patching outdated systems. Con Edison exhibits a wonderful example of this behavior: residents of our Village need only to look out in front of their homes to see the insulation peeling away and falling off Con Ed’s overhead feeder cables that encircle Tuckahoe or read about the stray voltage issues of New York City that have cost some their lives.
Regardless of whether these utilities modernize, in my opinion, they should take responsibility for fixing any damage caused by their inferior infrastructure. In United Water’s case one would think, damage to adjacent properties would be their responsibility. This would seem to be the order of things since they charge us for our water. However, United Water has taken a position, attempting to avoid responsibility of fixing what has been destroyed, and instead decided to hire lawyers and geological engineers. I gather this is an attempt to have our little Tuckahoe feel insignificant and small compared to a mighty conglomerate with vast resources. Unfortunately, it would be impractical for anyone to call for a boycott of this litigious French water giant, since we all need water and they control our water. Our dilemma illustrates the inherent problems associated with any monopoly. It is a situation that one would think competition would remedy, but I am not quite sure anymore.
Recently we signed a franchise agreement allowing Verizon the opportunity to offer its cable TV products to our Village. This competition was supposed to have a positive effect on the cost of service. Unfortunately, Verizon didn’t try that hard to slip under the astronomically high bar set by Cablevision, one of the costliest cable providers in the state of New York. Verizon is obviously attempting to quickly recover the cost of its new fiber optical cable network. Many may still debate the modern ability to watch TV without antenna interference at a cost of $75 per month, or the benefit of three hundred paid for channels versus thirteen free channels, but don’t forget we now get the benefit of being able to view our government and neighbors in action every month.
I remember when TV was free and, even more amusing, when I lived in New York City, water was free. Perhaps that statement illustrates that I have entered into some annoying nostalgic state, similar to the people who tell you about when the movies cost a nickel. Finally, regarding United Water, I want the residents to know, we have our own attorneys working the case. My only hope is that good old American justice will see through United Water’s attempt at shirking responsibility, and flush them down Tuckahoe’s very own waste pipes