The town of Pelham’s plan to construct an EMS headquarters on the vacant lot behind the post office is facing growing opposition from neighbors on the block. A dozen residents spoke out at the Town Council’s regular meeting on May 4, voicing their concerns about how an EMS building would add to traffic and noise problems on the corner of First Street and First Avenue, while a 13th resident, Gene Ianuzzi, who does not live on the block, argued in favor of the plan.
John Marsich, who lives across the street from the proposed site, told the council that three members of his family had been New York City police officers, and he and two of his brothers served in the New York City fire department.
“Me and both of my brothers were all at 9-11,” he said. “I worked in one of the firehouses [where] every guy that was on duty that day died in 9-11….I saw a lot of people die and went to a lot of funerals…. I don’t want to have anything to do with lights and sirens outside of my bedroom at night.”
Marsich said he had confidence that the board, once it heard from all the residents and reviewed all the options available for a dedicated EMS site, would come up with an alternative site for the building.
Other speakers included Meredith Rotondo, who said the vacant lot would be a “terrible location” for the EMS headquarters, given the traffic at the corner of First Street and First Avenue.
“This is a very problematic corner,” she said. “There’s a stop sign…and there are cars going right through that stop sign. That makes it dangerous for the residents, but also impacts vision for ambulances backing out.” Rotondo said her view of the grassy lot is the only green that she can see from her house.
Other speakers from the neighborhood included John Matthes of First Avenue, who said that because of lack of parking, residents sometimes have to double-park in order to unload groceries. In addition to that exposure, cars passing by the post office on the way to the Hutchinson River Parkway frequently blow through the stop sign at the oblique angled corner and race down First Avenue.
“The door has been ripped off [my car] because of how busy that area is,” Matthes said. “My wife has been trying to get speed bumps put in…There’s a lot of children on First Avenue. This is a residential area. Please find a different area.”
Other speakers, including Denise Courtien-Bleidner, pointed out the proximity between the proposed site and St. Catharine’s church and school, where religious education (CCD) classes are held several days a week during the school year. “I’ve been part of the community my entire life. St. Catharine’s Church is my parish, and I taught CCD,” she said. “This is where my biggest concern. The parish center is the only place that houses the CCD. That means all the children come from all over Pelham and Pelham Manor. The amount of traffic, of parents picking up their children, the amount of children running around, is just an accident waiting to happen.”
In response, Gene Ianuzzi warned that wherever the town decided to build a base for EMS services, there would be opposition from neighbors. “I would guarantee you that no matter where they are, this room will be the people who don’t want it there, and they will have as many reasons as we’re hearing tonight,” he said. “That’s been my experience my entire career of 50 years.”
Ianuzzi suggested that the previous speakers were overstating the degree to which the lot served as an essential green space in the neighborhood, where children liked to play.
“I go up and down that block multiple times a day, and lately I’ve made the point of going there more frequently,” he said. “I don’t know who you think is using that but there’s no one there…So, while I appreciate the sentiment, I don’t think it’s borne out by facts…Although I fully expect that after my discussion there will be lawn chairs on it.” In response to his last remark, there were some giggles in the gallery, while one attendee said Ianuzzi was being cynical.
“It is cynical,” he responded. “I will tell you why, it’s not because I disrespect anything [you’re saying]. It’s because I’ve been doing this for a long, long time… I accept the fact that nobody is anti-EMS here. I don’t think you are, but I do know this: people love EMS, they love firefighters, they love cops, as long as they don’t have to look at them, as long as they don’t have to hear them, as long as they don’t have the most insignificant inconvenience…but they want them there when they need them.”
Ianuzzi said he has tried to find alternative locations for the EMS base. He has driven around town on his own looking for sites. “My favorite spot was the gas station next to the Picture House. Could you imagine the hue and cry about the Picture House? ‘Oh my god, noise, sirens, crazy, can’t have it there!’ But that was my favorite spot. Unfortunately, it’s private property.” Ianuzzi said buying any of the empty lots in town, including the one near Rockwells, would cost a lot.
Ianuzzi said he supports placing the EMS base on the lot beside the post office. “It’s not because I want to see anyone else suffer for it, but because we are a land-poor town, there is literally no place left….I know that we might have disagreements, that we might have different points of view as to how this is going to be taken care of, but it needs to be taken care of. It doesn’t mean three or four or five years’ worth of studying and kicking things down the road to get it done. The only takeaway I hope will be that we can certainly respect each other’s disagreements, but that we base some of those disagreements on facts and not fears and not what-ifs, and then we come to a resolution quickly.”
After the public comment session, Deputy Supervisor Maura Curtin reviewed the process by which council sought to find a permanent base for the EMS service. “The town council looked at dozens of properties….This is not the final location where we will be building this EMS operation system. It is one location that the council identified as an option to put the EMS center,” she said. “This was published in the Pelham Examiner in January, because we found out about a grant through the Government Efficiency Department of New York State… and they were prioritizing municipalities that would work together to solve a problem. At the top of the list was EMS.”
Curtin said the council looked at the Manor Club as well as the DPW lot on Sparks Avenue as potential sites. The council also looked at the Cornell Carpet building on the Boston Post Road, and some space near BJ’s Wholesale Club in Pelham Manor. But the town couldn’t ignore the possibility of getting the land near the post office from Westchester County for $50,000.
“The overarching bottom line is it’s millions of dollars to buy to purchase commercial property, and this property the county told us they would sell to us for $50,000,” said Curtin. From a taxpayer point of view, she said, the council has to consider whether the town wants to pay $2 million or more to acquire a different piece of property for the EMS center.
“So I just wanted to let you all know that those have been our thoughts on the council, my thoughts, and definitely went into consideration while we go through this process,” said Curtin.
Megan Garufi • May 21, 2026 at 10:05 am
One point I think is important in this discussion is that the frequently referenced “$2 million commercial property” was tied to a specific gas station parcel that has already sold and is no longer an option. That example should not be treated as the benchmark for every alternative site analysis.
At the same time, the Town has not yet publicly articulated what it would cost to keep EMS operations at the current Town-owned location and climate-control the temporary garage space already being used for the vehicles.
It is also important to recognize that even if the Town acquires this residentially zoned parcel next to the post office, the projected cost to construct a new EMS operations center was approximately $2.6 million based on 2024 estimates tied to the grant materials submitted to NYS. The grant request makes up less than 50% of this estimated cost which is before accounting for continued increases in construction costs, environmental review, traffic considerations, and the Village approval process.