Cohen criticizes Hebrew Home plans

Councilman Andrew Cohen took the side of residents and Community Board 8 in the debate over the plan by the Hebrew Home for seniors in Riverdale to develop a continuing care retirement community (CCRC).

One of the goals of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA) package was to encourage the expansion of senior care facilities to become CCRCs, of which there are only 12 in the whole state.

However, the Hebrew Home’s attempts to develop the area that surrounds it have faced scrutiny due to zoning restrictions. 

“The lot that they want to develop is zoned R1, and I think it should be developed with the R1 zoning,” Mr. Cohen said.

R1 zoning only allows for the construction of single-family homes, according to the councilman, who said he is watching the case closely.

At present, aspiring CCRCs need to send an application to the City Planning Commission to receive a zoning variance before advancing on the construction or expansion process.

“After a thoughtful, long process, spearheaded by the community board, to zone the neighborhood, that is what was thought to be appropriate,” Mr. Cohen said. “I have no reason to second-guess that.”

He said the Hebrew Home had proposed to build three new buildings. The first, a 12-story structure, would sit on the northern campus, which is zoned R4, while two others—six- and four-story structures— would be in the R1 section of the campus.

“I’m not in a position to say what the Hebrew Home should develop, because I don’t know their business, they know their business—I have a lot of respect for the Hebrew Home and the work that they do,” Mr. Cohen said. “I hope there is a way that they can develop the property that meets their needs and is consistent with R1.”

Engel: Trump broke US law

Rep. Eliot Engel, a delegate for Hillary Clinton at last week’s Democratic National Convention, accused Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump of breaking U.S. law by appealing to Russia to hack Ms. Clinton’s emails.

“That is one of the most outrageous things I have ever heard in all of my years following presidential races,” Mr. Engel told The Press in a phone interview. “Donald Trump is calling on the leader of a foreign country that has been hostile towards the United States, a country that is violating international laws by invading sovereign countries and annexing countries.”

Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and supports separatist insurgents in Ukraine’s east. 

Mr. Engel went on to call Mr. Trump’s comments “disgraceful,” tacking on Mr. Trump’s record of publicly supporting Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

“Donald Trump’s call on this leader to hack American emails is in violation of U.S. law,” Mr. Engel said. “To ask him [Putin] to do that is outrageous.”

Mr. Trump’s appeal to Russia came after an email scandal rocked the opening of the Democratic convention and resulted in Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz of Florida stepping down as chair of the DNC. 

The emails appeared to show a coordinated effort to undermine the campaign Ms. Clinton’s Democratic rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders. The emails were released by WikiLeaks, but investigators and Ms. Clinton’s campaign blamed the leak on hackers working for Russian intelligence agencies. 

In the wake of the scandal, Mr. Trump said at press conference “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.” He was apparently referring to the emails Ms. Clinton deleted from her private server during her time as Secretary of State.